"There!" Rowen pointed towards the distance and said, "That's where she lives."
After journeying deep into the slums, we eventually arrived in front of a run-down wooden house.
All the azure threads were leading to that house.
As I surveyed the area with curiosity, I noticed that there were very few houses or tents nearby.
This was not by chance.
The area was situated close to the woods, which served as a habitat for ferocious wild mana beasts. Naturally, not many would be willing to live here.
"Okay," I nodded. "Hide those grenades under your shirt, in your pockets, in your underwear, or wherever you can. When I signal you, take them out, throw them at that woman, and run out of the house at the first chance you'll get. I'll take over from there."
"U-Understood…" the boy nodded back with apprehension.
"Don't worry," seeing him concerned for his own safety, I placed a hand on his shoulder. "These grenades don't explode."
"Huh? They don't?" the kid looked at me with a frown. "So what do they do?"
"They are stun grenades enchanted with light magic," I replied. "They flash and stun anyone in the near vicinity when they go off."
I pulled out a button set on a plastic cube from my pocket and said, "Plus, they're all remote-controlled. So they'll only go off when I press this button."
After hearing my explanation, a relieved expression washed over Rowen's face.
He then quickly began stuffing up the grenades under his clothes.
I bought five of these babies from the weapon store under the [Throwables] section. I also got a good deal on them so they were worth it.
Not to mention, since these flash grenades were enchanted with the light element, which the vampires are weak against, I just had to buy them.
If I hadn't bought them, I would've used my Edit Pen to make something similar like I did against Quinn.
However, unlike Quinn, I can't just walk up to the Vampire King. I need to deploy caution. I need to use the element of surprise to take her on.
Since she would sense my presence if I went anywhere near her, I needed someone to assist. Someone who could get close to her without arousing suspension.
The best idea I could come up with was to use a kid to deliver the flash grenades closer to her since she was feeding on the blood of the kids in this slum.
Yes, there are other options to tackle this situation.
Like I could just throw the grenades in the house, but that would make the element of surprise quite pointless since the Vampire King would get plenty of time to react to my attack.
This is the most efficient idea I could come up with for this situation.
Am I putting this kid's life in danger? Yes.
Do I have any other options? Maybe.
But if everything goes according to plan, all the risks and gambles will pay off.
With that in mind, I steeled my determination and patted Rowen's back.
"Are you ready?" I asked the kid, who nodded back in response.
I retrieved an earpiece from the dimensional storage of my smart bracelet and handed it to him.
"Take this. I'll signal you when it's time to pull out the grenades. Once you do that, run out of the house. Do not stop to look for me. Just keep running and get out of the slums."
Rowen inserted the earpiece into his ear and tapped it to turn it on. "Is there going to be a fight?" he asked nervously.
"Yes," I replied, pairing the earpiece with my smart bracelet.
"Who is that woman?" Rowen inquired, his curiosity piqued.
I gave him a brief look before responding. "You're a smart kid. You've seen her around here for over a year. Haven't you figured it out yet?"
"Of course I have," he sighed. "She never comes out of that house during the day. The kids have started to act weird around since she showed up, and they're getting paler and sicker by the day. And my gut tells me to run every time I see her."
"Looks like you have figured it out," I said while raising my eyebrows, impressed at the young boy's deduction skills once again.
"Yeah," he shrugged. "Even though the adults seemed to be blind to ignore such obvious signs. It's clear that she's a vampire."
I smirked at his statement and placed a hand on his head. "It may be obvious to us, but most people prefer to stay within the bounds of reason to preserve their sanity. Even if some people noticed something was off, they would've dismissed their doubts because it's out of the bounds of logic and reason for a vampire to sneak into the Central Continent undetected. But people like us challenge the reasoning of this world because we don't like our minds to be confined."
Rowen looked at me with interest and asked, "Doesn't that make us insane?"
"You're willingly going inside a house haunted by a vampire, and I am planning to fight it," I scoffed. "It's evident that our sanity is questionable."
"Heh," Rowen flashed a bitter smile before nodding. "Okay, let's do this."
After nodding his head a few times, the kid started walking toward the run-down house in the distance.
Okay, it's time I get ready too.
I stretched my hand and willed mana into the smart bracelet.
Shing—!
The smart bracelet lit up in azure runes, and suddenly a bow materialized in my hand with a flash.
It was an asymmetrically shaped longbow with a length of over 2 meters. It was a Japanese-styled Yumi bow with a slick modern look.
Instead of wood, this bow was made of super-reinforced steel and carbon fiber alloy.
This longbow was specifically made for sniping long distances. The best part is it comes with a variety of visual aids like zoom scope, x-ray vision, heat vision, or night vision.
Without wasting any more time, I straightened my back and summoned an arrow from my smart bracelet.
I carefully placed the arrow on the bowstring and pulled it back, positioning myself for the shot.
I then gently tapped on the bow's grip.
Swiing—
A holographic Aim Down Sight appeared right in front of my dominant eye.
I closed my left eye and said, "Zoom in eight times."
At my command, the ADS magnified the image of my target – the decrepit house – eight times in my vision.
But that wasn't all.
"Open x-ray vision," I said, and suddenly the walls of the house became transparent for my eye, allowing me to see clearly inside it.
Albeit everything was in monochrome and the vision was blurry, I could still see my target through the walls.
"Very well," I said in a satisfied tone. The money was worth it. Then I began pouring mana into the arrow.
This arrow was special too. I didn't buy it but crafted it using my Edit Pen.
Item: Exploding Arrow
Condition: Good, Edited
Description: This arrow is designed to absorb mana from its user and employ it to trigger a devastating explosion upon striking its target.
Soon, the arrow started glowing in an azure-blue hue. With this, everything was set in place.
