Dawn had arrived, and the first rays of sunlight shone on the city walls and on Bennett's heavy, fleshy fists, causing his attacks to weaken like a deflated balloon.
Similarly, there are the Blood Corpse below that are not yet dead.
While sunlight cannot directly harm the Blood Corpse, it can significantly reduce their mobility.
Even before Bennett gave the order, the Blood Corpse began to run towards the nearest shady spot in the woods.
With his strength diminished, Bennett's remaining intelligence regained control of his mind. He realized that tonight's reckless battle was a mistake, and that [ Aluode ]'s earlier suggestion to rest today and attack the city tomorrow night was the right choice.
Bennett's previous composure stemmed from two reasons: firstly, the habits (bad habits) he had developed from his life as an aristocrat, and secondly, his belief that he possessed the ability to end this battle.
However, this is conditional: the battle must take place at night. Otherwise, unless one reaches the rank of Marquis, the weakening effect of sunlight on Blood Corpse will not be significantly reduced.
So he truly lost this battle!
The vampire count gritted his teeth, shook off the several Soul Returner warriors who kept clinging to him like leeches, and began to flee quickly, enveloped in his blood-and-flesh robe.
Meanwhile, [ Aluode ] pretended to wake up under the stimulation of sunlight.
His gaze swept across the battlefield, and when he saw that Bennett was still alive, his eyes lit up with undisguised joy.
"My lord, over here!"
Ignoring the other party's rudeness, Bennett followed [ Aluode's ] guidance and quickly entered a shady spot, leading the Blood Corpse little by little into the dense forest near the city walls.
Behind [ Aluode ] and Bennett, the survivors on the city wall cheered after narrowly escaping death.
After fleeing for a while and confirming his safety, Count Bennett gradually regained his composure, and the distance between him and [ Aluode ] began to increase steadily.
This feeling is like that of a king in some novels who personally leads an army but is defeated. When fleeing, he may be forced by circumstances to lower himself and eat and live with ordinary soldiers, but once the situation turns out of danger, he will immediately reveal his true colors.
Bennett did the same. After confirming that there were no pursuers around, he first hid in the shade of a tree and cast Psionic Energy Formula the scattered Blood Corpse around him. Then he turned his gaze to [ Aluode ].
It's common knowledge that the leader doesn't make mistakes, so if the plan failed, whose fault was it?
The answer is obvious...
"My lord, today's defeat is entirely my responsibility!"
The moment that gaze fell upon him, [ Aluode ] had already prostrated himself on the ground, trembling as he uttered words of apology.
"You know that's good. If it weren't for your poor performance in leading the attack, we would already be using the blood of those townspeople to create a blood sacrifice array!"
"Yes... Your reprimand is correct."
Looking at the Blood Corpse crawling before him, as lowly as an ant, Bennett sighed and said:
"With today's experience, it will be much harder to take Weeping Willow Town later. It's just a pity that we lost at least two hundred Blood Corpse today and gained nothing..."
"Tell me, what is the name of the nearest other human settlement, and where is it located?"
[ Aluode ] was startled, realizing that his friends in the group had actually guessed correctly.
[ Aluode ] had already informed everyone about Bennett's personality profile in the group chat for this project.
Bennett's reaction at this moment perfectly matched the conjectures made by more than a dozen players in the group who were involved in the plan.
Bennett was the kind of guy who was clever enough to understand many things, but not completely intelligent.
As a human, he had participated in some battles, both large and small, and had relatively rich combat and command experience compared to normal people, but he could not fully understand the strengths and weaknesses of human troops and Blood Corpse troops.
Even after becoming a vampire count, he still operated according to his previous human mindset.
He launched a surprise attack like a human commander, and oversaw the overall situation from the rear like a human commander, but he never expected that, unlike humans who can rise to power through their brains, vampires are the kind of race where might makes right.
For such a race, the commander of a unit already represents the strongest individual combat power. The fact that such a special unit chose to join the battle only in the second half of the battle is enough to show that he has not yet shaken off some of his human characteristics.
For humans attacking a city, the first time is the best opportunity to capture it; subsequent attacks will only become more difficult as the battle drags on. However, this is not the case for the Blood Corpse.
Humans are constrained by factors such as morale, food supplies, and equipment, while these three things are not a problem for Blood Corpse. Morale can be forcibly stimulated by the pressure from higher-ranking Blood Corpse, and food supplies and equipment are out of the question.
Therefore, even knowing that the city's defenders would certainly reinforce the walls during the day, attacking again tonight was still Bennett's best option.
But this count, who was only slightly clever, ultimately chose to take the long way around, relying on human reasoning.
Impressed by the resourcefulness of his fellow group members, [ Aluode ] answered the Count's question with trembling hands:
"Yes, it's White Wax Town. It's a day and a night to get there if you go north from here."
Bennett thought for a moment and said:
"Slow down our march. We'll travel for two days and two nights, and along the way, we can collect any stray Blood Corpse we find. By the time we reach White Wax Town, we should have 1,500."
"My lord, this might cause White Wax Town to find out..."
Bennett's stern gaze interrupted [ Aluode ]'s words. "What? Didn't you, my strategist, say we should proceed cautiously and methodically? Now that I'm advocating for a cautious approach, you're jumping out to object? Are you some kind of argumentative troll?"
The vampire waved his hand:
"I know what you're trying to say. You're worried that Weeping Willow Town is sending intelligence to White Wax Town, right?"
"Yes... yes."
"Don't worry, I'll spread out the Blood Corpse army; no one will be able to pass between these two towns."
"Your lordship is wise."
[ Aluode ] offered timely praise, but this time Bennett was much more rational:
"That won't be necessary, [ Aluode ], you said before that you would die for me, didn't you?"
"Yes, sir."
"The battle of White Wax Town will be the time for you to die."
Bennett's tone gradually turned cold:
"Win or lose, you will die in that battle. This is the price you must pay for the mistakes you made today."
[ Aluode ] lowered his head even further, but his tone remained as humble as ever:
"Your subordinate obeys and will serve Your Excellency to the death."
Where Bennett couldn't see, the Soul Returner curled the corners of his mouth into a smile—
The master and servant were so precise in choosing where they wanted each other to die; truly...
A son resembles his father.