Chapter Thirty: Battle in the Night (Part Four)

Bronx, Nosferatu Catacombs.

"Lord Brutus, we are under attack."

"Where is Zoya?"

"The commander is gone. She doesn't seem to be here; we can't find her anywhere, my Lord."

Brutus’s face turned livid, clearly realizing something. The three pairs of eyes on his head slowly opened. Zoya’s disappearance at this moment was too classic—right on the eve of the entire Nosferatu catacombs coming under assault.

"She was never a clean actor from the very beginning. Who is it? Elaine? Or Bieber?"

Clearly, Brutus was unaware that a massive vampire melee had broken out on Staten Island, affecting three city blocks. The situation there was chaotic, arguably no better than the Levant or other regions in the Middle East.

"What is the status of the defensive lines?"

"We are barely holding a stalemate in only two directions, though they don't seem intent on pressing the attack. We have established temporary defenses, but the situation in the other four sectors is grim. The magic gates are holding them back for now."

"They won't hold them for long..." Brutus knew the limitations of his magical defenses. He was no master sorcerer, and this was not the Sanctum Sanctorum. If those people could break his first layer of defense, they could break the second and the third.

"Go, reinforce the guards. Pull troops from the two stable sectors to the central corridor and blow up the other three passages to minimize our losses."

No sooner had Brutus issued his orders than a crack soldier came running in.

"The invaders in two of the sectors have retreated, my Lord."

"Retreated?"

Hearing this news, a look of horror crossed Brutus’s face. He stood up from his throne, as if he had realized something truly terrifying.

At the same time, the entire catacomb began to shake violently. It took about ten seconds to return to calm, and Brutus stared at the entrance at the front of the gloom, as if his worst fears had come true.

As if to confirm his thoughts, another vampire arrived in the hall.

"My Lord, they have blown up two of the passages..."

"Indeed, they are confident they can kill us all inside. But who? Who has the motive and the need? And who guarantees they have the capability?"

—

While Brutus was still filled with doubt, Lynn and Kara were advancing with unstoppable force. Under Kara’s mental control, the vampires were either backstabbed by their own familiar colleagues or turned into puppets.

The entire frontal assault met almost no decent resistance until they reached the second magic gate.

"My Lady, we do not have the keys to the magic gates. The keys are held only by our commander."

Clearly, these vampires were merely abandoned pawns left behind. Although they did not realize it themselves, judging by the arrangements of the Nosferatu, they were meant to be sacrificial lambs to buy time.

"It doesn't matter. Have one of them try the method Zoya mentioned. There should be a sorcerer among them."

"Understood, Doctor."

Lynn did not fully trust the intelligence obtained from Zoya. For instance, the locations of the so-called traps and the defensive layout of the catacombs seemed to have significant discrepancies in his eyes. If he had proceeded carelessly according to her instructions, he likely would have suffered heavy losses.

Under Kara’s control, a captured vampire stepped forward, his face stiff, and began to chant a spell in front of the pitch-black gate.

Dark magical energy was channeled around his body, wrapping him tightly. A second later, the magical energy invaded his system, and the vampire’s body began to twist unnaturally, as if he were suffering immense pain.

Then, under everyone's gaze, a massive burst of dark magic erupted from his body and flooded into the magic gate.

Once all the magical energy was drained, the vampire’s body twisted from the inside out, finally disappearing like a vortex, as if snatched away directly by some transcendent entity.

...

"As I thought, the method she gave was abnormal. Kara, have the Bio-Soldiers get ready. Since they are just pawns, we will clearly encounter much stronger resistance behind this gate."

To cope with this battle, Lynn had naturally modulated additional Bio-Soldiers. Fortunately, after so much trial and error, Lynn found modulating Ramochis-type Bio-Soldiers quite effortless, especially when combined with his own mutant abilities.

Under the amplification of his psionic powers, he could easily control the modulation equipment of the entire laboratory alone, and it hadn't taken much effort to supplement his forces for this battle.

Kara, wearing a black veil, clapped her hands. The vampires under her mental control stepped aside, and two lightly dressed combatants emerged.

They carried no weapons, for they were threatening enough on their own.

Their muscles rippled, and their bodies emitted that characteristic bubbling sound. They tore through their cheap uniforms, revealing their true Bio-Soldier forms.

The two Ramochis reached out and violently tore open the gate, followed immediately by a wave of intense suppression fire.

There was not only gunfire from various rifles but also magical rays mixed in. However, these anti-personnel weapons could not even slow the Ramochis down; they were completely deflected by the white bristles on their bodies.

The magical energy, being a pure energy attack, was slightly more effective, corroding the protective bristles, but it failed to penetrate their defenses.

The two Ramochis quickly pushed through the dense suppression fire, tearing apart the makeshift defensive line. With their immense strength, their claws instantly shredded the unfortunate lead vampire, reducing him to a pile of ash.

At this moment, the vampires controlled by Kara filed in, pouring through since the enemy could no longer maintain a suppression field.

It wasn't until the process was nearly complete that a high-ranking vampire flashed out from the shadows.

However, his form was vastly different from Maria’s previous state. His body was a bloody red, his hideous face had three pairs of eyes, and the claws on his arms were larger, shimmering with crimson magical light.

He looked like the Daken that Blade had once slain, only his power was more stable—at least the caster wasn't a half-baked sorcerer like Daken.

