Chapter 205: Clash At The Khalfani Hotel (1)

Chapter 205: Chapter 205: Clash At The Khalfani Hotel (1)

A silver mist erupted from Clara’s body, expanding outward like a living tide. It swept across the lobby in seconds, engulfing every guard in its shimmering embrace. The mist clung to their skin, seeped into their minds, and twisted their perceptions.

The effect was immediate.

A guard spun and fired at his own companion. Bang! The man crumpled. Another guard screamed, firing at shadows on the ceiling. Zap. Zap. A third turned his weapon on himself, eyes wide with terror at hallucinations only he could see. Bang.

"Who— what— STOP FIRING!" someone screamed.

Bang! Bang! Zap! Crack!

Bullets and mana blasts flew in every direction. Guards collapsed one after another, cut down by friendly fire and self-inflicted wounds. The mist made them see enemies where there were none, shadows where there was light, threats where there was safety.

In three minutes, the lobby was silent.

Bodies lay scattered across the marble floor. Smoke rose from scorched walls. The crystal chandeliers hung at crooked angles, cracked by stray bullets. The silver mist dissipated slowly, fading into nothing.

Mickey stared at the carnage. He turned to Lucian and tapped his shoulder. His face was pale.

"Remind me never to mess with her," Mickey said, his voice strained.

Clara smiled sweetly, dusting off her hands. "See? I’m pretty useful."

Lucian glanced at the bodies, then back at Clara. "Nobody said you weren’t."

He turned toward the elevator shaft at the far end of the lobby. A reinforced door blocked access. Lucian cut through it with a Light Blade. Sizzle. Crash. The door fell.

He looked up the shaft. Twenty floors of vertical darkness. The elevator car was parked at the top.

Lucian smiled. He stepped into the open shaft. Light Steps activated. Flick. Flick. Flick. His feet touched the walls for fractions of a second, propelling him upward at blinding speed. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. He became a streak of silver and crimson, ascending the shaft like a falling star in reverse.

Clara watched him go, then turned to Mickey. She floated upward, Gravity Manipulation carrying her weightlessly. She looked down at Mickey with a smug grin.

"You know, for someone with so many abilities, he still can’t fly."

Mickey snorted, wind mana swirling around him as he lifted off. "Don’t let him hear you say that or he might just get another boost and grow bat wings."

They ascended. The shaft roared with wind and light as three vampires shot upward through the building.

RUMBLE.

The entire building shook. Ramses Khalfani’s aura erupted from the top floor — a dense, suffocating wave of mana that pressed down through the building like gravity had tripled.

Inside the penthouse, Ramses sat behind his desk. His eyes narrowed. He pressed a finger to the communication device in his ear.

"Kill whoever is coming."

The three Mid Grand Core masters on the 19th floor readied themselves.

Lucian, Clara, and Mickey burst through the 18th-floor elevator doors. CRASH! The metal doors flew off their hinges, clattering across the floor. Bang.

Three figures stood in the corridor. Three Mid Grand Core masters. The first was a broad-shouldered man with flame mana swirling around his fists. The second was a lean woman with crackling lightning along her fingers. The third was a tall man whose body rippled with energy.

The flame user looked at them with annoyance. "Three kids? This is who Ramses is worried about?"

The lightning woman smirked. "They look young enough to be in school."

The shockwave man cracked his neck. "Let’s just kill them and go back to sleep."

FWOOSH! FWOOOSH! FWOOOOSH!

Attacks flew. A massive fireball. A barrage of lightning bolts. A concentrated shockwave blast. All three attacked simultaneously, filling the corridor with destructive mana.

Clara dodged left. Flick. Mickey dodged right. Fwoooosh. Lucian didn’t dodge.

He activated Light Chains — golden chains of light erupted from his palms, latching onto the ceiling and walls. He swung himself sideways, out of the fireball’s path. The shockwave blast passed through where he’d been standing, tearing a hole through the corridor wall. CRASH. Debris rained down.

The three masters regrouped, their eyes tracking the intruders. The flame user stepped forward. "Fast little—"

Lucian turned to Clara and Mickey. "Hold them off."

Before Clara could open her mouth — "Wait, where are you go—"

Lucian was gone.

Light Steps. Flick. Flick. Flick. Flick. He became a blur of silver, blasting past the three Mid Grand Core masters at blinding speed. Their eyes widened. One of them reacted first.

"HE’S FAST!"

He thrust both palms forward. A massive shockwave blast tore down the corridor toward Lucian — a wall of compressed air that could shatter steel. BOOOOM!

Lucian didn’t dodge. He didn’t slow down. Crimson Vessel activated — his skin took on a deep crimson sheen. Light Armor formed over his body — a layer of hardened light mana coating his torso and limbs. The shockwave hit him head-on.

CRASH!

The impact cracked the walls and shattered the floor tiles around him. But Lucian kept moving. His feet dug into the ground, skidding backward only two meters before he pushed forward again. His vampire physiology absorbed the kinetic force. His Crimson Vessel distributed the impact across his entire body. His Light Armor absorbed the residual energy.

The shockwave user’s eyes went wide. "What the—"

He raised his hands to fire another blast. But before he could gather the mana—

FWOOM.

A gravity orb came flying toward him from behind. Clara had thrown it with pinpoint accuracy. The orb expanded, warping the space around the shockwave user. He staggered, his balance thrown off.

One of his companions — the lightning woman — reacted instantly. She leapt in front of him, raising a lightning barrier. BZZZZT. The gravity orb crashed against it. CRACK.

"You idiot," she snapped at the shockwave user. "Focus!"

Mickey stepped forward, wind and fire mana swirling around his body. He looked at the three Mid Grand Core masters with a smirk.

"We’re your opponents."

Lucian burst through the stairwell door on the top floor. Bang. The metal door flew off its hinges, clattering across the hallway. He didn’t slow down. His crimson eyes locked onto the double doors at the end of the corridor.

He kicked them open. CRASH!

The penthouse opened before him. Expensive art lined the shelves — paintings, sculptures, artifacts. A massive chandelier hung from the ceiling, its crystals catching the city lights through floor-to-ceiling windows.

Six Peak Core bodyguards stood in formation across the room. Two Early Grand Core and one Mid Grand Core lieutenants flanked the left wall.

And behind a massive mahogany desk at the center sat Ramses Khalfani.