At the far western side of the main city, Military personnel are gathered at the port, with cars and close vans on standby. The waters surrounding the port are the part of the ocean that leads to the outside world, with only tall rocks of mountains separating the vast ocean from the port. The waters within the mountains are sufficient to make a makeshift ocean.
A submarine emerged underwater, and the military personnel were rushing towards them, shouting to bring a ladder and have the others on standby. The hatch was opened, and Rina emerged from inside, breathing fresh air.
"Ahh, fresh air," she exclaimed happily, raising her arms. "Finally, home sweet home."
"Welcome back, Captain Davis and Vice-Captain Cao!" A soldier greeted them as he saluted.
"Oh, thanks!" Rina smiled as she descended from the submarine through the ladder.
As she landed on the solid ground, a woman with short brown hair saluted her, carrying a file with her in her other hand. "Welcome back, Vice-Captain!"
"How's the situation in the city?" Rina asked the woman in front of her.
"The situation is still fine as always. Most of the incidents are handled swiftly without commotion." She replied then she handed a file to Rina, which she took from her. "But refugees are increasing for the last few weeks, I'm afraid."
"Wait, did you say 'refugees'?" Rina turned as Augustus was behind her. Anissa was beside him, looking at the surroundings with awe in her eyes.
"Welcome back, Captain Davis!" The woman salute to Augustus. "Unfortunately, yes Captain. The guards patrolling the border are on high alert due to the high volume of people arriving on this island. We took every measure to make sure that the city remains hidden from the outside world."
"I guess these are the people who have escaped from the mainland," Augustus said as he put his hand on his chin, pondering. "Is the government doing something about this?"
"As of now, The President orders the Rescue Team to patrol the area outside the border to scout all of the refugees and put them to the rescue shelter." She replied. "But of course, the Intelligence team and the military are with them to make sure that none of the refugees are spies of the Vampire God."
"This is getting worse, I'm afraid." Augustus sighed. "We are reporting back to the office. Prepare the car."
"Yes sir. (Looking at Anissa) May I ask who she is, Captain?"
"Our main mission," Rina answered then she glanced at Anissa. "We tell you all the details along the way."
*
The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was the familiar white ceiling of the clinic. Sephiram raises his hand to shield his eyes from the bright sunlight from the clinic's window, the curtains sway smoothly.
"Oh, you're awake."
Sephiram looked around and he saw Doctor Kyle examine the file. "What happened?" He asked.
"You were passed out during the Virtual Training." Dr. Kyle explained. "Your body somehow strained due to the amount of mana you released in casting an S-rank spell."
"S-rank spell?" Sephiram asked to which the doctor nodded. "I don't remember what happened back there."
"Hmm. I think that's the after-effect of casting a powerful spell." He pondered then turned to Sephiram. "I recommend that you take a rest and be excused from your class for the rest of the day." He advised.
"Thank you, but I'll be fine," Sephiram said as he tried to stand up.
"Nope! You are not standing up!" The doctor scolded as he saw him try to stand up and restrain him. "Lie in there and take some rest!"
Sephiram pouted in response. "Don't wear that face on me, mister!" The doctor added.
"What's wrong here?" The doctor turned around and saw Westeria leaning on the doorway.
"Your student here wanted to get out of the bed!" He complained.
"Take some rest, Davis." The instructor said in a harsh tone. "Your body is strained. I will call your mother to pick you up."
Sephiram dropped his face like a sad puppy. "You are excused for the rest of the day." He added.
"Yes sir."
*
Doctor Kyle closed the door behind him as he looked at the instructor with a concerned look.
"Did the principal know this?" He asked.
"I already sent the video recording to the principal," Westeria replied, arms crossed. "I'm still waiting for his response."
"Still, Instructor Claus from Class Beta and Instructor Axiom from Class Charlie also witnessed it, right?"
Westeria nodded. "Kindly revisit his mana and medical examination if you have free time. In case the principal ordered us to do so."
