The First Vampire

Night fell, but the South Bank of Ben Liu River was ablaze.

The Golden Lion Legion was burning corpses there.

The initial tally of the battle had been completed. In this fight, the Golden Lion Legion suffered over four thousand casualties, annihilated nearly ten thousand of the Dwarf Legion, and took over fifteen thousand prisoners. In addition, many dwarves who jumped into the Ben Liu River were not included in the count.

This considerable victory significantly undermined the threat of Marquis Dawson.

At least if the Golden Lion Legion chose to withdraw now, the dwarves on the opposite bank would absolutely not dare to pursue them.

This battle gave Colin a fairly direct understanding of the combat prowess of the Golden Lion Legion.

As expected, it truly was the most elite unit of the St. Hilde family. If the Dark Cavalry was the North Territory’s best cavalry, then the Golden Lion Legion could be considered the North Territory’s best infantry.

This led Colin to covet this military force.

Although cavalry was invincible in open-field battles, they had many limitations. For example, during sieges or in poor terrain conditions, they couldn’t fully exert their power. Therefore, Colin needed an elite infantry to supplement his forces.

Initially, Colin was considering the Half-Elf Silver Moon Guards, but it appeared that the combat ability of the Golden Lion Legion clearly surpassed the Silver Moon Guards by a large margin. Therefore, he set his sights on this unit.

So, even though night had fallen, Colin went along with Vera to visit the wounded soldiers and win their hearts over.

It has to be said that Vera, given her status, was doubly effective in this role. Moreover, with her beauty and kindness, each soldier she spoke with was brought to the brink of tears and ready to risk their lives for her at the drop of a hat.

After following around for a while, Colin awkwardly discovered his presence was somewhat unnecessary. The charm of Vera completely overshadowed Colin, reducing him to the role of a follower…

Eventually, Colin simply handed over the task of winning hearts over to Vera to complete alone. After all, they were a couple, and loyalty to Vera was virtually equivalent to loyalty to Colin.

Upon leaving the field hospital, Colin noticed Knight Kambening waiting on the side as if he had something to report.

“What’s up?”

“My Lord, the Dwarf prisoners have been properly settled. May I ask… how should we proceed?”

On hearing about the prisoners, Colin frowned.

According to his previous battle experiences, he would not spare the prisoners.

However, during the Eastern conflict, it was done for the vengeance of the Dark Cavalry. In the Troll Empire, it was because he was in enemy territory and couldn’t accommodate the prisoners, forcing him to kill them all.

But Colin knew that if he didn’t spare the prisoners too often, it would inevitably result in a backlash.

At least once his infamy for killing prisoners was established and spread, his future enemies, taking into account Colin’s reputation, would not dare to surrender and instead fight to the death.

Moreover, strictly speaking, these Dwarf prisoners were of the North Territory. If all of them were killed, Colin’s reputation would be tarnished.

“Does the Golden Lion Legion still have enough food?”

“Enough for over a month.”

“Alright, hold on to these prisoners for now, but control their food intake. As long as they don’t starve, it’s fine.”

“Yes, my Lord!”

Knight Kambening nodded and was about to leave when he heard Colin order him, “By the way, single out any professional fighters among the prisoners and bring them to me.”

“Yes!” Although Knight Kambening didn’t understand what Colin was planning, he obeyed and left.

Clearly, Colin was prepared to turn these professionals among the prisoners into blood slaves, incorporating them into the Blood Shadow Guard.

The gains of this operation left Colin quite expectant. He knew among these prisoners was a fifth-tier warrior.

One has to know that, within the entire Glorious Empire, there were only two Holy Knights, and no more than ten sixth-tier professionals. Therefore, a fifth-tier professional would definitely be considered top-tier power.

Thinking of this, Colin eagerly made his way toward his own camp.

The night deepened, and Vera finally finished her visit to the wounded soldiers.

With a sore back, Vera left the wounded soldiers’ camp, heading back to her own tent to rest.

On the way, she encountered the Mage Cusius, who seemed to have been waiting for her for a while.

“Teacher? It’s quite late, haven’t you retired yet?” Vera’s voice was raspy, apparently from talking too much during her visit.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I came out for a stroll,” Cusius smiled, glancing at the guards behind Vera.

Vera immediately understood his intention and turned to her guards, saying, “You guys go ahead and return. I’ll walk with the teacher.”

The guards hesitated for a moment, then backed off a certain distance, but did not get too far away.

“Teacher, if you have anything to say, please speak directly.”

Cusius looked at Vera for a moment and then sighed, “You’ve grown so much in just over a year.”

Vera touched her hair lightly and laughed, “I have to grow up. I can’t remain an innocent child forever.”

Cusius nodded, admiration filled his eyes. “Indeed, had it been a year ago, you would probably be impatiently asking me what the Forbidden Spell that killed your father was.”

Vera remained silent.

Actually, on the day Cusius arrived, Vera had intended to ask him about this issue, but Colin had stopped her.

Furthermore, Colin told her that this Mage Cusius, who had come on his own initiative, might not have good intentions.

Usually, Vera, with her kind nature, would not guess her teacher’s intentions maliciously, but after experiencing her foster father’s betrayal, this nineteen-year-old girl was no longer as trusting as before.

Seeing that Vera was silent, Cusius sighed deeply, “Vera, I want you to know that your teacher will never hurt you.”

Vera looked up at her teacher but immediately lowered her head again, whispering, “Uh-huh, I believe you.”

Cusius didn’t know whether Vera truly believed him, or was just playing along. Nevertheless, he knew that his student could no longer be easily swayed by light words.

“To be honest, the reason I came to the North Territory this time is indeed related to Mr. Ji from the St. Sean family, and yes, I do know about his actions in Fallen Eagle City.”

“Of course, I didn’t know that his target was your father. If I had known earlier, I would have tried to stop him…”

Vera suddenly raised her head to look directly at her teacher, and asked, “So, what the hell happened in the Fallen Eagle City? Did Mr. Ji really sacrifice an entire city of citizens to complete that Forbidden Spell?”

“Yes.” Cusius nodded heavily, “After Mr. Ji and I discovered the Forbidden Spell – Eye of Petrification – we spent nearly twenty years refining it and eventually developed a new Forbidden Spell – Eyes of Judgment!”

“The Eyes of Judgment?”

“Yes.” Cusius pulled out a scroll from his Mage’s robe and handed it to Vera, “This is it. You can study it yourself.”

“I…” Faced with Mage Cusius’ frankness, Vera was momentarily bewildered.

It took her a while to tentatively take the scroll of the terrifying Forbidden Spell, trembling slightly.

But she didn’t open it to look at it.

With Vera’s personality, she would absolutely refuse to study, or even understand, a magic that required the sacrifice of an entire city, no matter how powerful it was.

However, the curiosity of being a Mage made her very eager to know what this terrible Forbidden Spell really was.

Cusius watched Vera struggling, and faintly smiled, “I’ve already given you the scroll, you can study it. But remember to keep it a secret. This Forbidden Spell could become either our hope for ascension as Mages, or our death spell.”

Having said that, Cusius floated away.

Leaving Vera standing there, staring blankly at the scroll in her hand, lost in her own thoughts.