Earl Leo showed a hint of joy and said, "Qian Nan, you truly are an outstanding soldier. I won't hold your earlier mistakes against you. My two servants and I have been traveling for a long time and need some rest. Please keep watch for us."
Charlotte welcomed Earl Leo into the adventurer's camp. This middle-aged vampire chose a large tree, leaned against its trunk, and closed his eyes for a nap. His two servants divided into shifts to guard him, showing their distrust towards the group of adventurers.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Charlotte retreated from Earl Leo, found a secluded spot, and sat down heavily.
After traveling the entire day and fighting a battle, the sudden events had been thrilling and pumped his adrenaline, but now the fatigue was doubling, and Charlotte felt sore all over, not even wanting to move a finger.
Although he had managed to adapt to the situation and temporarily avoided danger, he knew Earl Leo would eventually discover that he was not one of them.
If Earl Leo found out that he was not from the Adonis Clan and had been practicing Blood Honor, a power loathed by the vampire clan, how could he survive the wrath of this high-level superhuman?
Charlotte hadn't figured out a way yet.
He knew that despite the current appearance of safety, the situation was fraught with danger, and one misstep could lead to his death. After regaining some strength, although still exhausted, he forced himself to concentrate, using the Protégoras Breathing Technique to quickly digest Winterborn's life essence.
Earl Leo had impaled Winterborn with a single strike but had not absorbed his life energy. High-level vampires value the purity of their blood power, and recklessly absorbing life energy could easily turn them into monsters, so they wouldn't casually devour prey of lower superhuman levels, only occasionally supplementing their own energy.
But for Charlotte, a fourth-level knight's life essence was far too precious. He wasn't yet at the point where he could afford to be picky, so he had added an extra stab.
After over a hundred breaths, when all the life essence had been converted into Blood Honor, Charlotte did not open a fifth Blood Swirl but instead chose to condense a Blood Rune—Angel's Thorn!
The reason he made this choice was because of Blood Rose!
Angel's Thorn is one of the thirteen techniques of Blood Honor, and it is also the foundation of the Asilo Clan's vampire secret arts.
The Asilo Clan is one of the three royal clans of vampires, renowned for their martial skills and swordsmanship, which is considered the best among the thirty-seven vampire clans. As the foundation of the Asilo Clan's secret arts, Angel's Thorn is not only a superhuman secret technique but also a renowned sword technique in the Old Continent.
In the secret scrolls of Blood Honor, the records of Angel's Thorn are vague. No one knows how the philosopher Protégoras learned this secret technique and integrated it into Blood Honor.
Among the four imperial universities, students practicing Blood Honor are already few, and since the death of Protégoras, while others have mastered the remaining techniques, no one has successfully trained in Angel's Thorn.
Many scholars, after studying Protégoras' scrolls and the customs of the Asilo Clan, concluded that practicing Angel's Thorn requires a "legacy" from the vampire clan.
The elders of the Asilo Clan would condense all their cultivation into a special "seed," and only vampires who obtained this "seed" could master Angel's Thorn and begin the Asilo Clan's secret arts.
Although Protégoras gifted his scrolls to the four universities, he never took on any apprentices. Later, when the empires of Farse and Byron established diplomatic relations, they announced a ban on any human who practiced Blood Honor from entering the country, effectively cutting off any chance for humans to inherit Angel's Thorn.
Blood Rose's ability to forcibly open the fourth Blood Swirl indicated that it contained the previous owner's insights into the Asilo Clan's secret arts.
Charlotte didn't want to waste this opportunity.
He reached out and touched the Blood Rose, which emitted a faint warmth before turning into a blood-red stream of light that merged into his left arm.
Within the Blood Swirl in his left arm, the magical rapier transformed into a sword-shaped rune structure, vibrating and stabbing continuously.
Charlotte closed his eyes slightly, and countless bizarre and ruthless sword techniques emerged in his mind, each move astonishingly quick, like lightning.
Fortunately, he had twice faced the gaze of a dark god, and his spiritual power was already comparable to a high-level superhuman, allowing him to deeply imprint these sword techniques in his mind and fully accept this Asilo Clan inheritance.
After several hours, near dawn, Charlotte opened his eyes, a faint red electric light swirling in his gaze. He let out a deep breath and casually flicked his hand, causing the Blood Rose to appear out of thin air.
He held the vampiric rapier in his palm, gently stroking it, thinking to himself, "The extraordinary weapon Louis gave me probably has some history. It could be said that he was lucky to get the lance of Siranus, but getting this vampiric rapier too must involve some hidden story."
"If Louis knew the origins of these two weapons, he definitely wouldn't have given me one of them."
"I have a feeling there's more trouble to come with this."
Hearing someone call for "Qian Nan," Charlotte didn't have time to explore his newly acquired abilities. He quickly stood up and ran over to Earl Leo.
The Byronian vampire lord had already woken up. Seeing Charlotte, he smiled slightly and said, "I brought some blood bait. Would you like a couple of pieces?"
Blood bait is a kind of blood-based food made with magic, a favorite delicacy of vampires. It is convenient for carrying and can be preserved for long periods.
Since the main ingredient of blood bait is 100% human blood, and Charlotte is human, both in this life and his past one, he was understandably reluctant to consume it. He had a psychological aversion to it.
Charlotte smiled and said, "I brought blood slaves."
Earl Leo nodded slightly and didn't insist further. With the help of his two servants, he had a simple yet luxurious breakfast.
The two servants laid out a picnic cloth, set out fine tableware, and placed blood bait and some pastries on tin plates. They even took out a beautifully crafted wine jug with matching tin cups.
After finishing his meal, Earl Leo wiped his mouth with a red napkin and said, "We can get going now."
The two servants efficiently packed up the picnic cloth, tableware, wine jug, and cups, and stayed close behind their master, not uttering a word the entire time.
Charlotte called for the women adventurers from Maple Leaf Village, gathered the camp, and followed Earl Leo toward Machu Picchu.
After a morning of trekking, Charlotte was miserable; he had never endured such hardship.
The adventurers he had gathered didn't own mounts because of their low income.
Earl Leo didn't need a mount, as high-level vampires surpass ordinary mounts in both long-distance sprints and short bursts. As a spy infiltrating another country, bringing a mount would be inconvenient and unnecessary.
He couldn't justify getting a horse for himself!
Besides, they hadn't passed through any large towns during their escape, so there was no chance to buy a horse.
Charlotte increasingly longed to master the Agile Technique rune, which he had yet to achieve.