Sixth Bloodline [BxB]

CHAPTER 11: THE FIRST FAMILIAR [I'VE BECOME BOSS OF MOBS]

cHAptEr 11:

tHE first fAmiLiAr

[i'vE bEcOmE tHE bOss Of mObS]

   "MAKE SURE you catch that bastard!"

   "Carefully look around. The suspicious bastard is a sly master of disguise! He will catch hostages and then use them to threaten us to let him pass. But we must not waver!"

   "Brothers and sisters, the opponent wants to usurp the peace and lead all rebels to break down the barrier of this city! Our Lord Pureblood has shed blood and sweat in order to make this city prosper like it does today. It's all thanks to him that we can lead peaceful lives and enjoy our days with our family!"

   "We mustn't let some blind motherfucker get in the way of our peaceful lives and destroy our home!"

   "He can be anywhere, become one of us and then betray us! Open all four eyes and look around carefully, don't let even a single suspicious person pass!"

   "He still haven't attacked! He's only leading us to go in circles while he's gathering forces!"

   "Yes, he's gathering the rebels and showing them our incompetence to catch him... Are we going to let him do as he wants!?"

   "No!"

   "We won't!"

Amidst the bunch of Nobles in white patrolling around the city while looking for suspicious people - especially Mikhael who continuously avoided them for two hours - seemingly running in circles. But only Mikhael himself knew that he wasn't doing that on purpose, but he still couldn't find his way around - and still had to go from a pillar to pillar.

Vampires in this city had mansions with gardens spanning for over a mile - if they're poor - or few miles, if they are wealthier. Mikhael had to avoid entering those gardens lest he attracted more pursuers, but...

   "What an evil bastard!"

Unbeknownst to him, he became labelled as the most evil guy in this city. Mikhael firmly believed that he only got swept in the storm because of those APO bastards who provoked Nobles in this city. And they did try to kill the Pureblood before, so it made sense they now tried to stir up the masses to join them and try to escape together.

   "Yes, he's an evil... Hey, kid. What are you doing here? Don't you know it's dangerous here?" One of the Nobles who heard that sentence pulled away from the crowd and came in front of a juvenile vampire sitting on a short black bench.

   "Ah... I got lost," the boy's clear eyes stared unblinkingly at the vampire in clad white robes, showing off the map he held with deep grievance.

From the Noble's point of view, the juvenile looked so harmless and innocent that he thought it was kind of cute to see him glare at the map like it's his sworn enemy.

   'Ah, what a cute kid. He's also quite the looker...'

   "You shouldn't be wandering around today. It's dangerous outside right now," the Noble advised and the juvenile nodded.

   "I heard just now. There's some really vile guy going around and stirring up trouble. He also won't hesitate to use hostages to move forward!" His reply was also quite honest. It seemed like the juvenile was really on guard against that evil intruder.

   "That's right. Come, let me help you," the Noble got closer to the juvenile and took a look at the complicated map, "What do you want to know."

   "I want to go here," the juvenile pointed to the area around a round black dot to the very east of the map, "But I don't know where am I..."

   'f**k your entire ancestry, the blind motherfucker who designed this city!'

The juvenile that was looking at the map was precisely Mikhael who got tired from running around in circles and finally remembered to buy a map instead of running in vain.

It's too f*****g absurd, the entire city made him feel like he knew where he was heading, but he's certain that he never entered this cursed den of bloodsuckers! If only he could find the one that designed this city, Mikhael would stab him with his voodoo dolls few times just to vent his anger!

A watery layer glistened over the juvenile's eyes as he looked at the Noble with a gaze full of frustration , making the later suddenly put a hand over his chest to subdue his heart that threatened to burst open.

   "..."

   'The hell's wrong with you, brother!? Don't you die from a heart attack on me, what if they accuse my innocent self who's by your side later!?'

Mikhael's tears weren't fake. He really wanted to cry. He got led in circles for two hours because of dumb Nobles chasing him instead of those APO bastards! It's really not easy on him. Just as he got some sense of direction, they'd appear out of nowhere and force him to run into an empty street... Which led into the middle of nowhere and got him lost even further!

   "Sir, are you okay?"

   'So don't die, OK? I just obtained the map, I want to move leisurely, for once!'

While the Noble who saw this thought that Mikhael was genuinely worried about him and his heart softened.

