#283
European Advance (2)
As the day slowly drew to a close in the outskirts of Paris.
Bastian, a diligent young vampire, had gone out to spend another fulfilling day as usual, only to encounter an unexpected event.
While patrolling the clan’s territory, he was suddenly ambushed by a masked monster that appeared out of nowhere.
He was a member of “Termidor,” the largest vampire organization in France, which ruled the nights of major cities, including Paris!
“Crazy beggar! How dare you do this here at night?!”
The capital of France, Paris, was a globally renowned metropolis, a coveted land with many interests concentrated there. Naturally, organizations were keeping a close eye on it.
Bastian, a level 5 vampire who could at least take on middle management roles in other regions, was directly involved in a patrol task usually handled by the foot soldiers.
“He’s really insane. He must be quite confident in his skills; even if I die, you won’t walk away unscathed!”
His body froze, unblinking, as if something had gripped him.
The cold grip tightening around his throat made him sense his final moments, and just as he was about to whisper a final curse—
He realized he had made a grave miscalculation.
“Ah?”
A surge of something flooded from the fingertips digging into his neck.
Before Bastian could fully comprehend what it was, a massive presence shook his thoughts.
Some hidden entity forcefully embedded itself into his mind.
“This is…!”
He could barely breathe.
It was an awe akin to none other.
High and distant.
Wide and vast.
Large and wondrous.
Deep and chilling.
His body didn’t stiffen due to some trick from the opponent.
It was merely his instinct, facing a staggering disparity, being overwhelmed by fear.
Unbeknownst to him, his limbs trembled uncontrollably.
“At least 7…? 8 levels? No, this is beyond my scope.”
The strongest vampire Bastian had encountered before was a 7-level high-ranking member of Termidor.
When he was being inspected alongside his comrades, he had been petrified with extreme tension until they were a good distance away and he could finally exhale…
“Could it be that strong…? A Lord level?”
Compared to that time, he felt like he was on vacation.
It was far beyond comparison.
But he couldn’t afford to ponder further.
Crack— snap!
Due to the blood entering his system, everything within him was being fundamentally reshaped from head to toe.
“How can this… be possible…?!”
It was an evolution akin to a revolution.
In that brief moment, his flesh surged past its limits, expanding like a clock.
Bastian was engulfed in a sense of omnipotence, feeling like he could take on dozens of his former self, and he quivered quietly.
Of course, that feeling was merely a side effect of excessive hormone secretion, but with adrenaline pumping through him, he paid no mind to such trivial matters.
Filled with awe, belonging, and loyalty swirling in his mind, Bastian dropped to the ground, burying his head in the earth, and from the depths of his heart, he uttered a word of obedience.
“Just give me your command! I, Bastian Dubosc, will do my utmost to ensure Phantom-sama finds Christine!”
“…………”
Already under the oppressive presence, he seemed unaware of what he was saying.
Heinz’s skeptical gaze was piercing the back of his head.
*
“He’s really sucking this up.”
Heinz looked down at the prostrate young vampire, Bastian, with a disapproving gaze.
Drawing out a single slip of the tongue like that.
However, the extensive cooperation he subsequently provided was not unwelcome.
He, who had been bizarrely worshipping him, fervently answered Heinz’s questions and laid bare everything he knew.
Like a mad zealot worshipping a deity.
It was clear at a glance that this wasn’t a normal reaction.
“Indeed, it seems ‘Temptation’ works here too. I didn’t expect it to be so effective.”
Even though he had subjugated him with “Refined Blood Essence,” there was never such a powerful capability to enthrall the subject.
The disparity between them significantly affected that, too.
Regardless, it made things easier for Heinz.
“It worked out well since I saved time.”
The information he had about France was limited to what he found on the internet.
Local cooperation was essential for comfortable activities and swift work.
After all, subjugating level 5s wouldn’t take much of the “Refined Blood Essence.”
“Such opponents are merely bites on the liver.”
To achieve the completion of his bloodline and break free from his framework, Heinz II, now a Pureblood, needed at least a level of Trueblood vampire blood.
And that was just the bare minimum; to properly shed his skin, he would need several Pureblood levels.
“Currently, in France, only one Pureblood… level 9.”
Heinz’s gaze fell towards the direction that the “Blood Desires” led him.
But due to the caliber of his opponent, it felt vaguely, and unlike before, he could no longer pinpoint their location.
Shortly after arriving in Europe, he disregarded the surging urge for more blood and calmly assessed the situation.
“It would be foolish to charge in recklessly in this situation.”
This was the enemy’s stronghold and a foreign land.
There could be traps, and carelessly moving about might draw the government’s attention, just like in Japan.
“I might need to shake things up a bit.”
Thus, he immediately began preparations with Bastian’s assistance.
A bit of groundwork for an easy hunt.
*
Whispering—
“This scent is quite nice. Quite a good taste.”
“Right? It’s hard to find this good.”
“Nadia, I have something urgent to say…”
In one of the strongholds of Termidor, located in Versailles near Paris.
“It’s absolute chaos!”
A cold voice slipped out amidst the wild party happening in the luxurious mansion.
It was a whisper small enough to be drowned out by the party’s noise, but…
“Eh?”
“…Who was that just now?”
The people present were sharp enough not to miss such an atypical dissonance.
The relaxed atmosphere tightened in an instant.
Fired up, they quickly scanned the area, and soon identified the intruder seamlessly mixed among them.
“Who the hell are you?!”
