<h4>Chapter 301: A Question of Style</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The group was resting in Hessianite Family territory to recover from the damage taken in the energy vortex. They were lucky that the storm took time gathering its momentum instead of carving a path of carnage instantly. That gave them precious time to react and avoid the worst of the damage.


    At the same time, more and more information as well as reports wereing from all corners of the city to the heads of the families. Hessiana and Lucas had many eyes and ears across the city and these two frenemies were finally working together for once. Their spies scoured the sanctuary for any movement of the Shadelings and slowly but surely, a clearer picture was being pieced together. Vampires who were originally posted across the city started gathering in turf upon receiving wind of the matter. They were gearing up for war.


    “The Shadelings are gone. I suppose most of them have retreated back to theirirs. We just managed to capture a few small fries..” Vivian was seated on a luxurious velvet chair as she toyed with a gleaming, silver dagger. She looked one third the part of a vampire noble, and two thirds the part of a female mafioso. “Based on what we’ve managed to glean from those poor sots, Bethanos has been nning something ever since Lady Vivian got here. F*ck… that old fox sure did it. I didn’t realise anything at all. But I can be sure that the energy vortex we ran into in the ruins has something to do with him. It’s too much of a coincidence; the keys being stolen, the dimension gate locking, an energy vortex forming within the ruins, two Blood n leaders and an Elder being trapped and killed in the vortex… Hehehe, he sure went all out.”


    “I want payback… revenge… payback…” Lily was pacing impatiently around the room as she let out an angry growl. Hao Ren was curious. “It’s rare that I see you so serious. Finally going berserk?”


    Lily popped her tail out and sheepishly showed it to Hao Ren. A third of it was still curled up and there was a faint burnt smell. “Look at my beautiful tail! It’s ruined!”


    “…”


    So her tail had been singed by the energy vortex.


    Lily went towards Hessiana and demanded, “When do we fight? What are you all waiting for?!”


    “Bethanos and his men are currently cooped up in their base.” Zeon Lucas stood by the giant window as he calmly poured himself a ss of wine from a nearby decanter. “I know that old coot. Myte brother has also said that when fighting the Shadelings, you need to let them act first. They are masters in booby traps, misdirections and ambushes. All of the weakness that they show you are just setups. These are a bunch of goons with the cunning of men and the power of demons. After wreaking such havoc, they have yet to attack. Instead, they are hiding out in their fortress. An attack just screams suicide.”


    “He’s dead meat regardless.” Hessiana gnashed her teeth. “He even dared toy his hands on Lady Vivian. He really thinks that the Ancient Ones are just a scary bedtime story. I’ve sent word to all of the Ancients Ones guarding the gates. They won’t suffer such an insult. Right, Lady Vivian?”


    Vivian was busy applying ointment on Wuyue’s burnt scales and looked up in confusion when she heard her name. “Huh?”


    “…”


    Well it seems like the Ancient One is really just a scary bedtime story…


    “I’ve hidden the news of our safe return and sent word that the two Blood n heads were lost while investigating the ruins.” Zeon Lucas smiled confidently. “Our men outside are spreading misinformation and creating chaos as well. Bethanos will take us for being headless and he will strike once he thinks it’s safe to do so. I believe that he’ll be heading towards the gate of the ruins once the fight starts or maybe, he’s found another spot to activate the gate. However, the key itself will still require a few hours of recharging. That will probably be the time he strikes.”


    Hao Ren’s opinion of the stubborn old vampire changed somewhat. He thought that Lucas was just a stubborn old coot, an arrogant one at that; a conservative who refused to change with the times and thus, his bad impression of him was formed. But it did seem like the old gentleman had a rather dependable side to him. He would be someone you wanted as an ally.


    If you could stand his pompous and arrogant arse of an attitude that is.


    A sudden shriek came from above as two bats darted through an open window into the room. One of it transformed into a voluptuous figure—it was Andrea. Another one could not transform into its human form after a while and just reported to Hessiana in a high pitch shriek. “Mistress! I’ll just speak to you like this…”


    Hessiana leapt up from her chair. “Turcan! Are you drinking on the job again you slimy scum?!”


