Terra Aeterna: The Rise of Humanity's War Machine

Selene and Amalia stared at Kenthelion after answering the question he had casually thrown at them. Both women were curious, trying to guess which of them had read his mind more accurately.

Kenthelion raised a brow at their intense stares.

"What? Why are you both looking at me like that? It was just a casual question."

He glanced down at himself as if trying to figure out what made them so tense.

But Selene and Amalia noticed something unsettling in Kenthelion's eyes.

Their vampiric instincts kicked in, eyes narrowing with precision. In that split second, Kenthelion realized his slip-up—his gaze had betrayed him, gleaming with battle-lust and a thrill that bordered on madness.

Instinctively, he took a step back.

Amalia's voice cut through the tension like a blade.

"You're bored, aren't you?" she asked sharply, suspicion dripping from her tone.

Kenthelion forced a smile.

"Just joking. It's nothing serious."

His words were light, but the mood in the room remained heavy.

Selene's tone was colder.

"Then what exactly are you doing? Just sitting here, watching?"

"I am not just watching."

He turned and addressed the captain of the Dominion battlecruiser, who stood silently near the control deck.

"Deploy a drone immediately. I want that monster under constant surveillance—twenty-four hours, nonstop."

"Yes, Your Majesty," the captain replied without hesitation, turning to relay the command to the operators.

Kenthelion then faced Selene and Amalia again.

"As long as we can track Marcus's movements... we'll know who his first target is."

He spoke with a sly smile, as if he already knew the answer.

But the tension didn't last.

"Your Majesty, there's something you need to see."

One of the monitoring officers called out, urgency in his voice.

Kenthelion, Selene, and Amalia turned their attention to the main screen.

A live feed showed multiple armed helicopters pursuing Marcus Corvinus through the night sky. The chase was intense—gunfire lit up the darkness, searchlights pierced the clouds, and the aerial maneuvers were reckless, bordering on suicidal.

Kenthelion clenched his jaw as he watched.

So they're really doing it... they want to turn Marcus into a lab experiment.

His eyes darkened.

Idiots... you're trying to apply movie logic to the real world.

Selene didn't take her eyes off the screen.

"If that wasn't their motive, they wouldn't have so easily let the vampires go while still going after Marcus with this kind of intensity."

"Perhaps the government already knows Marcus has been alive for thousands of years," Kenthelion mused, folding his arms as he analyzed the aerial footage.

"If not, they wouldn't be going after him like this—not without prepping some serious anti-vampire weapons first."

On the screen, Marcus Corvinus was under relentless fire. Bullets tore through his wings; blood splattered in the air. His bones looked fractured, his movements faltering. He was losing altitude—barely holding on.

Amalia narrowed her eyes.

"Maybe the captured vampires have already spilled the information."

She glanced briefly at Kenthelion, then added with a hint of sarcasm,

"In the end, humans fear death... but officials? They fear it even more. They won't just want to capture Marcus for dissection—they'll want to study him for their own survival."

Suddenly, the screen flickered. Something unexpected took over the feed.

A missile streaked across the sky—slamming directly into one of the helicopters pursuing Marcus. The explosion ripped through the air with a deafening roar.

Moments later, one by one, the remaining military helicopters were shot down with surgical precision. A brutal rain of fire lit up the night sky.

Selene's voice shifted—part alarmed, part impressed.

"That's... not our unit."

From the shadows of the distance, four Apache gunships burst into view, flying low in perfect formation. With ruthless accuracy, they took out the entire fleet chasing Marcus in mere minutes.

No warning. No transmission.

And just as quickly, the Apaches turned around and vanished into the darkness—leaving no trace behind.

High above, Marcus Corvinus hovered in the air, barely holding himself aloft. His body was torn and bloodied, his breath ragged. He simply stared—stunned—at the sky where his unknown saviors had come from.

His face was blank with disbelief.

He had no idea who had just saved him.

Selene studied the screen with sharp eyes, then spoke quietly—but with absolute certainty.

"That was Alexander Corvinus. Those were the gunships you gave him... weren't they?"

Her tone was calm, but heavy with meaning.

