That night, as the vampire revolt took place, Wright, who had been supervising construction at Eastport, had already fallen asleep. Balon Swann, upon receiving urgent military intelligence, rushed into Wright's bedroom after reading a report that Tyrosh had suffered severe losses from an attack by unidentified monsters. He immediately woke Wright from his sleep.
As Captain of the Guard, Balon Swann had the privilege to report directly to Wright when receiving urgent military matters, and this was the first time he had used that privilege.
Wright, suddenly awakened, saw Balon Swann's tense face and the guards standing by the bedroom door. He immediately realized something serious had occurred. He quickly got out of bed, took the letter, and began reading it.
After reading the letter, Wright furrowed his brow. Not bothering to dress, he took a piece of paper, a pen, and the Lord's seal from his nightstand and began drafting military orders.
"Yes, Ser!" A guard took the military orders with both hands and turned to run toward the Raven Tower.
As more military orders were written and taken away by the guards, more guards gathered at the bedroom door, waiting. The noise of armored figures running through the night disturbed both the servants and the master of the Eastport Lord's residence.
The residence was built on a hilltop at the port city. Since Eastport was directly under Tyrosh' jurisdiction, the temporary wooden residence had been lent to Lady Kana Rogare by Wright. Her personal territory was a small lake and the surrounding lands outside the city, but she had not yet been able to afford a castle.
Awakened by the noise, Kana dressed and came into the hallway. Seeing the guards gripping their weapons with serious expressions, she realized she didn't understand military matters and didn't dare disturb Wright. She instructed the servants to prepare drinks for the guards before returning to her bedroom.
She waited until the noise outside had died down, and the running footsteps had ceased, before she opened the door to look for Wright. However, as she reached the door, she hurried back, quickly changed into a white silk nightgown, and after checking herself in the mirror, she left her room.
All the guards, including Balon Swann, had been dispatched, leaving Wright alone in the bedroom, tapping his fingers on the coffee table.
"Wright, what's going on?" Kana walked into Wright's bedroom, seeming a little cold. She pulled her gown tighter around herself, and the silk clung to her curves, fully revealing her shapely figure.
"Damn it! How dare they wreak havoc in Tyrosh, I'll go and chop some heads off!"
Wright stood up, pressed his hands on Kana's shoulders, and sat her down on the sofa, then clenched his fists and strode out of the bedroom.
"Heartless but cowardly! Not even daring to look!" Kana muttered as she watched Wright leave in nothing but his shorts.
She then stood up from the sofa, walked to Wright's bed, and slipped her hand under the thin blanket. After feeling around for a moment, Kana threw the blanket aside and climbed into Wright's bed.
Wright casually grabbed some clothes and went to the Eastport military camp.
"Gather up!" Ashara Dayne shouted loudly as she saw Wright arriving.
At the Tyrosh Army camp, the veteran soldiers from the city's defenses were fully armored and holding battle axes, while the majority of the new recruits who had only joined recently were dressed sloppily, with armor scattered haphazardly over their bodies.
Seeing this, Wright didn't reprimand them. No one was born knowing this; everyone started out as a newcomer.
"Listen up, there are monsters that look like humans and can shapeshift, called vampires, wreaking havoc in Tyrosh! You might have family or friends there, so now I want you to take up your weapons. When the ship arrives in the morning, we'll immediately head to Stepstones. We won't leave a single one of these monsters alive!"
The new recruits weren't very literate, so Wright didn't use complicated language. He simply gave them a rough idea of the situation, and the morale-boosting speech would be given by General Ashara.
"Lord Wright, won't those monsters escape when we return tomorrow?" Ashara stepped forward and asked loudly, a question that the officers below were also curious about.
"I've already ordered that all islands in the Stepstones Archipelago be closed to ships for three days, except for military vessels! The Navy will bring mages to inspect any ships attempting to set sail." Wright then turned to address the soldiers loudly: "The Navy will seal the sea and inspect the ships. This time, you won't just be landing on Tyrosh, but you'll inspect all the islands!"
There were many mages coming and going in Tyrosh, and even more people with magical power but no magic skills. Wright's magic detection range was about three hundred meters, but he rarely activated it in Tyrosh, as it made everything around him appear as glowing points. Vampires, however, looked no different from humans and were highly intelligent. After several attempts, they had disguised themselves as mages to infiltrate the city.
