346. Chapter 344 343 Blood Vulture Never Forgets

Chapter 344 343. The Blood Vulture Never Forgets

Maxim’s “speech” did not quiet the restless barracks. The thugs, who looked at each other in disbelief, still intended to fight back, but the silent agreement made them start to move their feet.

But soon, behind Maxim, more vampires of the family entered under the night, and the opening of a pair of blood wings made even the most recalcitrant and frantic of the people show their despair.

Although in Transylvania, the vampires of the Blood Wyvern Rebellion were hunted by the players as if they were “beasts with bonuses”, in the rest of the continent, vampires were still a very powerful creature.

At least ordinary thugs do not have the guts to attack the defense line formed by vampires.

They quickly retreated, and the concept of surrender was quickly materialized as the first man dropped his weapon, and soon there was a large pile of blades of various colors and a few muskets on the ground, while Transylvanian civil servants escorted by veterans entered with swords at their sides, and began to register their rosters with pen and paper in hand.

Not even the wildest of the prisoners could show their bravery in the face of the blackened muzzles of the guns, which were still emitting smoke.

They were just bad, they weren’t stupid.

After realizing that the vampires of the Blood Vulture Clan were not good and would really kill, they showed a rather “cooperative” attitude when facing the questions and registration of the civil servants.

In fact, it is not that no one has thought about it, the vampires in front of them plus the blood servants are only more than a hundred people, but there are more than 2,000 heroes on their side, as long as they have the guts to charge, even if the vampires move quickly in the dark night, it is not possible to stop all of them, and most of them will have a “future of freedom”.

But obviously, for a once-in-a-lifetime, risking one’s life for a bunch of scum is unacceptable.

Even if they themselves are part of the scum.

This necessary caution saved the scum from going unnoticed, because just beyond the camp, in the darkness of the night, Murphy and Kudel were waiting for the “worst case scenario” to happen.

The Necessary Evil already hung in the air buzzing with anticipation, the sword had no idea what orders its wielder was going to give it, and it didn’t even know why it was here. But it knew that all it needed was a nod from Murphy, and it could go on a killing spree to savor the lifeblood once again.

And that was where Maxim’s backbone came in.

He was a quiet and pragmatic man, and as this operation was the first time he had been given sole responsibility for the job by Murphy alone, Mark was loyal and thus would always be concerned about his possible mistakes.

The knowledge that his master and companions were watching over him in the darkness of the night would cut the cowardice out of him, and he would return to his cold demeanor.

Seeing that the problem of the prisoners had been taken care of for the time being, Maxim did not stop there.

After asking the captain of the Kadman People’s Army under his command to guard the place, he walked alone towards the depths of this temporary barracks.

This was the second problem he had to deal with tonight, far more important than dealing with the prisoners.

He had to take care of Master Murphy’s armed bloodservants, the “specialty units” of Transylvania’s past, a specialty group born nowhere else on the continent but in this hellhole, and Maxim had been one of them.

Maxim had been one of them, so he could empathize with the Bloodservant captors.

Although he didn’t say it with his mouth, Mark also hoped that these Blood Servants who were repatriated back to their homeland would have a good outcome, however the trouble with this matter was that it wasn’t an ending that could be decided by relying on his personal subjective thoughts.

“You should have all heard what I just said, now get your commander out of the line, I want to talk to him about your disposition.”

Maxim stood outside the barracks of the Bloodservant captives, he didn’t walk in of his own accord but gave instructions in a voice they could hear just as he had done earlier.

After a few minutes of waiting, a middle-aged man wearing the uniform of the commander of the armed Bloodservants of the original Bloodwing Clan stepped out of the darkness at a brisk pace with five young men.

There was still some military aura visible on them, and speaking of which, we have to mention the difference between ordinary Blood Servants and Armed Blood Servants.

Although they were all humans serving the vampires, the armed blood servants were after all trained as the army of the Blood Vulture Clan, so when Salok Dar was in power, he would also send specialized vampires to be in charge of the training and discipline of the blood servants.

This tradition began when the Blood Vulture Clan settled in Transylvania and continues to this day, and a fixed portion of the new members of the Blood Vulture Clan that are initiated each year are chosen from among the officers of the Armed Blood Servants.

This is a good way for a vampire clan to maintain the strength of their army of armed bloodservants while deepening their control over the group and ensuring the loyalty of their new recruits.

The Blood Vulture clan’s prosperity and tight control over Transylvania over the last few centuries has been complemented by this selection system.

But there are downsides to this model as well.

As a direct result, the armed Bloodservants are in a delicate situation in Transylvanian society, and as the human force most closely associated with and relied upon by the vampires, the armed Bloodservant army has even developed into a nepotistic military aristocracy and “profit-taking class” in the centuries-old tradition.

They are clearly the “second child” between the vampire rulers and the commoners, loathed by many and envied by many more.

