The First Vampire

Each finger linked to his heart, Cliff twisted and writhed from the debilitating pain, much like a fish on dry land, on the brink of asphyxiation.

Spattering blood splashed onto the clothes of the black-clothed men surrounding him. But they remained motionless, disregarding the drops of blood on their faces, as if they had grown accustomed to such gruesome scenes.

Only when Cliff managed to barely retain his breath did the lead black-clothed man finally remove the rag from his mouth and asked again:

“Mr. Cliff, are you ready to cooperate now?”

Cliff looked at his severed wound, from which blood was flowing out, uncontrolled like a gushing spring. Soon, a small “puddle” formed on the ground.

He pleaded weakly, “Please, just kill me with a single blow!”

The black-clothed man picked up the severed ring finger from the ground, holding it in his palm before Cliff, sighed seemingly out of sympathy, and asked:

“Mr. Cliff, you’re a brilliant doctor. Is there a way you can stitch this severed finger back?”

Cliff managed a bitter smile and shook his head.

Wearing a pitying face, the black-clothed man tossed away the severed finger and started persuading again, “Yes, Mr. Cliff, a severed finger can’t regenerate. If you keep resisting cooperation, then…”

Cliff continued to shake his head in despair, “Sir, I really can’t say it! Otherwise, I’m as good as dead! Not just me, my whole family will be killed!”

The black-clothed man voiced his impatience, “I’ve already said, if you cooperate, we shall ensure the safety of your family!”

However, Cliff obviously didn’t believe the black-clothed man. After all, the Easterners had twice attempted to create chaos in Silver Moon City and failed, causing many Half-Elves to lose faith in them.

Seeing this, the black-clothed man seemed annoyed and tried to seize Cliff’s fingers.

Scared, Cliff screamed loudly, clutching his hand forcefully, but as an old doctor, he was no match for those Easterners. His futile struggles only slightly bothered the black-clothed men.

Surely enough, the cold blade made contact with Cliff’s middle finger soon after.

As if receiving an electric shock, Cliff blurted out, “Wait, wait. I’ll cooperate, I’m willing to cooperate!”

The black-clothed man smirked, finally halting his actions.

He patted Cliff’s shoulder, laughingly saying, “That’s better! Now, answer my previous question; after Marquis Vincent was assassinated, did you check the situation?”

Cliff opened his mouth but remained silent, hesitating once more.

The black-clothed man sneered, stepping forward without a word, snapped Cliff’s middle finger with a crack.

“Aaaah——”

His finger was brutally snapped. Feeling excruciating pain, Cliff managed to break free from the grasp of the two black-clothed men and flailed on the ground. Severe pain had his whole body convulsing, as though he could faint any second.

The leader of the black-clothed men sighed sympathetically, saying, “Cliff, you, a Half-Elf, why strive so hard for North Territory? Let me tell you, we have many more methods to torment you. This is merely a starter.”

Cliff barely had the strength to say a word, only clinging tightly to his broken finger.

Despite his desperate attempts to stop the bleeding, blood was still pouring out relentlessly. He had no doubts that he would soon pass out from the excessive blood loss, possibly even die.

Facing the black-clothed man’s threats, all Cliff could muster were continuous moans, “Please, just kill me, kill me!”

The black-clothed man sneered, darkly saying:

“Mr. Cliff, we have to play by the rules. If you refuse to comply, we’ll have to snap every single one of your fingers, and toes, then your arm, thigh, eyes, ears, nose, tongue… we have to take turns, so please bear with us, don’t die too soon.”

After saying that, he reached out to snap the third finger of Cliff.

Finally, Cliff couldn’t bear it anymore. He collapsed entirely, weeping, “I’ll talk, I’ll tell you everything!”

“Really?” The man in black looked at Cliff suspiciously, seemingly worried about his last-minute back-pedalling.

Cliff kept nodding with intermittent affirmations, “Really, it’s true this time! But, I need to see your leader; I want to tell him personally!”

The man in black frowned, seeming quite troubled.

Just then though, a young voice echoed in the dark warehouse, “I’m here, Mr. Cliff. You can tell me anything.”

With this voice ringing out, the men in black hurriedly withdrew.

Cliff strained to raise his head, only to see a fair-faced young man standing before him.

Despite the dim environment, he couldn’t see his face clearly, but from the other’s demeanour and posture, it was clear he was a noble.

“May I ask who you are?”

“I’m Viscount Fein, appointed by Duke St. Prowse, fully responsible for this negotiation on Marquis Vincent’s ransom.”

Cliff hesitated a moment but still asked, “Your lordship, if I turn myself in fully, can you guarantee my safety?”

“We will definitely ensure your safety.” Viscount Fein nodded seriously. “You will leave Silver Moon City with me; you will be safe as long as I’m there.”

“What about my family?”

Viscount Fein hesitated for a moment but still responded truthfully, “I’m sorry, I can only guarantee the safety of one person.”

Cliff lowered his head in disappointment.

Seeing this, Viscount Fein opened his mouth again, stating coldly, “Although we cannot ensure their safety, sending them to hell is rather easy.”

At his words, Cliff began to tremble all over.

After a long while, he seemed to have made up his mind, raising his head to speak seriously, “After the attempted assassination of Marquis Vincent, I was brought to the scene to examine the situation.”

Viscount Fein’s eyes lit up, prompting further, “What exactly was the situation at the time? Who tried to assassinate him, and is Marquis Vincent really dead?”

“When I got to the scene, I saw Marquis Vincent and Duke Modewen both laying in a pool of blood. In Vincent’s case, he had been stabbed once through the belly and another through the heart. He had a slight breath left when I arrived, but his heart was split open, he was beyond saving.

As for Duke Modewen, his throat was cut. Based on the wound, it looked like a self-inflicted cut. By the time I got there, he was already dead.”

At this news, Viscount Fein furrowed his brows, crouching down to look directly into Cliff’s eyes, asking again:

“Are you certain, Marquis Vincent couldn’t be saved?”

Cliff heavily nodded, adding, “Based on my fifty years of medical experience, his state at that moment, it would have taken a divine intervention to save him.”

Hearing this “bad news,” an excited look flashed across Viscount Fein’s face.

But very soon, he realized it wasn’t appropriate and quickly replaced it with an expression of grief and anger, saying:

“Sly and despicable northerners! They’ve been deceiving us all along!”

Cliff glanced at Viscount Fein cautiously, meekly asking, “Your lordship, when will we leave Silver Moon City?”

Viscount Fein stood up, retreating back into the shadows, answering dispassionately,

“I will be leaving tonight. As for you, better go into hiding for now.”

Cliff’s face turned several shades paler as he wailed, “Your lordship, this isn’t what you promised!”

Viscount Fein kicked away Cliff who was trying to grab the hem of his trousers, stating coldly, “Rest assured, I will arrange for you to be placed in a safe location.”

Having said this, he didn’t spare a glance for Cliff, who was wailing behind him, but instead, quickly exited the warehouse.