Wright feared that as soon as he left, the vampires would continue their chaos in Tyrosh. His bigger concern was the islands controlled by other vassals. These islands were home to various workshops and ports, mostly inhabited by commoners and soldiers without magical abilities. There might only be one or two low-level mages employed by the lord on each island, and there were no silver weapons to fight vampires. If the vampires caused trouble on these islands, the consequences would be unimaginable.
After thinking for a moment, Wright turned to Ashara and said, "Let Kana come with you back. It's too close to Tyrosh here, and it's not safe."
Suddenly, the sky was filled with a wild wind. The soldiers in the camp looked up and saw a massive dark shadow slowly descending.
"Everyone, clear the training grounds!" Upon seeing the dragon preparing to land, Ashara quickly issued the command.
Wright reached out and grabbed Ashara's arm. "No need. I'm leaving now."
As Odahviing descended to about fifty meters above the ground, Wright used his Mage Hand spell to grab the dragon's large foot and pulled himself up. With a few swift uses of magic, he climbed to the top of the dragon's head.
For short distances, if it's not overnight, a Raven's speed and a dragon's aren't much different. By the time Wright's orders reached Tyrosh, it was already the next morning. As the navy was readying to set sail from the port, Odahviing flew over the castle.
Upon seeing that a few buildings in the southern part of Tyrosh had collapsed and the streets were filled with people and city guards cleaning up after the battle, Wright understood that the fighting in the city had ended. He instructed Odahviing to continue patrolling the skies while he jumped off the dragon's head and landed inside the castle.
The signal for the Lord's return had been sent when the fire pits atop the lighthouse were covered with boards and then uncovered three times. After seeing the signal, the officials and officers still inside the city began to run towards the castle.
After confirming that his family was safe and the castle had not been attacked, Wright went to the hall to hear the reports.
There had been nine vampires in Tyrosh the previous night. One of them was particularly powerful, but the others were all killed with the help of the Dragon Guards. A half-dead vampire prisoner was also captured.
Since no one knew if there were any more vampires hiding, Wright ordered a state of emergency for both Tyrosh and the Stepstones. Everyone had to be on high alert, and the mages from the magic academy were to accompany the army on patrols. Any encounters with non-human creatures required the Dragon Guards to take charge of the battle.
As for the captured vampire, who was left with only one leg, Wright threw it into the underground headquarters of the Dragon Cult temporarily. Although the Dragon Cult could not officially carry weapons, noble individuals like Ellios could still go out and kill without anyone interfering. After the attack, the members of the Dragon Cult had gathered at their headquarters, and they were the ones who could deal with the crippled vampire.
The city was under martial law, and the port was closed. By the next day, only the Tyrosh navy's ships were still sailing in the sea near Stepstones.
Wright, standing on Odahviing's back, had spent the morning searching and spotted a merchant ship sailing outside Bloodstone Port. The target was too obvious, and Wright had no choice but to investigate it.
Two vampires were caught by Wright, their necks gripped in his hands. As the navy ships following the dragon noticed Wright using magic, they quickly surrounded the merchant ship.
The entire crew was frozen in place by Wright's magic, unable to move. After the navy boarded, everyone, regardless of whether they had been with the vampires, was shackled.
The two vampires were too dangerous for the navy to handle without silver weapons or mages, so Wright personally escorted them.
"Odahviing, back to Tyrosh!" Wright shouted at the sky in the dragon tongue, grabbing the ankles of the two vampires with one hand, while using Mage Hand with his other to reach for the dragon's foot. However, Odahviing glanced down at Wright, folded its wings, and twisted in mid-air to dodge the spell.
"What are you doing?" Wright immediately shouted at the dragon, annoyed, in front of all the navy soldiers.
"Damn dragonkin! If you dare bring these filthy creatures onto me, I'll crush your bones right now!"
Odahviing flew around the merchant ship again and roared in anger in the dragon tongue. The roar shook the navy soldiers' eardrums painfully, causing them to cover their ears. Even the water beside the ship was stirred by the deep roar.
"Fine, you return to Tyrosh Castle first!" Wright had almost forgotten that one of the things Odahviing hated most was undead creatures. When Rahgot had climbed onto it, the dragon had been attacked indiscriminately by magic. It was like putting a spider on someone afraid of them—they would scream and jump around.
