Inside the mines...

A group of humans was being locked in a large cell.

In that group were young kids and teenagers.

One of which was a young servant girl who was the love child born in the Bowheart Clan.

The young girl never called herself a Bowheart, but her half-sister had always been there to defend her honor.

Myas sat down along with the other prisoners.

"Who was that child?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Is it really important?" One of the teenagers next to her asked. The teen had a rather large build that made him look as old as eighteen-year-old warriors.

"Can't I hope? When I was with the orcs, at least, there was hope that my sister or family will save me. But now, we are with these vampires who are stocking up for food for their master! And that boy said he would save us!" Myas answered.

"What can a child do?" An old man laugh.

"Don't hope, little one. I didn't want to say it earlier. But that boy that jumped in? Do you know how he was able to hide in our caravan without getting detected? Don't you know vampires have a superb sense of smell that surpasses orcs? And what those were, are orc vampires! We cannot even imagine the precise power of their sense of smell!" An old woman spoke on the side.

Everyone turned to her.

"That's right! Vampires have great noses! How did that boy move in without being noticed?" Another prisoner realized it.

"That boy tried to hide it. But I lived in a town where there were plenty of vampires. That kid was a vampire too! I think that these orcs are toying with our emotions." The old woman sighed.

"The vampires I lived with were kind and generally had found a way to live among us. They were good lords who only asked a small portion of our blood every month or so and would hunt monsters. But they always warned us that there are twisted vampires who allow their hunger and gluttony to satiate them. Some even would want to torture humans..." The old woman sighed.

Myas felt her world crumbled.

"And these vampires are actually stronger than the lords I served in that town. No Viscount can save us. The earlier we accept our deaths, the better." She gave her grim report.

"So there is no hope for us?"

"One of the worst things in life is to hope and not see it. The moments where you see all your hopes die in pieces are the most painful thing. You fall into the opposite of hope, and that is despair. I have seen despair, child, and I have wished to die ever since. Forgive me for being rude. But don't hope."

"Don't hope? What will I do? Cry? I am of noble-born!" Myas wept.

"Then weep, young one. Weep for the man you will never love. Weep for the life you will never live. Weep for your family, who will never find you. I shall weep with you."

"Erm. Right. I can come back some other time if you guys feel like crying. But for those who want to be saved, I got the keys. We're getting you guys out of here." Kyros gave an awkward introduction.

"Who?!"

"Who are you?! How did you enter this cave! There are vampire orcs in here! They can smell you!"

An orc walked by and kept on drinking the blood out of the top half of a dead vampire.

"BURP!"

"Child! Run!" The old woman shouted.

"Lord Kyros. Please don't kill in that manner. We can't bite the enemies if you slice them in that way.

"What?"

"Not mentioning the blood that fell on the ground, none of us is comfortable with bitting the lower parts of a dead orc," Grugnyr complained.

"Oh, for the love of Fate! You guys are vampires! What's the problem with bitting the lower half of a person?"

"Lord Kyros, these are orcs. Their bottom halves are just nasty!" Hemsey complained.

"Yeah, Lord Kyros. You stab them in the heart." Hems added.

"These are orcs! They have greater vitality! Stabbing the heart isn't as critical as it is for humans!"

"In the head then! But please just don't slice them like that! Look at all the blood that spilled!" Grugnyr pointed to the mess behind him.

"Drink it off the floor then!" Kyros cursed.

"Lord Kyros, even though we are vampires, but we still have standards!" Hunter also complained.

"What... What's going on?" The old woman was confused at what she saw. An orc and several humans were there, and they all referred to this boy as 'lord.'

"Just concentrate on saving these people! If those other orcs are not busy inside, we won't have this chance."

"You... you guys are saving us?" One of the prisoners asked.

"Yes. One of my Coven found you and asked me to save you." Kyros explained.

"Was it that boy?" Myas trembled.

"Yup. Avary."

"Wait! Everyone! Wait! You've seen it. They are vampires! They could be attempting to steal us from the orc vampires here! If that's the case, wouldn't it be better for these human vampires to fight with the orcs and have them kill each other? I say we scream and alert the orc vampires!" One of the prisoners suggested. He kept in mind the tale of the old woman.

"That's right! What is your purpose? Why are you saving us?" Another prisoner asked.

The others took courage. If they all shouted, it would cause a commotion, and they could escape. However, Kyros had already thrown the keys, and many were already unchained.

"We won't eat you guys. If that's what you're asking."

"Yeah! We are good vampires!"

