The First Vampire

“Charge!”

A dwarf general clad in heavy armor agilely leaped down from the ship. As he got off, an arrow was aimed straight for his eye.

But he simply tilted his head, allowing the arrow to hit his helmet, making a clanging sound.

Then, the strongest Tier 5 warrior from the Dawson family roared in anger, smashing his huge warhammer onto the ground.

Boom!

The raging shockwave rapidly spread out, causing the already soft beachhead to instantly sink in. It was as if a beast from deep underground had suddenly opened its mouth, swallowing hundreds of soldiers from the Golden Lion Legion inside.

Tumu roared in laughter, giving a beast-like battle cry:

“Charge! Tear these humans to shreds!”

This powerful Tier 5 warrior, with his very first move, gave the Golden Lion Legion a brutal warning in his own way.

The dense formation of the Golden Lion Legion was torn apart, and Tumu charged forward. The Dwarf heavy-armored infantry following behind him also roared and poured into the military formation of the Golden Lion Legion.

The frontline of the Golden Lion Legion was constantly retreating under the assault of the dwarf heavy-armored infantry. The swords, bows, and arrows in their hands had a hard time breaking through the heavy armor.

In order to inflict damage on these dwarf heavy-armored infantry, they needed special weapons – warhammers.

However, Knight Kambening did not expect the dwarfs to send their elite heavy-armored infantry so quickly into the battlefield, therefore he did not deploy the warhammer squads to the frontline.

For a moment, the beachhead defense line of the Golden Lion Legion was in constant retreat. The dwarf heavy-armored infantry were like sharp knives thrusting into the human military formation, constantly carving out traces of blood.

The bravery of the dwarf elite troops was fully demonstrated at this moment.

More and more dwarf infantry was crossing the river via the pontoon bridge. They finally managed to get a foothold in the shallow waters.

Knight Kambening couldn’t sit still as he saw this. He prepared to order the warhammer squad to rush forward and deployed more soldiers to seize the beachhead.

However, Colin shook his head and stopped Knight Kambening: “Don’t rush. Let the frontline troops retreat first. Let’s give the beachhead to the dwarfs.”

Knight Kambening hesitated for a moment but, thinking that Viscount Angler is said to be the general whom Marquis Garcia values the most, especially given his consecutive victories in Silver Moon City and the Troll Empire, he certainly wouldn’t be ignorant about the military, so he nodded and said:

“Yes!”

The mage Cusius, who had been standing to the side, suddenly said: “Viscount Angler, if you need it, I can destroy the dwarf’s pontoon bridge.”

Colin was surprised and turned his head back, scrutinizing Vera’s teacher with an examining gaze. A while later, he laughed: “What’s the cost of your help?”

“No cost!” Cusius smiled and shook his head, his face full of sincerity.

But Colin was secretly annoyed – the most expensive thing is something for free.

He didn’t know what scheme this mage Cusius was plotting, but he never let his guard down.

“We won’t bother you for the moment. The Golden Lion Legion won’t have a problem dealing with the mere Dawson family.”

Actually, Colin’s plan was to let a portion of the dwarf army cross the river, then attack them while they were halfway through.

This defensive battle had to hurt the Dawson family severely to ensure that they would not dare to chase after them lightly when the Golden Lion Legion retreated.

If they allowed Cusius to spell-cast and destroy the pontoon bridge, or if they stubbornly defended the beachhead making it impossible for the dwarfs to cross the river, they wouldn’t be able to truly inflict enough casualties on the dwarf army.

Though allowing the dwarfs to have a foothold at the beachhead would make the next phase of the battle tougher, it was a price that had to be paid.

Scholar Doan helped Colin set a “defensive” strategy, but when it was necessary to strike proactively, Colin wouldn’t hesitate.

Moreover, the more they wanted to withdraw, the more they needed to make the enemy think they wanted to fight to the death.

So, Colin planned to fight this crossing battle as if it were the decisive battle.

As the Golden Lion Legion retreated, more and more Dwarf warriors crossed the bridge, forming a formation on the south bank of the Ben Liu River.

However, they didn’t hastily chase after them. Instead, they were waiting for more allies to cross the river.

Duke Dawson on the opposite bank, seeing that his army had so quickly occupied the beachhead, laughed heartily: “The Golden Lion Legion is nothing more than this!”

