545 Chapter 545: Late Night Meeting

"What are you doing here?"

Ling Xue Xiao folded her arms and glared at me as I wandered into the warehouse that Lin Xuan Chi suggested as the meeting place. It had taken quite a bit of time and caution on my part to leave the Franklin Manor undetected, a problem Ling Xue Xiao didn't seem to have. I didn't want Adrian and Melina following me into what was clearly a trap.

I had contingencies in place, but I didn't want to call upon them until absolutely necessary.

"Xuan Chi Senpai told me to meet him here," I replied. I was actually using the Chinese version xue zhang, but English readers would probably be more likely to recognize the word senpai.

"Why would he do that?"

"Why don't you ask him?" When Ling Xue Xiao scoffed at my reply, I sighed and shrugged. "Maybe he wants my help to find the spy."

Ling Xue Xiao immediately narrowed her eyes and regarded me suspiciously when I said that, her expression filled with disbelief. I didn't blame her. Normally this was a guild issue that should be dealt with internally by members. It was not a matter that Hunter Associations or mercenary guilds would involve outsiders like me in.

I pushed my glasses up as I surveyed the interior of the abandoned warehouse, wondering why Lin Xuan Chi chose such a venue as our meeting place. My glasses whirred and the in-built sensors scanned the place and looked out for threats. Infrared vision, nightvision and a suite of other visual aids kicked in, displaying the warehouse in several tiny windows on my lenses. Right now, there was nobody inside. I was reminded of that time when I hunted the Chiropterans alongside Kufa and Saya. Speaking of which, I had no idea what happened to Saya. It had been a while since I had seen her. Maybe I should ask Kufa about her the next time I talked to him, which would be very soon.

For now, I could think of plenty of reasons why Lin Xuan Chi wanted me and Ling Xue Xiao to meet him here. There was something unnerving about the dark, danky place and the abandoned machinery that lay within.

"Where is Xuan Chi Senpai anyway?"

"Hmph! How would I know?"

Because you were closer and more intimate with him than I was?

I refrained from pointing out the obvious and obediently sank into silence. I wasn't here to start an argument. I was more curious as to how Lin Xuan Chi planned on flushing out the spy. And that was assuming he wasn't the spy himself – after all the nonsense I read in the vampire shoujo manhua, I knew he had to be the spy. Because the author couldn't get enough of bad boys. In any event, I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted to investigate the other Hunters…

"What guild or sect are you guys from?" I asked. Ling Xue Xiao sniffed and turned away.

"None of your business."

Fine, be that way then, bitch. I decided to wait for Lin Xuan Chi to arrive before asking him.

Speaking of which, he was pretty late. He was the one who proposed that we meet here at 9pm, but as Ling Xue Xiao and I waited fruitlessly, he didn't arrive even after fifteen minutes past the appointed time. Ling Xue Xiao was getting impatient while I entertained the thought that this whole thing might have been one gigantic prank.

Hmm…but why would he drag Ling Xue Xiao along into this stupid prank of his?

I honestly doubted it was to set us up on a date. Surely hunting for a spy didn't make for an ideal atmosphere for high school romance.

"…!"

Just when I was about to scoff at such a ludicrous idea that could only emerge from a shoujo-styled drama, I suddenly caught sight of infrared signatures crawling toward the warehouse in the dark. Nightvision also showed their silhouettes moving stealthily (or what passed for stealth when I could see them as clearly as if it was daytime) from the outside. Tapping my glasses to improve the visual sensors and focus on the approaching figures, I narrowed my eyes and confirmed that they were threats.

"Be careful!" I shouted a warning to Ling Xue Xiao, who immediately went into high alert.

As rude as she was, Ling Xue Xiao was no fool. Already drawing her twin swords, she allowed her mana to surge and coalesce strongly around her body in a protective aura. Exchanging glances with me, she silently proceeded to the entrance, her swords gripped in a cautious stance.

It seemed that Ling Xue Xiao had detected the newcomers too.

Yet their arrival raised new questions. Where was Lin Xuan Chi? Was he killed by the intruders? Was that why he hadn't shown up so far? Or was he in cahoots with them, selling us out to the enemy and luring both me and Ling Xue Xiao into a trap?

The latter seemed more probable, and in line with what I had read in a badly written shoujo manhua. It also meant that Lin Xuan Chi was the spy.

What reason would he have to betray us? Oh, I was sure we were going to experience some random flashback to justify his callous treachery later, but now wasn't the time for that. I should focus on surviving.

Ling Xue Xiao jumped back the moment the doors were flung open and a group of hooded vampires flooded in, their eyes glowing red in the semi-darkness. The first one flung a red whip of blood at Ling Xue Xiao, who cut the mana strand with her own mana-infused swords.

And then the rest poured in, swarming over her. However, Ling Xue Xiao fought on, undaunted, as she cut a bloody swathe through the vampires, felling at least three in a deadly slash.

As if realizing that I was here as well, a trio of vampires splintered off from the main group and charged at me. The vampire in the middle kicked me just when I drew my Hei Yue and Bai Ri, his immense strength causing me to skid back despite having blocked his attacked with my crossed swords. Before I could counterattack, the other two blasted me with blood spears that lanced out of the ground and sought to impale me.

