Desolate World

"So, what happened next?" Ace asked Cloud that suddenly stopped talking.

"Then Nila realized what she had done and she despaired. Because she became a vampire. One of the creatures that kidnapped and possibly killed most of the refugees," Cloud told Ace and Geo with a sad expression on her face.

"Poor Nila!" Geo commented.

"Yes, after that she told her sister about what had happened to her and asked her to kill her, before she hurt her.

Of course, Mila refused. She even offered her blood to Nila. But Nila fought her instinct and begged her sister to call Noah. She preferred to die as a human rather than living as a vampire. 

Didn't want to see her sister being tormented by her instinct anymore, Mila gave in. After that, she looked for Noah and told him about her sister's condition.

In the end, Noah didn't have any other choice but to kill her," Cloud lowered her voice in the last sentence.

'That's it? I expect more,' Ace said in his heart. 

Although he didn't dare to say it loud. He expected there was a more dramatic turn of events, or something like that. Her story just felt incomplete. 

'Or there was something that Nila had hidden. Like why she was buried so deep and there was nothing to mark her grave. However, it was normal. After all, it was not her that buried her body. She is only a ghost, no! Spirit,' Ace thought.

"I'm sorry to hear that. So, can you tell us where we will go now?" Ace asked. 

For a note, they were riding Red to the Northeast direction at the moment. Cloud asked Geo to take out Red after they finished putting the soil back to the hole.

She said she will explain on the way about Nila's past and why they had to hurry.

"Nila said that she was just waking up as a spirit, because she felt her sister was in danger. However, because she couldn't leave too far away from her grave, she was sad. Luckily, we passed by. We are going to save her sister. She is guiding us to where her sister is" Cloud said.

"Huh?" Ace couldn't believe what he had heard.

"Are you saying that she knows that her sister is in danger? And then she can also detect her sister's location. Is it like telepathy?" Ace didn't want to sound sarcastic, however, the turn of events was just too much. He knew that he expected a turn of events, but isn't it too illogical?

"Yes, what is wrong with that? They are twin sisters after all. You may not understand it. But even in 'our world' it's not a rare case that twin sisters or brothers have a special mental connection. It is real," Cloud said with a serious expression.

"Well, if you said so," Ace said. He didn't want to irritate his mother-in-law anymore. 

***

"Are you sure you want to do it, Noah?" A middle-aged man asked after looking at a cave in front of him.

"Do we have any choice? First, I have promised that poor girl to protect her sister. And second, if we can finish them today. We don't have to worry about vampires anymore," A big man with a war axe in his hand said.

"But, it can be a trap," another man said with a worried expression.

"Even if it is a trap, I will still jump into it, if it means I can hack a few vampires and vampires' servants," Noah still tried to convince his comrades. Because, he knew, he couldn't do it alone. To end their continuous sleepless night because of the vampires' attacks, he was even ready to pay a heavy price.

As the leader of the refugees, he knew that they couldn't let the situation continue. Although, the number of vampires was only 5 to 7, but, after they succeeded in transforming a few kidnapped refugees to become vampire's servants, the situation became worse. 

These few nights they succeeded in repelling the vampires by using rope tactics. They even could slay 27 vampire's servants and 3 vampires.

Last night's battle was the hardest battle the refugees had ever faced. Not like usual, the vampires only kidnapped a few refugees and immediately fled if their attempt was detected or they got enough prey. They battled for a few minutes last night.

The vampires' claws were deadly, as there was poison on them, and with their ability to fly and superior agility, they were formidable. But they also had a severe weakness. Their defense was pretty weak. 

A spear or sword could easily penetrate their defense. Maybe, it was the reason they refused to battle head-on with them.

However, although the refugees succeeded in killing some of them last night, 15 persons were killed and more than 60 persons were poisoned. If they didn't get the antidotes in the next few days, Noah was afraid they would die.

Fortunately, they had captured a 'weird' vampire's servant this morning. Instead of attacking the refugees, he chose to find his wife among the refugees. Even when the vampires retreated, he was still hiding with his wife. 

This morning, he and her wife came to Noah to surrender. He said that he only wanted to be his wife. Of course, the refugees' reaction was not good. After all, the vampires were their mortal enemies. 

Many of their families were taken by them. How could they let a vampire's servant live when they got him? 

If not because of Noah's intervention, the vampire's servant would be ganged up by the outraged refugees. He then asked Zach, the vampire's servant, why they had to believe him.

Zach then explained that the vampire's servant's transformation needed not a little time. He was actually not a 'mature' enough to be called vampire's servant, because he still couldn't accept his new identity.

They brought him there because they wanted to deal serious damage to the power of the refugees by the sudden attack. And their numbers were limited. So they tried to use some unstable vampire's servants. 

In fact, there were still many kidnapped refugees in the vampires' den that hadn't completely transformed into vampire's servants. Even if physically they were vampire's servants and needed drinking blood to live, they still didn't forget their past life. It needed some time for their minds to be 'degenerated'. And every person needed varied time to be completely transformed.

***