Because the vampire is a long-lived species, when they select new armed blood servants, they will prefer those human descendants who have been serving the blood vulture clan for generations, which once again strengthens the alliance between the blood servants, resulting in 400 years later, almost all of the humans who can become an armed blood servant are from the vampire worshippers’ family.

These men were not only the main armed force in Transylvania, but also the most important tool used by the Blood Vulture Clan to maintain their rule.

With this in mind, it is understandable that Maxim is now faced with a difficult decision.

He couldn’t be sure what kind of attitude these loyal servants of the old clan would have towards the new Blood Vulture clan, and if they weren’t willing to continue their obedience, then any one of these guys would be the most dangerous and unstable factor.

Mark really didn’t want things to come to that, but if he had to make a choice, he believed that he wouldn’t hesitate for a second when he wielded the butcher’s knife.

“Hail to you! Commander!”

The middle-aged man who had come to approach Maxim on behalf of the armed Blood Servants quickly stepped forward, and he saluted Maxim with a standard Blood Servant salute.

It was more or less with the fawning of a servant to his master, but it was more than normal in the eyes of their particular group.

“State your identity, soldier!”

Mark spoke up.

The middle-aged man immediately straightened his back and responded loudly:
“Colonel Flanders McKnight of the Third Brigade of the Transylvanian Blood Vulture Guard salutes you! Sir, our general, His Excellency Randolph, has already been severely wounded in the battle with the Yankees, and after the other side demanded that we lay down our weapons when they asked for surrender, he left a suicide note and died with his life.

I am at present temporarily in command of the Third Brigade.”

“Well, you’re the famous Colonel ‘Vulture Claw’? The most outstanding soldier among the Armed Bloodservants, I used to idolize you, Sir Colonel.”

Maxim had heard the name.

He carefully looked at the middle-aged man in front of him, who was probably in his forties. When he was still Jade’s blood servant, this Colonel Flanders in front of him was the “idol” of their group.

This soldier came from a poor background, became a blood servant at a very young age, and then relied on his own loyalty and talent to step by step make a name for himself among the armed blood servants.

If the Ten Years’ War hadn’t happened, he would have been a leading figure among the Blood Servants by now, promoted to General and granted the official status of honorary member of the Blood Wyvern Clan.

However, at this moment, Mark could easily capture some of the injuries left on the middle-aged man’s body, as well as a hint of weakness left behind after he was abused under extreme conditions, the whole person seemed to have aged a dozen years out of nowhere, with wrinkles on his forehead and even his hair had become gray, making it seem as if he had lost his “highlights”.

Combined with the explanation given by the Thorn Clan, Maxim knew that this was a trace left behind when these prisoners were sent to the great wilderness of Nordtorf to build a railroad for their steam train.

In the face of Maxim’s praise, Colonel Flanders chose to remain silent, probably because he felt that he, a defeated general, was not qualified to become a formal vampire’s “idol”.

“So, the Third Brigade is left with you people?”

Mark asked:

“All the shortages were lost in the hard labor of the Great Wilderness?”

“Not so, my lord.” The Colonel sighed:
“While it is true that building railroads under the command of the Frost Dwarves in the Bitterfells is not good work, it is not as if the Yankees would wantonly execute us if they needed us for hard labor.

The main reason why the 3rd Brigade has slipped from 6,000 men to only 3,300 is because there are traitors among us!
While we held out in our shacks in the Great Wilderness, the demise of the Bloodwing Clan struck us like a blow to the heart, and as more and more news was sent back, especially after learning that the city of Cadman was destroyed by the Pathfinder Legion, the will of many of the men was shaken.

The cunning recruiting officers of the Thorn Clan took the opportunity to extend an invitation to us, and those who were already disillusioned with the status quo chose to abandon their honor and reputation and leave.

We organized a riot to prevent this situation from worsening, and the result was inevitable, we lost hundreds more under the brutal suppression that night.

But my lord, I can assure you!
All the soldiers who can now follow me back to Transylvania are loyal”

With that said, the colonel glanced at Maxim, who hesitated and asked:

“The only question now is whether the still-existing Blood Vulture Clan will still be willing to accept us, the remnants of the soldiers who have lost all their honor and returned with their fall from grace?”

“Good question, I actually have a question to ask you guys as well.”

Maxim didn’t beat around the bush, he looked at the colonel in front of him and asked in a deep voice:

“Whether we accept you or not depends on your attitude, I wish to know, what is your opinion of the Blood Vulture Clan that has now risen back up from the disaster and has taken control of Transylvania once again?
I can tell you quite bluntly, Colonel Flanders, that the only thing the Blood Vulture Clan of today has in common with the regime you swore allegiance to in the past is the name.

Founded by Archduke Tris and Count Murphy, the Blood Vulture Clan now practices a new order that is alien to your worldview, all that you have known is gone with the wind, and you are left with many choices in this new era.

Provided, that is, you renew your loyalty.

