What was going on out there?
I moved closer to the exit and listened to the voices outside.
I crept along the wall like an old woman browsing magazines in a shop. Using my claw, I scraped a hole in the wall and peeked outside.
Five burly green-skinned figures wielding curved swords were mounted on oversized wolves that reminded me of the wargs from Peter Jackson's films.
My analysis couldn't identify their species, let alone their stage of evolution. Each beast was level 14. Two of the riders were the same level, another two were level 15, and the one in front — wearing a horned helmet — was level 16.
A strange group.
Could I handle them alone?
For a moment, I imagined what our clash would look like, but I quickly pushed the thought away. The wounds from my last fight hadn't fully healed yet, and I still wanted to live a bit longer in this new world. I'd probably take down three or four of them — and a few wolves — but I'd rather not familiarize myself with goblin tricks or step out front again.
Besides, the village had someone stronger than me…
The vampiress was studying the newcomers with a cold gaze. They were conversing with the village elder and didn't even try to hide the fact that they were glancing in her direction. She leaned casually on her sword, which was planted in the ground, smiling calmly.
Damn it — she came prepared!
She looked like a younger sister of Alucard from Castlevania — a true vampiress.
A second sword rested on her back, like some kind of witcher from Sapkowski's books. She wore a black cloak, crimson on the inside, with a high collar slightly standing up, giving her an air of majesty and drama.
She had donned a fitted light cuirass on her torso, decorated with silver ornaments and patterns — elegant, emphasizing her aristocratic figure. She rubbed the hilt of her sword with gloves armored at the joints and wrists, the silver inlays and chains dazzling the greedy goblins, who looked ready to strip every piece of silver off her.
She stamped her high boots and shifted her beautiful skirt — short, layered, with armored elements protecting her thighs while maintaining mobility.
All her ornaments — especially the white amulet on her chest made of silver whiter than ivory or pearls — were probably worth more than several hundred villages like this one.
How did a girl who looked no older than sixteen possess such treasures!?
Meanwhile, Elder Godo looked like he was about to faint.
"We were supposed to pay Great Hakku in four days… We still don't have anything to pay this month… Mercy…"
He begged, tears streaming down his face, sending the riders into fits of laughter.
It reminded me of how I once begged my bullies in high school to leave me alone. As you can guess, my pleas didn't help — if anything, they only made the abuse worse.
You must speak to the strong with strength!
Weakness only invites attack. I learned that the hard way in my previous — failed — life.
As a bloodthirsty predator, I understood that truth even better now. Last time, I realized it too late and wasted my life. This time, I would act differently and build myself a long, comfortable existence in this new world.
"Stupid goblin! Why should we protect your flea-infested hole from outsiders and wild dungeons if you won't pay for protection!?"
The loud one removed his helmet, revealing a scar-covered head with bones woven between his sparse hair.
"Give me forty-five bronze coins or some loot! You pay, or you die!"
He pressed his blade to the elder's throat as if ready to kill him, while the others laughed.
"Last time it was thirty…" Godo tried to bargain, only to anger the thug further. Cursing, the goblin raised his blade.
"Die, old man!"
I was just about to leap forward and teach him a lesson when the vampiress beat me to it.
"Who is Hakku?" she asked.
Mist blocked the goblin's blade. A terrifying, hellish aura filled the village.
"Speak, or I'll go meet him myself — but you won't live to see it."
The goblin dropped his weapon, pulled a dagger from his clothes, and lunged.
"You whore—" He never finished.
I felt a massive surge of aura that nearly dropped me to my knees.
I watched as she crushed the vulgar goblin's skull with her heel, blood spraying everywhere.
The wolves collapsed unconscious. One goblin foamed at the mouth and smashed his head against a stone as he fell. Others tried to flee, but two black monstrosities rose from the corpses of two goblins and cut them off.
Two were crushed as if smashed by giant hammers, the blows of the monsters echoing across the area. After completing their task, the creatures dissolved into the ground and vanished as if nothing had happened.
The fifth nearly escaped — or so he hoped. A misty teleport by the silver-haired woman and a swift kick to the face killed him instantly. He didn't suffer.
In barely three or four seconds, the vampiress had turned the place into a slaughterhouse.
She lifted one wolf into the air with one hand and bit into its neck. She drank its blood, licked her lips, then finished it with a thrust straight through the heart.
She ordered the remaining wolves to be bound and locked in a wooden cage in the middle of the village.
"Oh dear, I've gotten my boots all dirty… I'll have to clean them properly. It wouldn't do to visit guests with bloodstained boots!"
She joked when she saw me approaching.
