Chapter 726: Didn't Your Mother Teach You?
Pop!
Another blood bottle shattered on the rooftop, and fresh blood splashed everywhere.
No.
No.
No!
Lausanne the Second lay prone on the ground, trembling all over. He buried his face tightly in his arms and wailed in despair within his heart.
But every inch and every corner of his body was roaring, declaring its thirst for the liquid on the ground.
Crushing what little reason he had left.
His organs and tissues, joints and muscles, steamed like boiling water and convulsed without stop.
Stop!
Listen to me!
I am Lausanne the Second!
The master of this body!
Not you!
Not you all!
Not!
Lausanne the Second struggled with all his strength, giving orders to whatever parts of his body remained, heavens knew what remained.
But it was useless.
They clamored, protested, acted on their own, and simply refused to listen to him.
He wanted to take a step, but could not lift his leg.
He wanted to pick up his sword, but could not move his hand.
He wanted to close his eyes, but could not shut his eyelids.
And they, they were all protesting against him, one after another, wanting to get closer to the bloody smell spread across the ground and walls.
Like soldiers deserting the camp in a rush after a commander without authority suffered defeat.
But what could he do?
He was too weak.
Too weak.
The bloody smell around him grew stronger and stronger, long since exceeding the highest limit he could endure.
As if he had been soaked in a pool of blood.
"Look. So much blood. All freshly drawn human blood today."
On the opposite rooftop, Catherine laughed loudly, smashed another blood bottle, and pointed at the blood splashing everywhere.
"You cannot hold on anymore, can you?"
Her laughter carried the madness of someone freed from crushing pressure.
"Then show your fangs. Reveal your ugly form!"
"Vampire!"
Hearing those words, Lausanne the Second trembled again.
No!
No, no, no!
How did she... how could she...
A new panic, a shame at being seen through, instantly struck Lausanne the Second.
It battered his tottering mind.
"How did I discover it?"
As if she knew what he was terrified of, Catherine ignored the cold sweat covering her body. Like someone who had been held underwater for a long time, she gulped air and laughed loudly.
"The people our gang has been losing these days. That was you, wasn't it?"
Yes. Attack, feed on the spot, and after it was done, hack apart the wounds, display the corpse in the street, or simply throw it into the water and frame Black Silk.
That was what Catherine thought.
At least, that was what a certain little attendant beside that lord, the one with a cold face who never smiled and always carried a little notebook, had deduced.
Right, even that lord's scouts when they went out to act, and even the lord himself, were all named after that attendant.
Just like the dogs Sangare raised: Sang One, Sang Two, Big Sang, Extra-Large Sang, Giant Sang...
Mm. That attendant must have a great deal of face before that lord. If one day...
Mm. Perhaps he would stand in high office and become unspeakably noble.
When she returned to the capital, she would have to flatter him properly.
Catherine's thoughts flashed like lightning, but her words did not pause.
"...Only two places had nothing happen."
Behind Lausanne the Second's goggles, his eyes slowly widened. He clutched his head, twitching, struggling, forcing himself not to look at the blood around him.
But...
Drink...
The resistance inside his body merged into one unified voice and spoke coldly to him.
Like soldiers successfully rebelling and turning around to give orders to their commander.
That is blood...
No.
Drink...
No!
Sweet blood...
No, no, no!
Enjoy it...
The voice grew louder and louder, deafening.
Drink, drink, drink, drink, drink, drink, drink, drink!
In reality, Phantom Blade sneered.
"Franco's Theater Street, and Jaga's factory. I know why you did not go hunting in those two places."
Looking at Lausanne the Second kneeling on the rooftop with his head in his arms, suffering beyond endurance, Catherine sneered and spoke:
"Because those two territories are packed with young girls."
Girls?
Lausanne the Second's scattering mind cleared for a moment.
That was right. Around Franco's theaters were all the pleasure houses and brothels that paid tribute to him. They were filled with girls soliciting customers and doing business, chattering and charming, hundreds and thousands of them.
