Chapter 54: Bloody Battle

Smack!

The vampire's skull was smashed like a watermelon, blood and brains splattering everywhere.

Lei En pulled his hammer back and stepped away, thrusting the war hammer horizontally forward, blocking the second vampire's sharp claws perfectly.

This vampire was female, with a lovely face, wearing only a layer of sheer gauze that faintly revealed her private parts. Her claws sparked against the hammer handle, and seeing her ambush fail, she slashed down along the handle, trying to sever Lei En's palm.

The claws scraped against his skin, leaving only a few white marks—not even a single drop of blood came out.

The female vampire's face filled with disbelief, her movement even pausing for a moment.

As a vampire, she knew very well how sharp her "Reaping Claws" were.

This was a vampire's signature skill, the strongest attack point in close combat, comparable to an enchanted weapon. Even if an Iron Guard activated a Stone Skin Element, it could easily slice open wounds, having reaped countless lives.

Yet slashing at this fellow's hand, it couldn't even break the skin.

Lei En seized the chance while the female vampire was distracted, took a wide step forward, and slammed directly into her body, knocking her back into the hall and firmly holding the passage exit.

In the hall, the high-ranking vampire had long lost its previous composure, intent only on fleeing.

The high-ranking vampire moved fast as lightning, its body dissolving into a cloud of black smoke, trying to flee toward Lei En's side.

The black smoke carried silver dust within it, extremely conspicuous, leaving it nowhere to hide.

Roger formed a seal with his left hand, and an invisible power of ice erupted from his hand like a thunderclap from a clear sky, spreading rapidly outward and enveloping nearly half the hall, instantly striking the black mist and forcing the high-ranking vampire back into its true form.

The power of ice seeped into its body, and the high-ranking vampire shuddered as a streak of silver sword light swept toward it.

It bit through its own tongue, spewing out a spray of blood that ignited into flame, dispelling the chill.

In the instant before the sword light struck, it dissolved into black smoke once more and escaped.

Roger's sword slashed through empty air, but from the corner of his eye he caught the trail of silver dust and realized the vampire had not fled toward the passage but was circling around the hall, so he did not rush, fighting steadily and methodically.

One fleeing, one pursuing, like a cat toying with a mouse.

No matter what means the high-ranking vampire used, Roger blocked it every time, keeping it from getting a single step closer to the passage while continuously wearing down its aura.

On the passage side, blood was already flowing like a river.

Over a dozen blood servants fleeing for their lives surged into the passage, trying to swarm Lei En with sheer numbers, but what greeted them was hammer blow after hammer blow.

Bam bam bam!

The war hammer swung, three consecutive strikes smashing the skulls of three blood servants, shattering their heads.

These blood servants were not Extraordinaries; in the eyes of ordinary people they might be strong, but to Lei En they were just a pack of walking power banks.

At his feet already lay seven or eight blood servants, both men and women, none able to withstand a single hammer strike.

Lei En's entire body was nearly dyed red with blood, like a god of slaughter, frightening the remaining blood servants into shrinking back.

From the hall came the high-ranking vampire's dying scream, clearly about to die beneath the legendary demon hunter's blade. The sole surviving female vampire gritted her teeth and cried out, "Attack together, or we'll all die!"

She was the first to charge, followed by two horned female creatures.

Lei En had noticed them long ago; their strength was roughly on par with a first-tier Extraordinary, but they had been hiding behind the blood servants all along, only daring to join the fight now.

The female vampire was upon him in an instant, swinging her claws to attack once more.

Lei En showed no fear, gripping his war hammer and meeting her head-on.

Suddenly, the two female creatures dissolved into black shadows and vanished from sight, then reappeared at his side, their naked slippery bodies wrapping around his arms, two beautiful faces pressing close, mouths opening to spew out a cloud of pink mist.

Caught off guard, Lei En inhaled a bit of the pink mist, and lustful thoughts arose in his mind,

his war hammer swings slowing down.

"Hahaha..."

The female vampire let out a smug, shrill laugh, dodging the war hammer and circling behind Lei En, long fangs bared, sinking them into the back of his neck.

Crack!

Two crisp snaps, and the female vampire's expression froze. She released her grip and spat out two broken fangs.

"What the hell are you!"

She screamed in agony, her whole mouth aching, tears welling up, feeling as though she had bitten into a steel ingot rather than a human body.

At this moment Lei En forcibly suppressed the lustful thoughts and came back to his senses, swinging his right arm hard and flinging one of the female creatures clinging to him into the passage wall.

The tremendous force was no different from being struck head-on by a hammer; every bone in her body snapped, and she slid limply down the wall, clearly not going to live.

As his arm swung out, he simultaneously thrust the hammer handle backward—thrust! —impaling the female vampire screaming on his back straight through.

The hammer handle shattered her heart, piercing through her back, then pulled back out.

The remaining strange female creature let go of his arm in terror, vanished entirely, and reappeared at the passage exit, hooves clattering as she fled outside.

"Trying to run?"

Lei En snorted, ignoring the not-yet-dead female vampire at his feet, and hurled the war hammer directly.

The heavy war hammer, like a speeding steam train, struck the female creature, sending her flying; her body was smashed in two while still in midair, and she was dead before hitting the ground.