   'How f*****g cute! I almost got a nosebleed! Ah, young ones are so cute!"

But the Noble's thoughts were obviously not on the same wavelength as Mikhael's.

   "I'm fine, I'm fine. Let's see... The area in the center... You shouldn't go there, there are a lot of evil vampires, got it?"

Nod, nod.

   'Whatever, I don't even want to go in the middle of this city. I should be moving close to borders, so where the hell am I?'

   "Let's see, this outer ring from the Central District should be the home of few Higher Nobles and group of Nobles under him," he pointed to the odd circle made of few smaller blocks surrounding a bigger one.

Though, it wasn't really a circle. Mikhael could swear the shape was like a wiggly Ouroboros instead...

There were other bigger squares like this all over the map with odd symbols in the middle, which should be the homes of other Higher Nobles. Now he knew what places to avoid.

   'How annoying, it's f*****g 24th century and vampires still use paper maps! Did you guys never hear of holographic scans? If you sold one, I wouldn't even be in this stupid situation to begin with!'

Since, holographic scans pointed out your own location, as well as the route to the place you wanted to go to...

But anyway, bad vampires should be those who were truly imprisoned here, and had a wall of Nobles and Higher Nobles surrounding them.

He could figure out Ethan's residence which was on utmost North, just between two black circles which should be the barrier pillars. The area alone took even larger space than the center, and all it had was a single castle and forest full of weird things!

   "..."

It was too illogical!

   "This zone above should be residential district. You can find a hotel and various shops there, including two blood banks. Don't go to the left one, there's been a big explosion in that place.

Nod. Nod.

   'I should've started from there somewhere... Probably.'

   "Bellow..." He paused as he eyed Mikhael, "You really shouldn't go to the south. You'll be in danger."

   "Why?"

   "Well..." Looking at the juvenile's clear eyes, the Noble really couldn't bring himself to say it out loud.

   'Because someone as cute and beautiful as you will most likely get caught and sold to a brothel if you go to that dangerous place. You might even get tricked by gamblers and become someone's slave...'

   "Ay, never mind. You aren't going there anyway, so just remember to avoid it in the future - and especially avoid going even lover. There's the HQ of W.E.R.P., you know..." He then pointed to the west.

   "..."

   'But...'

Mikhael didn't even ask about all that, he just wanted to get to the pillar and find out his own location! It's all the fault of the other guy who wanted to show around and eventually said something unnecessary.

   "See this big street?" The guy pointed to on street in the east of the center, "You should just follow it and then go here... Then turn left here, and then here... Straight... Down this street and there- you'll get out at this clearing and you should reach the place you want to."

   "Ah, so where are we right now?"

   "..."

   "..."

   'Don't look at me like that, I only wanted to ask this one question. I know how to read a map, OK? You're the one who complicated the entire deal!'

The Noble coughed in embarrassment and finally pointed to a place on the map. With a somewhat blank stare, Mikhael found out that he was quite that far from that street the guy just mentioned. Not just far, he was on completely opposite side from it!! But luckily, he was not that far from the pillar situated on the east.

   "Thank you, uncle," Mikhael was satisfied with his hunt. Nobles are nice, they sure do help little vampires all the time, don't they?

   "Ah, it's nothing-"

   "Mauricio, what the hell are you doing? We shouldn't be lazing around! Go search for that bastard instead!" The Noble who talked with Mikhael turned around after he got called out.

   "..."

   'Who's lazing around? Don't you see I'm helping a fellow vampire here?'

   "Ah, I was just helping this lost-" as he turned back to point at Mikhael who was no longer there, Mauricio froze for solid five seconds before his brain began to function properly once again.

That bench the juvenile was sitting on... Seemed to not quite be a bench, ain't that right? It looked more like a coffin, instead?

   "..."

The little guy also seems to have wanted to go near the black circle... Black circle... Circle... Pillar... Pi...

   "f**k! I got cheated! He got me!"

   "What the hell?"

   "What happened?"

   "Did you meet him?"

   "Are you missing a limb or two!?"

Others immediately gathered around him to make sure he's in one piece.

   "He was here just a second ago! He really is the master of disguise! How vile, acting like an ignorant youth to cheat me and... f**k! I just helped him out! Motherfucker, from now on - I'm no longer helping anyone!"

   "..."

   "..."

