Chapter 283

Chapter 283
## Chapter 283

European Expansion (2)

Outskirts of Paris, as the evening shadows lengthened.

Bastien, a conscientious lower-tier vampire, stepped out to conduct his standard nightly reconnaissance, entirely oblivious to the shocking confrontation that lay ahead.

He belonged to Thermidor, the grandest vampire syndicate in France, which held dominion over the dark hours of Paris and various other prominent municipalities.

‘What on earth—?! Who would dare attempt such a stunt in this territory? And in the middle of the night?!’

Paris, the French capital, stood as a massive global hub, overflowing with influence and riches. Consequently, Thermidor had poured massive resources into cementing their absolute grip over the urban landscape.

Because of this, even a level 5 vampire like Bastien—who possessed enough strength to secure a mid-tier leadership role in smaller territories—was relegated to basic surveillance rounds here.

‘The intruder is out of his mind. Excessively arrogant. Even if this costs me my life, you will not escape retribution.’

Suddenly, his frame locked up, completely immobilized.

As a freezing palm clamped down upon his throat, he sensed the proximity of his execution and swore a silent oath of defiance.

Yet, in the very next instant, he grasped that his calculations had been terribly wrong.

‘What?’

A torrent of vitality, resembling a massive tidal wave, surged directly into his veins from the fingers clamping his neck.

Before his consciousness could process the event, a crushing authority obliterated his thoughts, and a hidden reality—an inkling of the assailant’s primordial identity—was violently forced into his psyche.

‘This cannot be…!’

His breath caught sharply, his airways tightening.

It was a magnificent, terrifying epiphany.

Unfathomably exalted and distant.

Colossal and without boundaries.

Prodigious and awe-inspiring.

Profound and freezing.

His immobilization was not the result of a deliberate restraining method.

It was his primal survival mechanisms, completely crushed by the unfathomable gap in their respective development, shrieking in absolute dread.

His arms and legs quivered violently.

‘Is he at least level 7…? 8? No, this completely surpasses my ability to gauge.’

The most formidable vampire Bastien had ever set eyes upon was a level 7 director within Thermidor.

On that occasion, he had stood paralyzed by dread, his musculature rigid, until that high-ranking official had departed the area.

‘This entity is… far more potent. A Lord-level being?’

In comparison to his current predicament, that past event felt like a relaxed stroll through a courtyard.

They could not even be weighed on the same scale.

However, he lacked the luxury to ponder this further.

Snap— Crackle!

The vital fluid that had penetrated his physical form was mutating him, reconstructing the very core of his anatomy.

‘Is… Is this truly… achievable?’

It represented a total evolutionary metamorphosis.

His internal barriers shattered, his perspectives widened, his latent capabilities were unchained.

A massive wave of vitality, accompanied by an intoxicating sense of absolute mastery, flooded his senses. He felt capable of defeating dozens of his previous incarnations simultaneously.

Naturally, this was merely a neurological rush, a chemical byproduct of the quick mutation, but he was far too dazed to realize it.

Overcome by reverence, a profound feeling of kinship, and unbreakable devotion, Bastien threw himself downward, pressing his face flat against the earth to pledge his total submission.

“Issue your decrees! I, Bastien Dubois, shall sacrifice my very existence to aid Phantom’s pursuit of Christine!”

“…”

He appeared to be completely entranced, uttering wild phrases under the pressure of that grand aura.

Heinz gazed down at the crown of the kneeling figure’s head, keeping his features entirely unreadable.

—

‘He took the bait completely.’

Heinz knit his brows, observing the vampire who remained prostrated on the ground before him.

He had merely let slip a casual comment, a minor jest…

Nevertheless, Bastien’s fervent eagerness to assist was an advantageous turn of events.

The subordinate was essentially venerating Heinz, answering every inquiry with fanatical devotion and volunteering every piece of intelligence he possessed.

Like an absolute zealot.

It was visibly aberrant behavior.

‘This must be the work of the “Charm” attribute. I failed to anticipate it working with such extreme potency.’

Even the 「Refined Blood Essence」 utilized for bringing targets into submission lacked this degree of mental subjugation.

The sheer chasm between their evolutionary tiers must have amplified the skill’s impact.

No matter the underlying mechanism, it simplified his operations significantly.

‘This will economize a tremendous amount of my time.’

His understanding of the French landscape was restricted to information he had collected via data networks.

The partnership of a native resident was vital for seamless navigation and gathering intelligence.

