Chapter 7 - The Purge

Black smoke from burning trees filled the sky as a bloody battlefield in a densely forested mountain range was revealed. The ground was painted red from the blood and intestines of hundreds as a gory massacre was happening.

Clang!

Clang!

Weapons and shields clashed against each other as an army of a thousand well-equipped soldiers fought against a group of refugees traveling through this mountain range.

"Ahhhhrrrr!!" wailed a violet-haired vampire woman in her 50s as a sword cut off her left thigh in a single swing.

Stab!

An old bald man's neck was pierced by a polearm as he tried to run away.

Slash!

A 7 years old young girl was cut in half by a battleaxe held by a tall and burly man.

"Anya, run!" an adult vampire shouted as he tried to protect his wife and the newborn baby in her hands from a group of soldiers that were chasing them.

Swing!

But without giving him a chance to defend, a warrior riding a horse swung his sword and decapitated this white-haired vampire.

"Marvin!!" shouted the vampire woman as she helplessly saw her husband's head falling off on the ground.

"No!! Nooo!!" screamed the blonde-haired wife in disbelief.

Stab!

Stab!

Before she could even grasp the situation and accept the fact that her significant other was just killed…

Two spears poked through her neck and belly from behind.

A stream of blood spread on the ground from the fallen vampire man's body while his wife also didn't get a chance to escape. Both of them dying meaningless deaths.

As she slowly dropped to the ground… the baby in her arms fell with her.

"Wahhh!"

"Wahh!!" cried this newborn who was only a couple of months old.

Thud!

Thud!

A tall and burly man with a brown grizzly beard who was donned in white and golden armor walked slowly towards this couple.

"Don't let anyone escape! Kill all these heathens!" he shouted.

"Yes, commander!!" responded a group of soldiers.

This man then looked at the baby crying in pain.

"Tch! Another bloodsucker insect." he said and lifted his right leg.

Splat!!

The commander stomped on this crying baby and splattered its head on the ground. The cries of this defenseless infant finally stopped as it died a gruesome death.

"Just another problem of the future. It's better to exterminate these sinners before they even grow up." spoke the middle-aged commander.

Then he moved forward and headed towards another group of defenseless vampires who were being played around by the soldiers instead of getting killed quickly.

Huff!

Huff!

On another side of the dense treelines, ran a young white-haired vampire boy who seemed to be in his teenage years.

He ran along with a dark brown-skinned and black-haired vampire girl of the same age.

Pierce!

But before they ventured towards the middle…

An arrow pierced the girl's left shoulder and she fell on the ground.

"Yelena!" shouted the boy and quickly turned around.

"Vlad, run!!" she shouted as she saw three soldiers coming their way.

But instead of leaving the girl behind, the vampire boy named Vlad quickly turned around and saw Yelena bleeding profusely.

He quickly grabbed her fallen figure and tried to pick her up.

"Hop on my back, I'll carry you!" he said hurriedly.

Shoot!

Stab!

In the very next moment… an arrow pierced Yelena's head right when she got up.

Shock!

Vlad was rooted on the spot as in just a second… he saw his childhood friend get instantly killed and her body fell on the ground on his left.

"Ye.. Yele.." he stuttered with a horrified expression.

Just 10 minutes ago, he was walking around with Yelena and trying to pick up some herbs from the treelines as instructed by one of their clan's elderly to use for making medicines.

But out of nowhere, an army of humans suddenly surrounded their people spread in the mountainous range.

And in just a short time… he saw Yelena's head getting poked through by an arrow.

"Get him!" shouted one of the soldiers.

Vlad quickly came back to his senses and looked at the archer who just shot down Yelena.

"You bastards!!" he shouted and frantically charged at the soldiers without any care for his life.

----------------

Similar scenarios occurred across 3 kilometers of radius as hundreds of normal and weak vampires, let it be grown-ups or young children, were massacred brutally.

The human army with holy crosses that emitted a white aura and weakened these people kept ruthlessly massacring these defenseless people.

"Keep the young women in their group alive.

