Chapter 204 Vampire Luna

Chapter 204 Vampire Luna
Damon’s cold, menacing voice cut through the absolute silence of the square, each heavy word dropping onto the crowd like lead.
"Many people will die today," he stated plainly, his jaw set in a hard, unyielding line as his dark eyes swept over the thousands of trembling pack members. "Yes... right here before your very eyes, I will take multiple lives today. If sacrificing a few heads is what it takes to protect the safety and future of this entire territory, then so be it. If twenty people must perish so that thousands more can live, then their deaths will serve as a permanent, bloody example to every single one of you."
He turned his head toward the side of the stage, his top lip curling back into a ferocious sneer as he bellowed at the top of his lungs, "BRING THEM OUT!"
At his command, heavy iron chains rattled loudly against the wooden platform. Four burly warriors stepped forward, roughly dragging three bound men out into the open daylight. The three prisoners were dressed in the official armor of the pack garrison, but their leather vests were torn, their hands tightly bound behind their backs with heavy iron cuffs. Sweat poured down their pale faces, dripping off their chins as absolute terror distorted their features. Their knees buckled with every step, their eyes wide and bloodshot with pure, suffocating horror.
Damon stepped toward them, gesturing downward with one broad, leather-gloved hand as a dark, bitter scoff tore from his chest.
"There is a bloodsucking vampire lurking among us who brutally slaughtered two of our finest guards," he announced, his deep voice dropping into a dangerous rumble that sent cold shivers straight down my spine. "Their mutilated bodies were dumped and discovered yesterday evening. The vampires in this region have grown bold—they have grown arrogant enough to hunt and kill right in the middle of the daytime. What absolute audacity."
He slammed his heavy boot against the wooden floorboards, the loud THUD echoing like a thunderclap through the silent plaza. Several people in the front rows flinched violently.
"What pisses me off the most is not just the loss of life," Damon growled, his fists clenching so tightly at his sides that the leather of his gloves strained against his knuckles. "It is the sickening fact that it was my own guards who were slaughtered. Whoever committed this atrocity was sending a direct, deliberate message to my face—they were boasting that they do not fear me."
He paused, a cruel, mocking smile pulling at the corners of his lips as his dark pupils flared with unbridled rage. "Because whichever useless, pathetic vampire did that knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I would discover the bodies. They wanted me to know that they aren't afraid of my wrath... that I should do my worst."
He tilted his head, scanning the ocean of pale, terrified faces staring up at him. "Now, some of you may wonder why I am referring to a vampire as an 'it' instead of a person. Yes... to me, vampires are not living beings. They are nothing more than mindless pests, especially if they dare to breathe the air inside this pack! Because it is only a matter of short time before I hunt every last one of them down and wipe them off the face of the earth. No vampire has ever escaped my grasp, and no vampire ever will!"
He turned his back on the audience, slowly marching up to the three trembling guards who were forced down onto their knees before him.
"Which brings me back to these three bastards," Damon rumbled, his voice dripping with pure disgust as he gestured toward the kneeling men. "Some of you standing out there might be wondering why these three warriors are chained up like dogs today. Some of you might even be whispering that this is entirely unlike me... that I never punish my own soldiers, that I never turn my blade against my own men."
A dark, terrifying laugh echoed from his throat, completely devoid of any warmth or humor. "Well... I guess that long-standing rule changes starting from this very moment."
He leaned down close to the first kneeling guard, his breath hot against the man's sweat-drenched, terrified face.
"These pathetic fools who dare to call themselves guards of Crestwood were completely absent from their post while a vampire was freely devouring my warriors nearby," Damon spat, his jaw working as his eyes burned with ruthless fury. "If these three lazy cowards had actually been doing their job and standing at their assigned posts that day, this entire emergency meeting would not even be taking place right now!"
He straightened his posture, pacing back and forth along the front of the platform with slow, calculated strides.
"The forensic team's report clearly states that it was a single vampire who ambushed and took the lives of those two guards," Damon explained, his sharp tone slicing through the quiet square. "So if all five of these men had been standing together on guard duty as they were commanded to do, I would not be short two good warriors today. But if I can lose two reliable men to a bloodsucker's teeth... then losing three more useless, negligent fools today is certainly no great loss to me!"
The three chained guards broke into frantic, desperate sobs, their bodies shaking violently as they bowed their heads all the way to the wooden floorboards, weeping for their lives.
Damon stopped dead in his tracks directly in front of the middle guard. He reached down, grabbed the man by his hair, and violently yanked his head back, forcing the terrified warrior to look him straight in the eyes.
"Any last words?