Furthermore, dominating a level 5 vampire would not significantly drain his store of 「Refined Blood Essence」. It proved to be an efficient expenditure.

‘Draining him entirely wouldn’t even suffice as a minor snack.’

Heinz the Second, an exalted Sacred Blood entity, required the essence of at least a True Blood—a level 8 vampire—to upgrade his genetic makeup and shatter his current evolutionary ceiling.

And even that represented the absolute baseline. He would require the life essence of multiple Sacred Blood entities to achieve a genuine advancement.

‘There exists only a single Sacred Blood… level 9… within France at this moment.’

His focus drifted toward the path where his 「Bloodline Craving」 was tugging at his senses.

Yet, unlike previous occasions, he was unable to pinpoint the exact coordinates. The quarry’s tier was excessively elevated, making its resonant signature incredibly subtle.

He mastered the instinctual urge, the mounting ravenousness, and dispassionately analyzed his circumstances.

‘I cannot simply rush in blindly.’

This environment belonged to the adversary, a foreign realm.

He remained ignorant of the defensive measures they might have orchestrated, and a careless blunder could draw unnecessary scrutiny from local authorities, much like what transpired in Japan.

‘I must disrupt the waters first.’

Consequent to this strategy, utilizing Bastien’s guidance, he initiated his opening maneuvers.

A brief phase of preliminary hunting… laying the groundwork.

—

Buzz—

“This vintage possesses an exquisite bouquet. Truly a magnificent flavor.”

“Quite so. Securing it is a difficult task, but the outcome justifies the trouble.”

“Nadia-nim, there is a matter I wish to discuss regarding…”

A hidden stronghold belonging to Thermidor, situated in Versailles, in the vicinity of Paris.

An opulent gala was currently in full swing.

“What a pathetic display.”

A freezing utterance, barely louder than a breath, pierced through the celebratory environment.

It was delivered so softly that it ought to have been drowned out by the ambient chatter…

“Huh?”

“…Who uttered those words?”

…Yet the night creatures gathered in the chamber were far from commonplace.

They possessed an acute sensitivity to such jarring disruptions.

The loose environment shifted to rigid tension in a fraction of a second.

They mobilized their spiritual pressures, their eyes darting across the space, and swiftly located the origin of the interference.

An uninvited arrival, standing nonchalantly in their midst.

“Identify yourself!”

“By what means did you gain entry? When did this occur?!”

Terrified exclamations reverberated through the hall, and their combative pressures, sharp and antagonistic, saturated the room.

Yet the trespasser, Heinz the Second, concealing his visage behind a pearl-white opera mask, merely appraised them with a detached, emotionless stare.

A colossal light fixture suspended from above, dining utensils forged from precious metals, rare artistic masterpieces…

And right in the center of that luxury, a cluster of young boys and girls cowered together, their physical frames quaking with fear.

The disparity was sickening. The vital fluid filling their silver chalices, along with the droplets sprayed artistically across the architecture, heightened the grim ambiance.

‘…I ought to have arrived far earlier.’

Heinz made a sharp sound of disapproval, observing the night creatures indulging in the fluid drawn from the captives.

The adversaries had already encircled his position, their combative energies burning brightly, poised to strike.

“The external communication lines have been severed!”

“What? From what point in time…?”

Barring any attempts to establish contact with the outside environment.

He had not disclosed his arrival by accident.

“I lack the patience for these antics. Let us conclude this immediately.”

Every detail aligned with his strategy.

Snap—

A quiet click of his fingers.

With that, 「Blood Mystery」 was set in motion.

The crimson drops scattered across the architecture, alongside the fluid remaining in their chalices, shifted into a dense, dark mist that completely enveloped the assembly.

“A blood magic restriction field!”

“Regroup! Coordinate defensive maneuvers…!”

However, the events that transpired next bore no resemblance to a fair engagement.

It was an absolute slaughter.

Heinz, detecting the lingering sorrow of the slain individuals anchoring itself to the discharged fluid, seized a strand of destiny.

And in accordance with his intent,

…It manifested.

Shatter!

The overhead light fixture, snapped from its supporting ironwork, crashed violently into the floorboards, exploding into a myriad of sharp shards.

Sunder—!

Cleave—

A succession of sickening, tearing noises resonated through the grand room.

“Argh!”

“Gurgle…”

Bright crimson, resembling falling blossoms, sprayed through the atmosphere, blending seamlessly with the dark fog.

