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It wasn’t because she was cowardly.

Rather, it stemmed from the terrifying difference in strength between them, which was evident enough from external appearances to make her lose all will to fight.

She followed beside Miriam, staring at the old knight in his peculiar white wooden armor, carrying the Great Oak Blade on his back. To her, he felt like a sleeping tyrannosaurus rex while she was just a hissing little kitten before it.

This description was not an exaggeration.

“Is this the level of background strength currently in the game?”

Sister Pomegranate pondered in her heart:

“If his health bar was revealed, he’d at least be a world BOSS, right? Just not sure if such golden-level monsters will be running around everywhere after future version updates?

Hmm, given this game’s rigorous nature, such a severe power imbalance situation probably won’t happen, right?”

“My respects, Battalion Commander.”

Miriam, on the other hand, behaved quite properly.

She took the initiative to greet the old Finoch standing beside the red war horse, though her tone was tense to the point of nearly biting her tongue, her performance was still passable.

This stemmed from Miriam’s recent experiences as a manager overseeing over a thousand people. Although just a novice, her habits and demeanor cultivated from her work allowed her to maintain basic decorum even before such a prominent figure.

This was the change in personal demeanor reflecting the improvement in perspective and experience, just like how after chatting amiably with a high-ranking city official, one would no longer be nervous when facing a county magistrate.

“So you’re the blood servant who rescued my subordinates?”

This time, the old Finoch didn’t use his wondrous oak sorcery, but simply looked Miriam up and down while holding his oak war helmet.

As for Sister Pomegranate beside her, the old knight deliberately ignored her.

She was a fighter with potential,

But only potential, not worth much attention in the current situation.

“Speak, what message does Murphy want you to convey? You’ve seen that my time is limited, so you only have these few minutes to convince me!”

The old knight said in a low voice:

“Start your ‘performance’, red-haired young lady.”

The other Witch Hunters beside them looked at the two vampire worshippers with varied gazes.

They marveled at the courage of these two girls, but sneered at their choices.

It was only because the Battalion Commander was present here; if they were free to act, on such a night these two vampire worshippers could be silenced without a second thought during the operation.

These scum who entrusted their lives, souls, and faith to vampires were undeserving of pity!

Miriam felt the gazes around her.

But she was long accustomed to it.

Ever since she entered the Shaldor Engineering Academy to study, her classmates from all over would reveal the same expressions upon hearing she was from the Transia region.

Alas, regional discrimination was also a serious problem in this otherworld.

“Esteemed Battalion Commander, Murphy wishes to engage in cooperation with you and your warriors.”

Miriam tried to make her voice sound serious enough.

She didn’t waste time on rhetoric, but cut straight to the point:

“Just like the previous unspoken understanding between him and Miss Natalie, wiping out sixty elite Midnight Hunters in one fell swoop. Facts have proven that when there are shared interests, vampires and Witch Hunters can cooperate!”

“When the interests are great enough, even angels and demons can sit at the negotiation table and chat amicably. I understand this principle, but the premise is ‘shared interests’.”

The old Finoch sneered and said:

“However, I fail to see any interests worth discussing between myself and your lurking Murphy.”

“There are many! Quite a number!”

Miriam’s heart lifted when she heard the old knight didn’t outright refuse.

She glanced at the brief but not simple negotiation points sent to her computation bead by Murphy before she departed.

After a few seconds of organizing her thoughts, she raised her head, looked straight into the old knight’s eyes, and said:

“Through the previous messenger, Murphy has learned that your goal is to confirm the death of Patriarch Salrokdar. The information we can share is that after the Kadman City disaster, the Patriarch and the last batch of Blood Vulture members hid in the Blood Vulture Halls.

It has now been sealed by secret arts!

A seal capable of withstanding an Astral Tear, said to be designed by the Midnight Elders of the Blood Clan, the most outstanding sages of vampire civilization.

Frankly, I don’t think you have enough power to break through it from the outside, but the key to unlocking it is now in the hands of Murphy’s enemies!”

“Hmm?”

The old Finoch’s eyes narrowed immediately.

He waved his hand, and the surrounding Witch Hunters dispersed outwards.

It seemed the old knight didn’t want the following conversation to be known by more people, but the gray-haired huntress Natalie remained, evidently valued by the old knight.

“Are there other vampires besides Murphy’s group in those ruins?”

Finoch said in a deep voice:

“Where did they come from? And what’s their purpose? Explain clearly!”

“That’s what I’m about to say.”

Miriam took another deep breath and laid out the reasons for Jed and his team’s appearance, as well as the events from the past few hours.

She remembered the veteran Norman’s previous reminder and didn’t mix in a single lie, but some details were also not made entirely clear. However, for the war-experienced old Finoch, it was enough for him to judge the overall situation.

“You said earlier that Murphy and the survivors’ camp he protects weren’t your targets because our side is indeed weak in strength.

Though somewhat shameful, we admit this! In the current situation, weakness is indeed our camouflage.”

Miriam emphasized:

“However, now that Jed and his six companions have arrived at the ruins, they are all silver-ranked patriarchs’ personal guards, with sixteen black-iron-ranked servants.

I believe this is already a force you cannot afford to take lightly.

Murphy does not wish to conceal the purpose of this negotiation visit from me.

He simply wants to borrow your blade to achieve his wish. He doesn’t want to become Jed’s subordinate, nor does he want to see the situation he has painstakingly cultivated treated as a delicacy to be freely enjoyed by these night dregs who revel in bloodsucking and oppression.

He wants those scum crawling back from hell to roll back into their hell, never laying a hand on this already grievous human realm.

So, he needs your help.

