Chương 666: The Sunlit Heroine

A wave of fire tore toward the vampire, and Serena watched him burn alive before collapsing to the ground in a blackened heap.

"One less of those bastards," said Maxwell, the Flame Hero. They were in a part of the city crawling with them. Serena leaped high, hanging in the air for a few brief seconds. It was noon, and the sun was directly overhead. She drew more power from it, then came down in the middle of several vampires. Her sword, fed by light mana, flashed as she cut through them.

"So the little heroine came to us," said a vampire in black armor. He was large, broad-shouldered, built like a brute.

"Don't think I'll go down easily." Another appeared with a chain in hand. Then another. Serena was surrounded.

"You're the group they call the Five Barons, aren't you?"

"And what if we are?" said one carrying a crossbow as he fired at her. She dodged. Subordinate vampires rushed in with them, and Serena met them with her blade. Then one of the barons came at her, swinging a flail. Serena slipped aside, but the flail slammed into the ground hard enough to crack it open, and he turned the swing smoothly into another strike. This time it caught her. Her body crashed into a wall. Another baron charged and drove a punch into her with absurd force.

His class was clearly built for close combat.

"You want to fight like that? Fine." She hit him back. Then she kept hitting him, glowing brighter with each strike, before turning and slashing him with her sword. The vampire screamed. Smoke rose from the wound. Serena's blade, wrapped in the element of light, had burned deep into him. With one final motion, she took his head. The flail-wielding vampire came at her again, but Serena burst forward in a flare of light, kicked him away, then caught him in the air and smashed him down into the others below.

She tore through the vampires with mounting fury, driving one straight into a wall hard enough to break him. The three surviving barons retreated.

"In daylight, you're strong, especially drenched in the sun like this, heroine," said the baron wearing a silver dog-mask.

"But there will come a time when we find you at night. And when that happens, you'll pay dearly." Then he slipped back into the shadows.

"Get back here, you bastards!" Serena launched after them, punching through every other vampire in her way. But they were gone. Frustrated, she turned that anger on the ones left behind.

"So it's true what they say," muttered one of the wounded vampires on the ground.

"The heroine really does have a temper."

"Shut the hell up," Serena snapped, crushing him underfoot. She pressed a hand to her chest and felt her heartbeat racing. I need to calm down. Her Rank Skill activated on its own, pushing her naturally toward a berserk state. It was almost funny, in a cruel way. A heroine meant to represent peace had a Rank Skill that drove her toward fury. That was how those cursed abilities worked, almost like the System was mocking her. A jet of fire swept down the street.

"Are you hurt?" Maxwell asked as he approached.

"Not anymore," Serena said, walking forward as her wounds closed on their own. As long as she stood beneath the sun, her passive healing skill kept working.

"That Count we fought is still missing," said the Flame Hero. They made their way back to the settlement their side was using. Serena had a tremendous advantage against vampires, especially during the day. What no one knew was that she had the opposite weakness. At night, Serena became much weaker. Most of her buffs faded. She walked through the area her government was using as a base, together with the Vampire Hunters.

"How did it go out there, brother?" Oscar asked. He was Maxwell's younger brother, a man with the class Hero's Assistant. In battle, the two of them amplified each other perfectly. But Oscar had stayed behind at the base.

"The same as always. I throw fire, and they burn." Serena stepped into the meeting room. A small argument was already underway about what their next move should be. Once it ended, she headed into another room where four members of her government were waiting. Military men. Trevor, Spencer, Tyler, and Wyatt. Spencer was the one in command.

"It's a waste of time keeping me here. I should be out hunting the Reaper Court fugitive."

"This again, Serena?" Spencer said.

"I have a real chance to catch that bastard, and instead I'm stuck here killing vampires. There's already a hero in this region for that. Why can't I be assigned to something else?"

"Because you have orders, and you're expected to follow them. Get some rest. At dawn, you'll resume hunting the Counts."

"Is this some kind of punishment because I let those important people die?"

"You're young, Serena. Sometimes a little immature. Do you really think I'd rather punish you than let you do your job? You want the truth? You're not ready to face Tobias."

"I have every advantage in the world against him. He's undead. A traitor to humanity."

"And he'd still kill you," Spencer said.

"And do you know what we'd have at the end of the day? A dead heroine. Don't rush. You're going to live a very long time, and there will be plenty to do in the New Earth. The first country that manages to organize itself and adapt will have the advantage. We didn't know when the 51 would happen, but we prepared for it. Our priority has to be the New America project." She left the room hard enough that the door nearly slammed. She was far from the strongest person her country had. But she had become its face.

And image mattered. A beautiful woman with a legendary class. Perfect for the pamphlets. She repeated the thought to herself with bitter irony. When she stepped into the room she usually used, she found Maxwell reading.

"Want to play cards? Or are you not authorized for that either?" he asked, humor curling at the edge of his voice.

"No. I'm only authorized to clean up other people's shit," she said, dropping into a chair.

"That's what we are. The pretty faces for the posters," the Flame Hero said.

