Gregory, Scarlet, and Hems moved Martha inside one of the rooms and found the various herbs used to heal her and stabilize her condition.

Kyros was outside and observed the status of the people that his team brought.

They had already been bitten, and the power of the Vamp Virus had already spread throughout their body.

The humans had already been weakened, and some were about to die.

"We thought that they would undergo a vampiric transformation from our bite... But nothing has happened so far. When my master turned me, I immediately felt a strange link with them." Avary added.

"That's because I disallowed it. But you do have that power to turn and create vampires on your own." Kyros explained. He had seen the notifications when his Coven bit these people but did not approve of the change.

"It requires your permission, Lord Kyros? I thought vampires can create familiars at will."

"They can't. In the vampire world, those like Zid Blood Blade, who has a Prime Bond with a more powerful vampire, cannot create servant vampires without the approval of their master. In your case, the vampires that made you into Dhampir needed Zid's approval. This ensures that no servant can rebel against their master. You six are Vampire Bloodlines and are superior to Vampire Blood Borne. And you could bestow your power to create a Dhampir Prime, which is a stronger class of Dhampirs. If you spread out the energy, then a Vampire Bloodlines could create two Dhampir Ghouls. The Blood Borne can only make one Dhampir Ghoul."

"Vampire Bloodlines? What is that? Aren't we Dhampirs?" Avary asked.

"You were Dhampirs. But not anymore. I can't explain everything now. The less you know, the better it is. But I am confident that you can probably become equal to the strongest vampires in the vampire kingdoms here in the lowlands or the Dark Sea." Kyros boasted.

"I disallowed you to turn them into Dhampir Ghouls because I wanted quantity, not quality. For now, we make ghouls!" Kyros then retrieved the Bloodied Sword of Ten Thousand Grudges.

"I wonder how many ghouls we can make..." Kyros opened the Soul Console and prepared the codes he created.

"Let's see if this works." Kyros stabbed the sword on one of the dying humans.

The human couldn't even scream from the severe weakness and pain that his body had. Slowly, Kyros was pumping very small amounts of his blood. His Soul Console began to work and bestow some form of sentience that altered the vampiric powers that the Coven inflicted on these men.

The man that was stabbed began to convulse as changes started to occur on his body.

The body of the human started to turn. His skin grew white and whiter. Fangs and claws began to form, and his eyes turned red.

"Looks like a success!" Kyros smiled.

[Coven Ability: Create ghouls skill acquired.]

"Hunter, this man was bitten by you, right? You should feel the connection soon. I already allowed you to create the link. By the looks of it, I've managed to divide the bindings that you have in making Dhampirs and forced a code... oh don't understand that term... let's just say I tinkered with your ability to make dhampirs and now you  can command four of these ghouls." Kyros explained.

Martha, who was watching from the inside, watched in horror.

A strange creature was standing up. It was howling and throwing about, and its face started to change.

The man's face turned monstrous. The shape of its head was becoming like that of a bat.

"I can sense a link! I can control this ghoul!" Hunter exclaimed excitedly. He could somehow sense the transformed man and even order it around. He tested it and ordered the ghoul to move, and it did.

"It's similar to how you command us, Lord Kyros!" Hunter exclaimed.

"Good enough! Simple commands are all that we need anyway..."

Kyros excitedly continued the process. Each time he made a successful ghoul, he celebrated. Soon, all nineteen of the men and women brought to the outpost had become ghoul. Each creature stood up and began to howl screeches and hisses.

"Good! With this, we could create an army soon!" Kyros crackled a disturbing laugh in his excitement.

"Soon, kingdoms shall fall, and the undead shall rise! And we, my Coven, shall be lord over the dead!"

"Lord Kyros. Martha is watching."

"Oh right! I mean... Love! And world peace!"

Martha's mouth was wide open as she looked through the window.

"Um... Miss Martha... Going back to our explanation, Lord Kyros isn't all that bad!" Gregory tried to change the topic.

Kyros, however, was absorbed at the ghoul and observed them one by one and even brought out their description.

---

Ghoul (Monster level dependent on Coven Level)

Race: Ghoul

Coven: Coven of the Nephilim

---

Strength- Host + 1

Magic- 0

Dexterity- 1/3 of Host

Vitality- Host + 2

Intelligence- 0

---

"So... these ghouls are driven by instinct. They can live for a very long, long time as long as they eat humans to replenish its body, just like most Dark Dependent creatures. In any case, we can make up to twenty-four ghouls in total. This should be just in time to attack our enemies."

