Undead Beast Master: Living Solely for My Desires

"HUH?!" Midnight was stunned for a moment. His comment had truly surprised her.

"What are you waiting for?!" Zaroth spat in irritation, "We humans can't just recover our vitality that fast, but for you vampires it's different. I'm exhausted, so might as well take some of my blood," he explained.

Midnight involuntarily blushed. For a few moments, she had imagined something else entirely when Zaroth had told her, "You're going to suck me dry."

Taking a few hesitant steps toward him, she reached him, putting her hands over his body and bringing her fangs close to his neck.

"What about Luna? Wouldn't me taking your blood affect your mana?" she asked.

"There shouldn't be an issue," he explained, "And even if there was, at least one of us has to be in fighting condition."

With a nod, Midnight made her move and bit him.

"Oh," Zaroth let out a moan. He had forgotten that when vampires drank blood, they released some kind of relaxing hormone that would numb the senses of the person.

And considering he was still hurt from his recent battle, the relief from the pain was a nice bonus.

Midnight's eyes narrowed. This was the second time she had drunk Zaroth's blood. But unlike last time, now he wasn't drunk, so his blood didn't taste bad… it was even delicious.

She didn't suck too much, however. She wouldn't take so much that there would be a negative impact from her feeding.

"You done?" he asked after she lifted her head. It hadn't even lasted ten seconds.

"Yes," she nodded. "As it turned out, your blood is potent— even a little will fuel me for some time."

'Well, this means Eldros is safe at least,' Zaroth thought as he gazed at his figure, only to see that the man was about to pass out. He didn't handle flying well.

"So we are heading to the Graveborn Empire now?" Midnight asked, her gaze locking on the magma serpent that was still chasing them.

"Correct," his voice trailed off for a few seconds, "But before that, we are going to make a stop."

*****

The battle between the two empires had been a disaster. Both the Draconian and the Crimson Sun Empire had lost countless soldiers in the clash.

What was worse was that the Crimson Sun Empire had the upper hand until Roran, Zack, Lily, and Grace arrived.

They attacked from the enemy rear, wreaking havoc and bringing destruction.

"We might be able to turn this battle around," Elysia said, seeing her students in the distance fighting just like the way she had taught them.

'These really are geniuses,' she noted.

However, what happened next nobody expected.

A giant force of undead—beings like skeletons, zombies, ghouls, flying beasts—appeared and attacked the two armies locked in combat.

The Graveborn Empire had arrived, and they weren't picking sides anymore! They were going to kill them all!

What was worse was it was basically a feast—each soldier that was killed by the undead army rose to their feet again, joining the undead legion.

"How is this possible?!" Elysia exclaimed, witnessing hundreds of thousands of undead creatures.

Everybody knew that the Graveborn Empire commanded large forces, but to do so many?! It was unheard of! What kind of mana core did their emperor have to achieve such a thing?!

Due to the unexpected arrival of the undead, the tide of battle changed once again. The two empires that hated one another began to fight side by side against the never-ending waves of undead.

But it all began to appear hopeless. For every undead they managed to put down for good, two men would fall, joining the enemy ranks.

Roran rained down swords upon them, Zack unleashed blood lances, and Lily shattered the earth—going beyond what was once thought possible—as she attacked with a flurry of elemental magic. She had grown accustomed to using Shifter in battle, and her power had improved multifold.

Grace cut the undead several at a time using her golden threads.

Sofia—she, the future ruler of the empire—had also naturally joined the battle, leading her own group of soldiers and fought with everything she had.

The Crimson Sun council members played their part as well.

Whenever the ranks seemed like they were soon about to fall, Elysia would appear there for support—she remained the strongest entity in that battle.

However, that soon changed. After hundreds of thousands of soldiers perished, joining the enemy ranks, the ground shook.

This wasn't the normal shaking of an earthquake… everybody could feel it.

BOOM

Something mighty was coming.

BOOM

Something that couldn't be ignored.

BOOM

Even the undead—the ones that should show no emotion—felt the change and faltered their attack briefly. All eyes were on the horizon.

Naturally, thanks to her power, Elysia was high in the sky, which led her to be the first one to witness the scene.

"Zaroth?!" she couldn't help but exhale, seeing the mighty skeletal dragon soaring toward them.

The pleasant feeling that overwhelmed her quickly disappeared once her eyes adjusted behind them, focusing on what was chasing them.

"What have you done?!" she shouted in worry.

For the magma serpent that was following them seemed like it had escaped from some kind of nightmare.

"SOLARA!" The moment Luna appeared in view of the soldiers below, Zaroth climbed onto his dragon's head and shouted with all his might.

"IS DEAD! THE MIGHTY PRINCESS HAS FALLEN!" He had timed his shout when the serpent was buried deep in the ground, allowing for most soldiers to hear him.

"What?!"

"He must be lying!"

"We won!"

Countless mutters spread through the ranks, just as Zaroth had planned. To deliver the final blow to their morale, he retrieved the corpses of the council members he had slain—stored within his shadow—and held them high for all the soldiers to see.

"This must destroy all the morale of the Crimson Sun Empire forces," he muttered. It was safe to say that they were finished. Yet his work wasn't over. He had to get rid of the serpent that was following him and kill the emperor of the Graveborn Empire if he wanted to stop the undead legions' advancement.

Going past the forces of the Crimson Sun Empire, Zaroth passed over the undead army next, and naturally the magma serpent followed, devouring countless beings in its path. He wanted to help them more against the undead, but he didn't have the means or time to do so.

"Midnight," he turned to her. "Can you help them?" He needed Eldros, but she was back at full strength, so she could fight against the undead army.

She simply nodded and jumped from Luna's back, spreading her wings.

ROOOAAAAAARRR

The serpent roared, leading Zaroth to curse. He was almost out of mana—how was he supposed to defeat the Graveborn Empire at this rate?

However, a second later, a gasp escaped his mouth as he felt his mana rise at a fast rate.

"You clearly need this!" Lily shouted, commanding Shifter to attach to Zaroth.

Even if he passed over the battle relatively quickly, this single gesture restored most of his mana reserves.

"I owe you one," Zaroth chuckled, gazing at Lily in the distance after the Shifter returned to her.

"With this, I just might have a chance to go against the Graveborn Empire!" Zaroth muttered.

While this was happening, Rynor, Ragnar, and the Dullahan watched him from a far.

They weren't just going to let Zaroth enter their homeland unchallenged.