Gunshots erupted through the church. Armand felt a ringing in his ears from the weapons being fired at such enclosed quarters. Their rounds slammed into the strigoi, but the creature laughed like a madman.

"Fools! Your weapons kill by piercing organs! My organs are long dead!" the strigoi declared.

While the mercenaries were unnerved by this, Armand stood stoic.

"I know that," thought the noble. "I also know that strigoi are aware that most humans don't know how to make arquebus shot affect them. They take musket shots when they could have dodged them. That's an attitude..."

A slight smile crossed Armand's face.

"...that I can take advantage of."

Suddenly, the strigoi grasped its body where the gunshots had hit. It hissed out in a cry of pain.

"This sensation...burning? But how?" shock and agony mixed in the vampire's face.

Its gaze flickered to Armand.

"Explain this!" the strigoi ordered.

After a moment of silence intended to keep the pain going...

"The arquebus balls I used were hollow. They contained garlic inside and were designed to break apart if they hit something hard. Less gunpowder had to be used to keep the shooting itself from breaking the arquebus ball. Testing to get the exact right quantities was a pain, but now there's garlic in your body everywhere the rounds hit bone," Armand thought before speaking. "Words are wasted on the dead."

The noble drew a basket hilt broadsword before pointing it at the vampire.

"Greatswordsmen, move forward. The creature is in agony. Sever its limbs to disable it. Then, drive a stake through its heart and part its head from its shoulders," he commanded.

Charging forward without hesitation, the mercenaries with greatswords swung their weapons. Armand joined them, moving in from the side. A manic grin crossed the strigoi's face as it lunged forward with its blade.

Even slowed by pain, the vampire was still incredibly fast. Its weapon pierced one of the mercenaries' arms. Blood moved out of one of the gaps in his armor.

The strigoi ducked under a greatsword blow. It parried another with incredible ease. Armand tried to get in a thrust. However, the vampire noticed this as well and moved back.

"You are quite the challenge. For that, I commend you. But only one of us will leave this place alive!" the vampire declared.

It raised its arms. A horde of bats flew out of its body, colliding with Armand and the mercenaries. Their armor protected them from any real damage, but the cloud of animals still impeded movement and vision.

The strigoi used this opportunity to move forward. Its sword was ready to decapitate Armand. However, the lord's mind was moving at a rapid rate.

"Standard strigoi tactics. A horde of bats followed by a strike to the head. A technique like this is obvious against other strigoi or moroi deeply involved in them. He must have figured out that I haven't interacted with strigoi much this time around," Armand thought as he ducked just in time to avoid the blade. "But he couldn't have predicted that I turned back time."

Swinging his word out, Armand knicked the strigoi's hand as it pulled its blade back. One of the creature's fingers flew off its body. More pain lashed through the strigoi's eyes as it tried to move back.

But by that point, the bat swarm had dissipated. One of the mercenaries rushed forward and swung his greatsword. The massive blade collided with the strigoi's shoulder from above. With great effort, the mercenary hewed through its arm, the limb falling onto the ground.

Another mercenary charged in. His greatsword spun through the air before severing the strigoi's leg at the knee. The monster hopped back, jumping into the air and clinging to the wall with its remaining limbs. Blood pooled on the ground below it.

"By the gods, the beast is still moving!" one of the mercenaries shouted.

He and his comrades' faces were covered in horror.

"It will until all its limbs are severed," Armand said. "We must cut them all off before killing it."

With a grin, the strigoi jammed its blade into the stump of its shoulder. It leaped through the air, spinning around. Blood sprayed into the eyes of the mercenaries. They found themselves blinded but got in a defensive formation around Armand.

The mercenaries fell back onto their military drills. They spun their greatswords through the air. A wall of death formed around their employer.

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Screams echoed through the air. The strigoi jammed its blade into one of the mercenaries' necks. He fell dead to the ground. But greatswords fell upon the vampire a moment later. Its body was hewed into pieces, limbs severed and pieces of flesh scattered onto the ground.

After a few moments, the vampire was nothing more than a mangled torso and half a head. One of the mercenaries pulled a wooden stake out of his clothes and approached what was left of the strigoi with caution.

"Such a shame," the creature muttered. "That I should die here of all places."

"Would you rather die outside?' Armand asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"I'd rather not die at all. But the lure of a worthy opponent was simply too intoxicating."

The strigoi smiled.

"Even among my kind, I am unusual. But I suppose you must know something of that?" it asked.

"Those words would be wasted on the dead, even the undead," Armand answered. "Finish him off."

Guilt flashed through the boy's mind as he saw the mercenaries pound the stake into the strigoi's heart.

"I'm sorry that I can't answer your question. But I cannot let anyone know what I am," he thought.

After the strigoi was paralyzed, one of the mercenaries pulled out his short sword sidearm. He sawed the strigoi's head off its body. When the man finished, the creature turned into a skeleton. Armand turned away and walked to the door.