   "The good thing is: I know where he's going! Everyone, follow me!"

   "Notify others! We must catch him this time for sure!"

In the next moment, they all dispersed.

At the same time, few vampires from the shadows that observed the bunch of Nobles exchanged glances and grinned before scattering as well.

And Mikhael - who had long left this scene and headed for the nearby pillar - was completely unaware that he once again got framed for something he didn't even do. Nor that this bunch headed for the pillar in opposite direction from him and would later blame him for driving them in circles like idiots...

Ignorance truly was a bliss sometimes.

He really just wanted to ask for directions, he swears!

   "ONE MORE down."

This was the third pillar Mikhael arrived at and according to his calculation, that makes six pillars in perfect state.

In other words, it meant that his fears have came true.

   "f**k, I only said it in a spurt of the moment, but who would think that this guy is that great of disaster charm so the pillar I've been looking for is actually the last one," Mikhael sighed as he looked at the coffin, where his 'disaster charm' slept like a dead log, "He made me run around for nothing!"

But that was just Mikhael looking positively on the whole situation. He prayed that the next pillar to reach is the damaged one, and not the one on the opposite side of the city from it.

Of course, Mikhael buried the possibility deep in his heart, not even bothering to include it in his calculations.

He'd kill himself if it were to actually happen.

   "Die, you vile-" while he was deep in his thoughts, he heard someone shout at him. But before that someone even got a chance to finish what he started, Mikhael smashed him with the black coffin and continued to run forward like nothing ever happened.

   "This is getting troublesome, the number of people getting in my way decreased, but they got better in quality. So, am I actually going in the right direction?"

Or perhaps they predicted his route and sent some stronger pawns to slow him down and real trouble lied at his final destination?

   "..."

He suddenly paused as he realized that the real danger really might await for him at the last pillar. He glanced at the black coffin where Ethan leisurely slept, like none of Mikhael's predicaments were his fault and his eyebrow twitched.

Was this mission worth the risk? What is Mikhael about to face isn't some random horde of unorganized blood-suckers, but an ambush full of Nobles and Higher Nobles.

And there was also that other Pureblood lurking in the shadows!

There were few Eden cities around the world, but this one in particular happened to be the strongest one, despite being left in hands of the youngest Pureblood.

No, that's not right. It's precisely because this Eden was the most formidable and powerful that they left it for the youngest Pureblood to manage... Because he would be the safest here, probably.

Following the death of the  Seventh Pureblood, it could be said that the remaining six took their safety rather seriously. If someone could get the Seventh, someone should surely be able to kill the Sixth one as well.

So why not throw him in the safest place on Earth? It had the most Elites and strongest W.E.R.P. agents around - hence, if someone tried to harm him, their only outcome would be death.

Heh.

Mikhael couldn't help but sneer in his heart. Didn't he hold a certain Sixth someone inside his coffin, in a half-dead state, at the moment?

Some protection it is, he has to say that even if he planned to kill Ethan himself, he can't have done it better.

   "Eh, could it be that the old fart actually wanted me to kill this dude, so he arranged everything to get me by his side?"

Mikhael didn't have much memories from the Great War since he wasn't in his proper state after his Deep Slumber got interrupted. So most of the information he had came after he asked around once it all ended. And he heard that during that time, many people tried to kill Ethan.

It wasn't just trying, though. They mobilized an entire country to deal with him but got wiped out instead. And a large number of Hunters died in that operation, including nine Esteemed Seats. Nine out of twenty most powerful Hunters, ah! Even one apostle from Vatican died, and he was Mikhael's good friend... Or so he thought, but the later fabricated his death and enjoyed life while looking for a vampire to accompany him. Mikhael doesn't know what goes through his head...

Anyway - as for Esteemed Seats that died, they got switched later, naturally. And Vatican lost one Immortal Human while vampires lost one Pureblood, so everyone ate a loss in that battle.

But after that, everyone did whatever they could to create peace so something like killing one of the Purebloods became a forbidden topic.

But now...

   "No way, right?" Mikhael tightened his grip on the black coffin. Even before he joined Hunters HQ, there were always missions where some Hunters weren't told of their content and were used to bait their targets before other - more skillful Hunters - finished them off.

In fact, he himself was in charge of quite the number of such operations in the past.

   "Even after getting rid of me, he still wants to use me..." and then he considered his position.

He was first caught and brought to Ethan, forced to stick by his side. Those who knew Mikhael well should be able to predict his reaction after getting sentenced to stay in this city when he hated Purebloods so much.

Then Amelia mysteriously came and gave him weapons with a warning, which is a variable that went in his favor.

But, in case she didn't help him: if she followed her order to just give him those talismans... After which they mysteriously got attacked and the two were left alone, separated from anyone. Mikhael was in an oddly hungry state with premium-pack snack by his side, and at that time APO appeared. From their earlier conversation, Mikhael was certain that they got lured in by Hunters and Ethan got seriously wounded.

In this moment, Mikhael would surely try to kill the Pureblood as well, but that old fart miscalculated something. For some reason, Ethan decided to trust Mikhael and side with him, so Mikhael decided to help the other guy instead.

But if he really did kill the Pureblood, or something happened to Ethan when he was last seen with Mikhael alone...

   "Forget about Vatican, the entire world would be after my head from that point onwards."

Just like they mobilized all forces to find the one behind Seventh Pureblood's death. The only difference between that person and Mikhael is that no one knew the former's identity, while Mikhael got seen by many people.

And barrier of Eden was also oddly breached around the same time, while pillars - which were supposed to withstand the joint attacks from several Purebloods - were damaged; and from Amelia's words and Ethan's helplessness as he sought help from Hunters, it might break soon.

   'Not just soon, those guys might even take it down today... as a grand finale.'

   "If it got breached, all those vampires in this city would be released... And with the amount of grudges they hold, they'd attack humans once again. And someone would have to subdue them, which would turn into a favor of Hunters."

He paused.

   "..."

Those bastards aren't trying to start another Great War, are they?

   "I've done many things in my life I'm not really proud of," Mikhael placed the coffin back on his shoulder, "But closing my eyes to an obvious m******e happening in front of me really wasn't one of them."

That gaze of Ethan's as he said that he trusted him, Mikhael really couldn't shake off. Losing things precious to him, he would never like to experience it again.

   "Thanks Amelia. You really saved me this time."

With that, he took a glance at the next pillar in the distance. Whatever lies ahead won't be that troublesome, will it now? After all, even if he were to fail and get hurt severely, it's not like anything would change.

   "It's too late to fix anything anyway..."

Only he himself knew what was he talking about.

   ALTHOUGH HE was prepared for obstacles on his way, the sight in front of Mikhael still made him loudly suck in a breath.

Were this guys actually planning to face off against a Pureblood or a weak, unknown vampire like him?

   "There's no doubt, this is the right one," he glanced at the pillar that was around a five miles away from him. There was a huge crack spinning vertically from top to the bottom of the pillar making it look like it was separated in two pieces after a meteor or something slammed on top of it.

   "Oi, oi, oi, even if all six Purebloods were to attack it, it shouldn't be this bad, right? Who the hell damaged it like this?" Mikhael grunted under his breath.

   "This isn't the work of vampires," he concluded, "Maybe a witch or magus intervened? Spell-casters proficient in formations who saw through it... No, there shouldn't be one capable of breaking my creation, so it's definitely not a spell-caster!"

He bit his lip.

   "Perhaps only a Vampire King or could do something like this...That vile crow might actually be behind this, scheming against everything and everyone alive or dead! Or if magic messed up with it from the inside."

This complicated things. If his opponents were just vampires, he was certain that he can deal with this - but if some outside factors intervened, it's high likely that someone Mikhael can't deal with pulled the strings behind all this.

   "It's too much!"

Even for Mikhael to deal with, this was really too much!

   "I'm just a collateral damage, those guys are trying to catch a bigger fish."

The mysterious spell-caster, for sure.

   "That old fart knows that I'm a Half-blood so he should be well aware that he can't deal with me with just those numbers alone - or well, the former me."

So there should also be factors meant to deal with Mikhael included in this plan. The other Pureblood? But he didn't seem to be in his side... So did they want Mikhael to escape safely?

It's what he would've done after dealing with Ethan, so if he did escape unscratched-

   "s**t! He really wants to blame everything on me!"

Getting rid of Ethan, running away and breaking the barrier. With those ten black cards W.E.R.P. saw being handled to Mikhael, they'd think that he used them to kill or harm Ethan, maybe even destroy this barrier! He'll have both the weapon and motive, since Hunters came all the way to this city with an Immortal Seat to claim him as one of theirs!

