The blood-stained mask was shed by the de and flew to the ground amid a howling noise. The shing of des brought about brief but intense ngs, the fatal rhythm of life-and-deathbat.


    The dawn’s sunlight was rising, the red dots of light radiating heat to herald the departure of the Night Mother.


    She took back her blessing with some regret, leaving those creatures that could only be active at night in a weakened predicament, while the scorching light turned into mes, beginning to ignite those creations that did not belong to the day nor favored by the light.


    Arthur felt like he was about to catch fire!


    Even though he was wearing armor that could withstand sunlight, the inherent repulsion and resistance to heat and light from the vampire tradition caused his every swing of the sword to lose power during this morning hour.


    In contrast, Maxim across from him, though covered in wounds, had not been defeated by the umted pain. Instead, emboldened by his opponent’s weakness, he began to rally his strength, pushing the battle to a counterattack climax.


    “Puff”


    The rapiers in both their hands, sharing the same stance, almost simultaneously pierced through each other’s armor, which was already riddled with holes. Maxim was forced to take a step back, clutching the fresh blood gushing from his chest.


    His body swayed, but the vampire opposite him fared worse.Not only was the sunlight burning through the cracks in his armor and scorching his skin, but the umtion of spirit poison from being struck too many times by the poisoned de had finally reached a threshold. Weakened by the sunlight, the vampire could no longer resist.


    He staggered backward, continuously spewing ckened fresh blood from his mouth.


    Arthur felt the powers of the night draining away, the shadow of failure growing ever thicker as Maxim raised his sword and advanced, enveloping him!


    Leaving him nowhere to go, sparking panic in his eyes.


    No!


    It shouldn’t be like this!


    Lord Jed had granted him true power!


    This monster before him was just an ordinary human, how could he be stronger?


    It’s not fair!


    “I betrayed everything for this! How dare you?”


    Arthur roared.


    He swung the rapier wildly and weakly, screaming hysterically:


    “I risked life and death for him so many times just to earn his attention and favor. I even sacrificed you, my brother who grew up with me, for this.


    You should be dead! Max!


    You were already dead, right? What appears before me now is just an unwilling ghost!


    That’s why I can’t beat you.


    I can’t possibly beat you, because you were already dead so how can you die again?


    You monster!


    Go to hell!”


    The vampire mustered hisst strength to lunge at Maxim, his body already emitting wisps of smoke in the sunlight. But Maxim nimbly sidestepped with a shadow step, swung the rapier named Ambition and Dreams to disarm his opponent, then followed up with a kick that sent him crashing to the ground.


    “I am! Not a monster!”


    Maxim’s mask had been shed open across his face and nose bridge, fresh blood covering his unnaturally pale skin.


    But his eyes burned with a fire.


    He loomed over and straddled his former brother’s waist, de at the heart, roaring:


    “You! You’re the monster! I used to feel inferior about being different from you, feeling innately lowborn. But now I know!


    Being different from you is my uniqueness. To be like you would make me feel disgusted!


    You!


    Arthur, you’re just like those who mocked me!


    Drawing petty joys from others’ misfortunes to sustain your clinging to life amidst hardship, indulging shamelessly in that contemptible desire.


    You


    You!


    Are the real monsters!”


    “Poosh”


    The de plunged down with the weight of a thousand pounds.


    Piercing through Arthur’s armor amid the mingling green and crimson light, slicing open his heart and embedding in the earth behind his back. The vampire’s struggling convulsed violently at this moment, then lost all strength as his mangled hand fell onto the ground.


    “Huff, huff”


    Severely wounded but having seeded in taking down a vampire, Maxim panted heavily.


    At this moment, he felt all the forces sustaining his battle draining away. But conversely, it seemed a new power was continuously welling up from the hollowness of his body.


    He had crossed that threshold!


    The boundary between the ordinary and the transcendent realm, finally unleashing his hidden potential to sculpt a stair ascending from “mediocrity.”


    Maxim staggered to his feet, extracting his weapon and retreating a few steps while clutching his chest.


    He shakily took out a roll of bandages and medicine from his spirit bag, failing to notice that behind him, the “dead” Arthur had suddenly opened his eyes.


    As the smoke-emitting body struggled to rise, his crimson eyes grew ever more savage and bloodthirsty.


    “You fool!”


    He berated:


    “I am a vampire! I am the undying descendant! I am the creature that drinks fresh blood to live forever! You won, but you will die!”


    Maximpletely ignored him.


    As if he hadn’t heard a thing, he removed his own armor and unrolled the bandages.


