Monarch of Evernight (Web Novel)
chapter-44

[Volume 2 – Bloom of the Other Shore Flower]

Qianye balanced the assembled rifle and quickly got a good feel for it. It was not an average origin gun, but rather, it was constructed by the Red Scorpion Corps, a custom-made Red Scorpion gun. It was standard equipment for Red Scorpion soldiers.

The model came from the Empire’s Firebird Group, its speciality being high precision and power. Its origin power conversion rate was almost fifty percent, making it belong to high-grade standard origin guns. However, the Scorpion Needle Custom that the Red Scorpion Corps had constructed had gone through redesign and adjustment in major areas, which increased its accuracy and power at the cost of decreasing its speed.

This suited Red Scorpion’s style: Only move when it’s a one hit kill.

Qianye lightly held the gun’s grip, feeling as if he were meeting an old friend again. Even when he was in need of money the most during his escape, he didn’t sell a single piece of the gun. After settling down in Lighthouse Village, Qianye buried it deep down below the lobby of the bar. It had been a long time since he last saw it.

Now, it was time to use this Scorpion Needle again.

As a former Red Scorpion, Qianye’s target wasn’t average vampires, but the titled, high-ranking vampire.

Qianye carried his Scorpion Needle on his back, and took out his Kohler Pistol to attach a silencer. Then, he left the bar and followed the path he and Nighteye had decided on beforehand.

Soon after, a few vampire soldiers completely covered in black robes appeared outside Lighthouse Village.

One of them sniffed the air, and said in a hoarse voice, “Nighteye already left this place. She is heading west. Quickly, inform Sir Wilde. We will give chase.”

A vampire soldier standing to his side said, “To the west? I remember there was a meeting place for a new gang there. She doesn’t want to go to the new gang’s territory, does she? If this is the case, then this is another thing the Council can use to attack us.”

“We don’t have to worry about that kind of stuff. There will naturally be grand figures who will worry in our place! What we need to do is capture Nighteye and bring her back. If we lose her, however, that will be our responsibility.”

The vampire soldiers began to move westward at a rapid pace. They separated into a huge fan-shaped formation, creating a large net without any holes, and headed in the direction Nighteye ran.

Their running speed was extremely fast, even faster than werewolves in the wilderness. In addition, they were able to maintain this running speed for an entire day and night without rest. This was a vampire soldier. Their race had extremely high talent and were naturally powerful, thus being natural enemies to humans.

At the top of a large tree in the distance, Qianye was holding his tactical scope and looked out over the wasteland under the shroud of night. The scope had a strange, pale-red field of view. Inside the lens, one could see the rapidly moving outlines of raging flames.

This was a multi-purpose tactical scope that Red Scorpions were equipped with. It had a mechanism that specifically targeted vampires and werewolves. When this mechanism was equipped, it could detect vampires’ unique blood power, making them appear in Qianye’s field of view as the red outlines he had seen before.

Qianye quietly counted the number of enemies, “One, two … nine in total! Alright, they really committed a lot of resources to this. The woman who calls herself Nighteye doesn’t seem to be as simple as she claimed! Hunter? Hmph!”

He glanced at the wilderness again, and cautiously changed his scope to werewolf vision, but couldn’t find any other suspicious signs.

Amongst the nine vampire soldiers, he did not see any signs of the titled vampire, which meant that these soldiers were only the vanguard. The main force still remained behind them. Their means of chasing Nighteye was reflected similarly. They did not impatiently chase after her, but separated and slowly began surrounding her position while remaining within tracking range.

This was exactly what Qianye wanted. He had already prepared to fight these scattered, dark-blooded creatures. Qianye put away his tactical scope and jumped down the large tree, disappearing into the boundless night.

Under the night sky, a vampire soldier cautiously walked into a valley. The valley wasn’t big, but its terrain was complex. Spread throughout the valley were bramble bushes and not a small number of caves. Many scavengers made this area their temporary dwelling.

When scavengers camped out, they would habitually create small traps in their surroundings, but when they leave, they often do not clear out their traps. After many years, this valley had become filled with danger at every step, being very difficult to pass through.

Scavengers had an understanding of each other, so they could to see through signs of traps others had laid down. This standard vampire soldier, on the other hand, did not have such an ability. Soon after he entered the valley, he had already been soaked by foul-smelling water and acid, and was injured on his calf by another trap.

He was extremely furious.

A small injury like this did not actually hinder a vampire’s strong body, but the acid and foul-smelling water made him feel extremely disgusted. Every vampire was born with an obsession over cleanliness! However, he had to thoroughly search this valley, because this was the best place for someone to hide. If Nighteye was hiding there and he did not find her, then he could only look forward to the severest of punishments.

That was why the vampire soldier continued searching despite his complaints.

The vampire thought that if he could find a scavenger, that would be great. He definitely wouldn’t suck the dirty blood from someone who had been wandering through garbage, but he would spend time torturing these cunning humans!

