"So were dealing with a vampire…or rather a vampiress?" Priestess was confused as she looked toward Dhampir Hunter.

"Correct." Dhampir Hunter calmly walked past the adventurers towards his horse then looked back towards the forest. "The woods may be too dense for it. Remain here until I return."

The demonic steed snorted as it scratched at the ground with its mighty hoof. Priestess and Half-Demon Thief once again saw parallels to Goblin Slayer and Wolf as they looked at the Dhampir Hunter interact with his steed. The Dhampir Hunter turned back towards them before charging into the darkened forest, what drew his attention they could not begin to understand.

"We need to hurry as well, we'll split up two, two and three. Watch for any more of these monstrous apparitions." Rookie Warrior looked towards his party to see their worried faces which probably matched his own.

Rhea Fighter was worried for the wellbeing of her comrade when she felt someone get hold of her hand, she turned to see Harefolk Bowman nod towards her.

"Let's go find your partner." Harefolk had a bit of a smile of his face and he tightened his grip on her hand.

Rhea Fighter smiled and nodded in return as they both took off into the woods towards their right. Priestess and Half-Demon Thief themselves took off in the direction towards their left while Rookie Warrior, Apprentice Cleric, and Fighter charged forward down the center. Their hope was that either they or this mysterious Dhampir Hunter would find Wizard Boy before the vampire or her minions did.

xxxx

"Was it really wise to leave those young ones to their own devices? There were quite the bunch of lovely little morsels there for you Dhampir."

"There is work to be done. I have no time for your foolishness."

Dhampir Hunter continued to charge through the woods at incredible speed, his eyes focused on the environment around him. Watching for moving shadows around him as he targeted a lone figure, her pale skin almost reflected in the moonlight as she stood there waiting for him. He drew out his long sword as he continued onward, he jumped, his long coat once again fluttering in the wind as he closed in to decapitate the vampire before him. The vampire's calm eyes widened as she continued to smile and effortlessly jumped backwards as he slashed the area she had been a few moments ago. Dhampir Hunter grunted as he stood looking at the vampire who seemed to effortlessly glide down back down to the ground.

"So it is you…the Dhampir." Noble Vampire smiled; her bloodstained fangs ever present as she looked toward the hunter. "I had heard of a hunter who was going after my kind. You, the offspring of some wretched vampire with a human whore, how dare you see fit to hunt down those who share your blood!"

"What is your purpose here Noble?" Dhampir Hunter's reply as cold as ice as he looked down at the vampire before him.

"What else, looking to make the mortals our servants as they should be. These mortals, the human, harefolk, elves, padfoots…all of them are nothing more than food for us." The vampire chuckled as she looked at the Dhampir, despite his pleasant appearance a sense of revulsion swelled within her.

"Even your ancestors…would have never acted in such a manner."

Noble Vampire smiled faded the moment she heard such words coming from his mouth and snarled as she reached for her sword. Dhampir Hunter readied his own sword to attack, his face neutral in contrast the scowl on Noble Vampire's face. Noble Vampire started to calm herself as she moved her hand away from her sword and once again smiled toward Dhampir Hunter.

"As much fun as it would be to kill you here and now, I have more pressing matters to attend to, so I will have them deal with you." Noble Vampire slowly pointed above her to something in the trees.

Dhampir Hunter looked up and within the trees he could see several yellow eyes that seemed to glow within the darkness. Above him were female creatures with dark skin, their feet covered with talons like a hawk, and their arms were composed of black feathered wings, and as the creatures smiled at him he could their razor sharp teeth eager to tear at his flesh.

"Demon Harpies."

"My lovely little birdies haven't had a chance to eat, so I'm hoping you'll be kind enough to feed them for me." Noble Vampire snickered as she calmly backed away into the dark forest behind her. "Should you manage to survive I'll be waiting for you in the castle. Show me what a worthless half-breed is capable of."

The moment Noble Vampire vanished into the darkness the demonic harpies took to the air screeching like crows over a battlefield. Dhampir Hunter coldly looked up to see more than a dozen of these monsters overhead as they began to circle him, suddenly two of the harpies shrieked as they dived inward with talons present. Dhampir Hunter leapt upward, catching the harpies by surprise, with swipe of his sword he split one of the harpies in two across her stomach and with another swipe decapitated the others before gracefully landing, the remains of the two slain harpies crashed to the ground with a horrid thud.

