Chapter 64: Gradually Skilled

Chapter 64: Gradually Skilled

Not good!

Following Argos’s gaze, Emlyn White noticed the old newspapers and small wooden box he had forgotten to deal with.

Although they had originally belonged to this room, they had been in different places before. Now that they were placed together, they looked rather strange, as if someone had intended to use them for something, only to temporarily give up.

Then why would that person have temporarily given up? Had they been disturbed by the knock on the door? And did that mean the murderer had not left, but was hiding in some corner of the room? Similar questions flashed through Argos’s and Emlyn White’s minds at the same time. The only difference was that one had suddenly grown suspicious, while the other was reverse-deducing what the other party would think.

Not good!

The two vampires reacted simultaneously. Argos abruptly pounced to the side, and dense black gas spread from behind him, shaped like bat wings. Meanwhile, Emlyn White’s fingers rapidly slid over the opened Leymano’s Travels.

All at once, silver-white radiance flashed and again illuminated the entire room.

The lightning with spread branches failed to strike Argos, hitting the ground beside the bed instead. It shattered into countless tiny electric serpents and leaped toward the nearby objects with better conductivity.

Among them, the wings Argos had created from dense black gas seemed especially favored by lightning. Many silver-white electric serpents chased them, crackled as they destroyed them, and spread to the surface of his body.

Argos was paralyzed for a full second. He failed to bounce up after landing and instead fell with a thud.

Emlyn hurriedly flipped through Leymano’s Travels, his finger once again sliding over a Lightning Strike page.

Although he did not know why there were so many Lightning Strike pages, occupying half of the yellow-brown parchment section, at that moment, he was endlessly grateful that he could continue using them.

Silver-white lightning fell from thin air and struck Argos directly. The artificial vampire, who had just shaken off his paralysis and was about to leap away, immediately emitted a burst of black smoke from his body and trembled uncontrollably from head to toe.

Seizing this opportunity, Emlyn White straightened his knees and pushed off with both feet. Moving so fast he almost dragged an afterimage behind him, he closed in on Argos, wrapped his right arm around the other man’s head, and, with a nimble twist, flashed behind him.

Crack!

Argos saw his own back.

His eyes instantly became bloodshot. Several swollen, ulcerated patches on his face split open completely, and deep, illusory darkness surged out of them.

Emlyn did not understand what change had occurred. His feet slipped, and by instinct, he retreated, changing position repeatedly.

Argos did not pursue. His eyes seemed to have lost all reason, containing only pure malice, madness, and obvious confusion.

He lifted both hands, pressed them to either side of his own head, and violently twisted, turning it back to the correct direction amid a crisp crack.

Around this artificial vampire, deep darkness surged as though it wanted to swallow everything.

Afterward, Argos moved his swaying neck left and right. His entire body had now become swollen and rotten, seeping disgusting pus.

He had come to see Galis Kevin tonight precisely because he was showing signs of losing control and needed to discuss a solution. The reason he had turned back halfway was that he had suddenly wondered whether the terrible environment was causing an intense negative impact on his extraordinary sense of smell and sharp senses, thereby triggering those signs of loss of control.

Now, beneath the shadow of death, he had collapsed completely.

He had truly lost control.

When Argos’s gaze swept over him, Emlyn White’s heart trembled. He felt that he had encountered trouble again, and could not help cursing this group of Primordial Moon believers for always turning themselves into monsters.

He did not immediately pray to Mr. Fool. First, there was no time; the other party was about to attack. Second, in a one-on-one situation, Emlyn believed he should not be in too much danger facing a Sequence 7 who had lost control.

Seizing his time, he swiftly flipped through Leymano’s Travels and once again stopped at Lightning Strike.

Crack!

A thick, twisted silver-white bolt of lightning with spreading claws struck down heavily, slamming into the mutated Argos.

At that instant, the lightning seemed to smash apart the surging darkness, yet also seemed to be swallowed by the profound blackness. The two disappeared simultaneously, leaving only Argos, whose gaze had finally locked onto Emlyn.

This out-of-control artificial vampire dragged a true afterimage as he lunged toward the target.

Emlyn lowered his body and rolled across the floor, dodging the fatal blow.

At the same time, the right hand not holding Leymano’s Travels reached into his pocket and pulled out a metal bottle.

Thud!

Argos turned at high speed, instantly closing in on the enemy.

Crack! With no time to open the bottle cap, Emlyn exerted force with all five fingers and directly crushed a gap into the metal bottle.

Then he threw the bottle forward, splashing the pure, brilliant liquid inside toward the lunging Argos.

This was Sun Water, which he had concocted using spiritual materials. It was extremely effective against vampires.

This was advance preparation made by a “Potion Professor”!

“Ah!”

Argos, directly splashed by it, released a shrill scream on the spot. Wisps of black smoke steamed from his body, and he lost strength in midair.

Bang! Although he crashed into Emlyn, all it did was knock Emlyn off balance and send him rolling twice. It inflicted no substantial damage.

While rolling, Emlyn had no time to deal with his injuries. He shook his right hand, which hurt from being splashed by a few drops of Sun Water, and quickly made Leymano’s Travels turn its pages.

Crack!

Another silver-white bolt of lightning fell, causing Argos’s scream to stop abruptly.

This out-of-control artificial vampire was still seemingly enduring close-range sunlight on one side, while on the other he had fallen into intense paralysis.

Emlyn seized the opportunity, took out another bottle of Sun Water, unscrewed the cap, and poured it directly forward.

This time, Argos could not even scream. His body took on a state like a melting candle.

Only then did Emlyn let out a breath. Thick black fog spread out from behind him, transforming into palm-sized illusory bats that surged in swarms toward the target.

The black bats landed on Argos, completely enveloping him. Then, with a rushing flutter, they split apart and flew back to Emlyn’s side, vanishing from sight.

Argos’s body had clearly shrunk by a layer. At last, he could no longer hold on. With half-melted traces upon him, he slowly collapsed to the ground.

Only then did Emlyn raise his right hand to inspect the lingering pain. He saw atrophied, ulcerated wounds on his palm and several fingers.

However, the flesh and blood within were rapidly wriggling and self-healing.

It’s over… I actually really killed him…

Emlyn withdrew his gaze and looked at Argos’s corpse, still finding it a little hard to believe.

Although this hunt had contained no small number of twists, throughout the entire process, he had never truly encountered real danger. That made him once again realize that the Tarot Club’s existence had made him far stronger than he had expected.

“If Argos had first examined Galis Kevin’s corpse instead of looking at the newspapers and wooden box on the bed, then he would certainly have judged that I possessed the Beyonder ability Lightning Strike. He would not have used Wings of Darkness while dodging and been caught in the lightning’s spread.

“But in that case, he would not have discovered anything abnormal and would not have been able to evade in advance. My Lightning Strike would have directly hit him, making things much simpler.

“From this perspective, no matter what, as long as I made no mistakes in response, I was certain to kill him… They really are weak… So I am already this strong…

“No wonder the Ancestor had me join the Tarot Club. This is a gathering prepared to welcome the apocalypse and save our respective races. It is on a much higher level than other secret organizations!”

Emlyn lifted his chin slightly, the corners of his mouth uncontrollably curling upward a little.

He then heard footsteps moving back and forth outside the door, but no one drew near.

Argos’s scream just now startled the surrounding tenants, but they don’t dare come in. They fear encountering trouble… However, someone must already have gone to find the police… I have to deal with the scene quickly and leave…

Emlyn withdrew his gaze from the door, walked over to Galis Kevin’s corpse, and picked up a fist-sized object from the spreading pool of blood.

It was completely crimson, like a heart, faintly expanding and contracting. Its surface was translucent, and one could vaguely see liquid flowing within it. It was precisely the Beyonder characteristic left behind by the Apothecary pathway’s Sequence 7, Vampire.

This is my spoil of battle…

Emlyn was still a little unused to it. After steadying himself, he wrapped the Beyonder characteristic and Galis Kevin’s head in old newspapers and stuffed them into the small wooden box.

After putting the box away, he tore off Argos’s head, which had rotted so badly that its original appearance could barely be seen. Then he took out another bottle of potion and scattered it into every corner of the room.

Throughout this process, Emlyn did not panic at all, as though he were not worried that official Beyonders of the East Borough would arrive.

Several minutes later, he picked up Argos’s somewhat mutated Beyonder characteristic. He glanced at its surface, which was closer to black, and at the faintly visible pattern of a human face. At his back, spreading black gas appeared.

The black gas again transformed into countless tiny bats that flew around the inside of the room, combining with the potion liquid he had sprinkled earlier to create quietly spreading black flames.

The black flames burned away the blood, burned away the corpses, burned away the traces left by lightning, leaving only a layer of sticky, tar-like liquid covering different objects.

Then those liquids became heavy black bats, circling and coiling around Emlyn.

Emlyn did not expect his handling of the scene to completely interfere with others’ tracking. He had only one goal: to make the situation appear not too serious, so that the police and any official Beyonders who might take over would believe the matter lacked importance and value, conduct a cursory investigation, throw it into a case file cabinet, and stop paying attention.

After completing all this, wearing his flat cap and with his face covered in coal ash, Emlyn picked up the wooden box and swept his gaze around the room.

Then he bowed slightly toward the crimson moon outside, performing a salute.

At the same time, Leymano’s Travels in his hand flipped rapidly, stopping on the page for Teleportation.

Emlyn’s figure, together with the heavy bats, immediately turned transparent and incorporeal, vanishing from where he stood.

Only after at least a quarter of an hour did several East Borough policemen arrive at the apartment and force their way in, discovering neither the tenant nor any corpses.

They lazily yawned, forced the surrounding tenants to admit that they had been hearing things, and ended the investigation on that basis.

This was the efficiency and style of the East Borough police.

…

After leaving the East Borough, Emlyn first returned home and hid Leymano’s Travels. Only then did he take his gains and head straight for the Odora family’s villa in the West Borough.

He was going to announce his victory and collect his reward!