Chapter Twenty-Three: The Eruption of Darkness

It had been half a month since Blade came to seek out Lynn. By day, Lynn attended classes at Midtown High, while his afternoons and evenings were spent supervising the operations at the Daken Building.

He had agreed to Blade’s request and had already arranged for Maria to investigate the Nosferatu, though it was clearly going to take some time. The failure of Maria and her subordinates had already spread among the various blood alliances; the entire clan had scaled back their operations and were looked down upon by other servants.

However, this brought certain advantages to their maneuvers. It was not considered strange for a clan suffering from the cold shoulder of the blood alliances to seek out new opportunities with the Nosferatu. Thus, Maria’s progress was steady. As a high-ranking vampire, it was perfectly normal for her to seek help from the alliance, and since Kara had controlled almost everyone in the building that night, word of Maria’s betrayal had not reached the outside world.

Consequently, Maria arrived at the former contact point without difficulty. It was an unremarkable pharmacy in the Bronx, appearing entirely mundane.

"I wish to see the Master."

The bald man in the white coat behind the counter glanced at Maria. He clearly had no desire to deal with this blonde beauty; he coughed into his gaunt chest for a moment before pulling a key from beneath the counter.

"Maria, where is Daken?"

"Dead. Killed by the Daywalker."

"What a pity. So, I suppose you’re in charge of delivering the blood bags now? The pace of your recent deliveries has been low; the Master wants you to speed things up."

"We encountered some trouble. The damage caused by the Daywalker was greater than we anticipated. Give us some time."

"According to the Overseer’s report, you seem to be scaling back those overly conspicuous operations? Good job. The Master repeatedly warned Daken to manage his subordinates and not be so flashy. Go on in; the other clan leaders are already inside. The Master has other tasks to assign."

"Why didn't I receive a notification?"

"..."

The attendant glanced at Maria and spoke.

"The Master lost your signal and generally assumed you were dead. It is quite a surprise to everyone that you have returned."

"..."

Maria suddenly had a bad premonition. She began to walk backward, having no intention of going inside.

"What is it?"

"I drove here. There are some materials in the car for the report. Let me go get them."

"Make it quick."

The moment Maria left the pharmacy, three pairs of pupils appeared in the attendant's eyes. He spoke to a pharmacy employee nearby.

"She has discovered something unusual. Inform the Master."

"Why not strike here?"

"You want to do it? Or should I? Do you not know that Maria is a high-ranking vampire?"

"I will go inform the Master."

Clearly, neither of them were high-ranking vampires. Their power could not compare to Maria, who was a regional lead. Perhaps they had received more training here, but some things could not be compensated for by training alone.

Maria climbed into her car in a panic and started the engine, preparing to leave the Bronx immediately. Being judged as dead meant the Master realized he had lost control of her; staying here was a poor idea.

But clearly, someone did not want her to leave just like that.

In Maria’s perception, two people were approaching her at extreme speed. It seemed they intended to capture her and see exactly why she had been able to vanish from the perception of the Master of the Nosferatu.

"Damn it..."

*Bang!*

A heavy object smashed onto the roof of Maria’s car. A giant arm pierced through the vehicle, causing it to lose its center of gravity and flip onto its side.

A vampire as massive as Maria spread his wings and took flight, landing steadily on the asphalt. The outskirts of the Bronx did not have many buildings, as this was a park area. It was desolate, especially since this was Nosferatu territory; local civilians had long been cleared away, leaving not a single pedestrian in sight.

Maria crawled out of her car, covered in blood. Although she looked terrible, she had sustained no substantial injuries.

"Maria, the Master wants to know how you severed the link. Why are you leaving?"

"Cough, cough. Take a guess?"

"New blood is truly shortsighted. How could you ever hope to escape the Master’s search? Come with us quietly, and perhaps the Master will accept you back."

Maria spat out a mouthful of black blood, glaring at the vampire opposite her. She naturally recognized him.

"Silas, you are as fond of empty talk as ever. You should save that for the vagrants under your command. And you, Hoffman—squatting in the trees like a savage from the Amazon. Why don't you just come down? Hiding up there is meaningless. We both know that an ambush won't work between us."

Both of these high-ranking vampires were within Maria’s perception. It was difficult for vampires of their level to successfully ambush one another, as they understood neither black magic nor possessed high control over their own bodies to hide the dark energy within.

"You really were keeping your own little secrets, just like Daken. The Master will be very happy to interrogate you, Maria."

With that, Silas’s arm muscles swelled, and he charged with a roar, revealing his true form. His appearance differed greatly from Maria’s; his true form was quite thick and muscular, with rough patterns across his obsidian-like skin. This was the most common vampire form, nearly identical to what Maria had once possessed. Their primary means of attack were physical brute force and dark energy stimulated by instinct; they lacked any special abilities. Silas and Hoffman were both this type of vampire.

Silas’s massive claws struck toward Maria, dark magic coalescing upon them, manifesting as pure black spots in the void. Hoffman attacked simultaneously. Both were certain of victory; they felt that dealing with an administrative lead like Maria would be easy.

—

At that moment, Lynn had been in the underground laboratory of the building for half a month, busy practicing a technology far more complex than that of the Zoanoids. Progress, however, was poor, as Lynn did not have many useful materials at his disposal.