"If you value your lives…you will flee." Dhampir Hunter once again looked toward the harpies, from their perspective they could see his blue eyes glowing in the darkness.

The harpies grimaced as they looked towards this man before them, for a moment they had considered flying away, but then thought of the punishment their mistress would have instore for them. The harpies let out an angry shriek as all of them rushed in to attack, Dhampir Hunter narrowed his gaze as he readied his sword to strike.

xxxx

Priestess and Half-Demon Thief paused as they heard the sounds of screaming echoing in the woods. Priestess was trembling slightly as the cries all sounded female to her and she worried it was her colleagues in danger, yet Half-Demon Thief was more concerned about the figures she could see moving around them.

"Before we go and check on the screams, we have to deal with these guys right here and now." Half-Demon Thief raised her daggers as she cautiously looked around area.

"Then once again. O Earth Mother, abounding in mercy, grant your sacred light to we who are lost in darkness…Holy Light!"

Half-Demon Thief kept her eyes to the ground as the light bathed the forest, the moment she heard the cries of the robed demons she slowly opened them to see the survivors around them, seven of them. She quickly went to work slicing their throats before they had a chance to recover from the effects of spell.

"The area is clear…that's the last of these lesser demons." Half-Demon Thief sighed as she tucked her daggers away and carefully went about checking the bodies.

"Are they all demons? Any of them the missing Harefolk? Do you see any bite marks?" Priestess calmed walked toward the side of her friend to look over the bodies as well.

"No, no bite marks on any of the demons."

"Why would they be working for the vampire?"

"With the Demon Lord vanquished, many are looking for someone new to serve…someone who shall lead them to great conquest. We'd better hurry, I'm not hearing anymore screams."

"Do you know what direction they were coming from?" Priestess once again worried that cried were coming from her comrades, even hearing the cries was better than not hearing anything at all.

Half-Demon Thief frowned as she looked around the forest, there was nothing along the ground and a quick glance upward revealed nothing as well. Suddenly a new cry echoed in the forest, this one a single female voice and a familiar cry they'd heard before.

"Cleric!" Priestess eyes were wide as a cold sweat rolled down the side of her face.

"Let's move."

Elsewhere, the cries they had been listening to during their battle with demons had come from the harpies that fought against Dhampir Hunter. Dhampir Hunter was emotionless as he looked around him, the grass saturated with blood and the harpies lay in bloody chunks all around him. The Noble had long since vanished, given her movement and skill he estimated her to be well over two hundred years old, maybe even closer to three hundred. He too heard the cry of a young woman off further in the forest, without even a moment's hesitation he rushed forward, determined to slay the monster. Harefolk Bowman finished tearing his used bolts out of the demons he and Rhea Fighter had dispatched when they heard the cry themselves.

"There, from that direction!" Harefolk Bowman pointed to the direction opposite from their location.

"Come on, we need to hurry!"

xxxx

Rookie Warrior and his party had charged straight ahead the moment the party split into three groups. There was no way of knowing if they were going in the right direction towards Wizard Boy, would they encounter more of the demons, the vampire or the Dhampir Hunter who went ahead of them? None in the group had any direct answer, all they could do was continue forward and hope they were not too late.

"I don't see anything yet, not that I'm comforted by that thought." Fighter commented as she scanned the surrounding area and occasionally looked towards the three tops. "I didn't even know that werewolves could climb trees…maybe werecats?"

"Nor do I, but we have to keep our eyes open. Surely we should have run into someone by now." Rookie Warrior gripped his sword tightly as he too looked around the forest for any sign of their quarry.

"There!" Apprentice Cleric eyes widened as she caught sight of something or someone leaning against a nearby tree.

The trio could see it, a figure leaning against the tree, red hair visible in the moonlight and glasses upon their face. It was Wizard Boy, the group rushed over to check on him concerned as it looked like he was having trouble standing.

"Oh…it's you guys." Wizard Boy grunted as he leaned his right arm against a nearby tree while looking towards the others.

The trio rushed to his side, Apprentice Cleric was quick to check on her young colleague while Rookie Warrior and Fighter protected the perimeter, keeping their backs to the two as they once again scanned the trees.

"Are you okay?" Rookie Warrior spared a quick glance to check on his colleague.

"Fine…just had a bit of trouble with those demons. Had to use my other spell."

"That was a damn stupid thing to do, you shouldn't have run ahead…with only one spell." Fighter frowned as she looked back toward Wizard Boy.

