Chapter Seventy-Nine: The Trap

“You contemptible humans, how dare you lay a hand on Her Highness Liliana? Prepare yourselves for death!” With a voice trembling with rage, Xuelan descended from the sky, the knight’s lance in her hand shimmering with a blood-red glow. Standing just behind her, Lilir pointed her knight’s sword at the bloodhunters encircling them.

At Xuelan’s sudden appearance, the elder in white showed not the slightest surprise; instead, his eyes glimmered with excitement. “At last, you’ve come. I have waited for you a long time. Wonderful—today shall be the day of your demise.”

“What? Are you out of your mind, old man? We already know your plan. You don’t really think these men alone can hold us back, do you? You won’t live to see the dawn.” Xuelan sneered as she spoke.

“Of course, we cannot hope to keep all of you here, but to seize just one—yes, that is within our grasp. Proud vampires, today you’ll regret your arrogance.” The white-robed elder bellowed madly, “Radiants, begin!”

“What?” As the old man shouted, countless beams of blinding light swept across the battlefield. Three furious roars rang out at once.

“Damn it, accursed humans!” Where the light struck her, Lilir’s body began to smoke, and the agony of burning twisted her face into a grimace. She leaned on her knight’s sword for support, curling her body up against the pain.

At that instant, a flood of crimson radiance surged from Xuelan. A blood-red barrier rose from her, enveloping both herself and me. Though it could not fully repel the light, it dulled its deadly force.

“How does it feel, proud vampires? You never expected this, did you? Through a millennium of struggle, even frail humans have mastered tactics that threaten your kind. It may not be true sunlight, but it’s more than enough to weaken you. Now—how much strength do you have left?” The white-robed elder smiled, lips curled in triumph.

“Unspoken—you planned all this?” Butcher asked, his voice surprised and delighted.

“Yes. Without the certainty of victory, how could I watch them die in vain? They are the bravest of the bloodhunters, heroes of humanity. The future of our kind was bought with their lives.” Unspoken gazed at the dozens of fallen bloodhunters. Only moments before, they had been living beings—now, cold corpses littered the ground. The old man’s fists clenched so tight his nails cut into his palms, yet he felt nothing. Tears traced down his cheeks. “It was I who killed them,” he murmured, voice heavy with guilt.

“Unspoken, this isn’t your fault.” Confronted with Unspoken’s torment, Butcher could only offer hollow words of comfort.

“What’s this? Celebrating already? Isn’t it a little soon?” As the two S-ranked bloodhunters wallowed in grief, a voice—hoarse with pain—sounded in their ears.

“What?” Both looked toward the voice. I, wreathed in thin tendrils of smoke, stepped out from Xuelan’s crimson shield. My steps faltered, but I pressed resolutely toward them.

“Mere sunlight—what can it do to me?” I roared skyward, gritting my teeth against the burning agony. With a sidelong glance, I eyed my two foes with utter contempt. “Is this your grand trick? What a pity—it seems it’s useless against me.” Scorn tinged my voice, and the smoldering smoke that curled from my body left all present stunned into silence.

“Impossible—how can you still move?” Unspoken cried in disbelief.

“Heh. Like I said, sunlight is nothing to me. Sorry to disappoint you, but you won’t keep us here tonight. I’ll slaughter every last one of you.” The bloodlust in my gaze was unmistakable. Slaughter—slaughter—nothing else filled my mind. For reasons I couldn’t name, my hatred for the bloodhunters before me surged wildly.

“Hmph. I wonder how much power Her Highness Liliana can muster under these lights? I don’t know why you’re still standing, but as long as you’re vampire, you’re weakened. In your present state, you’re only putting on a brave face. Tonight, no matter the cost, we will capture you.” Unspoken declared, then rushed at me. Butcher followed, silent but equally resolute.

“Kill, kill, kill...” I chanted over and over, hurling myself at the two S-ranked bloodhunters. My claws, once swift and lethal, were now sluggish and feeble under the assault of the radiant lamps. The advantage I’d held only moments ago was gone; I was now at a grave disadvantage. In the very first clash, fresh wounds were torn across my flesh.

“Liliana!” “Sister Lilith!” Xuelan and Lilir cried out anxiously as they watched me battered and bleeding, but the radiance from the lamps sapped their strength, leaving them powerless to intervene.

“Duke of the Wind, how long do you plan to wait? If this continues, we’ll really die here!” Xuelan forced out, gritting her teeth against the pain, shouting into the night sky.

“Don’t worry—it’s done.” The Duke of the Wind’s voice echoed from afar. As it did, every radiant lamp abruptly winked out. “I ran into a bit of trouble with the guards—turns out there are more capable humans than I expected. Pity one of them managed to escape in the end.” He appeared at Xuelan’s side, apologetic.

“This isn’t the time for apologies. The pain they’ve inflicted—I’ll return it tenfold.” With the lights gone, Xuelan’s strength gradually returned. She panted, a cruel smile on her lips.

“That’s right. They need to learn the price for harming me and Sister Lilith.” Lilir’s gaze had turned as cold as ice.

“No!” The moment the lamps extinguished, Unspoken knew disaster had struck. If the lamps were dark, then the guardian Radiant must have met a grim fate. Feeling my attacks grow more ferocious with every passing moment, he and Butcher were once again forced onto the defensive.

“Butcher, take everyone and go—the plan has failed!” Unspoken shouted in desperation.

“And what about you?” Butcher drove back my onslaught and turned to question him.

“Someone has to hold them back, or none of us will escape.” Unspoken managed a bitter smile.

“Then let me do it. I’m stronger than you—if anyone can buy time, it’s me. I’ll stay. You go. The bloodhunter guild needs you more than it needs me.” Butcher pleaded urgently.

“No, that’s exactly why you must leave. The bloodhunters don’t need a leader—they need someone who can guide them through the vampires’ vengeance and keep them alive.” Unspoken’s smile was tinged with sorrow. “To think, in the end, I failed. I’ve led the bloodhunters into mortal peril. Maybe I should have listened to you from the start. This time, I truly was wrong.”

“Unspoken!” Butcher cried out, voice thick with anguish.

“Butcher, go! Preserve our last hope!” Unspoken flung himself between me and Butcher, blocking my claws and shoving him away. “I brought these children out here—I could never abandon them and save myself.” He looked at Butcher and smiled gently.

“Unspoken!” Butcher watched that smile, feeling his heart shatter, tears streaming unchecked down his face. “All bloodhunters, hear me: retreat! Escape at all costs! Do not throw your lives away here!” With one final, tear-choked howl, he led the surviving bloodhunters into the distance, never once looking back as tears poured from his eyes.

“You think you can escape? Not so easily. Who will repay us for the pain you caused?” Lilir’s smile turned savage as she gave chase.

“Not if I can help it!” Unspoken, wounded and desperate, appeared before Lilir, blocking her path. “Don’t underestimate humanity, vampire.” Blood trickled from a wound that was nearly fatal, but Unspoken only smiled as he spoke.