They're tenacious and will be a good meat stock to enjoy ourselves. All you need is some animal blood to keep them alive for days." spoke a young blonde-haired human clad in a lightweight white and golden armor with an insidious grin on his face.

"We will just use the holy artifact granted by the church and enjoy them when they can't even resist.

These pests should at least be useful to relieve our stress." he continued.

"What do you say, men? Want to try some vampire beauties?" he asked with a sinister tone as he looked around 40 or so men circling him.

"Yes, captain!" replied the soldiers in unison.

Half an hour later… a figure of a young white-haired vampire boy appeared in the middle of the battlefield as if he was searching for something.

Thud!

Vlad fell on the ground as he had multiple lacerations all over his body and his left arm was missing a big chunk of flesh.

A big gash on his right leg bled heavily but he still kept walking with all his might.

Soon, he saw a heap of bodies spread across the open grounds where his clan usually gathered to eat dinner since they camped at this place for over two weeks.

"No! No! No!!" exclaimed Vlad as he noticed 3 bodies among the dead.

He haphazardly crawled on the ground with every bit of strength he had left and marched towards the center of the battlefield filled with mangled flesh and torn bodies of his kin.

He finally came close to them and spoke with an ashen expression…

Slap!

"This isn't real! This isn't real! This can't be real!" said Vlad and slapped himself as of trying to wake himself from a hellish nightmare.

In front of him… was a body of a vampire whose head was just right beside it.

On the exact opposite side, was a blonde woman with a horrified expression.

"Mother… Father… wake up!" he said and shook off their bodies.

A stream of tears ran from his eyes as Vlad felt like his world just ended.

"I'm here! Your son is here! Please! This can't be real!..." he wailed in agony as his heart turned heavy.

But his words stopped due to grief… he saw a small figure just next to his mother.

A mutilated body and a cracked open skull of a baby drowned in blood lay in front of him.

Vlad slowly picked it up and cradled it in his arms.

"Atrian… no, my poor Atrian." spoke Vlad as beads of tears dropped from his cheeks.

At this moment, the intense physical pain was not even comparable to what he felt in his mind and heart.

The massacre continued across the forested region but Vlad didn't even have the strength to get up after watching the dead bodies of his family.

Hundreds of people around him were screaming, crying, and wailing as they were being brutally murdered by humans equipped with armors and weapons.

Vlad himself was too scared and frozen on the spot as he lost everything dear to him.

As the minutes passed, he still couldn't move from the shock while everyone he knew growing up was being killed by the human army.

"Repent in the afterlife for being born as a vampire, you blood-sucking scum.

The church of goddess Elenoia shall purge all of your unholy brethren." shouted the commander of the human army, his loud and grim voice resounding in the whole surrounding battlefield.

Shaken to his core, and having his baby brother's corpse in his arms… Vlad finally lifted his head up with tears in his eyes.

He looked at the sky filled with the black smoke from the battlefield.

"Why are we the only ones being hunted? Why won't anyone save us? Is there no God?"

Asked Vlad in a helpless voice as the most precious thing in his life was taken away from him.

Stab!!

The next moment, a spear plunged through Vlad's heart from behind as he failed to notice anything around him during the state of trance.

"Huh! How come there was one alive?

Gather the bodies, we're burning them!" shouted a squad leader among the group of soldiers and pulled out his spear from Vlad's back, leaving a big hole in his chest.

Thud!

The young vampire dropped on the ground as he didn't even understand why he suddenly fell.

And as the blood finally burst out from his heart… he realized that his fate would be no different than the rest of his family and clan.

Soon, his eyes turned heavy as he lost the remaining strength in his body.

He closed his eyes as the sweet memories of his childhood, his loving and caring parents as well as the day his baby brother was born flashed in his mind.

How they had been happy together despite spending the past few weeks running away and struggling ever since the human empire attacked their small kingdom.

[Only if I was strong… strong enough to protect my family, my friends, and my people…] thought Vlad and finally, he took his final breath and embraced the eternal rest.

But right before his consciousness faded…

A lifeless voice suddenly resounded in his mind.

[Blood Sovereign System activated!]