Chapter 680: Spilled blood
Michael transported Guillermo and himself back into the Nation of Reborn. They found themselves back into the Main Street of the Upperwood District, just in front of the Reborn Headquarters.
"I can’t wait to see the look on their faces when they realize what I have discovered!"
Guillermo immediately turned into a bat and led Michael through the streets of Metropolis before they eventually found themselves in one of Inns that the Vampires stayed in for the duration of their stay here in Metropolis.
The whole building was reserved for the Vampires, so there really wasn’t much activity going on inside the inn.
But as they got closer to this building, Michael felt that something was wrong. Guillermo must have felt it too since he quickly stopped in his tracks and sniffed the air suspiciously.
"What’s wrong?" Michael asked him.
"It’s... probably nothing," Guillermo said, his face no longer showing the excitement he once had. There was now a cautious look on his face as he entered their building.
Even though the Vampires preferred to stay in a completely dark building devoid of any lights, the hallway leading through the rooms seemed eerily dark. It was scarily silent, with no sign of movement anywhere.
Vampires were famous for their stealth, but there was something different about this.
As Guillermo and Michael walked closer towards the end of the dark hallway, the stench in the air got more and more intense.
Guillermo was now sure of what he suspected.
His footsteps got quicker, with his body turning into the shadows as he ran towards the room.
They burst through the door, only to see bodies scattered around the floor.
Michael immediately used his Supreme Skill, and was relieved to see that the Vampires weren’t dead. The Necrotic energy inside their bodies was faint, but it was still present. They were still clinging onto their life, but just barely.
There was blood spilled along the floors, stemming from the two small puncture marks on the necks of each unconscious Vampire.
"A Vampire did this," Guillermo concluded as he propped up one of his friends on his lap.
"A Vampire? Why would they even do this? Were they so desperate for blood that they even turned on their own species?" Michael asked, perplexed at this whole situation.
But Guillermo shook his head. "This wasn’t out of hunger. Look at the blood on the floor. It’s spilled. If they wanted to drink blood, then we wouldn’t even see a drop of blood spilled on the floor. No, this is something more sinister. The motive for this crime is simply through pure hatred."
"Do you have any idea who would do this?"
Michael then looked around and saw that about twenty Vampires were knocked unconscious. Yet, there weren’t any signs of struggle in the room: no broken floor tiles, no splintered tables, nothing.
To take down that many people with such ease would either take a tremendous amount of people, or a tremendous amount of strength.
"The only one who’ll know what happened are them," Guillermo said, kneeling down towards a Vampire.
He then bit his own forearm, creating a puncture wound that let his blood drip into the unconscious Vampire’s mouth.
As soon as the blood got absorbed into his mouth, the Vampire’s hands twitched.
It wasn’t long before the Vampire regained consciousness, slowly blinking out the drowsiness in his eyes.
He made eye contact with Guillermo, and the Vampire’s eyes widened. And with the remaining strength in his body, the Vampire grabbed Guillermo’s collars and whispered words of warning.
"...it’s them!..."
Then, the Vampire faded back into unconsciousness, unable to handle the injuries he sustained.
"Them?" Michael questioned.
As for Guillermo, he didn’t seem to have that many questions after this revelation. He knew exactly who he was talking about.
"If they’re the ones that did this, then the whole of Metropolis may be in trouble," Guillermo said with gravity in his voice.
"What? Are they so powerful that they can defeat the likes of Alaric or Potbol?"
"No. But they aren’t targeting those people from power. They’re targeting the normal humans, the vulnerable citizens of Metropolis," Guillermo revealed.
"If that’s so, then we should alarm the others so that we can prepare for the attack," Michael suggested.
But in Guilllermo’s eyes, this wasn’t enough. "Us Vampires specialize in stealth. That is our main power, and we are so proficient at it that there are rules in place within our society to limit our stealth within ethical rules.
But this group does not follow that. They will strike undetected and leave the scene of the crime before their victims even realize what’s happening.
If we try to get the other people involved, then we’ll only be spooking them to hide even deeper in the shadows. They will be almost impossible to find."
As a Vampire himself, Guillermo knew how serious the situation was.
"What do you suggest we do?" Michael asked.
"I’ll have to find them myself and put a stop to this. No offense, but humans have no way of unearthing a conspiracy of this level involving these Vampires."
From how Guillermo kept talking about this group of Vampires, it seemed that this was a common problem even back then in their native lands.
"Who are these groups anyway? And what are their intentions with the citizens of Metropolis?"
Guillermo pursed his lips, as if he was disgusted that he even had to think about those Vampires.
"Although most Vampires believe that finding the lost divinity of our Deity will be accomplished by unearthing relics from our religion from the Ancient past, there are a few extremists within us who believe differently.
They call themselves Purists Vampires.
They believe that in order to revive Gaia and regain our reflections, we must literally consume the blood of humans until we reach enlightenment. They think that it’s the only way that we can return to the glory of what our species once was.
To do so, they do not have moral or ethical boundaries to speak of. They treat humans as mere blood banks, made only to provide service for us Vampires.
I believe that’s what they’re trying to do with the citizens of Metropolis. This place is a prime target for their group, with the abundance of humans ready to be harvested."
After hearing this, Michael couldn’t help but be disgusted the same as Guillermo. If what he said was true, then they truly needed to be stopped.
"I’m helping you," he said to Guillermo.
"That’s nice of you, Michael. But I’m afraid that us Vampires are not only excellent in stealth, but also reconnaissance. Those Purists will ensure that no one will be able to infiltrate their base without them knowing. Even I, as a Vampire, am not sure that I can remain unseen from their eyes."
Now, even if Guillermo knew about Michael’s true powers, there was still a point to his words.
After all, Vampires are Beastfolks. Their power comes from their Dao Hearts, which means that all of their abilities will be using Aubility Powers. Even his stealth magic couldn’t remain unseen in their eyes.
If he had his own stealth Aubility, then it would have been fine. But he doesn’t have one.
However, he still had one thing that could help him infiltrate the Vampires without being seen.
And that was through his Drone.