The First Vampire

Thorn Mountain, dark and looming, lay like a colossal beast to the southwest of Silver Moon City.

The area was not particularly high; the mountain was covered with thistles, making it difficult to pass. As a result, half-elf hunters rarely came here to hunt.

This led to Thorn Mountain being scarcely populated by humans, rendering it a paradise for wild animals.

However, today, the tranquility of Thorn Mountain was abruptly shattered.

Thump thump thump—

The sound of galloping hooves echoed, startling countless birds and beasts in the forest.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Several sharp arrows whistled past, none hitting any humans, but instead made an innocent passing deer their unfortunate victim.

Among those involved in this chase, one side was dressed in black, naturally the Dark Cavalry, and the other, in white armor, belonged to the Pegasus Army from the East Territory.

On the black side, there was just one man, while the white side slightly outnumbered them, with roughly thirty riders, all of whom appeared to be scout cavalry from their uniform.

This was quite unusual indeed.

When scout cavalry from opposing armies encounter each other, they generally do not engage in a fight to the death.

First and foremost, the primary objective of the scout cavalry is to deliver messages, not to bring back the skulls of enemies.

Moreover, if they chased too deep, they could easily get surrounded by the enemy’s main force, which would be an absolute death sentence.

Yet, the scout troop of the Pegasus Army was relentlessly pursuing the Dark Cavalry scout at the forefront.

The reason they were going so far was that they had spotted a “big fish”—Viscount Colin Angler!

The scout cavalry of the Pegasus Army, though puzzled as to why this esteemed viscount from the North Territory would personally come out to gather information, as soon as they confirmed Colin to be the man in the portrait, discarded all hesitation and sought to earn the glory of being the first to seise him!

The mountain road was treacherous and thorny barriers obstructed them, neither side could go at full speed.

Even so, through the chase, they had almost reached the middle of the mountain slope.

Foam started appearing near the horse’s mouth, as if it was going to collapse from exhaustion at any moment.

Colin reached out and touched the neck of the horse, discovering that his mount was already drenched in sweat, seemingly on its last legs.

The war horses of the Half-Elves sure don’t match up to the fine horses of the North Territory.

Colin grumbled to himself.

At that moment, the war horse under him stumbled and tumbled to the ground, the sound of breaking bones echoed quite grating to ears.

Colin, thrown off the horse, adjusted his stance mid-air. Upon landing, he rolled forward to dampen the impact, then sprung up swiftly.

“Quick, grab him!”

The pursuing scout cavalry from the East Territory, as if injected with adrenaline, rushed forth at high speed.

Without a sign of panic, Colin drew the Blade of Judgment at his waist, taking a combat stance against the more than ten fast approaching horses.

Boom!

A loud roar.

The Blade of Judgment, burning with red flames, emitted a blinding golden holy light that burst forth all at once.

What followed was the splattering of fresh blood, as if a blood rain had been inaugurated.

The cavalier who charged head-on towards Colin was cleaved into two halves, including his horse!

As the blood and golden light gradually dissipated, Colin’s figure grew gradually visible. He was now completely bathed in blood, resembling a devil emerging from hell.

Colin licked the blood off his face, ready to taunt his opponents, before he saw another rider charging from the side.

Boom!

The Blade of Judgment morphed into a streak of red light, cleaving the incoming rider into two once more.

However, the onslaught did not abate. A third, a fourth, a fifth cavalier followed…

The scout cavalry of the East Territory appeared to have gone mad, repeatedly charging towards Colin like moths drawn to a flame.

After slaughtering the fifteenth cavalier, upon seeing the sixteenth charging towards him, Colin finally changed his expression.

The holy light emanating from the approaching cavalier signified that this sixteenth person was a Knight.

Seized with numbness in his arms due to the previous reckless collisions, Colin dared not take another direct assault. Frantically, he rolled on the ground, dodging the knight’s charge.

At this moment, he finally understood why even high-ranking knights couldn’t escape demise when encircled alone by a large army.

Just as Colin was considering whether to transform, the sound of horse hooves rang out from the woods once more.

Soon enough, a dozen Dark Armored Cavalry appeared on the battlefield.

“Protect Viscount Angler!”

Seeing this, the Eastern Region scout cavalry knew they had no hope of catching the big fish today, promptly turned their horses around and fled towards the base of the mountain.

“Viscount, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Colin sheathed his longsword, then called out to the cavalry trying to give chase, “Don’t bother pursing them, let them flee.”

“Yes, sir.”

“My Lord, a large number of Eastern Region troops have gathered at the foot of the mountain. We are surrounded. Should we break out immediately?”

Colin wiped the fresh blood from his face and shook his head, “No, it’s not time yet.”

“Yes, sir.”

Looking at the youthful yet determined face of the other, Colin suddenly asked, “Scared?”

The Dark Cavalry scout shook his head resolutely, “My Lord, the Dark Cavalry is never afraid of battle!”

Colin raised an eyebrow, “Not even a fight where death is certain?”

“No fear!”

The young Dark Cavalry scout straightened his chest, assuming a seemingly natural posture.

Colin stared into his eyes, taking a look around, and indeed found these Dark Cavalry soldiers had not an ounce of fear in their eyes.

His mood suddenly became complicated. After a moment of hesitation, he said softly, “In this battle, you will truly die.”

Thump!

The Dark Cavalry scout hit his armor hard, loudly said, “As long as we can avenge Shadow Gorge, we shall die with no regrets!”

“Die without regrets!”

“Die without regrets!”

Looking at the impassioned faces before him, Colin suddenly felt something stirring in his heart.

Perhaps, this is the real reason the Dark Cavalry remained invincible and unmatched.

Colin took a deep breath, solemnly placed his right hand on his chest, saluted

the crowd, and loudly said,

“I promise you, I will fight with you to the last moment! And, this Eastern Region army will definitely be annihilated in the Half-Elf Kingdom! ”

Below Thorn Mountain, in the Pegasus Army’s large camp.

A knight quickly walked into the temporary command post, bowed hastily, and reported loudly, “Marquis Vincent, i have found a trace of Viscount Angler on

Thorn Mountain!”

Marquis Vincent’s eyes lit up, “Are you sure?”

“Positive, I even crossed swords with him.”

“Good!” Marquis Vincent excitedly slapped the table and stood up, pacing back and forth in the tent.

Considering the information obtained from other scouts, a force of over eight thousand was indeed hidden in Thorn Mountain; now that they had discovered

Colin’s trace, Marquis Vincent was almost certain—-

The remnants of the Dark Cavalry were hiding in this mountain.

“Heh heh, this Colin Angler really is foolish, hiding his army in such a dead end!

Moreover, he lacks the courage of decisiveness. If he had decided to lead his army in a decisive rush earlier, he might have been able to escape with at least some part, but alas, the net has been cast, even if he wanted to run now, he cannot!”

A moment later, he stopped pacing and gave out an order.

“Give my military order, hold the foot of the mountain, do not let any Dark Cavalry soldiers escape.

Also, have the soldiers fell trees and gather weeds. Tomorrow morning, I am going to burn down Thorn Mountain! ”

“Yes!”