Balaghar State,

Rasputin's base.

The castle looked dim. The occupants do not allow too much sunlight to enter. So that greenish moss grows in the corners of the walls and coats the damp stone floor.

Painful cries could also be heard from the empty spaces scattered throughout the castle. Their screams collided with the wall, creating a boisterous echo.

It was an ordinary day at Balaghar castle, the residence of Daniel Rutherford who now looked not well. He sat in his comfortable chair with his arms folded on his desk. His face was disheveled, his blonde hair not as charming as usual. He also didn't drink enough blood today, so his skin was as pale as frozen chicken in winter.

The window curtains were ripped to shred, the furniture was overturned and scattered in his rage. He was angry, disappointed and cursed himself for his negligence.

The dungeon that was one of his laboratories had been destroyed. The Shadows he made at no small cost—killed before they were ready to be harvested. His little experiment with poison that should have been his pride strategy — was now useless.

The knights of Florence already knew it. They could no longer carry out the plan. Meaning that the gallons of poison he had made had to be thrown away. Florence must have anticipated his tactics.

He should have added a lot of guards. He should have moved out of that non-strategic dungeon long ago. But back then the knights of Rasputin couldn't do it because they were guarding something valuable in that underground labyrinth.

One of the cursed swords whose name was not yet known— has been kept by the knight Rasputin for hundreds of years. Until now no one has claimed to have it. It was a sword that no noble family had ever owned.

The Rasputins, in turn, had asked the pure-blooded knights of noble families to come to the secret altar and touch the sword. But none of them could pull it out, not even touch it.

For a long time, the Rasputins had guessed. If the sword was probably owned by one of the nobles of Florence. Yesterday, when they snuck in and destroyed some of what Rutherford had been fighting for all this time— the sword disappeared.

"My Lord, please take it slow," moaned a brown-haired woman, in a beautiful dress and enchanting body.

She was in the lap of a Rasputin knight. The woman wore a low necked dress, she let the knight stroke her hair.

"My beautiful Diana, I will not hurt you," said the knight seductively.

The woman succumbed, tilted her head and the knight plunged his fangs, gulping the blood from her veins voraciously.

The woman, through the last moments of her life, felt happy and comfortable. When he finished, the knight dropped her to the floor. Usually, the maids would clean up their leftovers every morning. They will not tire of burying the bodies of the victims. They would pile it up and burn it to ashes.

"Should you do that sir Petroski? Seduce and talk to your prey?" Daniel Rutherford commented furiously.

"Oh, I'm sorry, General. Does the way I eat bother you?" Caesar Petroski, wiping his lips, responded in a slightly defiant tone. He smiled. Petroski was a well-built man with a handsome face. He has dazzling blue eyes and short blonde hair. But, Petroski was not just a handsome face. He was young but already held the title of commander.

"They're prey, not something we can talk to or be friends with. You remind me of the Florences!" Rutherford was annoyed.

"You know that happy prey tastes better and healthier. Especially if they fall in love with us, you should try it once in a while," said Petroski with a small grin.

"Still, it's a waste of time. We're going to war at the Tavern in a bit..you will no longer be able to do that often. You must be satisfied with the blood of ugly, old and frightened human village women. There were no beautiful noble girls there. Your taste buds have to be downgraded," Rutherford informed.

"I know sir," Caesar was now sitting on a sofa and leaning there casually.

"Florence has taken a step forward, the Scout unit said they've moved to the Tavern..without the Shadows we set up in the dungeon—our power would be reduced," Rutherford expressed his concern.

"How about we create an army of vampires the conventional way?" Caesar offers.

"You mean to infect as many humans as possible to become soldiers? You know it's troublesome, sir Petroski. The new vampire has a lot to teach. They can't control their thirst and we'll be more busy providing food for them than we can immediately use their services. That's why I created Shadows."

"But Shadows aren't easy to make either, especially in the near future. Florence made sure we didn't get a chance to do that. They weren't stupid, General," said Caesar, folding his legs.

"And why are you so relaxed, Petroski?"

"If you have an idea, say it now. Before we head off to the Tavern. It's not going to be easy. Now that they have more cursed weapons wielder on their side. We're nearly equal in strength," added Rutherford again.

"I don't have much of a plan, sir. I'm not as genius as you..it's just, I think we're going straight for their leader."

"You mean?"

"There's no need to focus on killing as many people as possible. We just need to make sure we eliminate the right people."

"I'm interested sir, so what do you want from me?"

"I need a name, how much do you know about the Florences who infiltrated the crypt?" Petroski said.

"Irina!" Rutherford called out. Then a female knight in uniform and bespectacled came before him.

"Yes, sir?"

"What did we know about the intruders in the Dungeon yesterday?"

"Our spies at the Tavern have confirmed, sir. Romeo D'Artagnan led the raid. The exact number is unknown..but it is strongly suspected that one of them is carrying the sword," said Irina while fixing her glasses seriously.

"Okay then! Now I have a clear target," said Caesar contentedly as he rose from his seat.

"Are you ready to face him? He's not just a knight..he's a wielder of a cursed weapon and trained himself from a young age," Rutherford reminded.

"I knew him, we were even friends. But now we're on different sides. I'm also always looking for opportunities to meet him. So this will be interesting," replied Caesar casually.

"Type B Shadows flee! Guards! Prepare to attack!" A knight shouted from the courtyard.

Rutherford shook his head.

"They're many times more powerful, but hard to control. This is probably the umpteenth B-type Shadows we've had to kill," Rutherford complained.

He then stood up to go to the courtyard but Caesar stopped him.

"Let me take care of it, sir," he said, then jumped down from the window.

As commander Petroski walked among the knights, they fell silent. His charismatic aura and strength made everyone shy away from him. No matter foe or friend.

There was only one being who didn't show respect when they saw him. It was the Shadows type B with a gigantic build. Caesar didn't know what kind of experiment Rutherford did. He was a genius scientist who kept many secrets.

The shadows saw him, it tried to untie the silver rope that was intentionally tied to him. Even though his body was now bruised and burnt with silver—he didn't look like he was in pain. His skin was very thick, his fangs resembled that of a wolf's and his nails were as long as iron. It could uproot large trees with ease and destroy buildings with just a flick of its hand. Unfortunately it couldn't be fully controlled yet.

"Sir, Petroski, he is dangerous," one of Rasputin's knights reminded him.

"It's okay, I've been drinking good quality blood today," Petroski smiled then he disappeared from sight.

He ran so fast that it was almost impossible for the eyes to follow. The gust of wind felt against his opponent's skin was the only sign of his existence. He jumped up and raised his sword. He plunged it deep into the Shadows' back and dragged it.

The Shadows roared. The sword spread fire as hot as magma that scorched anything it touched.

Petroski was famous for attacking directly to his opponent's weak point and killing him quickly.

"Thank you, General Rutherford, my sword, Vulcan, hasn't had much fun in a long time," Petroski said with satisfaction as he calmly cleaned the remaining blood on his cursed sword.

"Now, where can I find Romeo?" He said again.