"Will do." His companion said. "But is this somehow connected to his mark?"
"Probably. But we need to get some evidence first before jumping to conclusions. I think the government wants something to do with him if they find out."
*
Augustus knocked on the door to the General's office. "Come in." Was the response.
Augustus and Rina opened the door and entered the room. The General was sitting on his chair, reading the report while piles of papers were laid out on his table. The General is a man in his forties with white hair and a goatee, and he is wearing his military uniform.
"Sir!" Augustus and Rina greeted him while saluting.
The General looked at them and put down the report. "How's the situation on the mainland?"
"Worse," Augustus answered. "We already succeeded in retrieving the target but the movements of the people there are getting stricter as the days go by."
"We also noticed that the vampires are now tracking down every possible rebel and refugee who is trying to escape the mainland," Rina added. "It seems like the Vampire God doesn't want any of the people on the mainland to escape in his domain."
"The number of vampires is also increasing day by day," Augustus added. "It's a matter of time before they initiate an attack on Libertas."
The General sighed. "With the increasing amount of people discovering this island, it is not surprising that sooner or later, this city will be discovered, and we will be under attack." He stands up and looks out the window. He saw the military doing some drills in the bright red afternoon sun, as the captain inspected the soldiers one last time before dismissing them for the day. "By then, we are prepared for a war with them." He turned to the two. "How's the target, by the way?"
"She's been examined by the doctors for possible injuries as well as psychological therapy," Augustus answered. "Sir, may I ask: Why the government wanted the target, anyway?"
The general went silent. He put both his hands on his chin, pondering to himself. "Have you two know the story about the Royal Family?" The General asked them.
The two nod their heads in reply. "Are they the ones that sealed the Vampire God four hundred years ago, but the seal weakened a century later?" Rina asked.
"Yes." The General answered. "The Royal Family has the mark of the Fleur de Lis on different body parts as proof of their Holy Powers. The one who seals the Vampire God is the Crown Prince himself, who has the mark on his left shoulder. The magic he uses is an SS-rank Holy magic, but casting said spell needs an equivalent exchange, which results in his soul, along with the soul of his sister and his loyal subordinates, being reincarnated in every cycle.
"The Vampire God knew this so he decided to search for the Crown Prince's reincarnation while hunting down the members of the Royal Family into extinction, as well as the Princess' reincarnation and the prince's loyal subordinates so that they would not gather and perform the SS-rank Holy Magic to imprison him again."
"So, don't tell me the girl is-"
"The reincarnation of the princess of the Royal Family." The General explained. "The Royal Family is now extinct thanks to the massacre three hundred years ago. That girl has the same mark placed as the Crown Prince's per report from outside and the government is now asking the scholars to research the ancient text that was left behind by the last surviving member of the Royal Family who founded Libertas."
"The ancient text. Is that the ancient prophecy that the last surviving member was talking about?" Augustus asked.
"Yes." The General answered. "The prophecy states that to defeat the Vampire God, only the Crown Prince's reincarnation must raise an army to save humanity. Or something like that."
"But we also receive reports of several men with those marks being killed before presenting it to him," Rina said. "Not only that, but we also heard from the locals there that a rebellion that happened fifty years ago failed due to a traitor selling them out. And the leader is the one with the Fleur de Lis mark, no less!" She added.
"Not only that, but we also still don't know the reason why the Vampire God is fixated on finding him," Augustus said in a worried voice. In his mind, he is worrying about a certain someone.
"Up until now, we don't know the reason why he was fixated on him but no matter at all costs we won't let that man fall into the Vampire God's hands." The General said in a serious tone. "He is humanity's only hope against him and if we find him, we will ensure to protect him!"
Augustus looked at the floor while listening to the General the entire time. His face wore a worried look. As he closed his eyes, the image of his smiling brother appeared before him.
'Sephiram.'