Nightmare System

After applying Theperes' plan, everything seemed to be going very well. Although there were a few encounters with the enemy patrols, Nero and Slinora have managed to take them out quickly each time. They got closer and closer to the base, also employing the help of some of the vampires patrolling the place. Their lives spent without ageing was still very precious and fleeting to them, of course, threats from an unbeatable foe helped them realise cooperation was the best choice here. They had to take out 20 vampires before they could find a suitable guide, however, most seemed loyal.

"Pandora must be a good Lord," Nero mumbled.

"Couldn't catch that," Marco said, right behind him.

"Alert all teams, we are close to the base of Pandora the traitor. Get ready for a battle." Nero's nonchalant face changed that into a grin, quite rare for him to show any emotions visible on his face. His excitement left Marco speechless momentarily, but he could understand, he also wanted to fight to his heart's content. Sons of Shadow felt they were ready for one such ordeal for tens of years, but there were no enemies to obliterate. They were quietly hoping for demons and devils to attack once more and although it was looming over them, there was still a few years to that war at the very least.

"Will do," Marco said and found Slinora soon after and all three quickly stopped the teams in their tracks. Nero was especially impressed that this idea came from Theperes and not Aurus as the latter has always been the smart and calculative one in the group.

The recon teams gathered soon after, each alarming the team adjacent to theirs according to the Sons' instructions and went back to the army behind them. Marco rolled his eyes at the scene he was faced when he got back; Hell was getting a massage from some beauties in his army while Theperes was gazing at him with eyes full of fire. Hell would be in for a beating quite soon. He chuckled to himself and kneeled before Hell.

"My Lord, we have located the base of Traitor Pandora. What do you wish to do?"

"How long would it take for us to reach there?" Hell asked.

"The army could march into the city by nightfall, we presume," Marco replied, his dark-brown eyes almost scarlet with his passion for a battle.

Hell contemplated for a moment and then started revelling himself once more. "Five more minutes," Hell was thinking. He had a plan, but he was feeling just so nice at the moment.

Theperes started walking towards Hell with sure steps, bent on beating some sense into him. It was crucial for a future king to know how to handle such matters with his subordinates.

"Hell!" Theperes yelled in his ear, who jumped in response and seemed revitalised once more.

"What?!" Hell yelled back. "I was just resting a bit! Kings should be able to rest if they wish so!"

The army around them was gazing at the couple that ruled over each of their lives. Some chuckling while some hid a slight disdain in their hearts.

"I already have a plan anyway!" Hell yelled once more and then snapped his fingers. "Miur!"

A patch of shadow on the floor rapidly flew towards Hell and a man laden in black clothes revealed himself. He had the cold aura of death around him but he kneeled before Helleborus, the man he swore he'd follow. Miur was never one to be overly ambitious, he only wished to enjoy life, and believed Hell to be his new ticket to new adventures. The man he accepted as his Lord was courageous and whimsical, savage but calculative, blood-thirsty but still friendly at times. This was a good man to serve.

"Do order me!" Miur yelled in enthusiasm. "You need me to kill? Say the word."

"Gather the Knights. You will accompany us while hiding yourself," Hell said and turned to Virgil, who arrived soon after receiving the news from Nero with some grenade-looking items on his hands: "The army will slowly follow while using the trees as cover as much as you can. We'll go ahead and secure the entrance."

"Good plan," Virgil said.

"I second it," Theperes said. It was not a bad plan. If the other side managed to force them into having to siege the place, they'd lose. Bringing tens of beasts of burden was already hard enough for Aurus, they'd need at least another spellcaster who had control over space magic.

"Brilliant, wake me when we get close, then," Hell then said, lying on the bed he had his vampires made of very soft leaves once more and signalling for the massage to continue.

Theperes was fuming since Hell lied on the bed right after when she expected him to head his army at least in the eve of the battle. She was about to smack him in the head but decided against it the last minute. She dismissed the female vampires taking care of him and then she started massaging him herself.

"That's right, we all just need to relax a bit, right, Thep?"

"Of course," Theperes was nodding. She then brought her lips near his ear and whispered something, causing Hell to jolt awake.

"Really?" Hell said.

"Yes," Theperes replied.

Hell promptly got up and teleported on one of the beasts of a rather large size and addressed his army:

"Listen, my subjects! I, your Lord Helleborus Reeveman, swear right now that you'll achieve victory with me. Who can it be that stands in our way? I will personally lead the battle with my Knights alongside Virgil and the Sons of Shadow. This battle is but a step for us to climb further and dominate these lands!"

Bored-looking bunch of vampires got spirited once more and began chanting "Lord Hell" with a fire now burning inside their hearts.

Virgil, and Aurus next to him were both quite dumbfounded and asked: "What did you tell him?"

"It's a secret," Theperes said with a smile and laid on the soft bed, watching her king's back.