"Hmp! Then if you are good vampires, how many lives have your group claimed these past weeks?"

Hunter turned to Hemsey.

"I'd say about a hundred or so...?"

"Do we count those guys we killed in the Nephilim Sealing Mountain?"

"Right. It would reach two hundred if we did!"

"I think they are asking about humans. So let's see, those thirty from the Viscount team, the twenty or so from the villages we raided..."

"What about the ones we turned into undead ghouls? Do they count as killed?"

"Logically, yes."

Kyros facepalmed as he was too late to stop the three H from talking.

"Do orcs also count? We killed quite a lot before going here. It's actually quite a record. I've never killed such many in my entire life before becoming a vampire." Grugnyr began to bask on the glory that he now had. He had slain warriors stronger than him. As a warrior orc, he could not help but feel impressed at what he did.

"Stop it! Everyone shut up!" Kyros cursed. The looks of the prisoners were horrified at what they heard. These vampires were arrogantly bragging of their kill count!

Kyros then recalled Martha and her sister, Myas.

"You!" Kyros pointed at a random prisoner.

"Where is Myas?" Kyros asked.

Myas was petrified. Was she the target of these crazy vampires? She kept quiet. Thankfully, she never revealed her name. She was despised by her own family just as her half-sister was. If she revealed who she was, the name of the Bowheart would only be dragged in the dirt and would only anger her family and do more harm to her sister.

Orcs had been demanding ransom from the more reputable families and would shame them. As such, Myas kept quiet about her lineage.

The prisoner was shocked. He was petrified at the discussion of Kyros's Coven. Not to mention the fact that the orc and the tall knight vampire were sharing the dead vampire by bitting on the left wrist and the right wrist.

"Hello? I'm talking to you!" Kyros demanded. Who knew when the orcs at the bottom would sense the commotion?

"Wha-? What did you ask?" The man panicked at the odd question.

"Where is Myas?!" Kyros demanded.

"Isn't... isn't it... behind you? Isn't that it?" The man asked.

Kyros facepalmed again.

The other Coven members laughed.

"Lord Kyros. Have you found my sister?" Martha finally arrived.

"We killed that other orc vampire using the poison arrow." She then noticed the room and found her.

"Myas!" Martha ran and hugged her sister.

"Sis-Sister?! It's you?!" Myas was amazed.

"Yes! I came here as promised!"

"Then... then... are you...?" Myas realized what this meant. She clearly heard her sister address the vampire boy as 'Lord Kyros.'

"What's with the scared expression?" Martha frowned.

"Did you say something weird that they misinterpreted it in believing that your a genocidal, diabolical, mass-murdering, blood-drinking vampire?!" Martha asked Kyros in anger.

"It-It wasn't my fault! That's unfair! It was these guys!"

"Everyone, I Martha Bowheart of the Bowheart Clan. This is Lord Kyros Steele. Son of Aron Steele. For some mysterious reason, he is a vampire, and we are his Coven. But he has not forgotten his vows and love for life. We assure you, we do not kill innocent men but only wicked ones. We are bad guys, but it doesn't mean that we are bad guys! As proof of our sincerity, you are all hereby being taken in by the Steele family!"

"Excuse me...? On whose authority?" Kyros challenged. While he wanted to save these people, he didn't want to add more servants to the Steele Family. So he had already plotted what to do with all things that they acquire, be it material, or in-person, to minimize their success.

"Lord Kyros is right, Martha. Although the lord is someone we can push around or joke around with-"

"Hey!"

"It doesn't mean that we can just disrespect him or subvert his authority! And besides, you have no authority to do that as only the legitimate members of the Steele family can do that!"

"We are doing this on my authority. I am the future wife of Aron Steele. And because I am part of the Coven, I am bound to this family forever. Lord Kyros has to uphold his promise and give me over to Aron. This marriage is final. I am, therefore, Kyros's aunt! That is the truth! Which means I hold the same position Lady Diana holds. Am I right, lord Kyros?" Martha turned to Kyros.

"........Drats." Kyros sighed.

"The Steele family?!" The prisoner's eyes lit up.

"That's right. We have to get out of here! Please follow me!" Martha urged.

"Hunter, Hems, Hemsey. Move on my command."

"Erm... Yes, my Lady." The three followed.

"Is... this alright, Lord Kyros?" Grugnyr asked.

"What can we do? She didn't violate any of the restrictions I placed on the Coven. And she's right. Let's go. I still have to explain what's going on." Kyros added as they left.