Phantom Blade Catherine gritted her teeth, estimating the distance between her opponent and herself.
As for "Cobbling Jaga's" printing and textile factories, they liked recruiting female workers and child workers most, especially young female workers. Not because he cared for women and children, but because compared to male workers, female workers' wages could be pressed even lower, and they dared resist even less. Of course, for a sanctimonious old lecher like Jaga, perhaps there were other, more private reasons as well.
"And girls... have their monthly courses."
Catherine laughed with sarcasm, feverish with the joy of revenge.
"So you were afraid!"
According to that little attendant officer, when a vampire was hunting, the instant it took in fresh blood, it was at its most fragile, most sensitive, most restless, and least able to endure temptation.
Young ones especially.
"You were afraid that while feeding, if you smelled too much blood among a crowd of girls, you would lose your reason. Once you started, you would not be able to stop..."
In the end, it would become a disaster and expose him.
From this, that lord's little attendant had deduced that as a vampire, Lausanne the Second was still too young.
Faced with blood, he could not control himself and would reveal his true form.
Catherine stared hard at him.
"In the end, you would become a complete and utter beast."
And humans had never feared beasts.
Drink!
Lausanne the Second was losing the duel against desire. He rolled in pain, but the blood on the rooftop stained his clothes, making him twitch even more violently.
No...
He felt he was on his last breath.
But it is right there!
His reason gradually blurred.
Fresh, warm, delicious, just as before...
Girls...
Just one mouthful, one mouthful, and all pain can be forgotten...
Blood...
Blood!
Girls...
Sunlight!
Blood...
Her!
"No..."
At that moment, Lausanne the Second paused and sobbed aloud.
"No!"
Catherine narrowed her eyes.
Beneath the night sky, Lausanne the Second slowly closed his eyes.
"Not... because of... blood..."
The reason he...
Fine...
The reason he avoided those two places while hunting...
Since you refuse...
Was not...
Then go drink...
Was not because of...
Fresher blood!
The next moment, his reason fell completely into the abyss.
With endless despair and sorrow, Lausanne the Second drifted into sleep.
Replacing him was another it.
Its vision was scarlet.
Its teeth struggled to pierce through its gums.
Its fingernails protruded past the fingertips, their ends becoming tough and sharp.
Its bones crackled and stretched, becoming increasingly flexible, easier to bend.
Its black heart pounded wildly, and the black blood belonging to a vampire circulated, consumed itself, and thirsted at an unimaginable speed.
And its back, the two shoulder blades on either side. There, something seemed to be hot and surging, wanting to tear through the skin and emerge.
Most important was...
Wham!
In Catherine's numb-scalped gaze, Lausanne the Second rose in an instant, landed on all fours, his eyes scarlet.
Blood!
He screamed. Hands and feet, or more accurately hands and claws, moved together as he sprang up and pounced at Catherine at an unimaginable speed.
"Now!"
Catherine roared, turned, and fled, leaping onto another rooftop.
Boom!
With a muffled sound, Lausanne the Second landed where she had been standing. His claws carried a fierce wind and swept past her heel by a hair.
Bite her.
Bite her blood vessels.
Let her scalding blood spray out.
The neck would do. The wrist would also do.
Just like those beasts of the Loriroa family had done.
Bite her.
But the next second, the four corners of the rooftop beneath Lausanne the Second suddenly lurched.
Boom!
A huge net hood rushed toward him, firmly trapping Lausanne the Second.
"Aaaaaah!"
Amid terrifying roars unlike any human's, Lausanne the Second was dragged off the roof by the net hood's enormous force and momentum, crashing hard into a narrow alley more than ten meters away.
Pain.
Thirst.
Tear her apart.
Cut her.
Eat her!
"Villainous cur! Surrender now!"