"Ah, Hell, you can be such a kid at times," she mumbled under her breath and decided to take a well-deserved nap.

Knights and Miur all gathered and followed Hell towards the base ahead. They weren't as fast as Hell, however, so Knights employed the help of some fast beasts the cavalry uses. These beasts had slender, long necks and large enough bodies for two people to sit on. Their physique looked to be a bit disproportionate when two halves of their body compared, but they were agile and fast creatures. The only way for regular vampires to catch one would be to trap them or use the help of multiple people.

Each of them mounted the creatures, including Hell. Miur would follow right behind them as a shadow. So they took off, leaving an army of around 600 vampires following behind.

It still took them a few hours to reach there even with the beasts they were riding. And they realised as they got close that this place was big, really big. It wasn't simply a base, it was a metropolis. According to Miur, vampire bases would usually be strictly military formations ruling over the tribes and cities in their respective regions, but Lirger's base was still far from the inland, they would be very rarely informed about the events of the central bases.

They finally got to the gates and were halted by a guard at the door. This metropolis was almost in the middle of a large plain with only a portion of it touching the dense forest in the distance. They were promptly questioned.

"Where did you come from?"

"Ah, yes," said Hell. "We are here to kill Pandora and destroy this base."

Everyone was dumbstruck, be it friend or foe. Annette, riding closest to Hell, tugged on his shirt and asked:

"Uh, Lord Hell, please don't joke. We're only here to meet Pandora, aren't we?"

"Yes, yes!" Brynhild yelled heartily. "Our Lord is such a jokester!"

Roro and Jack stood silent as the guard gave them an odd look, confused as to what to do with them.

"Call the Captain, we have an odd bunch here," the guard said as he aimed a spear at Hell who was the rider in the front. The guards wore leather helmets and studded leather armour. There were three on the ground and seven more Hell could see that were watching them on the guard tower.

"Miur," Hell said, looking at the guard towers and the patch of darkness on the ground started jumping from one shadow to another, concealing himself as much as he could.

"I am the Lord that replaced Dmitri, you should show some respect!" Hell finally said to the guard still pointing his spear at himself.

"My Lord, do you mean 'Dmiria"?

"Ah, yes, whatever his name was, he's dead."

"Dmiria Wilful is dead?" the guard looked at them in shock when a voice heard from inside the gates.

"Stand down!" a voice boomed in the guard's ear who quickly stood straight and seemed ready for any further commands, ready to act in any way he could.

"Yes!" the guard yelled.

A man dressed in iron gear with a sword on his hip took small steps towards the party of five in front of himself. He seemed very similar to Hell with his slender figure and sharp ears. It was unmistakable that he was a Menaroan. There wouldn't be many visitors from outside, and certainly no foreigners like them.

Hell was wearing the Menaroan clothes he received from King Praneo again after having them mended; a dark-green top with the symbol of the Menaroans on it which was a flower with three petals, each representing one kingdom. Coupled with the scarlet jeans Hell was wearing, the Captain figured he came from Menaroa Tribe Congregation.

"How has King Praneo been doing lately? That old fox still alive?" the Captain laughed and added: "I'm Belland, what can I do for you?"

"Oh, you could tell we came from Menaroa? Very astute, Belland. I'm Hell. I succeeded Lord Dmiria Wilful and am currently the leader of his base." Hell said. "We were looking to meet Lord Pandora if we could, we have urgent business to discuss with him."

Belland looked to and fro and finally spoke once more with a colder disposition:

"What urgent business do you have with Lord Pandora? You can't just show up and visit him, even if we were to ascertain you really are the new Lord who defeated Dmiria. Furthermore, you won't even be allowed into the city unless you have some method of identification."

Hell was stumped. He really underestimated these guys, thinking they were some cretins. They were here with their entire army, so they would have to give those guys a battle anyway, what was there to think of?

"Miur, show them my identification," Hell said after a brief moment of silence.

The puncturing of flesh and organs was heard, followed with the words "Yes, my Lord," from Miur who sprung up from the ground and quickly killed the two guards in quick succession. Captain Belland reacted in speed and charged against Miur with his sword. He was clearly an excellent swordsman, giving Miur tens of cuts in mere seconds albeit the latter's nimble movements.

"Archers, attack!" Captain Belland yelled but got no response, there was only silence in this part of the city walls. "Archers!" he yelled once more.

Hell was watching Miur kill them with satisfaction, he enjoyed having power over the lives of the others to the extreme, but also intrigued that that Captain could be such a tough opponent.

"Stop!" Hell yelled just as Captain Belland stabbed through Miur's heart, or so he thought until what he stabbed dissipated and Miur was about to deal the finishing blow from behind. He melted back into shadows and resurfaced away from the Captain.

Captain Belland seemed very tranquil and had only broken some sweat because of the life and death situation he just experienced, turning his sword towards Hell instead of Miur who now stood back in the guard towers again for the possibility of someone else getting here. He was still vigilant as that vampire was a nimble opponent. His life could be reaped in mere moments by a scythe. He had felt death creeping closer to him.

"Oh, will you attack me?"

"The enemy leader is within the reach of my sword. What kind of a disgrace would I be if I acted not!" Belland yelled.

"Are you not scared of death?" Hell said, only getting a laugh from the Captain.

"I have never once been scared of a coward like you who declares war to another base in such fashion!"

"Don't worry about that, this is not a declaration of war, I am only here to massacre you all with my army," Hell said, which was about the time the army would leave the corner of the forest, the army of 600 slowly revealing themselves alongside their mounts.

"Belland, why don't you join me? I'll spare you if you do," Hell added.

Captain Belland, seeing an army at the corner of their prosperous city, was horrified for the first time and looked at Hell's deep turquoise eyes in mercy. "You won't even give us a war?! You aren't a coward, you are wretched, worse than the demons and devils of Demon of Pride's army!"

Hell used gaze of pain with 100 mana. It would be enough to knock most people out. Belland tried to escape but it was useless, he was in so much pain that taking small steps into the city was all he could do by exerting all his willpower. Hell watched him with a smile on his lips. Belland was wailing as he walked forward with great difficulty.

"I must… warn everyone!" Belland yelled.

Hell teleported in front of him, but before Belland could swing his sword, Hell punched him into the ground. The punch was strong enough to completely dislocate Belland's jaw.

"Go on, then. Tell them," laughed Hell.

"Shouldn't we just kill him and end his pain?" a petite voice raised from the back. Annette also realised it was the survival of the fittest, but she would never torture her victims. She would finish them as soon as possible, even while feeding.

"No, I enjoy this," Hell said with a disturbing grin. "We will massacre this entire city today, leave nothing behind."

"Yes, my Lord," Annette said, her head drooping low. Brynhild and Roro also seemed very disturbed by the fact, but they kept silent. Jack seemed to be fine with it, his nature sinister.

Belland was still trying to inch closer and closer to the gate, crawling on the ground. Belland reminisced about his youth and how he did things. If only he was stronger, he was thinking, perhaps he could stop these monsters. His lover was in the city, a rookie to be a city guard or a Captain like himself. She would definitely be one of the first to die if a fight broke out.

Miur was seen at the door after a few minutes, carrying an unconscious female guard with him. Right before he could address Lord Hell, Hell talked to him instead.

"Hey Miur, I mean, I'll allow you guys to go wild after we raze the city, but you are not slacking at all, aren't ya?" Hell said with a chuckle, seeing an unconscious beauty under his arm.

"Lord Hell, please don't make such vulgar jokes about me, the children behind you will think they ring true," Miur replied with a sullen face. "This woman was looking for the one called Belland, so I brought her here."

Belland's eyes were suddenly opened wide awake as he craned his neck towards Miur and the unconscious girl. She was a beauty he had always sought and loved. She was the woman Belland was thinking of proposing to.

"Amilyr!" Belland managed to yell with his jaw in such a state and forced himself up. Hell was watching with great interest. He picked up the sword, pointed it to Miur and forced out the words: "Let her go."

Hell put his hand on Belland's shoulder and whispered: "How about this, you join me and I also spare her life. Even her family's life!" He also stopped using Gaze of Pain on Belland and released the spell.

Belland forcefully put his jaw back, Hell wasn't sure you could do that with your jaw, so he only awaited his answer.

"I will never betray Lord Pandora." Belland was crying tears coming deep from his heart but still had a stern face.

"All right," Hell said. "Turn her into a vampire."

"No!" Belland yelled once more as Miur bit into her neck and bled some of his blood there. He tried to rush to her side but he was stopped by Hell's iron grip. He knew he was powerless and could do nothing about it.

"Lord Pandora will die soon, too. Is it worth fighting like this for a dead man?"

"Lord Pandora can never be taken out by the likes of you. We have over two thousand vampires in this metropolis ready to fight!" Belland was still hoping to scare him off, tripling his numbers. They only had a little over a thousand.

"But they aren't mobilised at the moment, are they? I wonder if they can actually be any threat for my army."

Hell sent his Knights to patrol the guard towers and ensure no one inside the city is alerted as the army was getting closer, albeit still being in quite the distance. Although the army followed Hell and his Knights from the jungle, they were still a lot slower in comparison. It was all right, as long as the army could get here before the city was alerted, their attack would be a success with the least number of casualties. That's what Theperes had told Hell as well.

"So, then, choose!" Hell ordered in an excited tone. "There will still be a choice to make here. I can order Miur to use the heart of one of those vampires to greatly enhance the success rate of the transformation! Will you betray your already dead Lord, or will you let your girlfriend die?"