Naiya was facing a group of people.
From how they were dressed, they should belong to the Empire's Knights. They belonged to the Battle Knights.
Their rank was definitely not low. Otherwise, they wouldn't dare to enter deep into the cave.
They knew that the cave was filled with mineral spirits which ordinary humans wouldn't be able to kill.
These people obviously had made the preparations to come here by avoiding the mineral spirits.
Naiya's nose picked up a strange scent from them.
Mineral spirits had no sight or hearing, and the only way to perceive the world was through their smell and touch.
Usually, they look for ores from the smell. So how did they avoid the mineral spirits? Did they use mineral spices?
But it's too precious. If it wasn't, the humans wouldn't have to go through the trouble to mine them from an underground cave.
So… what's the purpose of using such a precious thing just to avoid the mineral spirits?
Naiya glanced at the huge corpse behind her, with a size of several times bigger than ordinary spirits.
It was the mineral spirits' king. The other spirits didn't go berserk when she killed the king.
It was as if another stronger existence had appeared in the cave, the existence that could make those mineral spirits bowed and submit.
Naiya wasn't in good condition. Part of her left arm was corroded by the king's acid spray. The flesh looked morbid to look at.
She sat down on the ground and held her sword in her right hand. Anxious of the incoming humans rushing towards her.
Was their target the mineral spirit king?
No… killing the king would make the rest of the spirits went berserk. Not to mention the ore deep inside the cave. They can't even dig the ores on the surface.
Then… why?
Naiya was nervous when she saw a fat person stepped out of the group—dressed in rich, elaborate clothing that stood out from the Knight's dull uniform.
"At last… at last we found it! The Seer was right! God... thank you, Dragon God!"
The fat man's joyful words stirred a feeling in Naiya's heart. The way he looked at her made her anxious.
"That... that!" Instead of being offended by Naiya's hostility, he was very respectful. Even called to Naiya to treat her injuries.
"Don't come any closer." Naiya waved the long sword corroded by the mineral spirit's aid during her previous battle.
Coupled with her petite appearance, she wasn't a threat to the tall humans around her.
"We don't mean any harm…" A young woman in a white robe suddenly walked out of the group. Probably trying to reducing Naiya's hostility.
Naiya knew who she was. As a vampire, she could never trust humans.
"Who are you?!"
Just as Naiya was on the verge of her patience, a cold voice broke through the silence.
"We're just lost travelers…"
A lost traveler? In a place like this? They've got to be kidding. They should've put on better acts. With this voice, Naiya already knew who these people were.
Those knights had acted like they wanted to get this done quickly and returned to the surface.
The Knights held their weapons and put on a fighting stance.
"It seems I'm not welcomed here."
Lucius appeared in front of the group and kept walking, passing through the group. His overpowering murderous aura emanated from the cave.
And then, the scarlet glow in his eyes flickered.
The killing aura disappeared. Or rather, the humans' scent vanished from the cave.
Lucius smiled at Naiya. Passing through the group of humans as if they hadn't noticed him. Time freeze, their breath stopped.
One by one, they turned into a quiet wax figure.
Lucius finally stopped in front of Naiya.
"Congratulation, half-breed."
Her eyes widened, she froze. Not because of his smile, but because of the humans behind Lucius who was just now talking to her. The living humans!
Now, faint blood marks suddenly appeared on their skin and spread out wider. Eventually, blood spurted out from the blood mark, and their bodies exploded!
They were sliced to pieces with an extremely sharp and small object!
The scarlet blood spurted out like champagne uncorked in a victory celebration!
And Lucius was the mastermind of it all.
"Celebrate your victory." Lucius stretched out his hand towards Naiya. Blood threads running through his fingers.
What killed them was the blood flowing through their bodies, and Lucius was the one manipulating it.
Once again, Naiya was shocked by the vampire's power. But the dense blood smell in and the corpses of those innocent humans were too much for her.
"You care for those humans?"
"I just want to kill the Saints… there's no need to kill these innocent people", Naiya spoke out her true heart.
She wasn't Lucius. Her object of hatred wasn't the whole humanity, just the Saints. So she still harbors compassion and pity.
"Really?" Lucius didn't say anything else. These people who rushed underground were too weird. Their object was obviously Naiya. And… they respected her.
Who the hell was she?
Unfortunately, though he can't read her memories, whoever she was, the truth will soon appear.
"You're a mess." Lucius looked at the acid that had corroded one of Nayuki's arms and the broken sword.
"I..."
The wounds on her body were still radiating excruciating pain. Her vampire's regeneration abilities couldn't heal her wound because the mineral spirit king's acid was no joke.
There were millions of ways to kill someone. But he had a hard time-saving someone. The power he had was destroyed.
He had no healing skills. But Naiya's arms were being corroded continuously by the acid. Soon, her arm would be useless, and there's nothing else he can do about it.
A small knife appeared in Lucius' hands. In front of Naiya, a magical scarlet liquid suddenly splashed out.
Unlike human blood that was unattractive to Naiya, the scarlet liquid was appealing. It was impossible to avert her gaze.
At this time, Lucius slashed his index finger with a sharp knife. Scarlet blood dripped down his fingers in front of Naiya.
"Lick it…" Lucius spoke slowly. "Like a dog…"
Vampires were creatures that preyed on blood. They were bred with it and also bred it. As the True Vampire, his blood was supreme for inferior vampires.
The temptation was no less powerful than a virgin's blood.
"Remember the taste, then get addicted to it. Don't overdo it."
Lucius smiled as he saw Naiya was drowned entirely in desire for fresh blood.
Perhaps, this was the first time she had actually tasted blood. Her senses were gradually eroding as her body moved closer to Lucius' finger.
Her mouth gasping for air, her tongue stretched out to get closer to the scarlet drop.
As Naiya's moist tongue touched his fingertip, someone else's memory suddenly flooded his mind.
This was… Naiya's memory.