In the alley, a young man in fitted clothes with a greatsword on his back wore a proud look. He shouted loudly, trying to make his voice travel farther so more people could hear him.
"I am Komuto, known in my hometown as the Hundred-Step Ranger!"
He shouted with his mouth, but his movements were not slow at all. Komuto flipped his hand, and several throwing knives shot out like lightning.
"Pacify my homeland and rid the people of evil!"
Lausanne the Second, lying inside the net hood, instinctively blocked.
Hiss!
The throwing knives sank into flesh.
Wisps of silver smoke steamed up from Lausanne the Second's body, making the monstrous him howl in agony.
"Aaaaaah!"
No, no, no!
In that instant, under this terrible pain as if he were facing a natural enemy, a little of his reason returned.
What is happening?
Oh, right. I again...
Fell asleep.
Only this time...
Lausanne the Second trembled and reached out. Enduring the severe pain, he pulled out a throwing knife that, the moment it touched his flesh, raised silver smoke and made him almost unable to move.
This time, his wound did not heal as usual.
This is...
Silver-plated throwing knives?
Silver?
Looking at the smoking wound that bled without stopping, Lausanne the Second's pupils trembled slightly.
"By the way, the net hood was my idea!"
On the other side, before Lausanne the Second, restrained by the silver knives, could react, Komuto drew the greatsword from his back and stepped forward to attack.
"Treacherous villain, die!"
Hiss!
The greatsword was blocked barehanded by Lausanne the Second and deflected from his heart, stabbing deep into his abdomen.
But perhaps because the cost was too high, this sword was not plated with silver.
Lausanne the Second, drenched in black blood, roared angrily and pulled out another silver-plated throwing knife.
The little reason he had somehow held a balance between his thirst for fresh blood and his fear of agonizing pain, without scattering.
Damn it.
Damn it!
Move for me!
You damned vampire body!
On the other side, Komuto roared and pulled out the sword. From above, he chopped down toward the target's head.
"I am the Hundred-Step Rang..."
Thud!
The next second, a muffled sound came from behind Komuto. The famous Hundred-Step Ranger's vision went black, his greatsword fell from his hand, and he collapsed weakly to the ground.
Under Lausanne the Second's surprised gaze, the one who knocked Komuto down was a handsome male swordsman in luxurious clothing, holding two slender swords, one in each hand.
His hat seemed to have several feathers stuck in it.
"I am Levin Jabari, a free sword dancer and one of the top eight in the selection meeting."
Jabari revealed a smile enough to charm countless aunties, stepped forward with a catlike gait and a twisting waist, and sighed at Komuto lying unconscious on the ground.
"As an honorable swordsman, I truly did not wish to perform such a despicable act, but Boss Fisso, he..."
The handsome swordsman shook his head inwardly.
He paid far too much!
Before his words fell, Jabari's two thin swords drew beautiful and dazzling arcs. Following unpredictable trajectories, they stabbed deep into Lausanne the Second's shell.
Hiss!
Lausanne the Second, lying on the ground before he had removed the last silver knife, grunted from the wound.
Through the net hood, he could only barely grip the blades and keep them away from his heart and important blood vessels.
"Die, die, hurry up and die. Why are you not dead yet..."
Jabari seemed rather nervous. Especially because he had never encountered an opponent like this. Heavily wounded and fighting barehanded, yet still able to push his blades aside inch by inch and slowly rise. The more this went on, the more panicked he became.
"It's useless. The more you struggle, the more painful it will be! Tonight Boss Fisso hired many people... Hurry up and die so I can collect the reward!"
Lausanne the Second rose with all his strength. Hearing this, his eyes focused.
Fisso.
The lackey of the Black Street Brotherhood's great drug lord, the "Head Wolf" Razzanchi Fisso.
I knew it. That cowardly villainous drug dealer is never stingy with money when it comes to protecting himself.
Which means, Fisso.
You were involved back then too, were you not?
Sunlight?
