Record of a Thousand Lives-Chapter 118

The vampires gatheredinSanguineum’s main square,whichwas surrounded by multiple pointedspiresthattoweredabove it. There were only about 1,800 vampires there,as most of them haddied from the disease or while were defending the slave quarters from Kang Yoon-Soo and his party’s attacks. This was the first time all of the vampireshadgathered in one placeregardlessof their rank,as they hadnever beforehad an incident that threatened their whole existence as a race.

“Euuuh…”

“My body is better now, but my head hurts…”

The vampires moaned and groaned after being infused with the mana of the Nobles of the Night. They had managed to recover from the disease and regain their strength, but the same could not be said for their mental state. as the powerful manainfusedinto themhad giventhem a migraine.

“Cough! Cough!”

However, there were still a lot of vampireswhohadnot even gottenthe chance to be infused with mana; theywere the lower-ranked vampires. Theygrumbled and complained.

“Why aren’t they infusing us with their mana?”

“We can also fight if the Nobles of the Night infusetheir mana and help us recover from this disease.”

“Tsk…Are they looking down on us simply because we’re lower-ranked? I think they’re forgetting that we’re the majority of their forces.”

It was then that the Vampire Lord waved his hand,and all of the vampiresinthe square immediately closed their mouths.

“My beloved citizens,” Argoric said while flyingthrough the air,his wings smoothly keeping him afloat. All of the vampires’gazesturnedtoward the Vampire Lord.Argoric,surrounded by twelve Nobles of the Night, said, “We have to win.”

It was the first time the Vampire Lord hadever given a speech in public, as vampires were a haughty and arrogant race, and their lord was no exception to that. The previous Vampire Lordshad only givencommands and made threats, but they had never takenthe time to give a speechof the sort that was happening at the moment.

Argoric, on the other hand, was different. He was quite well-known for his eccentricity among vampires, andhisasking the vampires to gatheronlyfor him to publicly make a speech was proof ofthat.

“No one likes to lose, right?” Argoricbegan.

“…”The vampires all looked confused, seemingly unable tounderstand what the Vampire Lord was talking about.Hadthe Vampire Lordgathered so many vampires in one place just to say something silly?

However, Argoric was unfazed as he continued his speech.“What do you think is the best strategy in war?”

Nobody responded.Some vampires evenopenly expressed their annoyance at the Vampire Lord for wasting their time. It was very difficult to find an ounce of loyalty from the vampires, who were proud and arrogant in nature. In fact, this was the first time some of the vampires had ever seen the Vampire Lord.

Argoric pointed at one vampire among the crowd andasked, “You, you over there, try making a guess.”

“Cough!Do you mean me, sire?”The vampire hesitated before responding, “Isn’t it decimating the enemy,not leaving even one alive?”

“Wrong. The answer is winning without fighting,” Argoric said. He continued, “Now, think about it. How clever is the enemy? They didn’t fight us head-on, but they instead chose to spread disease among us. Then, they ambushed the slave quarters, whichwerelocatedonthe outskirts of the city, and increased their forces. I think highly of their strategy.”

The fact that the disease had spread through the fog was already widespreadknowledgeamong the vampires, but to think that the Vampire Lord would praise the humanswho should have beenconsidered their mortal enemies? The proud vampires could no longer understand what the Vampire Lord was trying to say.

“That’s whyI’ve decided to learn from them. I’ll win this war in the most efficient way possible,” Argoric said.

There was only a day left before the full moon, and the vampires could finally leave Sanguineum as soon as the full moonrose. Thatmeant today was going to be the day the enemy would launch an offensive.

“I can brainwash any form of life, and anyone I lay my eyes on will be turned into my slave,” Argoric explained.The mind control skill was an advanced skill that only high-ranked vampires and above could use, but it was only the Vampire Lordwhohadaskillthat couldmind control multipletargetsat once.

Argoricsmiled and continued, “But what if I brainwashed hundreds of the enemy forces? What do you thinkwouldhappen if I gave them the command ‘kill yourself’ or ‘join my army’?”

The Vampire Lord planned to mind control the enemy;was there any other method as efficient as that? However, the vampires were still perplexed and confused as to why theyhad beentold to gather.

Argoricsaid with a nod, “However, as you all know, the mind control skill has a requirement equal to the power used.”

It was blood. The vampires’ mind control skill consumed blood whenever it was used. In fact, even a high-ranked vampire would be left in an anemic state all day if they used their mind control skill on someone with weak mental fortitude for a short while. That waswhy most vampires did not use theskill even though they possessed it.

“A lot of blood is required to use the mind control skill, and that’swhy I wish to ask all of you to donate your blood,” Argoricfinished.

