Rekel put down his greatsword and knelt on one knee.
His eyes were filled with pain.
"Respected mage, we are willing to surrender."
The moment Rekel knelt, something inside the young Oli shattered. Tears blurred his vision.
"No, Brother Rekel, we can't surrender to the vampires. They'll kill us!"
Rekel's body trembled, but he remained kneeling, his head bowed.
He had no choice. None of them did.
Surrendering might mean survival. Resistance would only lead to death.
Rekel closed his eyes in agony. He wasn't like the ignorant commoners. As a Level 7 warrior who had once joined a legitimate mercenary group, he knew exactly how powerful these vampires were.
"Good. I can see you hold great prestige among these people. Keep your clansmen in line, and you will not be harmed."
Avi nodded in satisfaction. From the moment the vampires appeared, the outcome had been decided.
Initially, she had planned to defeat the strongest among them to intimidate the rest, but the internal conflict had already broken their will to resist.
The result was even better than she had anticipated.
Rekel stood up, his face calm, just as he had been when working as a mercenary in the capital of the Nolan Empire. The more dangerous the situation, the calmer he became.
"Mage, we have one final request," Rekel said, pointing at Marcus, who had long been too terrified to speak. "This cowardly noble caused us to lose our families.
I wish to personally behead him. I swear, if you grant me this wish, I will give you anything in return."
At these words, Marcus shuddered.
"No, respected vampire lords, I am a noble of the kingdom. I can ransom my life with gold. I have that privilege!"
When Marcus saw the dozen or so vampires turn their gazes toward him, his eyes filled with terror.
She glanced at the crowd and noticed that most of the humans were filled with rage.
Clearly, this human noble had provoked their wrath.
After a moment of silence, she nodded.
"Very well. This noble is yours to deal with."
Hearing Avi's words, the crowd, which had thought Marcus might escape punishment, erupted in fury once more.
This damned noble had sent their families and friends to their deaths in a pointless resistance. Their anger toward the vampires and their fear of the future were now redirected toward Marcus.
Even with the protection of Enda, a Level 7 guard, Marcus was torn to pieces by the enraged crowd.
Avi stood by and did not stop this bloody act of vengeance.
When she noticed the crowd's emotions were becoming unstable, she raised her hand.
A fireball larger than a human head appeared in her palm.
Tier 2 Spell—Large Fireball.
The blazing flames and the powerful magical fluctuations instantly froze the explosive atmosphere.
Avi swung her hand, and the fireball shot into the sky. When it reached a height of over 100 blades—
The fireball exploded, setting the sky ablaze.
In the evening, as the sun had already set, the fireball's light outshone the sky.
A wave of heat rushed down, scorching the hair of the gathered crowd.
Rekel dropped his sword, his face filled with awe as he stared at the vampire before him.
He had known this vampire was powerful, but he hadn't expected her to be capable of casting such a terrifying offensive spell.
Such a powerful spellcaster was beyond his ability to defeat. Even among mercenaries, such mighty mages were rare.
And there were over a hundred of her kin.
Looking at the surrounding vampires and the giant bats that filled the sky, Rekel pushed all thoughts of resistance out of his mind.
Goddess of Life above, why is there such a powerful group of vampires in the borderlands? Are the armies of Green City all pigs?!
"Respected mage, what do you require of us?"
Seeing Rekel's bowed head, Avi nodded. Her bright black eyes seemed to pierce through his soul.
"Clever human, you have the aura of a mercenary. I believe someone of your experience knows that resisting the power of the vampires is impossible.
You will organize and gather all the humans. I will use the Whispering Bats to transport you to the castle of the Saintlight Vampires.
There, you will be given work and enough food to survive the winter.
I bear you no ill will. The Beastmen destroyed your homes, and our castle will be your new home."
Though Rekel didn't fully trust Avi, he had no choice in the face of such overwhelming power.
"Mage, we have many elderly and children," he said, recalling the terrifying legends about vampires. "We cannot abandon our families."
In human legends, the elderly and children, whose blood was less abundant, were often killed outright.
"Human, I will reiterate this one final time: we are the Saintlight Vampires, not the evil vampires you are familiar with.
Go and take a headcount. Organize them into family units. I will ensure they are all brought to the castle."
Rekel looked into Avi's serious gaze and felt a strange stirring in his heart.
Could it be that there really were Saintlight Vampires and Evil Vampires?
At this point, he had no strength to resist. He could only follow Avi's instructions and pray that she would keep her word.
The vampires here were powerful enough to fight off hundreds of beastmen cavalry. No one could resist them.
Rekel, along with a few familiar militiamen, began to follow Avi's orders, taking a headcount and organizing the civilians into family groups.
In truth, after the vampires arrived, aside from the militiamen who had killed Marcus, the rest of the people had already grouped themselves. In the chaos, no one wanted to be separated from their families.
As Rekel walked through the crowd, looking at the bewildered faces around him, his heart ached with pain.
Among these people were his friends and neighbors. If only he had more power, they wouldn't be in this dire situation.
"Rekel, it's okay. We believe in you."
"Rekel, haha, don't cry like a coward. We're still alive, aren't we?"
Their voices became the only sound under the setting sun.
This group of humans, who had just lost their homes, had no idea that the fate awaiting them wasn't as terrible as they feared.