The First Vampire

A reindeer suddenly darted out of the verdant forest.

It ran frantically as if trying to evade some enemy’s tracking.

“Swoosh!”

A sharp arrow sailed through layers upon layers of leaves, penetrating the body of the reindeer with deadly precision.

Footsteps echoed, and three hunters appeared by the reindeer’s corpse.

“Sir Lyle, your archery skills are simply magnificent! You are truly unerring!” an attendant praised as he hoisted the reindeer’s body onto his shoulder.

Knight Lyle merely sneered, “It’s merely a deer, nothing to fuss about. Now help me find a wild boar in this forest. I plan to treat Viscount Angler to roasted boar trotters today.”

“Yes, yes.”

The trio continued on their way until Knight Lyle abruptly came to a halt. There had suddenly appeared a silhouette in front of them.

The figure was tall and lean, clad in half chain mail, a long sword hanging at his waist, and an opaque helmet covering his face.

Knight Lyle furrowed his brows at the stranger’s suspicious appearance and cautiously questioned him.

“I’m Knight Lyle Mormon, under the banner of Viscount Angler, the Lord of Ice Rock City. Who are you?”

The peculiar figure did not respond to Lyle’s query.

One of the attendants, suddenly infuriated, shouted, “Hey! You rude one, are you from a mercenary group? Why aren’t you answering Sir Lyle’s question!” The silence persisted.

Furiously, the attendant advanced with a stride intending to remove the stranger’s helmet.

Lyle did not attempt to intervene, but his hand moved to rest on the hilt of his knight’s sword.

“Hey! Can you understand what I’m… Ahhh!”

As the attendant shrieked, one of his legs plummeted into a trap which tore his right foot into a bloody mess.

“Choke!”

Knight Lyle swiftly drew his sword, saying forcefully, “Boy! This is your last warning. Remove your helmet, drop your sword, and reveal your identity! If not, don’t blame me for being uncivil!”

Yet, the eerie figure remained indifferent to Lyle’s warnings.

Lyle ceased speaking, held his breath, gripped the sword in both hands and slowly advanced towards his adversary.

But before he could get close to the stranger, a scream behind startled him.

Upon looking back, he saw another of his attendants who had fallen to an ambush.

“Damn!” Lyle roared, readying to rush back and aid his attendant.

But at that very moment, the gaunt figure lunged suddenly.

“I’ve been waiting for you!” Knight Lyle reacted swiftly, not the least bit flustered, he was ready. He turned and swung his sword at his adversary.

“Clang!”

The two blades clashed.

Lyle was taken aback and blurted, “You’re a knight!”

The lanky figure did not respond, but swung his blade menacingly once again.

Hesitation clouded Lyle’s heart.

A mysterious third-tier knight appearing on the outskirts of Ice Rock City was alarming.

Knight Lyle realized there might be other Lords aiming to target the Angler family.

He remembered that the mastermind behind the assassination attempt on Viscount Angler in Grey Castle was still at large.

Could it be…

“Boom!”

Lyle forcefully swung his sword, pushing back the mysterious knight. However, instead of pursuing him, he turned and fled.

The stranger had plotted something. This must be a trap!

Viscount Angler might be in danger too!

Lyle didn’t dare to pause, he even left his two attendants behind. He took off towards Colin’s direction.

The mysterious knight began to chase after him.

In the midst of their pursuit, they ran far away.

Just as the mysterious knight jumped over a small stream in pursuit of Lyle, Lyle suddenly stopped and abruptly swung his sword back. The knight had just landed.

The mysterious knight was a split second too slow to dodge and was skewered in the lower abdomen by Lyle’s sword.

“Ha! Didn’t expect that, did you!” Lyle’s vicious face turned into an insidious grin.

However, this grin soon froze on his face.

Because, the knight disregarded the sword protruding from his lower abdomen and retaliated with a sword strike!

This reckless counterattack caught Lyle off guard. He loosened his grip on his sword to prevent his forearm from being severed.

“Who are you, and which knight are you from!? Are you mad!?” Seeing that the mysterious knight kept attacking him despite having a sword in his abdomen, Lyle felt that the world had gone mad.

Without a weapon, he didn’t dare look back and could only run forward.

“Swoosh!”

A sharp arrow was fired. Lyle narrowly dodged it.

“Crap, this fellow has backup!” Lyle was terrified, realizing today might be his downfall.

Immediately after, several more arrows were fired from the forest, making Lyle exhausted from dodging, and soon he was caught up by the mysterious knight.

“Shi!”

Lyle screamed as a wound was inflicted on his thigh by the knight.

“Wait, who the heck are you? At least let me know who killed me!” Lyle collapsed onto the ground, panting for breath. Unfortunately, the knight ignored Lyle completely.

“Bang!”

The mysterious knight swung his scabbard and hit Lyle hard on the back of his head.

Lyle screamed again, “Are you trying to knock me out? Can you hit harder!?”

“Bang!”

Another blow.

Lyle finally blacked out this time.

“Lyle, Lyle? Wake up!”

Lyle opened his eyes groggily and saw Colin’s face.

“Viscount Angler?” Lyle seemed not fully awake yet.

After a moment, he finally snapped out of it and quickly asked, “Viscount Angler! Are you alright? A mysterious knight just attacked me, and I almost never saw you again!”

Trying not to laugh, Colin comforted him, “I’m fine. Fortunately, I heard your screams and managed to bring help in time. That knight who attacked you probably heard us coming and ran away.”

“Ran away?” Lyle looked disappointed, feeling that he was now powerless to take his revenge.

“Are you okay? Your face is so pale.” Colin asked with concern.

“I’m fine, just a wound on my leg, it doesn’t matter. However, I do feel a bit dizzy, I guess I lost too much blood.”

“Indeed, we need to stop the bleeding quickly.” Colin waved at one of his attendants behind him, signaling him to dress Lyle’s wounds.

“Viscount Angler, I suspect that the mysterious knight might be a woman, ” Lyle suddenly said.

“Oh? Did you see her face?” Colin asked nonchalantly.

“No. But…” Lyle rubbed his bald head, as he appeared to touch the area where he was injured, he grimaced in pain, “But, when she tried to knock me out, she couldn’t succeed in one try. Such strength, it must be a woman!”

Colin twitched his lips, looking somewhat speechless, “Really? That indeed is a useful clue.’

“Yeah, and, Viscount Angler, I suspect she might be connected with the mastermind of the assassination attempt on you in Grey Castle.”

“Well, this place is still unsafe. Let’s get back to Ice Rock City and you can take charge of the investigation.”

“Alright,” Lyle gritted his teeth and said, “I must catch that damn female knight! And smash her head in!”