"The control unit is the core of the entire armor, and it is proving quite difficult to manufacture. Ordinary metal elements lack such high density and energy-bearing capacity. I need more money to synthesize the materials I require. Once the Guyver cells link with the control unit, they collapse shortly after; the primary cause is the wear and tear caused by the excessive energy intensity."

Lynn had encountered some problems, but they were solvable. He could either reduce the output and abandon some functions, providing only the basics...

"I still need better materials, or to spend more time, or perhaps temporarily sacrifice some functions and output. But if I sacrifice output, the finished product will be greatly diminished."

"Doctor."

Kara arrived at the underground laboratory, apparently having something to report.

"What is it?"

"Maria seems to have run into some trouble. Do you need to send someone to support her?"

"What kind of trouble?"

Kara closed her eyes slightly and quickly connected to Maria’s vision. In her view, Kara saw Maria beating one of the vampires, having already torn off one of his arms. However, she was soon knocked away by another vampire. After the initial tumble, her vision stabilized.

"Two vampires are surrounding her."

"Never mind that. She has undergone preliminary modulation; if she can’t handle two vampires, then she is no longer needed. Kara, how are the Guyver cells?"

"The situation is stable, and all parameters are trending toward normal."

"Good. Then—"

—

After having his arm torn off by Maria, Silas was scared back into his original form, abandoning his combat state and staring at Maria in horror.

Maria’s body was now vastly different. Her entire frame had shed the previous gargoyle-like form; her head appeared sharper, with a pair of massive horns extending outward along the sides. Her body was covered in an exoskeleton, and several chitinous bone spikes had sprouted from her back.

Her body had become quite slender, with a fierce, long tail used to maintain her balance, leaving scratches on the ground with every movement. The dark energy throughout her body had become surging and turbulent, and her utilization of that energy had undergone a sea change.

Thick armor covered her shoulders, appearing to be some kind of long-range attack mechanism, and the biological blades extending from her arms hummed constantly, looking quite terrifying. She now possessed more feminine elements compared to the past, gender-neutral form.

"You two bastards, did you really have to go to such lengths?"

She tossed Silas’s arm aside casually. Because of the overly turbulent energy fluctuations within her, her voice now carried an echo.

—"I have conducted some small tests on you, which has caused your condition to be quite unstable. It is best not to engage in combat for too long. Some necessary measures have not been perfected, and I cannot guarantee you won't explode during the battle."

These were the words Lynn had spoken after adjusting Maria. He had promised to let her regain a normal human body, and he would keep his word. After the adjustment, Maria had indeed regained the various advantages of her human period; she could not only walk in the sunlight but also enjoy the pleasures of the flesh to her heart's content.

She enjoyed this process quite a bit, provided there was no fighting.

At this moment, she felt the dark energy within her boiling uncontrollably. If she didn't release it immediately, she suspected she really would explode.

Unlike the terrified Silas, Hoffman did not like to talk. He charged forward directly. Although Maria looked frightening, after one exchange, he did not believe she surpassed him by much.

"Damn it, I don't have time to waste on this with you."

The chitinous armor on her shoulders retracted, revealing the internal biological heat ray organ that was constantly accumulating energy. Massive amounts of energy converged rapidly. Before Hoffman could even reach her, a vast wave of pitch-black energy erupted. It not only engulfed Hoffman and Silas but continued to blast forward without obstruction. The naked eye could barely measure how far that energy shot.

—

In the Nosferatu catacombs, a vampire was performing a mysterious ritual. On the central altar sat a massive book. The area was covered in blood and magic circles; it was a site filled with the skulls and blood of various creatures, most notably black goats.

Using blood as a medium to borrow the magical energy of the Dark Dimension, the vampire finally connected with the power of that heavy tome. A scarlet magical energy drifted out, connecting to his heart—which had long since ceased to beat—and the book. A corrupt and evil aura suddenly diffused.

Arcane inscriptions drifted from the book, drilling into his bald head one by one. The ritual appeared successful.

"It is done. I am drawing upon the knowledge of the Ancient Creator. He has acknowledged me; I am the true Chosen One."

Clearly, he believed he had communicated with Cthon. After the initial excitement, he seemed to notice something else.

"Disappeared?"

"Zoya, come here."

"You called for me, Master Brutus?"

A female vampire wearing a form-fitting special operations suit walked over. This was Zoya. A tactical mask completely obscured her face, though her hot figure was apparent.

"Have the servants arrived?"

"Everyone is here except Maria, Hoffman, and Silas. However, Silas and Hoffman just vanished from my perception. I fear they have failed you."

"Go inspect the scene. Maria is merely a second-generation half-blood; she couldn't possibly have the ability to kill Silas and Hoffman."

"Understood."

Minutes later, a vampire squad looked at the absurd scene in the night—a trench over hundreds of meters long and the lingering, fluctuating dark energy. It was as if some powerful entity had fought here, and there were no corpses to be found for Silas and Hoffman.

"Ms. Zoya, should we..."

"It seems Maria has her own little secrets. This is a form of highly powerful and primitive attack magic that only Master Brutus should be able to use. Investigate the surrounding environment and arrange for a cleanup crew."

"Shall we use magic, Ms. Zoya?"

"Use it. Master Brutus will allow it."

"I understand. I will arrange it now."

After saying this, Zoya assigned tasks to another vampire.

"You gather the team, and come with me to track Maria. Let’s see what kind of little secrets she is hiding."