Hannah pushed her speed to the limit.
The wind howled past her ears, the scenery retreating in a wild blur.
She did not dare to look back.
She did not dare to think about Hugh's current situation.
There was only a single thought in her mind.
Head north, to the Voiceless Abyss.
Find Lord Gusion, or... die there.
The tall city walls of Mirror-Shadow City were already right before her eyes.
As long as she cleared this wall, she could reach the wilderness.
She could temporarily shake off the pursuers inside the city.
She snapped her wings open, ascending with all her strength.
The city wall approached rapidly beneath her feet.
However.
Just at the moment she was about to clear the top of the wall.
A figure, completely silent...
Appeared atop the parapet.
It was Bill the Vampire.
Dressed in an elegant black suit, a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
In his hand, he held a glass of crimson liquid, swirling it gently.
“Good evening, Miss Hannah.”
He bowed slightly, his tone light and breezy.
“Leaving in such a hurry...”
“Where are you heading?”
Hannah's pupils shrank abruptly.
Her body came to a dead halt in midair.
Her red eyes glared fixedly at him.
Bill the Vampire smiled and took a sip of the liquid in his glass.
“Don't be nervous.”
“I just... want to invite you to stay.”
“Have a cup of tea and chat.”
He paused, a meaningful look in his eyes.
“After all, the love story between you and Mr. Roger...”
“...has moved me quite deeply.”
Hannah's pupils instantly shrank to needlepoints.
In her red eyes, icy killing intent almost solidified into reality.
No nonsense, no probing.
Her body suddenly blurred, turning into a purple afterimage.
Lunging straight at Bill atop the wall!
Her sharp claws tore through the air, whipping up an ear-splitting screech.
Solidified demon energy coiled around her claw tips, a purple so dark it bordered on black.
Bill chuckled softly, elegantly taking half a step back.
He casually splashed the wine glass in his hand.
The crimson liquid inside spread out in midair.
Turning into a squirming blood shield.
Chhh—!
Her sharp claws struck heavily against the blood shield.
The blood shield fluctuated violently, yet remained untorn.
Instead, several tentacles sprouted from it, wrapping toward Hannah's wrists.
Hannah snorted coldly, the purple light on her claws surging wildly.
With a fierce twist!
The blood shield together with the tentacles exploded outright.
Turning into a rain of blood that showered the sky.
Without slowing down, she closed the distance once more.
Her claws danced into a storm of sharp blades.
Every strike aimed relentlessly for Bill's throat, heart, and head.
Swift, precise, ruthless.
Without a single wasted movement.
The smile on Bill's face faded slightly.
His figure flickered and dodged among the claw shadows.
Waving his hands repeatedly, arrows, whips, and blades formed from fresh blood...
Attacked Hannah from every angle.
Yet she either shattered them with her claws or dodged them.
She even used the force of her claw strikes to accelerate her rush forward.
Ten exchanges.
Twenty exchanges.
Hannah's offensive grew increasingly swift.
Purple claw shadows almost completely engulfed Bill.
Several torn marks appeared on the suit Bill wore.
Faint bloodstains surfaced on his pale skin.
His slender body was pierced time after time, blood staining him all over, his limbs torn apart.
Yet he was smiling.
Laughing louder and louder.
“As expected of a famous genius of the Demon Race!”
Dodging a claw aimed at his heart, he struck back with a blood whip.
Which was severed in one strike by Hannah's claw.
“These claw techniques, this purity of demon energy...”
“These ruthless strike points.”
“As expected of the next Eleventh Pillar Demon King appointed by Gusion!”
“No wonder a human apex genius like Roger...”
“...was willing to defect from the Royal Capital for you and stay together for over a decade.”
Hannah's eyes turned even colder, her claw stance suddenly changing.
From ferocious to treacherous.
Three streaks of purple light slipped in from a tricky angle like flicking viper tongues.
Aiming directly for Bill's eyes and forehead.
Bill's pupils shrank slightly.
The blood shield he hastily condensed was a moment too slow.
Pfft!
The purple light pierced into his skull.
Hannah squeezed her sharp claws, crushing Bill's head to pieces.
Bill's headless body froze and slowly fell backward.
Hannah gasped for breath, just about to disengage.
But the falling “corpse” suddenly turned into a pool of fresh blood.
Seeping into the crevices between the wall bricks.
A few meters away, another pool of fresh blood slowly swelled up.
Re-condensing into Bill's form.