Murphy’s warriors will launch the first charge, but our warriors can hardly annihilate so many vampires. Murphy hopes you can fulfill your duty as Witch Hunters and slay these creatures of the night to the last!

For this, both sides can proceed to further cooperation.”

“You still want further cooperation?”

The old knight sneered:

“The blasphemous words you just uttered, if known to other clans, would be enough for even the Blood Pact Knights, regarded as the most friendly and fair to other races, to denounce your Murphy and ruin his reputation among the vampire kind!

Plotting schemes against each other is normal for vampires, but colluding with outsiders, cooperating with us Witch Hunters is a whole different matter.

I’m quite curious, is your Murphy driven to the end of his rope with no path left, or does he truly not care about his fame among his kin?”

“That is not for me to answer, Battalion Commander.”

Miriam lowered her head and said in a gentle tone:

“But I believe Murphy has his own considerations. Additionally, I must emphasize that although you stubbornly view me as an incurable blood servant, I am not actually one.

My personal loathing for vampires is enough to make me an oddity in the Transia region, and my relationship with Murphy is not one of allegiance, at least not yet.

I am only…

Hmm, I am only hired by him to manage the survivors he rescued from the city.

My coming here tonight at the risk of my life to negotiate with you is not out of my unconditional obedience to a vampire’s orders. As Murphy declared to you, he and I also share common interests.

And these interests are enough to drive me to risk my life.

I am now full of courage, forcing my trembling legs to stand before you to discuss this, not because I am brave enough, but because I know the survival of over a thousand survivors hinges on whether my negotiation tonight succeeds…

Lady Tris once told me that in her memory, the Witch Hunters have always considered themselves the guardians of the Isa Kingdom.

Even after the Isa Kingdom merged with the Silan Kingdom to become the Goldflower Kingdom, you remained noble and highly cultured. Perhaps it was her persuasion that made Murphy determined.

If even a tenth of Lady Tris’s description is true, then I believe you can make the right judgment!

What follows is no longer my role as Murphy’s emissary negotiating with you, but merely my plea as an ordinary person born and raised in the Transia region:

Please, for the sake of those over a thousand lives, help us!”

The old knight did not respond immediately.

He turned to look at Natalie beside him, as if waiting for her judgment.

After a few seconds of silence, the gray-haired huntress Natalie pulled back her hood, pointing to the not-too-unsightly scars on her eyes and face, and said to Miriam:

“These wounds are from the torture and abuse by vampires, originating from that ambush in Morland Village, representing the enmity between myself and Murphy.

Old Joe died at your hands!

Along with Matt, John and Mond, I remember the name and face of every one of my subordinates I’ve lost, right on this detestable land.

What I’m saying is…

Listen well, emissary of the vampires!

The enmity between myself, Murphy and other vampires will not be so easily extinguished. What I’ve lost, I will take back with my own hands. But I will also prove through my actions!

Lady Tris’s description of us is true.

Witch Hunters were not born as slaughter and war-mongers, we were once noble too.

And tonight, we shall regain that nobility!

Those at the survivors’ camp, we will protect them from the vampires’ threat. But this does not mean we will join hands in friendship with Murphy’s group.”

“This is something you must do!”

Miriam pointed fiercely towards Morland and said:

“If it was someone else saying this, I might not be able to refute it. But you’re different, look over there! That’s where I was born, Natalie. You witnessed firsthand what your fallen comrades did there, how my father, my family, my companions died, you know better than I!

That wasn’t the vampires we both despise who killed them!

You said Witch Hunters were once noble, so prove to me that you’re different from those maniacs who came from you!”

Mentioning the tragedy of Morland Village, Natalie’s tone immediately hardened.

After all, that tragedy did originate from her fallen, destruction-reveling comrades.

“It seems you’ve reached a consensus, although different from what I imagined.”

The old knight, observing this exchange, said gloomily:

“Natalie, you really need to practice your eloquence, or perhaps this fiery redhead can truly trample you in that regard. Fortunately, you can make up for it in other ways.

Now, I command!”

“Swish”

Natalie immediately stood at attention.

The Witch Hunters in the darkness also stood in military posture, listening to the Battalion Commander’s orders.

“Squads one to five will temporarily be under Captain Natalie’s command. You will join in the protection of the survivors’ camp and the hunt for the vampire fanatics.

I can hear the thirst for war in your hearts, now you need not suppress yourselves.”

The old knight gestured and said:

“After your operation concludes, come to the inner city and rendezvous with me. I will operate separately…Lieutenant Frayzer, who will you be following?”

Upon hearing old Finoch’s inquiry, Lieutenant Frayzer, who had been hiding in the back, stepped forward. When Miriam saw this tall, lanky man in the Goldflower Kingdom’s military uniform appear, her expression immediately turned sour.

She could reconcile with the Witch Hunters because they were only mercenaries, but a lieutenant from an enemy nation was an outright foe.

Though she didn’t have much genuine feeling for her homeland, even studying far away on Genoa Peninsula, she had heard of the damage the Goldflower Kingdom inflicted on the Portia Federation during the decade-long war.

“My personal strength is lacking, I wouldn’t want to cause you trouble, Battalion Commander.”

Lieutenant Frayzer looked at the red-haired girl with interest.

This Transian woman was truly fiery-tempered, completely opposite from the frail young ladies he had seen since childhood, practically like a lioness brandishing her claws and fangs.

He had never seen such a fierce woman before. While finding Miriam somewhat uncouth, he was also filled with curiosity.

The lieutenant said softly:

“I will follow Miss Natalie, and document your annihilation of the Blood Vulture Clan’s last remnants along the way. I believe His Majesty the King would enjoy hearing tales of such intense battles and humanity’s heroism against evil during his leisure.”

“And I shall be His Majesty’s eyes and ears.”