"Fancy meeting you here, Vampire City's Lord." The light tone of the blue-haired Silver Tower's master did not match his calculative eyes as he eyed the reclusive Vampire Lord.
Levi Vlad Tepes merely glanced at Sigfrid Merlin as he walked past the latter.
The white-feathered owl, which was sitting atop Sigfrid's right shoulder, scoffed. "Hmph! What a show-off!"
"Say that again and his Wraiths will skin you alive," said Sigfrid in a teasing manner. But he was not joking, he felt a couple of bloodthirsty eyes pinned on him when he approached the Vampire Lord.
Shivering from the laced truth of his master's words, the owl swallowed his words as he wisely chose to become an ornamental familiar instead for the night's event.
Tonight was a meeting between the three races with the biggest territory on the continent. The Beastman Territory which was represented by the High Elder, Rostam Clawmark; the Vampire Territory which was represented by the Vampire Lord, Levi Vlad Tepes; and the Warlock Territory which was represented by him as the archmage of the Silver Tower, Sigfrid Merlin.
Sigfrid strode to the large round table. He was the last one to sit. With confident strides, he regarded the other two with confident nods. "Good evening, gentlemen." He tucked his cravat. "Why the sudden summon, old man?"
Rostam Clawmark, an elderly with centuries of experience, frowned upon Sigfrid's remark — stretching the scar across his left eye down to his chin. His deep raspy voice resonated in the dimly lit room. "I am here for the Beastman Territory's concern regarding the next king's selection. The Red Moon is coming and unrest from my race will surely affect your territories too."
The Red Moon was the name of the tournament that was open to all the beastmen. The winner would take it all — the king of the beast's seat and the ancient source of power enough to make the winner jump levels in an instant. It would be a bloody week with mountains of corpses from different tribes every day at the Beastial Capital. It was during these times that the internal strife between races would become rampant. Oftentimes, the crimes within the Beastmen Territory would involve influential folks from the Warlock Territory and Vampire City.
And this was why the High Elder called for a meeting.
Levi, the Vampire City's Lord, sipped from his golden flask. His emotionless eyes bored at the center of the round table where a map of the entire continent was laid. His right index finger tapped the wooden table as if he was in deep contemplation; this drew the attention of the other two.
A moment later, Levi finally spoke. "I can lend you some of my toys, Clawmark. But..." He grinned cruelly, showing his white set of wangs. "... I wonder what a High Elder can do for the vampires?"
Sigfrid hid his smile. He knew what was next.
Rostam's face dimmed considerably. Everyone knew in the high echelon that dealing with the vampire lord was like making a gamble with the devil. It was both tempting and life-threatening. But Rostam Clawmark had no better choice. "What can I offer to the Vampire Lord?"
A pair of piercing eyes stared straight at Rostam Clawmark. "Invite the Vampire City to the Red Moon as a guest viewer."
"I'm sorry, what?" Rostam Clawmark could not hide his aghast look. After all, he did not see it coming!
'Just as I thought,' Sigfrid thought with knowing smile as he watched the two while silently stroking his familiar's feathers.
"Why? Can't you spare one more invitation, High Elder Rostam Clawmark?"
Sigfrid butted in with his usual teasing tone. "Then make it two invitations, High Elder." He gestured with his fingers to emphasize the number of invitations needed. "I am sure an archmage's presence is more than enough to stop your brethren from using cheat potions or spells during the match, right?"
'But I am more afraid of the both of you wrecking havoc in our territory!' Rostam Clawmark badly wanted to scream his thoughts out but decided to be wiser. Instead, he amiably smiled at the two leaders.
With twitching eyelids, Rostam Clawmark gave the two leaders an answer. "Then I will have to ask you to stay in the Beastmen Territory during the Red Moon then."
---
Ping!
[WORLD VIEW SKILL SCANNING...]
Ping!
[ROUTE ESTABLISHED TO INTERCEPT WITH THE PONPOINTES TARGET, LUCIEN LUPINE!]
On cue, the familiar map appeared before her. With her as the center of the map, her eyes automatically looked for the pink dot in the area.
Standing before a vast meadow, her gaze was looking at the direction where the arrows were heading to: the Dark Mountains.