Yet Lausanne the Second quickly realized that the two thin swords piercing his body were both finely made. Hidden blood grooves carried deadly poison, making his black blood drain at a considerable speed.
No.
Even vampires needed blood to drive their bodies. If this continued...
Thinking of this, Lausanne the Second bit his tongue hard and spat a mouthful of blood at Jabari's face.
"Ah! You..."
Jabari was caught off guard and instinctively closed his eyes.
The next second, Lausanne abruptly released both hands, endured the severe pain, and let the two thin swords stab forward through his chest.
Damn it!
With his eyes shut, Jabari's body pitched forward, and he instinctively let go to keep his balance.
Why does this man not follow the usual pattern?
What swordsman fights like this?
By the time the shocked Jabari came back to himself and opened his blood-covered eyes, a leg wrapped inside the net hood appeared in his vision.
Boom!
Jabari screamed and rolled into the distant grass.
Damn it.
When Fisso hired people, he probably did not tell these reward-hunting dogs the truth. He only wanted them to act as cannon fodder and wear Lausanne down.
For example, "Go kill a supreme-class vampire."
Haha. True. Who else would dare take such a job?
What a pity, little Head Wolf. Did Black Sword and his brothers never teach you?
If you do not tell the truth, there is a price to pay.
Lausanne the Second clutched the huge wound in his abdomen, gritted his teeth, pulled out the silver-plated throwing knife that restricted his movement and prevented his self-healing, then drew out the two thin swords piercing his body. Trembling, he cut open the net hood, held the wall, and fled into another alley.
At some point, within this cluster of homes, firelight flickered everywhere, and shouts of killing sounded all around.
"Where did he fall?"
"This way. I heard that idiot Hundred-Step shout!"
"He can't escape. The surroundings are all sealed. He must be in these streets and alleys!"
"Don't fight me for him!"
"Be careful. Even if we found his weakness, he is still a hard target!"
"Nonsense!"
"Find him!"
Lausanne the Second avoided the firelight and staggered forward. After passing two alleys, he finally fell again beneath his heavy wounds.
Damn it.
That pretty idiot just said Fisso had hired quite a few people...
To kill me?
Heh.
Lausanne the Second gasped and curled his mouth.
Then let them try...
Blood.
Lausanne the Second froze.
No, no, no. Not now...
The severe pain brought by the silver knives had vanished, and so his thirst for fresh blood once more gained the upper hand.
The commander who had defeated the foreign enemy was once again threatened by his own rebellious soldiers.
Hurry. Blood...
No.
Lausanne the Second clutched his head in pain, working hard not to obey the voice inside his body.
Nor the fragrance of blood drifting everywhere through the alley. No, the bloody smell. Bloodiness.
Blood is not fragrant at all!
Lausanne the Second shed tears of despair.
Blood... only then can you... live...
No, no, no...
I cannot lose my reason again...
Live... only then can you... win...
Blood...
At that instant, Lausanne the Second opened his eyes.
Win.
Yes. Win.
In order to survive...
In order to win...
He struggled to sit up and touched his wounds.
Silver knives stabbed his body, a greatsword opened his abdomen, thin swords bled him...
The current him had been wounded too heavily. He had to replenish.
He had to...
Blood...
Lausanne the Second froze. Lost and blank, he looked at a broken blood bottle on the ground.
And at the puddle of fresh blood around it.
The scene before him slowly blurred.
Yes.
Sweet.
A familiar taste flowed into his mouth.
Delicious.
It was absorbed by his shell.
Forget sorrow!
It flowed through his whole body, used, absorbed, activated, restored...
Forget every pain of the past!
Forget!
Just then, Lausanne the Second woke.
His gaze focused, and only then did he realize that he was lying on the ground, licking fresh blood from the floor like a dog.
But that was not why his reason returned.
"Ughhhhhhh!"
An unprecedented, heart-drilling, bone-scraping agony struck. Lausanne the Second trembled all over and rolled back and forth on the ground.