"And what about your own problem? You've got things to sort out too. Are you still keeping that soldier of yours locked up?"

"Zoe stays locked up until she tells me exactly what I want to know. Who won that brutal challenge on her island. Who was the guy that killed my other soldiers," Max said, tossing the book aside.

"Oscar, let's give Hero Serena a little peace." Then he and his brother left. The next day, Serena went to the headquarters the Vampire Hunters were using. Let's see what miserable street they want me to clean up today.

"I came to see Bishop Michael, or one of the Vicars," she told Sister Ruth, a nun.

"The Bishop is occupied with the Vicars from the Abbey of Withered Flowers. You won't be seeing him today."

"So what exactly am I supposed to do today, Sister?"

"Keep killing any vampire you find," she said, then went back to reading her book. Serena sighed and started walking through the place, looking for one of the Vicars.

"I don't understand why you keep refusing your reward," she heard someone say. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

"I already told you, I didn't kill that Vampire Beast," said a dark-haired woman.

"Then where is the person who did?"

"That guy disappeared."

"In that case, you still get paid for helping kill it."

"I wasn't even with the group that killed it. Why are you so determined to give me a reward? Is this some kind of recruitment incentive for Vampire Hunters? If anyone should get the reward, it's Luke Moon and his group." Serena stopped walking and turned toward the woman.

"What did you just say?"

"I said I don't want the reward. Now there are two of you trying to talk me into taking it."

"I'm not asking about the reward. I want your name."

"My name is Mia."

"Alright, Mia. This Luke Moon you mentioned, is he a black-haired man who uses a pair of kukris?"

"That's him." Damn. Eleanor is here. By now I thought she'd given up on clearing the Beacons. Then again, maybe she had only come here to find Serena.

"Where is he? Where's his group?"

"Why do you want to know? What are you to him?"

"I'm a friend of Eleanor's."

"Eleanor's friend. I see."

"Where is she?"

"She went with him toward those towers in the snowy district."

"In the snowy district?"

"Yes." Serena broke into a run. She vaulted out of the place, leaping across the city and climbing onto the roof of a building. That's where Lucien and Curtis Rhiannon made their base. They've been attacking anyone who comes close. Damn it, Eleanor.

Alastair followed his master, Damian, through the forest he had created in that part of the city.

"Am I late to the party?" Damian asked. Count Drakar stepped forward.

"I lost important men fighting that heroine."

"And what exactly does that have to do with me?" Damian asked. The Count belonged to the Antrozous bloodline. A rival. But in the war between the Barbastella and the Antrozous, Lord Damian had chosen to remain neutral while quietly helping both sides from the shadows.

"You said you would warn us about her movements."

"I am watching all of your vampires at every moment, gathering information from my plants, monitoring the forest, telling them where they can escape, hunt, and do whatever else they need. Believe me, Drakar, if not for me, you would be in a far worse position," Damian said. The Count let out a low growl and sat back down on his throne.

"I hope you didn't come all this way just to say that."

"No, I did not," Damian replied.

"I got what you all wanted." The Count was on his feet almost instantly.

"The location of a Barbastella Count?"

"No. Something better. The location of the only Laziurus vampire in our universe, and at this very moment, he is wandering through my forest."

"That's a lie."

"No. It isn't. Gather your army, Count Drakar, and enjoy the hunt, because this will be the only chance you ever get to kill a Vampire Lord." Killing someone with a noble title was richly rewarded. And for a vampire to kill someone bearing the title of Vampire Lord... that was a chance to ascend in power, to earn the right to become a pillar within the bloodline's path.

"Where? Where is he?"

"Walking beside a lich."

Charlie had been caught in the blast of the Rhiannon arrow.

"Knight down," Curtis said, but then his tone shifted.

"Interesting." Charlie stood back up. Her broken arm snapped back into place. She had used [Basic Bone Regeneration] and [Blood Restoration]. There was no wound left on her body, though it had cost her HP. [Basic Bone Regeneration (Rare)]: By consuming HP, the skeleton can restore lost limbs and mend broken bones, ensuring its body never remains incomplete for long. The greater the injury, the higher the cost. [Blood Restoration (Ultra-Rare)]: Not all healing is born from life, light, or mercy.

This skill allows the Knight to sacrifice the blood still preserved within their own body to close wounds, restore damaged flesh, and sustain an existence that should no longer be moving. When activated, the skill consumes HP directly, transforming the blood within into fuel for regeneration. The more severe the wound, the greater the cost. This skill cannot be used if there is not enough blood left in the body, making it useless for fully dried corpses, skeletons, or undead with no flesh remaining.

A cruel form of healing, not made to save the living, but to keep standing what refuses to die. Its effectiveness scales with Toughness and Vitality.

"Handle her," Lucien said. Luke fired a knife from his bracer, and it exploded. Both Rhiannons dodged, and Luke came through the flash of the detonation, attacking from inside the light. When his kukri struck Curtis, it hit something false, a snow copy. The snow-body exploded. Luke twisted away from the blast and found himself standing between the two Rhiannons.

"I'd rather face both of you," he said. Lucien let out a dry laugh through his nose.

