Night Ranger

The bat was flying over, but it didn’t slow down and land.

A short sound came out of its mouth and after a moment, it turned toward the north.

”Gwyn isn’t a fool, he knows we have many people,” sneered the female Vampire, understanding Gwyn’s actions.

”What? We are only three. Do you really think he’d be afraid of facing us alone?” A strange color flashed in Karnoth’s eyes. ”He is leading us to that abandoned village because he is afraid we will wake up more of us and snatch the Dense Blood Nucleus.”

”Let’s go!”

The three Vampires from the Dark Side all turned into bats and hurried north.

...

From a passageway in the Ancient Castle town, Marvin’s figure slowly came out.

He was still pondering.

He originally came to the Ancient Castle Tulip only for Eriksson’s Brooch.

Now that he had the treasure, he should leave.

But the Dense Blood Nucleus got his attention.

This was the crystallization of the power of a high level Vampire. It would not only give great benefits to Vampires, but would also have similar effects on other lifeforms.

This thing was a bit like a Nature Leaf. Absorbing or deciphering the core inside the crystallization could improve the quality of one’s body or could let one learn a few Blood Spells.

Moreover, Marvin knew that the Dense Blood Nucleus, like the Earth Crystal’s fragment which had soaked in the hot spring, was one of the few treasures that could safely increase his attributes.

Generally speaking, if someone under the Legend Realm used the Dense Blood Nucleus, his Strength and Constitution would slightly increase.

And these two attributes were those that Marvin crucially needed at the moment.

He ultimately chose to use the Demon Hunter Steps to follow.

...

The bats were flying very quickly and it was night time, so Marvin summoned a Night Crow to follow them.

As for himself, he was keeping a fixed distance between them.

Soon, their group arrived at the village Gwyn mentioned.

Such villages were very common on the Wasteland of Death. Ghosts would occasionally roam around, but they wouldn’t do much harm to the living.

Most houses in the village had already collapsed.

The three bats returned to their Human-shape as they landed in the open space in the center.

A cloaked male was calmly waiting there.

Marvin quietly arrived, ready to watch the show.

The strength of the cloaked Gwyn seemed to have increased compared to last time they had met. At the time he was at the peak of 3rd rank but now his strength was approaching the Legend Realm!

This growth was considered inconceivable for the natives, even if he was an outstanding Vampire.

”Karnoth, I brought you the Dense Blood Nucleus you requested.” Gwyn calmly looked at his younger cousin and asked, ”Why are you still mixing with those people from the Dark Side?”

The other two Vampires snorted coldly but didn’t say anything.

Karnoth smiled as he looked at Gwyn. ”To entrust you with the Dense Blood Nucleus, the elders of the assembly really… Ah, dear Cousin.”

Gwyn continued placidly, ”As long as you are willing to give up on going over to the Dark Side, I am willing to give you this Dense Blood Nucleus…”

”Give up?”

Hearing this, Karnoth abruptly started laughing his head off. ”You want me to give up?”

His body suddenly expanded. Even if his body didn’t increase in size, his muscles became more outlined and clear!

A frightening scarlet radiance flickered in his eyes.

A windrose imprint appeared between his eyebrows, making him look like a demon.

”The Dark Side’s [Bloodthirst]?”

Gwyn’s voice faltered for the first time. ”I didn’t expect that you would convert in such a short time!”

”Of course, when it comes to chasing for power, I am a lot like you.” Karnoth coldly watched Gwyn. ”But I don’t have as many resources as you.”

”Since we were children, everyone said I wasn’t your equal. My talent wasn’t equal to yours, my efforts weren’t equal to yours. I tried every single way to try to surpass you and eventually failed.”

”Later on I clearly understood: in the Bright Side, I would forever be inferior to you.”

”You degenerate Vampires should be eliminated just like those worthless humans! Only with ceaseless hunting can we become stronger!”

As he said all this, a frightening aura was emitted from his body!

Surprisingly, his power seemed equally matched with Gwyn’s.

And the other two Vampires also completely released their power, and that windrose imprint flickered between their eyebrows.

This was a sign of Bloodthirst, a power unique to the Dark Side.

‘Gwyn is in a lot of trouble this time!’

Marvin’s heart sank.

...

In the Blood Race, the battle between the Bright Side and Dark Side was very fierce. The level of hostility was a lot higher than the hostility they would feel toward other races.

The Bright Side always believed that the Vampires should be lofty and mighty, and shouldn’t become monsters fond of slaughter. They should be civilized and raise their strength through fair methods.

It was totally different for the Dark Side, a group made up of extremists.

They had developed many abilities specific to the Dark Side and Bloodthirst was one of them.

A Vampire activating Bloodthirst would become extremely excited for blood.

In that state, their strength would increase about three to four times.

Originally, these three Dark Side Vampires definitely weren’t Gwyn’s match, but the situation changed after they used Bloodthirst.

Naturally, that secret technique wasn’t without flaws.

As one would expect, Vampires under Bloodthirst would be very bloodthirsty. They would lose themselves to the pleasure of slaughter and blood-sucking and would gradually become more irrational.

More specifically, there would be a willpower test every 20 minutes and if they failed the test, they would lose some intelligence, turning into pure monsters!

This was one of the reasons the Bright Side criticized the Dark Side: They believed Vampires shouldn’t become the same as those bloodthirsty Demons from the Abyss.

As an intelligent lifeform, they shouldn’t become mindless monsters.

But there were always those who would do anything for power.

Karnoth was clearly one of them.

He didn’t hesitate to run over to the Dark Side and activate their Bloodthirst in order to win against Gwyn who always pressured him.

He wanted to prove to those from the Bright Side, especially those elders, that he wasn’t inferior to the gifted Gwyn!

...

The battle started without a warning.

Karnoth was clearly overly excited after using Bloodthirst and without saying anything, he suddenly leapt!

”Woosh!”

A scarlet blur flashed in front of Marvin, knocking into Gwyn’s body.

And the other two Vampires also attacked Gwyn from the sides!

Marvin held his breath, his hands holding the two pistols!

[Satan] in his left, [Astaroth] in his right, with silver bullets already loaded in.