And then they'd say how he got fired because of something, even pull out the other Twentieth Seat they placed on Mikhael's position twenty years ago. All kind of stories can be made to put all the blame on Mikhael, and he won;t be able to refute them.

Unfortunately for them, Ethan was there when Mikhael got fired through the phone, so he would suspect all this. But if Mikhael really did kill him, no one would remain to prove his innocence!!!

   "You bastard! You must wake up and help me out soon!"

Now he really can't let this motherfucker die!

It's no wonder Amelia told him to run away!

If he knew this from the very beginning, he would risk his identity and all to run away. So what if he's a Half-blood and everyone knows it? Better that than to be known as a bastard that killed another Pureblood and started the second Great War!

Mikhael could feel something else involved in this plot, but he lacked clues to understand what. He glanced at the horde of vampires stationed around that pillar.

There were at least fifty Nobles and few Higher Nobles standing among the crowd - and although there weren't any Purebloods like he originally feared, Amelia stood in the very center of this group.

His past self wouldn't even bother about her, but he was no longer who he once used to be. If she went all out, he'd be dead before he even knew it. Not to mention fifty minions around her he had no means of going against.

And hundreds of vampires and W.E.R.P. behind them.

He cursed under his breath, this really way too much for him to deal with.

The only good thing is that he kept the super mega last hidden BOSS locked in his black coffin, so no Purebloods would obstruct him. The one that appeared earlier looked like he didn't want to be recognized, so he probably fled already.

   "Sneaky motherfucker, they probably wanted to use me to kill this guy and blame it on me later..." He always said that Purebloods are no good. He didn't joke.

He grabbed the black cards he stored in the pouch on his belt. Earlier when the car was under attack, Mikhael threw the silver case inside. Although the little pouch was smaller than his palm, the space inside is as big as a standard room.

A convenient tool for spell-casters made in the east, but even ordinary people and vampires could use it. Since Mikhael couldn't openly use his void, he thought that it would be a good thing to hide it. Luckily, he put it on this morning before he got knocked out. And it wasn't that rare to obtain if you had money.

Still, even though just one black talisman should be enough to get rid of those guys, it would also mean destroying the pillar as well, if not the entire city... Well, the pillar in its current state really won't be able to hold against one black talisman.

   'Hell, it might kill me as well!'

Mikhael wasn't sure if he's as immortal as he used to be. Although Half-bloods can't die even if their psychical bodies got destroyed, Mikhael can't say the same for him. So if there really was someone prepared to deal with Mikhael, he couldn't possibly resort to fair play and fight with his own power.

   "At times like this, no action can be considered as shameless. there's nothing ignoble in keeping your life intact," he murmured. His face was stoic, like resorting to underhanded means was some kind of a noble action instead.

He moved to the corner where he won't be seen by anyone and took away the glove from his hand. Glancing at the annoying black wristband, he really wanted to remove it, but...

   "I want to dismantle it even more!"

What if Ethan doesn't give him another? That will be sad.

   "Since it's like this..." he bit his own wrist and let his blood pour down like a stream on the ground. Oddly enough, instead of being messily splattered around, it began to gather and slowly draw an odd rune on the ground, surrounded by a circle and some unknown characters.

   "Blood of vampires is a good material for crafting talismans. It's goes without saying that the best choice should be the blood of Purebloods and Half-bloods." A creepy grin adorned his face as the bloody spell flashed and simply disappeared into the ground.

   "Pitiful mobs and random extra characters, leave it to your luck to avoid provoking this thing," he shook his hand once it was done, and the wound healed before he opened his void to take out something.

It was a pitch black mask.

He placed the coffin on the ground next to him before putting the mask on. His clothes suddenly become enveloped by black shadows before turning pitch black just like that mask of his, and then he pulled yet another thing from the void while storing his guns inside.

It was a little black card case, full of yellow-like paper talismans. He attached it to his belt, and threw the one with black cards into the void. He also took his pouch and threw it inside as well before grabbing an ordinary looking white sword.

   "Since the Half-blood Mikhael can't deal with this, then I can only unleash some random spell-caster to deal with the barrier - and so, it would be easier to hide my identity."

   'Like Hell I'll allow that old foggey to do as he wants!'

