Chapter 1335 - Him Just like that, as quickly as Arthur had come he had also left, only taking the lives of those that had been on his hit list. Despite Leo, Erin and Silver having teamed up with Prima, they had failed to take down the Punisher. Silver standing up, and looking at the situation around them, the state of the room, couldn't quite believe what had happened. Leo and Erin were far stronger than she had imagined and even that hadn't been enough. "If… even the King tried to face him, could the vampires really win?" Silver questioned. "Of course." Erin answered, getting up from the ground. She had received a few wounds from the Blood explosion, but other than that she was hardly hurt. The Demon tier weapon had fortunately taken the brunt of the aftermath, but it still seemed to be working fine. However, the look on the Dhampir's face revealed how frustrated she was. Silver thought that it might be because they had failed their task or that she blamed herself for being weak, but that wasn't her reason at all. No, Erin had wanted to use everything she had against Arthur, but he had disappeared before she could. The Punisher hadn't faced the third skill of the Demon tier sword and she hadn't felt as if her movements had been any slower than Arthurs with all the additional stats the weapon had granted her, so Erin still had plenty more movements to show in both of stances. "Think about it, the fact that someone that strong is working for the other side, don't you find that strange? Someone at his level isn't the type to just follow the orders of others, so why is he with the Dalki and not leading them?" "The way I see it, it can only mean one of two things. Either Arthur has a weakness that they are exploiting," Erin guessed that this might be the reason after learning about who she had received the Demon tier weapon from. "Or… there's someone on the other side that even he is afraid of." It was this thought, the words of Ruby from the village, the reason why Erin needed to get stronger, and why they needed to become someone who could defeat Arthur. Silver, knowing there was nothing else they could do, tied up the weakened Leo, and with Erin's ability traveled back the way they came. That's when they noticed something else as well. The sounds of fighting at the castle had almost come to a complete stop. Currently the three of them were running through the tunnels and had chosen to head to the thirteenth castle. Erin had stated that the fighting had stopped there. Before they reached though, Silver was a little worried. "Don't worry, your father is still alive." Erin stated. "I can sense him, actually it looks like a lot of your family did well to fend off the attack." It was good news to hear, and the three of them could rest while they planned their next course of action. They also needed to report what they had learned to Muka, but even with all that, Silver was wondering why the fighting had stopped for now. What would happen once everyone found out about the death of a Royal Knight, and the twelfth family? —— Bryce himself had dealt with the wave of the strong Dalki, not allowing them to move to any of the castles. It was because of him that the castle and those living in the castle areas were able to just focus on the enemy that had attacked them. At the moment, Bryce had returned to his castle, and he had received the report. Around ten percent of the castle forces were lost. The tenth and thirteenth castle had only lost around two percent of their forces. Alas, more than half of those that had been in the pooling area had died. However… this was due to Bryce allowing them to die, with the large force that had attacked them, Bryce had assumed it was an all out war. He had intended to use their blood for his match with Arthur… yet the Punisher never came. A short while later, Bryce also received news that his Royal Knight and the twelfth family leader had both died. "Damn it!" Bryce shouted as he threw a wine glass against the wall shattering it to pieces. "It seems like he has chosen to take you all down one by one." Tempus, the Original, who was the current second family leader, was also in the King's throne room along with the surviving Royal Knight Kyle Harlu who had delivered the report. "When we look at the entire picture, this attack appears to have been far more coordinated than we first believed. All of it appears to have been nothing more than a distraction." Harlu said. "While everyone was busy, it gave Arthur the chance to attack the twelfth family and the Royal Knight." "He's just running away!" Bryce shouted. "Well, it's a valid tactic, though it's not as if his side aren't suffering losses," Tempus replied. "In the end, Arthur is just doing what he has set out to do. I would be careful, I'm pretty sure he might go for you next, perhaps using the same idea as today." Tempus knew all the leaders that had participated in their little 'expedition', yet his family hadn't been part of it. As such, it was far easier for the Original to remain calm, unlike the Royal Knight, "There is the matter of what to do with the twelfth family who are in chaos. Not only was the twelfth leader and Royal Knight found dead but the Vampire Knights have gone missing as well." Kyle reported. "There were also signs of other abilities used. An ice tunnel of some sort. I have started to investigate, but there is no known ability among us vampires that could do anything like that." Bryce honestly didn't care for what actually happened, he just knew that Arthur had been there and that his Royal Knight was now dead, yet he could do nothing against the one responsible for it. "There is a simple solution. Allow me to wake up my old friend and let him take over the twelfth family for now. I'm sure they would be useful in your little fight against the Punisher. I'm sure he would be pleased to know his ability is in the hands of another." "That's too dangerous!" Bryce shouted instantly. "He doesn't even know our ways, doesn't even know the existence of the Punisher, nor will that person be someone who follows tradition! I can beat Arthur, all I need to do is find where he is, and where he is going to attack next." In the meantime, the settlement started to recover from the attack, and the unsettling news had already begun to spread. They were beginning to lose hope that they would be able to deal with this problem. Thanks to the defenses that Quinn had left behind, the tenth castle had suffered minimal losses. Those that had come from the other families were surprised at how impressive everything was, they were also able to see just how strong the tenth family vampires were. Those that used beast gear, and the students that were trained by Erin with the power of Qi, were able to fight better than even some of the inner castle family members they had seen in their own families. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞 It felt like they were acutely safe and could rely on the people here. However, there was one problem. Communication devices still seemed to be down in the entire vampire settlement, even though the Dalki had left, and what was worse, was that the teleporter wasn't working either. It hadn't been destroyed but it seemed like the other side had deployed some type of jammer, and they didn't exactly have a Logan that could help them out in this situation. Because of this, Paul was left unable to update the others on the situation, but he also knew this meant that the fight wasn't over. "Timmy, Xander, gather the defeated Dalki. Make sure to store their blood. Use the beast flasks, if they run out then store them in the storage units." Paul ordered. A few days went past, with nothing happening, but worry stayed on all of their minds waiting for the next attack, all of them on guard. ——— While the vampire settlements was dealing with their own problems not too far away, in the lab that was away from the eyes of others deep in the forest and mountains, sparks started to fly. There was one teleporter that was still working, and a few seconds later, two people appeared in the middle of the strange metallic lab. "We finally made it! Home, sweet home!" Fex whistled with a smile. "What should we do first, check out what's been going on or should we immediately check up on that Dragon?"