Hvítreiðr, city square.
The city square was a wide area with a stone sword statue at its center. It held a strategic position due to its equal distance from various parts of the city, making it a key point in the vampires' plan.
As such, just like their attack on the chief's hall to demoralize the enemy, they stationed a few powerful vampires in the city square as well.
However, seeing one of their powerful vampires decapitated by Lothi made them realize that perhaps their plan was not as well-conceived as they thought.
Covered in the blood of his enemies, Lothi emanated a dominant aura. He swung the severed head he was holding in the air and then split it in two with his double-headed axe. "Ha, you arrogant sons of bitches! Your end will be worse than the army you sent last time!" he laughed.
Standing beside him with his sword and shield was Alric, who had less blood splattered on him compared to Lothi. Yet, he too exuded a commanding aura.
Opposing them were three fifth-degree vampires of varying stages. Except for their leader, who wielded a rapier, the other two relied on their bodies as weapons. A commonality among them was the presence of various cut wounds on their bodies.
The vampire on the left of the rapier wielder, looking at their comrade's body, which was desecrated even after death, spoke with a mix of pity and a desire for revenge. "Baron, the superiors clearly sent us to our deaths. The danger level of this city is not baron level but count level!"
The vampire on the right nodded in agreement. "We were only given one blood mage for this mission. If only we had realized this was a setup sooner..."
Their words seemed to have angered the rapier wielder. "The northerner named Ülgen is a variable that exceeded our superiors' expectations. We weren't sent to our deaths; they haven't even arrived yet." His gaze briefly shifted to the city's gate before returning to Lothi and Alric. "And you'd better shut up. Don't you see they're waiting for us to talk to gather more information?"
Seeing the two vampires behind the Baron flinch and nod, Lothi laughed disgustingly while stretching his body with his axe. "See, Alric? Just as Lord Ülgen said, they talk about all their secrets in front of us because they see us as barbarians!"
Alric grinned. "It's a bit sad that they won't underestimate us forever. Look, their baron has already started figuring things out."
The blatant mockery from the pair turned the vampires' faces as red as tomatoes. If looks could kill, Alric and Lothi would have died hundreds of times. However, before either side could react, a massive explosion shook the square.
Seeing the source of the explosion, the faces of the two clan warriors fell. "I think we should speed things up, buddy," said Lothi, gripping his axe tighter.
"I agree," replied Alric, swinging his sword to shake off the blood splattered on it.
The rapier-wielding vampire said, "Support me!" and suddenly dashed forward.
Then, a battle at a speed difficult to follow for those below the fifth degree resumed.
The baron-ranked vampire had extensive combat experience and exceptional speed. His rapier thrusts gave Lothi, who relied on brute strength and endurance, a hard time.
Moreover, the two fifth-degree vampires beside him, including the deceased one, had an extraordinary level of coordination from having killed hundreds of enemies together. This led to their belief in their invincibility against enemies of the same degree.
However, Lothi was not alone. Whenever the rapier tried to exploit an opening in Lothi's guard, a shield would suddenly appear to deflect or block it, and the ensuing sword strike would force the baron to retreat.
Unlike Lothi, who focused on power and heavy attacks, Alric adopted a more balanced approach with his sword and shield. This allowed him to cover Lothi's openings and counterattack at the right moments.
In the early phase of their battle, one of the baron's subordinates fell into Alric's hands due to his counterattacks. When the baron shifted his focus to Alric, he then faced Lothi's power surges.
Though the baron relied on his peak fifth-degree agility to evade most attacks, it wasn't as simple for his subordinates who supported him. They needed to push Lothi back and create an opening in Alric's defense to give the baron a chance.
However, Lothi's brute strength made it impossible to push him back. This prevented the baron's subordinates from creating an opening in Alric's defense. Moreover, the endurance, strength, and speed of the two warriors surpassed those of both human warriors of the same level and the vampires themselves.
The baron, managing to push Alric back with four rapid strikes of his rapier and dodging Lothi's double-headed axe, couldn't comprehend what kind of creature's blood had been used to empower these warriors named Ülgen. But there was no time to dwell on it during the fight. To avoid losing his remaining subordinates, he needed to focus on the enemy's attacks.
