Chapter Ninety-Four: In the Nick of Time

“Your king?” Hearing White Night’s voice, Blood Slaughter’s expression turned solemn. “The Vampire Prince? No, you are not a Vampire Prince. You do not possess that despairing power of his. You are the Vampire King.”

“Correct. It is I, your king.” White Night smiled. “Today, I shall preside over your funeral. Blood Hunter Guild, you will be the first witnesses to my conquest of the world.”

“Hmph, bold words.” Blood Slaughter said contemptuously. “And you think that because you have stolen a vampire’s power, you can conquer the world?”

“Hmph, and so what?” White Night sneered. “No matter where this power came from, it is mine now. And all you can do is struggle like ants beneath it.”

“Do not underestimate us blood hunters!” Blood Slaughter roared, and a length of iron chain shot from his sleeve toward White Night suspended in the night sky.

White Night paid it no heed at all. Before the chain could even touch his body, it was rebounded by the magic barrier surrounding him.

“What’s wrong? Is that all an S-rank blood hunter can do? What a disappointment you are, truly. Didn’t your Blood Hunter Guild have three S-rank hunters? Why is there only you now?” White Night asked Blood Slaughter, then added in a mocking tone, “Ah, I remember now. An old man already died a few days ago. What a pity. Then there should still be one left. Don’t tell me he died too? That would be truly saddening. Could it be that the only toy left to amuse me is you?”

“Damn it!” White Night’s words struck Blood Slaughter’s sorest wound. “If the three of us S-rank blood hunters were still here, would some little wretch who had only just obtained a vampire’s power dare come and cause trouble for the Blood Hunter Guild?”

“But now there is only you, isn’t there? And a half-dead cripple at that.” White Night laughed scornfully. “This was your own choice, was it not?”

“Yes. So now it is our turn to bear the bitter fruit.” Blood Slaughter said in a low voice. Then he raised his gaze to White Night in the night sky. “Even so, if you want to destroy the Blood Hunter Guild, you will have to pay a price.”

“Is that so? Then let me see just how much a half-dead cripple can make me pay.” With that, White Night’s figure plunged from the night sky toward Blood Slaughter. His blood-red eyes gleamed with savage hunger, and his sharp claws flashed with a chilling, menacing light.

Blood Slaughter’s crimson curved blade collided with White Night’s claws. The force sent his body flying backward, and every wound on him split open again at once. The bandages around his body were dyed red with the blood that surged out.

“Lord Blood Slaughter!” The blood hunters left behind at the guild spotted the two locked in battle and cried out anxiously before rushing out in force.

“Move aside. You are no match for him.” Blood Slaughter shouted urgently at the blood hunters who stepped in front of him.

“Hmph, a bunch of worthless trash. You’re so eager to come out and die?” White Night looked at the blood hunters blocking his path and said mockingly. “Since you want to die so badly, I’ll send you on your way.”

With a ferocious smile, White Night charged into the midst of the blood hunters.

Cries of agony rang out one after another among the blood hunters. One life after another was extinguished, yet not a single person retreated. The blood hunters drew their weapons and attacked White Night with the resolve to die, determined to stop him even if it cost them their lives.

Protected by more than ten remaining A-rank blood hunters, Blood Slaughter was pulled away from White Night. The blood soaking through the bandages dripped steadily to the ground.

“You are not his match. I’ll hold him off for a while. Take the remaining humans and leave here,” Blood Slaughter ordered the blood hunters guarding him.

“Lord Blood Slaughter, all blood hunters below B-rank have already been evacuated. The Blood Hunter Guild will not fall so easily. The blood hunters still here have already resolved to die. We are prepared to live and die with the guild. To be able to die alongside Lord Blood Slaughter is our honor.” One of the blood hunters said firmly.

“You...” Blood Slaughter looked at the blood hunters before him and found himself at a loss for words.

“Today is a fine day to die in battle,” the blood hunters said with free and easy smiles.

“Yes, today is indeed a fine day to die in battle. Brothers, let that damned vampire see what human dignity is. Let us leave him a memory he will never forget.” Blood Slaughter straightened his body. Seemingly heedless of the blood still seeping endlessly from his wounds, he strode resolutely toward White Night.

“A bunch of damned vermin.” White Night looked at the corpses of blood hunters strewn across the ground and the earth dyed red with blood, and cursed.

