Volume 4 Chapter 166

Volume 4 + Chapter 166: Pickled Vegetables Rolled With Blood Tofu

At the border of the Holy Crimson Empire stood a checkpoint of the Vampire Clan.

“Eat pickled vegetables rolled with blood tofu, Even the Heavenly King himself can’t compare to me~”

A Vampire Clan soldier in military uniform hummed cheerfully as he stirred a small pot with a spoon, cooking something over a modest flame.

His name was Oune, and he was also the commanding general in charge of guarding this checkpoint.

As the rising sun crept over the horizon, a new day began for most races. For the Vampire Clan, however, this marked the time to prepare for rest.

Still, before turning in, Oune decided to steal a moment of leisure amid his duties and personally cook a hometown dish to satisfy himself before sleeping.

And this dish was a rather famous Vampire Clan specialty, pickled vegetable blood tofu.

“Oh my, this aroma, now this is authentic!”

Gripping the spoon, Oune tasted the delicious broth and couldn’t help but exclaim in praise.

“Oune, my lord…”

One of Oune’s subordinates beside him hesitated, clearly wanting to speak.

“What is it? You’ve got something to say?” Oune looked at his subordinate.

“Oune, my lord… is it really all right for you to be doing this?”

“Lately the checkpoint’s been calm as can be. All the fighting is happening elsewhere. If I relax a little, what problem could that possibly cause?” Oune countered. “If we stay wound up all the time without ever relaxing, how are we supposed to maintain peak condition?”

Recently, the Elven Clan had been stirring up trouble in other regions, buzzing around like flies and becoming unbearably annoying. As a result, the Vampire Clan had mobilized its forces, sending a large portion of the checkpoint’s garrison out to wipe out the Elven armies once and for all.

“Oune, my lord, I don’t think relaxing a bit is a problem either. But if an envoy from the Imperial Capital were to see this… that might not end well,” the subordinate reminded him. “After all, he was dispatched personally by the Divine Ancestor!”

Oune’s expression immediately turned uncertain, and he fell silent.

Thinking back to the little tune he had just been humming, he realized it really was risky. If it reached the ears of the Vampire Clan’s Divine Ancestor, things would spiral out of control!

“Go check right now, see if the envoy from the Imperial Capital is nearby!” Oune ordered nervously.

“Yes, sir!”

The subordinate hurried out to patrol the area, circled around outside, then rushed back in.

“Oune, my lord, the Imperial Capital’s envoy doesn’t seem to be here. He should be resting in his quarters. I asked the other soldiers as well, none of them saw him.”

“That’s good… scared the life out of me…”

Oune let out a long breath of relief.

This envoy from the Imperial Capital was no ordinary figure. He had been sent under direct orders from the Vampire Clan’s Divine Ancestor to supervise the army. Any major command issued by Oune had to be reported to the envoy. If there were any attempt at concealment, the envoy even had the authority to execute Oune on the spot and take his head back to the Divine Ancestor.

“Go keep watch outside for me,” Oune instructed his subordinate. “If the envoy arrives, notify me immediately, so I don’t end up getting caught and leaving myself open to accusations.”

“Yes, sir!”

The subordinate went out to stand guard.

Oune turned his attention back to the small pot and resumed cooking the pickled vegetable blood tofu, adding seasonings and working carefully. After a short while, the dish was complete.

As he inhaled the rich scent of blood rising from the pot, a smile spread across his face. He scooped up a piece of blood tofu with his spoon and was just about to put it into his mouth when, 

“Bad news! Bad news! Something terrible has happened, Oune, my lord!!”

His subordinate burst in, screaming at the top of his lungs.

The sudden shout made Oune’s hand jerk. The spoon flew from his grip, and he kicked over the pot in shock, spilling the pickled vegetable blood tofu all over the floor.

“What happened?! What’s going on, did the Imperial Capital’s envoy arrive?!” Oune rushed forward and demanded.

“N-no… it’s not…”

The subordinate was gasping for breath, barely able to speak.

“If it’s not him, you still dare scare me like this?! Are you tired of living?!”

Oune was genuinely furious. He had been cooking that pickled vegetable blood tofu with nerves on edge for so long, and because of this jumpy idiot, he hadn’t even managed to take a single bite before it was all ruined.

He grabbed his subordinate by the neck and lifted him up. With just a little force, he could crush it at any moment.

“If you don’t give me a reasonable explanation, I’ll turn you into blood tofu!!”

“Oune, my lord, it’s not the Imperial Capital’s envoy! It’s something far worse, it’s the Elven Clan, ”

Before the subordinate could finish speaking, a thunderous explosion suddenly echoed from the sky. The ground began to shake, and a piercing alarm blared throughout the border checkpoint.

This alarm meant only one thing: the enemy was attacking!

“Oune, my lord! The Elven army has reached our checkpoint!!” the subordinate shouted.

“What?! Weren’t the Elven forces attacking other regions…? Tch, damn it!!”

Oune was, after all, the commanding general of the checkpoint. He flung his subordinate aside and sprinted out, rushing straight up onto the walls. There, under the sunlight, he saw a vast, dark mass of Elven troops charging toward the checkpoint, while Elven mages unleashed long-range magical bombardments.

“Oune, my lord, what should we do now?” a Vampire Clan soldier asked anxiously.

“These damned elves, truly despicable! Acting all righteous on the surface, only to pull this trick on me!” Oune cursed furiously.

With such a massive Elven force deployed, it was obvious they had gone all in. They were fully determined to seize the checkpoint.

The situation on the Vampire Clan’s side was far from ideal. Many troops had already been sent elsewhere, leaving the garrison severely outnumbered and at a clear disadvantage.

This was the Elven Clan’s classic tactic, luring the tiger away from the mountain.

If Oune chose to abandon the checkpoint and flee now, this grave dereliction of duty would surely cost him his life. There was only one way to survive, 

At all costs, the checkpoint had to be held.

“All units, hear my command, prepare for battle! Deploy defensive magic arrays! Gather all mages and divide them into two groups to take turns maintaining the barrier at maximum output! At the same time, activate the sunlight-weakening field and expand its range to cover the checkpoint and the battlefield in front of it!”

“Send word to all nearby Vampire Clan forces and order them to return at full speed to reinforce us! Once reinforcements arrive, we’ll attack the Elven army from both front and rear and annihilate them in one decisive blow! No matter the cost, we must hold this place! I will personally lead the charge! As long as we endure, victory will belong to the Vampire Clan!”

“We will never allow the Elven Clan to seize our nation’s checkpoint! Behind us lies our homeland, we shall not yield even an inch! Under the radiance of the Divine Ancestor, we shall be invincible, unstoppable, destroying all enemies and offering victory and glory to the Divine Ancestor!!”

“Yes, my lord!”

Roused by Oune’s speech, the defending soldiers responded in unison.

Oune donned his commander’s armor and cloak, assembled the troops, and led the Vampire Clan warriors, ready to face death without hesitation, step by step toward the city gate.

The war that would decide the future of the two races had officially begun.

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