Inside the main room of the fort, a pale young man awoke from his slumber. He was sitting on a chair in the middle of a large room. In front of him was a round table surrounded by 13 chairs and he was exactly sitting on the 13th chair. Glancing at the table in front of him, he remembered that before he fell into a slumber, he was reading an old tome.

This tome was written by a scribe ten thousand years ago. On it was the memos and agenda of a meeting with names of the members of the ‘New World Alliance’ or known to be the 'council of the twelve' was written and tagged present. Only a few names could be recognized as the text was written thousands of years ago and time was not kind to the ink and paper. But it was clear that twelve names were written on the attendance of the members.

The young man pondered for a while. He knew that this fort he currently occupies was the fort of the ‘Golden Coin Peace Keepers’, the main army of the ‘New World Alliance’. He was well-read and knew that the ‘New World Alliance’ only had twelve members. Then why are there thirteen chairs around this table?

Whilst thinking, he subconsciously touched a ring on his finger. The ring was made of gold embedded with a flaming-red ruby. On his cold and pale hands, this ring was the only thing that brought warmth. As he held the ring like the most precious object in his life, he suddenly sniffed a metallic scent that he was very familiar with. This scent was his favorite. He then remembered that before he slept two days ago, he wasn’t able to finish five of his remaining meals. He smiled and glanced at his side and saw something that made his eyes shine. But before he could think about it, he felt a sudden pain on his head. His connection to one of his minions was severed.

He felt that one of his summoned minions died together with its host body. The loss of this minion meant that the host probably had died or was able to extract the parasite. He frowned and looked at the covered windows. It was still a little bright outside but there was no more sunlight passing through the tiny slit on the window cover. It meant that it was nearing dusk. Before he could stand, he heard a knock on the large main door.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

“Hey, why are you still knocking? Just push it open…”

“Ugh… Great sir… this door won’t open unless the fort master allows for it…”

“Really? Let me try…”

The pale young man could hear some people talking and bickering on the other side of the door. He squinted his eyes and whispered something changing the atmosphere of the room. Then something suddenly happened that made him frown even more.

BOGSHHHHHH!!!!

The large door of the main hall was kicked open. The door was forcibly removed from the frame with its hinges torn away like paper. It seemed that the force of the kick was so strong that the metal hinges forgot it was made of metal and pretended to be paper instead. The two large doors flew and landed on the stone floor. With the very strong impact that shook the whole fort, it could be seen how sturdy the doors were. Only a few places of the door got chipped and a mark of a foot was present on both sides of the two doors. It was hit right in the middle where the opening was.

As the dust started to settle, three figures could be seen from outside the door. One was the gate guard who was now pale with a very shocked expression. The other was a burly blue creature that looked like an ogre, and the last one was the one in front of the door. His arms were raised and folded behind his head while one of this leg was still raised. From the look of things, it seemed that this man was the one who broke the door.

The pale young man looked and scrutinized the man in the middle. He wore some rugged clothes that seemed to be more like a beggar’s rags than clothes and had a very thick blue hair and beard that reached his waist. Looking at the ‘old-looking’ man, he discerned that the although the man looked very old because of this beard, he saw that there were no wrinkles on his face and that his eyes were very clear like that of a teenager. When the ‘old-looking’ man appeared, he was grinning, so the pale young man saw his teeth and concluded that this ‘old-looking’ man was not old but instead very young, maybe around 18-19 years old. An immortal like me?

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The gate guard Bernard took Gin to the main building of the fort. With most of the Golden Eye Mercenaries dead, there was no longer anyone hindering them. When the reached the door of the main hall, he knocked on the door thrice but the ‘Great Sir’ beside him ordered to just push the door open. He explained to the ‘Great Sir’ that the door was magically enhanced. Even with a thousand soldiers hammering the door, it won’t budge open. Only when the fort leader allowed the door to be open will it open.

But never in the gate guard’s mind that he will see the ‘Great Sir’ suddenly kick the large doors open. He was so shocked, his mouth opened widely until his jaw started to dislocate. A magically enhanced door just got destroyed like that.