"…!"

I ducked and dodged, relying on the footwork and martial arts that Dad taught me whenever we sparred in his dojo. Reading their movements, I anticipated where they would attack and evaded accordingly. However, the sheer volume of the blood spears they launched at me overwhelmed my attempts at evasion and I suffered a few cuts and scrapes when a few of them grazed my skin. Despite parrying some of them with both Hei Yue and Bai Ri, I was unable to prevent a good number of my enemies' attacks from going through. Twisting my body aside, I tried to dodge, but even though the blood lances missed my vital spots, they still managed to cut my arms, legs and non-vital parts.

"Ouch!"

I hissed in pain and staggered back. Despite doing my best with both of my swords, the speed of my foes were forcing me onto the defensive. I wasn't able to retaliate, not when the trio of them bombarded me with perfectly synchronized attacks from all directions. The moment I parried a blood claw spell from the one on my left, the middle one kicked my solar plexus with a mana-infused foot. When I turned my attention to him, the one on my right sent a barrage of blood spears that lanced out and forced me to abort my attack.

Even if it was a one-on-one battle, I would still find it difficult to defeat them. Challenging, but somehow still possible. However, in a three-against one match, I was being completely overwhelmed. My every movement was being suppressed, and I couldn't even fight back. This couldn't even be called a duel. It was a one-sided pummeling.

Maybe I should just change tactics and summon a quicker Constellation spirit instead of waiting to summon one of my big guns. But in this situation, I would rather summon a Celestial Guardian than a Constellation spirit, and I was confident that I could hold out long enough against these bastards anyway.

Besides, I had already begun casting ever since before they showed up, so I didn't need to wait too long. I was just waiting for an opportunity, so that I could catch them off guard and subdue them in one fell swoop rather than reveal my hand too soon and put them on high alert.

"Huff…"

As the center vampire's kick sent me flying and inadvertently widened the distance between us, I stabbed both swords into the ground to halt my momentum and used the chance to breathe. Rising to my feet, I assumed a defensive stance again.

Drip. Drip.

Cuts and lacerations ran across my exposed skin and beneath my torn clothes, leaking blood at an alarming rate. Death by a thousand paper cuts. Still, I was determined to withstand the pain. I just needed that single opportunity, and then all this suffering would be totally worth it.

However, my opponents also knew that there was the chance that I would bleed to death before I could turn the tables on them, so they refused to give me any time to relax.

The trio of vampires launched themselves at me again, spearheaded by a barrage of blood spears. I immediately summon Scutum Sobiescianum and used the huge Constellation shield to protect me from the lances. The vampires momentarily paused when they saw their blood spears halt in their tracks as they smacked right into the surface of my Constellation shield, failing to pierce it.

"…!"

Exchanging glances with each other almost imperceptibly, the two vampires at the sides ran down my flanks, hoping to expose an opening, while the central vampire continued to hurl a barrage of blood spears from the front to keep my attention on him.

How naïve.

Leaving the front to Scutum Sobiescianium, I turned to face the vampire on the right, just barely striking his hand and deflecting his blood claws from my face. Ducking under his kick, I managed to fall back and dodge under his compatriot's assault when he tried to slash at me from behind. Twisting around, I swung Hei Yue at him, but he caught my sword before it reached his face, and countered with a slash. Before his claws could reach me, I brought my knee up and cracked it against his elbow, sending his claws upward and merely cutting a few strands of my hair. As he staggered back, I tried to attack with Bai Ri, only to instinctively drop to a crouch when the vampire behind me slashed with dual blood claws.

"Whoa!"

If I hadn't dodged that, I would have been eviscerated by that deadly pincer attack. Striking out from the bottom, I aimed a kick at his chin, but he jerked his head back and retreated. Spinning on the floor, I swept his legs out from under him, tripping him up, and then rolled away when his comrade swung his heel down on me.

Meanwhile, my Scutum Sobiescanium continued to jerk and shudder as more blood lances slammed into it from the front, but the central vampire still hadn't managed to penetrate the Constellation shield at all. There was no way it would give under a normal onslaught of blood spears. Unless his blood spears were on par with Craig Carlson's cursed demonic spear, which I doubted. Craig was a prodigy and his weapon was almost one of a kind.

Unfortunately, these vampires possessed advantages that Craig didn't.

As if noticing that the trio was having trouble defeating me instantly (because apparently they were on a tight schedule and thus couldn't afford to spend a few more minutes to wear me down and wait for me to bleed to death eventually), a few more vampires broke off from the main group and charged in my direction.

I was already at my limit dealing with the current trio of vampires. There was no way I could take on four times that number.

"Ugh!"

Just as I thought that, the two vampires cleverly caught me in a pincer attack and slashed me across the chest and back, despite me raising both of my swords to parry the attack. Even as I stumbled back, blood dripping profusely from my wounds, the vampires closed in and had me completely surrounded.

However…this also provided me the opportunity I was seeking for, of course. Even as the reinforcements closed in on me, I wasn't able to conceal a grin.