Chapter 73:

“My lords, the fresh blood cocktails have arrived.”

At the break of dawn in Kadman City, as Maxim’s flattering servant pushed open the door, the fresh blood cocktails placed on crushed ice were delivered to the vampires in the room.

The crushed ice was made by a steam ice maker recovered from the ruins by the small players, and the iced blood wine made the vampires in the dark lick their lips in anticipation.

They could smell the virgin blood contained in the fine wine, the pure blood emanating a fragrance that made the somewhat recovered vampires begin to partake of this rare delicacy.

Especially those few whose sanity was somewhat clouded by the invasion of the astral spirit energy, they could hardly wait to guzzle it straight from the bottle.

They had just barely escaped death, and after a round of encouragement from Lord Jed, they were convinced that they would have a great future ahead of them.

In addition, from last night until now, a steady stream of fresh blood had been delivered, allowing them to overcome their weakness. Although the lack of blood essence could not be made up overnight, the return of their strength had filled them with confidence.

“Jed, do you really believe that damn Murphy can kill Femis?”

A white-haired female vampire sat down next to Jed with two glasses of wine, eagerly handing him a glass of the delicious fresh blood cocktail with ice cubes.

Jed accepted it without a word, clinking glasses gracefully with his alluring companion.

Even among this group of leeches, there was still a hierarchy.

Jed and the other six silver-ranked patriarchs’ guards naturally held higher status, while the other fifteen servants stood on the outskirts, fawning over their masters and celebrating the impending victory.

They had all been turned into vampires after the astral realm tore through Kadman City, extremely talented blood servants but having only recently “joined the circle”, they could not yet shake off the servile mannerisms of blood servants.

Serving and pleasing their masters was the purpose of their existence.

Several female vampires were casually embraced by the relaxed patriarchs’ guards, but they were not shy, instead boldly and passionately speaking words of celebration, making the atmosphere in the dark room more relaxed.

However, Jed did not participate, he was a rather restrained person, err, vampire.

One of his servants had been sent out earlier, and while others were enjoying themselves, he had been calmly pondering. Only when his companion inquired a second time did he take a sip of the quite tasty iced fresh blood cocktail and said in a low voice:

“Murphy is a very talented and cunning little fellow.”

“A mere fringe outcast.”

The female vampire next to him downed a large glass of wine disdainfully, seductively wiping her lips as she said:

“Even if he was talented originally, he became useless after Tris initiated him. I’ve never understood why the Patriarch, um I mean, why Salrokdar had to keep that former elder around? He could have easily gotten rid of her.”

“Tris is a person with a story. She and Salrokdar have a secret past that others don’t know about.”

As one of the Blood Vulture Patriarch’s most trusted commanders, Jed had some knowledge of these secrets, and he briefly explained:

“Don’t underestimate Tris, she is no simple matter. I can sense that Salrokdar doesn’t want to deal with her, not because he can’t, but because he is wary. Do you understand?

Perhaps Tris has some leverage over Salrokdar. Hmm?

Who made this fresh blood cocktail? The taste is a bit off?”

“Oh, it was sent by your servant.”

The female vampire downed the glass, telling Jed:

“That albino cattle, called Mark something, his servant has been sending fresh blood for us to recover quickly. I must say, Jed, you have always had a good eye for choosing servants, this kid is quite capable.

And there’s nothing wrong with the wine, I am a professional wine taster after all.

It’s well made, with the sourness of raspberries complemented by the citrus fragrance of lemon, and the crushed ice allows the wine and blood to blend perfectly, masking any odd scents.”

Upon hearing this praise from a vampire wine taster, Jed’s eyes suddenly widened.

“Bang”

His glass of fresh blood cocktail shattered on the floor, the shrill sound causing the dark room to fall silent, until the vampires belatedly realized that it seemed the outside had become too “quiet” a while ago.

“There’s a problem”

Jed grabbed the ceremonial tomb guard’s black blade at his waist and had just stood up when he heard several cracking sounds, and round, black objects were smashed through the windows into the room.

The alchemy bombs, a “friendly gift” from the Witch Hunters, rolled across the floor, the round bombs crudely painted with grinning skulls in red by the self-proclaimed childhood art student Invincible Tyrannosaurus Cheche.

But that wasn’t the point, the point was that the hissing fuse had already burned down to the end.

This attack also broke through the concealment barrier surrounding the dark room, and in an instant, every vampire clearly sensed more than thirty distinct life signals around the house.

“Under attack!”

The female vampire leaning against Jed instantly gathered spirit energy into her hands and screamed, immediately followed by a thunderous roar as the bombs exploded in the confined space.

