After a few more rounds of experiments that blurred the lines of a certain convention in his former world, Henry was finally done. The subject of his experiment was now nothing more than a lump of grotesque and deformed meat. It was still very much alive but its mind was completely broken. Its gaze had long turned blank and it was soullessly staring at its torturer.

As an act of mercy, a tiny one compared to what he had done, Henry reduced the abomination of a vampire into ashes. He dusted himself off the dirt and filth he accumulated during the experiment and headed to the small camp that Alani had erected just to wait on Henry.

“Are you finally done, my dear deranged master?” Rayne asked mockingly.

“Yes, I’m done,” Henry replied promptly and took a seat by the small camp beside Alani.

“Was it… w-worth it?” Alani inquired in a hesitant and low voice.

“Yes, kind of.”

“Kind of?”

“This is only but a lesser vampire or even less than that. There’s no guarantee the stronger variants would have the same weakness but at the very least, we have some basis.”

Alani looked conflicted. Obviously, she did not condone Henry’s action but given the kind of enemy they were up against, they needed to know everything there was to know. Such an act of cruelty was essential to their survival.

“What have you gathered?” Rayne asked. Unlike Alani, Rayne was not too bothered by it as she and her people had done similar things in order to survive in the treacherous mountains they called their home.

“It’s vulnerable to nearly all sorts of conventional means and methods. However, they are a tad more tenacious. A hole through a torso is enough to make it scream in pain but not enough to kill it. It can’t regenerate any of its missing body parts but the wounds do close up fairly quickly. I reckon it would have returned to the peak of health in under an hour or more, provided that it's not missing parts of their body.”

“That is worrying. If it comes to a large-scale war, a battle of attrition against them will be extremely unfavourable.”

“Decapitation, of course, works wonders. Then again, decapitation is the bane of many mortal beings. The same goes for fire. Their biggest weakness, as far as I can tell, is silver. This vampire, Leoric, shows an extreme reaction towards silver. Even having silver near him, without touching it, is enough to disconcert him. It even refused to look at it.”

As expected, Henry remarked in his heart. Silver was the staple weakness for vampires or werewolves, or both. It was a shame that the sun was nothing to them, leading to another concern. Would vampires become stronger during the night?

“This is intriguing,” Rayne mused. “The records said nothing about silver being the vampires’ weakness. Maybe it’s only true for these lower vampires?”

“Or maybe, your ancestors aren’t stupid to reveal the bane of their entire kind. The scribe responsible for those texts might be threatened to keep it a secret.”

Rayne sighed. “That’s very likely. The texts do make them sound very… proud. Now I wonder… how many more truths are hidden or intentionally overlooked by my ancestors. Hell, was the cause of their downfall even the truth?”

“Irrelevant for now. We won’t get anywhere with our guesswork without any basis. Let us get some rest for now.”

“Now?” Alani blurted. “But it’s only noon. The sun is still out.”

“Just for an hour,” Henry said. “We’ll carry on with our journey in an hour.”

Alani noticed Henry’s gaze, which was wandering.

“Are there perhaps more enemies nearby?”

“I don’t sense any but knowing Vishara, she wouldn’t have sent a mere lowly vampire to deal with us. This move is most likely a probe and there are others out there spying on us. From here on, the real battles begin.”

“...Will I even be of use? I know how to handle a few monsters but… vampires? I don’t think I can be of any help.”

“You’ll do fine,” Rayne said. “As long as they’re not as ferocious as the beasts of Ulrum, you’ll manage.”

“Say, how much Silver do you have on you?” Henry asked.

“Not much… Aside from the silver stakes, I have a silver plaque.”

“A plaque? Of what?”

“It’s a commemoration of a quest when I was still in a party with Roarke… We subjugated a Swamp Tiger that had been terrorising the nearby villages for a long time. It was a tremendous feat. The hunter’s union saw it fit to bestow us a record of our achievement. It was a very proud moment. Looking at it now, it brings up bad memories… but I’m still proud of what I did… what we did.”

“Don’t worry. This plaque is about to help you in achieving something greater.”

Henry took all the silver Alani had and moved to one corner, a little bit away from the camp. He then began melting the silver with his flames. After the silver had turned molten, he asked for Alani’s swords, which he then poured the melted silver onto the blades and moulded the molten silver to fit the blades’ shape and edges.

The process was fast and without difficulty due to Henry’s special constitution. His immunity towards heat damage simplified the entire process and there was zero danger posed. The cooling process was the only part that took some time but not too long since he could just keep the blades close to his body and let the heat dissipate into him.

“Here,” Henry said as he handed the swords back to Alani after they had cooled down enough.

“Whoa…” Alani gasped as she took the swords into her hand, her eyes glued to the gleaming blades that were now coated in silver. “This is incredible. Never thought I would ever see the art of smithing being made simple and rapid. Not to mention, the result is nothing short of amazing.”

“I’m glad you like it, Alani.”

She smiled brightly. “I love them, Henry.”

Henry couldn’t help himself but swoop in for a few love pecks.