   "While this guy saves the barrier, little vampire Mikhael will be hiding somewhere in the city with Ethan, so if Hunters really want to act against me, I can easily avoid the blame. They will have no proof that I did something suspicious. I won't give that old fart the opportunity to ruin eight centuries of my hard work! My power boost has already been dealt with."

   'So thanks for sharing your blood, mister Pureblood!'

He fought the urge to laugh like maniac. He's been fooling the most powerful existences among vampires for eight centuries; hiding his identity - it was not something one old guy can destroy on a whim!

With one last look at it, Mikhael threw (gently as it might be) the coffin with Ethan in a dark corner before slapping three talismans on top of it, followed by series of complex hand seals.

   "I beseech shadows. I beseech light. Blend. Conceal!"

At the speed visible to naked eye, the coffin completely turned invisible and Mikhael nodded in satisfaction. Now he could only pray that no one would attack the coffin.

He didn't worry about Ethan inside, but...

Even if it's concealed - if someone attacked the coffin by accident, the protective spells would activate and with Mikhael away from it - they'd obliterate the unfortunate soul that accidentally stumbled upon it. And with the horde of vampires with super-sight not that far from them, they'd surely notice such a flashy spell and come to check it out.

And that would complicate the entire situation.

   "Amelia has never seen me fight as a spell-caster, so she won't be able guess my identity. I naturally can't use my familiars nor vampire abilities other than enchanted physical abilities," which wasn't too odd for spell-casters. Mana reinforced their bodies so forget about enhanced bodies, even if they fell from the top of a skyscraper, they'd still be fine.

They'd maybe have a broken bone or two if they fall in an uncomfortable position, though...

Anyway, if his identity of a spell-caster gets brought into the question, Mikhael can always tell some nonsense story where his good friend got worried about him and came to this city to get him out, then saw the pillar and decided to go a good deed.

   "What's left now is to just break through the horde of trained vampires, professional vampire police, fifty Nobles led by ten or so Higher Nobles and an Immortal Seat of Hunters HQ, fix barrier and escape unnoticed. Simple as that, let's go!"

To be honest, back in his prime days Mikhael pulled even more ridiculous stunts, so he wasn't as nervous as one would expect him to be, despite being weaker than ever. He DID resort to underhanded means, after all...

In an instant, he disappeared from the place he stood in.

in the next moment, screams not too far from there echoed one after another.

   "I beseech fire. Incinerate!" he threw a talisman followed by another set of hand seal as fire began to spread out it, engulfing few vampires around him. But it didn't kill them, only burned their clothes and all hair...

The Nobles that were away from him immediately noticed the commotion.

   "What is that? This is some other guy," Dimitri was first to notice Mikhael.

   "A spell-caster," Amelia responded, "Of course, if they want to take down the barrier placed by a spell-caster, another is needed. But..."

   "I beseech cold. Condense! Sharpen! Shoot!"

With that, many icicles rained from the sky, piercing through the crowd.

...

Well, just before they made impact, they suddenly tilted a bit, so instead of piercing people, they fell on their heads and knocked them out.

   "What does the Immortal Seat find troublesome?" noticing her furrowed eyebrows, he asked.

   "Why is that guy alone?"

Not only was he alone, but he even used hand seals after throwing talismans. Someone like that isn't really considered as a powerful spell-caster. Amelia has seen guys who only threw around talismans and used spells that could burn down entire cities with ease. In comparison, this guy looked somewhat weak.

   "..."

Mikhael didn't consider the fact that being alone was suspicious as well, but the acting weak part was intentional.

Since he couldn't find people crazy enough to follow through with this plan, he could only act alone. If he lovered their guard and then attacked suddenly with everything he had, it might just be enough for his plan to work.

   "I beseech darkness. Spread! Condense! Encage!" passing by W.E.R.P. agents, he could only summon darkness element to immobilize them. They weren't like vampires who could regenerate fast, after all, he couldn't stab them.

Though Mikhael used some powerful talismans and attacked as he broke though the crowd, if one were to look properly, they'd notice that he hadn't killed a single person.

It wasn't because he was a kind person, but because thinking carefully - it would be hard to reconcile with them after he's done with his job, not to mention explaining himself to Ethan. They might even ignore his good deeds and curse him for wantonly murdering everyone...

