Chapter 18: Master of Night and Blood (1)

Sien’s target was not a simple human.

It was an immortal monster whose power vastly surpassed any human—
a vampire.

“Oh, the young master Sien of the Nightwalker Family. Even I have heard much of your talents and fame.”

The vampire smiled slyly and continued.

“But I hear you’ve only just turned fifteen?”

“So what?”

“To think those people would send someone so young and tender!”

The vampire spread his arms, exultant, like a fisherman certain he’d landed a giant catch.

“I’ve imagined every night just how fresh and sweet the blood of a Nightwalker would taste! And now, to think it’s the blood of a child like you! I’m glad I won’t have to run away tonight without tasting it!”

“If you can even manage to escape properly.”

“Oh, fortunately, this immortal flesh has taught me well.”

The vampire spoke with a relaxed expression.

“Ah, yes, escaping is quite possible.”

Ta-at!

Sien adjusted his grip on the hilt and charged forward.
It was the black sword named Kingslayer that his uncle, Hansel, had once given him.

Kang!

A ringing sound echoed. The vampire met Sien’s sword—charged with Aura Blade—with his blood-red claws and mocked him coolly.

“How adorable you are…”

Only humans could wield aura. Those who transcended humanity, immortals like vampires or liches, could not harness the power of aura.

Instead, the vampire’s claws, soaked in unnatural magical power, scattered deadly energy as they deflected Sien’s blade. At the same instant, the vampire stomped on the ground.

With overwhelming force, a crater formed in the marble floor. The power of those blood-stained claws, swinging like iron chains, was equally devastating.

With every attack, pillars shattered and the marble walls split and cracked with sharp noises. This wasn’t the power of aura.
It wasn’t even the force of magic.

It was pure, unadulterated physical strength.

Kang, king!

“I am stronger!”

Against that power, even the swordsmanship of the Assassin of the Nightwalker Family was meaningless. In fact, just parrying the blows seemed an impossible feat.

“I’ve heard…”

The blood-soaked claws, swung with enough force to destroy the Cathedral, suddenly halted. Amid the suffocating cloud of dust, a voice echoed out.

“They say that the movement of the Nightwalker Family’s Assassins is so strange, it’s like watching a phantom.”

The composure and leisure born from overwhelming strength.

“But to my eyes, you’re nothing but an annoying fly buzzing around a cow’s tail.”

The superhuman strength that could never be imitated with a mere human body. For them, the flesh was never an obstacle to be overcome.

It was a blessing to be revered—a gift from the gods.

“It’s fortunate you’re not Vigore.”

He was certain now. The being before him was not one his peers could face.
Not even Sien himself, as he was now, could guarantee victory.

Even the Nightwalker Family’s Assassins bled.
Especially between the ages of fifteen and nineteen, like Sien now—just beginning the path alone, without the protection of their parents—it was even more dangerous.

“It’s lucky that I’m the one who took this mission.”

He never wanted to see his family bleed again.

Resolute, Sien tightened his grip and spoke.

“You die here.”

“Do you truly believe you can kill me, young master…?”

Displaying his blood-red claws like iron chains, the vampire jeered.

“No, that’s not it… The one who will die here is not I, but you. The infinite potential in that body of yours will wither before it can blossom. Before you even reach adulthood, you’ll die and become this lowly one’s sustenance…”

“Everyone thinks they’re different.”

He sneered at the words.

“Everyone believes they’re special, that they won’t die like the idiots who’ve already fallen to our hands.”

But suddenly, he could no longer sneer.
The air in the chapel had changed, grown strange.

“What is this?”

A curse? A barrier? What trick was at work?

Something was different, but he couldn’t tell what. No, he didn’t even want to know.

“So much for bravado, Nightwalker brat…”

What are you trembling and afraid of?

“I am invincible!”

How much blood had he shed to seize this immortal power? Of course, not his own blood—
but making others bleed was not easy either. He could not die here.

He didn’t want to die. He had become a vampire to avoid death.

“Do you really think the likes of you can kill me?!”

Ku-ung!

Uncontrollable, boiling bloodlust surged up from within.

“I won’t let you escape, you little rat!”

Kang, king!

The bloodlust within him was no mere figure of speech.
To become a vampire, he had devoured the blood of dozens, hundreds, building his strength on the very lives of his victims.

“Blood Frenzy.”

A storm of blood swept through the chapel as his crimson claws drew a deathly trajectory toward Sien.

“Oh, this is youth…”

The vampire trembled with ecstasy, unable to contain his bloodlust.

“I am stronger! I am younger!”

Letting his overflowing youth explode, his claws slashed down. With every fierce clash, Sien’s stance began to falter.

“Now!”

As a fortress eventually falls to relentless siege, finally, Sien’s stance collapsed and an opening appeared.
The vampire, squeezing out every last drop of bloodlust, surged forward—aiming to pierce Sien’s chest.

Jwa-ak!

It was a lethal blow, beyond all doubt.

Duk, hududuk.

Blood spattered. From Sien’s body.
And from the vampire’s own mouth.

“Huh?”

Sien’s body had surely collapsed.
But from that crumpled body, something burst forth.

“Bone…?”

