A fortnight has passed since the day of Prince Vladstin of Crescentia's threat through Prince Leron's own mouth, and the people of Ilvedia watched the sunset with fear and dread.
Which was a shame, because it was a really beautiful sunset that day, one that could be described as perfect even. The napalm skies stretched over the horizon in warm hues, the sun falling down the distant seas across the land of the Thirteen Kingdoms. Everything was calm and peaceful, even the birds that flew were not frantic and seems to be enjoying their flight. It was quiet.
Too quiet, making the situation more unsettling.
When the skies fully turned dark and the moon rose, the soldiers watched alert, preparing their weapons that the Noble Huntsmen had blessed. They stood on their forts prepared to shoot anything that moves.
The first horde of corpses came.
The vampires were quick and agile, but the soldiers knew about this and did not falter to shoot with accuracy. With the support of the two hundred Noble Huntsmen led by Rothfir, arrows rained and struck the mindless vampires in their un-beating hearts. It was difficult, but the Ilvedians still has the upperhand.
Until vampires rose from graves all over the kingdom at the stroke of midnight, attacking at their blindspots.
The majority of the military defenses were concentrated at the borders, so the internal defense was running low. The people infected by vampirism got into Bloodlust all at once, and bit the nearest person beside them. It was pure chaos, the number of vampires kept increasing while the number of humans kept decreasing.
It was like the Judgement Day that was foretold in the Holy Text.
Old or young, man or woman, poor or rich.... There was no bias, no one was exempted from this predicament. Blood splattered on the ground like rain, both from humans and vampires. It was an Undead War.
Carrier pigeons raced back and forth from the frontlines to the castle, requesting for support. The nobles panicked in their own nightgowns, the vampires are slowly reaching the Capitol. There was crying and panic everywhere.
Prince Leron was forbidden to go outside his room.
"I want to hear the situation at least." Prince Leron pleaded with Sangfroid, who was blocking the door. "Please, Sangfroid. I cannot sleep from all the shouting outside. I need to know what is going on."
"Your Highness, this is for your own safety and for your people. No matter what fate befalls the kingdom, they cannot afford to lose their prince." Sangfroid said sternly, the right half of his face no longer hidden.
"Sangfroid, I'm scared. What if they're all dead?" Prince Leron gripped his shoulders. "What if the kingdom is falling apart and I wasn't even there to watch it? Sangfroid, I beg of you, just ask my adviser what the general situation is so I could be at peace. It has already been eight hours."
"The fight cannot continue till morning." Sangfroid reassured him. "The vampires fear the light of the sun, the light of the Child of the Heavenly Father. They will retreat once dawn come close or disintegrate from the light."
"I wonder who told you that."
A voice came from the closed curtains of the windowsill. Prince Leron's heart stopped beating and he felt a familiar unbearable cold in his veins. Sangfroid immediately pushed him behind him, grabbing his bow and arrows that he kept with him even in bed and drew one aiming at the window.
"Knock, knock!" Vladstin tapped the glass panes with his knuckles, a mischievous smirk in his mouth. "Hunter? My dear prince? Are you still alive?"
His face peered closer to the window, eyebrows raised and forever smiling. "Of course you are, I can smell your fear."
Sangfroid slowly approached, parting the curtains with the tip of his drawn arrow. Prince Leron clutched his clothes from behind with frightened eyes, wanting to tell him to stop but he lost his ability to speak due to the anxiety he was feeling. His stomach kept making twists and turns yet seeing Sangfroid's determined expression, he tried to calm himself.
Sangfroid parted the curtains in one clean swipe, revealing the Vampire Lord Vladstin hanging upside down like a bat.
"Good evening." He greeted them, teeth full of blood. "Open the window and let us chat, like three gentlemen, shall we?"
Prince Leron choked at the sight of... of this inhuman monster.
He had climbed his way up to the walls of the castle like a lizard, and clung to the window. He decided it will be more fun to surprise the two lovebirds with these act of hanging upside down, and so he did. His eyes shone bright as he watched their expression.
"I will kill you, vampire." Sangfroid said, gritting his teeth.
"Haha, I'm already dead! The prince beside you beat you to it. Soon, everyone will be too..." He turned to Prince Leron, enunciating slowly. "And. It. Is. All. Because. Of. You."
He made every consonant pop, showings signs of his Crescentian accent to make it sound more ridiculing.
Prince Leron was in tears. "Please, Vladstin. It's me you want, spare my kingdom! Take me instead and take back your army!"
"I wouldn't allow it, Your Highness." Sangfroid covered him more protectively. "I will destroy this creature before it even gets close to you."
