Clutching her brother's mutilated corpse, Selena slowly dripped her blood directly into his heart. The gaping wound where Eldrian's spear had rend his heart asunder allowed easy access, though simply seeing the wound tore at her emotions.
Eldrian had not incinerated the vampire simply because he had received its death notification. Of course, Selena arriving was another reason he hadn't done so. Selena understood not the former, but his words clearly resounded in her mind.
His cocky smile as he blocked her attack. As she had nearly done the deed for him.
How he had dared ask her whether she didn't want to rescue him. Just thinking of the elf made her blood boil, and that was no good.
That he had spoken in the common tongue of the Floria empire clearly showed where he came from. Giving Selena a target to focus her rage towards. However! However... for now, she had to calm down and focus.
Culling her rage, Selena focused on the task at hand. Forcing her mind not to wander. To not think of the 'ifs'. If she had been faster, if she hadn't separated from her brother, if she had...
It was too late for that. She had to focus on healing his wounds. Luckily, she had arrived before his blood had run cold. His soul should still be within his body.
How she wished she had sent him home, instead of on patrol. That she had acted as a sister first, not as a commander.
To resurrect a vampire was far more difficult than to resurrect a human. Vampires were considered a fallen race. Categorized as devils. Asteria had turned her back on them. Despite her compassion, she could not forgive those who defied nature itself.
Those who twisted her love and the purity of nature for their own gains had to pay the cost. And the gods who Selena and her kind followed would not do something without gaining something in turn.
Helping with the guidance of lost souls was not something their gods, agents of chaos, would bother with. Rather, they would send those souls to wander the world in torment.
Selena watched her brother's complexion with great care. When she saw a dash of redness returning to his cheeks, she immediately moved on to the next part. Guiding her blood to flow through his body. To repair his heart and all other damage he had sustained.
The head wound, a spear thrust straight through, would be the most difficult to restore. But the heart was the most important. Without it, blood could not flow.
Everything came at a severe cost, naturally. Blood was the source of a vampire's power. Filled with their lifeforce, it could bring the dead back to life.
Depending on the amount of lifeforce the vampire sacrificed, the returned might be a simple thrall, or if they took the time and accepted the cost, they could create other vampires. This, however, was far simpler than what she was attempting.
She and her brother were not turned into vampires. They were born as such. Which was why they technically weren't undead, yet neither were they living. And because they walked in between the two sides of the coin as devils defying nature, her task was far more difficult to accomplish.
However, the most critical part was over. With her blood flowing through her brother's body, the damage would be restored. The cost, however, was her own power.
Similarly to how the Chosen lost XP to revive, and normal NPCs lost levels and were bedridden for days, she would now pay that cost on behalf of her brother.
Feeling her strength leave her filled her with anger at the elf, but it also filled her heart with relief. Things were going smoothly.
That was when it happened.
A massive explosion appeared nearby. At one of the schools for the living undead; for others like them. And it robbed her attention just long enough for her to make a mistake.
She quickly refocused, this time surrounding the two of them in a barrier of darkness. To prevent any further disturbances from robbing her of focus. However, the blood, and the lifeforce within it, was lost.
She had to start over.
—
"Wow, really didn't expect a random school to have a bunch of mana crystals." Eldrian chuckled, playing with the bag filled with a dozen small and four medium crystals. So far, he was extremely happy with this little raid of his.
Not only had he gained a bunch of mana crystals, he had also nearly filled his inventory with books. He was sure they would come in handy later when trying to device methods to counter the undead.
And by now, killing no longer even bothered him. He didn't even flinch earlier when he killed the young vampire. That was simply how war worked. To hesitate was to invite danger. Eldrian had learned this a long time ago.
"Mmm, I guess I should probably get an update on how things are going on that side." While Eldrian had stormed the city alone, he hadn't come completely alone.
Outside of Ceph, he had refused all other natives, but his friends in his guild were welcome to help. And they were eager too. And Eldrian would not turn their offer away. He knew from experience that it would be impossible for him to save anyone without assistance.
His plan, thus, was simple. Cause havoc and have everyone focus on him while the rest of Phoenix worked to evacuate whoever they could.
So far, it was going smoothly. According to the map, most of the citizens were scrambling trying to understand what was happening while the slaves were escaping in the dozens.
Judith had split to make a commotion on another side of the city. Ilmadia was working to get the slaves out, the others were a few kilometers out. Waiting.
The confusion among the undead soldiers was now especially high. Especially after he had struck an area reserved for what appeared to be nobility.
From how they were running around like headless chickens, Eldrian assumed they were receiving conflicting orders. And, unable to argue, they were following one order until another came along. Resulting in nothing being done.
He was sure that more attacks would do wonders here. Where people were more likely to actually be conscious of what was happening around them. Unlike the mindless, barely sentient undead in charge of the outer city.
"[Hey, slave!]"
"Huh?" Turning to the source of the noise, Eldrian found a small child. Probably no older than six, glaring at him. The kid looked human enough. His skin, however, was far too pale. The gray tone sticking to him also wasn't natural.
[Zonthanian dialect detected. Activate translation function?]
[Cost: 10M XP]
'Oh, isn't that lucky? I thought I was going to be left clueless.' Accepting the cost without blinking, Eldrian immediately activated the function.
Finding he could choose which language he wanted to speak in. His current list included Florian, three elven languages, and now Zonthanian.
While at it, Eldrian also inspected the kid's stats. Though what he found was what was to be expected from a kid. With attributes only around 30 or 40, the kid was a leaf ready to be blown away.
Regardless, Eldrian felt this was a good chance. So, on a spur of the moment, he decided to put on an act. "M-my apologies, young master! I-I wasn't in my right mind."
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