Chapter 26: The Vampire’s Challenge and the Witch’s Edge

It was fortunate that Bai Yu’s home was in the suburbs, far from any densely populated urban areas.

That night, the air whispered with mist, severely hampering Bai Yu’s visibility.

She eventually arrived at a stretch of grassland, its surface slick with dampness from the pervasive fog.

“This spot should be fine,” she murmured.

Bai Yu surveyed the vast, undeveloped grassland, noting the absence of any structures, making it an ideal location for a confrontation.

However, its very emptiness also amplified her peril, for she knew she would be difficult to discover should anything go wrong.

Yet, to ensure Lu Xingyao’s safety, she had compelled herself to run as far as possible.

Her only hope was that the Dragon Summer Investigation Bureau would act swiftly, as she doubted her ability to hold out for long.

“You actually found me; I hadn’t anticipated that,”

A young man’s voice, unsettlingly effeminate, drifted through the surrounding mist, causing Bai Yu a profound discomfort.

Hearing his words, Bai Yu found herself with little to say, as she couldn’t recall ever provoking anyone.

“I bear you no grudge, do I? Why are you attacking me?”

Bai Yu’s voice remained remarkably calm, devoid of any trace of fear.

“Indeed, before this moment, I wasn’t even aware of your existence. But what does that matter? My plan simply requires your death, nothing more.”

At that instant, the man’s figure finally emerged from the swirling mist.

Great black bat wings unfurled and beat behind him, while his body was clad in an exquisite suit.

His exposed fangs and crimson eyes unequivocally declared his identity.

[A vampire, then. No wonder physical prowess is their weakness. Still, for him to make such a grand entrance, he must be convinced you possess no power to resist.]

Moweila muttered, her tone laced with disdain.

“My beautiful lady, for the advent of our great deity, Lord Morpheus, your demise shall be a celebrated act. We, the [Source of Dreams], will forever remember your contribution.”

The vampire, suspended in the sky, bowed deeply towards Bai Yu.

“Idiot. Who needs your remembrance?”

Bai Yu glared furiously at the man; she detested such posturing more than anything in her life.

Were it not for the vast disparity in their strength, Bai Yu would have relished the thought of ripping off his head and kicking it like a ball.

“It seems, Miss Witch, that you have no intention of cooperating with me. In that case, I must apologize for my impending discourtesy.”

“Before our battle commences, I shall grant you the courtesy of knowing my name. I am Robert Orr.”

Crimson light flickered in the man’s eyes, and in the next instant, he vanished from the sky.

Bai Yu’s pistol remained holstered at her waist, while Moweila had already completed the enhancement for the [Kin of the Night].

The very moment Robert disappeared, Bai Yu activated the [Kin of the Night].

A fiftyfold augmentation instantly manifested within Bai Yu.

In that fleeting moment, Bai Yu perceived the world slowing around her, as if she suddenly possessed an intimate understanding of everything in her vicinity.

She could perfectly sense every wisp of spirituality in the air, even discerning their precise trajectories.

The instant after Robert vanished, the spiritual energy around Bai Yu began to churn in disarray.

In a flash, space itself tore open, and a blood-red longsword lunged forth, aimed directly at Bai Yu’s heart.

Yet, with a mere sidestep, Bai Yu evaded the blood-red blade, which merely sliced through empty air.

Robert’s form solidified back into reality, his gaze fixed on Bai Yu with an expression of profound shock, as if he were staring at a monstrous anomaly.

“This… this is impossible! How did you dodge that?”

Robert seemed to have witnessed something truly terrifying, his crimson eyes brimming with utter incomprehension.

The witch before him, he believed, should have perished in that very instant.

Bai Yu narrowed her eyes slightly, feeling an invigorating surge of power coursing through her veins.

She even felt a fleeting sense that the vampire before her was utterly insignificant.

However, she knew full well that this was merely an illusion born from a sudden increase in strength.

Her opponent was a formidable being of rank six or higher; even if she could evade his attacks, it didn’t guarantee she could truly contend with him.

“Hmph, I don’t know what trickery you’re employing, but let’s see how many more times you can dodge.”

Robert was clearly flustered.

He had expected to have everything under control, but this encounter had far exceeded his expectations.

“Regardless, an absolute disparity in strength cannot be overcome,”

Even if Bai Yu had rapidly broken through to the second rank, the chasm between her and Robert remained insurmountable.

Robert tightened his grip on the blood-red longsword, a weapon forged from his own blood, as if it were an extension of his very arm.

Bai Yu took a deep breath, drawing two fruit knives and channeling spiritual energy into them continuously.

This infusion had to be precisely controlled, as both knives were ordinary objects, prone to shattering instantly with the slightest oversight, and even spiritual reinforcement would only sustain them for a brief period.

This time, Robert held nothing back.

The witch before him might genuinely possess the capability to contend with him, and he knew he had to end the battle swiftly.

The blood-red longsword pulsed as if with beating veins, striking directly towards Bai Yu’s neck.

“Clang!”

Bai Yu, adopting a cross-guard with her two fruit knives, astonishingly blocked the strike directly.

Fine cracks spiderwebbed across the fruit knives, causing Bai Yu to frown deeply.

The durability of ordinary objects proved too fragile; they were on the verge of shattering after just a single impact.

Robert, meanwhile, was grappling with an entirely different realization.

What had he just witnessed?

The witch before him had actually blocked his attack with two mere fruit knives!

That had been his serious strike, for heaven’s sake! What kind of joke was this?

At that moment, Robert’s rage finally boiled over.

The witch’s actions were nothing short of a blatant humiliation.

“Die!”

Gripping the blood-red longsword with both hands, Robert unleashed a relentless barrage of powerful, death-dealing slashes from every conceivable direction towards Bai Yu.

Bai Yu’s profound eyes darted ceaselessly within their sockets; the fiftyfold augmentation had elevated her dynamic vision to an unimaginable degree.

[Blades of the Uncrowned Moon]

A silvery-white radiance erupted from the fruit knives, instantly enveloping them.

Their blades rapidly elongated, transforming into sleek, katana-like silver-white edges.

The clangor of clashing blades echoed across the grassland, as crimson and silvery-white lights shimmered beneath the night sky.

“Hoo!”

Bai Yu exhaled sharply.

One katana parried the blood-red longsword, while the other swiftly slashed towards Robert’s neck.

Blood splattered, leaving the grassland slick with its foul, metallic scent.

“Aargh!”

Robert’s wings flapped furiously, propelling him into the sky.

He clutched his neck, the agony twisting his features into a grotesque mask.

He was injured? How could this possibly be?

Bai Yu did not press her advantage.

The katana in her hand – or rather, the fruit knife it had been – finally gave way, crumbling into dust in an instant.

She drew her pistol, aiming it squarely at Robert’s wounded neck and firing a single shot.

She had poured almost all the spiritual energy within her into that shot; success or failure hinged on this one attempt.

The immense recoil sent a sharp jolt of pain through the web of skin between Bai Yu’s thumb and forefinger.

With a resounding bang, an explosion erupted at Robert’s neck.

“Is it over?”

Bai Yu couldn’t quite grasp it.

Had she truly managed to kill an opponent several ranks above her?

The reality of it felt distant, unreal.

“Hmph, how could it be?”

From within the distant mist, the sinister voice echoed once more.