"Did you really think we would prepare supplements for you as bait?"
Lausanne the Second twisted his head in pain.
At the mouth of the alley, a neatly dressed female mercenary covered in equipment approached him cautiously, sword in her right hand.
"Every bottle of blood here used to disturb you was poisoned."
Poison?
Lausanne the Second used all his strength and got to one knee.
No.
"A secret poison specifically made to counter vampires."
The female mercenary sneered.
"Enjoy your meal."
Before Lausanne the Second could react, the sword in the female mercenary's right hand flashed.
Clang!
This time, Lausanne the Second was prepared. He could no longer care about his disgust toward his own body. He swung the hard, sharp claws of his right hand and blocked the sword.
Clang, clang, clang!
The sounds of impact continued. Under the secret poison's effects, his movements warped. He barely blocked three attacks and suffered several more sword wounds before using a clever disarming technique to seize his opponent's sword.
But the moment the blade entered his hand, Lausanne the Second sensed something wrong.
Sizzle...
Pain struck. Lausanne the Second's claws, strong enough to withstand steel, began to go numb.
Silver smoke rose from his talons, and every wound opened by the blade began to fester and rot.
Lausanne the Second's pupils shook. He hurriedly threw away the longsword and staggered back with a muffled grunt.
This is...
He looked at the longsword on the ground and the blistering allergic reaction on his hand, unable to believe it.
This is a weapon carefully blessed by temple priests...
Specifically countering the long-lived species?
"Although the bounty is generous, I came only for you, filthy, evil, disgusting vampire."
The female mercenary spoke coldly and drew an arc-shaped scythe blade from behind her.
"Robel Hobrup."
She viciously flicked the ponytail behind her.
"A hired mercenary from the famous Half-Tower Town, proudly inheriting my mother's trade."
"And the new generation's..."
The female mercenary's figure flashed, and the scythe blade attacked.
"Long-Life Hunter!"
Lausanne the Second had no time to deal with the poison and allergic reaction on his body. He raised his hand to intercept.
But unexpectedly, Robel moved her left hand and scattered a handful of flying ash.
"Kaila's glory!"
It hit him in the face.
Lausanne the Second reacted, wiped the dust from his goggles, and felt fury in his heart. Children's tricks...
But he was wrong.
The instant the flying ash touched his skin, familiar severe pain came again.
"Aaaaaah!"
Lausanne the Second trembled and retreated.
Arms, chest, face...
Every place was burning.
Every part of his body could not move.
Damn it.
This is...
Lausanne the Second looked at the flying ash in disbelief. Under the moonlight, it reflected strangely.
This was not ash.
It was silver powder!
"Hatman's tenacity!"
But the battle allowed no further thought. With Robel's angry roar, a grappling claw flew over and hooked his left arm firmly, preventing him from retreating.
Aaaaah!
Silver again!
Lausanne the Second was shocked and angry, belatedly reacting:
This is a professional...
Vampire hunter!
"Davro's courage!"
The hook rope tightened. Robel's figure approached, and the crescent scythe blade flashed under the moonlight, shining with clear silver light.
Lausanne the Second had nowhere to dodge. His gaze paused.
Damn it.
That blade...
That was not silver-plated.
It was a rare alloy truly mixed with a large amount of silver during forging, with Splendor Crystal as the medium.
Once it broke into the head, heart, or even just a major blood vessel...
Even the Blood Ancestor could not save him.
Lausanne the Second immediately realized he stood between life and death.
Could vampires go to the Prison River?
The distracting thought flashed only for an instant. His battle-hardened experience made him step and turn sharply, advancing instead of retreating. His shoulder slammed into the hand with which the opponent held the blade.
Boom!
Robel cried out in pain, and the blade barely swept past Lausanne the Second's chest.
But she did not hesitate. With her free hand, she pulled a pendant from her chest.
"Gulando's decisiveness!"