Kenthelion raised an eyebrow, arms crossed over his chest.

"Looks like Alexander's finally paying attention to his son," he murmured, the words barely above a whisper—but clear enough for Selene and Amalia to hear.

Amalia frowned, her gaze darting from the wreckage on the screen back to Kenthelion.

"You actually gave him military-grade helicopters like that?"

Her voice was nearly incredulous, as if she was trying to make sure Kenthelion hadn't completely lost his mind.

Kenthelion shrugged.

"That was part of our deal. Besides... toys like those aren't much use to me anymore."

He spoke with casual detachment, as if state-of-the-art war machines were nothing more than trivial gadgets.

Amalia leaned forward slightly.

"But... aren't you worried? The military could track that. Major powers have eyes in the sky—satellites, radar systems... They'll know."

Kenthelion gave a faint smile and shook his head slowly.

"They won't. Their satellites won't see anything I don't allow. Their radars are blind. A few ground troops might have seen something... but they won't have a clue where it came from."

Amalia stared at him in silence for a moment, then muttered under her breath,

"You control their satellites too..."

Her eyes were wide, unblinking—like she had just realized something far more terrifying than high-tech dominance.

Kenthelion gave her a thin smile.

"Alright, fine," he said, almost playfully, as if confirming her suspicion without any desire to elaborate.

Emilia shot him a glance, her face unreadable. She said nothing, simply turning her gaze back to the screen—watching as Marcus Corvinus slowly disappeared from visual range.

Kenthelion turned.

"I'm stepping out for a bit. I'll be back soon."

As usual, he didn't wait for a reply. He made decisions without discussion.

Minutes later, Kenthelion arrived at one of the old vampire mansions via a Medivac transport craft. The compound looked deserted, abandoned in a hurry.

He hovered low, drifting past darkened windows and unlocked doors. He made a full circuit of the building.

But there was nothing.

No hidden chambers.

No secret experiments.

No leftover tech or forbidden knowledge.

Just an old house haunted by its own forgotten past.

With a quiet sigh of disappointment—hidden beneath his usual calm expression—Kenthelion boarded the Dominion-class battlecruiser once again, soaring upward through the clouds and back into low orbit...

...leaving the vampire mansion in utter silence.

---

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

During those three days, Kenthelion followed a rather... unique routine.

By day, he kept a watchful eye on Marcus Corvinus from a distance, making sure the man didn't stir up more trouble.

By night, he shared a bed with Selene—the cold yet passionate goddess of the moon.

And in between, he took no shame in teasing Amalia, who was beginning to show signs of exasperated confusion over his unpredictable behavior.

Meanwhile, Marcus Corvinus hadn't left the cave where he'd been hiding—not even once.

Most likely, he was still recovering from his wounds—both physical and mental.

That day, Kenthelion stepped into the Dominion Battlecruiser's command center.

Selene walked beside him, having just woken up. She wore a half-formal outfit, her hair a little tousled, yet her presence remained regal and commanding.

Inside, they found Amalia standing in front of the tactical panel, her eyes locked onto the satellite feed with wary intensity.

She didn't even glance their way when they entered. Her gaze remained fixed on one spot—the cave where Marcus had been hiding.

"He's out…" Amalia whispered, almost in disbelief. "I didn't think he'd move today."

Before Kenthelion could respond, one of the monitoring officers stood from his station, a grim look on his face.

Battlecruiser Officer:

"Your Majesty, we've detected a large-scale military mobilization."

Kenthelion showed no surprise.

"Pull up the satellite feed."

Officer:

"Right away, Your Majesty."

The command center's main screen lit up.

Live orbital footage revealed the mobilization of government forces in full swing.

Tens of thousands of soldiers moved in perfect formation. Tanks and armored vehicles rolled out of massive barracks. Helicopters lifted into the air, forming a deadly flock of metal predators.

Selene narrowed her eyes, watching the military's movement patterns.

"They're deploying this kind of force… but for what? Werewolves? Vampires?"

Still locked onto the screen, Amalia responded quietly—but with certainty.

"They're headed northeast. Into the forest region. You'll know their target soon enough once you follow their path."

