Chapter 012: Vampire Phantom

“Put me down!”
Seeing Margaret already leaping out of the city lord’s mansion with him on her back, Du Fan couldn’t help but shout in frustration.
Margaret smirked coldly, glanced back, but didn’t slow down at all. She simply said in a low voice, “Put you down? Hmph, if you want to die, it’s easy. Just tell me now, and I’ll twist your head off right away—no need for all this trouble!”
Stunned by Margaret’s words, Du Fan was left speechless. As the saying goes, one must bow their head under someone else’s roof. If Du Fan still had his strength at this point, it would be strange if he didn’t confront Margaret’s arrogance.
Not far behind them, several figures followed like shadows. From a distance, they seemed unarmed, simply flying through the air. They wore black suits, tall hats, and most of them had blood-red cloaks that fluttered in the night wind.
Normally, such attire wouldn’t offer any advantage in such a situation, but strangely, the people following them seemed to move faster thanks to it.
Odinburg, once quiet, was now in complete chaos, with troops patrolling everywhere at full speed.
Margaret glanced back a few more times, then somehow produced two masks and put them on both of them. After that, she set Du Fan down from her back, and the two slowly descended to the ground.
Du Fan frowned and said, “Weren’t you saying Gaffield has many skilled men under him? Why did they stop halfway?”
Margaret snorted. “You idiot! Have you gone deaf from such a minor injury? Can’t you see that we’re completely surrounded?”
By then, the two had landed on the street. A dozen black-armored cavalry on horseback rushed at them as soon as they landed, but Margaret merely sneered coldly, raised her hand slightly, and a wave of cold air swept through. The dozen cavalry, along with their horses, instantly turned into ice and disappeared into thin air—leaving no trace of life or death.
Du Fan hadn’t expected Margaret to be so ruthless. Though he wasn’t exactly a good person either, he couldn’t help but glance at her.

Margaret seemed to sense his gaze and said coldly, “You don’t need to look at me. Those guys are just ordinary cavalry, but if we keep them now, things won’t be so easy later… When fighting starts, I probably won’t be able to take care of you. You’d better take care of yourself. If you die, everything will be ruined!”
With that, Margaret suddenly reached out and gently patted Du Fan. A surge of holy light rushed into Du Fan’s body, calming the turbulent energy within him slightly, reducing his discomfort.
Du Fan realized now that even if he wanted to complain, he likely wouldn’t have the chance. He quickly slipped his long sword back into his storage ring and took out a magic scroll he hadn’t used in ages, stuffing it into his sleeve, which improved his expression a bit.
In just that instant, Margaret had already dealt with several more groups of cavalry. The remaining cavalry, seeing this from afar, dared not come and throw themselves into danger!
Although the army of the Lanny Empire was known for its bravery, bravery was one thing, and seeking death was another.
Just then, a sharp howling sound came from the sky. The few people who had been following Du Fan and the others slowly landed on the rooftops ahead of them, while similar-clad figures descended from other directions.
These strangely dressed people surrounded Du Fan and Margaret without wasting words. With a sharp howl, more than a dozen of them suddenly took off. Their cloaks seemed to turn into wings in an instant, their fingernails grew long, and even their faces, barely visible, became grotesquely monstrous!
It was the first time Du Fan had seen such a scene, and he was momentarily stunned. “What kind of ability is this?” he asked.
Margaret gave him a strange look and said coldly, “Haven’t you read the truth of history? Didn’t that old bastard Anthony tell you what these are?”
“What are they?”
Seeing Du Fan’s expression, as if he truly didn’t know, Margaret sneered and said, “Vampires!”
Du Fan was taken aback. The image of vampires he had seen in the “Truth of History” in the imperial cathedral flashed through his mind—exactly like this… But vampires had long been gone along with the demons a thousand years ago… So how could they appear now?