The pendant before her chest suddenly lit with dazzling crimson light.
The light was incomparably piercing, incomparably dazzling, burning and bright. It illuminated Lausanne the Second until his whole body ached.
Like the sun.
The invincible sun.
Making his whole body go weak.
Waiting to be slaughtered.
At last...
"Ada's killing luck!"
Lausanne the Second closed his eyes.
So that was it.
Bait blood, silver powder, grappling rope, alloyed silver blade, sun pendant...
Lure, delay, suppress, annihilate...
This was a whole smooth and efficient set of...
Long-lived species extermination arts.
Clang!
A muffled clash of metal sounded above his head.
Lausanne the Second, on his last breath, opened his eyes slightly.
He was astonished to see a steel axe blocking above his head, barely stopping the descending crescent blade.
What?
"Old Bu? Danfo Bu?"
Robel was equally shocked. She turned to look at the person stopping her, the burly giant behind her with wild sideburns and a rough, strong face.
"Why?"
The giant lifted his iron club, revealed a simple and rough smile, and jerked his head downward.
Thud!
"Nonsense."
The next second, Robel trembled all over, knocked down heavily by the giant's headbutt. The alloyed scythe blade also fell to the ground.
"He's mine!"
The giant revealed a cunning smile. He stepped over Robel, lifted the steel axe, and walked toward Lausanne the Second, who lay on the ground on the brink of death.
My bounty!
Lausanne the Second watched the approaching giant and wanted to struggle, but his whole body was powerless.
"Wait!"
Robel coughed dryly a few times.
"I'll split the bounty with you! You can even take the larger share. Just use my blade to cut off his..."
But the giant turned and kicked her.
Robel cried out and rolled from the kick.
"Damn it. Still want half?"
The giant cursed, walked up, and kicked her again.
"Go to hell!"
Lausanne the Second lay on the ground, powerless, watching Robel clutch her abdomen and cry out in pain.
"No. No."
Though Robel was in terrible pain, she still made one final effort.
"Listen to me. This vampire is different. He is very dangerous. You must use..."
But her words ended there.
The next moment, the giant swung his arm.
Hiss!
The alley fell silent.
Robel's eyes widened. In disbelief, she watched the huge axe blade chop into her chest.
Fresh blood splashed everywhere.
Amid the bloody smell, Lausanne the Second froze.
Blood.
He, who had long since lost all ability to resist, lay on the ground and opened blank, lifeless eyes, powerless and helpless as he watched Robel's chest be split open by the giant's axe.
Expressionless.
The giant spat and pulled out the bloody axe blade without hesitation.
Robel twitched once.
Her fresh blood dyed the ground red.
"Old Bu, wh-why..."
At the edge of death, Robel spat blood and spoke in pain.
"Mercenary? Didn't your mother teach you?"
The giant snorted coldly and wiped the blood that had splashed onto him with disgust.
"In our line of work, the most dangerous thing is not the target."
The giant, who looked rough and honest, showed a sly smile.
"It is your peers."
Robel wanted to say something more, but she no longer had the strength.
The giant turned and looked at Lausanne the Second, disgust in his eyes.
"Damn it. Because of you, you shit-stick killer, the selection meeting only reached the top eight. The top eight!"
The giant stepped forward and kicked downward.
Thud!
Lausanne the Second trembled from the kick and rolled miserably across the ground.
But he bit back the cry of pain between his teeth.
He only stared hard at Robel across the alley, her eyes lifeless.
At that moment, even his body seemed to quiet down.
It no longer forced him to drink blood.
The giant sniffed.
Fuck. For the entire selection meeting, I ran around, pretended to be mysterious, fought life and death, won when I was supposed to win, dragged when I was supposed to drag, and had already been prepared to lose when I was supposed to lose. I even had to learn from Northlanders and shout like an idiot.
In the end, just because the selection meeting was not finished and the champion was never decided, that black-hearted banker only gave me ten gold coins for my trouble?
