"What the hell is that?" Cederic whispered as they tried to hide behind the winter trees, far away from the monster with the golden reptilian eyes.

The Vampire King, who turned into a monster, let loose another howl.

Jon sighed heavily before he replied, "The Vampire King is in a really bad mood."

He went after his soldiers and the vampires who had gathered around to stop him as they defended the outer bailey, picking them up and stomping on them as if they were toys.

Nothing was left. Not even bones.

Cederic sensed another presence in the Winter Forest, and he glanced over his shoulder.

The High Priest who watched the entire shit storm, along with Cederic and Jon at the outer enclosure of the Vampire Castle, felt himself beginning to hyperventilate.

Fei was there as he raised a finger which released a flare of yellow, lighting a hand-rolled psychedelic herb in shaky hands. When the High Priest exhaled, tangy smoke filled the air as they witnessed the chaos in silence.

"Since when has he…" Cederic turned back to the monster playing in the clearing.

He didn't know what to say, and he lost his train of thought.

"He couldn't keep the blood down. No blood can satisfy his hunger and he had already killed several blood slaves, their dead bodies stockpiled in his bedroom." Jon explained, his eyebrows knitting together. "The Vampire King scared me so much that I hadn't buried the corpses yet. When he looked at me, there was no recognition in his blue eyes. I couldn't figure out if he was taken over by the Blood Beast or he was like this all along."

"Sard." Cederic rubbed his palms in his stressed-out face. "What are we going to do?"

As the carnage continued, Cederic began to feel as if he was watching something interesting as the dragon destroyed a huge chunk of the gatehouse when its scarlet tail whipped on them.

He had not seen this kind of violence before. Cederic, in all his years as the military general of the Vampire King, had seen plenty of dead bodies on a battlefield and some of which had been hard-core gruesome.

But he had never witnessed a slaughter in live-action before with dragon flames burning in the background, and the shock he felt out of it felt detached... unreal.

In a way, Cederic found the Beast graceful from the way it spun a fellow royal vampire up into the air and caught it with its mouth and chewed with its large teeth.

"This was the first time I have witnessed this," Cederic remarked.

"I witnessed the mid-shift but not the full creature like we had seen tonight. The Vampire King was good at keeping the Beast under wraps. Something might have triggered this Berserker." Jon cocked an eyebrow at Cederic. "I guess you haven't stayed close with the Vampire King for centuries unlike me."

"Often enough, the Vampire King feeds on the blood and the soul for the Beast. If that didn't work, he goes for the sex. Keeps him calm. If not, he turns into the Blood Beast. This Berserker must be his fullest form."

I'll tell you this, Jon." Fei finally spoke after a long period of silence. "Nobody screws around with this Berserker. It doesn't know who's a friend and who lunch is. All we can do is to wait around until the Vampire King comes back, and then we take care of him."

Something was flung on the ground. They stood with a bang.

Oh, god's blood, was that ahead?

"Take care of him?" Cederic murmured.

When he glanced back at the clearing, it was now empty except the Dragon.

With another deafening roar, the dragon wheeled around as if looking for more to consume. Finding no other things to play with, its eyes focused on the fortress as it breathed more flames.

"Can we distract the dragon away from the castle?" Cederic asked.

"Who had magic among the three of us?" Jon muttered. "Let the High Priest do it."

"I should do that." The High Priest agreed as he tapped his staff on the ground twice, sending a beacon of light as it expanded in different directions. "Signum."

With the blinding brightness of the signal to distract it, the beast shook its head so much it would probably detach its horns from the vigorous movement.

"God's Blood." Fei shook his head in regret. "I shouldn't have done that."

The dragon howled as he saw the source of the firework and charged at them, running on two legs. Its weighted strides were as loud as thunder as it shook the ground.

"Fei, we should escape from here. The monster had seen us." Cederic growled at Fei as he moved towards him, clutching his robe and holding Jon's hand to get them out of there.

"No." The High Priest with a tone of finality.

Jon ran a frustrated hand through his hair and punched a tree in annoyance. The old man was stubborn. "Why? Do you want to be eaten by the Vampire King? You were the one who told us he didn't know the difference between friend and lunch."

"I know the Vampire King was in there. Somewhere." Fei said cryptically.

"Old man. You are out of your damn mind." Cederic snarled at Fei. "Go ahead if you want to die. We will save ourselves. You brought this upon yourself."

"You are an ancient vampire and you are older than me, Cederic. You're so old that your brain had started to rot." Fei rolled his eyes and continued sharply, "I know secret information that will make this Blood Beast listen."

The dragon lifted its muscled forelegs towards them, and Fei shouted with all his might, "I KNOW WHERE THE HIGH PRIESTESS IS!"

The creature stopped right next to the High Priest and crouched in front of him, and its exhales fogged on their faces, creating a mist.

Up close, the thing was hideous.

Narrowed golden eyes. Snarling jowls. Claw-like daggers. Full set of sharp teeth, its gaping mouth was right out of a nightmare.

Cederic didn't waste time and aimed his gun in the dragon's heart and fired. Black blood ran down its chest. The creature cocked its head and blinked as its gold eyes turned white.

Abruptly it heaved a great breath, and then the massive body started to shake.