However, it seemed that even members of the Dark Demon race had appeared several times already, so it wasn’t strange for these vampires to show up as well. As for exactly what was going on, it seemed only Margaret could understand clearly. But now wasn’t the time to ask questions. The dozen or so vampires flying in the sky seemed to have completed some kind of ritual—suddenly diving downward with fierce cries. Their screams acted like sound waves, shattering the blue bricks on the ground. Margaret stood there, a hint of disdainful sneer appearing on her lips as she said lightly, “Unless your vampire prince comes in person, how can these little bats hurt me? You underestimate me too much!” With that, she casually reached out, and without any visible movement, the vampire flying at the front let out a scream, twisted into a ball, and soon died mid-air, turning into a pool of blood mist. After catching a few more, nearly half of the vampires died in mid-air, yet the rest continued to charge forward without hesitation. Margaret grew impatient and simply swept her hand—this time, a sword aura shot upward, causing the remaining vampires to fall to the ground like birds caught in a net, flapping their wings before landing. It was only then that Du Fan had a chance to take a closer look at these vampires. They resembled humans greatly but were extremely tall, with pale skin that seemed almost deathly. Their wings seemed to grow from their bones, their eyes blood-red, and their mouths wide open, revealing long fangs. But the most striking thing was their hands—covered in ink-like black hair, with fingertips as long as short knives, extremely sharp, clearly far more lethal than ordinary swords. No wonder they didn’t bring any weapons. Seeing nearly half of their side killed in an instant, the vampires seemed furious. After a moment, one of them suddenly snapped, “Who the hell are you? Intruding in Odinburg—don’t you know it’s a capital offense?” Before Du Fan could answer, Margaret coldly said, “If you want to die, come ahead. Why all the nonsense?” The vampire who spoke laughed and said, “So it’s a woman! Great! I’ve always loved drinking women’s blood! Since you want to die, it’s not my fault!”

At that moment, the vampire suddenly roared loudly. His cloak behind him transformed into a pair of wings, with a layer of blood-red flames resembling half-burnt combat energy covering them. Yet these flames seemed to have no temperature at all. Soon, these flames spread to the vampire’s hands. His fingernails, sharp as blades, were enveloped by the blood-red flames and instantly grew several feet long. Margaret couldn’t help but exclaim, “Oh?” before adding calmly, “So it’s a vampire duke. No wonder he’s so arrogant! I never expected you to send even a duke. It seems the relationship between the vampires and the royal family of the Lanni Empire is quite close!” The vampire smirked darkly and said, “Woman, you have good eyesight and sharp questions! But as for what happens next, you might as well ask someone when you’re in hell!” With that, he shouted again, “Attack!” Immediately, the other vampires, who had been itching to act, rushed toward Du Fan and Margaret. Just as Du Fan was about to intervene, Margaret smiled lightly and said, “Watch closely. Today, I’ll show you how to use light combat energy!” Then, her long sword suddenly emerged from its sheath. With a gentle tap, a huge holy cross symbol appeared as if falling from the sky, accompanied by a wave of holy light. Almost all the vampires who had rushed forward screamed in agony as their bodies were engulfed in raging flames. Some fell to the ground, struggling desperately, while others were burned to ashes mid-air! As for the vampire duke, at the last moment, he quickly shielded himself with his hands, causing the blood-red flames on his body to burn fiercely, blocking the holy light. With a hiss, the holy light vanished. The once-arrogant vampire was now the only one left, but his entire body was covered in blood, making him look like a bloody figure. His hands slowly dropped, leaving only fear and despair. “Ah! Ah! Ah!” The vampire couldn’t help but scream violently, “I’ll kill you! I must kill you!” Margaret simply smiled lightly and said, “If your true ancestor appeared, maybe he could kill me. But even if your prince came, he’d only meet death—let alone a mere vampire duke like you!”

At this point, Margaret stared at the vampire, a strange look in her eyes: “If it weren’t for you following us, I wouldn’t have resorted to such mass killing. Now, all I can say is, I’m sorry!”