"Hmm? Kara, did the cannon fodder you controlled mention these different ones?"

"No, Doctor. In their memories, the high-ranking vampires were just like Maria, only with more complex and diverse abilities, wielding more magical power as guardians of the catacombs."

"Then it seems to be an unexpected situation."

Lynn suddenly waved his hand, making a shushing gesture. Of course, the vampires were too busy fighting in the hail of bullets to notice Lynn’s small gesture.

"These minions don't need you to act here yet. Wait a bit longer; the Ramochis are enough to deal with them. Just watch."

Lynn was confident in his Bio-Soldiers. As long as these creatures were still vampires, they would naturally be suppressed by those general methods. Moreover, Lynn had made some small adjustments to deal with the magical claws that could tear through Bio-Soldier flesh.

Lynn opened a purple psionic barrier around himself and Kara, shielding them, and began to walk forward slowly, as if the surrounding battle had nothing to do with him.

"Apologies, Doctor. The gunfire is too loud; my abilities cannot function."

"A minor flaw, nothing of great importance. There will be room for improvement later. Kara, my plans for you go beyond this."

"Thank you for your favor, Doctor."

Her black-gloved fingers slightly covered her smiling lips behind the black veil, emitting a faint, imperceptible laugh. Clearly, Kara was very pleased with Lynn’s focus on her. She followed behind him, as if having her body treated like a toy by Lynn was a reward.

The high-ranking vampire in the heat of battle was clearly helpless to ignore Lynn, as the two Ramochis were attacking him. These combatants were not pure brawling idiots like Maria or Jekutor; their combat techniques were sufficient to bring out the full potential of their bodies.

The high-ranking vampire had never been so terrified, even with the temporary enhancements granted by Brutus.

"The liquid secreted from their front claws... it can weaken my power!"

The Ramochis’ claws had been specially modulated to secrete a serum that countered vampires, just as it had against Daken and the low-level mixed-bloods. Even though he had undergone a major transformation and could avoid an instant-death reaction, he was still being weakened.

When his claws, filled with dark magical energy, struck the bodies of the Ramochis, they sparked with arcs of electricity.

Lynn had modulated a special bio-reaction field into these Ramochis, allowing them to expend their own energy to neutralize the seemingly indestructible attacks generated by the vampires' dark energy.

But the vampire’s attacks were still effective; the energy on his claws could still penetrate the bristles, cut through their skin, and cause damage.

If he only had one opponent, he could kill a Ramochis in ten minutes with constant attacks; even two opponents wouldn't change that.

'Although I will sustain minor injuries from their claws and that terrible secretion, I will eventually win. As for that arrogant human, he has some minor abilities, but killing him doesn't seem difficult.'

He transformed into a blood-red mist, flashing constantly, each attack causing significant damage. If he spent a little time, he would surely kill both Bio-Soldiers.

But the Ramochis were mass-produced, the Bio-Soldiers with the highest modulation success rate.

What if a third or fourth one appeared?

Just as he thought he had the victory in hand, two more Ramochis burst from behind the gate, shattering his hopes. Within a few breaths, they were upon him.

This time, he could not transform into mist in time to dodge the attack. This ability was not without its limits; it could not be used infinitely.

The Ramochis quartet soon left a multitude of wounds on his body. He was nearly captured, and the special bio-field destroyed his magical defenses, causing his flashy bat-like wings to be torn away and burned to ash.

'This won't do!'

The high-ranking vampire’s gaze locked onto Lynn.

'That man seems to have nothing special aside from that barrier that stops bullets. Kill him, and this battle should end.'

He used his blinking ability once more, appearing right beside Lynn. There was no defense around Lynn; the purple barrier looked as fragile as a bubble.

His three pairs of eyes revealed a look of victory, and his huge lips couldn't help but split open, revealing the complex, interlocking mouthparts within.

"I win!!"

"Eh, I thought you might be smarter. Maybe if you had fled, you could have survived. After all, I don't have a particularly good way to counter your blinking ability yet."

The vampire naturally didn't feel any threat from Lynn’s words. He wore a victorious smile, even finding time to look back at the Ramochis.

Just as he thought, the four monsters were all rushing toward him with expressions of urgency.

The game was over.

*Bang.*

The vampire’s arm felt as if it had struck an iron wall. Since becoming a vampire, this was a rare sensation.

He turned back in confusion and found that Lynn hadn't even looked at him. The surrounding gunfire had gradually ceased; most of the guardian vampires had fallen, with only a few scattered remnants still resisting.

The high-ranking vampire just wanted to pull his arm back when a large area in his field of vision suddenly blurred, and a blue light sliced through his arm.

Without a chance to react, a massive force struck his abdomen, followed by overwhelming power that sent him flying amidst the sound of shattering muscle and bone.

But he didn't fly far.

The four Bio-Soldiers behind him caught him firmly and pinned him to the ground. Their special bio-field was fully engaged, breaking his defenses.

At the same time, those secretions continued to enter his body, the dosage finally overcoming his ability to mist.

He looked at Lynn with dull eyes.

"But I do like you. I wouldn't mind an extra useful specimen. What is your name?"

Kara slowly crouched down, leaning into the vampire’s ear.

"The Doctor is asking for your name."

"Sangu... Sanguirus..."

Hearing this name, Lynn smiled and said, "Well, that is quite a coincidence..."