I am Dracula With My Three Beautiful Vampire Brides

After the reminder, Vlad noticed that aside from one prisoner who had been shot in the head and another whose chest had been completely pierced, the remaining three stood up with a roar and continued to charge at the vampire guards.

Even so, they still didn't pose much of a threat.

"They really do look like zombies," Vlad finally remarked.

Except for an additional weakness in the heart, weren't they just like zombies?

Bloodthirsty, mindless, incredibly resilient, and highly sensitive to the scent of blood.

He just wasn't sure if they could spread some kind of infection.

Probably not. Vlad shook his head at the thought. If even he couldn't manage something like that, how could low-level creatures like them?

"Well... still an idea," Vlad muttered to himself.

If the world ever found out he was thinking such things, he would definitely be labeled a heretic—and promptly eliminated.

"What do you think of their strength?" Vlad asked the vampire guards.

"Lord Vlad," one replied, "though they lack intelligence, their strength is two to three times that of an average adult. They're also significantly faster than a normal person."

"Combined with their regenerative ability and lack of fear of pain or death, they're about as difficult to handle as three or four fully armed elite soldiers."

Before Vlad—the one who had granted them immense power and near-eternal life—the vampire guards knelt on one knee, heads bowed in reverence.

Vlad nodded. Their assessment matched his own.

Still, there were too many unknowns with these zombie-like blood slaves. In most cases, they wouldn't be of much real use to him.

"Alert the troops. We're relocating the camp," Vlad ordered the palace guards.

"Clean everything up. Don't leave a trace," he said to Verona.

It wasn't paranoia. Vlad could feel it—there was something about the monastery in the city that made him deeply uneasy.

He wasn't certain whether the monks, priests, and nuns there possessed any supernatural abilities...

But he was sure of one thing: there was a mysterious power hidden in that monastery—one capable of restraining dark creatures like them.

Verona watched Vlad walk away and stood on the royal terrace for a while before finally returning to the hall.

Facing the five vampire guards standing there, she stepped forward and studied them closely.

"I know that before becoming vampires, all of you were elite warriors, handpicked from hundreds in the army."

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she suddenly leaned between two of the guards, baring her fangs and growling menacingly:

"I also know that while you're bound to obey me by our master's command...

You don't like being under the authority of a woman like me. Isn't that right? Fine, then. I'll give you a chance."

"I'll give you a chance to challenge me."

With a swift movement, Verona appeared midair above the hall. She turned and looked down on them with icy contempt.

"If you win, do as you please. If you lose, there will be no punishment...

Just absolute obedience."

Her bold challenge clearly caught the guards off guard, stirring unrest among them.

To them, Verona had always been a weak princess. Without Lord Vlad's favor, how could she possibly act so high and mighty?

Though none dared say it aloud, they had all secretly looked down on her.

But Verona was the princess of Transylvania. If they really believed she was just a naive noblewoman, they were underestimating aristocratic training.

Why else would her brother launch a coup just to seize the throne?

Do you really think someone would go that far just because she was the crown princess?

Perhaps Vlad had already seen through Verona's true nature—why else would he leave her in charge?

And Verona had wasted no time proving her authority the moment Vlad left.

Clearly, she wasn't some love-struck fool pining after Vlad.

Below her, the guards looked eager to fight.

Verona sneered. "What's the matter? Scared?"

"Or are you all just a bunch of cowards?"

There was no way the guards could stomach such obvious provocation. One of them immediately lunged forward, determined to put this arrogant woman in her place.

Just as Verona began asserting her dominance over the unruly guards, a small bat silently flew away.

Transylvanian Plateau.

The sun blazed high in the sky.

An elite army stretched for miles, clad in shining iron armor and radiating overwhelming presence.

Their towering spears gleamed like cold steel forests, marching steadily down the dirt-packed post road with terrifying momentum.

The "post road" was nothing more than a well-worn trail hardened by generations of foot traffic.

In the center of the formation, Vlad sat in a carriage, eyes closed in meditation.

Now that his memories were awakening, he had become increasingly aware of the many secrets hidden in the world.

He had spent years as a warrior on the battlefield and had never truly stepped into the realm of the supernatural. He now realized how many things he had overlooked.

"I need to build my own intelligence network... and fast," Vlad murmured.

Screech—

A large black bat suddenly fluttered into the carriage, let out a few cries beside his ear, then dissolved into black mist and vanished.

"Haha... That girl," Vlad chuckled softly and shook his head.

He'd always known Verona wasn't ordinary, but even he didn't expect her to be so decisive.

"No wonder she became the leader of the three vampire brides. There's no way someone like her is just a naive little flower."

A powerful and sharp Verona—with a dangerous touch of romance. And the other two brides? Vlad's curiosity only grew stronger.

He tapped rhythmically on the armrest, lost in thought.

Time passed.

Two weeks later, a massive city appeared on the horizon.

It was Istanbul, capital of the Ottoman Empire.

You might not recognize the name—but you've surely heard its former title:

The eternal city that was said to never fall: Constantinople.

As the army slowly entered the city, Vlad officially handed over command.

But within this bustling metropolis, Vlad—now a vampire—felt increasingly out of place.

Why, you ask?

Just look around: churches, monasteries, and priests.

For a creature of darkness, how could this possibly feel normal?

Vlad's brow twitched.