    This arrogant attitude enraged the unsightly Arthur under the sunlight, causing him to stagger forward, about to drink blood and revive himself, but in the next instant.


    “Puff”


    The crimson ws easily pierced his heart from behind, leaving him frozen in ce.


    Looking down, he saw five razor-sharp crimson ws adorned with mysterious spirit patterns moving before his chest. As they closed, his own midnight heart that was healing was clutched in their grasp.


    “As one about to die, you are truly unqualified, Arthur. You havepletely disgraced the dignity of the ancient n!”


    Lady Tris’s displeased, low voice came from behind.


    “No, no please…I gave everything…please…”


    Arthur begged.


    But Lady Tris would not spare him for a few pleadings. In her mysterious past life spanning ages, mercy was a luxury she could ill afford to grant so generously to a worthless life seeking to imprison her.


    She had lived far too long.


    Kindness was something that had long drifted away like the wind.


    As the ws ruthlessly retracted, Arthur’s body with its gaping chest wound knelt powerlessly, ultimately staring fixedly at Maxim before crashing to the ground, petrifying into a faded statue in the sunlight.


    Lady Tris examined the heart crystallized into a blood essence in her hand. She stood in the sunlight but with a lingering shadow around her body to prevent further damage from the sun’s rays.


    Though she had lost most of her power, as a Golden Rank veteran, Tris still possessed necessary self-defense measures.


    She was truly weak.


    But not as weak as others imagined.


    She approached the struggling, bandaging Maxim and handed him the blood essence, praising:


    “It has been too long since Transia had a thrilling tale of an ordinary man single-handedly ying a vampire through sheer force. But you’ve bid a rather decent farewell to friendship.


    It seems my little Murphy has found a treasure.


    Take it.


    It is your due reward.”


    “Thank you, mydy.”


    Maxim did not refuse this gift. Tris looked him over and said:


    “Afterpleting the ck Iron Trial, you need to wait a period before feeling the unrestrained liberation of your potential. Don’t be so eager toprehend your new power.


    Especially in your current condition.


    I suggest you find a spirit-active area to meditate in for the time being. This will enhance your spirit perception and maniption, allowing you to better grasp the spirit-using aspects of the Tomb Guard Sword Arts.


    Your innate spirit talent is not outstanding, not even mediocre.


    But no matter.


    Once little Murphypletes your initial Embrace, Midnight’s blessing will make up for your shorings.”


    With that, Lady Tris walked towards her carriage, yawning and waving her hand to Maxim:


    “Gaze upon the sunlight more, for these will be yourst few times appreciating the dawn so freely.


    From now on, you shall step into the night;


    From then on, you shall tread eternity.”


    Tris’s poetic reminder made Maxim raise his head to the newly risen morning sun. He could feel its warmth shining upon him, like a victor’s blessing and celebration.


    But secondster, Maxim closed his eyes.


    He refused the sun’s calling and lingering gaze, taking onest look at the faded statue on the ground.


    Arthur remained frozen in his pose before death, eyes fixed unblinkingly on him.


    “Loyalty is the greatest grace.”


    Maxim coughed, saying softly:


    “It’s a pity your passion was misguided, rest now my brother. I never med you.


    This was not a personal grudge.”


    ——


    The skies over Kadman City were also gradually filled with light.


    The expulsion of astral shadows from the Great Purge allowed the ck smoke shrouding the outer city ruins to dissipate until it was barely visible, the light permeating through not as scorching as outside. A true vampire should not venture out in such conditions.


    But now, the youngdy and Jed were engaged in their final battle under this light-permeated sky.


    Overall, the youngdy was at a disadvantage.


    Well.


    She was getting beaten quite badly.


    Jed himself was already a Silver Rank master, a whole rank above the youngdy who had begun her Silver Trial but not yetpleted it.


    Though he had consumed a Daylight Potion, the dosage was not high. And being the bastard possessing Daylight Potions, he also had the corresponding antidote on hand. The only true problem was his loss of blood essence in the Blood Vulture halls.


    That was the truly dire issue. If one had to say, it probably reduced his character temte from elite to rare, a weakening at the source level.


    But even so, Jed was still far stronger than the youngdy.


    Femis could only persist because she was a spirit user, she faced a battle-crazed swordsman opponent. Through arduous kiting and keen distance control, she barely prevented Jed’s lethal sword thrusts from piercing her heart.


    But that was it.


    Counterattack?


    Sorry, it was impossible before the Tomb Guard, famed in vampire society for dual mastery of physical and spirit arts.


    “You little bitch! Stop for me! This day shall be your deathday!”


    Jed roared with rage.


