Despite the dominance of sapient species, it is difficult for the population to grow when mass-extinction events cull the numbers down to an acceptable level. Even with the help of technology, weapons, armor, and skills, most humans cannot survive an Ego Beast attack. Many villages throughout the decades have been destroyed by several forces ranging from environmental to magical, making it difficult for sapient species to expand past a certain range. Humans are the most widespread race, in part due to their adaptability and all-around builds. Aptly put, they are a jack of all trades. The only race that surpasses them in all areas is vampires. But due to their origins and limitations, the vampire race has trouble proliferating. Dwarves are limited by their lower-than-average intelligence and elves are held back by their weaker constitutions. The endangered giant race was targeted by several factions and could not defend themselves properly due to lower intelligence and agility.

~ Demographic of Aetheria, by June Slawsworth

You have slain Insect-Human Hybrid (level 52)

You have leveled up! You are now level 29.

You have leveled up! You are now level 30.

You have leveled up! You are now level 31.

Damien wanted to lose himself in the same frenzy Wisperium's forces had fallen into. It wasn't a power-up, but it allowed for supreme focus and the ability to ignore pain to an extent. But something in his mind held him back from doing so. As the red faded from his vision, he stared at the corpse of his fallen enemy and the pain of his injuries became too strong to ignore. Maxwell stood on guard, whining lightly as his master coughed violently. His wispy fur cooled the boy down, whose body temperature had gone up in the heat of battle. His vision was shaky and the helmet felt more suffocating as he gasped for air.

"Urgh!"

He collapsed to his knees, balancing himself with the damaged shield on his forearm. Being so close to the decapitated body made him want to hurl. His head had fallen to the wayside, still carrying an expression of fear and astonishment. The poison master's presence could still be felt like his skills hadn't dissipated upon death. Locusts hopped along the ground, with some still burrowing themselves out of his body.

'I killed someone. Took their life. And I felt good?! That's...not human.'

The prince didn't know why he felt so strongly about retaining his humanity when he had been born as a vampire. It didn't make sense. He was born and raised as a warrior, possessing the knowledge of how to kill men with weapons, magic, and even his bare hands. Throughout his whole life, bloodshed was a regularity. A part of his culture. It was odd for him to have a conscience due to his upbringing. Was there something wrong with him? Damien couldn't answer.

"Die!"

Over a dozen enemies came at him all at once, and the boy winced as he prepared himself for another battle. The adrenaline had faded, and he could feel every single bit of weight on his armor while raising his shield. He had cut down multiple people and the boy remembered the mantra his family had taught him as the image of Elson's decapitated head burned itself into his brain. Maxwell stood on guard, hackles raised and growling dangerously at the encroaching enemies.

'Hesitance will bring death in battle.'

Just before the men made contact, several people behind Damien rose and shielded him. It was all people he recognized. The dwarven reinforcements from the palace, Pernatia's paladins, and the beast tamers of Wisperium all formed an impenetrable wall to impede their progress. The dark energy and vicious pets of the vampire forces were especially good at breaking apart the enemy formation. Their faces were filled with determination, having witnessed the young scion's heart and ability. His performance greatly increased army morale.

"Damien, fall back. You've done well."

Major General Brigatin put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, and Damien's knees buckled upon realizing he could finally let his guard down. The boy was guided to where Archbishop Romero was, having almost finished the treatment of Archie, the black panther who had been poisoned by the fallen contractor. Its ears were down, and despite its attempts to get up the animal was still clearly in bad shape. All the injured were brought to the backline where their wounds were treated by priests. There was little chance of any attack reaching them from here.

Damien's canine companion began sniffing the panther's face and gave it a few tentative licks. He could tell Maxwell was worried for his fellow familiar, and it responded with a massive tongue that was half the size of his own body.

"Is he still hurt?"

"Slightly," Romero responded, kneeling towards the vampire noble and beginning the healing process. "General Drake's skills are connected with her familiar. She borrowed a significant amount of energy from him to fight against the elf mage. He won't be battle-ready for another hour."

The loud, cracking noise symbolized by the firing of a ballista rang throughout the battle once more, hitting somewhere along the backline and putting up a plume of dirt. The invaders were having a difficult time and had trouble pushing past the defenders. But as Damien continued to observe the warzone, the more he realized how safe the invaders were playing. Minimizing casualties to the point of falling back. It was as though they were buying time. It was inevitable that in a war of attrition, Welton would come out on top with superior numbers and having home advantage. Their strategy just didn't make sense. It made the vampire uneasy.

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Greater Blessing's duration has ended.

His breathing became easier the more Archbishop Romero's magic worked throughout his body. Damien quickly realized that the battle would've been in the invader's favor without the man's efforts. He reduced the effects of the poison and continuously provided healing and support to everybody while being targeted by the invaders. His buffs had provided him with enough strength to survive his encounter with Elson. The vampire noble respected the man's ability to keep a cool head to raise the morale of their army. There were no signs of him being exhausted despite expending thousands of MP to keep their army strong and lively.

Damien could see from fifty meters away, that an epic battle was occurring. General Drake and Lieutenant General Jensen were clashing against the two demon contractors. Many gave them a wide berth, knowing that lives would be lost in the attempt to intervene between the strongest fighters on the battlefield. Natalia's powers were being exhausted, as the lightning aura surrounding her was greatly diminished. Jensen's skills were in full use as the bloody cross on his forehead began to glow brightly.

"Blood Maledict. Curse of Binding."