Not yet fully adapted to the power of the Vampire King, White Night, despite possessing strength far exceeding every blood hunter present, had still suffered considerable injuries amid their desperate attacks. Several wounds on his arm and back were slowly bleeding.

“Damn it!” White Night seized a blood hunter who had fallen beside him but was not yet quite dead, bit down on his neck, and his sharp fangs pierced his veins as he gulped down great mouthfuls of blood.

A moment later, White Night hurled away the blood hunter’s corpse, now completely dead, and the wounds on his arm and back had already healed entirely.

“So this is the power of a vampire? Truly intoxicating. Wouldn’t you agree?” White Night smiled at Blood Slaughter, who was approaching him. With the blood still lingering at the corner of his mouth, the expression on his face became all the more savage.

Blood Slaughter and the blood hunters present, upon seeing the blood at the corner of White Night’s mouth, all revealed eyes full of rage.

“Damned monster, die!” Blood Slaughter roared, gripping his crimson curved blade and charging toward White Night first. His eyes shone with unwavering determination. Even if he died, he would make this monster pay.

The crimson curved blade was easily blocked by White Night’s claws.

“If you had not been injured, you might still pose some threat to me. But now, you are not even worth my amusement.” White Night said mockingly. The magic power within him surged, hurling Blood Slaughter backward. Before Blood Slaughter could even hit the ground, White Night’s figure vanished from where he stood and reappeared behind him. His claws stabbed straight toward Blood Slaughter’s heart. “Die, ant.”

“I hate to interrupt the two of you, but could anyone tell me where Star Whisper is?” At this critical moment, a dazzling figure appeared in the blood-soaked battlefield.

Purple eyes, golden hair, black bat wings spread behind her, and blood-colored bats circling around her body. The moment this figure appeared, White Night’s mind jolted into chaos, and his movement faltered by a fraction of a second. Blood Slaughter seized that fleeting opening and narrowly avoided having his heart pierced. White Night’s claws thrust deep into Blood Slaughter’s back, and Blood Slaughter barely escaped death.

“Liliana?” White Night stared at the girl who had suddenly appeared before him, his eyes blazing with excitement and fear.

“You are?” I looked at the man before me and found him somewhat familiar. “White Night? I never expected you to become a vampire.” I said flatly.

“Heh, yes. I now possess great power as well. The power to rule over everything,” White Night told me, though his voice lacked confidence.

He still remembered how the girl before him had once defeated the Vampire King who possessed that overwhelming power, defeating him with ease. That mighty Vampire King had not even had the chance to resist. And now, although White Night had acquired his power, he was still somewhat inferior to the Vampire King of that time. So faced with the girl before him, White Night was extremely tense.

“Where is Star Whisper?” I ignored White Night and asked the heavily injured S-rank blood hunter.

“Star Whisper? That child is not in the Blood Hunter Guild right now.” Blood Slaughter answered through the pain. At present, with only a Vampire King before them, the Blood Hunter Guild was already on the brink of collapse. If it were then to face the revenge of a Vampire Princess as well, the guild would truly be finished.

“Do you know where he is?” I asked again.

“I don’t know. I don’t even know whether he is alive or dead. He left the Blood Hunter Guild a long time ago.” Blood Slaughter said helplessly.

“I see.” Seeing that he did not seem to be lying, I nodded lightly, then prepared to turn and leave. “Continue.”

“Liliana!” White Night, whom I had ignored, finally exploded. I kept asking after Star Whisper’s whereabouts and paid him no mind whatsoever, and that made the rage in his heart overwhelm his fear of me. White Night blocked my path.

“I have no interest in you. Get out of the way!” I said to White Night, then vanished past him in an instant and beat my bat wings to fly away into the distance. Though I had rested through the day, my injuries had still not recovered. I did not wish to tangle with him any further. I could sense the vast magic power now surging within White Night; his existence was no less formidable than mine.

“Liliana, stop right there!” White Night roared furiously at my departing figure, then abandoned the Blood Hunter Guild, which was already close to annihilation, and pursued me in the direction I had gone.

As for Blood Slaughter, already wounded on top of wounds, when he saw White Night leave just like that, he could finally endure no longer and fainted.

“Lord Blood Slaughter.” The blood hunters who had survived against all odds did not even have time to vent their joy. They hurriedly supported Blood Slaughter and carried him away for treatment.