I Was a Loner, but My Class Got Summoned to Another World…

The council was paused for a few minutes at Roland's request for some time to himself.

No one argued, and the hero stepped out into the corridor, finding a tall window that overlooked the fortress walls. He rested his hands on the stone sill, gazing out at the fading light.

Perfect time for me to bother you, Norelli's voice murmured in his mind.

Roland exhaled slowly. "I had a feeling you'd show up."

A small bat suddenly fluttered out from behind his back, where it had been hidden the entire meeting, and landed on the window frame beside him. It began folding its wings like someone setting aside a cloak before bowing.

When the voice came again, it was sharper, almost eager.

[I've been busy… terribly busy. I'm enjoying all I learned from the volcano… but that's not the talk we need to be having right now. I need you to cause more chaos, bring more destruction. I hide as a scientist here, but I want this place empty again…]

"Busy how?" Roland asked, crossing his arms.

[Moving people… and demons. I've gathered all those I saw whose ideals didn't match the bloodthirsty generals.] Norelli's tone carried a strange note of pride. [Twenty thousand, give or take.]

Roland blinked. "Twenty thousand? And you just… walked them out of the demon camp?"

[Not all at once, you idiot. It took time and convincing a few to join the army to be decoys.

The generals think they came up with a good plan… what did your friend Renar say? Attack from three sides and weaken your force while concentrating on the barrier, you were all right in this point at least.

But there will be four groups… the one you saw, another equal in size heading towards the other fort from the dried creek where tree's still grow… the third one will be the hardest, it is near the other side of the barrier, so you will have to send a team all the way there or talk to that spirit Elios… the forth one will be the one that will just walk into the barrier to make it look like they are going to be the ones infiltrating, they are the weakest, but also the ones I was able to get out… successfully.]

Roland looked down at the bat while folding his arms and thinking about everything. "So, what you are saying is that we will need to protect the two fortresses and let the middle line of demons just walk into the barrier?"

[You don't have to…] Norelli's voice was calm, almost casual. [It might even be better to have them spread into the two fortresses to help you. Your part is simple: do what you do best: kill the demons, save the caged humans. There will be a group of two hundred fledgling vampires in each wave of the thirty thousand. They'll help create the distraction we need for this to work.]

Roland narrowed his eyes. "You're risking a lot for people you don't even know."

The bat's head tilted. [Not for people. For my research, the more power you have, the more mess you will cause and the closer I will be to taking over this lab...]

Roland didn't answer right away. The sincerity in Norelli's voice was like listening to a child talk about his favorite toy… it was just that genuine. But he'd learned long ago that sincerity didn't always lead to the safest choice.

[You'll agree, of course.] The bat chuckled.

"Don't put words in my mouth… but fine. I'll work out a new plan for this."

The bat's wings rustled. [A great choice... Either way, get stronger and faster. You're starting to make the demons cooperate, and having only that Light Spirit at your side won't be enough when they start sending millions of soldiers.]

Roland studied him for a moment longer before turning away. "Three days to make a proper plan, then… alright."

[Naturally, the thinking will be left to you.] The voice was almost amused. [Although… knowing you, that Renar fellow will be the one actually coming up with it.]

Roland muttered under his breath, "Well… I have less than a few months doing this kind of stuff, cut me some slack."

Roland stepped back into the council chamber a few minutes later. The discussion resumed without much pause, and he gave them the short version of what he'd learned.

There was no need to extend the meeting and waste everyone's time with details.

Roland just said enough for Renar and the others to factor the new information into their plans.

Some wanted to know where he got the information, but Roland just waved the questions off.

By the time the meeting adjourned, the sun was already beginning to set behind the fortress walls. Roland returned to his quarters, where Stella was waiting, perched on the edge of the bed in a nightgown while combing her hair.

"Is everything alright… my husband?" she asked after hearing him sigh for possibly the tenth time.

"Not exactly," Roland admitted as he put away his armor in his storage bracelet. "Norelli's plan… it is filled with danger… even Elios is not sure if we should go through with it."

Her brows drew together. "And do you really trust him?"

Roland sat beside her, leaning his head on her shoulder. "Trust isn't the right word. But he's… got his own goals and they align with ours..."

Stella was quiet for a moment, then leaned her shoulder into his.

"If you think it's worth it, then it probably is. Just remember you're not alone in any of this anymore. We're all here to do our part. We might not be heroes, but we're more than capable of carrying our share."

Roland placed a hand on Stella's waist and pulled her toward the bed, her soft laugh filling the room.

While that scene unfolded in the fortress, far away, Norelli was deep inside a volcano where the vampires had established their largest stronghold.

The location was ideal for harnessing fire mana, and the heat made it a natural refuge for certain creatures. Within its heart, they had constructed a sprawling laboratory, a facility that demanded a vast and constant flow of mana to operate.

Unlike most demons, who had long since lost their connection to magic, the vampires had found a breakthrough. By manipulating darkness energy into a new form, blood energy, they'd regained a source of power.

Their ability to feed on humans meant they could sustain this magic indefinitely, as long as they had a steady supply of human blood.

It was this dependency that placed them a step above normal demons, and even above lesser variants like succubi. Among them all, Norelli prided himself on being the sharpest mind, eclipsing even the eldest of his kind.

Helping Roland was no empty gesture. There was no disadvantage in aiding him it would reduce the number of rival vampires who had been turning humans into their own kind, and it addressed a problem that was becoming dangerously clear.

Vampires needed food.

So, logically, driving humans to extinction would be the fastest route to their own doom.

Raising them like livestock, as some were now doing, only worsened the problem; over time, the "captive" blood became tainted and unfit to drink.

Norelli's vision was simple but daunting: cleanse the earth, restore it to its natural state, and then find a way for vampires to live under the sun.

Without sunlight, human agriculture and survival would continue to decline, spiraling into a cycle that could end with both species trapped in the demon world.

The thought of relying solely on raw mana to exist again made Norelli shiver in disgust.

It was a future he intended to avoid at any cost.

"I wonder if he'll actually pull it off…" Norelli murmured to himself. "So many variables, so many ways for it to go wrong… but the worst will be his inability to protect the Light Spirit's forest. Why do humans chase love, anyway?"

He stood before a pair recently turned into vampires, their bodies suspended in large test tubes, pale forms lit by the dim, pulsing red glow of the laboratory's mana conduits.

His gaze lingered, calculating their stats, which were being displayed in a crystal.

These two weren't the end goal; they were a stepping stone.

It wouldn't be them who endured the sun. It would be their unborn daughter, growing quietly within the woman's womb.

So far, they were the only pair to survive the countless experiments he'd managed in such a short span of time.

The others had withered, burned, or simply turned to dust before they even managed to produce a child.

Norelli's mind was already running ahead, weaving plans, calculating possibilities for the girl.

If this child survived, she could be the first of his kind to thrive under the sun's light, the first spark of a future where vampires no longer feared the day.