The blood on Delont's body became tendrils that restricted his movement. It wrapped around the handle of his spear and despite his herculean strength, ripping through the magical restraints took some time. Natalia leaped upward and brought her claws down in a downward arc, but the blonde-haired elf had other plans.

"Light Shield!"

The magical effects clashed in a series of sparks, but it was clear that Natalia no longer had enough energy to keep up the transformation as her billowing hair began to fall. Lightning shattered the barrier as Delont's spear pierced through and tried to impale the weakened woman. Jensen interfered at the perfect time, blocking the strike with his ax but was sent flying and crashed into the ground along with Natalia. It was evident that the contractors had more experience in team battles.

Seeing their struggles made Damien get back up, but Romero sternly glared at him.

"Please, I have to go and help."

"And get yourself killed? Fat chance."

"I can't just stand here and watch Aunt Natalia risk her life out there. I'll do anything I can, even if it's just buying a second of time for them to recover."

"Damien, I know you're strong. You showed it when you killed the poison master on your own." Romero said, focusing his efforts on Damien's face which had been greatly disfigured during the ordeal. The boy could feel layers of skin regrow at a rapid rate. "But that vampire on their side is bad news. You'll be a distraction at best, and a hostage at worst."

The priest was harsh, but the boy reluctantly admitted that he was right. The speed at which they moved was reminiscent of Elric during his battle against the Ankheg Queen. It was hard to track even with his trained eyes. Damien was lucky the poison master didn't have much combat ability and heavily relied on his potent class skills. He assumed Elson was never meant to cross blades with the leaders of Wisperium's forces. The dead contractor didn’t show half the combat ability Irene displayed.

"But still, we can't afford you to actively help in their battle either." Damien insisted. "Without you focusing on supporting the whole army, our losses would be significant. I'm not a fool. I know that I'm not stronger, faster, or smarter. But it doesn't mean I'll be a nuisance-"

Another ballista was shot, and this time it was much closer to their area than ever before. The vampire watched as the errant projectile impaled three soldiers at once, puncturing through several layers of metal armor. It was a gruesome sight; the soldiers didn't die immediately and could be seen twitching with fading signs of life. It was too late to save any of them. Damien could only close his eyes and turn away.

"You want to help out in battle? Fine. Lead the forces through the invaders and destroy that damned ballista terrorizing our forces. That'll be a better use of you than risking your neck needlessly against those monsters."

His health was restored to full, but despite being at peak health Damien couldn't help but feel tired. Phantom pains from where his body had been burnt, or where the locusts had dug into his skin. Despite his skin being spotless, there were residues of battle that couldn't be restored through ordinary means. Not to mention his mana reserves had been depleted.

Looking at the location of the ballista, he could see that it was stationed by the broken gates of the kingdom and prevented the cannons and sentries from firing away. Although it reduced the range at which it could attack, it also diminished the number of attacks sent its way. Archbishop Romero's group was stationed at an angle that prevented the ballista from reaching them. Damien knew that the shortest possible route to the ballista was from the right side, opposite where he was.

'It'll attract more attention when we focus our attack there, but the invaders can't afford to break formation with us putting pressure on all sides.'

He had a basic understanding of military strategy. There were very few times in his life when he had applied such knowledge, but it came in handy in this situation. Damien tried to estimate just how many people he'd need to stage a focused attack in their formation, knowing that they'd need to cause as much damage in as short a time as possible.

"Lend me ten fighters. Fiv-no, three mages. I have a plan."

Major General Brigatin hastily garnered a group of people according to Damien's instructions. He watched as people who were relatively fresh or healed gathered before him. Five dwarven warriors, five paladins, and three of Wisperium's mages pulled from the backline. They were all in varying states, from admiration to doubt, the vampire needed to tell them of his plan and purpose.

His anxieties hadn't disappeared. In fact, they grew bigger. He worried about the chances of his plan succeeding, his ability to lead, and the idea of putting people under his command at risk. But when he looked at everybody fighting the war, he knew that there was no time to agonize over internal fears. Swallowing down his apprehension, he began to address the group.

"We'll be flanking the right-hand side, closer to the kingdom walls. Our purpose is to break through the enemy formation and reach the ballista positioned at the entrance and destroy it."

He began going into detail about the positioning of the group, with him at the forefront cutting down a path towards their goal. The mages were in a tight center formation, preventing any invaders from coming through. With the ebb and flow of battle, he didn't go overly detailed into the specifics knowing that it's better to adjust and adapt as they go instead of sticking to a strict strategy. He had remembered just how effective Chester was at creating plans on the fly and planned on emulating the curly-haired illusionist.

The expressions on the assembled group changed slowly as their appointed leader showed no signs of hesitation.

Romero and Brigatin listened in, nodding occasionally at the boy’s concise points. With the group filled in, they began to make their move.

”I’ll give you all an additional blessing. May Pernatia’s blessing be upon us." The Archbishop closed his eyes and gathered up a massive amount of energy as he cast a new spell. "Ordination of Wind."

You are under the influence of Ordination of Wind.

The gales will protect you from ranged attacks. Projectiles under a certain speed will be diverted away from you.

Movement and attack speed is increased by 25%.

A light breeze provided a cooling sensation throughout his skin. Everybody in their group seemed to have the buff, amazed at the quality and strength of Archishop Romero's skills. Damien's observant eyes could see that it had taken a large amount of his energy to cast the spell. The slight furrow of his brows and the small exhale. He pushed his thick-framed glasses back into position and sipped from a potion containing blue liquid.

"Thank you, Archbishop Romero. We won't fail you, I promise this." Damien said resolutely. He placed his helmet back on, and the Shadow Knight stepped into the battlefield once more.