Isaac sat on the floor next to the broken table and the high vampire’s dead body. Smoke lingered in the room, but nothing had caught fire.

His torn clothes showed apparent traces of the ferocious battle he had undergone.

Inside a layer of red mist, Isaac meditated.

After a few minutes, he finished absorbing the hundreds of souls the vampire had taken.

After using most of it to defeat the vampire, his amount of red mana points had fallen close to one-third of its original amount. However, after absorbing new souls, he now had much more, that is,

[You have:

539.3 red mana points;

70.8/90.4 electric mana points]

The young mage looked at Carlyle. “Can you sense where Ejiro is? I need to tell him about Aaron.”

“Yes. Since he is in this city, I can even show him to you.”

A tall red oval-shaped ring appeared before them. Through it, Isaac saw Ejiro walking in a large cave. “You can do that?!”

“Since you absorbed those souls, my power has also grown. I’m projecting the view from one of us.”

Ejiro had arrived at the bottom of the other vampire hideout, a large cave with multiple houses. Then, he walked on a gravel path while staying vigilant.

In spite of being a village that could host about a hundred people, it was empty. The overall state of the place resembled that of the hideout Isaac was in.

“Hello! Is anyone here? I’ve come to exterminate an invasive species of mosquitoes~

“Oh?”

To his left, a small man came out of a bungalow. It was the biggest house around there.

“Ha!” Ejiro jumped at him so quickly that Isaac lost sight of him for a moment.

Mister Sani was now at the entrance to the house. He stepped on the man that collided on his back from the shock.

“Wh-Wait!” The resident didn’t fight back. He knew the limits of his human strength.

Ejiro Sani pointed his famous Dragonsword at his opponent’s neck. “Why should I wait? Aren’t vampires all about rushing to things?”

“Please have mercy! I am not a vampire! Th-the queen… She told me to inform you that while you were on your way here, they took your companion hostage!

Ejiro’s pupil widened. “Oh fuck,” he swore, “So they abducted him?”

“Yes, a kid named ‘Aaron Amon...’”

Ejiro thought silently. ‘It seems that they haven’t found Isaac.’

He then applied pressure on the envoy’s neck. “Where do I need to go?”

“They are waiting for you at the white tower!”

“Eh?” He looked at the weak human with shock. ‘So the other hideout wasn't their headquarters. Still, the white tower? That’s where the minister lives.

‘Damn, the vampires had already taken over the city’s administration…’

Isaac was still on the floor. He looked at the dead high vampire next to him. “Maybe I should have interrogated that vampire before killing him.”

Back at the village, Ejiro released the pressure he applied on the man’s neck with his greatsword.

“Uhm, the queen asked me to guide you there!”

*Fwoosh*

“No need.” Ejiro suddenly looked at his prey with a piercing gaze, his bright yellow pupils glowing black and sharp dark wings coming out of his back.

He opened his mouth. Two long canines bit into the victim’s neck.

Flying away back to the entrance of the cave, he licked his lips. “Ha~ There’s nothing like fresh blood and a pure soul to calm your nerves.”

Isaac, who saw everything, froze up. He was astonished.

“Oh…

“Ah…

“Uh…

“Ejiro is…

“A VAMPIRE?”

…

It was midday, thirty minutes later. Gabriella, her two guards, and Aaron climbed up the white tower using a series of stairs and elevators.

They had finally arrived at the roof. It was a white and flat square going 10 metres in each direction. In the corner were four tall white spikes that were a part of the architecture.

Three medium vampires and a high vampire in a black robe bowed before her. “We greet the vampiric queen!”

Gabriella was in her human form. She kicked Aaron toward the high vampire.

“I got the hostage as you asked. What’s next…

“...Minister?”

The high vampire removed his hood, showing his majestic grey hair. It was Christiana’s most loyal subordinate, Alen van Ortoz. It was the minister of the Hellish City, one of the Ortoz Guild’s executives.

He grinned. “All we need to do is wait.”

Aaron observed the people around him. ‘I have to do something, like somehow removing these shackles. They’re draining my mana.

‘Forget it. There’s nothing I can do right now. I just need to hold on and wait for an opportunity to present itself-’

‘Huh? Is that an aircraft?’ Aaron looked out on the horizon.

‘No, a bird?’ The shadow approached closer and closer.

‘Wait, that’s mister Sani!’ Aaron couldn’t believe what he saw. Ejiro Sani was a vampire.

However, he felt more relieved than scared. Ejiro skillfully landed on the roof.

Gabriella turned back into her vampiric form, “So you have arrived, cannibal.”