Seamus could hear the crows on the other side of the door, harsh laughter mixed with the rush of wind.

He gripped Diane's hand so she wouldn't just barge in. His brows knitted as the overwhelming power he'd sensed a moment ago suddenly thinned.

Diane felt it too. She looked at him, eyes full of questions. "Something's wrong… where's that tremendous power?"

He shook his head. "We still need to be careful."

He pushed the door open.

A wall of black wings greeted them. Crows covered the rooftop and not just this one, but the entire campus, a living dark cloud.

Seamus's instincts went taut. The sight pressed on him like a warning, a sense of impending doom.

On the edge of the roof, a man stood balanced on the railing, arms spread wide as though speaking to the birds.

Black hair tipped with blond framed a lean, slightly short figure but Seamus could feel it at once: stronger than any scavenger, clearly evolved.

[Ding!]

[Hostile vampire detected. Marked as "Enemy."]

[Scanning…]

[Scan complete: Stage-Two Evolution Vampire.]

[Chance of victory: 70%.]

'So that overwhelming power isn't him after all,' Seamus thought, exhaling in relief. 'Someone even stronger is already moving.'

He pulled out his phone to warn David but the signal was dead.

"What the? They're jamming us?" He clenched his teeth and shoved the phone back into his pocket. Dirty trick.

"What a surprise," Diane scoffed suddenly. "Long time no see, Lucien."

The man turned his head, tilting it with an amused smile. "Oh? Diane? I thought you were still crawling through the sewers, killing scavengers in that lame city."

Diane let out a sharp laugh. "Who's living in the sewers now?"

"You? I live in Hesse Manor these days, thanks to your family cleaning up the filth." He shrugged.

"So you're really not here for revenge. Corvene planned this from the start." Diane's voice cooled as she drew her scythe.

"Of course. Hesse might be our branch family, but they're weaklings, a perfect chess piece." Lucien shook his head. "Sometimes even I'm disappointed in my own house."

Seamus rolled his shoulders. "You two talk too much."

Blood welled from his palm, curling into drifting spores only for the air to twist unnaturally, shredding them to mist.

"What?"

"Seamus," Diane warned, eyes narrowing. "His blood style's elemental and has something to do with wind, I think."

"What do you mean 'I think'—"

He didn't finish. A gust slammed across the roof like a blade, carving a deep scar into the concrete where they'd been standing. They both rolled clear just in time.

Lucien laughed. "Haha. Sorry. Didn't mean to cut you in half."

Seamus narrowed his eyes, 'This one wasn't normal at all.'

His eyes went cold and he decided not to use Isolde's blood style, using Leah's called Glaciem Regnum. His blood turned into ice as it spread from his palm like veins of frost.

Shards spiraled up, forming lances of crystal that shimmered with a red blood glow.

The wind ripped through them before they even formed fully, tearing his attack apart like paper. Each time he tried to solidify the ice, the current shredded it to mist.

He hissed between his teeth, crouching lower, searching for a gap.

"Damn it this wind!" he cursed under his breath.

To be able to use Leah's blood style properly, turning vampires into a frost, he needs to make his crystallized blood pierce Lucien's body.

However, Diane as impatient as usual, darted past him with her scythe and tried to attack Lucien, but something was off.

Her swings were sharp yet strangely empty, like she couldn't connect or control them well.

"Weird, she moved normally a moment ago..." he narrowed his eyes chose to observe their movement, and helped her from behind for now.

As he remembered what Isolde said about Corvene's members' blood style which was mysterious and full of surprise.

Lucien barely moved, his body bending with the air as if the wind itself guided him. She stumbled, her scythe missing its mark again, and finally she lost her footing, crashing to her knees.

Lucien laughed, a bright, cutting sound. "Is this it? Diane Velstrath, the member of the viper house, and she can't even scratch me?"

His fingers flicked and a gust rolled over the roof, scattering more of Seamus's ice. "How disappointing," Lucien sneered.

"Hah?! You fucker! Come here, I'll kill you!"

Diane shouted, swinging her scythe again and again. Every strike cut only air.

