Chapter 102: Crimson Madness, Erupts!
The people were enjoying their hard-earned jobs, just like a few days ago.
Vikalina could hear some workers building a structure, singing as they worked:
"The bell in the church rings, old Henry asked me to go to work, I filled my wallet full and fat, took it home to show my beloved, our days will get better and better..."
Everyone had returned to the attitude of looking forward to life as they had a few days ago, their eyes full of hope.
On one hand, the people trusted Sivis, on the other hand, they were in a state of self-deception, deliberately creating an illusion of peace and harmony.
This scene... was a bit too harmonious, almost strange.
It could only be said that they trusted Sivis too much.
Vikalina saw even more —
Some people were walking out of the factory dormitories, laughing loudly, talking about a new drink developed in the canteen called beer, all of them saying it was absolutely delicious.
" Why does Master Sivis have such extraordinary and vast knowledge? It seems like he knows everything. And he can use this knowledge to benefit us. Meeting such a lord is really our fortune."
" Once this plague is over, Lord Sivis will officially take us to his territory. I've heard that he'll let us build our own houses, allow us to cultivate land, and even grant us tax exemptions for a while."
" At that time, I might consider having a few more children. After all, I can afford to raise them."
These scenes of laughter and joy, in a way, healed the fear and unease in Vikalina's heart.
But she became even more terrified.
Because all of this was possible only because of Sivis.
And this companion of hers had disappeared without a trace.
" Well, I shouldn't scare myself like this."
" Sivis leaving probably meant that he had estimated that the outbreak of Blood Servants wouldn't happen right away."
" When the real final battle comes, he'll come back."
Vikalina had, at some point, also started to blindly believe in Sivis, just like these common people.
Once she broadened her thoughts, she indeed felt her mental pressure drop significantly...
Even looking at the happiness and peace around her, Vikalina's mood gradually calmed down.
But suddenly.
Everyone's faces changed. A very piercing scream echoed out.
This howling sound was mixed with countless smells of blood, and the explosion of pain and suppressed tension.
The sound came from a Blood Servant's scream!!
Its location was not far from the factory.
This Blood Servant hadn't drunk blood for a long time. Its body was beginning to break down, and it needed to kill and devour everything in front of it, just to keep itself alive.
That's why it was howling like that.
At that very moment, the female knight's smile froze on her face, as if someone had hit the pause button.
The peaceful and harmonious scene inside the factory was completely shattered. The workers who had been chatting and boasting to their coworkers stopped moving. The people coming in and out of the factory dormitories, who were dreaming of a bright future, also stopped in their tracks.
A second ago, Vikalina had been thinking that as long as Sivis came back, and they both protected this beautiful scene together.
She was even willing to ignite the Fire of Sacrifice again. But now, her body had turned stiff.
Sivis was nowhere to be found.
Her companion hadn't vanished because he had predicted that the disaster wouldn't happen.
On the contrary, he disappeared right in the most critical moment!!
Fortunately, after that scream, there was a silence that lasted for ten or fifteen seconds.
The people in the factory began to talk again.
"What are we afraid of? Lord Sivis has always been helping us. We don't fear them at all!"
"Which monsters dare to come? We'll just stab them with our weapons. After all, we won't get infected. They're just like us — one head, one body. Piercing their heads and hearts, see if they die or not!"
Someone said quickly.
"Exactly!"
"Don't be afraid. We'll just do our own thing. If they come, we'll drive them back!"
Soon, laughter and chatter came back again.
The people pretended to be indifferent, continued talking about daily life, and looked forward to a bright future. But the stiffness and unnatural tone in their voices were obvious to anyone.
Everyone was trembling slightly.
But at least... the surface atmosphere was still okay.
Vikalina's stiff expression gradually relaxed.
She couldn't help but comfort herself...
"It's not certain!"
"Maybe it's just a single Blood Servant that has gone wild. I can handle it easily."
At this moment, the surroundings were still completely silent, and no monsters appeared.
Vikalina felt that she was right, and she even showed a slight smile.
But—
At that moment, another sharp scream rang out. This time, the scream was just as terrifying!
The expressions of the people and Vikalina stiffened again.
They hadn't had a chance to comfort themselves once more.
The monsters didn't have the long silence they had before.
