I became a legion lich

187 Vampires and Ghouls

“This should be the place.” A man wearing a black overcoat spoke, looking at a crumbling cairn in front of him. He was covering his entire body with the overcoat, ensuring that not an inch of his skin was exposed to sunlight.

It was still winter and the nights were longer than the days, but the man didn’t want to risk sunlight touching his skin.

He was a vampire, but his skin was olive and he had brown eyes, his fangs nowhere to be seen. He looked perfectly human despite his inhuman nature.

“Master, it looks like the undead destroyed everything before leaving for the Demi-human empire. They destroyed everything, even the surrounding land is completely dead.” A woman wearing an overcoat similar to his came forward and reported, but she had her hood down, not bothered by the light.

The woman was a ghoul, a lesser race of vampires. She was approximately 1.62 tall, with short, shoulder-length brown hair, and blue, slightly slanted eyes.

Ghouls were inferior relatives of vampires, but possessed monstrous characteristics, unlike their superior cousins. They were over 2 meters tall, with purple skin and bulging muscles all over their bodies, in addition to being completely bald.

Its hands ended in sharp claws and had two rows of fangs. Ghouls were not an actual race, but a temporary form for humans who died during the process of becoming a vampire.

Vampires could turn other species into new vampires in a blood ritual, where they would drain their victims of blood to near death before making them drink vampire blood.

If the ritual was successful, a new vampire would be born and join the community, but if it failed and the victim died during the process, the corpse would turn into a ghoul, a bloodthirsty beast that needed to feed constantly in order not to die, giving the species the nickname of corpse eaters.

.....

A ghoul’s body was constantly decomposing and only constant feeding could stop the decomposition. Ghouls could evolve and complete their transformation into vampires after devouring enough corpses, but until the transformation was complete, they would be slaves to the vampires who raised them.The only advantage ghouls had over vampires was that they didn’t share their weakness to sunlight until they evolved.

“Tch. they just made our job difficult.” The vampire clicked his tongue in irritation before ordering his ghoul servant. “Let’s search the ruins before deciding whether to continue the chase or give up and let another more suitable group continue.”

“Even the collars of camouflage our master Illum gave us are unable to cover my weakness to sunlight and your need for food.” The vampire fingered the mithril necklace around his neck as he spoke.

It was a magical item that camouflaged the cores of the undead and concealed their true strength, making them look like ordinary humans to anyone who saw them. The necklace even changed their shape as well, hiding all of their inhuman features and giving them the same appearance they had when they were humans.

But it would do nothing to cover the needs of the undead, so it would be nearly impossible for a vampire and a ghoul to follow the undead’s trail across the desert.

Ghouls needed to eat flesh of their original species constantly and although vampires could feed on the blood of animals or monsters, it was only in emergencies and would weaken vampires with each feeding.

“Master, I found something.” The ghoul didn’t have to go far before she found something.

A small army of 100 black skeletons were standing a few hundred meters away, their bodies still as if they were statues. They were unarmed, so they couldn’t be an army left behind to slow down enemies.

Neither understood why this small detachment had been left behind, but they still crept as close as they could without being detected, wanting to get whatever details they could about the new species.

They erased their presence and moved stealthily, using the rubble to avoid being seen, and got as far as a few dozen meters before stopping. There was no longer any debris big enough to cover them, so that was as far as they could go.

“What do we do now, master? Do we retreat or make contact?” The ghoul asked in a whisper, careful not to be overheard.

“Hum...” The vampire didn’t respond right away, considering his options. ‘On the one hand, we are all undead, so they shouldn’t attack us at first sight, but on the other hand, these undead seem like slaves, like what happens to zombies or skeletons created by a lich.’

‘If they were left behind with orders to attack anything that approached, we will be attacked regardless of our identity.’ The vampire thought for a while before deciding to boldly step forward.

The death vision revealed to him that the skeletons were no big deal and even his servant could face them or at least escape alone. The only one slightly above average was a skeleton wearing a mage’s cloak, but it wasn’t a serious threat to him.

“We’re going to talk to them. Remove the collar so they don’t mistake us for living beings, but be prepared to fight if necessary.” He ordered as he removed the necklace himself, his skin immediately turning pale and his eyes red, his canine teeth becoming three times longer.

“I hate doing this.” The ghoul sighed and removed all her clothes before removing her necklace. His body grew to seven feet, his hair falling out while his skin turned purple. His ghoul form had no genitals, all ghouls had male structures, regardless of their original gender.

His face also changed, his jaw widening until it almost touched his ears while his nose sank into his face, leaving only two small nostrils.

“Let’s get this over with, master.” The ghoul spoke, her voice much deeper and sounding almost guttural in her true form.

The vampire walked first and stepped out of the rubble, the black skeletons immediately noticing his presence, but they didn’t attack. His orders were to attack any approaching enemy and buy the mage time, but the approaching unknowns weren’t attacking and they were also undead, so the skeletons hesitated on what to do.

“Who are you?” The skeleton mage stepped forward from the group of skeletons and asked, looking alternately between the vampire and the creature he didn’t recognize using death vision.

Athos had put him in charge of the small army, so he became loyal and regained his ability to speak, although he was still not perfect.

In his eyes, the man possessed a red core in the fifth layer, while the monster behind him had a red and black core in the third layer.

“We come in peace. My name is Valko and the one behind me is my servant ghoul. We are undead sent here by the Death lord of the Nytrer continent to deliver a message for his master.” Vampire Valko introduced himself with a polite wave.

He lied about who he works for, but saying he served the world tree wouldn’t sit well with an undead.”Nytrer continent?...You are...a little...far from home.” The vampire’s words only served to heighten the skeleton mage’s distrust. An unknown organization from a different continent going after their master was not a good sign.

“Our network of influence extends even beyond the continental borders, as you can see. But enough about us. I already know that your master is not here and most likely went to the demihuman empire, but I would be happy if you would tell me if he has a destination in mind.”

“I don’t know about... my master’s... plans... and even if... I did, why... would I tell... you?” The skeleton mage did not let his guard down and avoided revealing anything he could about his master.

“Why is your master in danger. You may consider yourself strong, but the world is vaster than you can even imagine and your power is nothing when compared to those truly strong. And by destroying the order’s portal network, your master angered one of these beings.” Valko tried to make the skeleton realize the danger, but the latter ignored him.

“The safety...of my master...does not concern you...vampire..and as I said...I was not informed...of the fate of...my master.” The skeleton mage crossed his arms, refusing to answer any more of the vampire’s questions.

Valko felt his pride hurt by the way a mere skeleton was treating him. Vampires were proud beings and did not take well to be looked down upon by others, easily falling for teasing.

“If your master has already left and you’re still here, that means you’ve been left behind, doesn’t it? I really feel sorry for you. Being abandoned by your master must be really sad.” Valko bowed to the skeleton in mock regret, her pride refusing to let the skeleton go without returning the insult.

“My master... gave me a... mission... I will... stay here... until I fulfill it... being abandoned... makes no difference... any.” The skeleton mage answered without hesitation, surprising the vampire.