Alani was taken aback at first but quickly accepted Henry’s affection.

Meanwhile, Rayne could do nothing but vomit sugar and rainbows from watching the budding love between the two.

In such a fashion, an hour quickly went by. It was time for them to resume their journey. They gathered their items and possessions, leaving the corpses for the wildlives as food, and got back on track. They had barely taken a few steps when a sense of unease struck Henry and Rayne.

“Well, what are the odds?” Rayne muttered. “Is it just me or do you sense two unknown individuals heading towards us?”

“I sensed them too. Or rather, I smelled them.”

“Enemies again?” Alani asked with an alarmed expression. “So soon?”

“I can’t speak for their hostility but their timing is a little bit too convenient for it to be considered a coincidence.”

“Do they smell like rotten blood?”

“They smell like… hunters. There’s many kinds of blood on them and all that blood is fresh. Also, they are heading towards us, which makes them all the more suspicious.”

“If they’re hunters, I might know them. Only a handful of hunters would dare tread into these lands and even fewer have made it out alive. As you can guess, the ones who survived would go and become infamous amongst hunters.”

Rayne snickered. “This shall be simple then.”

The trio continued their trekking through the maze of a ruin. The deeper they trod into the ruin, the closer they were to the unknown group. It was when they arrived at a vast pathway, beset by pillars on both sides, that they finally met the ones that had been moving towards their way.

They were a pair of men and women, dressed in combat attire but not in the aesthetics of monster hunters. Their battle equipment was elegant and it looked more like attires of ceremonies rather than actual combat garments.

Alani immediately drew her swords and entered her combat stance.

“They are not even trying to hide,” Rayne remarked.

The man chuckled upon hearing Rayne’s words. “Her Majesty had told us about your… acute perception. There’s almost nothing that could escape the perception of Lord Henry.”

Henry brandished his claws but only his nails turned. “You will be wise to withdraw.”

“Be at ease, Lord Henry. We are not here to fight. We’re not idiots. We know we can’t win… at least not right now.”

“If you’re not here to fight, then why are you showing yourself to us?”

“Her Majesty has tremendous respect for you, Lord Henry. She truly feels bad for the way things are. She never wanted to be your enemy. If anything she had hoped that you would join her cause.”

“By cause, you mean her uninhibited and indiscriminate vengeance.”

“Please do understand, Lord Henry. Her Majesty had gone through a lot. She was betrayed by her own people and it was the humans who tempted them to do so. You can’t possibly imagine the pain that Her Majesty is carrying.”

“Going down this path won’t ease the pain. The ones responsible for her downfall are all dead. She’s only taking her rage out on their descendants.”

The man sighed. “Her Majesty also hoped you would be able to understand her.”

“I understand her, alright. I merely do not condone her actions. She’s inadvertently and indirectly hurting collaterals of collaterals.”

“Collaterals are inevitable, Lord Henry, no matter the actions. Even a good cause would have collateral. One’s fortune is always at the expense of others’ misfortune. This is the way things are.”

“Maybe, but the collateral this time is my home and my loved ones.”

“Then join Her Majesty, Lord Henry. Your home and your loved ones shall be saved from all harm. Together, you two will be unstoppable.”

“Is that the words of Vishara or just yours?”

“The words are mine but the will belongs to Her Majesty.”

“Well, not like it matters whose words they are. Her ambitions are my ruination. I believe I have already myself clear to your… other companion. Which begs the question, why are we having this conversation?”

“Because Her Majesty acknowledges you, Lord Henry.”

Henry chuckled wryly. “I beg to differ. You’re a distraction.”

The man returned the wry smile. “Of what, pray tell?”

Henry spun around and thrust out his claws, catching a hand sticking out of a rippling space and reaching for Alani. Gripping the hand tightly, Henry yanked the assailant of the ripple and slammed them onto the ground hard.

The assailant turned out to be a boy. Much like the pair, the boy was also dressed in a similar fashion. But unlike the pair, the boy’s true nature was showing with his eyes glowing as red as a blood moon and his twin fangs jutting out of his lips.

Caught in Henry’s grasp, the boy struggled to break free but to no avail. He tried scratching Henry’s arm but also to no avail. Sick of the boy’s futile struggle, Henry poured some more strength into his grip. The boy winced and ceased his struggle.

“How sly,” Henry said.

The man tutted.

“I figure you would do something like this. There’s no such thing as honour in war, after all.”

“It appears that I have been remiss.” The man turned his gaze to his female companion. “Looks like we will have to withdraw for now, Sylvie.”

The woman nodded.

“Dagon, I trust that you know what to do.”

The boy nodded.

With a snap of their fingers, the two vampires turned into a puff of smoke, literally. They transformed their bodies into smoke and flew off into the skies.

“Huh… they can do that…” Henry mused.

“Henry!” Alani cried out.

Henry immediately looked back down and saw the boy tearing off his arm before lunging at Alani.

However, Alani was fast to draw her sword and she swung at the lunging vampire boy. Blood scattered and a sharp cry resounded throughout the ruins.