What greeted them was a well-lit large beautiful sparkling hall with a very nice ambiance. The atmosphere felt very warming together with the color combination of the objects displayed in the hall. In the middle was a large round table with thirteen chairs. In front of the far most chair stood a pale young man. Bernard recognized this man immediately. He was the Fort leader and also the leader of the Golden Eye Mercenaries, the immortal executioner himself, Deidre Von Seggrern!

“Hey there, dead old thing!” Gin grinned as he saw the pale young man.

The pale young man’s brows frowned due to the ‘old-looking’ man’s insult. But he controlled himself and greeted back.

“Hello there. Welcome to my fort. What can I do for this young powerful sir?” He stood and half-bowed with a smiling friendly face.

The gate guard blinked at their greeting. The ‘Great Sir’ called the young-looking immortal executioner ‘dead old thing’ while the pale young man called Gin ‘young powerful sir’. Well, maybe they’re correct with their adjectives. The immortal executioner is immortal after all and became the leader of the Golden Eye Mercenaries for 200 years so calling him ‘old’ is not an understatement. But calling the ‘Great Sir’ young? I would’ve called him ‘Great Old Sir’ if I was not afraid that he might kill me due to the offense I might cause.

“Hmmm… this room… is not what I remembered it to be…” Gin said as he examined the whole room with his eyes.

“Oh? Is that so? Then you’ve seen this room before? Then my guess is correct. You are an immortal too?” the pale young man asked.

“Immortal huh… I guess you could say that.” Gin replied while he dazedly looked at the round table and the thirteen chairs.

“I see… I see… But this is my fortress now. What right do you have to enter my home and break my things?!” the pale young man asked in an imposing tone. Then he shifted his gaze towards the gate guard. “Is my Golden Eye Mercenaries that dumb now to let outsiders enter my place? How dare a mere gate guard led someone here, in my most sacred place?!” the pale young man’s glare carried a heavy pressure aiming for the gate guard.

The gate guard was stunned. He froze and was not able to breathe. The pressure he felt was different from the domineering and hot pressure that the ‘Great Sir’ showed. The pressure that the pale young man’s glare gave was cold and desolate. Making him feel like he was alone in a dark and gloomy world.

“Lord Deidre… this… this…” the gate guard was trying to explain when he heard something.

CLACK!!

As Gin snapped his fingers, the dark and dreary pressure that the gate guard felt disappeared.

“No need to ask him… I’ll tell you. He he he. Actually, all them so-called mercenaries already went to Sheol*. They might be swimming and enjoying the River Styx* by now. Do you wish to follow? Ah… I forgot… your kind can never have the luxury. When you die you just go kaput and turn to dust. Can’t even use your remains as fertilizer… such useless creatures.” Gin shook his head as his face showed pity yet disdain for the pale young man.

“You!!” the pale young man was angered by his statement. “Tell me… From which ‘hunter’ family are you? Helsing? Belmont? Holmwood? Shirfire? Or maybe one of the avenging ‘hunters’? Are you sure you should be coming for me, Deidre Von Seggrern, the Executioner Immortal, with just you and a blue ogre companion?”

“Ka haahaha…” Gin laughed at the pale young man’s question. Really? If I tell him my ‘family’ members have become legendary beings by now… would he believe me? But in the middle of laughing, a scent passed to Gin’s nose. And when this scent came, Gin didn’t miss to inhale some of it. By the time his brain registered the smell, his eyes constricted.

“Klaraon Staeer!” Gin suddenly shouted.

All of a sudden, the atmosphere in the hall changed. The once bright and warm-looking walls turned into cold and mossy stone bricks. Blood was over the floor and most of the color turned black, signifying that it's been there for weeks, months or even years. Corpses littered the cold stone flooring. Some of the corpses were dried up, some looked like fresh corpses. But one thing was common with these corpses… their blood essence was gone.

Upon seeing this horrendous sight, Gin couldn’t help but frown. What happened to the ‘Elder’s’ treaty? Why did they permit this? Was my blood contract broken? As he was asking these questions in his mind, he saw the true face of the pale young man.

‘Eyes as black as the night sky, with pale-grey skin and dark large bat-like wings. Claws as sharp as a lycanthrope, and legs of as sturdy as a hobgoblin. With mouth almost reaching the ear and teeth that is like a piranha. If even only one of these will fly in the night sky, virgin girls beware, thou wilt die. The Blood Bat-vampire.’ – G.O. Dawnfall”