"Do you have any estimate or guess as to who or what this enemy is, Lord Kyros?"

"I'm guessing they should be Viscounts. But their power should be superior among their peers. Let's just assume we have to fight enemies that are at least level thirty. I won't be surprised if we fight level forty, though."

"That's at the level of Lord Aron and Lord Branze!" 

"We are fighting against Fate. Order the ghouls to eat the corpses of everyone. I'll have to go and lead our teams to terrorize the other towns in this mountain region in an hour or so. I intentionally picked a path that is out of the way from the main road of this region to meet our enemies. Fate ought to lead our enemies into the cave to attack Uncle and Father."

"Why not us? Won't Fate lead that group to find us first?"

"No. We are outside the mountain. As vampires, we can easily escape, especially at night. So logically, it will order the group to attack those in the cave where they will be trapped. The golems can't help us in the cave, and that means father and uncle would be forced to face those Viscounts and their party."

"Lord Aron and Lord Branze will be outnumbered. Then they have to retreat to the Golem City! Is this why the plan is to give the Golem City?"

"Yes. But not immediately. If they find the Golem city too soon, the kingdoms' armies behind these Viscounts will reach here first. I don't want that. I ordered you to make a commotion to bring people here, right? That way, the human kingdom alliance will all send their own teams. We can ally with some, hire some and even bribe some to protect us. Now is not the time to give the Golem City."

"Then our goal is to attack these Viscount squads and delay them?" Hunter confirmed.

"Yes. For now, Scarlet and Gregory can stay here to nurse Martha. The rest will accompany me out the mountain. Our goal is to delay them. They should be headed to where father and uncle are at full speed. Since this outpost is a long way from the main road, they would not head over here. We make a few preparations, and we leave immediately. I estimate that Fate shouldn't be able to work fast and send warriors here. I picked this place by random chance and since it is located quite a distance from the main roads." Kyros then explained the plan.

Meanwhile... On the main road heading towards the peak of the mountain range...

That night, the messengers ran all over the mountain region. The reports of the vampire attacks occurred everywhere. Very soon, a triune group of Viscount also have gotten word of the reports.

"Vampire attacks?" Gradier, the spear master, was astounded.

"Yes, Viscount Gradier! Several villages and camps near the peak of this mountain range have been attacked. There were over thirty killed in two different places. Reports of Shadow Ghouls were appearing!" The scout reported.

"Shadow Ghouls?!" Esmeralda the mage exclaimed.

"Could it be? The mountain had opened the way to unexplained creatures?" Querk the ragion asked.

"That is the dominant theory. A Paladin was also found combating the dark threat. He managed to repel the Shadow and chase after the dark being that attacked the town. The reports state that an Ancient Vampire with an unusual artifact appeared!"

"Was there a name?"

"Indeed there was, Viscount Esmeralda. The name was carved on one of the men. Cracky Batcheeks!"

The three were startled at the name.

"Cracky Batcheeks!" Gradier exclaimed.

"I am off to report my findings to the main fort below. Please take care. The darkness is our enemy tonight!" The scout moved up.

"It seems that we have to hurry and scale the mountains. It is good that we went on our way." Querk spoke.

"Right. Let us make haste!" Esmeralda agreed.

"You move ahead. I am going to take a long detour."

"A detour? What could be more pressing than getting to the bottom of this appearance of the vampire?"

"To create a way in this mountain region! What is more pressing; finding that vampire with our small team or creating a secret entrance for our forces to move inside? If we take down one of the eastern outposts, we can have our men scale the mountain and easily enter this place without passing through the main fortress! With the reports that we have, it's clear that the enemy is more formidable than we thought."

Esmeralda and Querk glanced at each other.

"This will also give our family a chance to establish a secret trade route here! We use the threat of the vampire to infiltrate an outpost, and then we kill everyone. We replace the outpost with a few men of our own. And we'd have a way in. Lord Lorjdenheign would then have an easy way in this fortress!"

"Genius! That also gives us a tremendous advantage and can allow us to exploit the riches in this mountain! For a Spear Master, you speak like a Tactician!" Esmeralda praised.

"Ingenious indeed!"

"Truth be told, it's fate that I thought of this! I want to kill a certain woman who has scorned and embarrassed me. She is a talented Archer of the Bowheart Clan. I have been thinking of an excuse to kill her! Now I have! Pardon my selfishness. But this selfishness will greatly benefit us! I know which outpost she is assigned to!" Gradier laughed.