Ten gold coins!
Sending off a beggar?
Do they really think I am one of those stupid northern louts?
The giant snorted coldly, came before Lausanne the Second, and lifted the steel axe.
But fortunately, this was Jade City.
The thing it lacked least was money.
"Your head is worth a lot," the giant laughed slyly, "vampire."
The "Head Wolf" had set the price for this man at five hundred gold coins.
So high it was honestly a little ridiculous.
There had to be some trick.
After all, the champion of the selection meeting was only eight hundred.
But...
The giant tightened both arms, aimed at Lausanne the Second's head, and raised the steel axe.
"Remember, the man who killed you is called Danfo. Danfo Diawara."
Lausanne the Second sighed softly, stretched out his neck, and closed his eyes to await death.
"I am a bounty hunter. A real one."
Danfo estimated his strength, and a thought turned in his mind.
If his head is worth so much...
Wait. Aren't vampires supposed to recover quickly?
If I cut off one head, can another grow out?
How long would it take?
Would it be exactly the same as the original?
Thinking this, Danfo exerted his enormous strength and swung the axe.
Just then, Lausanne the Second lowered his head slightly.
Thunk!
The axe blade embedded deeply into his skull.
Lausanne the Second cried out in pain.
The axe blade lay across the side of his head, looking terrifying.
Danfo froze.
Missed?
He pulled his arm back, but could not pull the axe blade out.
Damn it. It is stuck.
The giant unhappily lifted the axe, carrying Lausanne the Second's boneless body with it, and shook hard, trying to shake him off.
I need to hurry. If the others discover this...
The instant the axe blade left bone, Lausanne the Second suddenly opened his eyes.
His left hand, hidden behind his back, instantly passed forward. A sharp grappling claw, the one Robel had used to restrain him, stabbed viciously into Danfo's wrist.
"Fuck..."
Danfo retreated with a cry of pain.
But then he discovered in terror that Lausanne the Second was using the grappling claw to hold onto his body. With scarlet eyes and the terrifying wound on the back of his head, Lausanne climbed onto his neck.
Didn't his mother teach him?
Lausanne the Second stared hard at the giant who was getting closer and closer, watching the arrogance in the other's eyes turn to shock, then to fear.
Didn't his mother teach him that a human skull is extremely strong?
One axe cannot cut it open.
Lausanne the Second smiled.
True. My mother never taught me either.
After all, Black Sword had taught him this:
If you want to cut off a head, you have to aim properly.
"No, no, no..."
Danfo panicked beyond measure, punching and kicking, trying to drag him off, but Lausanne the Second ignored it all.
The bloodkin killer used a clever posture to lock Danfo's shoulder firmly and stared at his neck.
There, a powerful pulse throbbed.
Blood.
His food.
The source of his life.
Vampire hunters could poison bait blood in bottles.
But they could not poison real human blood, the kind still flowing in blood vessels.
"Your mother, did she not teach you?"
Amid Danfo's increasingly terrified pleas for mercy, Lausanne the Second pressed against his neck. Looking at Robel on the ground as she gradually stopped twitching, his expression was clear.
Beneath the moonlight, the scar-covered vampire spoke gently, word by word:
"Do. Not. Hit. Women."
Danfo's breathing froze at that instant.
The next second, Lausanne the Second threw away his last bit of reason, opened his sharp and cold fangs, and pounced without hindrance and without regret upon...
His source of life.
Fresh blood entered his mouth.
Good. A strong super-class expert.
The killer thought silently.
Sweet.
Delicious.
Refreshing.
Scalding.
Full of vitality.
More.
In a trance, the restlessness inside his body finally stopped.
More.
The soldiers had received their reward and no longer tried to turn against the commander.
More, more, more...
Half dreaming and half awake, Lausanne the Second could feel the wounds inside his body gradually repairing and his strength rapidly returning.
Soon, he grew powerful again.
As if reborn.