Chapter 2
The next morning.
The rain in Seattle has stopped, but the dark clouds haven't dispersed. Rainwater has accumulated on the corrugated iron roof of the junkyard apartment building, dripping down the rusty drainpipes.
I changed into the only clean suit I had. The collar was frayed, and the cuffs were half an inch too short, but it was ironed perfectly. On the bedside table were a photo of my benefactor and that rusty cross.
There was a suspicious dark figure loitering outside the window.
I didn't see it.
The stigma on my chest was no longer burning. After suppressing it all night, it finally calmed down.
I tied my tie.
There was no response to the knocking.
It was smashing the door.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The iron door was dented from the kick, and the hinges groaned under the strain. With the third kick, the door flew in and smashed into the gas stove, sending sparks flying.
Six people were blocking the doorway. No—six monsters.
These were high-ranking blood servants, all of whom had been injected with enhancement serum. Their eyes were bloodshot red, their nails transformed into sharp claws, and their muscles ripped through their cheap black trench coats. Standing at the forefront was a half-vampire assassin, his left cheek branded with the mark of the Vampire Council, holding a cell phone in his hand.
The screen is lit.
Valerius's face appeared in the frame. His severed arm was wrapped in blood-soaked bandages, and his eyes were as venomous as a snake's.
“Lucius,” his voice came through the phone’s speaker, distorted by static, “You were pretty impressive last night.”
"Now, I'm giving you one last chance."
"Kneel down, break your own legs, and bark like a dog three times."
"I'll spare your life."
The half-vampire assassin pointed his phone at me, grinned, and revealed two rows of teeth blackened by the serum:
"Did you hear that? The Viscount has shown mercy."
"Kneel down, you poor wretch."
His five companions blocked the stairwell, sealing off all escape routes. One of them held a blood mist grenade, the dark red liquid sloshing inside a glass tube.
I glanced at my phone screen.
Valerius grinned maliciously.
I didn't say anything.
Untie your tie, fold it neatly, and place it on the bedside table.
"Deaf?" The half-vampire assassin frowned. "Brothers, help him—"
He didn't finish speaking.
Because I moved.
The first blood servant charged forward, its claws aimed straight for my throat. It was so fast that an ordinary person could only see a blur.
I shifted twelve centimeters to the side, just enough to dodge. I grabbed his wrist with my other hand and twisted it like wringing out a towel.
Click, click, click—
The elbow, wrist, and shoulder joints were broken simultaneously.
Before he even landed, the second one was already pouncing on him. The blood mist grenade shattered on the floor, exploding into a dark red mist with a corrosive, sweet, and fishy smell. My skin began to sting, and my respiratory tract felt like it was being filled with chili water.
I closed my eyes.
Based solely on the perception of aura and the instinctive reaction of the body modified by the Holy Blood.
The third one lunged from the left, and the fourth one leaped down from the ceiling. I took a half step back, grabbed the third one's ankle with my left hand, and swung him up like a hammer, smashing him into the fourth one.
The two men smashed through the plastic sheet window and fell into the junkyard outside.
In the blood mist, the fifth one silently crept up behind me, its sharp claws aimed at my heart.
I didn't turn around.
My heel struck him precisely behind the knee, snapping the bone backward. He screamed and fell to his knees, and I delivered a backhand elbow strike, shattering his shoulder blade.
Twelve seconds.
Five bodies lay on the ground, all four limbs broken in the opposite direction, like disassembled dolls.
Only the half-vampire killer remained standing.
His smile froze on his face, and Valerius on the phone screen also froze—his mouth was half open, and his eyes changed from resentment to horror.
"You...you..."
The half-vampire assassin stumbled backward, bumping into the doorframe. Suddenly remembering something, he turned and lunged into the hallway—where stood a neighbor's child, a seven or eight-year-old girl, wearing dirty pajamas, who was taking out the trash early in the morning.
He reached out and grabbed the girl's neck.
It's very fast.
But it's not fast enough.
