[Ability Upgraded: Spatial Reach → Instant Teleportation] [Instant Teleportation: Allows instantaneous transportation to any visible location within 50 meters. Cost: 10 Essence per teleport] Knowledge flooded his mind instantly, allowing him to understand how to use it. After all the savoring, a vampire finally decided to finish the kill. The vampire lunged, claws extended for a killing blow, and then... [Instant Teleportation Activated] The world blinked. One moment he was against the wall, vampires inches away; the next he was twenty feet above them, standing on a gargoyle's head. [Essence Energy: 210/500] The vampires stared up, confusion and fury warring on their inhuman faces. "Finally, some breathing space," Erwin panted as he stared downward at the horde of vampires from atop the giant gargoyle's head. "So this is what I was meant to survive against. I've been cooked from the start, I see." Now with his position, he could see a good portion of the horde of vamp

Herria processed this, all the information Xed had provided, for a brief moment silently before she finally spoke."You have two blood anomalies, right. You own the blood anomaly of invincible strike and the blood explosion you stole; that makes you the strongest.""In theory," Xed agreed. "But power and strength aren't identical. Vance's Blood Decree is perhaps the most dangerous anomaly in existence. His speech literally commands the reality of a person.""What does that mean?""It means," Gideon interjected grimly, "that if he says 'stop breathing,' your lungs cease functioning. If he says 'kneel,' your legs collapse against your will... Your body becomes his puppet, and the strings are his words."A chill ran down Herria's spine. This was literally mind control, but a kind that was distilled into verbal commands.For a moment, she had forgotten that this was also a trial for her just like it was for Erwin. Just because the celestials were pulling some strings for her to kill Erwin

They left the chamber, following the directions on the map through corridors that seemed designed to confuse sane people. "Crazy corridor, won't you agree?" Erwin hid his mouth behind his palm and whispered to Einstein. "I'm not surprised," Einstein whispered back. "The castle itself is built like this, probably to confuse invaders." "That way, whatever violence that is meant to occur would be direct; no con is appreciated in this world of vampires," Lyssa added, catching the duo completely off guard. She had joined them shortly after they left the room to ensure they don't get lost even with the map. Vance had assigned her to Erwin after all. "No need to whisper to each other; I can hear you just fine. I'm a vampire, after all." "Sorry about that. I guess we'll be more careful next time." Erwin scratched his head nervously. They emerged into a vast chamber that, after the long w

The world blinked and he was at the far end of the arena, already teleported from Malachai grip on his neck. [Time Remaining: 6 minutes, 20 seconds] Erwin maintained his footing, however, with trembling legs. His essence energy was low after so much usage of it all. "Oh, you still have some fight left in you. I thought I finished you off. We already had our turns, so no need to drag this fi—" Malachai paused with a spear tip already slicing through the air towards his left eye. Swoosh! He quickly tilted his head to the side, dodging the surprise attack with his incredible speed, but for that brief moment, he had turned his attention from Erwin just as Erwin wanted. As he brought his gaze back to the expectably shaking figure of Erwin, he felt his forehead and nose pressed against Erwin's who had teleported right in front of him, like a bull. Erwin's

The scouting party of the Sixth Castle left at midnight—or what Herria had decided to call midnight, since actual time was impossible to measure under the unchanging blood-red sky. Gideon led the group: himself, Herria, and three other Sixth Castle vampires whose names she hadn't bothered to learn. Vampires were tools to her after all, no different from the wave of Terrax she'd fought in the tower. They might be dangerous, but they wouldn't dare attempt to hurt her. She only saw them as tools to be used for training and disposed of when she was done in the oncoming war. Master Ryomen would have been disappointed by that thought, but this was who she was. The journey to the Fourth Castle perimeter took hours despite vampire speed. The territories between castles weren't empty space—they were battlegrounds from old wars, run-down building structures and monuments to violence that had reshaped the landscape itself. Even after traveling through old forests, valleys, even bridges of