"What's this?"
Seeing the purification spell orb I threw out, the manager was stunned. He had never seen such a spell—slow but able to track its target. From his experience, a level 5 monster like him would be in bad shape if it hit him directly, maybe even half-dead. This spell was much stronger than those holy light bullets he had encountered before!
Though he didn't recognize the spell, the manager sensed the danger. After dodging for a while, he quickly figured out how to counter it.
"Is that all you've got?"
He suddenly jumped to a corner of the ceiling. Biting his finger hard, blood started flowing. This wasn't self-harm—the blood, mixed with dark energy, floated in the air and transformed into a scythe.
Since there wasn't much blood, the scythe was thin and almost see-through, not fully solid. But it didn't need to be perfect. The scythe's purpose was to break my purification spell. When they collided, both the scythe and the orb disappeared!
"Hmph, let's see what else you can do, magician from another world!"
Just as I was surprised, the manager suddenly attacked. He got close and kicked my arm, pushing me back several meters.
"Was that your big move? We're not as weak as those others upstairs. Surrender now to avoid more pain," he bragged after landing his hit.
"Another vampire skill, huh..."
I realized the scythe was a vampire ability. Vampires could solidify dark energy into weapons, but regular vampires couldn't make these weapons perfect. They needed to add some of their blood to stabilize the form!
Even low-level vampires can control their blood, but how much blood they need and the weapon's stability depends on their power. The manager's scythe was rough, barely effective, and only managed to block my spell, but not much else.
Even though his weapon was crude, the fact that he could create it showed his strength. Most lower-level monsters couldn't make weapons out of energy. No wonder he was the manager.
"You probably don't know about a time in the other world, do you? There was an era when vampires ruled, and humans in every country suffered. Even the church couldn't fully protect people from the dark forces..."
I had enough energy for maybe one or two more purification spells, but I couldn't defeat him quickly. I looked at Adrian's fight. Though he hadn't moved far from the female director, she had realized things were getting serious. She wasn't as careless as before, which gave me a bit of relief. I continued talking to the manager:
"But that was over a thousand years ago. Now, those so-called vampire ancestors hide deep in the Dark Continent, afraid to come out. Do you know what nearly wiped out all vampires?"
"How would I know?"
The manager, originally from Earth, had no idea. His master wouldn't have shared this knowledge with him. But something in my question made him pause. He suddenly realized something was wrong.
"Why?"
"Because of angels!"
Without hesitation, I spread my wings. The bright light from my four pairs of wings filled the underground room.
The manager couldn't handle the intense light. After using so much energy in our fight, he couldn't last any longer. His body melted into a puddle of blood.
The female director wasn't much better. Though her power was still there, the attack drained her dark energy and weakened her considerably.
"So you're an angel!"
Fear hit her as she backed away, pointing at me in disbelief. "Why didn't the chairman tell me angels had come to Earth?"
"Because he probably didn't know," I answered. I didn't feel like talking to this witch who had toyed with Adrian. I threw my sword, striking her throat and pinning her to the wall.
Like the manager, her body turned into a pool of blood, leaving no trace.
"That sword throw was pretty cool," Adrian said, awkwardly scratching his head. He quickly changed the subject and added, "Humans owe a lot to angels. They're the reason many of us are still alive today."
"Stop chatting and let's get out of here. We still have to deal with the ones outside!" I rolled my eyes at him as I grabbed my weapon and headed toward the stairs.
Thinking about it, Adrian wasn't entirely wrong. According to various clues, Elara I's defeat led to vampires hiding in the Dark Continent. Elara III reopened Edenmere's passage, allowing angels to return to the world.
When we reached the exit, supervisor Lofin and the others were waiting. They greeted Adrian enthusiastically, not realizing anything was wrong. "How was it? The manager looks scary, but he's good to us! Whenever there's fresh blood, we all get a share. He even assigns some underlings to us sometimes!"
Lofin didn't notice what had happened. He put his arm around Adrian, trying to be friendly.
"Since you're with the manager now, that makes you my boss. You're lucky! You can pick one of the human reserves from the warehouse as your assistant!" another worker added.
Adrian, caught off guard by the warm welcome, didn't know how to respond. He looked uncomfortable, unsure how to break the news.
"Isn't the director still down there? She should've come up by now," the female guide said, confused. Her gaze shifted to the stairway, and she started to look scared.
"That woman is still alive? What about the manager..."
People around us started noticing something was wrong, disbelief on their faces.
"Look at her wings! They weren't there before!"
Finally, someone noticed my wings. I frowned as I reached the last step, not bothering to say more. I raised my hand, releasing over a dozen purification orbs. They flew into the sky and came back down, striking each vampire in the head. One by one, they fell, leaving only Adrian standing.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't do it..." Adrian apologized.
"It's fine," I waved it off and found a place to sit down, exhausted.
I understood why he hesitated, after all, people's hearts are made of flesh. But my move was too costly—this world doesn't have enough elemental energy to replenish what I lost. If I'd had enough magic power, I wouldn't have needed to hide my wings and struggle with the manager earlier.