Neither after ten days nor after twenty did the fortress fall. It withstood everything and even more. Shields were pierced and destroyed, combat artifacts exploded, but the fortress remained unshakable. All this time, Alexander lived calmly in his tent and visited the forest each morning to a small hideout where a flask filled with blood awaited him.
Each time, it was the blood of different people. The pursuit of the stiletto continued, both individuals and groups were sent, but inevitably, both ended up in the hands of the gendarmes. Thanks to these dispatches, the vampire had a good understanding of the situation inside the fortress.
Although the besieging command believed the defenders were in bad shape, the reality was quite the opposite. The visible effectiveness of the attacks did not match the real situation. Damaged artifacts were repaired in time, and shields were simply recharged and put back into service. The vast reserves of magical power in the cellars of the besieged stronghold allowed it to withstand such blows for a very long time.
It turned out that the most significant damage to the defenders was caused by the vampires, who had already dealt with more than a hundred of the defenders. But in reality, the weakest point of Zalon was its inhabitants. The fortress was a huge city with a significant population working in and servicing the mines. And people need to eat.
There were food reserves in the fortress that would last for a long time, but there was no way to replenish them. All the northern mines were completely dependent on external food supplies. And that was the weakest point for the rebels. They could not delay things indefinitely.
The roads were filled with tens of thousands of refugees. Even the approaching winter did not stop people; no one wanted to be killed by vampires. The endless stream of people wandering aimlessly, just to get as far away from danger as possible, obstructed the movement of troops. But stopping the panic was no longer possible. Accurate information and fabricated rumors spread
at wildfire speed, and the few surviving witnesses confirmed both. Peasants and townspeople fled from their homes, ignoring the approaching cold and the lack of a place to relocate.
The kingdom of Valeria, which had borne the brunt of the vampire attack, had nearly managed to handle the looming threat. Large squads of dark creatures were destroyed by the army, while the few remaining vampires were dealt with by vampire hunters spontaneously organized near churches and reinforced by mages.
The main weakness of the vampires was the light of demura, which they could not tolerate, and hunters used this to track and kill them during the day. It seemed that they had successfully dealt with the menace, and with a little more effort, the country would be cleared.
Master Kohan entered his office and wearily sank into his chair. The papers he had read left no hope for a favorable outcome of the invasion. The only thing left was to properly manage the received information. The Deputy Head of the Control Service (the secret police of Valeria) summoned his assistant and instructed him to arrange a meeting with Master Rudolf.
Two hours later, the Head of the Surveillance Service was reading the same papers and growing increasingly frowning. The army, sanitary cordons, checks, and squads of monster hunters had not stopped the vampires. Almost all the cities in the kingdom were finding bloodless corpses. The individuals had spread throughout the country.
— Why did you show this to me? — The cautious look fixed on the guest's face.
— I don't want to be the one to deliver bad news to Advisor Bor, — Kohan didn't even think of looking away or feeling embarrassed.
— As far as I know, the advisor hasn't killed anyone for this yet, — Rudolf, upon hearing the response, visibly relaxed.
— But he hasn't praised anyone for it, as far as I know.
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