SSS Ranked Dragon King: My Innate Ability is Unbelievable.

Chapter 261 261: Let's hurry up and clean things up.

' I'm quite sure the Viscount won't just sit by and do nothing after learning of the unfortunate demise of his beloved first son. In fact, I'm counting on his grief-stricken rage to drive him into the very traps I've already laid.'

' It's a shame I couldn't find a way to use him as a puppet to take over the Viscounty from the inside. '

He felt a momentary flash of disappointment as he looked at the cooling remains of the young nobleman.

' Unfortunately, the boy was simply too arrogant and volatile to control with any degree of reliability. He would have eventually tried to bite the hand that fed him. Besides, with Victoria and Charles already firmly on my side, taking over the Montgomery lands shouldn't take much longer at the rate things are currently progressing.'

"As you wish, Master," Yu An replied, nodding as she carefully collected the bloody head.

With the head of the heir in custody, Su Ping shifted his focus away from the dead scape and toward the vast, immobile undead army that occupied the village streets.

The skeletons and zombies stood like a forest of grey and white, waiting for the next command to ripple through their connected consciousness.

"Gather every fresh corpse in the area and bring them to me at the center of the square," Su Ping ordered, his voice echoing through the gloom.

"Also, have all the Montgomery men who were turned into soldiers during the battle fall into a single file as well. I want to see the tally of our new recruits."

"Consider it done, your majesty," several voices emerged from the thick fog in unison.

These were the voices of the Zombie Kings, who had been hidden within the mist throughout the conflict, directing the lesser undead from behind the scenes.

Su Ping adjusted his posture, his eyes scanning the ever present dark fog. "I need a lesser vampire," he added.

Almost before the words had finished leaving his lips, a dark blur leaped out from the fog, moving with a speed that the human eye could barely track.

The figure landed softly and immediately dropped onto one knee before Su Ping, bowing its head in a gesture of profound submission.

"How may I be of service to your majesty?" the lesser vampire asked, its voice smooth and chilling, lacking the imperfect voice of the lower-tier undead.

"Go and get a few more of your kind and begin gathering the villagers who are hiding in their homes," Su Ping instructed, his purple-black eyes flashing with a hidden intent.

"Be sure to inform them that I'd like to meet every single one of them in the square. I have a few things to discuss regarding the future of this settlement."

The vampire hesitated for a fraction of a second, its sharp teeth glinting in the twilight. "But what if they resist, your majesty? What if they fear us too much to step out of their doors?"

"Then leave them be," Su Ping replied, a thin, dangerous smile playing across his lips. "Simply inform them that I have extended an invitation for their own protection, and that whatever happens next is entirely on their own hands. I will not force them to meet their savior."

'In fact, it would be quite beneficial if they chose to disobey.' he thought to himself, the corner of his lip curving upward ever so slightly.

'It would just mean more fresh meat for me to fuel the evolution I've been anticipating. Either way, my goals will be met.'

"As you wish, your majesty," the lesser vampire nodded obediently before standing and speeding off into the village.

It became a blur of motion once more, vanishing into the narrow alleys to carry out the master's will and collect the trembling inhabitants of the broken village.

******

The village square, which had so recently been a scene of carnage and war, was now filled with a different kind of tension as the surviving inhabitants slowly began to gather under Su Ping's absolute command.

The air was heavy and stagnant, still carrying the uncomfortable stench of blood that had soaked into the earth, while the surrounding walls of dark fog did little to calm their anxious hearts, no matter how hard they tried to hide it.

Soon after, A large crowd of villagers had assembled, huddled together in a mass of trembling limbs and ragged clothing, their eyes darting nervously toward the silent, motionless ranks of the undead that formed a perimeter around the open space.

Though many were paralyzed by a deep, instinctual fear of the corpses standing amongst them, the grim warnings delivered by the lesser vampires had been enough to ensure they didn't dare resist the summons.

Su Ping stood at the center of the square, his arms crossed over his chest and his void-like mask still present.

He watched the villagers for a long moment, his purple-black eyes silently assessing the size of the group before him.

"Is this truly all of you?" Su Ping asked, his voice echoing with a low tone that made several people in the front row flinch.

An elderly man, whose weathered face was lined with the deep furrows of a lifetime of hard labor and whose simple robes identified him as the village chief, took a hesitant step forward from the mass of people.

He kept his head bowed low, his hands clasped together in a gesture of submission as he addressed their not so appealing benefactor.

"Yes, Sir. We have all done exactly as you asked of us," the village chief stated, his voice thin and wavering but carrying a note of desperate sincerity. "On behalf of our small and humble home, I beg you to please accept our most sincere and heartfelt thanks for delivering us all from those heinous men."

" Those Montgomery soldiers were monsters in human skin, and your arrival was nothing short of a miracle for those of us who had lost all hope."