Chapter 97: The Evil Lurking Beneath the Mask of Night’s Calm!

Around two or three in the morning, the atmosphere was quiet, with the occasional distant howl of beasts breaking the silence now and then.

This peaceful atmosphere, paired with the cold night breeze, only deepened Michalo's drowsiness, which irritated him even more. Despite these perfect conditions for sleep, he couldn't afford to close his eyes because of this damned guard duty!

Michalo cursed inwardly for the thousandth time. After barely surviving a brutal battle against the Beast Tide, followed by two days where he'd barely managed two hours of sleep each, he now had to put his armor back on and pick up his weapon again, enduring the scorching sun blazing over his head during the day, followed by the temptation of drowsiness at night.

Michalo's nearest fellow guard was stationed at his own post, dozens of meters away along the walls, so he had no one to spend the night chatting with but himself.

Snap!

While Michalo was lost in thought, he suddenly heard the sound of a dry branch breaking. He snapped out of his daze, gripped his spear tightly, and looked toward the source of the sound. His guard post overlooked a small, primitive forest, many of whose trees had been randomly cut down by their Territory's residents, so it wasn't very dense. The forest was completely still. Even though tonight wasn't especially dark, a cold mist had begun spreading at that moment, quickly blanketing the forest and making it look even more gloomy. Michalo swallowed hard, and the hand gripping his spear trembled slightly.

Crack! Michalo heard the sound of another branch breaking, closer this time. His whole body tensed. He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs to report it, but he was afraid it might be a false alarm, followed by his lord's anger and harsh punishment, so he gritted his teeth and kept watching. At first he caught a glimpse, then the figure emerged, revealing itself from behind the trees.

Michalo was stunned by what he saw and momentarily forgot his fear, staring in shock at the figure that had revealed itself... it was a woman! A blonde woman walking barefoot, gently lifting the hem of her light summer dress with both hands so it wouldn't touch the ground as she walked.

She was breathtakingly beautiful, as though every detail of her had been carved by the most skilled sculptor. Her pale skin was so white it nearly glowed in the darkness of the night. Michalo thought he must be hallucinating from exhaustion — otherwise, how could a barefoot woman appear in the dead of night, walking out of a forest teeming with beasts? It made no sense!

Michalo exchanged glances with the ravishing woman below, and instinctively lowered his eyes, feeling that even looking at her was somehow profane, before snapping his gaze back up within less than a second, remembering his duty.

"Huh?!" Michalo was startled and took a step back. Within a fraction of a second, the woman had vanished from where she stood and suddenly appeared right in front of him! Making him stumble half a step backward. The woman's slender hand reached out and gently touched his cheek, trailing down to his throat, as though trying to reassure him.

But Michalo felt no comfort at all. All he felt was an icy, lifeless touch. A terrible sense of dread washed over him, but it was already too late. That slender hand, which looked like it couldn't possibly hold any strength at all, snapped his neck with a single flick!

Crack! Michalo, an Elite Soldier, didn't even get the chance to scream before his neck shattered. It was instant death! But his body didn't drop — instead, the ravishing woman lifted it with one hand, effortlessly, as though he and his armor weighed nothing at all!

An alluring smile spread across the beautiful woman's face, and she opened her mouth, then her face began transforming with astonishing speed. The lovely face vanished, replaced by a horrifying, hideous one, covered in pustules, wrinkles, and large black blotches, while her row of gleaming white teeth changed into long, beast-like fangs resembling nails, which sank straight into Michalo's neck. Within less than three seconds, nothing remained of him but skin and bone. His body had been completely drained of every last drop of blood. From a healthy, muscular young man, he'd transformed in under three seconds into something resembling a mummy.

The hideous-faced woman tossed the drained corpse aside as though throwing out trash, and her face returned to its beautiful state once more. The only trace of what had happened was a single drop of blood trickling from her lips.

The woman pulled a handkerchief from her cleavage and dabbed the drop away delicately. She tried her best to act elegant, but all she managed to display was a drunken expression and a lewd smile. Her current appearance closely resembled that of a deviant.

"There's no blood more delicious than human blood!" the woman exclaimed, hugging her own body, ice-cold with excitement.

"Who's there?!" A shout rang out, followed by the sound of anxious footsteps approaching her current location. The torches weren't providing much light, especially now that the mist had blanketed the walls. The woman didn't care. The approaching footsteps paused for a second, then resumed, but with a different rhythm — suddenly calm and confident — and a tall man emerged from the mist.

His features soon became visible as he drew closer. He had short black hair and shared the same pale white skin, but what mattered more was his appearance and what he was carrying. In one hand he held a headless body, already drained, while the missing head hung from his other hand, gripped by its hair. The eyes were still wide open, frozen in the most extreme expression of terror.

Unlike the woman, who'd acted with elegance, the man's mouth and part of his collar and clothes were smeared with blood. Once he finished, he tossed both the corpse and the head, which rolled across the walls' floor like a ball, before it was completely crushed under the man's foot, stepped on without any particular effort.

Seeing his state and crude behavior, the woman scowled with clear disgust and spoke to him in a scolding tone: "When will you learn table manners, Klaus?"

The man called Klaus didn't care about her words and replied mockingly: "Table manners?... Heh, who besides you, Patricia, cares about such nonsense?!"

Then he changed the subject before Patricia had a chance to argue further. "Either way, you have to admit, there's nothing more delicious than human blood!" As he spoke, Klaus licked his blood-smeared lips with an expression of pure adoration on his face.

Despite her deep irritation with him, Patricia couldn't help but agree with his words. As a seasoned connoisseur, she'd tasted the blood of countless creatures, and none of them came anywhere close to matching, or even approaching, the exquisite taste of the race called humans.

As though thinking the same thing, they both turned their gaze toward the Territory's interior in unison, their eyes burning with intense hunger. But before they set off, Patricia sternly warned her partner:

"Klaus, don't get carried away feeding. Remember to keep some alive to bring to the Master — he already mentioned wanting to set up a farm to raise fresh food, understand?"

Klaus was irritated by Patricia's request, but the moment he heard the word "Master," his body shuddered, and for the first time, a flicker of fear appeared on his face, quickly hidden away.

"Hmph!" Klaus didn't respond, only grunting in annoyance before vanishing from where he stood.

Patricia paid no mind to his reaction. Either way, she wasn't the one who'd be punished if he disobeyed orders. Her field of vision differed from that of humans — what appeared in her eyes were countless outlines of beating hearts, pumping fresh blood throughout their bodies. Patricia selected the nearest target, then vanished from where she stood!

What followed was difficult to describe. The Territory's peaceful silence shattered under the screams of those jolted awake, and chaos quickly swept through the entire Territory. Blood splattered across the wooden walls beneath the glowing torches.

Dozens of soldiers soon gathered to kill the intruders. Even though they held the advantage of fighting on their own ground, along with the advantage of weapons and numbers, while the enemy numbered only two — the truth was that within mere seconds, the two of them managed to kill every single soldier.

Even those at Emerging Hero rank were killed with barely any ability to resist. Fleeing proved equally useless — the two intruders' speed defied all reason.

The sharp scent of blood filled the air, and drained corpses lay scattered carelessly across the ground, every single one of them, without exception, frozen in expressions of extreme terror and fear before death.

...

"NOOO!" At that same moment, elsewhere, Kaiden suddenly jolted awake from his sleep, his clothes drenched in cold sweat.

End of Chapter 97.

Author's Note: Hey everyone, it's Saturday again, which means it's a day off for you and the start of the work week for me. If you have any feedback, please let me know in the comments!