"I know…I'm sorry. Just…wanted to prove myself as well."

"Let's get you back to the main road, we can better plan from there." Apprentice Cleric gave the young man a quick once over, but thankfully did not spot any serious injuries, he only looked disheveled.

"Did you manage to deal with all the demons or are there any other survivors?" Rookie Warrior suddenly spared a quick glance to his right as he heard the cries of men from somewhere further in the forest and what looked like a bright light off in the distance.

"What's that? Is that Priestess off in that direction?" Fighter looked towards the bright light with a look of concern on her face.

"It's possible they might be dealing with the vampiress." Wizard Boy placed his left hand on Apprentice Cleric's right shoulder for support.

Rookie Warrior, Fighter, and Apprentice Cleric all felt the cold sweat wash over them as the turned their attention back to Wizard Boy.

"How do you know the vampire is female…we didn't discuss that until we met the Dhampir?" Rookie Warrior slowly turned his attention back toward Wizard Boy.

Wizard Boy hung his head down for a moment but soon they could all see the smirk on his face, Apprentice Cleric only then noticed the two bruised puncture marks on his neck. Wizard Boy snapped his head back up and smiled, they could clearly see the elongated fangs present right before he lunged forward and sank his fangs into Apprentice Cleric's neck who screamed in pain from the attack.

"NOOOOOOO!" Rookie Warrior rushed to help his comrade in the arms of the vampire Wizard Boy.

Wizard Boy saw this and quickly shoved Apprentice Cleric into the arms of Rookie Warrior while he jumped back several feet.

"Amazing…this power…this agility." Wizard Boy smiled as he looked down at his hands, blood running down his chin. "This along with my own magic abilities…I show you all! You dare belittle my sister…myself…well no more!"

"You need to stop, none of us were trying to make light of you or your sister." Fighter too rushed to the side of her injured comrade. "Right now, you need to calm yourself, you're letting the vampire take control of you."

"My Mistress…how dare you. I shall await your arrival at the castle, but right now…you have your own problems to worry about."

Wizard Boy rushed further into the deep dark woods; Fighter wanted to chase after him but instead chose to turn back towards her injured comrade.

"Is…is she?" Fighter was worried as she saw the blood staining her comrade's white robes.

"She's still alive, I'm stopping the bleeding." Rookie Warrior was panicking himself but did his best to maintain a calm demeanor as he pressed the rag against his friend's wound. "Can you hear me? Are you alright?"

Apprentice Cleric's breathing was heavy, the burning sensation radiating from her neck and in the back of her mind she seemed to hear someone's voice whispering to her, above all else…there was an incredible thirst. She grunted as she opened her eyes to see the concerned faces of her comrades but what made her eyes widen was the sight of Rookie Warrior's neck.

"Oh thank goodness, let me get you a healing potion and you'll be good as new." Rookie Warrior reached into his pouch to retrieve the potion.

"I…I would be more interested in a different liquid."

Rookie Warrior looked up to see Apprentice Cleric lunge towards him pushing him to the ground to the surprise of Fighter. Rookie Warrior gasped as he placed his hands on either shoulder of his comrade to see the crazed look in her purple eyes and the fangs now present as she tried to bite him.

"Just…just a little blood…that's all I need. Surely you wouldn't deny your comrade…your friend right?" Apprentice Cleric continued to force herself upon Rookie Warrior despite his resistance.

"I…I need you to stop, you're…you're not yourself." Rookie Warrior grunted as he pushed against his friend.

"That or perhaps I'm finally giving into my true desires! Such a handsome face and a strong body…your blood must be quite delicious!"

Rookie Warrior could feel the blush on his face and found her drawing closer to his neck, suddenly Fighter rushed in and wrapped Apprentice Cleric's arms behind her, then used her own arms to keep her in place. Apprentice Cleric hissed as she turned her head towards Fighter in a futile attempt to bite her. Rookie Warrior quickly got himself up to aid Fighter and Apprentice Cleric when they once again heard the familiar sound of the fluttering cape. They all turned to see Dhampir Hunter rushing forward with long sword draw ready to decapitate the vampire before him.

"No! Wait!" Rookie Warrior foolishly stood before the rest of his party ready to put himself in harm's way for their sake.

"Protection!"