His suit was intact, without even a single scar.
“My, my, that really hurt.”
Bill rubbed his completely unharmed head, his smile unchanged.
“Miss Hannah, how did you and Mr. Roger meet?”
“I heard that back then, he bought you at an auction in the slave pens?”
“To buy you, he even bowed his head to the prince he loathed the most.”
Hannah gritted her teeth, shouting fiercely at Bill,
“Just what on earth will it take to kill you?!”
Hearing this, Bill laughed out loud, covering his face with both hands as he replied,
“I want to know the answer to that question too.”
“Neither Gusion nor the Blood Ancestor of the Vampires can kill me.”
“Legendary experts and Epic Title Ranks cannot kill me.”
“Sometimes, I really want to say to them: put some effort into it, don't be so boring.”
Bill smiled, then looked down at Hannah and said,
“After all, I grew tired of immortality long ago. I can't even feel the thrill of fighting you or them anymore.”
“So, can you put a bit more punch into it?”
Bill's contempt detonated Hannah's fury once again.
She lunged forward once more.
This time, the claw shadows were even more violent.
Every strike carried a determination to kill.
Bill still dodged leisurely, responding with blood spells.
But his words were like poisonous needles, constantly stabbing at Hannah.
“For a half-demon slave, relinquishing knightly honor, abandoning all wealth and power...”
“Making an enemy of the entire kingdom.”
“How romantic.”
Hannah ripped open his chest with one claw strike.
Bill dispersed with a loud laugh, reassembling in another spot.
“I heard you lived very well in Avalon?”
“Mr. Roger must love you very much, right?”
Hannah gritted her teeth, her assault unrelenting.
But deep inside, her sense of unease grew heavier and heavier.
The enemy... wasn't fighting at all.
He was playing around.
Wearing her down.
Every time he regenerated after “death”...
...Bill's aura did not weaken in the slightest.
As if that body were merely an illusion condensed from fresh blood.
Meanwhile, her own demon energy was being steadily depleted.
The purple glow on her claws was no longer as solid as it was at first.
“What a pity.”
Bill sighed softly before being torn to pieces once again.
“Such a love is fated to be short-lived.”
Hannah's movements paused.
Bill's figure condensed behind her.
His voice neared her ear, soft like a lover's whisper.
“After all, Mr. Roger...”
“...might already be dead.”
Hannah's breath suddenly came to a halt.
At the moment her composure shattered.
Countless blood threads welled up from the crevices between the wall bricks at her feet.
Coiling around her ankles and calves like living things.
Hannah barked fiercely, slicing downward with her sharp claws.
The blood threads were severed, yet even more surged out.
Bill's laughter echoed all around.
“Angry? Worried?”
“Unfortunately, I'm telling the truth.”
“No one can walk out of there alive, especially when ‘she’ is inside.”
Hannah frantically tore at the blood threads.
Her bat wings flapped, trying to force herself into the air.
But the blood threads grew more numerous and tight.
They even began burrowing along her skin into her body.
Bringing waves of icy numbness.
“You lot on the Demon God's side are always so easily swayed by emotions.”
Bill's figure slowly condensed not far away.
He leisurely adjusted his cuffs.
“Gusion is like this, and so are you.”
“Despite possessing formidable power...”
“...you trap yourselves in a corner for the sake of a human, for meaningless kindness.”
Hannah's struggles grew weaker and weaker.
The blood threads had already bound her waist and arms.
Her demon energy was suppressed completely, making it impossible to channel.
Her red eyes glared fiercely at Bill.
Filled with hatred etched to the bone.
Bill walked over to her, reaching out to gently caress her cheek.
His movement was gentle, yet his eyes were cold as ice.
“Don't worry, I won't kill you.”
“You're still useful.”
He leaned closer, lowering his voice.
“After all, as one of the most suitable successors...”
“...to the Eleventh Pillar Demon King.”
“I will extract the Demon King's blood from your body and eventually transplant it into myself.”
“Once Gusion is completely dead inside, I... will be the Eleventh Demon King.”
Hannah's pupils shook in shock.
Bill stood tall again and elegantly clapped his hands.
“Take her away.”
From the surrounding shadows stepped several corpse knights.
They silently lifted Hannah up.
And walked down from the city wall.
Bill gazed toward the north, in the direction of the Voiceless Abyss.
The corners of his mouth curled into an arrogant grin.
“Avalon... is nothing special after all.”
Rate on N.U.
