After Lauren and Nina left, the security of Scott and Snow Provinces would increase in the following months.

With Lauren going to the Chutha Dynasty and Nina going to the borders of Snow Province and Diamond Province, the two would work for the peace of Vicente's territory as soon as they arrived in these two areas.

With their Dark Path powers and their current strength, they could both make a big difference in the places they wanted to act in the short term.

But they would not be the only ones to help Vicente's domains become stronger and safer. Like Lauren, several high-ranking members of the Fuller family forces would leave their safe territory to stay on the border or go further in search of stronger enemies.

After Vicente's attack on the capital of the Kenyth Empire, tensions in the region grew as vampires moved from place to place, the creatures becoming more defensive and bloodthirsty wherever they went.

With the monsters more agitated than ever, traveling the continent was now even more dangerous, with greater risks to safe cities.

To deal with this, Vicente had already sent Onyx and his state's 5th stage beasts to hunt down powerful monsters near his territory.

But it was not only the 5th stage beasts that were acting for the good of the territory. With the security of the family's main territory being maintained for months, as well as the growth in the number of specialists, weapons, ammunition, and armor, it was not interesting to have all of this growing force stationed in the same place.

Since Annie's birth, groups of men in 5th stage armor had been leaving the area to hunt monsters in the Diamond Province, the southern tip of the Kenyth Empire and the southwest of the Chutha Dynasty.

Almost every week, men would leave and return to the area, continuing or completing their hunting missions.

In this way, Vicente tried to contain the worst of the crisis, to give his people more time, not only to grow stronger but also to have little Annie by his side.

...

On Annie's one-and-a-half birthday, Vicente was still in Metal City.

He was walking beside Nova, holding Annie in his arms, on his way to the local government office.

As soon as he entered the meeting room where he had a meeting this morning, the three saw everyone in the area rise from their chairs to greet them.

Vicente smiled and gestured for everyone to sit down before stopping next to Heidi Point at one end of the table.

"How are our plans?" He got right to the point as he sat down in the seat reserved for him.

Heidi said with a serious look on her face. "Well, despite the problems.

We currently have 150 groups in the southeastern part of the continent, with groups operating in 5 states. With each team having 5 components armed with 5th stage armor, they are having excellent results in killing hordes of monsters and gathering resources in devastated areas.

However, it's not all good news. We have more and more signs of monster unrest in the south, with more powerful creatures, more devastating actions against our community, and more kidnappings than ever before.

Some monsters have also been using formations and weapons in combat, increasing the difficulty of our men's missions.

In addition, inferior vampires have been attacking more and more."

"We believe the vampires have reached a point in their plans where, if they can't control all the human territories they want, they will bring chaos and terror to everyone's lives." Said another member of this council, responsible for managing the groups and missions of the men of the provinces.

The vampires' original plans were to force the humans against their cities and keep them under pressure. The vampires didn't want to bring constant fighting and conflict to the entire continent. Nor did they want to live through constant war.

But as Vicente's actions helped give the magical community breathing room to counterattack, the vampires dealing with the disaster adjusted their plans.

If they couldn't force the humans against the walls of the human cities, then they intended to stir up the continent and unleash more of their high-level beings to attack human groups, cities, etc.

As a result, the number of clashes, sightings of powerful monsters, and other data related to the intensification of the conflict increased over time.

Although the security of the Snow and Scott Provinces had indeed increased in recent months, those outside of that area were fighting more and more and against stronger and stronger enemies!

"So that's the situation..." Nova sighed as she looked at Vicente, wondering if it was time for him to leave.

Vicente had intended to live in Grandis before heading north again, since he would be closer to his enemies in the capital. But with Annie's birth, going to the capital was no longer a viable plan.

So the moment he left this territory to travel, it would probably be the moment he went north, a journey with no date for his return.

The stronger he became, the greater the danger for those around him, so he definitely couldn't return as long as there were vampires stronger than him.

Annie looked at her father without understanding the situation, while Vicente sighed deeply.

'I managed to stay here long enough.' He looked at Annie before closing his eyes, feeling the pain of having to separate from those he loved.

"I see. Looks like it's time for me to take the chaos north." He muttered as everyone in the chamber fell silent, looking at him with anticipation, anxiety and fear of what would happen after his departure.

It was undeniable that the community needed him traveling to the north. But his presence in the south was also a safe haven, at least for the time being.

Everyone had complete confidence that as long as Vicente was in Metal City, no monster would come near this place to put them in danger!

"It's time for me to leave. Start making your preparations. I'll be leaving Metal City in two weeks at the most." He announced his decision, firm and confident it was the right one under the circumstances.

He looked at Annie and regretted it, but since he had no choice, he couldn't avoid this moment.

It would happen sooner or later, he knew that. Even so, as he looked at Annie, he couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart.