Since I had no idea where to go and, considering Finley had advised me not to ask around about Vampires, I bought a map of the Daemon Continent for a few gold and headed in a random direction towards the nearest city.
"Zartha, do you know anything about Vampires?" With my hands behind my head, I traversed through the forest, avoiding the main roads for, well, obvious reasons. 'My knowledge is most likely outdated.' "Well, outdated is better than no knowledge." Plucking a flower from a tree, I sniffed it before tossing it onto the ground as Zartha began speaking.
'Several thousands of years ago, during the Great War between the species, Vampires were by far the greatest contributors on the Demon's side. Not only are all vampires powerful, but they are also phenomenal at stealth, assassination, espionage, and counterespionage, just to name a few.' I couldn't help but whistle in awe at their impressive background.
"Damn, they sounded like a pain in the ass to Elves and Humans." 'Pain in the ass is an understatement, Master; honestly, if it weren't for the Vampires, the Demons would've been forced out of the war halfway through. It isn't wrong to say they're the sole reason the Demons managed to win the Great War.'
"Okay, you sure you're not hyping them up a little bit too much?" Wryly smiling, I extended my arm, letting a bird I'd never seen before perch atop it. 'During that era, I was wielded by a high-ranking Asura; I had access to vast amounts of vital information.' "Did that Asura ever learn your name?" 'That Asura was so stupid, Master! Let alone sister's name, he didn't even know my name! Such a dummy!'
As Trina complained, I chuckled in amusement while the bird flew off. 'The demons view Vampires as their guardians; they're considered nobles by demons. As such, not only do they deeply respect Vampires, they're very protective of them.' "So, basically, Vampires are like pseudo-Gods? I see why Finley told me not to ask about them."
Rubbing my chin, I summoned Zartha from my body, looking at my beautiful sword with a smile. "So, my lovely little sword, could you help your Master by guiding me to where I might find Vampires?" Despite my compliments, I was still met with the cold, indifferent voice of Zartha. "I will help you whether you compliment me or not, Master."
Although I couldn't see her, I had a feeling Zartha was giving me a blank look. "Oh, oh, compliment me next, Master!" "Yes, yes, you're even more lovely than Zartha, Trina." "Hehe." Stroking Trina's ego, I shifted back to the topic. "So, where on the map should I head?"
Pushing Zartha back into my body, I pulled out the map from my pouch, letting Zartha point out a few locations. "Head to the northern town Zuxi… It was previously an outpost for the Vampires." "Got it." Nodding, I closed the map and increased my speed to jog as I headed to my new destination.
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A Few Days Later
Standing at the edge of the forest, I looked at Zuxi town, a small, unnaturally fortified settlement. Clearly, Zartha hadn't made a mistake; this town had some history. From a distance, I was using [Heroes Gaze] to check for anything, and while I didn't find anything above ground, I did see a decently big bunk underneath the town.
"Well, looks like I found something; now I just need to find the entrance." Considering the entrance was most likely inside the town, I left the forest and approached the town.
Since I'd avoided the few cities along the way, hopefully those crusher corps Finley told me about weren't able to track me. 'Nah, who am I kidding, they probably still can; still, it should at least hinder them.'
As the place was just a town, not a city, the guards weren't soldiers. "Hey, you, human! Stop! What are you doing?" Pointing their spears, the two soldiers glared at me, causing me to harmlessly raise my hand. "Relax, I'm just looking for a place to rest for the night; this place has inns, right? I have money." Faintly smiling, I reached into my pouch and showed off a few silver coins, causing the guards to hesitantly look at each other before whispering.
"He'll ask the Chief if you're allowed entrance." Nodding in response, I sat down while the other guard ran off into the town; thankfully, he didn't take too long and returned after a couple of minutes.
"The chief has allowed you to stay the night, but your weapons must be confiscated." Hearing him, I smirked while leaping onto my feet. "Welp, that's good, I have no weapons, see." Doing a three-sixty, the two gave me a suspicious look before requesting a pat-down, which I allowed.
"No weapon… You're allowed entrance. Don't cause any trouble, or will kick you out." The two remain suspicious of me, but after ensuring I wasn't carrying a weapon, they allowed me to enter, which I did with a smile. 'Man, so much hassle just to enter a town. Ironically, entering a city will probably be easier.'
The town wasn't that populated, and most of the demons avoided me or gave me hostile looks. Anyway, as I said, I stopped by an Inn, paid for the night and some food, and stayed in my room until night.
'Alright, time to act.' Sitting upright, I used heroes' gaze to observe my surroundings, where I actually spotted someone stalking me. 'Wow, they're really suspicious, huh?' Looking through the wall into the room beside me, I raised an eyebrow at the demon sitting against my wall, occasionally pressing his ear against it.
Using [Teleportation], silently leaving the Inn, I appeared in the empty street and proceeded to search through the town, only finding a trap door after several minutes of searching.
'So this isn't an actual outhouse… Sure smells like one.' Plugging my nose, I reached down, lifted the toilet, and revealed a hidden ladder leading downward, prompting me to leap down and land on the floor.
"Ugh, how does it smell worse down here?" Muttering softly, I didn't waste time and dashed through the dark corridors, heading to the main room, where I could see a bunch of papers and books.
Forcing open the rusty door, I stepped into the conference room, which was a bit of a mess. "Well, this could take a while." Softly sighing, I grabbed a bunch of papers from the ground, sat down in a chair that wasn't broken, and began skimming through the papers.
However, even after an hour had passed, aside from useless information about a war that ended thousands of years ago, the vampires were hardly mentioned. "I'm not wasting my entire night here." Tossing the papers onto the ground, I decided to visit the next best place, the office at the deepest parts of this bunker.
'It was probably the office for the commander of this bunker.' Dashing through several more corridors, I eventually arrived at the office, which was blocked by a thick, steel, vault-sized door. "There has to be important stuff in here." Grabbing the handle, I tried to open it, but it didn't turn; even after using plenty of force, it didn't budge.
"Okay. Clearly, that can't be the way to open the door." Frowning, I looked into the office, only to hit myself in the face. 'I'm dumb sometimes.' Since I could see into it, I could just teleport into it; shaking my head in disappointment, I used [Blink] and appeared inside the office.
However, just as I did, the office suddenly erupted into a violent explosion, consuming me with it.
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On The Other Side Of The Daemon Continent
Sinking her two fangs into her food, she sucked the blood from the male with a delightful expression, as for the man, he remained unresponsive, as if not even realizing his blood was being sucked.
However, while the Vampire was enjoying her feast, the door to the room was opened, followed by another Vampire deeply bowing. "Mistress, I deeply apologize for interrupting your feast, but the Matriarch has passed on a job for you." While remaining bowed, the male Vampire outstretched his hands to her, holding a blood crystal.
Slowly removing her fangs from the human, she turned and glanced at the man in annoyance while licking the blood from her lips. "How sufferable; does Mother not know I'm no workhorse?" Muttering softly, she approached the Vampire, grabbed the blood crystal, and bit down on it, absorbing it.
Once she finished, she clicked her tongue. "Marston, gather a group of soldiers; we'll be leaving for Zuxi Town. It seems the Humans have made their move." "Yes, Mistress." "Hmm, while you're at it, notify the Crusher Corps." "Understood, Mistress." Nodding, Marston turned around and walked away, exiting the room.
Now left alone, she grabbed her large, white hat with a black bow, placing it atop her long black hair before leaving the room, her red eyes eerily glowing.