532 Chapter 532: Vampire Sphere (1/2)

”Seriously? Who came up with the chapter title?” I demanded, looking upward. Rossetti glared at me.

”Now's not the time to break the fourth wall! Zhao Yan is in trouble! Be serious!”

”I don't know if we are going to make it in time,” I muttered darkly. In a way, I was right. Before we could reach Zhao Yan's position, she was already under attack from Xu Wu Cheng, whose glowing red hand was poised to hit her from behind.

Instinctively realizing there was a threat, Zhao Yan spun away and managed to dodge Xu Wu Cheng's strike.

The both of them turned around at the same time, with Zhao Yan swinging her sword to slash her assailant, but Xu Wu Cheng jumped a step back. Reluctant to allow her prey to escape, Zhao Yan closed in with another strike, but Xu Wu Cheng deftly evaded the powerful blow. He landed on the ground in a crouch, skidding backward from his momentum.

Even without telepathy, from seeing the troubled frown on his handsome face, I could clearly guess what he was thinking.

She's stronger than Ji Yan. Perhaps she wasn't drugged?

Dude, it didn't matter whether Zhao Yan was drugged or not. She was still stronger than Ji Yan.

As Xu Wu Cheng tried to retreat, dodging yet another slash from Zhao Yan, a group of newcomers strolled into the gymnasium through the main entrance. The leader of the group stepped forward and took up a position next to Xu Wu Cheng to whisper into his ear.

While the red-haired vampire was still fighting Zhao Yan and dodging her blows. Yeah, figure that one out yourself.

”Stand down,” the leader of the newcomers ordered. ”Allow me…”

Xu Wu Cheng bowed and placed a hand over his shoulder in a respectful salute, steppingback obediently.

”Yes, sir.”

I could see from my vantage view that it was a handsome dude with longish blue hair and some weird wing-like adornment above his left ear. A bat wing, to be exact. He reminded me of the beggar from this morning. Well, actually, he was the beggar from this morning.

Zhao Yan still hadn't realized his true identity, however – a case of plot-induced stupidity. Fan Le Lao dashed across the gymnasium and crossed the distance in a single bound, charging at Zhao Yan. For some reason, she threw her sheath of her sword aside in order to grasp her weapon with both hands.

Apparently, she recognized him as a dangerous enemy. Even more so than Xu Wu Cheng.

Before she could grip the hilt with her left hand, however, Fan Le Lao was already in her face. He grabbed hold of her sword when she slashed at him in reflex, holding the blade tightly.

”He can touch my sword?”

Surprised, Zhao Yan recoiled, realizing that her current opponent was far stronger than she had originally expected. Fan Le Lao merely smiled.

”Thanks to your sword, I can spill my blood.”

His fingers squeezed the sharp blade and his flesh was broken, blood trickling both metal and hand to drip onto the floor. The moment the mana-infused fluids touched the floor, they transformed into barbed vines that snaked out and rapidly expanded across the interior of the gymnasium. Zhao Yan's eyes widened when she spotted the thorny appendages.

His blood can turn into blackthorn trees?

As I said, I didn't need to be a telepath to tell what they were thinking. It was all so predictable. Unfortunately, Zhao Yan wasn't able to predict what came next and she found herself surrounded on all sides by the blackthorn branches.

Fan Le Lao released her sword and stepped back, taking up position some distance away to allow his thorny vines to capture his target. Closing his eyes, he focused his mana into the thorny vine spells and drove them into a frenzy, the blood-infused appenddages growing at an insane rate.

But it was useless.

With a single slash, Zhao Yan cut through all of the thorny vines, freeing herself from the plant-like cage. She almost escaped, only for the vines to rapidly regenerate and wrap around her again. She desperately hacked the vines apart, but they surrounded her, stubbornly tangling themselves around her limbs. She flailed about, but her movements only served to tighten the restraints.

The more I cut them, the more aggressive they become. What's going on?

Her thoughts were visibly spelled out on her pretty face even as the vines coiled around her limbs, locking her movements and restricting her. With a sudden jerk, the vines yanked her upward, causing her to cry out in pain and shock. She lost her grip on her sword, which clattered uselessly on the floor. The vines continued to grow and surround her, trapping her within a cage.

With a satisfied expression, Fan Le Lao raised his hands and closed his fingers, recalling most of his vines and leaving just enough to bind the now unconscious Zhao Yan, who was gently lowered to the ground, beside her dropped weapon.

How anticlimactic. I mean, I understood that Fan Le Lao was strong, but even so…to hype up Zhao Yan as this genius hunter, only for her to get defeated in less than thirty seconds? What the fuck, dude?

Then again, what did I expect from a shoujo manhua? Fight scenes were not the focus. The toxic, cheesy romance was.

Turning away, Fan Le Lao issued a single order to his minions.

”Bring her.”

”To where?”

I had finally caught up with the bloody vampires, having had to run all the way across the courtyard to the gymnasium. Rossetti and Kufa also came to a stop, pausing momentarily to catch their breaths.

Xu Wu Cheng smirked when he caught sight of us. ”You again. And this time, you've brought your friends with you.”

”Yahallo!” I waved at him. ”Still as unaccomplished as ever, I see.”

My two friends burst out laughing while Xu Wu Cheng bristled at my joke (basically his name Wu Cheng was homophonic with unaccomplished in Chinese), but one look from Fan Le Lao silenced him and he sullenly stepped back. The leader of the young vampires stepped forward to greet us.

”It's the second time we've met, isn't it?”