   "Come and fight like a man if you dare, you stinky monkey!" someone yelled and Mikhael only rolled his eyes before flashing next to him and hitting him so hard he buried him in the ground.

It was a vampire.

   "A man fights not in the way that makes him look elegant, but in the way that makes him win," with a self-centered voice, Mikhael continued to throw talismans around while drawing closer to the pillar. No matter how many people wanted to stop him, he moved unperturbed.

Elites and Amelia who were preparing for the attack from a madman with the black coffin began to get headaches from this little guy who was unstoppable and fought unfairly. But since he didn't really kill anyone, they were somewhat reluctant to send stronger guys at him.

Maybe he was just a madman that came to seek trouble? He wasn't even that powerful.

   'It's just...'

His words after he trashed people really made their fingers itch to beat him.

And so...

   "Say, can we like spar one or two Nobles to deal with this guy. I'm sure that the rest of us will be enough to deal with the other..."

   "Brothers!" a voice interrupted Dimitri in his attempt to deal with Mikhael. Everyone, including Mikhael stopped with what they were doing to look at the newcomer. Well, as Mikhael paused, the ice staff he created with spell fell down on the head of a nearby vampire.

In the moment, all eyes turned to him and he just shrugged.

   "I also stopped, this was just an accident."

So they all turned back to the guy who yelled earlier.

It was a shady looking vampire who had a crazed look on his face, and looked like he was about to collapse at any moment.

   "We have been living under suppression of those Pureblood bastards for no other reason but simply existing!"

Mikhael only tilted his head in confusion, his hand that was about to reach for another talisman and attack while everyone was busy- slowly lowered.

   'Who the actual f**k is this?'

   "We have been living in constant fear, like caged animals - not daring to make a move in threat of complete annihilation! But this brother of ours, this brave guy discarded all the reason and bravely, and charged in front to buy us a chance for freedom!" he pointed at Mikhael but then paused when he saw that he's not the same guy with the black coffin. Still, he couldn't back down now!

   "...?"

Mikhael also paused when their eyes met.

   'Since when did I become another Che Guevara?'

   "As long as one fights, our hope shall never be extinguished! Brothers who yearn for the same freedom like us, come to our side! Together, let's beat those cruel oppressors and breach this dammed barrier, building a bridge to the other side using their corpses! Paint our road of escape with their blood!"

Mikhael almost clapped to this guy. Such passionate words moved even him, not to mention other vampires in the dark who wanted to escape.

   "This guy and his friend toyed with Nobles all this time and gave us this opportunity!"

All eyes once again turned to Mikhael who raised his hands in defeat.

   'When did I toy with Nobles? In fact, they're the ones that toyed with me, chasing me all over the city!'

   "Let's not waste it! Break through!!"

   "..."

Whatever, it will do.

He needed the crowd to make this better, and he'll just disappear later on, so he didn't fear the consequences of this guy's motivation speech.

   "Charge, brothers. For freedom!" at that moment, vampires appeared one after another all around the pillar, charging forward their enemies. Mikhael only sighed in relief when he suddenly felt few heavy killing intents sent his way - making him turn his head to face them.

   "He is the ringleader of this attack," one Higher Noble said, glaring at Mikhael. It was Mauricio who helped Mikhael earlier and held a grunge after being made to run around in circles. So he hated both Mikhael with the coffin and this guy who was supposedly his partner.

   "..."

Mikhael also recognized him, but didn't understand his heavy killing intent. Did he offend this guy before?

   "He's capable of destroying the barrier, otherwise he wouldn't dare to attack us, despite being so weak," another added, "It must be that he has a special affinity or knowledge that let's him destroy armaments despite weak mana!"

   "..."

   'No, I don't. Please don't make me stand out even more!'

   "Those vampires have faith in him, which makes it much easier for us to deal with this," Estefan spoke.

Eh?

   "Meaningless slaughter will only make us overwork again, I'd rather we avoid dealing with the small fry." At that moment, Krull who hated when unexpected things happen to him, added, "I personally don't want to have too much victims today. Looking through the files of all vampires and finding the missing ones to check who participated in this attack... I'd rather not do that."

   'Wait, there's something odd with the development of this situation.'

   "True, so if those guys have blind trust in this guy who is capable of granting them their freedom..."

   'No, wait, I'm not...'

   "...it can naturally be settled if we only kill him and destroy their hope."

   '...their ringleader.'