I saw her incredible eyes and couldn't believe someone so beautiful could be so damn dangerous.
"Bon appétit!" she said, pointing at the goblin corpses "Maybe they'll come in handy and help you gain the ability to speak."
I didn't argue and didn't even try to restrain my second head, saliva dripping from its jaws. From a distance, it spat venom onto the corpse, and the moment I approached the unruly goblin, it lunged and nearly devoured him whole in a second.
After the feast, I reached level 20 — but I still couldn't speak.
Looks like I'd have to hunt down a few more of their friends…
When I returned to the center of the village, all the goblins had surrounded the vampiress, worshipping her like parish ladies fawning over a priest.
Four wolves thrashed in the cage, snarling and baring their fangs at everyone nearby.
The vampiress approached the cage. I stood aside, watching her with curiosity. Even Zod seemed more predictable than her!
For a split second, I saw her left eye flash, and her aura seeped into the cage.
"Sit!" she shouted at the beasts — and they obeyed as if she'd trained them since they were pups "Give me your paw," she said to the first one, shaking it.
She didn't need even a few seconds to subdue four dangerous wild monsters!
She might even be able to control me! I'd have to be careful — maybe slip away at the first opportunity. It looked like her left eye had hypnotic abilities… unless this was all just a dream and I was still asleep in that cave.
I'd wake up any moment now and go nibble on some grass…
No! This was real!
Elder Godo, with his daughter Gege beside him, approached the vampiress and bowed to her feet, pressing their foreheads to the ground.
Later, a meeting was held in the elder's hut, which honestly wasn't much better than the shack where I'd woken up. It stank horribly, and the only decoration was a few pathetic wall paintings and a crooked table by the window.
The four wolves played with the goblins. The village elders knelt before two rugs along the southern wall.
I sat with the vampiress in the places of honor. She stroked my head — and my "companion's" — as if I were a plush toy.
"Elder Godo, what's this about Hakku? Who is he?" she asked "I know you have to pay tribute to avoid being enslaved by the hobgoblins, but who is their leader?"
Everyone reacted as if they'd heard something unspeakable. Some fell silent, others ran outside, and some began to sob and tremble in fear.
The elder clenched his fists, ground his teeth, and forced the words out:
"Hakku is a terrifying orc from the north who subjugated the hobgoblins and uses them to terrorize us… I mean, goblins…" He struggled through every sentence "A month ago, when the snow melted, we didn't have enough money. The hobgoblins killed my son Goro and took all the adult goblin women."
Little Gege burst into tears, and many goblins lost their spirit at the memory.
Meanwhile, I wondered why the vampiress had such good relations with this village.
Had she lived here for some time? Known them in the past?
If what the elder said was true — if an orc commanded hobgoblin units mounted on wolves — then we were doomed!
I counted seventy-three goblins, including children and elders. Their weapons were pathetic, and they looked like they might drop dead from hunger any moment.
No, this was madness. If they couldn't pay tribute, they should just flee this place.
"I'll take care of that orc for you," the vampiress said bluntly.
What!? They'd slaughter us without mercy! Where did she get such confidence?
"You saved my life twice. I'm in your debt. If not for you, I would've died in the snow days ago. We attack tonight!" She declared without hesitation, utterly confident.
She's insane! A lunatic! What is she talking about!? An attack!?
"I'm not alone anymore! I have all of you and a true hydra!" She laughed, nudging my head with her hands "I'm not afraid of some orc. I swear it! I, Valeria Nocturne, will bring you freedom!"
I finally learned her name — unusual and intriguing — but right now, I couldn't care less.
You might not be afraid, you crazy woman, but I'm bolting at the first chance!
It was already late afternoon. The hobgoblins' blood hadn't yet soaked into the ground, and the goblins were already sharpening rusty weapons, carrying baskets of food and arrows from their huts to the village gate, where everyone gathered for battle. Four of them mounted wolves, and every goblin — even the smallest children — carried at least a knife or spear.
They really intended to fight!
The elder spoke privately with the vampiress, then hurried to the others and whispered something to them.
I was heading toward the gate to escape into the forest when she stepped in front of me, slightly irritated, arms outstretched. She grabbed my neck and suddenly bit me — thanking me for the meal a second time. She didn't take much blood, but my second head still wanted to tear her apart.
Good thing I had [MP] to restrain it!
She knew I was the main head — the one reacting to her words and actions.
"Let's show them the Monstrous Duo," she said, staring straight into my eyes. Her left eye flashed. I felt strange… uneasy.
Rage flooded me — along with a thirst for slaughter and a desperate urge to obey her!
That woman hypnotized me!