The dwarf military officer next to him also laughed and echoed: “After all, they were in chaos all night yesterday. They must be dozing off now.”

“But we can’t let our guard down.” Duke Dawson curtailed his laughter and said seriously, “Send a message to Tumu, have him defend the beachhead and not rush out easily.”

“Yes!”

After the initial bloody struggle, the battlefield suddenly became quiet, as if it had entered halftime rest.

More and more dwarves crossed the Ben Liu River; by the afternoon, the number of the Dwarf Legion crossing the river had exceeded ten thousand. Moreover, they started to build crude defenses on the beachhead, preparing to create a “bridgehead”.

Of course, the Golden Lion Legion was not idle either.

Colin first treated his warriors to a hearty meal, then assigned some troops to guard against sudden attacks by the dwarves, and allowed the main force to return to the camp for some rest.

After all, they had been up all night, and the majority of the army was not at their best mentally. Seeing that the dwarves were busy crossing the river and constructing their defenses, Colin let his troops rest to replenish their energy.

He was initially worried that the dwarves would send out small groups to harass them, but until two or three in the afternoon, the dwarves showed no signs of attacking.

Colin instantly understood that Marquis Dawson from the opposing side was a commander with a cautious and conservative style.

One could guess, after all, Marquis Dawson was mainly responsible for logistics in the Dark Cavalry and wouldn’t possess an aggressive nature.

Being cautious and conservative is not necessarily a flaw, but if you hesitate to take advantage of opportunities in front of you, they will slip through your fingers.

Namely, in Colin’s view, if Marquis Dawson truly chose a conservative strategy, he shouldn’t choose to fight across the river, but should continue to wait for the arrival of the Menam family army.

If one chooses to cross the river, one would naturally be at a strategical disadvantage, as the Ben Liu River would naturally divide the dwarven army in two.

Merely relying on one pontoon bridge would never truly connect the two sections of the divided army.

At present, the crossing of the Dwarf Legion seemed to be going smoothly, but when the Golden Lion Legion truly launched a general attack, they would taste the agony of neither advancing nor retreating.

Marquis Dawson would also understand that he had missed the best chance to defeat the Golden Lion Legion.

At three in the afternoon, the Golden Lion Legion, which had already finished resting, gathered again. The warriors’ spirits were instantly revitalized.

Colin stood on a temporarily erected platform with Vera by his side, with two coffins placed next to them.

One contained the “remains” of Duke St. Hilde, and the other was the “remains” of Charles St. Hilde.

The reason both remains are in quotation marks is because neither is a real corpse.

Duke St. Hilde’s is simply a switched-out stone statue, while Charles, well, he’s not completely dead yet…

“Go ahead.” Colin let go of Vera’s hand, his eyes filled with encouragement.

Vera gently nodded and then went to the front of the stage alone.

The two coffins were placed behind her; the afternoon sun shone down through the clouds as if cloaking her in a holy halo.

“My father is dead.

My brother is also dead.”

Vera’s crisp and resolute voice spread across the wilderness through a sound enhancement spell.

The first two sentences uttered caused the warriors of the Golden Lion Legion present to show expressions of shame.

They have always prided themselves as the “Shield of St. Hilde,” but they failed to protect the lords they served.

Vera continued: “But I believe that before their deaths, my father and brother harbored no resentment, because like all of the St. Hilde’s, they had sworn to protect the North Territory!

They were willing to give their lives for the North Territory!

So am I!

No matter how strong the rebels are, no matter how terrifying the enemy is, I will not allow the citizens of the North Territory to be plunged into endless warfare. I will not allow this land to be filled with killing and evil!

Warriors of the Golden Lion Legion, are you willing to fight alongside me for the North Territory?”

“Swear to protect the North Territory!” Knight Kambening, standing below the stage, shouted loudly.

“Swear to protect the North Territory!”

“Swear to protect the North Territory!”

The voices gradually converged into a slogan, echoing across the land, overpowering even the roaring sound of the Ben Liu River.

Colin squinted at Vera, who was on the receiving end of the cheers from tens of thousands of Golden Lion Legion soldiers. For a moment, he seemed to see the figure of another woman

Half-Elf Queen Isa Miller.

It seems that Vera learned a lot from her time in Silver Moon City.

Colin believed that as time went on and with more experience, Vera would gradually grow into a competent lord of the North Territory.