(Northern Region- Outskirts Of New Atlantic City)
(Castle Eden- Palace Gardens)
In the darkness of the night hidden away in the middle of a field of crops was a middle-aged man.
He wore a long brown trench coat and had two sharp swords attached to his hips that glowed with an eerie gleam under the light of the moon.
The man was not handsome by any means with horrific scars that criss-crossed the length of his face and a nose that had clearly been broken several times before.
He had a lean but powerful build with well defined muscles visible beneath his long cloak. There was a harsh glint in his eyes as he cracked his knuckles.
"Fuck... where is that bastard?" Alan growled softly as he ducked behind a nearby patch of bushes and stared at the massive walls surrounding the castle.
His partner was supposed to infiltrate the castle during the early hours of the morning and then hide until tonight.
Alan glanced at the strange rune that had been carved in his upper arm and shook his head.
An anti-magic rune... certainly a unique mark.
Did it really work?
He could only hope so because the female vampire that lived in the castle up ahead was a monster on par with the princes.
As a senior hunter, Alan was aware of the power disparity between a vampire prince and an ordinary human.
Hell... even hunters were nothing compared to them.
But humanity always found a way to win... and that was by playing dirty.
The vampire hidden inside the castle did not know that her wards and blood magic were useless.
A sadistic grin began to spread across Alan's face as he took out one of the swords and ran his tongue against the flat part of the blade.
He had heard that the vampire inside the castle was a woman... good... he loved making those female monsters scream...
The vampire hunter began to breathe heavily as memories of naked figures covered in blood and begging for death flashed across his mind.
He was an expert at bringing them to the brink of death and then waiting until they regenerated. Sometimes he would speed up the process by feeding them a little bit of his blood.
Over and over again he would torture them until their minds broke and they longed for the sweet release of death.
Some vampire hunters may spout nonsense about how they protected humanity and all that shit but Alan knew the true reason why they guarded against creatures of the night.
It was fun to watch them die.
Alan walked through the field of crops and kept his eyes on the castle that loomed ever so large before his vision.
His partner was an unreliable vampire so perhaps he had forgotten the purpose of his mission and was currently feeding on one of the blood slaves inside the castle.
Wouldn't be the first time...
It was a risky move to approach the castle by himself, but Alan had faith in the rune carved in his arm.
If it didn't work, then he would have already been caught by the vampire who lived inside the castle.
He slowly approached a small door located in the back of the castle.
Inch by inch... step by step... excitement began to flood the vampire hunter's heart.
He couldn't wait.
Alan unsheathed his other sword and walked forward with both blades at the ready. The door got closer and closer until he was mere metres away from its wooden frame.
Suddenly the door swung open to reveal... a young woman?
Alan froze for a moment in shock but then his eyes quickly spotted the bite mark on the young woman's neck.
A blood slave...
"Are you okay? I'm here to rescue you," Alan softly lied as a kind smile spread across his face.
Although he may look scary, judging from his past experiences... blood slaves were always eager to see someone from the hunter's association.
And vampires often let their guards down around their servants. Most did not know the sheer amount of information that their blood slaves knew.
Hidden rooms and passageways around their castles, their nighttime routines and even where they kept their weapons.
Alan hoped that this blood slave would be one of the smart ones so that he would not waste any more time.
"Are you from the Hunter's Association," the young woman asked with a shaky voice.
There were tears welling up in her eyes and an obvious expression of relief flashed across her face.
Alan inwardly sneered at the na?ˉve girl but took great pains not to let his true emotions show on his face.
"Yes... I am a senior hunter and I have been tasked with rescuing you and killing the vampire that captured you," Alan gently promised.
"But I will need your help... can you tell me where the vampire can be found?"
The young woman nodded and slowly raised up her hand. One of her fingers pointed in a certain direction and a puzzled look flashed across Alan's face,
Wait... that direction... wasn't that behind him?
The senior vampire hunter did not even have the chance to turn around before a blood spear entered his skull and exited the other side.
A mixture of blood and chunky brain matter burst out of the open wound and the hunter fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
His eyes were slowly drained of life as his fingers twitched ever so slightly.
A beautiful and seductive woman with crimson red eyes stepped over the corpse and rushed towards the young human.
"Were you scared?" Camilla asked with concern evident in her voice. She wrapped her arms around Mary's body and held her tightly in her embrace.
"No... I knew that you would protect me," Mary softly replied as she leaned into the embrace and pressed a light kiss against Camilla's cheek.
Her eyes glanced at the corpse on the ground, and she silently whispered an apology in her heart.
This vampire hunter may have been here to kill Camilla, but Mary knew that he did not have the strength necessary in order to accomplish the task.
Maybe if he was able to work with his partner then they could have caught the female vampire by surprise, but his partner had long turned into a shrivelled-up corpse.
Instead of the man dying in vain... Mary took this opportunity to reinforce her status in Camilla's heart and earn more of her trust.
It was a cold-blooded move and Mary could not help but think that she was a disgrace to humanity for siding with a vampire.
She chased those thoughts from her mind and enjoyed the soft feeling of Camilla's body as it pressed up against hers.
"Were you able to detect his presence?" Mary finally asked after several long seconds had passed.
"No...in fact..." Camilla's brows furrowed as she broke away from the hug and walked over the body that was still warm.
She ignored the urge to feast on the hunter's blood even though the scent was driving her insane.
Camilla promised herself that she would not taste anyone else's blood except for Mary's.
She tore apart the vampire hunter's brown cloak and her eyes immediately spotted the strange rune that had been carved into the flesh of his upper arm.
An Anti-magic symbol...
This was not good.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