Chapter 40: Hey, Can We Talk This Out?

The moment the alarm blared, the lively crowd fell silent. The atmosphere turned icy, with only the piercing siren echoing in their ears.

Chloe froze.

‘What’s happening?’

‘Isn’t my soul human?’

‘Why did the machine identify me as a vampire?’

She stood there, dumbfounded, unsure what to do.

“Freeze! Don’t move!”

The guard who’d questioned her reacted first.

Shouting, he stepped back, drew his sword, and pointed it at her.

Only then did Chloe snap out of it, instantly dropping her transformation.

Her black hair vanished, her eyes turned crimson, and her ears sharpened. Anyone could now see she was a vampire.

She stomped the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

When it cleared, she was hundreds of meters away.

The crowd waiting to enter the city snapped out of their shock, erupting into chaos with screams ringing out.

They couldn’t fathom that the girl they’d been chatting with was a blood-drinking, ruthless vampire.

Seeing her escape, the guard gave up pursuit to calm the panicked crowd.

“Quiet! Enter the city in an orderly manner!”

After everyone was inside, reinforcements arrived.

“Chase her! She’s in that forest—I saw her!”

“Captain, are our twenty-some men enough?”

“Don’t worry, she’s not that strong, or she wouldn’t have fled. Plus, it’s daytime. I bet she’s exhausted from running.”

With that, he shouted to his men, “After her!”

In the dense forest, Chloe leaned against a tree as wide as two people, panting heavily and pulling off her hood.

With the sun overhead, she’d worn it to shield herself from its draining effects.

But she wasn’t used to hoods, and it felt odd.

Now, under the forest’s shade, she could finally take it off.

“Sigh…”

She let out a breath.

‘I couldn’t even get a glimpse back home.’

‘What’s going on?’

‘Wasn’t that machine supposed to scan souls? Why did it tag me as a vampire?’

‘Did Larvia change my soul to a vampire’s too?’

‘Am I, the Sword Saint, actually dead, and now just a vampire with her memories?’

‘Ugh… I don’t get it…’

‘Head’s spinning…’

Her stomach growled, and her head felt heavy, sapping her energy.

She needed blood.

She hadn’t eaten last night, and escaping had drained her. She urgently needed blood.

But in her panicked flight, she’d abandoned her luggage, losing her food and blood vials.

‘Blood… I need blood… Gotta find some…’

Shakily, she stood, heading toward Tarrilberg.

If she met a vampire, she’d borrow some blood. An animal? She’d kill and eat it. A human? Knock them out and take a sip without harming them.

She didn’t want to hurt anyone, but her survival was at stake.

Even if raw blood tasted bad, she had no choice.

As she moved, she heard a commotion.

Her ears perked up.

Realizing it was pursuers, she slumped in disappointment.

Against so many, she couldn’t knock them out without hurting them.

Though daytime slowed her, her vampire hearing let her avoid them from afar.

“There are footprints… Chase her! That way!”

‘Tch.’

Chloe clicked her tongue and climbed a tree.

If she couldn’t hide her tracks, she’d move through the branches.

She dodged carefully, tracking the pursuers’ movements.

But leaping from tree to tree drained her energy further.

‘So dizzy…’

She rested on a branch.

In her blood-thirsty state, her senses sharpened.

Suddenly, she caught the scent of a lone human nearby.

Her eyes glowed red. Dragging her heavy steps, she moved toward the source.

It was a girl.

She held a blackwood staff, wore a cloak with mana-gathering runes, and moved through the forest alone, occasionally crouching to search for something.

Focused, she didn’t notice the shadow creeping onto a branch above her.

Chloe raised her palm, conjuring a small flame.

Whoosh—Boom!

A loud explosion kicked up a massive dust cloud.

Chloe jumped down, striding into the dust.

She’d controlled the blast’s power—barring accidents, the mage should be unconscious.

The noise would attract the pursuers, but if she was quick, she could drink and escape.

As the dust settled, Chloe was shocked to find no mage lying there.

Her years of combat experience screamed something was wrong.

“Ice Shield!”

The moment her ice shield formed, a massive explosion erupted behind her.

Turning, she saw her third-tier ice shield covered in cracks.

Her heart raced.

She’d underestimated her opponent.

To cause that damage, they were at least a third-tier mage.

But why was a third-tier mage alone here?

Another fireball flew, shattering her shield with a bang.

‘This is bad.’

If her opponent was a third-tier mage, beating her without sword techniques would be tricky.

Not impossible, but she feared dragging it out would draw the pursuers.

‘Maybe I can negotiate for a sip of blood?’

She stepped back, creating distance.

Looking at the veiled figure across from her, Chloe shrank her shoulders and said weakly, “Hey, can we talk this out?”