Dhampir Hunter struck at the group but thankfully an invisible barrier now stood between him and the party. Dhampir Hunter paused as he studied the barrier in front of him and a quick look to the side, he could see the priestess and demon thief he had seen earlier with the party. More footsteps drew his attention and he could see the harefolk and rhea coming to join the others as well. Despite the young girl affected by vampirism, the rest of her party members continued to hold her back while the others readied to defend her.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" Half-Demon Thief was angry as she pointed her daggers at the dhampir.

"Attempting to deal with the vampire." Dhampir Hunter was calm in his response as he sheathed his sword.

"That…you were going to slay her without so much as a second of hesitation." Priestess too was angry that he would be so nonchalant about killing someone.

"She has been bitten and seeks to bite others. If you believe you can save her, then take steps to restrain her. If you can't stop her, I will."

The adventurers momentarily panicked as they looked to the still struggling Apprentice Cleric, when Rhea Fighter reached into her own pouch and withdrew a rope.

"We can use this in the meantime."

"Got it." Half-Demon Thief nodded as she took the rope and rushed to help subdue Apprentice Cleric.

With the others still holding her in place, Half-Demon Thief wrapped the rope across her chest to keep her arms at the side and finished by tying her wrists together in front of her. Apprentice Cleric continued to hiss as she struggled to break free to attack them, thankfully Fighter still had a hold of her from behind.

"Release me! How dare you do this to me!" Apprentice Cleric narrowed her gaze towards Rookie Warrior and her face began to soften. "Why? I thought you cared for me. Why would you let them hurt me?"

Rookie Warrior wished to help his friend, almost tempted to release her but could still see the hungry look in her eyes.

"Is there nothing else we can do? Could a healing potion be used to aid her or…could my Purify stop her vampirism?" Priestess looked towards Dhampir Hunter hoping he'd have the answer for her.

"The only way to cure her now is to slay the Noble." Dhampir Hunter continued to look at the snarling figure with an indifferent gaze when a thought came to mind. "This girl…what faith does she belong to?"

"Her…she's an acolyte of the Supreme God, why?" Rookie Warrior looked toward with a confused expression on his face.

"If she has some totem or artifact that relates to that, it may help her regain some control."

Upon hearing this, Rookie Warrior quickly went to retrieve her Sword, and placed it within her hands. Apprentice Cleric screamed as if holding the weapon in her hands was burning her, but Rookie Warrior would not allow her to release the weapon.

"Concentrate. Remember you're a follower of the Supreme God…with this you are able to use your abilities to help others. You are not a slave to a vampire, you're an adventurer!"

Apprentice Cleric could still feel the pain but bolstered by her comrades tightened her grip on her weapon, little by little her breathing began to slow. Her fangs began to retract within her mouth though they were still longer than a normal human's, but soon enough her breathing seemed to be back to normal as she looked back toward Rookie Warrior and the others.

"I'm…I'm sorry." Apprentice Cleric still found herself breathing heavy, but thankfully she seemed to be in more control.

"How do you feel?" Rookie Warrior cautiously looked at his friend.

"I…I think I'll be okay but…the thirst is there." Apprentice Cleric let out a deep breath as she calmed herself.

Rookie Warrior was cautious as he undid her binds, the others hesitant for him to do this and readied themselves to intervene if need be. Once the ropes were removed, Apprentice Cleric was quick to take a step away from them, not sure if she would try to lash out her colleagues.

"I…I don't know what I might do so please…keep your distance."

"Let…let us take it slow." Rookie Warrior calmly reached out to take her hands in his and pulled her back toward the others. "We're not going to give up, we'll get you back to normal."

While this was going on, Rhea Fighter looked around the area but could not find her comrade, and after seeing Apprentice Cleric a terrible thought came to mind.

"My comrade…is he…"

"Yes. He's the one who bit Cleric." Fighter sighed as she nodded toward Rhea Fighter with a solemn look on her face.

"No." Rhea Fighter had a panicked look on her face as she looked around the forest.

"If we slay the one who bit them, it should break the curse." Dhampir Hunter was calm in his delivery and began to walk away back toward his horse.

"Wait."

Dhampir Hunter stopped to look back and saw the party of young adventurers looking toward him with a stern look on their faces, Rookie Warrior still holding his friend's hand.

"We're going with you. We've started this quest and we're going to see it through and save our colleagues!" Rookie Warrior, though still scared and confused himself, as the party leader knew he had to stay strong for the sake of his comrades.

