The arrival of something sinister

Sam had run out of his house and moved towards the towns small garrison that was near the town gate where all the hunters and anyone who was able to fight gathered.

"To arms lads to arms. Get your weapons and get ready they are coming" a man who seemed to be in his late 30s said to others as he gazed out towards the forest.

Kall was the leader of the garrison and also one of the good friends of Sam. He was also the one who made it possible for Kai to not be extremely persecuted whenever he went out. The man was of a big build and stood tall with a large sword resting on his shoulder.

Seeing Sam approach him he relaxed his facial expression but was you could still see him a bit gloomy. "It doesn't look good this time Sam".

"What's the situation, Kall. We've had good 15 years so far and now this. Are we certain it's them?" making his way over to Kall, Sam whispered.

"I've had reports from one surviving scout who barely made it back to the town. He said a group of dark race consisting of 5 cloaked figures are making way towards the town. Follow me I need to show you something".

Kall took him inside the garrison where Sam saw a dead body lying there which was so pale it seemed the blood had been sucked out.

"Take a look at this" lifting the guy the dead person's neck he showed two bite marks on the man's neck. "You know what this means right?" the whole atmosphere became gloomy at this moment.

"Vampires" muttered Sam releasing his killing intent.

On the outskirts of the town stood 5 figures looking towards the entrance of the town. "We've given them ample time to prepare with the gift we sent," a feminine voice said as she pulled her cloak down. Her voice sounded very seductive.

This was Ivy the leader of this small bunch. Her face was extremely white and she had perky lips. Vampires we're known for their beauty and seductive looks and this woman here made full use of it.

"Are we sure there are no experts in this backward place? The war has been getting more intense. It won't be surprising to come across an expert we can't handle" said another voice as he pulled down his cloak

This man was of similar build to Ivy and radiated a charm that would make women fall all over him. His black hair and crimson eyes were truly mesmerizing. This man was called Eldon

"What's there to worry about, Eldon. The guy I sucked dry gave me all the information I needed. The highest level cultivator here is a body refiner level 8 followed by a level 7. While the rest are cannon fodder barely amounting to level 5 or 6. I've already reached the peak of level 9 Elder and you're already at the peak of level 7. There is nothing that can stop us here" the woman smiled selectively.

It was true that there could have been experts but Ivy had been on the battlefield for a long time. She was always careful with everything she did. It had only been 20 years since she was given embrace and ever since then she had become stronger. It was all thanks to her master for being a strong vampire. She was 70 this year and her future looked bright.

The group consisted of her Eldon and three other vampire blood thralls. Blood thralls were slaves that only knew how to drink blood and they could only reach vampire elder 5 which was their peak. For this town though it was more than enough.

Blood thralls would simply listen to what Ivy would order them to. So there was no questioning their loyalty.

As night approached the town was deathly silent. All the guards and people who were able to fight were lined up staring at the entrance. Kall and Sam were in the front as they readied up sensing the impending doom approaching them.

"That bastard John didn't send a single one of his bodyguard here. Holed up inside the mayor house of his with his son and wife. That bastard has no backbone. If old mayor knew about this he would be turning in his grave if he saw what has become of his son" Kall spat on the floor

Even Sam was disturbed by this. John was the current mayor of the town yet he was such a spineless piece of shit. Even if he didn't dare to take the frontlines as his old man did back in the day he could've still sent his guards to increase their chances.

"Forget it we can think about him after we survive this battle" unsheathing his sword readied himself as 3 figures approached.

"Oh my it seems they've already prepared a grand feast for us. Look at that Eldon freshly meat just ripe enough for harvest." the lady that arrived said while smiling causing everyone to see two sharp pairs of teeth.

"I guess they really must've liked our gift than" laughed Eldon causing Ivy to giggle as well.

"What brings you, filthy vampires, to our small town? We don't have any resources for you to be taking." Sam took the lead

"No, resources? You're truly mistaken, aren't you? I see resources right in front of my eyes. Fresh livestock ready to be harvested. You can all become part of my gang when I give you the embrace." she took out her rapier and pointed at Sam.

"Let's get down to business. Eldon, you take care of that level 7 body refiner. This level 8 belongs to me. You blood thrall go and take care of the rest." giving orders she rushed towards Sam.

"Charge in men! It's only 3 people we can take them on. Don't run or your families will be slaughtered by them" Kall shouted as he clashed with Eldon with his massive sword

'Something doesn't seem right' Sam thought as he deflected a sword swipe from the vampires rapier.

Ivy was not bothered by how easily her sword strikes were being deflected. She always liked to play with her prey and gauge his strength. She smirked seeing the man's grim expression.

"You must be wondering where the other two are right? Did you think we wouldn't know where you hide your women and kids? This isn't the first raid I've done and it certainly won't be the last" the woman spoke while grazing her straight sword on Sams's cheek.

"Honestly you humans have always been the same no matter the decade. So predictable and never thinking I changing your tactics." licking the blood that was on her sword she gazed back at the man.

'NO NO! Mary and Kai are back there. I need to go back and help them. I need to go now" realising the woman's word Sam turned his back and was about to rush towards town hall when he heard a yell

"Sam! Don't be an idiot. Don't let her rile you up now. If you go, I can't take them both on and even if you save your child and son now, do you think you'll be able to walk out of this alive?"Kall let out a roar and deflected Eldon's sword who was surprised seeing this mans breakthrough on the verge of death.

Swinging his massive weird he cut Eldon's body in half who still couldn't believe what had just happened. It was over in a split second.

"The best scenario for us is to kill them here and now and go save them. The faster we do it the faster we can go help" he declared moving over to finish the blood thrall. Who at this point being only level 5 elder had nearly decimated the whole squadron by himself.

The dark forces unlike the realm of hope had an innate ability that grew stronger with each level. Vampires were known for their healing that was much faster than werewolves and demons. They could also drink blood to increase their healing rates.

Plus it was normal for a level 5 vampire elder to be stronger than a level 5 guard. After all, this was a small town and all these people who trained here weren't someone special who cared about having strong foundations like Sam did.

They could barely exert 5000kg of strength while the blood thrall was nearly on par with a man who had just entered level 6 of body refining.

Even though Kall had entered level 8 of body refining by luck he, unlike the vampires, was not someone who's wounds would start healing by themselves.

Over at Sams side what Kall said had finally calmed him down. He raised his sword back up and charged at the vampire again. "I'm going to end this quick"

Ivy furrowed her brows seeing her partner being cut down like that. Although he was only level 7 elder he was nonetheless strong. Killing him would've been hard even for an early level 8 body refiner but what caused him do die was underestimating his opponent.

'These humans sure have grown over the years. Elton that trash how dare he gets himself killed like that' she cursed under her breath as the heavy barrage of attacks by Sam was being deflected easily.

"Don't get cocky human. My partner just got unlucky but I'm not that kind of trash. You aren't my first level 8 body refiner that I will kill. I'm on a different league than Eldon" suddenly the aura around her began to increase and her swordplay became faster and more lethal.

Trying his best to deflect any deadly attacks his aura slowly increased. "Sorry to disappoint you but I'm not your average level 8 body refiner"

A surprised look came over Ivy as she witnessed the man matching her speed and clashing swords with her. It seemed even in this backward town there were certain geniuses.

Sam in his sense could be considered a genius of some kind. He did not have a monstrous talent as his son did but to be able to reach level 8 of body refining with such solid foundations, he could be considered the best of his bunch.

Perhaps if he had resources to develop at a young age he could come close to being a genius. Alas, there were no if or buts. You had to live with what you had and strive for more.

'Mary and Kai, please stay safe. Please don't die.'