After the second scream came the third, the fourth...
The interval between each scream became shorter and shorter, until the sixth and seventh screams were almost simultaneous.
Then, it was no longer just screams. It became a series of extremely terrifying howls, like mushrooms after the rain, bursting out in a frenzy.
It was countless Blood Servants howling together.
A few seconds later, it was no longer howling — it was a declaration of attack from countless Blood Servants, echoing throughout the city like a heavy rain.
Countless Blood Servants, stirred by this shouting, were awakened to their primal nature. These creatures with only animal instincts understood the fury of their companions and joined the frenzy.
Although not all Blood Servants were in a state of extreme hunger and madness at that moment, the wildness in their hearts had already been awakened.
This was a scene that Vikalina had known before. She had read about it in some books.
The final moments of countless cities before their destruction under the Blood Plague looked like this.
Amid the endless howls of the monsters, a wave of destruction was about to crash down.
The following scenes were rarely recorded by the Church.
Almost all cities were completely destroyed in the final stage of the Blood Plague, and even the Church's surveillance Familiar spirits could not escape being wiped out.
Vikalina instinctively looked toward a house near the factory.
That was the original residence of the Daister family, used by Sivis to house Reina and himself.
Vikalina sensed it — there was only a maid lying there, and Sivis was still nowhere to be found!
"Where the hell have you gone..."
The female knight was a bit panicked.
The previously peaceful and joyful atmosphere had been completely shattered. Everyone in the factory looked terrified. They might have had the courage to fight a single Blood Servant, but now, the terrifying howls from a pack of upper-level predators.
It made countless people unable to stand, trembling all over.
"Help! Help! Monsters are coming! Monsters are coming! Run! Are we all going to die?!"
In an instant, the crowd fell into complete chaos.
Even if they believed in Sivis, they couldn't suppress their natural fear.
But luckily, Vikalina didn't sense Sivis's presence, but she wasn't going to sit and wait for death.
"Stay calm!"
She let out a strange sound.
It had a chilling effect on the hearts of the people.
The chaotic crowd paused in their movements, and managed to calm down slightly.
Vikalina rushed forward to direct the people: "Gather together, go into the Daister residence! Abandon the other two factories — just hold the perfume factory!"
"All the men come forward to take weapons. Those who didn't get weapons should stay inside the perfume factory with me and help defend against the enemies!"
Under Vikalina's command, the people who had lost all direction managed to stabilize, and quickly followed her instructions to get weapons from the foreman's office.
With the female knight's arrangement, the crowd rushed into the perfume factory.
A thousand people packed the Daister family's house so tightly that not even water could pass through. People were pressed against each other, heads touching heads.
On the outskirts, Vikalina led a group of young men. They were holding sharpened wooden spears or some cold weapons they had found in the Daister family's armory, standing in formation, watching the front carefully...
At this moment, the sharp shrieks kept coming.
Even if not tens of thousands of Blood Servants were howling at the same time, the terrible noise never stopped.
Hearing this terrifying sound, people's fear was strong at first, but gradually faded, and they began to get used to the horrifying scene.
In the perfume factory, many women with children were secretly wiping their eyes, and the children were tightly holding their mothers' or grandparents' clothes, trembling all over, pale-faced.
The men who followed the female knight to defend outside were trembling in their arms, their sharpened spears almost slipping from their hands.
This scene didn't go unnoticed by Vikalina, nor by the foremen, and certainly not by the people themselves. The current morale was clearly about to collapse at the first charge of the monsters.
They were terrified in their hearts, muttering under their breath: "Can we really hold them back? So many monsters— even with Lady Vikalina protecting us, it might not be enough."
But they were not completely desperate.
Just when Vikalina herself felt a bit helpless.
The young men with trembling hands started whispering to themselves, trying to boost their own courage.
Then, to everyone's surprise, they managed to calm themselves down.
Vikalina even heard the young men speaking: "It's okay, everything's fine. Lord Sivis will come. He promised he would protect us. We just need to hold out for a while. After all, we won't get infected now, no need to be scared."
Under these self-encouraging words, the people really did calm down.
They looked around with hope, believing that Lord Sivis would appear at any moment. They wanted to show their best spirit…
Under the leadership of their lord, they would win this—
Battle for survival!