"Uncle, a group is climbing up here. Fast. Judging by how they move and where they're stepping in the snow, I'd say they're coming to help them," Curtis said. Lucien raised one hand.

"I've thawed the vampires. They'll have their own problems to deal with now."

"Charlie," Luke said, falling back until he was beside her again.

"I'm alright, Master Luke." And Curtis leveled the bow at her. At the same time, the other Rhiannon drove a sword of ice into the ground. Ice spikes burst upward in every direction around Luke. He dodged backward, retreating as the field of ice spread around him.

"Go back and help the others," Luke ordered.

"No. I want to help you, Master Luke."

"Charlie, go help the others."

"You should have listened to the knight," Curtis's voice said. He rose out of the snow itself, materializing from the ground with the bow already aimed at them, and fired. Charlie threw up a hand. [Spectral Barrier] flared into existence and held against the explosion, though it shattered under the impact. Luke sliced through the snowstorm, throwing knives that exploded one after another as he repositioned and kept moving.

"What's funny," Lucien's voice echoed from the ice formations rising out of the ground, "is that you actually think you can take the two of us alone." More arrows came at him while Luke kept dodging. I can feel the air getting even colder. He knew how a Rhiannon bloodline worked. He could feel the frozen air filling his lungs. They're slowly freezing my muscles and lungs. Fighting them in the cold, this close, is dangerous.

Even if their attacks never land, just staying near them means I'll keep freezing little by little. They're troublesome. And there are two of them. He smiled. If I want to kill the queen someday, there's no harm in practicing on these two first. Every ice-based ability a Rhiannon possessed was strengthened by their Ice Dragon Heart bloodline. Luke fell back with Charlie at his side, throwing explosive knives as he moved. The two of them retreated down the far side of the hill.

The two Rhiannons remained above, in the direction of the group. Partway down, sliding through the snow, Luke and Charlie reached a small village of wooden houses half-buried in white.

"We've got twenty seconds to decide on a strategy, Charlie," he said. Luke was watching through Eleanor's eyes with [Soul Infiltration]. He had not left them blind. He needed to know whether they were still alive and holding. The vampires were already running toward the others.

"That vampire baron must have had a much larger Blood Core than the rest of them. That's why he had Blood Energy to burn. But the lower vampires are starving," Luke said.

"They won't let Eleanor, Evangeline, and Anne get away easily."

"Master Luke, I'm helping you. Whether you want me to or not. I know what you're trying to do. You want to make me leave you alone to fight them by yourself. I'm not doing that," she said, firm and unshaken. The archer Rhiannon was advancing slowly beside Lucien. Luke felt the cold easing. Charlie had activated [Flame Aura].

"All right. If you're going to help, then we do this properly," he said.

"You take the archer. And you do not worry about my fight, understand? Focus only on yours." She nodded.

"I promise, Master Luke. I'll kill him, then I'll come help you."

"I need time, Charlie. And stay out of my fight. I'm not holding back on the damage." Luke pointed at the ground. [Teleportation Circle 1 activated] The archer Rhiannon began firing, and Luke and Charlie split apart. Luke's reasoning was simple. Curtis used a bow, which meant close combat was his weakness, and close combat was exactly where Charlie excelled, especially with her Black Ash Fighter abilities. Out of the two Rhiannons, he also seemed like the less dangerous one.

Charlie has the advantage at close range, and the cold won't hinder her much with all those fire skills. She has a real edge. The only problem was that, even though sunset was close, the sun was still out. Charlie was weaker than usual. Under normal conditions, that burst of snow would never have shattered her arm so easily. That was the real issue with her being a vampire. Spiked ice pillars surged up around Luke as he ran straight at Lucien.

He dodged with ease, moving in ways no normal person could, thanks to [Feline Agility]. He kept shifting, weaving, throwing knives that skimmed past the ice crystals. [Telekinetic Impulse activated] [Burst Throw activated] The knives tore through the ice and kept flying toward the Rhiannon, who pulled a round metal shield from his back and raised it in his free hand while his other gripped a sword of ice.

"Curtis has good instincts. He said something sensible. Because why else would you know Allison Rhiannon's name?" the man said from atop a pillar. Luke leaped, using the others for momentum as he went straight for him. Lucien jumped down into the snow, and the two of them faced each other.

"Because I swore I'd invade the Rhiannon kingdom to rescue her," Luke said, "right after I beat the hell out of your queen and anyone else in your family stupid enough to stand in my way." The Rhiannon laughed.

"You wouldn't even make it past the wall." Luke shifted his grip on the kukris.

"I usually hold back because I'm not great at handling group fights. But right now, that's not a problem."

"As for me, I can't say I'll stop holding back," Lucien replied.

"I don't see any reason to." Luke smiled.

"You should be more worried about what's above you."

"Above...?" The moment Lucien looked up, glowing knives were falling from the sky. [Telekinetic Impulse activated] [Shadow Mana Explosion activated] The knives were just about to explode. [Knife Storm activated] And every one of them multiplied into six and came down all at once.