They watched in silence as the tanks and vehicles sped along routes not marked on any standard map.

The helicopters flanked them from above, sweeping in precise aerial patterns over the moving ground forces.

After over an hour, the troops entered the dense forest. A thin layer of mist began to settle over the area, but the satellite imagery continued to track their movements with clarity.

Amalia pointed at a specific spot on the screen.

"There. They're heading straight for the vampire noble clan's hidden castle. They're about to go toe-to-toe with the aristocracy of the undead."

Selene snapped her head toward Amalia, genuine surprise lighting up her face.

"There's a vampire castle hidden in that forest? How could I not know about this?"

Amalia looked at her for a moment before speaking in a flat tone,

"Not all vampires are part of the world you know, Selene. Many chose to live in the shadows... far away from the Elders' influence and the Death Dealers' control."

A heavy silence settled over the command room.

On the screen, the image of war loomed closer with every second—and everyone knew chaos had only just begun.

Amalia:

"This castle's been abandoned for years. I never thought Kraven would hide here."

There was a note of disbelief in her voice. Even she hadn't expected Kraven to choose that place.

In the sky above, military helicopters began circling the ancient castle nestled deep within the dense forest.

The first explosion cracked through the air like a thunderclap from hell—rockets and artillery fired in unison, crashing into the centuries-old stone walls.

The castle crumbled slowly.

The vampires hiding within had no time to react.

They scattered like ants doused in fire and gasoline.

Stone fell.

Bodies littered the ground.

Tanks and armored vehicles joined in from below, unleashing relentless volleys.

The sound of gunfire echoed through the trees like death bells tolling through the forest.

The remaining vampires, realizing the overwhelming might of their attackers, fled into the woods in twos and threes, leaping over roots and weaving between trees—using the forest itself as their last line of defense.

But the government troops weren't letting anyone escape.

Infantry units pushed forward, firing automatic rifles.

Some vampires fought back with sudden ambushes from the underbrush, but sheer numbers and advanced tech gave the humans the upper hand.

Two hours later, the battlefield was a massacre site.

The air reeked of blood and gunpowder.

Fewer than a hundred vampires managed to escape the slaughter.

The rest were annihilated.

The soldiers paid a heavy price as well—especially in the dense forest, where heavy vehicles couldn't advance and helicopters lost visibility among the trees.

Back aboard the battlecruiser, Kenthelion stood tall, eyes fixed on the holographic display, flanked by Selene and Amalia.

Kenthelion's voice was flat, almost indifferent, as if he were stating a weather report instead of the aftermath of a massacre.

"The vampires... they're finished. What's left are just a few bottom-feeders."

Selene's voice was a soft whisper, laced with disbelief.

"Why didn't Alexander Corvinus step in to stop this?"

"He won't interfere," Kenthelion replied coldly. "Not as long as his bloodline remains intact."

Amalia's eyes stayed fixed on the now-quiet battlefield displayed on the holographic screen.

"The blood clan in Hungary is no more. Thousands of vampires were wiped out today. This feud... it's over."

Her voice was sharp, cutting clean through the silence, though her expression remained hollow.

Selene lowered her head, struggling to contain the swell of emotion in her chest.

"Those who remain… I don't know if they'll survive this."

Kenthelion gave her a sidelong glance.

"Don't worry. Alexander will protect the rest. If he doesn't… the vampire race will vanish entirely."

It sounded like a promise, but the cynicism in his tone was impossible to miss.

Then, Kenthelion turned toward the battlecruiser's captain.

"Show me the drone footage tracking Marcus."

"Right away, Your Majesty," the captain responded.

The screen shifted, a low hum from the drone's engine barely audible in the playback. The video showed Marcus Corvinus, his monstrous form battered and torn, limping with grim determination toward a large, abandoned manor. On his way, he tore through a small pack of Lycans, dispatching them without hesitation before disappearing inside the building.

Selene furrowed her brow.

"What is that place?"

Amalia's voice dropped, eyes narrowing.

"The historian's exile chamber. I didn't expect Marcus to go there… He must be trying to save his brother."

Her gaze hardened. She knew the place.