“Huh, boss, are you dead?”
Gavin didn’t dare get too close either. He bent down, picked up a pebble, and stood at a distance to throw it at Feilin.
“If you’re not dead, make a sound.”
Thud. Feilin lay motionless on the ground.
Gavin mustered his courage, stepped forward, and gave her a kick.
“Seems she’s dead for sure, Lord Marco.”
He turned around to report the situation to Marco.
“Mhm, that’s good.”
Seeing the threat eliminated, Marco boldly walked over to Feilin’s corpse and used blood magic to sense her.
He confirmed her heart had stopped beating.
“Bring the body for me.”
“This is a rare find, a special race only found in the Frostclaw Alliance.”
“Perfect for studying the physical structure of these demi-humans.”
Marco turned and motioned for Gavin to follow.
Since the matter here was resolved, he planned to return to his laboratory.
To conduct his favorite flesh and blood experiments, while also pondering how to get revenge on the remaining few.
Tap.
A light sound came from the ground.
As if he had accidentally stepped on something.
Marco looked down and lifted his foot.
A green die was spinning continuously in the pool of blood.
“This is… that stupid dog’s weapon, right?”
He muttered, looking at the die.
“Sir, she’s a fox.”
Gavin reminded him quietly, then hoisted Feilin onto his back.
“You truly are a meticulous thief, Sir Gavin.”
“If you ever had the chance to study at the Royal Academy of Magic, you might become a legendary archmage.” Marco’s lips curled slightly upwards, his expression pleased as he spoke.
He was in a good mood now, even in the mood to joke with Gavin.
“Thank you for your praise, Lord Marco.” Gavin bowed his head humbly.
Marco laughed loudly, bent down, and reached to pick up the die on the ground.
The die stopped spinning the moment his fingers touched it.
The final number was 12.
Huh?!
Alarm bells screamed in Marco’s mind, instantly drowning out all other thoughts.
Danger!
He rapidly transformed into a puddle of blood and flew to the side.
Re-forming his body not far away, he looked at the die with wary eyes.
“Was I just being overly cautious…”
He waited a moment. Nothing happened except for the evening breeze blowing back from the distance.
He relaxed his guard, sighed in relief, and said to Gavin:
“Drop the body!”
“Let’s leave quickly, I have a bad feeling.”
He didn’t even want the spoils anymore. Marco just wanted to get back to his lab now.
His intuition told him something bad might happen if he delayed any longer.
At that moment.
A soft sound of flapping wings suddenly came from behind.
Marco whipped his head around.
He only felt a blur before his eyes, followed by a gust of fist wind rushing towards his face.
Splat.
A sound like a watermelon falling and smashing to pieces.
Marco’s upper body turned into a bloody mist.
A swarm of bats gathered behind him with a rustling sound, forming a petite figure.
“Are you Marco?” Vivian asked indifferently.
His lower half sprayed a column of blood.
The flying, scattered blood interwove in mid-air, once again coalescing into Marco’s upper body.
“Y-yes… me.”
He raised his hand and twisted his head, which was tilted backward, back into place. His young face was unnaturally contorted.
“Have we… met somewhere before?”
Marco rubbed his skin, making it return to normal.
“Please~ Mister, that’s such an old-fashioned pickup line.”
“But it might be just right for someone your age.”
Vivian spread her hands and quipped.
“My apologies, miss. I will definitely study the latest pickup lines when I get back.”
Marco bowed elegantly to Vivian, expressing his apology.
“I am Marco Ford, a mage who enjoys studying blood magic.”
“Vivian Steele. Likes eating bread and Nolan’s blood plasma. Hates carrots the most.”
Vivian said in a flat tone.
Immediately after, she clenched her fists, spread her legs apart, and assumed a fighting stance.
“Alright, the trash talk segment is over.”
“Now, I’m going to kill you.”
She kicked off the ground violently, turning into a purple bolt of lightning as she charged at Marco.
So fast!
Marco thought to himself, alarmed.
He wanted to summon a blood barrier, but before he could finish casting the spell.
Splat.
His upper body exploded into a bloody mist once again.
“Wait, we can talk!”
He reformed his upper body again, but his expression wasn’t as relaxed as the last time.
A hint of gravity and urgency appeared in his demeanor.
“What do I have to say to a murderer like you?”
Vivian threw another punch.
Splat.
Marco exploded again, then reformed his body.
“You and I are both Vampires! We might even be family of the same faith!”
This time, Vivian couldn’t even be bothered to speak and just attacked directly.
Splat.
Marco exploded, Marco revived.
“Don’t you want to resurrect Lady Liola?!”
“As long as Lady Liola returns, she will surely lead our Vampire kind to greatness once more!”
“Don’t you want to hold your head high and live in this world? Don’t you want to establish a nation for our Vampire kin?”
Marco’s expression grew more and more frantic, his tone of voice becoming somewhat agitated.
Because his blood pool reserves were almost depleted.
Once the blood pool was used up, his regeneration and spellcasting abilities would be severely limited.
Even death!
“What Liola? Don’t know her.”
Vivian said calmly, then delivered another casual punch.
Splat.
“You betrayed the Vampires?!”
Splat.
“I…”
Splat.
Marco’s body was blown apart by Vivian again and again, forced to regenerate continuously.
He wanted to escape too, but Vivian was faster than him.
Every time he tried to run, Vivian quickly caught up and smashed him with a punch.
Marco’s current situation was like hitting a dead end in a video game.
Saving at a terrible spot, getting killed every time after loading.
After dying, it would automatically load the most recent save, only to be killed by a punch again, in a vicious cycle.
And Vivian treated him like daily monster grinding—the monster respawns, she kills it again.
Such a brutal scene left Gavin, watching from the side, dumbfounded.
“This… this is how a Blood Mage and a Vampire fight…”
“This is too…”
Gavin had a look of disbelief on his face, then closed his eyes and rubbed them.
When he opened them again.
Marco had been blown apart once more…
“Enough!”
Marco knelt on the ground and roared.
His crimson-red robe was soaked with bloodstains, leaving a large, dark stain.
His skin was like porcelain about to shatter, covered in dense, fine cracks from which blood continuously seeped.
His right hand propped on the ground, the palm missing two fingers trembling.
He lifted his face, pale as ashes, and stared at Vivian with a venomous gaze.
“Uncle Marco, are you okay?”
“Do you need me to help you up?”
Vivian asked with feigned concern.
“Huff—huff—”
Marco’s chest heaved violently, each inhalation emitting a rapid, gasping sound.
He tried to stand up, but as soon as his right leg lifted off the ground, it fell back down weakly.
His knee hit the ground with a dull thud. Like a branch bent under pressure, his whole body collapsed.
Vivian had also seen enough of his struggle and found it rather boring.
“Then it’s goodbye.”
She walked up to Marco and slowly raised her foot.
Under Marco’s resentful gaze, the sole of her foot came closer and closer, then everything went dark.
Crunch.
His head was crushed into pulp by Vivian’s foot.
Vivian unsatisfied, ground her foot a few more times.
This time, Marco’s body did not regenerate. Only his neck, severed at the head, gurgled as it flowed with blood.
“Your turn, Mister Thief who’s been watching the show.”
She turned her head, looking at Gavin with a friendly smile.