‘Hmm…’ Alex hummed, stretching a bit as he stood by the cracked window of the inn, his sharp yet lazy gaze fixated on the figures below.

He had been aware of their presence for a while—since yesterday, to be exact—but they had only been observing, so he let them be.

But now they weren’t observing.

There were a dozen figures, shrouded in dark cloaks, moving methodically around the perimeter of the inn, placing small glowing stones at precise intervals. It was as if they were drawing something.

Even without a closer look, Alex could tell these were magic stones—amplifiers for spell formations. What was more, the symbols they were carving onto the ground were something Alex knew very well.

It was one of the most common magic circles that depended on the quantity of mana the magic stones contained.

‘An explosive magic circle?’ Alex mused, his golden eyes narrowing.

[It shouldn’t be Barbara, right?] Sophie questioned, wondering who they were and what they wanted.

‘Unlikely. She wanted revenge, but she wouldn’t be this hasty,’ Alex replied, his gaze squinting as he tried to make out the features of the hooded figure only to fail due to the darkness.

Alex already knew that Barbara wanted revenge. She at least wouldn’t let him go scott-free for killing one of her subordinates. She was good at masking her emotions, but just as she could somewhat look through Alex, he could as well.

The look in her eyes and her guards’ eyes had made their intentions clear. But for now, Alex didn’t want to engage in combat with them.

He was still waiting for Cecilia to arrive; only then would he decide what to do with them.

[Could it be Lilia’s followers then?] Sophie wondered, uncertainty clear in her voice. She knew Lilia enough to know that Lilia wouldn’t make this type of reckless decision.

‘We can’t be sure,’ he muttered inwardly as he clutched the window rail, glancing at the ‘rats’ again. ‘But thanks to our friends down there, we might get some information.’

Grinning softly, Alex activated Darkness Veil, swiftly leaping out of the window and landing silently within the formation’s boundary, right behind the cloaked figures as they continued their work.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” one of them asked, his voice a hushed whisper.

But Alex, who finally saw the speaker’s features, paused, his eyes widening. ‘Wait, are they—?’

[Vampires, yes.] Sophie answered before he could even ask, and Alex’s grin, which had momentarily faltered, returned, wider than before.

‘Looks like we hit the jackpot,’ Alex chuckled.

“I saw him enter last night,” another vampire confirmed the former’s inquiry. “He hasn’t left since.”

“Tch.” A tongue’s click was heard, followed by a voice filled with arrogance. “This man’s been sniffing around for Lady Lilia. Kill him before he causes any problem.”

Alex observed the speaker, his eyes sharpening as he caught sight of the shining red eyes and gray hair.

‘A noble? One that has imperial blood at that?’ Alex raised a brow as this took him by surprise.

Still, Alex remained silent, his ears sharp, listening.

“He killed a star connection realm expert yesterday,” another vampire muttered. “Just who is he? And how did he know we were here?”

“He might be one of Barbara’s. They know how to perform acts after all. Barbara probably wants us to mistake him for an outsider. She must be thinking that we would start to panic.” The imperial vampire snickered, shaking his head with a condescending sigh. “I wonder how she will react when she finds out that we killed the guy.”

Alex tilted his head slightly when he heard those words. ‘So they think I’m one of Barbara’s people? That works in my favor.’

The imperial vampire, on the other hand, turning toward the vampire who asked the question, spoke again. “I feel like you’re worried about his strength. If you are, then don’t. This magic circle can kill him.”

Alex waited for some more time, gathering as much information as he could, before he finally made his move. He didn’t want the inn to be destroyed after all.

Woosh!

He moved like a wind, and the first vampire didn’t even have time to react before Alex’s fist struck his throat.

Crack!

The vampire’s windpipe was crushed, and before the body could even fall, Alex caught it and swung it into another, sending them both crashing into the rubble.

The remaining vampires spun around, alarmed. “What—?!”

Alex, however, didn’t let them finish. He was already upon them.

“Let’s see how strong your regeneration is.” With those words, he unsheathed his sword, its gleaming edge a blur in the dim light.

In a single, fluid motion, he severed the arm of one vampire before spinning and driving his blade through another’s chest.