Seeing the opening, Seamus whispered, "Aetherwalk."

In an instant he was behind Lucien. A drop of his blood sharpened like a needle and drove into the vampire's neck.

Lucien's body stiffened, frost racing across his skin as he froze mid-motion.

Seamus stepped back to create distance just as Diane appeared behind him, smirking. "Good job."

"Right?" he replied with a confident nod.

Lucien was only at second evolution; his speed and attack shouldn't even come close to him.

'Did I worry too much?' Seamus thought.

'I have the system's power. I should be more confident. My attributes are already higher than Isolde's. The real problem is the limit on blood styles.'

For now he could only use one third-evolution blood style and one second-evolution at a time. It was still a pain, especially if he had to face a fourth-evolution vampire like Isolde.

Then Lucien twitched. Even frozen, his fingers fumbled toward his shirt pocket. Before either of them realized, he had snatched something from it and gulped it down.

Seamus's eyes widened as the system flashed a warning.

[Alert!]

[The hostile vampire's attributes have increased! He has evolved to Third Evolution!]

"What?!"

He stared as the ice around Lucien began to crack and melt. Lucien's lips curved into a slow, dark smile.

"Now," he said, voice low and dark aura started to surround him, "the true fight begins."

***

David kept slashing down every scavenger that lurched toward him, Maria's voice steady in his ear as she relayed the coordinates of the next Vitalis Core.

His new blade—Isolde's gift—felt alive in his grip, the edge pulsing faintly with hunger.

Every strike drained a thread of his blood, sharpening his reflexes, letting him dart and pierce with precision.

For now, the strain hadn't hit him yet.

The last scavenger screamed, its chest splitting open as David drove the blade straight through the core.

It crumbled into shards, and the creature collapsed at his feet.

He exhaled hard, turning to the others. It wasn't just the three of them anymore; five trembling students huddled in the corner of the classroom, eyes wide, waiting for orders.

"Listen," David said, his voice firm but low.

"Go to Building A. No noise. Slip through the cafeteria's back door and stay on the first floor. Do not go upstairs, no matter what."

They nodded quickly, terror stiffening their faces, and then broke into a run, clinging to each other like a single shadow.

Dylan wiped the sweat from his forehead with a shaky hand. "This… how much longer is this going to last?"

His own power had taken down a few scavengers, but compared to David's speed and precision he felt like dead weight.

At the window, David's eyes narrowed. Crows swirled thick over Building A, too many of it.

"There's a fight over there," he muttered.

He clicked his tongue, torn. He couldn't leave Dylan and Maria here. But dragging them into that storm? It might kill them all.

David didn't have a choice but to move. The second floor of Building B already reeked of blood and rot.

"Let's move now," he ordered, voice clipped.

They cleared the last of the scavengers, dragging every survivor out, and making sure the bitten never rose again.

By the time they reached the corridor toward Building C, Dylan's nerves were starting to fray.

"Isn't this too easy?" he muttered. "Or they're all just weak?"

Maria's eyes widened as she pushed her glasses back up. "Don't jinx it, Dylan!"

David slowed, rubbing his chin. "He's right. This was supposed to be a major attack… but the scavengers we've fought so far are too small and weak."

"Something not right."

His words made the two younger hunters glance at each other.

That was when the sound of running footsteps echoed from behind. They wheeled around, weapons raised.

It wasn't a scavenger. It was pink and loud.

"Maria! Oh my God, you're here!"

The girl waved frantically, relief spilling from her voice. "I've been searching for you all over the campus!"

"Lulu…" Maria whispered.

"You've already checked everywhere?" David asked, his eyes narrowing.

Lulu nodded. "I can make clones of myself."

She turned slowly toward Building C. The cawing of crows was deafening now, black wings crowding trees, rooftops, street lamps, even power poles. All those eyes fixed on them.

"Except that building. Something's wrong inside."

"Something strange?" Dylan asked, scanning the facade.

"Don't you see the thin red strings?" Lulu's voice dropped.

"They're everywhere. Whatever's in there… it's enough to make my whole body shiver."

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