"We need to move then. There are still many days before we reach the ruined castle."

xxxx

The next day, Goblin Slayer and his party were set to continue their investigation into this new form of goblin. Wolf and Snow continued to smell the ground as the continued on the trail, even without their ability to track this monster, the devastation in the forest was evident enough. There were trees that looked as though they had been pulled straight from the ground while other had giant branches snapped off as if they had been twigs.

"This thing or things isn't trying very hard to conceal itself, eh Beardcutter?" Dwarf Shaman looked at the damage around them and marveled at the impressions left by the monster using its fist in the dirt.

"Something is not right." Goblin Slayer grunted within his armor as he examined the damaged left behind.

"What do you mean Orcbolg? The damage is pretty severe but we've seen what goblins can do, especially goblin champions."

"Indeed, could be a horde pursuing their prey through the forest. Violently destroying the area around them to make the path easier to travel." Lizard Priest paused as examined one of the shattered trees.

"They're moving during the night and also during the day." Goblin Slayer paused as he looked up towards the bright sun in the sky.

The others paused as they thought about his words, it was true that whenever they encountered the goblins it was always in the dark or at a time Goblin Slayer deemed they were at their weakest, but to openly move in the bright sunlight, this was something new.

"Just what the hell is motivating them? I have disliked goblins ever since we began this journey, but this makes me feel more uneasy." High Elf Archer frowned as she looked down the makeshift path worried about what they would encounter.

Both wolves suddenly paused in their tracks as they stared straight ahead, this new smell was very strong and unlike anything they had smelled before, both began to growl as the fur along their back stood up.

"Look at that, their fur's standing up. Wonder what upset them?" Dwarf Shaman reached for his hand ax as he looked down the path for any sign of trouble.

"The raised hackles doesn't just mean aggression; it may be arousal, excitement or fear." Goblin Slayer drew out his sword in readiness for a battle.

High Elf Archer's ears twitched as she listened for all the sounds in the forest, there was the sounds of animals fleeing from something, what sounded like horses crying out in pain, the screams of people and an unusual grunting and growling from some unknown monsters or rather monsters.

"Ahead of us, I don't know how far but there's a battle and whoever is fighting the monsters does not seem to be fairing well."

"Let's go."

Goblin Slayer and his party charged down to path, it took themselves minutes until the reached the site of the battle, but it was not the enemy they saw, but the object thrown towards them. The party watched as a large objected was hurled, not at them directly at them, but in their general direction. This object crashed into the tree with a sickening crunch before slumping to the ground, blood stained the tree it had struck, it took the group a moment to realize that the thing that hit the tree was a horse.

"My word…what could throw a horse with such force?" Lizard Priest looked at the mangled remains with wide eyes before looking back toward the sounds of battle.

Goblin Slayer and his party saw them, two massive creatures, at first glance they appeared to be goblins, but something about their bodies was different. As expected, these massive creatures would move on all fours, their fists smashing into the ground as they approached their prey. What was unexpected was the design of these things, their skin was green but translucent, their muscles were clear for all to see, their bodies were wide, arms like tree trunks, their heads seemed to be stretched out and visible teeth in what looked like a perpetual smile.

Around the monsters were the bloody and broken bodies of catlike beings, their bodies covered in fur though their faces resembled male and female lions. This party's wagon was crushed, along the ground was another horse carcass, nearby were the bodies of the catfolk, some torn in half, others appeared to have been crushed or smashed against something.

"It's a party of Leonin. We have to help them!" High Elf Archer quickly notched an arrow in her bow and fired.

A male Leonin was breathing heavily as he watched one of the monsters pick up his comrade and smash him along the ground over and over. Suddenly an arrow struck it in the chest, but this only elicited a grunt from the monster. The Leonin and the other survivors turned to see a party of adventurers and two dire wolves rushing toward them.

"We shall hold the monsters at bay while you get the injured to safety." Lizard Priest was quick to throw down his catalysts to summon forth a Dragontooth Warrior. "O horns and claws of our father, Iguanodon, thy four limbs, become two legs to walk upon the earth."

Though they were not sure how these adventurers had found them, the surviving Leonin would not complain and quickly helped their injured comrades away from the battle sight by the elven archer.

Wolf and Snow each went for the legs of the nearest monster, sinking their teeth into the monster's flesh and growling as they pulled. The monster grunted, not seeming to register the pain and prepared to attack but was struck along its chest, arms and face by a torrent of rocks.