Right asthe vampires were looking at each other while looking confused, a vampire at the front of the group suddenly collapsed.

Thud…!

While he was on the floor, the vampiregroaned in pain and cried out, “Eh? Ah! M-my body…!”

The lower-ranked vampire’s body driedup down to thebonesasall of the blood in his body was suckedout, floating into theair. His skin cracked likedryground, and his blood vessels dried up like tree roots during a drought.

That was not all.

“Euuk!”

“M-My blood! It’s being sucked out!”

The lower-ranked vampires’ screamsrang outall over the plaza as their blood escaped from their bodies and floated into theair. Thesceneresembled arain of blood flowing inreverse.

The lower-ranked vampires’ blood gatheredabove Argoric’s palmas hecalled out, “My beloved lower-class citizens! Your blood will be my flesh and mana, and I will use your contributions to control our enemies!”

“Euuuakkk!”

“H-Help me!”

The lower-ranked vampires struggled and cried out for help, but Argoric mercilessly continued sucking their blood out as he exclaimed, “War can be quite tragic! Oh, to turn me into a kingwhohas no choice but to kill his own citizens!”

The middle-ranked and high-ranked vampires’ faces turned blue at the sight of the Vampire Lord’s merciless atrocities. They had only heard of the madness of their Vampire Lord, but theyhadnever witnessed it firsthand. However, the sightbeforetheir eyes was far more atrocious than the rumors they had heard.

The Vampire Lord sucked the blood of countless lower-ranked vampires out, and the other vampires could only nervously gulp at thesight. Then, the remaining vampires who had survived the madness of the Vampire Lord started to get on their knees and bow theirheadsin reverence one by one.

‘This will be more than enough,’Argoric thought as he looked over the square. He had sucked the blood out of one thousand vampires. It seemedas if it would bea huge blow to their fighting power, but that was not the case at all.

‘They were infected by the disease anyway.’

Thatwas the main reason why Argorichadnot infusedany of the lower-ranked vampires with mana. Besides, the lower-ranked vampires’ combat power would have beensignificantly lacking even if the Nobles of the Nighthad infusedmana into them.

‘Wehave equal numbers tothe enemy.’

Kang Yoon-Soo’s forces had acombinedtotal of eight hundred liberated slaves, as each of the slave quarters had possessed two hundred slaves. However, the enemiesthey were going to face werenone other than the vampires.

‘The quality of the troops themselves is different,’Argoric thought with a smile.

The slaveswere nothing more than a bunch of ragtag ragamuffins. Theywerecreatureswho hadbeen enslaved for years. The vampires, on the other hand, knew how to use magic and were very strong.

‘On top of that, this is Sanguineum.’

The battlefield was thevampires’ home territory, and theywere surely going to beat anadvantageina place that did not have even a single ray of sunlight.Additionally, the vampires hadovercome the disease to a certain extent through the infusion of mana by the Nobles of the Night.

That was not all,either. Every single one of the vampires now feared Argoric.

‘I’ve gained a lot by making this speech,’Argoric thought.

The Vampire Lord had gained two things through his speech. He had gained the unconditional loyalty of the vampires,and the blood he required to use mass mind controlonthe enemy.

‘I’m looking forward toseeinghow that manfaces mymind control ability.’

The strategy of winningthrough the easiest and most efficient way possible annoyed Argoric, who had been looking for an opponent he could fight to his heart’s content, but theideathat he would not use such an easy strategy because of his boredom was stupid at the same time.Additionally, the enemy would be able to beat this strategy easily if he weretruly a worthy opponent for the Vampire Lord.

‘It doesn’t matter that you’re a regressor orwhatever. Will you be able to find a way to fight against my mind control ability?’Argoric thought with a smile on his face.

The Vampire Lord waited. There was only a day left before the full moon, and the onewhowas running out of time was not him, butratherthe enemy. Therefore,hewas absolutely certain that the enemy was the onewhowas going to come charging against him.

“I-Itis an emergency, sire!”Avampirewho had beensent out to scout came flying toward the Vampire Lord in a rush.

“What’s the matter?” Argoric asked.

“The enemy is charging toward the square as we speak, sire!” the vampire scout replied.

“Oh! Is that so?!” Argoric exclaimed in joy, as if he werea fatherwho had justheard news of the return of his prodigal son.

However, the vampire scout’s face was pale as he continued, “B-But something is strange about them, sire!”

“What is it this time?” Argoric asked.

“T-They…They all transformed into werewolves! The werewolves are coming!” the vampire scout exclaimed.

Argoric furrowed his brows and muttered, “Werewolves?”