Without dragon air support, Wright had no choice but to slowly return to Tyrosh by ship, where the interrogation began.
Refusing the captain's suggestion, Wright didn't conduct the interrogation in the cabin but instead kept one of the vampires controlled with magic and dragged the other to the center of the deck for all the navy and sailors to witness.
One of the prisoners was a noble with a beard, looking like a man of both intellect and strength. His appearance suggested he might have been a knight, and even after being captured, his demeanor remained stoic and calm, making him harder to crack.
"You first." Wright decided to interrogate the bearded man.
"Don't get too close, stay back three steps! No, seven steps!" The officers on board commanded the soldiers to stay away, and just as they started, Wright cast his spell.
Suddenly, dozens of ice spikes shot up from the wooden deck of the ship, impaling the vampire beneath them, instantly turning it into a porcupine. The ice spikes continued to grow and elongate, lifting the vampire's body, still in human form, a foot off the ground before finally stopping.
The sailors, however, noticed that despite the many holes in the vampire's body, very little blood flowed out.
"Ah~~~"
As soon as the magical control was released, the bearded vampire began to scream in agony, his body thrashing violently. The ice spikes, created by the magic of Wright, were crystal-clear, translucent, and had a faint blue tint, their magic purer and stronger the more powerful the caster. Although the spikes appeared fragile, they were, in fact, incredibly sturdy, and no matter how much the vampire struggled, they didn't budge.
"Hiss~~~" Giving up on its human form, the bearded vampire began to transform into its true shape. Its skin turned a bluish hue, its bones elongated, muscles rapidly grew, and two additional limbs sprouted from its shoulders.
"My god!"
"Is it really a monster?"
The surrounding sailors had never seen anything like it before.
Clang!Clang!Clang!
Dozens of ice spikes shot up again, piercing the vampire's body, flipping it onto its back. Only its head remained untouched by the ice spikes, hanging to the side as it stared at Wright. "Lord Wright! I—"
Bang!
Before it could finish, Wright delivered a heavy punch to its jaw. The vampire, resilient as ever, had its jaw dislocated but still tried to speak. Bang! Wright followed with another punch.
The vampire's hands began to glow red, attempting to use magic. But before it could act, a faint purple magic aura enveloped its body—Wright had cast a soul trap.
Wright's equipment had been fully enchanted, and with nothing else at hand, he reached into his waist pouch and pulled out a golden dragon.
Wright called out to the surrounding soldiers, "There's no need to fear! This creature is called a vampire. Apart from its strength and its ability to bite and infect, it's just a magical being skilled in blood magic. They have many weaknesses, such as being afraid of fire and silver. Once they die, they turn into dust."
"Even dogs bite."
"True, but it does look terrifying!"
"And their blood-sucking ability, many destruction-type mages in the Seven Kingdoms can do, though it's too disgusting for most people to use," Wright said before using a destruction-type blood magic.
A blood-red light enveloped Wright's hand, and his magic, far more advanced, caused the vampire's blood to boil. It swelled beneath its skin, creating pea-sized blood blisters, which then popped one by one with a series of sizzling sounds. The vampire's body rapidly shriveled, its blood gathering into Wright's left hand, and in a matter of moments, the once-vibrant vampire now looked like a dried-up raisin.
"Ugh~~" With a final gasp, the vampire's body spontaneously combusted, burning until it turned to ash, scattered beneath the ice spikes.
Like the souls of humans, enchanted spells favored intelligent beings, so Wright checked the enchantment effect of his mask.
"Lord Wright, what should we do with this one?" A military officer, seeing Wright execute the interrogation without asking a single question, now turned to the remaining vampire.
Wright placed the mask back into his pouch and instructed the officer seriously, "Bag up the ashes. Vampire ashes are useful in alchemy. They're a valuable ingredient!"
"Understood!"
Wright approached the noble vampire and said, "I'll rest over here for a moment. For this one, seal its mouth and get someone literate to take notes. Ask it anything that comes to mind, and if it doesn't answer, chop its head off with an axe!"
Without waiting for a response, Wright casually walked aside to study the vampire ashes.
The noble vampire watched the entire interrogation unfold, and before the soldier with the paper and pen could approach, it hurriedly shouted, "I'll tell you everything!"
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