Bones jutted out from Sien’s body, piercing straight through the vampire’s throat and chest.

“[Thorn Stance]—!”

Just as its name suggests, by replacing some of the body’s 206 bones with blade-like structures through a special surgery, one could acquire this technique.

Rib bones, replaced with bladed bones, jutted out and skewered the vampire’s throat and heart.

No matter how broken one’s stance or how defenseless the opening, it was the optimal defensive sword style—capable of counterattacking instantly.

At the same time, among the nine sword techniques of the Nightwalker Family, it was the only one that permitted no witnesses.

“This—what is this…!”

“I told you.”

Swallowing the blood in his mouth, Sien answered calmly.

“You die here.”

“Ah, ah, ahhh…”

The shadow of death and terror clouded the vampire’s face. There was no escape.
No matter how immortal, no one could survive being skewered through both the throat and heart.

“Sa… Save me… please…”

Awaiting death, the vampire pleaded desperately. Sien burst out laughing at the plea.

“Why should I?”

Jjik!

At that moment, the vampire’s body exploded. An internal detonation ripped through him—
blood and flesh spraying in all directions.

It wasn’t Sien’s doing.

“A nameless spawn of the night dared to lay hands on the great Nightwalker.”

A voice rang out.
It was a refined, gentle man’s voice.

At some point, a silhouette appeared at the entrance to the chapel.
No one had sensed his presence until he revealed himself.

A black-haired nobleman draped in a pure white fur coat stood there.

At his feet lay the corpse of the priest who had lured in lost lambs—shriveled and dried like a mummy, all his blood drained.

“And I saw nothing at all. There’s no way bones would just shoot out like blades from a human body. Isn’t that so?”

The nobleman in the fur coat feigned innocence with an air of ease.

“I’ve heard that ‘Thorn Stance’ is a sword style that never leaves witnesses alive, you see.”

“Yes, you had best hope you saw nothing.”

Witnesses cannot be left alive.
Yet the man before him had witnessed the stance—and even knew its name precisely.

Of course.

This man possessed a strength far beyond that of the young lesser vampire Sien had just slain.

He was not someone Sien could silence.
No matter how secret the Thorn Stance, it could never be perfectly hidden before a monster like this.

A monster so strong that even two High Masters of the Family would only barely be a match if they joined forces.

One of the highest-ranked vampires on the entire continent—an Elder one.

But there was no need to be flustered.

“Have you forgotten our Family’s contract?”

Instead, Sien interrogated with an icy voice.

“I apologize for the commotion caused by an immature child.”

“Do you think this is something to brush off as childish mischief?”

Sien retorted, showing not a hint of intimidation before the being in front of him.

“As the lord of this district, the master of blood, you have neglected your rightful duties.”

His tone was as if a superior was reprimanding a subordinate.

“Because the city’s functions have halted, logistics are paralyzed, trade schedules are disrupted, and there are significant financial losses.
More than anything, the body meant as proof of peace has been ruined beyond recognition—”

With flesh and entrails scattered everywhere, Sien coldly delivered his words.

“Well, what words of apology can you offer?”

“Why did you mutilate the body?”

Sien asked coldly.

“I was in such a rush to help that I lost my composure without realizing it.”

“For someone so eager to help, you only showed up after it was all over.”

“Ah, but believe it or not, I arrived quite quickly.”

Step.

The fur-coated nobleman, who had been at the chapel entrance a moment before, appeared behind Sien and whispered.
Not even a hint of presence or movement could be sensed.

“Did you truly not know that the high-ranking priest had become a vampire?”

“And why do you think that?”

“That creature’s power far surpassed a mere ‘Lesser Vampire.’ There’s no way to explain such strength without some powerful backing.”

“Hm, was I really that strong?”

“That’s right.”

“Well, let’s say so.”

At Sien’s words, the black-haired nobleman shrugged nonchalantly.

“So, what will you do?”

The air in the chapel froze.
In the midst of the chill, the nobleman smiled faintly.

“You have broken your promise with our Family.”

Yet Sien did not shrink back and answered in turn.

“And you must bear the consequences of breaking it.”

“Oh dear, consequences…
There are few words in this world I hate more.”

Step.

“There’s hardly anything more unpleasant than responsibility, wouldn’t you say?”

The nobleman moved again.
A moment ago, his silhouette had been behind Sien; now, he blocked Sien’s path, the tails of his white fur coat fluttering.

“I hate nothing more than being held responsible for anything in this world.”

“That’s the way it always is with responsibility.”

Sien replied calmly.

“But you didn’t expect me to survive, did you?”

“If I died and my blood was drained by the Lesser Vampire, you planned to use that as an excuse to dispose of him—before my blood fully fused with his after the bite.”

At these words, a faint twitch flickered across the man’s eyes, which had always seemed so composed.

“You were hoping to pin ‘responsibility’ on him, wipe your hands clean, and play innocent.”

If things had gone according to plan, the vampire before him would have obtained Sien’s blood without even lifting a finger.

The flesh of a Nightwalker, especially one just beginning to mature, was a rare delicacy.
Even an Elder one would find it hard to resist.

“Did you think you could get away with plotting such an obvious scheme against our Family?”