The rest scrambled to react, their hands igniting with blood-red energy.

“He’s strong! Don’t let him—” The imperial vampire, taking the command, shouted, but before he could complete his words, Alex used flashbang.

A bright flash covered their vision, causing them all to wince; their vision impaired for a few seconds, and making use of that, Alex cut through their defenses, rendering them immobile by severing their limbs.

“Arghhh!!!” “My leg!!” “No—!!” Howls echoed through the empty street as vampires’ bodies slumped on the group one after another, growling and groaning in pain.

But, of course, they were quick to recover. As soon as their eyesight returned, they looked around with an alert expression.

Only four of them were left, and the ones left were peak star formation realm experts. One of them being the imperial vampire.

‘Dammit all!’ He growled as he realized that his plan had failed. But as he surveyed the surroundings, he realized there was another problem.

Alex vanished from sight again.

“Dammit, where is he?!” Roared the imperial vampire.

Unable to think of anything, he bared his fangs and growled at the other vampires, “Regroup!”

As if in tandem, the others quickly stood together, their backs facing each other.

Alex, standing not far from them, glanced around. He could see the bodies of the fallen already healing.

Their bodies twitched as their wounds began healing. The ones Alex had slashed and stabbed began regenerating, their severed limbs slowly stitching themselves back together.

Alex frowned. ‘I guess I’ll have to get serious.’

He activated his lesser aura, his sword getting covered with it. Only with this could he stop their healing. Normal blade attacks would be healed in no time due to the monstrous healing power of vampires.

He dashed forward again, but this time things were different. Before the fallen vampires could even get up, Alex went ahead and slashed their limbs off again. This time with aura coated on his sword.

They all howled in pain, being able to see Alex, but their pain made it impossible for them to warn others about his moves.

“W-What the hell?! Did that fucker use aura?!” The imperial vampire, on the other hand, grew anxious. Alex was like an invisible enemy that could kill them anytime.

He, a vampire who is supposed to stand atop the food chain, felt like he was being toyed with.

Slash-Slash

It was then that he heard the sound of flesh being sliced right next to him, finding two of his teammates lying in the pool of their own blood.

Unlike others, they were killed with their heads decapitated. They were strong, so Alex didn’t want to take the risk of keeping them alive.

‘F-Fuck!’ The imperial vampire widened his eyes as he saw this.

The other two standing beside him were also trembling, hesitant to move as uncertainty crept into their eyes.

As he saw this, the imperial vampire gritted his teeth and barked, “Screw this! Activate the formation!”

With those words, he poured his mana into the magic circle right under his feet, and so did the other vampires who were still standing.

Alex had his gaze snapping to the magic stones. A faint glow had started emanating from them. ‘Tch. Can’t let that happen.’

Alex didn’t want the inn destroyed, so he moved faster than they could react, slicing through the formation’s key symbols with the tip of his sword and disrupting the energy flow.

Sparks flew, and the magic stones cracked.

“NO!” The imperial vampire screamed as the formation failed, the impending explosion dissipating into harmless energy waves.

Alex turned his gaze to the remaining vampires, his smirk sharp as he deactivated his stealth. “Now, let’s have a chat.”

“RAAAAA!!!” One vampire, however, lunged at him, desperation clear in her eyes, but Alex sidestepped effortlessly and drove his sword into her head, sending her crumbling to the ground.

“I didn’t want to kill you guys,” he sighed, his expression filled with regret as he tilted his head, narrowly avoiding another attack, waving his sword horizontally, severing another vampire in half. “But you guys are forcing my hand.”

The only one remaining was the imperial vampire now. Shaking in his spot as he saw the other two vampires die without being able to put a scratch on Alex.

Alex looked into the guy’s eyes, a wide smile marring his face as he declared. “You’ll be answering my questions now.”

Alex could hear the growls of the vampires lying on the ground, in pain, but hatred clear in their eyes, and he chuckled. “Don’t worry. I will come to you guys, and well, you know, I have ways of making even the undead talk.”

It was just the start of the day, but the ruined city had to witness something like this.

However, this was just the start. The following hours would be the longest for some unfortunate vampires, depending on how they behaved.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep