Free Web NovelChapter 35: Chapter 35: Greed
The assassin continued carving into the academy’s barrier as though nothing had happened. Thin crimson sparks flickered from the bloodline needle each time it scraped against the glowing runes. Every movement was careful and deliberate. The academy’s defenses had been built by master enchanters, and forcing a hole through them without triggering an alarm required patience.
Behind him, Qhuin remained seated on the stone railing.
The wind drifted through his white fur as he watched the intruder work. A few moments earlier, the man had turned around and looked directly at him. Their eyes had met. Then, after a glance, the assassin had simply dismissed him and returned to his task.
Qhuin had experienced many things throughout his long existence.
He had stood atop battlefields littered with thousands of corpses. He had negotiated with kings, manipulated noble houses, and hunted monsters powerful enough to flatten entire cities. Yet somehow, being ignored by a low-ranking vampire was becoming one of the most irritating experiences of his life.
The assassin continued working without the slightest awareness of the danger behind him.
Qhuin’s gaze lingered on the man’s back. His expression remained calm, but something ancient stirred beneath that calm surface. In his previous life, even lesser nobles would tremble before meeting his eyes. Entire bloodlines had collapsed because they failed to show proper respect. Now a stray assassin had mistaken him for a harmless pet.
A faint blue screen appeared before him.
[System Authorization Granted.]
[Combat Mode Activated.]
[Duration: 01:00] ƒгeewebnovёl.com
Crimson light reflected briefly within Qhuin’s ruby eyes.
The assassin suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
His hand stopped moving.
Years of surviving in the shadows had sharpened his instincts beyond those of ordinary vampires. Those instincts were warning him now. Something was wrong.
Slowly, he turned around.
The rabbit was gone.
A dense wave of crimson and black mana flooded the balcony without warning. The air itself seemed heavier as shadows twisted around a new figure standing where the small rabbit had been moments before. White fur darkened beneath layers of moving darkness. Razor-sharp claws extended from powerful limbs and crimson eyes glowed beneath a veil of black mist that drifted around his body like living smoke.
The assassin stumbled backward, and his daggers immediately appeared in his hands.
Every vampire possessed an instinctive understanding of bloodline hierarchy, it was not something they learned, it was something they felt. At that moment, every instinct inside his body screamed at him that the creature standing before him occupied a level of existence far above his own.
For a brief second, fear seized his heart, then his mind caught up with what he was seeing.
His eyes widened, it was a rabbit a harmless pet rabbit.
The monster standing before him had been disguising itself as a pet.
The fear rapidly transformed into excitement, no vampire bloodline within the Empire possessed such an ability, not even Duke Kenneth.
The assassin’s breathing grew heavier as greed slowly consumed his thoughts, the more he stared at Qhuin’s transformed body, the more valuable the opportunity before him appeared. He wasn’t looking at an enemy anymore, he was looking at a reward capable of changing his entire future.
A rough laugh escaped his throat. "So it’s you."
His voice echoed softly across the balcony.
"The creature Valerius has been searching for."
His eyes gleamed with naked ambition.
"A bloodline capable of disguising itself as a beast. A technique that can fool hunters, tamers, and divine scans, if I bring your core back to Duke Kenneth, I won’t remain an assassin for much longer."
Qhuin didn’t answer, he just watched.
That calm silence somehow felt more unsettling than any threat.
The assassin’s confidence returned. He lowered his stance and gripped both daggers tightly and dark mana flowed along the blades as he launched forward.
The attack was fast.
For most first-year students, it would have been impossible to follow.
To Qhuin, it looked painfully slow, the daggers sliced through empty air.
A white-and-black blur crossed the balcony.
Metal collided against claws.
A shower of sparks scattered across the stone floor as the assassin was forced backward, before he could recover, another strike arrived from a completely different angle. Then another, and another.
Qhuin moved through the battlefield with terrifying precision, each attack targeted the assassin’s weakness.
Each movement carried centuries of experience.
The assassin swung desperately, but every strike missed and his eyes struggled to track the demonic hare’s movements as shadows flashed around him from every direction.
Pain exploded through his right wrist.
A claw had sliced across the tendons, and before he could react, his left wrist suffered the same fate.
Blood splashed across the balcony.
The assassin staggered backward, his guard had collapsed in less than ten seconds.
A new system notification flashed before Qhuin.
[Combat Mode Remaining: 00:32]
At the same moment, far away within the academy’s faculty quarters, two individuals reacted.
Professor Valerius’s eyes opened instantly, and he sat upright.
The familiar mana signature he had been hunting since the Gore-Boar incident had appeared once again, as golden light spread through his pupils as his God’s Eye activated automatically.
In another section of the academy, Elizabeth’s pleasant sleeping expression disappeared.
Her eyes opened.
For the briefest moment, something cold and dangerous flashed through them, neither instructor wasted time calling for guards.
Both of them immediately left their rooms weapon in hand within seconds, two figures were racing across the academy rooftops, heading directly toward Lina’s dormitory sector.
*********
Back on the balcony, the battle had already ended.
The assassin slammed against a stone pillar hard enough to crack the surface, blood dripping from both wrists as he struggled to breathe. Qhuin stood before him with one claw resting lightly against his throat.
The assassin’s face had gone pale, for the first time since arriving at the academy, genuine fear returned to his eyes.
Qhuin remained silent.
Then a distant vibration reached him through the night air, someone was coming and the only person he could think of was Valerius
The approaching pressure was so powerful that even the atmosphere seemed to react.
The remaining time on his transformation continued to count downward.
The assassin was beaten and the hunters were approaching.
And the window for a clean escape was rapidly disappearing.