"Now, I just need to explain things to the townspeople and my guest from the Order of Hermes."

An awkward silence passed over the cabin. Everyone present could sense the tension between Eris and Lady Abene. Both girls had smiles on their faces, but neither of their eyes grinned. The latter's hand hovered near her sword. However, she never made a move to actually take it.

"You two seem to know each other," John spoke up.

"There is a dispute between us," Eris said. "But I am certain we can put that aside for the glory of the revolution."

Inside, the girl was in an utter panic.

"Lady Abene was with the rebels? I never noticed, not in the past! Did she join them for very long? Was she kicked out? Maybe she had the same idea I did? But what if she didn't and was always helping them? What if she actually evaded my notice, despite being one of my worst enemies?"

Eris struggled to avoid gulping.

"She might be one of the few people who are both capable of and willing to expose me. I will need to be cautious."

Lady Abene's eye twitched.

"Is this dispute normal noble politics, Julia?" John asked.

"In Foldzar, maybe. But not most other places," Lady Abene answered.

She gave Eris a death glare that made it 100% clear that she had neither forgotten nor forgiven what the girl had done.

"But the revolution comes first," Lady Abenne said. "And if Lady Hapsburg here wishes to aid the revolution, we can resolve our dispute after we succeed or fail. Provided dueling is still legal."

One of the men in the room scoffed.

"Of course, we'll outlaw dueling. It is an archaic practice from an uncivilized time," he stated.

Another man shook his head.

"I don't know about that. It's pretty good dispute resolution. And it's not like outlawing it will stop anyone."

"Personally, I think dueling is too romantic to outlaw," a woman said. "Imagine it, two handsome men dueling for the hand of a fair maiden."

Lady Abene ignored the arguing and sat across from Eris. While everyone was distracted, Lady Abene started mouthing words without speaking. The Hapsburg could tell what she was saying based on her lip-reading skills:

I'm going to kill you.

Eris mouthed words back, hoping that Lady Abene had good enough lip-reading skills to understand her:

Try, and you will fail.

Lady Abene understood. She mouthed words back to Eris:

I will not.

Then, a chill radiated from Lady Abene. She clenched her hands together before separating them. The girl sent another soundless message to Eris:

If you had just killed my lover, after what he did to your fiance, I would have let it go. I would not be able to blame you without being a hypocrite. But you tortured him to death. I will not forgive you for that.

John had been looking between them. Fear poured over his face. If Eris had been paying more attention to him, she would have realized that he was good at reading lips too.

"I think we should get to business," he spoke up. "Right now, our highest priority is to spread word of our cause, to get more people to join us."

Someone in the crowd scoffed.

"We've got enough men! We should start now!"

Eris' jaw dropped at the sheer stupidity of that comment.

"You have a bunch of untrained peasants. And I know for a fact that you don't have more than a few hundred people in your ranks, including the women. Even low-ranking lords can field an army in the thousands. Your revolution would be slaughtered before it could even start," she thought.

However, Eris did not vocalize her disbelief.

"The Revolutionary Council does not think we have enough. And unfortunately, most commoners are political moderates who do not want the system itself to be destroyed," John said. "Our efforts have also been hampered by some unfortunate comments spoken about the king."

One of the women scoffed loudly.

"If they're moderates, they're worthless. We should just go out and start stabbing people already," she declared.

Eris rubbed her forehead. Frustration started to well up in her.

"I can't have them get destroyed yet. I'm here to kill their leaders," she thought before speaking. "And how do you expect to defeat the armies of mercenaries nobles can employ? They are trained soldiers, motivated solely by money. Politics is of no interest to them."

One of the men shrugged.

"I'd think that a noblewoman known for her generosity, such as you, could attract numerous mercenaries to our cause," he said.

Eris let out a slight sigh.

"I could hire some mercenaries for us, and I can outbid any baron, viscount, or count. But I do not have the wealth to outbid a duke. At most, a marquis. And I could never outbid the royal family. Even if the mercenaries I hire stay loyal, they will hire more," she stated.

"But with your generosity..." the man started.

A twitch of irritation flashed through Eris.

"Generosity is one thing, but I cannot spend money I do not have," she pointed out.

"Perhaps you could take out a loan?" a woman suggested.

Eris forced down a grimace.

"I am not putting myself in debt for these fools! Even if I wasn't deceiving them, I wouldn't go that far! By the gods, they're stupid," she thought before speaking. "The other side can take out loans too, and with more collateral."

John spoke up.

"Whatever the case may be, we have our orders from the Revolutionary Council," he said. "We will divide up into three groups. The first will stay here, the second will go on one mission, and the third will go on another."

Lady Abene shot Eris another glare. Julia was certain that the two of them would be put into separate groups. Eris, meanwhile, had different thoughts.

"This is my chance. If I can get their trust enough to meet the Revolutionary Council, I can make a plan to crush this rebellion's leadership all at once."

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