The war hammer continued flying forward, finally smashing a crater into the passage wall.

"He has no weapon! Let's go!"

Several blood servants, seeing Lei En empty-handed, swarmed forward in a rush, wanting to seize the chance to escape.

Lei En glanced at Roger's side; he was still locked in combat with the high-ranking vampire. He shook his head, drew a shotgun from the holster on his outer thigh, and began firing.

Bam bam bam bam!

Muzzle flashes spat; after four gunshots, the last four blood servants fell to the ground, each riddled with holes.

There was one shell left in the gun. Lei En looked down and saw the female vampire still at his feet; her vitality was remarkably tenacious, her eyes filled with unwillingness and resentment.

With a bang, the last shell from the barrel blew her head apart, brains splattering, blood pooling across the floor.

Lei En shook the blood off his boots, swiftly took five shells from his belt to reload, went over to retrieve his war hammer, and continued holding the passage exit.

By now, the only one left in the entire hall was the high-ranking vampire.

Watching for half a minute, Lei En reflected inwardly that if he encountered a high-ranking vampire, there would be only one road—death.

This vampire's greatest strength is speed; it transforms into black smoke, as fast as lightning, and while in the smoky state can evade ordinary weapon damage—only spells can force it back to its true form.

Mid‑stage and above vampires can also become invisible, a stealth ability more practical than shadow‑step, and they can move at high speed while invisible.

Moreover, vampires possess extremely strong self‑healing, master various blood‑based spells, and disrupt the enemy's will.

But none of these matter in front of a legendary Demonkin hunter.

From the start, Luo Jue used those alchemical bombs laced with silver dust to dispel invisibility and smoke transformation, so a high‑level vampire, no matter where it fled, would be easily detected.

All the blood‑based spells could not break Luo Jue's shield.

And Luo Jue's speed was no slower than its, even a step faster, with lightning‑quick reactions.

If it weren't for the high‑level vampire's blood‑dodge technique, which is similar to blood‑evade, it would have died long ago beneath Luo Jue's silver sword.

However, this blood‑dodge technique clearly consumes the user's own blood; after several uses, its aura grew weaker.

"Demonkin hunters truly are the bane of Demons; even a vampire's full arsenal cannot escape death."

"Master Luo Jue obviously did not use his full strength."

Lei En thought this, yet kept his guard up; if this high‑level vampire tried to grab a shield‑bearer as a last‑ditch move before dying and fled here, it would be tragic.

Fortunately, Luo Jue prevented that from happening.

One minute later, the high‑level vampire performed another blood‑dodge to escape, still shaken.

Luo Jue suddenly accelerated his pursuit; as he drew near, he stamped his left hand onto the ground, and faint purple runes rose from the earth, the surrounding air seeming to solidify, the vampire became unbearably heavy, bound firmly in place, its speed slowing.

This magic trap had no effect on Luo Jue himself.

"No!"

The vampire screamed in despair.

In an instant, Luo Jue reached the vampire, swung his silver sword, and easily cleaved off its head, the scream abruptly ending.

The silver blade remained unstained with blood.

Luo Jue, as if he had done something trivial, turned back to the blood‑stained Lei En and praised, "You did well."

With his power, killing a high‑level vampire would be as easy as a palm‑sweep, solvable in a few breaths; the reason he prolonged the fight was to gauge Lei En's combat ability.

It must be said, Lei En's performance far exceeded his expectations.

Those two vampires could not use spells, relying only on speed and strength, equivalent to second‑tier transcedents, plus two night demons and over ten blood servants; under such a swarm even a Mid‑stage transcendent would find it very tricky.

Lei En, however, dispatched them all unharmed, truly surprising Luo Jue.

If one must point out a flaw, it is that Lei En's fighting style is overly brutal, always preferring to smash heads with a war hammer, making the battlefield excessively bloody.

"This kid looks handsome and poised, with a calm aura, yet fights so violently—it's like a follower of the Blood God 'Ha Ka Si Nu'." Luo Jue muttered to himself.

Unaware of Luo Jue's thoughts, Lei En looked toward the human girl hanging from the long table above.

In his Soul Eye, her soul was extremely weak yet still alive.

Luo Jue leapt, slashed the chain, Lei En caught the girl, gently laid her down, and pressed the wound on her neck.

The vampires' blood‑letting technique was superb; the wound was thin and deep, seemingly sustained by some spell that kept her alive, so she had not died.

"She cannot survive," Luo Jue said expressionlessly, as if accustomed to such scenes.

Lei En was also at a loss; the girl had lost most of her blood, and surviving this long was already a miracle.

He felt a pang of compassion; at her age, she was merely a high‑school girl in a previous life, in the bloom of youth, a promising life cut short.

Soon after, the girl's breathing ceased, and a soul burst forth from her head.

Lei En had already disabled the charging function; watching her soul rise, merge into the void, and head toward the realm of the gods.

In Ai Lun E Si, believers' souls are redeemed after death, which is some consolation.

Lei En fell silent for a few seconds, regained his composure, and saw Luo Jue slice open the high‑level vampire's chest, pull out a blood‑soaked heart, and bite into it greedily.