(Bonus chapter for our brother "Xiao Kongkong Has Water to Drink," 4/5)
It took Lady Laenelia nearly ten minutes to take down Maxim.
It hadn't been easy.
Especially when he used his Blood Wings to fly and unleash his vicious "death-from-above" tactics while defending himself. She'd been forced onto the back foot, and in the end, it was only the exceptional elven archery and ranger tactics she'd retained after becoming a vampire that sent Maxim out of the fight.
She had to admit that the Blood Eagle Clan's sons, who had kept their family standing even after it had faced the threat of annihilation, really did have a few tricks up their sleeves! And if even their descendants were this troublesome, then their lord, Murphy, would surely be even harder to deal with on the battlefield.
But what Lady Laenelia hadn't expected was that defeating Maxim would only be the beginning.
The endless vampires and blood thralls stopped challenging her, but the thirty reserve knights and sixty Blood Retainers under her command became the targets of their challenges instead.
They called it "learning through practical experience," but the mounted archer knew perfectly well what these people were really up to.
It gave her a deep appreciation for the Blood Eagle Clan's shamelessness and "solidarity."
They seemed to be trying to make a point: "Mess with one of us, and you mess with all of us." Of course, it was also possible that this was a private instruction from a certain petty Count of Cadman City.
Whatever the reason, the Blood Oath Knights spent their first day and night at Crimson Castle in unusually "fulfilling" fashion.
Especially after the "Twelve Mighty Blood Eagles" received the special challenge assignments Maxim had arranged for them and eagerly joined the "practical training." The one-sided