In a small grove behind Thorn Slope, south of Ma’en City.
“Run, Edward!”
“Aren’t you the best at running?”
The future Undead Sovereign — Edward — was currently sprinting like a madman, his legs pumping as he fled for his life.
The blurry silhouettes of trees on either side receded rapidly, and the thick green mist in the forest was sliced open, forming a human-sized tunnel half a meter wide.
The wind rushing toward him poured into Edward’s mouth, making his head spin from the force.
His lungs felt like they were about to explode, and every breath he took burned with a searing pain.
Edward estimated that he had covered a significant distance, and a sliver of hope flickered in his heart.
He turned his head slightly to look behind him.
However, from the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of that figure shrouded in purple light, still pursuing him relentlessly.
Moreover, the distance between them was constantly shrinking!
As the presence behind him grew closer, Edward’s heart raced with increasing anxiety.
Right then.
A look of ferocity suddenly flashed in his eyes.
‘Damn it!’
‘You’re the one forcing my hand!’
In the midst of his frantic flight, Edward pulled a staff from his robes.
He held the staff in front of him and chanted an incantation.
Green death energy emerged from his palm and began to spread up the bone-carved staff.
It traveled all the way up into the skull sitting at the top of the staff.
After a few seconds.
The staff, now saturated with death energy, trembled slightly, emitting a faint, low hum.
It seemed to wail as it struggled to escape Edward’s grip.
“Hmph, get ready for this!” Edward snorted coldly.
He leaped suddenly, performing a graceful turn in mid-air. Aided by the death energy radiating beneath him, he hovered in the sky.
His ragged black robes fluttered loudly in the gale.
Wisps of overflowing energy surged around him, and the surrounding space rippled in layers.
He gripped his staff tight and squinted his eyes, aiming at the purple figure rapidly approaching from behind.
“Take this!”
Edward shouted at the top of his lungs.
In an instant.
Bright green light erupted in the dark forest, with several beams even piercing through the dense canopy and shooting into the sky.
The energy within the skull at the top of the staff exploded.
Two eerie green lights burst from its empty eye sockets, shooting straight toward the figure chasing Edward.
This was his strongest offensive spell — Eerie Gaze.
It condensed a massive amount of death energy, which was then amplified by the staff’s magical properties and fired as beams of light.
It possessed extreme corrosive and piercing power. It was said that it could instantly shoot through a row of heavily armored soldiers.
If it had been one week ago, he wouldn’t have been able to use this move at all.
But recently, he had been lucky enough to find a pile of corpses provided by “kind people” in the forest.
He had refined a large amount of death energy from them, using it to significantly boost his strength.
He had finally learned this powerful spell recorded on the seventh page of the Undead Grimoire.
He was brimming with confidence in this newly mastered technique.
He was certain that under his strongest spell, his opponent would be either dead or severely injured!
A faint smile tugged at the corner of Edward’s mouth.
‘I’m going to win.’
***
Vivian felt as if her vision had been covered by a green curtain.
She paused her footsteps and raised her hand, slightly shielding her eyes from the blinding light.
‘What kind of power is this?’
Vivian could vaguely sense a small cluster of weak energy suddenly erupting ahead.
She wrinkled her nose and stared curiously at the two beams of light that had solidified into physical form, heading straight for her face.
‘My face feels itchy…’
‘Oh, how scary~’
*Pop!*
Vivian’s body suddenly burst apart, transforming into a swarm of bats the same size as her original form.
The green beams passed through the center of the bat swarm without any resistance.
They struck the ground behind her.
*Boom!*
A massive cloud of ghostly green smoke erupted from the ground.
Several nearby trees were swallowed by the mist and were instantly corroded away by the death energy.
“What?!!”
‘My strongest strike was neutralized just like that?’
The confident expression on Edward’s face collapsed instantly. He looked up sharply, his eyes swirling with disbelief.
‘This is impossible!’
The eyes of the bats Vivian had transformed into glowed with a red light as they rapidly swarmed toward Edward.
*Flutter, flutter.*
Amidst the dense sound of beating bat wings, Vivian’s petite figure reappeared to Edward’s right.
Vivian clenched her right fist and delivered a sharp, close-range punch, slamming it hard into Edward’s abdomen.
*Thud.*
A dull sound of impact rang out.
Edward’s mouth hung halfway open, but he couldn’t make a single sound.
Acidic stomach fluid mixed with bile rushed up his throat and sprayed out.
He felt as if his internal organs had been shifted by the impact of that immense force.
Intense, blunt pain spread from his stomach to his entire body.
He curled up uncontrollably, yet he couldn’t even groan. He could only collapse onto the ground, clutching his stomach tightly.
‘So… it was a Vampire…’
That was the final thought that crossed Edward’s mind before he lost consciousness.
Vivian pulled back her fist and patted her hands.
She briefly straightened her dress, which had been crumpled by the gale.
‘Ugh, wearing a skirt is always such a hassle.’
Vivian couldn’t help but complain to herself.
Then, she leaned down and reached out to flip back the hood covering Edward’s head.
Underneath was the pale face of a young man.
Vivian grabbed him by the back of the neck, hoisting him up to look him in the eye.
Seeing that Edward was bloodless and his eyes were vacant, she confirmed he no longer had the strength to resist. She then dragged Edward behind her, retracing her steps.
*Thud.*
Vivian casually tossed the unconscious Edward in front of Nolan and Blake.
He curled up on the ground limply, like a pile of soft mud.
“You hit him way too hard. You didn’t kill him, did you?” Nolan said, looking down at the man.
“I’ll wake him up right now.”
Vivian propped Edward against a nearby tree trunk and performed an emergency awakening technique on him.
She raised her hand, and a series of crisp slapping sounds rang out.
She delivered several heavy slaps to Edward’s face.
*Slap, slap, slap.*
By the fifth slap.
Edward finally lifted his heavy eyelids, his eyes regaining clarity.
He stared blankly at the three people in front of him.
“He looks like an idiot,” Blake said, shaking his head thoughtfully.
“I can fix that, too, and I won’t even charge for it.”
Vivian raised her small hand again, making a motion to deliver another slap.
Edward’s eyes brightened instantly, and he hurriedly waved his hands and shook his head.
“Wait, I’m not an idiot! I have something to say!”
His voice was no longer raspy and sinister like before, but rather the deep voice of a young man.
“See? He’s fine now,” Vivian said, waving her hand dismissively.
“Yes, yes, yes. Thanks to this lady’s miraculous touch, my stupidity has been completely cured.”
Edward adopted the sophisticated mannerisms he had learned from his senior, Lorn.
He showered Vivian with a flurry of extravagant praise.
It made Vivian feel a bit embarrassed, and she could only scratch her head, laughing sheepishly.
Suddenly, she remembered the business at hand. Her expression turned serious as she asked Edward sternly:
“Was it you who attacked the caravan and killed everyone?”
“What caravan? Who did I kill?” Edward asked, confused.
“Could you please be a bit clearer, Miss…” He nervously rubbed his fingers together.
“Then I’ll ask again.” Vivian pointed to the mountain of corpses not far away.
“These people from the Blue Whale Merchant Guild — did you kill them?”
“It’s a misunderstanding! I just picked up these bodies along the way!”
Edward shook his head frantically in denial.
“I am willing to swear in the name of Motes that these people were absolutely, definitely not killed by me!”
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