Chapter 48: Brain And Sword of Vladislaus
"You do understand how difficult it is to fight against intelligent existence, right?" Qwanisha sighed. "We sacrificed a lot just to get the surface level information of Bloodbound. Apparently, from the very beginning, they were already aware of us raiding the burg before. We were perplexed at first by the sheer amount of Thralls surrounding the burg and it turned out, they were controlled by the Bloodbound, the thralls were their vision."
"What was the most depressing thing though was the amount of Thralls, as if they were endless. For almost a decade, we have been trying to decrease their numbers, but the consequence? Giving information about our current strength. That was why we have been applying the kiting method, as it was the best solution we could think of–killing thralls one by one while revealing as little of our information as possible.
Through countless sacrifices of our brethren, we also distressingly discover that the number of Bloodbound inside the castle is high. We estimate it to be a double number, even perhaps, triple–the worst assumption there is. Bloodbound is a Corrupted Rank monster, they are easy to deal with, that is, if you encounter one. They handle the daily affairs of the burg. Their abilities and battle style is more effective if they have thralls or fellow Bloodbound. The burg is very large to begin with, so when we raided the last time, we managed to enter the inner part of the burg, thinking the treasure was there. But then... we encountered the Crimson Knights."
Qwanisha, after narrating for a long while, couldn’t help but feel emotional. She was carried away by her emotion and did not even notice she was speaking for a period of time. Kaiju, despite feeling sleepy from her story, listened attentively, not missing a single word from her. He understood how grave it was to raid the burg, and thus, he could not take it lightly. Just hearing the amount of Thralls and Bloodbound sent a chill down his spine.
"Crimson Knights, they are beyond our level. We only encountered one but we were almost instantly annihilated, leaving behind two of us, Max. The Bloodbound set a trap in the first place, leading us into one of the Crimson Knights, deeper in the burg." Qwanisha’s eyes regained clarity and stared at Kaiju. "Kaiju, the treasures are not inside the burg, but the outside, kept by the Bloodbound."
Kaiju was stunned. The first time he received the task from the Tower, he instantly thought the treasures were inside, even in the castle of Vladislaus. Burg is a walled fortress located on the edge of a cliff, so naturally, there is also a castle in the middle, serving as the house of the burg’s owner. To think the treasures that the Tower claimed to aid the Baron Vampire in his ascension to the King class were located near the perimeter of the burg?
Kaiju was deeply shocked, he was also awestruck by the Bloodbound’s intelligence. They deceived Qwanisha and others the whole time. He could even already imagine the faces of Bloodbound smiling in a mockery at Qwanisha. He sighed. ’A hellish trial, indeed. They can’t even pass the first level.’ Kaiju thought.
He was curious about Qwansiha’s previous teammates but he appeared to be sensitive so he restrained himself. He waited for Qwanisha to continue.
"After we survived, we already thought of killing ourselves. The other races were pressing us, too, but they were helpless, as well. We have been hoping more would attempt the Hellish Trial so we could raid once again but for more than half a decade, we have sighted no one. Max and I were really ready to give up until Griffin and others appeared. For the past a year, we were only investigating while Max and my attempt to reduce the amount of Thralls succeeded.
Of course, the Bloodbound might be preparing to defend against our raid. This time, we are fully prepared. And this time, my teammates are more dependable than the previous one." Qwanisha bitterly smiled.
"To be honest, Max and I were surprised by Griffin and their power." Qwanisha suddenly turned silent and her eyes widened a bit.
Kaiju was stunned. He was then baffled by Qwanisha’s silence. From her face, it appeared she said something she should not have. Kaiju tilted his head and asked inwardly, ’is there something wrong with Griffin and their power?’