As professionals dealing with vampires, the Witch Hunters had specially “added ingredients” to their moon dust bombs, causing the room full of vampires to wail and howl in agony. Worse still, the power of the daylight potions mixed into the fresh blood cocktails began to take effect, causing the vampires to go limp.

Although they did not immediately lose their fighting ability, the perceived reduction in agility, reflexes and strength made them realize the grave situation they were in.

“Bang”

Path of Mud and Oil was about to say something else as he gripped the single-handed wing blade his good friend had obtained for him, when he saw Ah Yuen posing in front get pounced on from behind by a vampire. Two agonizing screams and he fell silent.

Damn!

Down already?

Are you a three-minute superhero? Dead right after your ultimate move?

“What are you gawking at? Get him!”

Khaki reacted faster, swinging his dual poison axe blades glowing green at the crazed vampire tearing into Ah Yuen’s corpse, Path of Mud and Oil quickly following suit.

Although the players were exceptionally vicious, their reckless and self-destructive fighting style allowed them to pin down a third of the vampires inside the house at the cost of heavy casualties. But the remaining vampires had already escaped with their agile serpentine movements.

They were not at full strength to begin with, further weakened by accidentally drinking the daylight potions, and caught off guard by the ferocious spirit of the “Murphy Warriors” during the ambush.

At this point, they had no intention of continuing to fight.

After seeing their leader Jed occupied by the young lady, these cunning ones hardly needed verbal communication, each fleeing in different directions with their servants.

Daylight was coming soon!

These crazy blood servant bastards had picked the perfect time to ambush them!

They had to find a hiding place before the vicious sun rose, waiting for the next night when it would be their domain again.

However, the moment these fellows barely broke through, gunfire erupted from all directions, completely shattering the tranquility of this ashen land. The lead bullets fired by the gunners stationed at vantage points danced wildly in the air, shooting down a few unlucky ones from the sky.

And at the high ground outside the dark room, Lumina spat out the grass root she had been chewing, raising the automatic hunting crossbow she had primed, aiming at the dazed group of vampires in the air.

This was not the old one they had lost in the Smuggler’s Woods, but an enhanced version “gifted” by the Witch Hunters under Natalie.

As the steam boiler pipes expelled scorching fumes, accompanied by the rattling sounds of levers and gears, Lumina fitted the circular scope to her target. She licked her lips, finger on the trigger.

After taking a deep breath, she forcefully pulled the trigger down!

“Shhhhhhhh”

The razor-sharp bolts instantly transformed into streams of deadly feathers, shooting out under the control of the marksmanship master Lumina, relentlessly pursuing the vampires. Within just ten seconds or so, three were shot down, crashing to the ground to be surrounded and captured by the small players and the Kadman Civilian Self-Defense Force militia.

Amidst the ashes, the alchemical torches were lit!

The ferocious and superstitious wargoats had been assigned targets by the cunning and ruthless shepherds. In this land of Transia, blinded by misguided loyalty and centuries of pent-up hatred, they feared nothing at this moment and eagerly wished to cut something with the blades in their hands.

Even if it were vampires.

“Take out that firebase! Otherwise none of us can leave!”

The vampires under the barrage of bullets and hunting bolts immediately reacted, three of them instantly charging towards Lumina’s position. But the young lady remained unperturbed, swiveling her crossbow to rapidfire, quickly downing another vampire who failed to evade.

Kill count +1.

She was undoubtedly the “Queen of Aces” in this intense battle.

She could see the fresh blood spurting from the hideous vampires when struck, could see their disheveled plummet after their wings were crippled, and could hear their wretched wails.

All of this caused Lumina’s adrenaline to soar, making her react faster, her heart pounding harder.

She had grown fond of this feeling.

No!

She had fallen in love with this feeling.

In that instant, the dark ashen lands shrouded in violence and death made her heart throb.

Hmm, was this the feeling of being in love?

Two vampires charged through the barrage towards her. The heavy hunting crossbow was too sluggish to react in time, so Lumina stepped back, snatching up the already loaded hunting rifle by her side amidst her swirling hair, executing a precise hip shot in the blink of an eye.

“Bang”

The vampire extending its claws in front of her had its head flung back, blood spraying everywhere as it screamed and fell from the high ground.

However, the last one had already landed before her. Lumina dropped the still smoking hunting rifle, drawing the short sword at her waist and taking a starting stance of the Shadow Elf Secret Sword Arts.

She knew she could not defeat this dangerous Black Iron monster.

But she had already scored enough by downing five vampire rats in one go, before taking up the firebase role, Brother Stick had explained the risks to her.

Yet she did not care.

It was just a game.

Overthinking would only kill the fun, we’re all first-timers at being human. No need to restrain ourselves, just go wild!