"You— you killed them all! All of them!"
"How can you be so heartless!"
"THEY are your enemy! NOT us!"
"Oh, Goddess please have mercy… please have mercy—"
***
**
*
"Hey Dov, you awake?"
The Masked Hunter woke up from his dream and found Leyna kept on peeking anxiously through the window's curtain. She seemed disturbed, and her crystal-like cyan eyes won't stop shaking as she stared at the outside.
"What happened?" Dov curiously asked the lady.
"They— they got Nneka… she's been tortured endlessly while the two of you were sleeping." Leyna shut the curtain, feeling done with the sight presented out there.
Hearing that Dov immediately concentrates on his [Hunter Senses]. He sensed a clear image of what was happening outside. "Do you wanna help her?" He then questioned.
"Hm? Why? Does she got any value for the mission?" She suddenly looked confused by the offer.
Her changing expression made Dov go silent for a while before answering her, "No."
"That girl… she's too young and fragile. She spilled every bit of our conversation with Heidi." The Hunter's head reacted to her statement. He finally understood her concern. "Those elves made use of her vampiric capability to heal and withstand physical trauma. Although… weirdly enough… not a single sexual assault happened."
"Of course. Residents of Lustmist cannot see the downside of sex. It's like getting free food." Dov walked away towards the sleeping lycan. "What about us? Has there anyone tried to get in or peek at us?"
"Now that you mentioned it… no." Leyna glued her ear to the wall to hear any activity in the house. "The Prioress didn't rat us out… at least not to my knowledge." Yet all she heard is silence.
Brokers have an exclusive ability to teleport inside the city. This skill helps them gather information more efficiently while staying mobile and hard to catch. Combined with her Lineage Skill to shapeshift, and Broker's [Observer Doll]s, Leyna's ears and eyes are everywhere in this Shrine.
Well not really, being a Cadet Broker (rank 1) she could only use 5 of those dolls.
"No matter. The sun was down already, we need to move since the vampires are probably already on their way here." Dov grabbed Celene by the neck and slammed her whole body onto the floor since she was having a hard time waking up. "For All-father's love… this is why we can't sleep indoors…" This always happens to her when she's not waking up under the night sky.
"Wait— this early? Didn't you promise to meet them much later?" Leyna recalled Dov telling Heidi to come somewhere near midnight during their chitchat.
"That will be true if I didn't alter the schedule," Dov replied. "I won't spill the exactness of my plan near someone who I just met (Nneka)."
"Ahh… I thought you were mad back then."
*
After Celene had fully awake… painfully, the three of them opened the door to the hallway of Emilohi's house. They saw not a single light was on, meaning the Prioress is away at the moment.
"Pretty obvious. Why would you want to be in the same building with someone who intended to kill your son?"
Seeing no sign of her, they immediately went out of the house via the back door and sneak through the Shrine unnoticed. They found the street was somewhat deserted, it seems that most of the residents went to the side where Nneka is being tortured. No one even praying at the Core at the moment.
"Where are we going, Dov?" Celene quietly whispered.
"Fetching our initiator."
"Initiator?"
*
Meanwhile, on the east side of the city…
"Are you sure that Hunter can be trusted, Heidi? I mean look at the sky! Stars haven't even shown themselves yet."
The vampires were hiding behind rocks and trees in front of the east gate, gathering as Dov asked them to do. They all look unsure and impatient, even though they just arrived seconds ago.
"Of course! We've been friends since before he became a Hunter yet, and he's a veteran now!"
By how aggressive the tone coming out of her mouth, it's easy to tell that she had a hard time convincing all these vampires to come along with her. Well, they are noble and royal vampires after all. Prideful.
Then during the heat exchange between those bloodsuckers, a consecutive sound of bodies being dropped could be heard coming from the gate.
It quickly pulled the vampires' attention, and there they saw two dark elves lying lifeless on the ashen ground. Seeing that quickly pulled their gaze upwards. They saw two Hunters standing above the black gate, giving them a signal to come in.
Another second passed, and the gate on the Shrine's wall went immediately wide open.
"See? I told you."
With a smug on her face, Heidi led her coven of vampires to hop inside the city.
It's not the first time vampires ever visited the Shrine of Consciousness. The term between dark elves and them are quite neutral before all this Pretender situation. Not to mention, the Vampires also worshiped All-father. The elders were directly created by him after all.
"Have you assassinated the Chief already?" Heidi asked the moment their face met.
"Not yet," Dov swiftly replied. "Situation has changed, we might really need the help of you vampires."
"See? You're too full of yourself even for a professional." The smugness on her lips just got even wider.
"…" Dov went silent upon hearing her comment.
During their exchange, one of the royal vampiresses suddenly approached Dov, and asked him a question with a prideful face, "Are you the Hunter?"
"One of them, yeah."
"Why are you wearing a black bear as a mask? Aren't they the weakest?"
". . ." Once again Dov had lost for words hearing all these vampires' comments. "With all due respect, my lady… we don't really have the time for questions like this."
"Oh, sorry." She smiled jestingly. "Just wanted to get that out of the way."
"Is the situation that bad?" Another vampiress worriedly asked.
"Follow me. You'll see for yourself."
With that said, the group rushingly headed north, back to where Nneka was being tortured.
Even with numerous vampires currently with them, they can still walk there unnoticed due to how few the elves are on the street, and how well Leyna guided them as an owl with the help of her [Observer Doll]s.
However, the vampires grew restless the more they got closer to their destination. With each step, the sounds of elves shouting and yelling could be heard clearer and louder.
"What's going on? It's so loud, I can get what they're saying." The vampires confusedly commented.
"No worries, your eyes will help you understand."
As they went through floating rubles and houses, they finally arrived at where Dov wanted them to be. It was crowded with dark elves being noisy and throwing things at the center of attention.
"Oh Goddess…"
Right there they saw Nneka, drenched in blood, tied onto a wooden pole with brushes, cuts, and wounds that kept on regenerating as they were not damaged by magic or silver.
"YOU ANIMALS!"
In that exact second, one of the royal vampiresses screamed at the top of her lungs, hysteric at the sight before her eyes. She clenched her fist high in the air and blood went flying all over the place.
The sky went red and a full moon suddenly appeared along with her sea of stars. That moon was crimson and bright.
Wind crowded the place, and that vampiress' royal dress fluttered profusely. They were caused by the massive amount of energy bursting out of her body. Her madness conflicted with the Core's magic and created explosions all over the place.
The dark elves went panicked and quickly scattered, running for their lives. The soldiers saw the mad vampiress and quickly raised their weapons, forming a formation to fend her off from their Shrine. But it was already too late…
"Wrath of the Shattered Sky!"
She punched the air, and the red sky shattered like broken glass. Each of the pieces fall, and their sharpest edge went aimed down at the poor army of the dark elves. Now with the swing of her hand, those pieces shot themselves like bullets, straight toward their targets.
*Crash!*
Yet before they could hurt anyone, blinks of purple light sparkle around them. Each of those pieces got destroyed, obliterated to dust and blood, all at once.
"Huh…?" The royal vampiress's rage turned to perplexity. She saw her skill get canceled in an instant.
"Well well… looks like our patrol was right. You're indeed… a traitor."
The Tribal Chief showed himself together with his Commander. A bloodful dagger played and spun on his left hand, while the other hand dragged a massive purple glaive through the ashen ground.
"That's presumptuous of you my lord." Dov grabbed the giant black pistol on his waist. "You see…" Cocked it. "I never really was on your side." And aimed it at the Chief.