"This can't go on. Since we're losing in high-level combat, let's prioritize quantity..." the baron's eyes glowed red as he turned to where the lower-level fighters were battling.
While the fifth-degree fighters were engaged among themselves, the clan warriors blessed with dragon blood at the fourth degree and the third-degree warriors were trying to eliminate the other vampires. However, unlike the dominant Lothi and Alric, the clan warriors were on the defensive.
Most of the third-degree warriors were from clans that Hvítreiðr had integrated over the past two years. Among them were even former clan chiefs. But Hvítreiðr's power and its movements to change the fate of the north had subdued their ambitions and made them bow to the city.
Now, they were fighting against bloodsucking creatures beyond their imagination. Yet, beside them stood warriors who were individually stronger and had oppressive auras. Though their situation wasn't good, they were ready to fight to the death. For their new lord, Ülgen, had sworn on behalf of the clan that their families would not be put in a difficult position, even if they died.
The biggest reason these warriors, unaware that they were blessed with dragon blood, couldn't easily defeat the vampires was their lack of experience.
They had risen through the ranks faster than most people in the north could imagine, but they had yet to reach the experience needed to use their power to its full potential. Thus, despite being dominant in raw strength, they still suffered casualties.
The vampires had concentrated their forces near the tower, the chief's hall, and the city square. Especially in the city square, there were nearly two dozen vampires, opposed by only fifteen dragon-blooded clan warriors.
As the battles progressed, three of them had died, while they had killed four vampires in return. This only worsened the situation.
The captain of the dragon-blooded warriors, fighting against three vampires simultaneously, hoped that the fifth-degree fighters would assist them soon. Even the third-degree warriors beside him were falling one by one.
As his aura reserves neared depletion, thoughts of survival were replaced by the desire to take the three vampires with him before he died. Just as he was about to make a suicide attack, the vampires' sudden retreat bewildered him for a moment.
Then, the vampires, as if under an irresistible command, charged at them with twisted expressions, resulting in the deaths of many third-degree warriors among them.
"They've gone mad! Protect each other and prevent the enemy from breaking our lines!" shouted the captain as he decapitated a vampire attacking him with his two swords, managing to issue a brief command to his subordinates before he was heavily wounded by the three vampires assaulting him. His final thoughts before dying and having his body torn apart by the vampires were of his family and children in the northern part of the city...
Seeing the strongest warriors of the clan fall one by one, Alric and Lothi, who were close to killing another fifth-degree vampire, were enraged. However, despite their fury, they did not have the numbers to launch a reckless attack like their enemies.
Alric, after bashing the rapier-wielding baron into the nearby vampire with a shield blow, gritted his teeth and said, "We've surpassed the loss threshold our lord permitted; we must retreat now!"
Hearing these words, Lothi roared like a madman and charged into the fourth-degree vampire ranks, spinning with his axe.
"Stop that bastard!" shouted the baron, but before he and his subordinates could rush at Lothi, they were intercepted by Alric's sword.
"You'll have to step over my dead body first!"
Alric, facing the attacks of three vampires of the same degree, used his aura even more recklessly, knowing they would retreat soon. By the time Lothi killed six fourth-degree vampires and opened a path for the soldiers to retreat, his sword-wielding arm was on the verge of breaking.
But he forced his will and, with one final burst of aura, pushed the three vampires back and managed to escape. Seeing the duo and the soldiers retreat towards the tower, the baron ordered his subordinates to stop instead of pursuing.
"Destroy that sword statue and renew yourselves with the bodies of the fallen!" he commanded, lifting the body of his dead fifth-degree subordinate and beginning to drain its blood.
"As you wish, B-Baron!" Even the fifth-degree vampires found it unsettling to see their comrades, with whom they had fought alongside, being consumed by their baron as a potion. But they obeyed the order.
As the stone statue was destroyed, the vampires in the square let out victorious cheers. The nearly restored vampire baron also turned towards the city gates with a calm expression. He could sense a malevolent aura beyond the gates. "The time has come."