The Dark Mountains was the territory of the Lupine Pack. Since Sue Terin was there to talk with Lucien before she entered the Inheritance site located deep in the Terin Household, she needed to talk with him before the dreaded full moon.
'I just hope that Lucca is with Sabina. Another drama is the least that I want right now.' Sue Terin thought as she followed the arrows. She could not reschedule her visit with Lucien.
Upon thinking about her stepmother inside the cell of the Lupine Pack along with the Terin Household's elders, Sue could not help but sigh heavily.
'I am quite sure that those greedy people are planning something... big. With the way they are behaving obediently, it must be something splendid, something someone like Lucca would involve himself in.' Sue thought as she stepped beyond the borderline.
Grrrrr!
Before she could step both of his feet together inside the Lupine Pack, angry growls surrounded her from the darkness. Pairs ad pairs of golden-colored eyes stared right at her, freezing her from fright.
"!!!"
A cold swear trickled down her nape as she held her breath. Knowing that one wrong move would send her to her immediate death, Sue Terin froze. Heart pounding, she opened her pale lips. "I... I am Sue Terin from the Terin Household."
The growla emitted by the patrol wolves of the Lupine Pack grew louder. As if Sue's words angered them more.
'Am I blacklisted here because of Lucca?' Sue fussed in her mind while silently cursing Lucca to death.
Ping!
[ACTIVATE CHARM SKILL?]
[YES] [NO]
'Yes! Yes! Yes!' Sue screamed in her mind, activating her newly acquired ability.
Ping!
[CHARM SKILL SYNCHRONIZING WITH THE HOST IN 3... 2... 1!]
The map before her vanished, replaced with a heart-shaped radar. The newly appeared pink-colored radar was like the World Skill View's map, but it was different in a way that it did not record her presence. Only the red dots with percentage above them appeared on the heart-shaped radar. As soon as the Charm Skill was activated, a pink sonar waves released from Sue Terin.
One wolf shifted back to his semi-human shape. His wolf ears and tail were still fully displayed. "Visiting hours for your family is over. Come back tomorrow and use the official road for visitation to avoid misunderstanding!"
Chuckling awkwardly, Sue whispered. "Can you call your superior Sir Lucien Lupine? I badly need to talk with him, sirs."
Sue flutered her long lashes as her voice naturally sound coquitish. Her body language turned languid by merely standing in front of the fierce patrol beastmen.
As if an archer of love hit the wolves precisely in their hearts, their vigilance against Sue Terin had dropped significantly. The thoughts circling about subjugating Sue Terin or killing Sue Terin is she persisted were immediately thrown out of the window by her mere wink.
'What-What is happening with my body?' One of the patrol wolves screamed in frantic at the back of his mind. It was as if he was watching himself being fooled by a little girl half his height!
What they failed to see were the waves after waves of pink-colored sonar waves being thrown at them from Sue Terin's body.
"Shhg." Sue gestured her finger to her lips. She walked towards the transformed beastman with a seductive smile. "Sleep, my dear. Sleep and dream of me, and only me~"
One by one the wolves fell down to their deep slumber. The single beastman staggered, drenched by his sweat and weighed down by his own aura.
"What have you done? What did you do to us?" He snarled? Though his snarl was comparable to a pup's, his unfocused gaze was filled with deep malice — filled with intent to kill Sue Terin as she caressed his cold cheek.
Sue whispered to the staggering beastman's right ear. "Forget about this and sleep, my dear boy."
Thud!
The last of the patrol wolves fell down. With a triumphant grin, Sue strode into the Dark Mountains —
—only to be stopped by a rough savage voice.
"You don't have to touch any males just to see me, Sue."
Ping!
[PINPOITED TARGET WITHIN CLOSE PROXIMITY!]
'You should have warned me sooner.' Sue thought as she lamanted about the fact that Lucien saw her skill. 'Hey, system! Since the Lord System is not here, can I ask you if I can use Charm Skill to that annoying beast?'
Ping!
[REQUEST DENIED! TARGETS UNDER HAREM SYSTEM CANDIDATES ARE IMMUNE TO YOUR PLUNDER SKILL AND CHARM SKILL!]