    Well there you have it, the gulf of difference between the old vampiric aristocracy and the new age ouws….


    “Master, a group of Shadelings have departed Bethanos’ stronghold and they are heading towards our holdings.” Andrea took a nce at Turcan before she reported her findings to Zeon Lucas. “That aside, some of our men are already fighting in the streets near the Shadeling’s fortress and from what we could gather, there’s a breach on the west side of the stronghold. Doesn’t seem like a trap.”


    Zeon Lucas flung the goblet in his hand out of the window as he swung around with his cape. A cold smirk appeared on his face. “Hmph, It’s time.”


    Hessiana dashed towards Zeon and grabbed him by the neck. “That’s my f*cking globet from the ntags! You f*cking threw it away for a f*cking pose?!”


    Zeon Lucas did not even have the chance to wipe the smirk of his face before he was assailed by Hessiana. Hao Ren could only facepalm and look away. This is why the old aristocracy could not work with the new bloods; it was almost like watching someone grating a chalk over the ckboard…


    The ruckus between the two leaders aside, both vampires had already made preparations to attack long before they gotten word of the breach. Hessiana quickly ran towards her office desk. After inspecting some mechanism there with a slight nod, she faced a doll and cleared her throat. A deafening siren wailed across the entire stronghold as Hessiana’s voice followed. “Attention-Attention-Attention… Prepare for battle-battle-battle.. The Daredevils gather at the za-za-za… The rest of you, work your magic-magic-magic..”


    The rest was just echo.


    Hao Ren was stunned. “Whoa, you guys are using modern, eh?”


    Hessiana took a smallmunication device and hung it over her neck as she walked like a warlord towards her room. Her fingers signalled the rest to follow. “Nonsense. Of course we use it. It’s the modern times you know. Human technology is advancing so fast, that only a blind fool would ignore it. You think those who came in to report flew all the way from the outside? They were just manning the telephones downstairs, and came up the moment they got the message. I even installed a signal tower in the city. That old coot has a 50% share of it.”


    Andrea walked past Hao Ren as she turned to smiled at him. “Don’t assume that the otherworldlings in this shelter are some rock age barbarians. I for one am at the forefront of fashion..”


    “Andrea, be serious,” Zeon Lucas kept a straight face as he admonished his underling. “You spend too much time with Hessiana’s goons.”


    In a daze, Hao Ren just followed Hessiana past a group of armed soldiers. As they left the house, they headed towards an even bigger armed group. At the same time, pping sounds came from above as the vampires started forming into squads to head intobat. The shelter was still peaceful just the day before (at least on the surface), but now they were about to face a storm of steel and blood. The change of pace was so sudden that it took many by surprise, and this was all because of one megalomaniacal Shadeling.


    Lily looked up at the vampires above her. She had not seen so many unusual creatures gearing up for a fight before and that left her both excited as well as scared. “Will they shoot at me when the fighting starts? I’m a werewolf after all…”


    Hessiana waved her concerns off. “No worries, the old coot and I have briefed our boys. ‘The werewolf with silver fur and a totally burnt tail is an ally. This has been spread across the city.”


    Lily almost cried when she heard that. “It’s not totally burnt! Only a third…”


    “So, you want me to torch it just to be safe?”


    “…”


    The group had reached the za by then and Hessiana’s elite strike force, the Daredevils were gathered there. Hao Ren finally met the infamous, most inglorious vampiric fighting force.


    And the difference between them and theirmander was like O_o!


    A group of well built and unusually tall vampires d in fullbat gear were awaiting orders in the za. Theirbat garb had embroideries of crucifixes and runes of warding. Hanging from their waists were silver longswords. Each of them had a RPG-7 in each hand and a bandolier of small arms ammunitions across the chest with a bullpup assault rifle hanging from it. More shockingly on their backs were….


    F*cking aerial bombs!


    Hessiana smirked as she stepped onto a big rock and inspected her group of Daredevils. “Listen up boys, I hear that the Shadeling’s fortress is a tough nut to crack… so… Priest, anoint the RPGs with holy water!”


    Hao Ren was stunned as he looked at Hessiana. “This doesn’t look right at all….”