Kshwiiing—!!!
"Arghh!"
"GAAAH!"
"Mnhhh!"
Upon detonation of the flash bombs, the entire interior of the house was engulfed in a dazzling white light, causing all those who encountered it to feel as though their eyes were set ablaze.
This sensation was particularly intense since the flash bombs went off in a dark atmosphere.
The red-headed woman had the worst. Even though she covered her eyes in time, she felt as if her skin was set on fire.
It was clear to her that these flash bombs were enchanted with light elemental magic.
Thwam—!
Before she could recover from the surprise attack, an arrow broke through the front wall and hurtled toward her.
".....?!!?"
She could only widen her eyes as the arrow appeared inches away from her face.
The amount of mana emanating from the arrow made it clear to her that it would cause much more damage than just piercing her.
However, she couldn't dodge the attack because Mary was standing behind her.
She couldn't let the little girl get hit by the arrow.
She also didn't have enough time to turn around, pick her up, and get out of the arrow's trajectory.
"Tsk!"
All she could do was cross her arms and clench her jaw, bracing herself for the attack while shielding Mary behind her.
BOOOM—!!!
As soon as the arrow came in contact with the woman, the mana infused within it burst into the air and created an azure explosion that blasted off her right arm.
"Arghhh!" The red-headed woman gritted her teeth and stifled a scream of agony.
"Reina! Are you okay?!" Mary's voice trembled with concern from behind her.
"I'm fine, Mary," Reina replied through gritted teeth, clearly in pain. "Someone has found us."
"But how?!" Mary's worried expression deepened by the second. "We took every precaution to stay under the radar!"
"Tsk!" Reina clicked her tongue while willing mana into her right arm, or what was left of it at least, to regenerate it.
She didn't know the answer to Mary's question herself. Just who found out about them and how?
For a year, they stayed under the radar of both the Central Government and the Union Military. She was sure that they didn't slip up anywhere.
Sure, she had gotten a little carried away by feeding from too many children, but that shouldn't be enough for the authorities to notice her presence.
After all, the Central Government does not care about slums. No matter what happens here, the news of it doesn't reach the ears of those living in the city.
Besides, she made sure to compel everyone she had been feeding from to make sure that there were no slip-ups.
So then how?!
Was it the military police who found her?
No, impossible. Aside from not being interested in the slums, they won't ever use a child to carry out their operations–
Wait, the child!
Suddenly, as if she remembered something, Reina's eyes turned to the kid who was responsible for all this.
There he was, laying on the ground with his hands covering his head and ears.
"You!" the red-headed woman raged as soon as she spotted him. "Who sent you?!"
Since the kid didn't answer, she took a step toward him…
THWAM—!!
But before she could move any further, a loud explosion shook the air, and the front wall of her house shattered into pieces.
SHUUUU—
The explosion sent debris flying in every direction, accompanied by rising dust and crackling embers.
Step, Step, Step—
Amidst it all emerged a charming young man, appearing to be around eighteen years old.
He had slick silver hair swept to the side, and his pale complexion was contrasted by his striking merlot-red eyes that seemed to glow like embers.
The young man donned a magnificent, form-fitting suit of golden armor with a scarlet ruby carved into the chest area of his upper torso.
In his right hand, he held a long, shiny red spear that glimmered in the natural light reflecting off his armor.
All that coupled with his handsome features, made him look more like an angel than a mere mortal.
"Aww, man!" the young man kicked the ground in dejection upon locking eyes with the red-headed woman. "I aimed for the heart. You managed to block it, huh?"
Before the woman could manage to come up with a reply, Lucas quickly scouted the surroundings and saw several kids with a pale complexion and glowing red eyes getting back on their feet.
"Fifteen in total," he said, counting out loud. "Eight boys and seven girls. If you were feeding on so many children then how have you not recovered yet? Well, it doesn't matter. Since these children are turned into halflings who will all in the future fully turn into vampires, it's best if I clean them up now."
Vampires are a unique species with many fascinating qualities.
But perhaps the most intriguing is their ability to turn individuals of other species into one of their own.
This is achieved when a Noble Vampire bites someone, either to feed or kill, and transmits a virus that alters the victim's DNA over time, transforming them into a Commoner Vampire.
During this transformation, the individual is known as a halfling. However, there is a way to prevent the process.
If the infected mana of the vampire is removed from the halfling's system as soon as they are bitten, they can avoid becoming a vampire.
However, the longer they wait to remove the virus, the lower their chances of success.
Unfortunately, there is a complication to this process.
When a person is bitten, they experience a rush of dopamine at random intervals.
Each time they are bitten again, the dose of dopamine increases, eventually leading to them being addicted to the feeling until the prey willingly submits themselves to the vampire who has bit them.
This addiction causes halflings to lose all sense of reason and resist treatment.
"Another child?" Reina frowned as she looked at Lucas up and down. "Has your military fallen so low that they are using children?!"
Even though that question was directed toward him, Lucas paid no attention to the vampire and began looking for Rowen.
After moving his eyes around the place, he found the kid lying on the floor near his foot.
Seeing that, Lucas flipped his spear and poked the boy with its rear end. "Oye, get up. I have a mess to clean here. Unless you don't want me to clean you up with everything too, get up and scram off."
"Huh?" after being poked several times, Rowen lifted his head and scrutinized his surroundings. He then quickly got on his feet, dusted his old, ragged clothes, and stormed off while yelling:
"You better not die, rich silver-haired noble! I want compensation for putting my life in danger!"
"Heh," seeing the kid's back receding into the distance, Lucas grinned. "Die? No, I already died once. Didn't enjoy the feeling so I'm not planning to do it again."