Prince Vladstin cheekily opened the window and peeled his head through. "I'd like to see you try—"
Sangfroid shot an arrow straight to his face!
Vladstin disappeared, the window was empty.
Then, Prince Leron saw a figure at the farthest right corner of the bedroom.
"Too slow, you haven't been practicing these days, Hunter." Vladstin was posed leaning at the wall with his arms crossed. "You know, you should—"
Sangfroid shot another arrow.
"—Shoot a little faster, you know what I mean?" He whispered to Sangfroid ear.
He didn't seem like he moved at all, he was right there and then he reappeared beside Sangfroid like he was a phantom!
Sangfroid took out a dagger from his belt that he kept with him in case he needs to feed Prince Leron his blood, and slashed forward without hesitation.
"Tsk, nice reflexes, but still too slow." He was already behind Prince Leron, his claw-like hands clasping his shoulders. Prince Leron yelled and try to run away, but Vladstin's grip was so strong that he can't move a muscle and was stuck there.
"Unhand him, vampire!" Sangfroid yelled, throwing his dagger towards Vladstin's grinning face.
"I'm very disappointed in you, Hunter." Vladstin and Leron was already by the windowsill and Leron didn't even feel his feet go off the ground. The dagger got stuck on the nearby wall where they once was.
That means that night when he bit Leron, he wasn't even showing half of his speed and power! This is what he's really capable off!
"The morning is coming soon." Sangfroid huffed, his eyes glaring at him. "You will perish in the light."
"That's what I'm getting at, who told you such silly things?" Vladstin chuckled. "Your Holy Text? Hunter, the reason why you've never seen me in the morning...."
"Was because that was exactly what I wanted you to think."
Prince Leron's head rang at those words. "He has no weakness...."
"Yes, my dear prince. I don't." Vladstin grinned, and batted his eyelashes mischievously at Sangfroid. "Unlike Hunter here, who has gone all soft because of his pretty little crush."
"Grah!!!!" Sangfroid slashed forwards again, but Vladstin just teleported along with Leron to another window.
"This is honestly too boring. Our skills are incomparable with each other, it's pathetic." Vladstin faked a yawn. "How about this?"
He pushed Leron forwards with massive strength, sending him stumbling towards Sangfroid. "Ah!!!"
Sangfroid caught him immediately, thick eyebrows creasing from worry. "Your Highness!"
"Two men fighting for one person, isn't that the cliche of many romantic novels? Eventually, one will be chosen and the other one will lose." Vladstin cocked his head to the side, his eyes like two crescents with his wide smile. "So let us make a bet. Who will our little darling prince choose? Me or you?"
"You are delusional. The prince will never go with you." Sangfroid said firmly, hugging the prince close to his chest.
"You never know for sure. Do you have mind-reading powers? Do you know everything that the prince bears in his heart?" Vladstin taunted. "If I lose this wager, I will make my corpse puppets retreat, never to be seen again. If you lose, the prince will be mine, and Judgement Day will continue on until everyone from your little, treacherous kingdom became my puppets... including you. What do you say?"
Prince Leron was in tears, but he looked Vladstin straight in the eyes. "Are you telling the truth? Do you swear that you will keep your word?"
"Of course! Stab a stake in my heart and hope to die." Vladstin held out his hand like swearing an oath.
"Do not listen to his trickery." Sangfroid frowned. "All that comes out of his mouth are lies."
"Sangfroid.... I want this to end." Prince Leron wiped of his tears with his arm. "I cannot bear this."
"Then let me kill him—"
"He was right, he's already dead. And I killed him. I deserve his revenge." Prince Leron said, his blue eyes resolute. "I don't want to kill him again. I've wronged him enough."
"Your Highness..." Sangfroid was visibly upset by this decision.
"So...." Vladstin tapped his foot impatiently. "Are you ready to settle this wager?"
"Yes." Prince Leron let go of Sangfroid and turned to him. "I choose...."
Before he could say anything, Vladstin chanted these words: "You whose blood belongs to me, come forth!"
Prince Leron suddenly became dazed and walked towards Vladstin's open arms. The Vampire Lord chuckled as he took Prince Leron and wrapped his arms around him.
He gave Sangfroid the most viciously mocking grin. "I win. You lose."
Sangfroid's eyes bulge in anger. "That's not—"
"Fair? Hunter, the world is never fair." Vladstin stroke Prince Leron's hair, who's eyes still remained unfocused. "Take it from me. Besides, this is my game. You're meant to lose."
He jumped to the the window carrying the hypnotized prince, staring at hunter with a bloody smile. "You have always been meant to lose since the start. I just enjoyed playing with you, but I'm afraid play time's over."
And before Sangfroid could move another step, they both vanished into the night.
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