Chapter 1

I die a miserable death in the dungeon, drained of three hundred years of pure blood. I owe it all to Elena and my ridiculously biased clan.

In my previous life, I am the Chief Executioner of the Night Abyss clan. During our hunt for the Alpha Wolf, she drops her weapon and throws herself into Lucas's arms, playing the helpless victim.

I take the beast's attack head-on and suffer severe injuries. The other knights just shield her, turning around to accuse me of being petty and jealous.

Prince Marcus blatantly favors his illegitimate daughter, Elena. He snatches my magic core, constantly puts me down, and even rips the core out of my loyal wolf familiar, Fenrir. In the end, he drains my blood dry just to feed her.

Now that I am reborn, I return to the exact night we hunt the high-tier Alpha Wolf.

The phantom pain of the silver stake piercing my heart still lingers in my chest.

The freezing sensation of having every drop of my pure blood drained out makes my very soul shiver.

A second ago, I am rotting in the dark, damp dungeon of the Night Abyss estate.

Prince Marcus coldly slits my wrists. He takes the high-tier blood I spent three hundred years cultivating and forces it down the throat of our crying miracle girl, Elena.

"Serena, this is your final glory as an executioner."

That is the last thing I hear.

The next second, a suffocating stench of blood and a foul wind hit my face.

A deafening roar tears through the night sky.

My eyes snap open.

I see the gloomy Blackwood Forest, the ground littered with broken branches.

A massive high-tier Alpha Wolf, the size of a truck, lunges at me in mid-air with its bloody jaws wide open and drool flying everywhere.

Time rewinds to exactly one month before I am drained dry.

The night of the Alpha Wolf hunt.

"Ah! Serena, save me!"

A shrill, delicate scream pierces my ears.

Elena, who is supposed to be covering my right flank, suddenly drops her mithril crossbow in a fake panic. She completely breaks our combat formation and dives straight into the arms of the lead knight, Lucas, in the backline.

In my past life, at this exact moment, I step up to fill the gap in our broken defense just to keep this delicate newblood from getting a single scratch.

I step forward without hesitation and use my own body to tank the Alpha Wolf's fatal blow.

My spine snaps. I suffer massive internal bleeding and barely manage to shove my dagger into the beast's throat before collapsing.

But afterward, a completely unharmed Elena leans over my sickbed, crying her eyes out. She claims she was just too scared.

And those knights, completely brainwashed by her charm, never once blame her for deserting. Instead, they accuse me of failing my duties as the Chief Executioner. They even frame me, saying I only jumped in to steal the spotlight and claim the wolf's magic core for myself.

But this time, they want me to act as their meat shield again?

Keep dreaming.

With the foul wind right in my face, I let out a cold laugh. I push off the ground and slide a couple of feet to the left.

The massive Alpha Wolf crashes down with crushing force, but it hits nothing but empty air.

Before it can even land and regain its balance, I make my move.

I reach back and draw my heavy bone-cleaver. Gripping the hilt with both hands, I use the beast's downward momentum against it. I swing upward with everything I have, delivering a flawless crescent strike.

A sickening crunch of bone and flesh tearing apart echoes in the dark.

Boiling wolf blood erupts like a geyser. The beast's massive head rolls across the dirt a few times, its yellow slit pupils still locked in a blank, confused stare.

The gigantic headless corpse crashes to the ground.

I walk up with a deadpan expression and plant my combat boot squarely on the wolf's twitching chest.

My gloved right hand plunges into its flesh like a blade. I dig deep.

I rip out the Alpha's magic core. It gives off a dark red glow, dripping with warm, bloody slime.

Dead silence falls over the Blackwood Forest.

Everyone freezes in place. They stare at me in pure disbelief as I stand there, having single-handedly slaughtered a high-tier Alpha Wolf without taking a single scratch.

Gripping the pulsing magic core, I turn around and walk straight toward Elena, who is still cowering in Lucas's arms.

"Serena..."

Elena looks at my blood-soaked figure. A brief flash of panic crosses her eyes.

But she recovers quickly. Her eyes well up, and tears start streaming down her face.

She reaches out with a trembling hand, trying to tug at my sleeve. "I'm so sorry. I was just so scared. I didn't mean to drop my weapon... You aren't hurt, are you?"

I slap her across the face, hard. The crack echoes loudly in the quiet forest.

The force sends Elena flying. She slams heavily into a thick, dead tree.

She slumps to the ground and spits out a mouthful of blood mixed with broken teeth. Half of her face swells up almost instantly. Her perfectly styled blonde curls are now caked in mud, leaving her looking utterly pathetic.

"Deserting the frontline. Dropping your weapon. Breaking formation."

"What do you think the lives of this execution squad are worth? Trash?"

"If this were a real warzone, your little stunt just now would have gotten everyone killed. You useless piece of trash."

Elena covers her swollen face and bursts into loud sobs, acting like she is the ultimate victim here.

"Serena! Are you out of your mind?!"

The youngest knight, Elliot, is the first to snap out of his shock.

He rushes over to help Elena up, looking completely heartbroken before snapping his head around to glare at me.

"She's just a rookie! What gives you the right to hit her that hard?!"

I flick my wrist, and the tip of my heavy sword presses right against Elliot's throat.

"Shut up. Say one more word, and I'll cut you down too."

Elliot goes dead pale and swallows whatever he was about to say next.

"Serena, you're crossing the line."

Another knight, Kane, steps forward with a deep frown.

"Elena was turned less than a month ago. Her bloodline hasn't even awakened yet, and she has zero combat experience. You are the strongest Chief Executioner we have. It's your literal job to protect her and take the hits! Not only did you fail your duty, but you also humiliated her in the most barbaric way possible. Do you have any noble vampire decency left in you?"

Decency?

I let out a cold laugh.

"The rule of the Night Abyss is simple. Once you step into the hunting grounds, your life is your own responsibility. If she's weak, she should crawl back to the dungeon and suck on blood bags. Not come out to the frontlines to act as deadweight and get her teammates killed!"

"Enough!"

An oppressive voice booms across the clearing like thunder.

Lucas steps forward. He unleashes the full, suffocating pressure of a high-tier vampire knight, sending dry leaves swirling into the air around us.

"Serena, you really disappoint me."

"I can tolerate you being cold-blooded and ruthless, but taking your jealousy out on Elena today? You are unbelievably petty."

"Now, put your sword away, get on your knees, and apologize to her."

I stare right into Lucas's self-righteous face.

In my past life, those exact hands pinned my shoulders down, holding me in place while they shoved tubes into my veins to drain me dry.

Petty?

I have bled for this clan for three hundred years. I've spent my entire life fighting on the edge of a blade, and what do I get? A bunch of brainwashed idiots lecturing me because they fell for a manipulative little brat.

I clench my jaw, so furious that a laugh actually escapes my lips.

I slam my heavy sword straight down into the dirt.

"You want me to apologize to a useless coward who ditches her post?"

"Keep. Dreaming."