While walking, the vampire soldier suddenly came into contact with a thin, black string. Before he had time to move his foot back, the string broke!

The vampire soldier wrinkled his brows, vigilantly scanning his surroundings. He waited for the trap to spring. As long as he noticed them, traps made by scavengers would definitely not overcome him.

However, the moment he opened his eyes to survey the landscape, a silvery flame sprang up a few meters away. In that moment, it released a piercing light!

Seeing such strong light in pitch black darkness of the night, the vampire soldier who naturally had strong night vision screamed and covered his eyes!

He was very experienced in battle, and after receiving this sudden attack, he didn’t even think before he immediately rolled to the side to leave his original spot.

However, when he stood up and prepared to open his eyes to look around, his back chilled. A sharp blade pierced through his back, stabbing deeply into his heart!

When the sharp blade entered his body, the vampire soldier suddenly felt a burning pain inside his chest. He even smelled incineration within his own breath. In that moment, a thought flashed inside his mind, “There is silver on the knife!”

He struggled, but it was futile. He could not even moan lightly, because a powerful hand was gripping his throat.

The vampire soldier finally understood that he had met a strong opponent. Maybe it was that most hateful vampire hunter. Only those with deep understanding of vampires would be able to accurately tear through his heart in one strike and prevent the opposition from even calling for help by clutching his throat. Many humans without experience would cover the vampire’s mouth, then fall to a bite. Even if they killed the vampire in the end, they would still become a blood thrall.

This vampire soldier struggled for a few moments, then collapsed onto the floor, to never move again.

Like a ghost, Qianye appeared from behind him, quietly pulling out his military knife. He then stabbed the body a few more times. He flipped the vampire soldier over and pried open his mouth. There were two complete vampire fangs, a symbol of official members. Any mature vampire would have the strength of at least a rank two Fighter.

Qianye used his knife to pry out the two fangs and threw them in his backpack. Many institutions in the Empire bought these fangs for a high price as a reward for killing vampires. One official vampire soldier’s fangs were worth one imperial gold.

Qianye searched the vampire again and put everything of value inside his bag. He didn’t touch anything else. Weapons used by vampires usually had blood scents that were designed to be tracked, and without suitable methods and tools, destroying the tracking system was very difficult. If one was greedy and took a weapon, then that would essentially be giving all of the vampire’s comrades a clear target.

After using a few minutes to get rid of his tracks, Qianye scurried through the valley in a loop and took out his remaining tin foil bags. These bags were able to create strong flashes of light, making them weapons that could be used to defend against vampires and their extraordinary night vision.

After fulfilling his tasks, Qianye left the valley. In just half an hour, he had already run twenty kilometers and found a hidden cave to conceal himself.

Qianye put on his military gloves and carefully took a bag of liquid silver from his backpack. He forcefully resisted the eruption of his blood and dipped his saber into the liquid for a few moments. He then let it dry and returned it to its sheath, and just like this, he finished preparing for his next battle.

After this, Qianye closed his eyes and began resting. He was soaked in cold sweat after completing just a few of these simple tasks.

In the distance, Nighteye stopped sneaking around. Her left pupil became blood-colored. In her field of view, she saw a chain composed of seventeen pale links of blood energy, connecting her body to something in the distance.

These were Blood Shackles, a secret art possessed only by pure bloods. With multiple vampires cooperating, the Blood Shackles could connect to their target, but it would suppress both sides’ power level.

The more Blood Shackles there were, the more effective the suppression was. However, both sides experienced this power of suppression, and everyone was heavily restrained. The side that owned the Blood Shackles could use them to suppress a genuine expert by sacrificing a lot of cannon fodder.

In addition, after being locked down by Blood Shackles, there was no real way to escape them. The Blood Shackles would inform both parties of their enemy’s location at all times, so unless one killed all the shackled enemies, one would never be able to escape.

At this moment, Nighteye felt her entire body lighten up a little. A blood chain broke and faded, indicating that an enemy soldier had been killed.

Nighteye looked in the direction of the chain’s path. “He actually killed one? Is this good luck?”

To her, Qianye was truly too weak. It was equivalent to a vampire soldier that had just risen from the newborn rank. Humans were truly so weak.

However, humans were extremely cunning and too good at reproducing. It had been told that during the War of Daybreak, an uncountable number of dark race heroes had suffered at the hands of humanity’s Human Wave Tactics.

The vampires on the other side of the Blood Shackles were definitely not low rank soldiers. Within the imperial army, rank six Fighters were already Lieutenant Colonels, capable of leading close to a thousand Fighters, but although each of these vampires originally had power equivalent to a rank five or rank six human Fighter, they were suppressed to mere rank two Fighters after being locked by the Blood Shackles.

From Nighteye’s point of view, these advanced soldiers died to a mere rank two Fighter. They likely died with everlasting regret. However, she stopped thinking about this. To her, the fate of those soldiers was not worth spending more time thinking about.