This was not the first time Layla was seeing all the Red Vampires gathered in front of her. As one of the leaders of the red vampires, there had been multiple occasions when they stood in front of her. In fact, the numbers for previous events were far more than this time.
However, for some reason, seeing them this way this time felt different. Was it because before, she had always stood in front of them as a fake leader? The respect, honour and awe, all felt fake, and to a certain degree, she thought it was the same now.
'They're waiting for me. They want me to say something.' Layla thought.
After taking a long breath, Layla gently brushed Kev and June, who were helping her balance. And as the two of them stepped back, she stood straight and stepped forward. She couldn't look weak in a moment like this, not with what she was about to say.
And finally, when she was around ten metres away from them, her steps came to a halt.
"The Red vampire Leader Laxmus is dead, and the Queen of the Dhampirs killed him, but I am not here to tell you that. It's a fact that you already know.
"And I am sure many of you must have seen that moments before the Dhampir attack, Laxmus and I were fighting each other. So before you call me your leader or wish for me to lead you, you all deserve to know the truth." Layla said, inhaling a deep breath.
All the vampires were hanging to her every word, and she had their full attention.
"The truth is Laxmus was using you all. There was a much larger force in control of what Laxmus was doing. And he would gather anyone under that banner to achieve his goal. I'm sure many of you had heard what he said in his final moments.
"The Red Heart, although he might have planned to use it to eliminate humans. Sooner or later, his attention would have turned on all of you as the one controlling him dictated what he did.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"I knew this, which was why I joined the Red vampires. But that doesn't mean my feelings towards you all for these years have been fake. On the contrary, I wish to protect everyone and give you the life you deserve because I am a faithful follower of the Great Hero Quinn.
"I believe he would have wanted the best for you, and I continue to follow his wishes and strive to make his dream a reality, which is why I want to continue doing that. I don't plan to turn the humans into vampires or control them as Laxmus wanted. Instead, I plan to create a safe place for vampires like us.
"I know many of you don't feel safe around humans, and you have every reason to. I have heard your stories, and I have listened to you. So I won't force you to live with them, but just like in the old settlement, you will have the choice not to get involved with them.
"I'm tired of fighting, and I'm tired of losing people I care about. So let's just tend to each other from now. If you guys agree with me and believe in that, then feel free to follow me."
Once Layla's brief speech ended, something strange happened that the red vampires themselves didn't understand. Many of them had started to cry, and their eyelashes turned moist. A wave of emotion hit them as if they felt free, free from their duties, free from everything they had been toiling for years.
If they followed Layla, they felt like they could finally live the life they had strived for, and after an emotional turmoil, they could express their feelings more easily.
"Thank you!" Hannah cried, "Thank you for not abandoning us. Thank you for not just leaving us and forgetting about us... LEADER!"
The last word resounded throughout the area. And hearing her, the rest of the red Vampires also followed and clamoured in unison.
"LEADER!"
The others witnessed history in the making for the red vampires, and they couldn't help but feel warm inside after seeing this scene. The vampires were patting each other and hugging with tears of joy.
As another favour to them, Layla was removing the fog above their heads and consuming it all—letting them feel happiness and forget about the bad that had transpired.
'I will take on your pain in return for trusting me.' Layla thought.
While all this was happening, Jake whispered something to Shiro, who was by his side, and the two nodded after they agreed on something.
Once the clamour calmed down, they walked to the front.
"We are partly to blame for this mess here," Jake stated. "Which is why the two of us have decided to do something. Just remember that I, a human from Green city, have decided to do all of you a favour."
Shiro sighed a little, he thought the last bit was unnecessary, but the two of them placed their hands on the ground anyway. A few seconds later, large buildings just like before started to rise from the ground.
Section by section, several buildings rose and were created within seconds right in front of the stunned Red Vampires, and finally, in the place of the lab, Jake decided to place a mansion instead. In front of it was a garden, and through it was a pathway leading to the front door.
The two of them were done, and Jake clapped his hands as if he were pleased with the results.
"It's not as strong as the buildings before, but it's at least a start and something you can live in for now," Jake said.
The vampires were impressed as they looked inside the buildings, but they soon noticed something.
"Hey, human, we have no furniture! The battle destroyed them as well. Do you think you can also build some of that from your earth ability?"
"Yeah, for me as well. A nice large cabinet would be nice, and can you make my room a bit bigger? I mean, there's less of us now, so we can have bigger houses and rooms, right?"
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmSoon, several vampires were making requests, and sweat ran down Jake's face.
"Well, go on. You want them to see you in a good light, right? So you should finish what you started." Shiro gestured to the other.
Sulking, Jake walked toward the vampires with heavy feet.
"Do you know how excited I'm going to be after this? I was hoping to go to the nice mansion I designed…." Jack mumbled but listened to his uncle in the end.
The group laughed and thought it would be best to head inside Layla's new home for a little bit to discuss the next steps.
"Everyone, please have a well-deserved rest. Then, once everyone has recovered, we will gather the fallen and pay our respects to them. Whether they agreed or disagreed with us, or even if they fought by our side because it's due to them that some of us are alive today."
Saying these words, the vampires felt like they had a little breath of energy and decided to do as Layla told them.
"Ah, Minny is tired as well." Minny yawned while getting a piggyback ride from Jessica. "Minny worked hard. Everyone worked hard as well to be my mommy." Minny finally shut her eyes.
"It looks like you are all an interesting group. I'm surprised you took such a young vampire onto the battlefield." Layla said, still being helped by the other two.
"Hey, Dad, can you like, come over here and give us a hand or something," June asked.
"Ah, right, sorry." Xander quickly rushed over to their side.
"They're your kids, Xander?" Peter asked. "Right, you told me they were, but…does that mean Layla is their mother?" Then he looked at Layla, and an incredulous expression appeared on his face, "Wait, did you two have kids! What about Quinn?! I thought you and him were like dating!"
At that moment, Minny woke up, and all the girls turned their heads.