"My Prince... I... five cities have been attacked by the Vampires!"
Clinton's calm expression instantly disappeared and was replaced with shock.
His eyes widened as he quickly stood up, his eyes fixated on the guard.
"What the hell are you saying!?"
The guard shivered as he lowered his head.
"Yes, My Prince. Five cities have been attacked by the Vampires," the guard repeated.
The guard knew that the prince wanted an explanation, so he continued.
"A report came from Greythorn City," the guard began, "it stated that they are currently being attacked by Vampires."
"But immediately after that, four more reports came from four different cities stating the same thing," he added.
Clinton's body trembled in anger after hearing the report.
"Those Vampires... What the hell are they planning?" he mumbled under his breath, though his anger was clearly visible.
The door suddenly swung open, and another guard rushed in.
"My Prince, some of the nobles are here. They wish to speak to you."
"Tell them to meet me in the throne room," Clinton instantly said as he began walking out.
His steps were heavy as he walked hastily towards the throne room. On reaching there, he opened the door.
His eyes landed on Flora who was speaking with Rowan.
"Greetings, brother," she said with a bow.
Clinton stopped himself from telling her to get out.
There was no need in transferring his anger to his sister.
He stared at her, his expression softening a little.
"Please leave, Flora. I want to speak with father," he said calmly.
Flora nodded in understanding before walking out of the throne room.
Clinton then stared at his father who was seated on the throne.
Instantly, he went straight to the point.
"Five cities are currently being attacked by the Vampires."
Rowan squinted his eyes as he stared at Clinton.
"Five cities..." he whispered.
Clinton lowered his head.
"Father, I know the current situation is bringing an unpleasant memory, and trust me, I'm also being affected by it."
He paused for a second.
"But you are the King. No matter how hard it is, you have to show your strength. This will boost the confidence of others, and make this situation easier to handle."
Rowan stared at his son.
It wasn't a look of anger.
It was a look of agreement.
With a sigh, the King leaned forward.
"I understand, Clinton," he said. "You're right."
Immediately Rowan said this, the nobles arrived.
They entered the throne room and after bowing, they began sitting down.
They were more than Clinton expected, but he realized that some of them had still not left the city after yesterday's meeting.
"Clinton told me yesterday that you all have made a decision on how to handle the issue of the Vampires," Rowan said.
"And that plan will have to take place instantly because you all know what is currently happening with five cities," he added.
Rowan knew of the plan that was decided on after he left the meeting, and after hearing about it from Clinton, he didn't find any loophole. In fact, that was the exact same plan he had in mind.
"Yes, my King. We will have to initiate the plan now," Duke Calen said.
He was the Duke of Blackstone City.
"And I also have a report," he said.
Calen nodded. "Yesterday, immediately after the meeting, I took some men with me to the forest in my city where I told you I suspected the Vampires to be in."
"But there was no one present in the forest. Though, I found blood marks... a lot of blood marks. And I know that those blood marks weren't from Beasts."
"I know without a doubt that those were blood marks from humans, and I became even more sure of that after seeing a few items that belonged to humans, lying on the ground."
"So you're saying the Vampires must have left the forest," Rowan said.
Rowan nodded before looking at Clinton. "Alright, prepare the soldiers and gather in the compound. I will be with them shortly."
Clinton instantly left the throne room to do that.
His attention shifted to the Dukes. "Go back to your cities, and prepare your soldiers there. If there is any update, you all will receive a message from me."
The Dukes of the five cities that were being attacked were not present which was completely understandable.
Rowan got up, the words Clinton said to him before the nobles arrived echoing in his ears.
His eyes instantly sharpened as he exited the throne room.
"A second war, huh? I'll make sure to crush those Vampires this time..."
"Ah, it's a perfect afternoon," Arin said as he stared outside through the window.
The sky was dark, and the wind was chilly. This somehow gave the air a pleasant scent.
There weren't classes after the tournament for two days, so the students were able to roam around, go to The Area, or just sleep for the entire day.
Roxanne had a smile on her face as she continued staring outside while Arin went to sit on the bed.
He glanced at the sword again, and a grin appeared on his face.
"I can't wait to test the Special Skill of the weapon," he muttered.
The sword didn't just have the ability to grow stronger alongside its owner, but it also had a special skill.
"You've stared at that sword more times than I can count," Seraphine said.
"Oh, then how about you stop counting?"
Suddenly, Roxanne turned to look at Arin with squinted eyes.
"Progenitor Liora is coming," she said.
Arin nodded. "They must have noticed something, and come to a decision."
A few seconds later, a red circle appeared in the middle of the room, and Liora emerged from it, her blue hair swaying.
Instantly, Roxanne hugged her with a wide smile.
Liora hugged her back, smiling back.
"Ah, Roxanne... you still act like a child, huh?" she joked.
Roxanne chuckled. "No, I'm just happy..."
Liora turned to face Arin.
They both lowered their heads at the same time, showing their respect.
"I take it that the King has made a decision," Arin said.
Liora nodded as Roxanne let go of her and she folded her arms.
"Yes," she said. "How is the princess doing?"
"Fine," Arin replied shortly.
Liora nodded again, going back to the topic.
"We finally noticed that a high number of Vampires are missing," she said. "The thing is, we don't know how long they've been missing."
"Hmm, the right word isn't missing," she added. "It's more like they have left the Vampire Realm with Vaelric."
"That's the only possible explanation."
"I see..." Arin muttered. "Though, there really hasn't been any news about Vampires here."
Liora's eyes lingered on Arin. "Knowing Vaelric, he won't attack immediately he gets here."
She slowly walked forward before sitting beside Arin on the bed.
"Now, if I were Vaelric, this is what I would do," she began. "Immediately I arrive, I'll stealthily abduct some humans, and turn them into Vampires to increase my army."
"From the way Vaelric is, that's the exact thing he would do," she added.
Arin squinted his eyes. "Something like that might have happened already, and the masses aren't just aware yet."
"Exactly," Liora said. "That's why when the King found out about the missing Vampires and Vaelric was nowhere to be found, he immediately decided who would come to the human realm to aid the humans."
"He did this with the assumption that Vaelric is already preparing to attack along with the Vampires he brought with him."
Arin nodded. "Makes sense. So who was selected?"
Liora blinked. "More like 'were'," she said.
Arin furrowed his brows. 'More than one?'
"Sylas volunteered," Liora said. "It seems he's more afraid of facing the Phoenixes than defending the humans."
"So, who is the second Progenitor?" Arin asked.
Though, he felt like he already knew the answer to that.
'I thought as much,' Arin thought.
"Did you also volunteer?" Roxanne asked.
"No," Liora said, making Arin raise a brow.
"The other princesses told the King that they would join the fight if the war against the Phoenixes eventually happened," Liora said.
"This made him confident to send another Progenitor to aid the humans," she added.
'I'm not complaining, but why is he helping the humans so much?' Arin thought.
Arin knew that the King doesn't want war with any race, and he knew that the humans didn't even do anything to the Vampires, that was why he was doing his best to aid the humans, but...
Was sending two Progenitors not too much?...
Liora stared at Arin. "I believe I know what you're thinking, and I also had the same thought. But, looking at it from the King's perspective, I understand why he's making decisions ."
Before Arin could say anything, someone suddenly knocked on the door, followed by a boy's voice.
"Principal Orion sent me to deliver a message. All students must be in the hall in the next fifteen minutes."
'What is going on again...?'