My right foot landed on the wreckage of the blood mist bomb on the ground, using the momentum to propel me forward. In 0.5 seconds, I covered a distance of five meters.
The instant his fingertips touched the girl's collar, I brought my right palm down in a slash.
Click.
Comminuted fracture of the scapula.
The half-vampire assassin collapsed to the ground like a spineless dog, his screams echoing throughout the building. I shielded the girl behind me and looked down at her.
"Go back and lock the door. Don't come out."
The girl was terrified, tears welling up in her eyes, and she nodded frantically as she ran back into the house.
I picked up my phone from the ground.
On the screen, Valerius's face was distorted like a trampled mask.
"Your men are too weak."
"Send more next time."
I crushed the phone with one hand, and shards and electricity splattered from between my fingers.
At the doorway, several early-rising neighbors collapsed to the ground, their eyes filled with nothing but fear. They had mocked me before—for wearing cheap suits, living in a tin-roofed apartment, and carrying sacks at the docks. Now, they looked at me as if I were a monster in human skin.
I ignored them.
I stepped over the wreckage and dusted off my suit.
The sound of an engine came from downstairs.
Three black bulletproof cars were parked at the entrance of the junkyard.
The car door opened, and a woman in a gray business suit stepped out. She was Serafina's personal assistant. She walked over in high heels, handing over a gold-embossed business card with both hands, and bowed slightly.
"Mr. Lucius."
"Our CEO would like to discuss a business deal with you."
She raised her head, her eyes showing no fear, only professional respect.
"Regarding—the elimination of vampires."
I took the business card.
Where is she now?
"Headquarters. But if it's inconvenient for you—"
"convenient."
I glanced back at the apartment. The iron gate was shattered, the windows were broken, and the wreckage of the blood mist bomb was still smoking.
There's nothing to miss.
The assistant opened the car door. I bent down and got in.
The black Maybach drove away from the junkyard. In the rearview mirror, the apartment looked smaller and smaller, while the neighbors remained standing there, lost in thought.
I looked away.
My phone vibrated in my pocket—not mine, mine was crushed. It was a new phone handed to me by my assistant, matte black, with an encrypted channel.
A text message appeared on the screen from an unknown number:
"The mole has been hired. Kyle, deputy head of security, half-blood slave. He's waiting for you."
"Don't die."
I stared at the last two words.
"Don't die."
Who posted this?
I turned off the screen.
Outside the car window, the Seattle skyline stretched out beneath the dark clouds. The headquarters of the Shield Group stood in the city center, its glass curtain wall reflecting a cold light.
The stigmata on his chest began to burn again.
I didn't bet.
Let it get hot.
On the other side of the city.
The basement of Valerius Castle.
Valerius smashed his last cell phone and stood up from his chair. His severed arm was still bleeding, but a smile played on his lips.
"The adjudicator... I see."
He turned around and looked at the iron cage in the corner.
There was a person locked in the cage—wearing a security guard uniform, with a half-blood slave mark on his neck.
Kyle.
“The plan is ahead of schedule.” Valerius licked his fangs. “Let him join the company.”
"Then... destroy him when he's at his most triumphant."
Kyle trembled in the cage, but there was no fear in his eyes, only fanaticism.
"Yes... Your Excellency."
He said in a low voice.
A junkyard apartment.
The "informant monk" emerged from the shadows of the building opposite.
He put away the mini recorder, watched the Maybach team drive away, and pressed the button on his headset.
"Your Majesty Bishop."
"The target has made contact with the Shield Foundation. It is suspected that they have been hired."
"Viscount Valerius is mobilizing the family's assassination forces."
"Request continued monitoring."
There was a three-second silence on the other end of the headset.
"allow."
"The hunter fleet arrived in Seattle within seventy-two hours."
"Until then—keep him alive."
"Let the vampires wear him down."
"We need living arbiters."
"Or, an intact corpse."
Amen.
The headset disconnected.
The informant monk made the sign of the cross on his chest and disappeared into the morning mist.