“How did you get in? No, when?!”
With cautious shouts, a fierce energy radiated from them, enveloping the surroundings.
Despite that, Heinz II, the masked intruder, simply surveyed the area with a grim expression.
Large chandeliers hung from the ceiling, along with fine gold and silver dishes, and artistic pieces that stood out at first glance.
In the midst of it, the sight of trembling boys and girls felt surreal.
The blood-filled goblets held by the participants and the blood splattered all around only added to the dissonance.
“…Tch. I wish I’d come a bit quicker.”
With a flick of his tongue, Heinz surveyed the vampires having a party with the fresh blood of the victims.
They had already surrounded the entire party venue, preparing for any countermeasures and getting ready to attack.
“Uh, communications are down!”
“What? Since when?!”
Except for notifying the outside about this situation.
Even though it could have been dealt with quietly, Heinz’s deliberate act of revealing himself wasn’t thoughtless.
“There’s no time, so let’s finish this as quickly as we can.”
The situation was practically finished anyway.
Snap—
With a light finger snap.
「Blood Mystery」 activated.
Blood that had been scattered like avant-garde art, as well as that contained in goblets, began enveloping the surroundings in thick mist.
“Blood Magic barrier!”
“Gather! Prepare to counter immediately…!”
What followed was not a true fight.
It was merely an one-sided violation.
Sensing the resentments bound to the victims’ blood, Heinz gripped some of the flowing causality.
And once he made that decision.
—It was so.
Boom!
Crack—!
A chandelier that had broken free from the ceiling fell, shattering into shards.
Splash—!
Tear—
The sounds of something ripping apart echoed repeatedly.
Huff!
Gurgle…
In the space enveloped by sunset-hued mist, the veins of the vampires fluttered like rose petals.
Such incomprehensible attacks could neither be defended nor dodged.
Moreover, the mediocre Regeneration Powers they possessed meant nothing against the profound level of this presence.
Cough!
Of course, not everyone was cut down by that single move.
The strongest being in the Termidor Versailles branch.
Nadia, the 7-level high-ranking officer who had been calmly commanding the situation since Heinz appeared, clutched her severed left arm and immediately attempted to flee.
“What the hell?! Level 9? Level 9? What the hell is this nonsense?!”
Facing an incomprehensible attack from an opponent she could not match.
She gritted her teeth, leaving behind her mangled subordinates strewn about.
“Opera mask… Who is this? Where did he come from? Italy? Germany? It couldn’t be Romania, could it?”
There weren’t that many level 9 vampires in the world.
Even in Europe, the strongest were few and far between.
And as far as she knew, none of them had such an appearance.
“Could it be a being from another continent? America? Asia? …It seems I might have heard something like that…”
But her thoughts couldn’t last long.
Click-clack—
Suddenly emerging through the dense blood mist right before her.
“You seem to be deep in thought.”
As Nadia halted her feet, biting her lip, she thought it would take less than a second to leave this mansion.
For some strange reason, she still remained inside the mansion, shrouded in thick red fog.
“…Who are you? What are you doing here? What do you want…?!”
“Just as I anticipated, others were quite lacking.”
Nadia struggled to raise her voice as Heinz’s calm tone cut through her words.
“You seem to have some nutritional value.”
As he finished speaking, a red tongue flicked out from behind his mask.
The suggestion of a taboo in that action made Nadia’s pupils dilate.
“…Could you be…?!”
“Shh—.”
In any case, what could she do?
Soon, the thickening blood mist surrounded her tightly.
《Collecting new vampire factors. Under the influence of the special skill “Hybrid Evolution”…》
After an unnatural silence followed by eerie quietness, there was only one person left at that place.
*
Among the victims lured to the mansion as part of the party, only a little more than a dozen had survived by the time Heinz arrived.
All of them were youths barely on the threshold of adulthood.
“Ugh.”
“Ugh…”
Having become sacrifices as they had been noisy or resisted, they desperately covered their mouths and trembled in fear amidst the chaos of the party.
As ordinary humans, they couldn’t comprehend the situation due to the blood mist thickly shrouding them.
This blood fog also had functions to protect the victims, but they were unaware of that.
‘Please, please.’
‘Mom…’
Yet one thing was certain.
That the masked gentleman who appeared a bit late was a hundred times better than the monsters trying to make them party food.
As they continued to pray in extreme tension, the blood-scented mist gradually began to thin.
Finally, the revealed landscape was a spacious party hall devoid of vampires or even a drop of blood.
“Eh?”
“Nobody… is here?”
In the silence enveloping their surroundings, there were no signs of life except for themselves.
Some began to look for the masked gentleman, presumed to be the victor, swiveled their heads, but couldn’t find him anywhere.
For some unknown reason, the shattered chandelier on the floor caught their attention.
After a moment’s hesitation, they soon started to move, eventually bursting through the wide-open front door.
‘Well, if the police are nearby, this should be good. Now, where to go next?’
Heinz, the masked gentleman, Phantom’s surprise visit did not stop at the Versailles branch.
Saint-Denis and Créteil.
He rampaged through the branches in the surrounding cities of Paris.
No matter how much it took place in the darkness of the city, such events occurring in succession in just one night could hardly go unnoticed.
Thanks to that, survivors could continue to emerge.
And those connected to Termidor could read a particular message from that incident.
It was a blatant provocation directed at someone.
“Don’t hide; show yourself right now.”
– I am here.
A boldly confident challenge.