   "f**k," cursing under his breath, Mikhael grabbed the wooden sword from earlier before grabbing ten or so talismans and putting them on the surface of it.

   "Is this karma? Or the saying that if you want treasures, you need to embark on a dangerous road?" he didn't want to give them opportunity to attack first.

It would be troublesome if they were to surround him, so he might as well just blast a way through them to the barrier.

Gently flicking the sword with his pinky finger, turned towards those Elites before swinging it with the speed impossible to follow with the naked eyes.

   "s**t, attack with your full power, don't hold back!" Amelia's senses told her that something was amiss, and immediately warned the rest. But it the next moment, her expression drastically changed as she heard odd screeching sound coming from behind her.

As she turned around, half the Nobles who were in front of the pillar noticed something amiss as their clothes slowly became stained with blood.

At the next moment, their limbs fell off their bodies, cleanly cut away from them, while a clear red line appeared on the broken pillar they were supposed to protect.

As the line went horizontally at an odd angle following the trajectory at which Mikhael swung his sword - and in the next moment, the upper part of the pillar, the one almost a mile long slowly began to slide down like a tofu in their direction.

   "G-get the hell out of here, now!" someone from the crowd yelled. Once that thing hit the ground, the damage it will cause was going to be too large for any of them to survive.

   "f**k, evacuate everyone nearby, don't try to destroy this thing, it's impossible!" one Higher Noble yelled, knowing all too well that even Purebloods couldn't heavily damage the pillar, much less destroy it. He didn't have the time to wonder how did some guy leading bunch of protestant vampires manage to do it.

CRACK.

CRACK.

CRACK! CRUMBLE!!

At the space behind the pillar falling down, numerous white cracks could be seen on the transparent barrier surrounding the city starting from this pillar and spreading in all directions.

The barrier which withstood numerous attacks in the past two decades now crashed down like a fragile piece of glass, and not a single person here could do a thing to stop it. Vampires who wanted to breach it paused in their action and stared at in awe instead. They dreamed of this moment for so long, that it seemed unreal now that it really happened.

Vampires and W.E.R.P. agents who wanted to protect it grieved over their weakness and inability to stop it. Their Pureblood who might've been able to do something to lessen the casualties was nowhere in their sight and they couldn't even confirm his safety!

Once, not that long ago, vampires lost their one and only home. Now, they finally rebuilt it and began another life, but even this home was about to be taken from them! Did they have to watch this destruction once again? Will they be useless one more time as everything they wanted to protect slipped past their fingers!?

And it's all that guy's fault-

   "What is he doing?" someone asked, noticing that Mikhael casually walked towards the barrier, with no intention of turning away. As everyone else ran away from this place, this guy responsible for destruction of the barrier calmly stood there; unfazed by the fact that this enormous pillar was about to crush him into a meat paste.

No.

He easily sliced through that pillar!

If it's him, then it's possible to destroy the pillar completely... He only wanted to destroy the barrier, so was it possible to ask him to save everyone here!?

But would he even listen to them? He must certainly be one of those who hated Purebloods and Higher Nobles for being suppressed here, so if they were to ask of him to help them now, he'll probably reject them. This place didn't only lock down vampires. Some spell-casters that were dangerous to the outside world were also suppressed here. It's one of the important acts in the deal vampires made with humans.

Keep dangerous vampires, spell-casters and humans locked in the deepest part of Eden. Those genuinely wicked were also powerful - but it would've been such a pity for some of them to die.

But only vampire blood could suppress a spell-caster.

Nikolai eventually sighed before heading towards Mikhael, after assuming all that.

He had no choice.

But, for the sake of saving this city and for the sake of avoiding chaos, he had no choice even if it meant going down on his knees and begging - he had to protect everyone.

Yet, what surprised him was that Mikhael, instead of going for escape or ignoring the pillar simply cursed under his breath with low voice:

   "What the hell? Some motherfucker really did use magic to rot the core. So this is the reason why the barrier was breached, how unexpectedly... Obvious. Fixing this thing is all more simpler then, but I really need to get paid better... That Pureblood is such a cheapskate."

Only giving some blood in exchange for Mikhael's skills.

In the end, Mikhael put back the red talisman he was about to use and faced the pillar with serious expression.

It seems, he will have to use "that" if he wanted to be done as soon as possible.

The First Familiar of his.