Ascendant Path of a Lustful Vampire

Chapter 594: I’m coming for you

Van Kroon’s frustrated roar would probably have gone on for much longer if it actually helped him work through his anger. But it didn’t, so he stopped and cast his eyes around for someone to blame.

The lead bounty hunter flinched as Van’s eyes fell on him and that seemed to sap so much of his strength after the ordeal he had already endured, that he had to stretch out an arm to grab onto the wreck of a carriage to remain on his feet.

”We would have gotten them, Sir,” said the lead Bounty Hunter,

”We would have gotten them if it hadn’t been for that gods-damned barrier!”

”Barrier?” Van repeated with a pause and only now did he properly observe the carriages that had smashed into the invisible dividing line.

Van Kroon walked forward and reached out a hand to feel out what he still couldn’t see. And there, he felt the resistance. Solid as a wall, and yet, even as his hand pressed up against it, it still wasn’t visible to Van.

”How long has this been here?” Van asked, ”What territory does it protect?”

”There is a wide stretch of land previously believed to be unclaimed that used to serve as a dividing line between the Empire and the Lands beyond,” the Squad Leader said in the tone of one with expertise on border affairs.

”’Previously believed’?” Van repeated with a raised brow.

”Well, I just meant that if someone has gone to all that trouble of erecting a Formation wall around it, it might not be as ’unclaimed’ as we believed,” the Squad Leader said, and then his voice took on a musing tone,

”I must inform my superiors of this.”

”Why?” Van asked, wheeling around to look at the Squad Leader.

”That land being unclaimed kept our boundary with the land beyond separate. If they or someone else have claimed it, we lose our buffer zone,” the Squad Leader said.

”What was the place beyond that buffer zone?” Van asked. He knew some of the names of the kingdoms beyond the Acheron Empire but as the Empire was massive in and of itself and Van had been more about the pride he felt in Khione, he wasn’t quite so knowledgeable as to know the answer to his question. Hence why he asked.

”If we’re going by the direction that vampire pack was headed then it’s a Country called Venuzze. The citizens call themselves Venuzians and they apparently choose their leaders through something as absurd as ’Elections’.”

”Elections?” Van said, incredulous.

”Yes, Elections,” the Squad leader reiterated, ”Reports say a lot of the regions beyond the Empire are buying into the ridiculous concept too.”

”Think it would ever reach here?” Asked the lead bounty hunter who seemed momentarily distracted from losing his bounty.

”Nah. I don’t even expect it to last in Venuzze or anywhere else. It’s just the fad of the day. Nothing beats good old, traditional monarchy.

Why would any family relinquish their rule just to satisfy the ’will of the people’?”

Van snorted in a short laugh and then became downcast.

”We must get through this barrier,” he said.

”We’ll need a Formation expert for that,” the Squad Leader said.

Van agreed even if he didn’t say it out loud. The wall being invisible meant the Formation was being projected out from a source and since that source was most likely within the boundary of the protected region, they couldn’t attack it to destroy it.

Sure, if they tried hard enough and long enough, they could break through the invisible wall but the task seemed so time-consuming and not very promising that despite his agitation and frustration, Van couldn’t sanction it.

And even if he did sanction it, who was left that he could ’command’? Only about three of his bounty hunters could still stand and even they were shaky. The others were laid on the ground concussed or just plain dead from either the explosion or the collision with the invisible wall.

Van had three Mages with him—the ones he had come here with—but even with them combined with the three bounty hunters still standing, he still lacked manpower to confidently attempt the breakdown of such a sturdy barrier.

As for the Border Guards, they didn’t answer to him. He had merely asked for a favor and made promises and concessions. And even if he could order them, the ones still standing were far from enough or even up to the task of any great undertaking.

”We must return to the Fortification,” the Squad Leader said, ”The Captain will want to hear about what happened in person.”

Van looked conflicted about that but there really was nothing else to be done. He needed to calmly think of what he could do next and he tried not to dwell on the fact that there was practically nothing more he could do and he might as well accept that he had failed.

Oh, the thought of calling Leonce Duval to tell him the Gold-Black vampires had slipped through his hands again made him feel, if possible, even worse than he already did.

•••

A shadow loomed close to the Acheron Empire border. Beneath wine-red robes, one could see a pair of bare feet skimming across the air in a gentle glide.

The Noble Emissary had both his hands behind his back as he surveyed the scene and then, he gently lowered himself to the ground, his eyes locked on the burnt mark and the explosive depression in the ground.

After he had freed himself from the Formation that trapped him back at Revron County and then vented his frustrations on those closest, the Emissary had begun his search for the Gold-black cloak wearing Vampires. His best clue towards finding Athenodora.

It soon dawned on the Emissary that he could not for the life of him tell what any of their energy signatures were. He couldn’t even track their scents because they seemed not to have any.

Because of this, what the Noble Emissary knew about those Gold-black vampires was almost as limited as what he knew about Athenodora with one exception— one detail that at least let him know one thing about them he didn’t know about Athenodora: their direction.

The incident at the County hadn’t been quiet. After the Emissary made a loud entrance by smashing a hole through the wall and a loud and bloody battle ensued, there were many eyes on the scene. Enough eyes to catch the exit of the vampires inside a decrepit carriage that headed out of the County and further North toward the very center of the Khione Duchy.

Now, of course, no one knew exactly what destination the carriage had been heading towards. For all anyone knew, they made many turns and were heading out of the Khione Duchy entirely.

But it was a start.

So the Emissary pursued. He moved a bit slower, and became more meticulous, trying to pick out something he could use to learn their location or at least point him in the right direction.

And then, he got it; In a forest region on the path to Northern-Star, the Noble Emissary sensed the bare traces of a Formation that had been taken down. Formations, like all Magic, leave traces and the Noble Emissary prided himself on being able to sniff out those traces.

Of course, there was a chance the Formation that had been taken down had nothing to do with his targets. But the Emissary could sense a mastery in that Formation design that matched the mastery of the Formation that trapped him back at Revron County.

So he continued. Arriving at the Khione Duchy Capital, Northern-Star, to learn of the ruckus of a high-speed chase and the incarceration of culprits wearing Gold-black cloaks.

The Emissary soon learnt he had been a tad late. The culprits had already left. Even more, now the Emissary wasn’t the only one after them.

For a second, the Emissary wasn’t pleased by this discovery; Having others going after his prey was never welcome. But then, he saw the silver lining; While the gold-black cloak-wearing vampires were exempt from his senses, the ones after them were not.

Even at a distance, the Emissary could hear their blood pumping with excitement. He could smell their anticipation. It was so palpable that even with other scents that could have distracted him, those became a homing beacon that he followed.

And now, here he was. In the aftermath of a battle. He could hear carriages driving away from this location but didn’t follow because he knew they weren’t his target and, at this point, no longer had any use for him.

Even from a great distance, he had heard a frustrated roar and overheard conversations about the lands beyond the border. He had heard the name of the region his targets had journeyed into...

”Venuzze,” the Emissary mumbled.

He stepped toward the barrier and placed a hand on it as a smile spread across his face.

”There you are,” he said.

Formations, like all magic, leave a trace. And the Emissary could feel traces of Athenodora’s Formation Mastery lingering here. He was close now.

”I’m coming for you.”

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End of Volume Four

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