    A fire zed in his heart.


    He had clearly nned everything, but fate did not favor him. Instead, it pped him hard, telling him your ns are worthless, this world has its own ideas.


    This sense of his schemes copsing from the start enraged Jed even more than the failure itself.


    But it didn’t matter.


    Weak teammates and foolish servants be damned!


    As long as he had the Desire Fragment in hand, he could still im the inheritance by taking out Femis!


    Facing Jed’s insults and provocations, the youngdy paid no heed. She simply continued evasively fleeing towards the depths of this ash-coverednd while deflecting the energy des flung behind her with even greater speed.


    This was not fleeing!


    The brave and ancient bloodline never flees!


    The youngdy told herself as the arrogant enemy pressed his attack. This was all part of the n!


    Indeed!


    All of this was part of Murphy’s n.


    “Hmm?”


    At that moment, on the ashen grounds below, the old knight Finoch, casually riding a red warhorse through the silent ruins, looked up to see the young and old vampires darting across the city skyline like children ying hide-and-seek.


    The old knight pursed his lips, ncing at the two petrified Blood Vulture skulls hanging from his saddle, considering acquiring another worthy trophy from his hunt.


    Though already a Golden Rank veteran, this was Kadman City, their of the Blood Vulture, one of the seven major vampire ns. ying vampires here was naturally morememorative than elsewhere.


    Old Finoch felt himself a two-hundred-plus year old genius at that moment, so he took a ck oak seed from his saddlebag and aimed straight at the sky with one arm.


    “Forces of nature, heed my call! des of gale, answer my summons! Avalon, your great power shall manifest here!”


    He murmured a line.


    In the next instant, the oak seed’s spirit spell was triggered…


    The ck vines rapidly bursting from the seed grew along the old knight’s fist, forming a gnarled green war bow with vines and blooming flowers in the blink of an eye.


    Finoch drew the bowstring, a green spirit arrow of pure nature energy appearing at his fingertips. As a top warrior of the old church, archery was a basic skill.


    “In my god’s name, descend!”


    As the old knight invoked the divine name, a faint mist rapidly enveloped the emerald bolt’s tip, which, after a brief aim, he loosed with his fingers.


    “Shiii”


    The spirit arrow shot skyward at far greater speed than any normal arrow, directly piercing at the youngdy’s face. Femis barely dodged with a ssic “leaf on the wind” evasive flying technique at thest possible moment.


    But the closely pursuing Jed was not so lucky.


    By the time he sensed the threat of the needlepoint arrow, it was already before his eyes, forcing Jed to desperately swing his sword in an attempt to cut it. But at the very moment he swung, the old knight on the ground snapped his fingers with a subtle smile.


    “Shaaaaa”


    The originally solitary green arrow instantly multiplied into seven identical spirit shafts filling Jed’s vision, then elerated in a sudden second gust of wind to pierce straight through his body in an instant.


    Like a bursting blood sack, crimson whirling chaos.


    Too fast for even a Silver Rank vampire to react.


    This was no ordinary spirit spell


    This destructive power!


    This was divine magic!


    “Ahhh!!!”


    Agonized cries rang out over the ruins. Under the youngdy’s stunned gaze, Jed, over half his wings torn away, spiraled down in a spray of blood like a bird with clipped wings, crashing into the somber ruins below.


    “BOOM”


    His body mmed into the ground, kicking up disheveled ash.


    But old Finoch wanted his head, so that arrowcked true divine force, only inflicting grievous but not fatal wounds on the vampire.


    Though unable to fly, Jed could still stand. But then he heard footsteps approaching from behind.


    The battered Jed whipped around to see Murphy, holding the de of the Desire n and draped in a cloak, emerging elegantly from the shadows.


    His handsome face wore that trademark refined, dignified smile.


    Yet to Jed in this moment, that smile looked so evil and insane.


    “You! You actually coborated with Witch Hunters to betray your own kind!”


    Jed clutched the green arrow piercing his chest, wrenching it out as the n patriarch’s guard roared:


    “Murphy! You despicable traitor!”


    “Yes, I coborated with Witch Hunters. I n to bury you fools who barged nonsensically into my game.


    By vampire customs, I am indeed a traitor.


    This is not the first time I’ve done this either.


    I must say, witch hunters really are quite useful as des to eliminate dissidents.”


    Murphy’s fingers gripped the hilt as the Desire de slowly left its sheath with a ringing sound. Giving Jed an even more elegant, dignified smile, he said:


    “What? You’re not satisfied? How about this, I’ll send you to the Night Mother, you can follow proper procedure to file aint against me, sound good?”