This time, instead of basing your loyalty on blind worship of vampires, you will be required to swear an oath to all of Transylvania that you will dedicate yourselves to this homeland land that has re-embraced you.”

“So, this answer will directly determine what happens to us, right?”

Colonel Flanders sighed, as if he had expected this outcome.

As Maxim watched, the colonel’s straight waist bent at this moment, seemingly representing his bewildered state of mind at this moment.

Several young officers beside him who were also weathered also exchanged helpless glances.

They could not directly say that they were willing to offer their loyalty, after all, they had no knowledge of this new regime, and even if they said they wanted to offer their loyalty, Maxim would not believe them.

But if they didn’t pledge their loyalty, what could they say who had returned to their homeland from the great wilderness after surviving death?

As members of the Armed Bloodservants, they had been indoctrinated as children to dedicate themselves to the power of the vampires, and their whole lives had followed that trajectory, and now the main driving force that had supported them in the battlefield, that had sustained them in their resolve to never give in, had vanished forever with the death of Salokdar.

They are faced with a situation more complex than any other in Transylvania, so complex that not even Maxim can give them a single piece of advice.

“We will not resist.”

Colonel Flanders looked at Maxim, who was old enough to be his son, with a complicated look in his eyes after a half-minute long silence.

He whispered in a despondent voice:

“Though the vampire superiors to whom we have sworn allegiance have been silenced for eternity, and though the family we once served has faded into history, we were born in Transylvania having fought for this land against foreign enemies.

Our blood had been spilled on the borders, and the ground that had once been ours was covered with the bones of our brothers! They are watching us, and that keeps us from fighting the land.

We will still continue to obey, since we will step into battle under the battle flag of the Blood Vulture, as long as you allow us to.”

The answer was full of hopelessness, but Maxim nodded.

He said:

“The Kadman People’s Army under my command will select a group of recruits from among you to rebuild the first official army of Transylvania for Governor Murphy. However, I am not from the Armed Bloodservants, and I am not familiar with you as a collective, so I will need a report from you all within a week.

I will select 1000-1500 men from amongst you, I only want the elite and those soldiers who can still be saved.”

“Hmm?”

Colonel Flanders looked at Maxim in surprise as he asked:

“What does ‘can still be saved’ mean?”

“In Governor Murphy’s planning, vampires will continue to live in this land as a common race in Transylvania, so those extreme vampire fanatics are the existences that must be purged from the army.”

Maxim explained:
“You can split those people up, I think Lady Tris might give them a way out, after all, the Blood Vulture Clan is in a state of disarray right now as well.

We need some trusted blood servants to rebuild the clan establishment.

But they will have to learn to adapt to a new environment and start their lives with a new identity, and I know that certain Blood Servants have already gone too far down the path of foolish loyalty.

They can’t even find the center of gravity in their lives without their masters, like disabled people who can’t take care of themselves mentally.

Those are abnormal people twisted out of the blood culture of the past, the Blood Vulture Clan will accept these people and provide for them until they die of old age, but we will not raise new fanatical blood servants.

That is a mistake that belongs to the past.

It should not reappear in the history of New Transea.”

At this point Maxim paused, he looked at Colonel Flanders in front of him and after a few seconds of thought he said:

“On a personal note, Sir Colonel, you deserve recognition for your efforts in the defense of Transylvania over the past many years, so if you wish, I can grant you the First Embrace, making you a full member of the Blood Vulture family, and the Kademan People’s Army is in need of experienced commanders.

But you must understand the difference between the two, it is not because you have become a member of the Blood Vulture that you have gained command!

Rather, it is because you are a war hero of ours in your own right that the Governor General has granted you the power of command, in other words, even if you have refused to become a vampire, you can still serve as a military advisor in the new army.

However, as a quid pro quo for this preferential treatment, you will need to cooperate with me in completing the splitting of the 3rd Brigade, and the soldiers under your command will be assigned new jobs according to what they specialize in.

They will become farmers, militiamen, or laborers, and they will always find a new track in life.”

Maxim stopped talking.

He thought for a moment and decided to end this conversation with what Lord Murphy had instructed him to say earlier, he stood up straight and did a military salute to Colonel Flanders in front of him and said in a hushed voice:
“What I want to tell you is that there is no need to worry about the special treatment you will experience, for Clan Bloodwyvern never forgets those who have contributed to us.

Even if things are different, loyalty is always a virtue to be appreciated!

Hats off to you!

Defender of Transylvania’s past.”

These words made Colonel Flanders’ eyes round, and then the disheveled middle-aged man straightened his back as well, reaching up to straighten his old-fashioned military cap and collar, returning Maxim’s military salute and exclaiming:
“Blood witnesses loyalty! I salute you! The future defender of Transylvania! In the name of the temporary commander of the Third Brigade of Armed Bloodservants, I order. Third Brigade, dismissed!”

(End of chapter)