Transformation

“Balu! She's the killer who murdered your priest!”

Rosie's voice echoed through the prayer room.

The beastkin's eyes widened abruptly, locking his glare onto the bewitching woman.

“Really?!”

“Of course it's real!”

“Aaargh! Me gonna smash your head!”

Balu raised his rusty hammer and charged forward with a roar.

Nikus moved at the exact same moment. His broadsword swept out in a horizontal silver arc over the carpet as he followed close behind the beastkin's flank.

Vera remained in place. Pressing a hand against a bolt loaded into her repeating crossbow, her lips moved quickly as she chanted a brief, obscure spell.

A faint red glow rose from the shaft of the bolt, swirling around the edge of its tip.

Standing in the center of the carpet, the female vampire swept her gaze over the two charging figures and raised both hands.

A bolt shot out from the repeating crossbow.

Enveloped in faint crimson light, the tip trailed a streak of brilliance as it surpassed the charging Balu and Nikus, flying straight for the female vampire's face.

The vampire flicked her finger.

A dark crimson blood thorn shot from her fingertip, colliding violently with the bolt in midair.

Fireball exploded at the moment of impact, the blast's shockwave blowing the tassels at the carpet's edge backward.

The vampire raised a hand in front of her eyes at the moment of the explosion, her body leaning slightly back.

In the very next instant, the whistle of the hammer cut through the air directly above her, its heavy head casting a rapidly expanding shadow in the candlelight.

The silver arc of Nikus's broadsword swept in from the side, targeting the junction between her neck and shoulder blade.

Another silver crossbow bolt followed immediately behind, aimed straight for her heart.

The purple figure flickered and vanished into thin air.

The hammer slammed hard into the carpet with a dull thud, shattering the stone paving beneath it.

The silver crossbow bolt missed its mark, embedding itself into the wall behind.

Nikus checked his momentum at the last second, his blade brushing past the beastkin's shoulder with a faint gust of air.

Right at that moment, Rosie moved.

The moment the vampire materialized on the other side of the prayer room, Rosie launched herself forward like an arrow released from a drawn bowstring.

She adjusted her meteoric iron sword in midair to an optimal thrusting angle, driving it forward with the sheer momentum of her charge.

An instant before the tip of the sword reached her, the vampire raised her hand, shooting a small blood thorn from her fingertip.

A sharp metallic clatter rang out as the blood thorn shattered instantly, though it deflected the blade slightly.

Rosie exerted more force with both hands, driving the blade forward regardless.

A pale, slender finger separated from the palm, flipping several times through the air before dropping onto the carpet.

The vampire didn't cry out in pain—she didn't even knit her brows. Instead, she raised her other hand and released a thread of blood that unfurled like a spiderweb, threatening to envelop Rosie's body.

Rosie had long been on guard against this move. She gripped the hilt tightly with both hands and spun her sword violently.

The meteoric iron sword carved several arcs through the air, entangling the web of blood threads much like a child tearing up a cobweb, before she yanked the weapon back with force.

The blood web wrapped around the blade was sliced apart in an instant.

Seeing her attack fail, the vampire immediately pulled her five fingers together, thrusting her hand toward Rosie like a short spear.

A silver crossbow bolt flew in from the side, striking the vampire squarely between her eyebrows.

The arrowhead pierced skin with a muted thud.

The impact forced her head back, causing the hand thrusting at Rosie to veer off its original path.

Seizing this split-second opening, Rosie poured power into both hands, driving the tip of the meteoric iron sword through the air once more toward the vampire's heart.

The blade pierced the purple gown, its tip making contact with skin.

However, the vampire reached back and grabbed the meteoric iron blade. Though the sharp metal cut into her palm, her grip strength was astonishingly high; the blade was locked firmly in her hand, unable to advance even a fraction of an inch.

Her other hand had already risen again, four fingers straightened like blades, thrusting straight toward Rosie's chest.

A solid impact echoed through the room as a foot kicked brutally into the vampire's groin.

A Groin Kick!

It was one of Rosie's most devastating techniques—one capable of instantly turning a burly man into a delicate lady.

She even felt as though she had kicked a hill into collapse.

Balu and Nikus froze in their tracks. The beastkin's jaw hit the floor, and while Nikus's expression was hidden behind his visor, his shoulders were visibly trembling.

Vera even forgot to reload her crossbow.

No one expected this usually bold and valiant girl to use such a dirty, underhanded tactic.

The composed look on the vampire's face collapsed instantly, replaced by an expression hovering somewhere between bewilderment, agony, and rage.

Her fingers gripping the sword blade involuntarily loosened slightly.

Rosie seized the opportunity to yank her blade out of the woman's palm before leaping backward in retreat.

The vampire didn't pursue her. She drew herself up, her features twisting into a hideous snarl.

“You... damn... human! How dare you...”

Before she could finish her sentence, her body began to swell. Her back burst open, and a pair of broad, leathery wings ripped through her torn clothing and unfurled.

At the same time, her face altered dramatically—her lower jaw jutted forward, her nasal bridge collapsed, and her lips pulled back to their limits, revealing upper and lower rows of interlocking, razor-sharp fangs.

She had finally reverted from her enchanting, seductive facade back to the form they had first seen—a creature so revolting that instinct urged one to avert their eyes.

The finger severed by Rosie regrew, and the crossbow bolt embedded between her eyebrows was forced out, clattering onto the ground with a sharp ring.

The vampire's overall aura surged dramatically.

She raised her head, locking her crimson slit pupils onto Rosie as her voice turned harsh and raspy.

“You! And all of you... every single one shall—Argh! It burns! It burns!—”

Before the vampire could finish her threat, a beam of Holy Light rained down from above, enveloping her body.

The moment the creature began reverting to her true form, Rosie had already begun chanting the incantation to summon Holy Light.

The Holy Light cut the vampire elder's follow-up short, leaving her shrieking in agony as green smoke billowed off her entire body right after delivering her grand speech.

Hurried footsteps echoed from the doorway of the prayer room, accompanied by a few panicked shrieks.

The temple handmaidens rushing inside first saw the blood-soaked carpet and the mangled remains scattered across the floor, followed by the creature standing amid the pillar of light.

The ordinary handmaidens let out terrified screams, spinning around to flee.

A few armed handmaidens in leather armor drew their twin blades, but caught off-guard and uncertain of the situation, they refrained from charging in recklessly.

“This is a high-ranking vampire, and your High Priestess is already dead! Close the doors and leave this to us!” Vera intercepted them, speaking in a dead serious tone.

The armed handmaidens exchanged glances and immediately obeyed.

As the heavy doors slammed shut, Vera pulled a vial of black potion from an inner pocket.

She bit open the wooden cork and unhesitatingly downed the liquid in one gulp.

In the next instant, her body underwent a violent transformation.

The skin on both sides of her forehead bulged as a pair of short, curved horns erupted from above her frontal bone, their dark brown, ram-like texture catching the dim flicker of the candlelight.

Her eyes ignited, a blazing orange-red glow shining from deep within her pupils.

Her skin turned a rough ash-brown, fine scales surfacing across her flesh.

Opening her mouth, she spat a small ball of fire that danced briefly in midair before dissipating.

Vera tossed aside her repeating crossbow, drew the rapier from her waist, and gave it a casual flick—instantly igniting the blade into flames.

“Now then, let us burn!”