"Stone Blast!" Dwarf Shaman fired the rocks toward the beast to keep it from attack the dire wolves. "Don't you dare think of harming those two, you bastard!"

The beast grunted once again from the attack, it turned its attention back to Dwarf Shaman, blood running down its body from the various wounds, even with an eye missing it did not seem to show any signs of anger or feeling any pain. Dwarf Shaman quickly rolled away as the monster smashed its fists along the ground, hoping to crush the figure who had been standing there moments ago. Wolf and Snow tore the flesh away from the beats and quickly moved back themselves to avoid the immediate danger. The monster readied to attack Dwarf Shaman once again when several arrows flew forward hitting the creature in the chest, one managing to hit it the forehead. Dwarf Shaman turned to see High Elf Archer and the surviving Leonin firing a series of arrows at the monster.

"That's will teach you to underestimate…an…elf?" High Elf Archer had initially been triumphant that her arrow had struck it in the head but was then shocked to see the head of the arrow barely into the monster's forehead. "Just how thick is your damn skull?"

The monster with its pupilless eyes growled as its started to move toward the archers.

"Long Ears, go for the eyes, hit the brain!"

High Elf Archer quickly readied another arrow and fired watching as the arrow priced through the monster's eye barely exiting out the back out of its head; to be on the safe side, she fired another arrow through the other monster's damaged eye. The beast gave a final grunt before toppling over hitting the ground like a giant tree.

While the others were dealing with the first monster, Goblin Slayer and the others attacked the second creature. To their surprise they sliced at the monster's limbs but only to find their blades causing superficial damage. The massive beast swiped with its left hand knocking the Dragontooth Warrior aside with such force it collided with a tree.

"What a beast!" Lizard Priest not dissuaded charged in again to continue hacking at the wound he caused.

"Beloved, quickly summon me!"

"Come forth Lich Queen."

Lizard Priest continued his attack and managed hack off the monster's left forearm, during this time Lich Queen had once again manifested and used her magic to freeze the beast's other arm. Goblin Slayer charged in with mace drawn and shattered the frozen arm, the beast grunted as it fell forward, unable to balance its massive body with the damage it had received. Despite all of this, the monster struggle to move to attack Goblin Slayer growling all the while. Goblin Slayer put his mace away and calmly walked toward the downed monster with sword in hand; the beast looked up at Goblin Slayer who gripped his sword with both hands before ramming it into the monster's skull with a heavy grunt.

"My word…that was quite the troublesome creature." Lizard Priest retrieved his catalysts then went to aid the other injured Leonin.

"Thank you…I don't where you came from, but you saved us. Thank you." One of the male Leonin bowed his head repeatedly towards the party.

"Please you're giving us too much credit." Dwarf Shaman chuckled as he helped with minor bandaging for those who were less injured. "Tell us what happened? How did you encounter these beasts?"

"We were a small convoy bringing supplies back to our village. There were fifteen of us at the start, but now…" The young male Leonin looked at the survivors, six of them, two requiring a healing spell to save their lives. "These things came crashing out of the forest, easily flip our cart over as if it were toy and threw one of our horses like it was nothing. We attacked, but could not inflict enough damage, our arrows, spears and swords could barely cut through their tough hides."

While this was going on, Goblin Slayer examined the bodies of the goblins, though these creatures were unlike any goblin he had ever seen. Beside him were the two dire wolves and the ghostly image of the Lich Queen.

"These creatures are quite unusual Beloved, are you sure these are goblins?"

"Their bodies are like goblins but…something is not right. In all the time I've spent slaying goblins, I have never seen anything like this. Perhaps some form of mutation?"

"I unfortunately have never seen a goblin like this either Beloved, the goblin champion had been the largest form I had seen myself."

"Massive muscle structure, blades can cut but requires multiple strikes. Bones are much stronger, even able to stand up to a direct arrow. Does not register pain, or rather does as evident by its grunts, but does not let it affect it for long."

"Orcbolg, we need to make sure these Leonin get back safely. Orcbolg?"

"These goblins…how many more are out there?" Goblin Slayer's dispassionate tone was unsettling as he calmly looked around the forest.

Author's Note: I know there's a few different rules as far as the whole "turning into a vampire" rule. I'm going with the single bite I had seen in the Vampire Hunter D manga, vampire deliberately bites and turns people and they in turn can turn others. The pervious report of men in Chapter 59 would be victims of the Noble but turned into her mindless serfs but not granted the gift of vampirism…assuming you think it's a gift.