It constituted an offensive that completely bypassed their cognitive abilities, rendering avoidance or mitigation entirely impossible.

Furthermore, their inferior recuperative traits proved utterly useless against his crushing dominance.

“Ugh!”

Nonetheless, not every single target was annihilated on impact.

The most potent figure within Thermidor’s Versailles outpost.

Nadia, a level 7 commanding officer who had been dispassionately commanding the defensive formations, gripped the stump of her severed left limb and attempted to flee the premises.

‘What sort of monster is this—?! Level 9? He possesses level 9 strength?! This defies reality!’

An execution that bypassed her mental processing, an authority she possessed zero capacity to combat.

She clenched her teeth hard, abandoning her collapsing subordinates to their fates.

‘A theatrical opera mask… Who hides behind it? From which region did he emerge? Italy? Germany? Surely not Romania?’

Vampires of the 9th tier were incredibly scarce.

Even within Europe, the global epicenter of vampire supremacy, only a mere handful walked the earth.

And her memory held no record of his identity.

‘Could his origins lie on a different continent? America? Asia?… Hold on, I recall a rumor resembling this… ’

Yet her train of thought was violently shattered.

Thud, thud—

Heinz, stepping forward from the swirling crimson fog, blocked her path.

“You appear to be experiencing distress.”

Nadia froze mid-step, her internal organs twisting with dread.

Under ordinary conditions, she could clear the boundaries of this estate within the blink of an eye.

Yet for an inexplicable reason, she remained hopelessly ensnared within the dark mist.

“…Reveal your name! What do you hope to achieve here…!”

“The remaining specimens proved to be… quite underwhelming.”

Her frantic demand was cut off by a tranquil, nearly indifferent voice.

“However, you… appear… highly nourishing.”

As the words left his lips, a scarlet tongue darted out briefly from behind the lower edge of his mask, then vanished.

His vocabulary and physical mannerisms, implying an forbidden practice, caused her eyes to widen in sheer panic.

“…It cannot be…!”

“Silence.”

Yet all opportunity had expired.

The dark mist condensed further, completely swallowing her form.

《Fresh blood matrix assimilated. Under the governance of the unique trait “Hybrid Evolution”…》

Following a brief interval of unnatural stillness,

A solitary figure remained standing.

—

Out of all the captives dragged to the estate to serve as sustenance for the celebration, a mere dozen or so kept their lives by the time Heinz made his entry.

The entire group consisted of young boys and girls, scarcely past their adolescence.

“Ugh.”

“Mmm…”

The individuals who had raised their voices or attempted defiance had already been slaughtered, meaning the remaining captives, having absorbed the brutal lesson, pressed close together, fighting to master their terror.

The dense, scarlet fog that saturated the layout made it impossible to discern the unfolding violence.

The vapor also served an insulated purpose, shielding them from sustaining collateral trauma… though they remained oblivious to this fact.

‘Please, let us survive… ’

‘Mother… ’

Nonetheless, a single truth remained apparent.

They preferred to place their fates in the hands of the masked enigmatic figure rather than face slaughter by the beasts who had abducted them.

They offered internal supplications, their physical frames trembling.

Following what seemed an eternity of waiting,

The dark vapor began to dissolve away.

At long last, the space before them was unveiled.

A grand banqueting hall, completely cleared of both living vampires and spilled essence.

“What?”

“There is… no one remaining?”

An unnatural quiet filled the vacuum of the chamber.

They cast glances about the space, hunting for the masked savior, but his presence had completely vanished.

Only the broken light fixture, resting shattered upon the floorboards, commanded their attention.

After a brief pause of uncertainty, they warily sidled toward the unobstructed threshold, and then, one after another, they sprinted outward.

‘Law enforcement is stationed close by. This ought to suffice. Moving on to the subsequent objective.’

Phantom’s unannounced assault was by no means confined to the Versailles outpost.

Saint-Denis, Créteil…

He methodically dismantled Thermidor’s fortified sanctuaries throughout the urban areas encircling Paris.

A chain of events of this magnitude, even when occurring deep within the criminal underworld, could not remain concealed indefinitely.

Particularly with the liberated captives broadcasting accounts of the massacres.

Furthermore, individuals aligned with the hierarchy of Thermidor could plainly decipher the intent underlying these incursions.

It represented an overt act of defiance.

A gauntlet thrown down, daring them to emerge from their shadows.

-I am present.

A bold proclamation, an open insult.