Therewerecertainly a lot of werewolves among the slaves, but itshould have beenimpossible for them to transform into werewolves as they required the moonlight for that, and Sanguineum’s fog prevented even a single ray of moonlight from reaching the city.

“Awoooooo!”The howls of werewolves reverberated across the entire city,as more than three hundred werewolves suddenly appeared from the alleys and charged in a massive wave.

The vampire at the forefront extended his hand and shouted, “Ice Javelin!”

One of the werewolvescharging in thevanguard was hit by thevampire’s Ice Javelin, but the werewolf did not falter, lungingat the vampire andbitinghis head off.

“Euk—!”Thevampire could not even finish screaming as his headless body fell to the ground.

The werewolfin front, having just bittenoff the vampire’s head, glared at the other vampires with its golden eyes—itwas none other than White.

White openeditsbloody mouth and roared so loudlythat the whole square shook.“Urnokra!”

[White has used Wolf’s Fear.]

[The vampires’ morale hasfallen.]

[All monstersofthe wolf race have been buffed by Wolf’s Fear.]

All of the werewolves roared in unison.“Urnokraaaa!”

The werewolves started to rip apart the vampiresat afrightening speed, and the vampires fought back by raining magic downonthem.

“Die! You stupid sons of bitches!”

“The sword of the night will cut you apart!”

The werewolves and the vampiresclashedagainst each otherinthe city square,instantly turning itinto a battlefield.

Argoric looked at the necklaces around the werewolves’ necks and muttered to himself,‘Moonstones…’

All of the werewolves were wearing necklaces around their necks, embedded with yellow stonesthat emitted the glow of moonlight.

Argoric snickered and thought,‘So you still had some tricks up your sleeves. Heh.’

The Vampire Lordhadactually been confused when he heard that Kang Yoon-Soo’s forces had occupied a mine,buthe now realized the reason why theyhad takenover thatmine.

The moonstones, when refinedbythe hands of the slave dwarves, perfectly emitteda glow akin to truemoonlight. Werewolves could exert even more power when theywere in their wolf forms. In addition, the werewolves hadan innatehatred for the vampires, and thatmade them even trickier adversariesto deal with.

“But I just have to mind control them, right?” Argoric muttered beforeflyingtoward the werewolves. The Vampire Lord’s eyes shone,andred raysof light shot from his eyesandswept over the werewolves.

[You have attempted to brainwash 317 werewolves.]

[You have consumed a significant amount of blood.]

However, the result was not what the Vampire Lord had expected.

[The werewolves are in a frenzied state because of the moonstones.]

[The only thing driving them is their innate hatred for the vampires.]

[You have failed to brainwash the werewolves.]

‘Tsk… I just wasted my precious blood…’Argoric clicked his tongue and grimaced. Then, he looked back and gave a command.“Nobles of the Night! Go take care of those werewolves.”

The twelve Nobles of the Night, who werealltop-ranked vampires, joined the fray. They stretched out their arms and started to simultaneously cast a spell.“Oh great demon of hell, appear before me andcastthese foolsout ofmy sight!”

A large magic circle appeared in the sky; itwas the first step toward summoningademonthat residedin Pandemonium.The twelve Nobles of the Night had combined their manato summonone single demon.

“For what purpose did you call me?” a demoncalled outas it appeared from within a cloud of dense white steam—it was the lower-ranked demon, Mondus. The demon’s body was surroundedbybluish lightning.

‘A demon is still strong even if it’s just a lower-ranked one,’Argoric thought as he watched over the battlefield.

The demon was not as strong as the Vampire Lord, but it was more than enough to take care of the werewolves. In fact, Argoricconsidered ita waste to use a demon like Mondus just to take care of apackof werewolves.

“Lower-ranked demon, Mondus,” a Noble of the Nightbegan.

The demon responded, sounding displeased, “Donotcall me lower-ranked.”

“Go and take care of the werewolves,”theNoble of the Night commanded.

“Youmusthand over their remains to me as per our contract,” Mondus said as he summoned a large lightning spear.

The sound of thunder reverberated across the skies, and multiple lightningbolts seemedabout to strike the city’s square when….

“You can become a demon king,” someone called out.

Mondus instantly halted his barrage of lightning.

“Oh, lower-ranked demon. Why are you stopping your attack?” a Noble of the Night asked.

Mondus ignored the Noble of the Night and stared down at the brave little human beforeasking, “And what might you be?”

“For how longwill you be contentto staya lower-ranked demon?” asked the man,whowas standing atop the tip of one of the city’s towering spires.

Mondus seemed to have had his interest piqued, as he asked, “Are you telling me that I can become a demon king?”

Kang Yoon-Soo nodded in response and said, “Of course.”

…Of course,he was just lying to the demon.