The vampire Edward, after hearing Fang Senyan’s words, shook his neck, a look of anger and disdain crossing his face. (Novel Website) Just as it was about to speak, its brow furrowed, and it turned to look at the crowbar leaning weakly against a tree nearby, gasping heavily:
“Sir, I regret to inform you that the life essence just absorbed has been completely depleted. If it is not replenished, I shall have to depart this plane and return home—although I desperately wish to teach this fellow a brutal lesson right now, so he understands the tragic consequences of presumptuously insulting a gentleman of decorum!”
The crowbar had already been drained once by the vampire Edward, and Edward had made it perfectly clear that a second draining would mean death. Yet, given the crowbar’s current state, could he truly allow this vampire Edward to leave now?
Just as Fang Senyan was prepared to stake everything, even his life, on this fight, the crowbar was equally a man who could not afford to lose or be utterly defeated. If everything were stripped from him here, even if he survived, the crushing despair of failure and the immense subsequent punishment would make it impossible for him to recover.
Therefore, the crowbar stared at Fang Senyan with venomous hatred, then violently tore open his shirt, exposing his chest, his face contorted as he ground out word by word:
“Continue!”
The vampire Edward bowed slightly, his tone laced with appreciation:
“Oh, sir, I commend your courage… and your generosity, of course. I assure you, your wishes shall be fulfilled.”
He spoke with perfect grace, yet in the blink of an eye, he was upon the crowbar, his two razor-sharp fangs plunging deep into the major artery in the man's neck, sucking greedily. After two or three seconds, the crowbar slumped to the ground like a heap of wet clay, yet a faint blue light enveloped him; clearly, he too had reserved a powerful restorative medicine to escape immediate demise. Consequently, the crowbar appeared frail and ancient, barely clinging to life, his ten fingers still twitching as they dug deep into the earth, while the hatred in his eyes was almost palpable enough to shoot forth.
Edward’s tailcoat suddenly billowed out, and he shot towards Fang Senyan close to the ground, resembling a gigantic bat soaring low and fast, brimming with evil, eeriness, and a bone-chilling coldness. His voice pierced the air with icy clarity:
“Blood shall be the finest seasoning for your insolence!”
Fang Senyan gasped heavily, half-bent over, hands slightly spread, his eyes burning fiercely, inexplicably evoking the image of a ravenous wolf baring its teeth and drooling. Rain and mist lashed down, strong winds buffeted him, and the terrifying creature before him arrived steeped in gore and death; yet, a bloodthirsty craving surged within Fang Senyan! An intense exhilaration, even!
Muddy water splashed up from the ground, the wind shrieked past his ears, and the taste of coppery saltiness flooded his tongue. Fang Senyan sidestepped, and a fresh wound immediately opened across his cheek, the tender red flesh peeling back. Only after a moment did the blood begin to flow freely.
Against the vampire Edward, freshly replenished with life essence, Fang Senyan was enduring a torture akin to drawing and quartering. Every time the black whirlwind of the vampire closed in, his body acquired another deep laceration, some wounds even cutting down to the bone. “Running is useless,” the vampire Edward suddenly materialized seven or eight meters from Fang Senyan, halting abruptly! His transition from extreme speed to stillness was jarringly sudden, kicking up only a few fallen leaves before settling gently. In the fingers of his right hand, he delicately held a strip of bloody flesh, twenty centimeters long, savagely torn from Fang Senyan’s body. Edward tilted his head back and swallowed the gruesome strip as if slurping noodles, closing his eyes in apparent ecstasy. He then produced a pristine white handkerchief, dabbed his lips with meticulous care, and stated:
“My palate informs me that the delicacy of your flesh is extraordinary. Among all the humans I have had the fortune to taste, you rank in the top three.”
Fang Senyan’s expression remained placid; he offered no reply, continuing his retreat deeper into the thicket.
The vampire Edward shook his head, adopting a tone of false pity:
“The Lord says, running is futile, Amen.”
With that, his form flickered, and he lunged after Fang Senyan, moving at least five or six times faster than his opponent, his silhouette utterly uncatchable by the naked eye. But just then, Fang Senyan unleashed a series of swift chopping blows—swish, swish, swish, swish—landing precisely on several adjacent trees, each as thick as a bowl. With sharp cracking sounds, the trees crashed down in a crisscross pattern, blocking the path ahead of Fang Senyan and sending vast sprays of muddy water, broken branches, and leaves flying!
However, at that very moment, the vampire Edward ghosted in beside Fang Senyan—it was unclear how he had bypassed the obstacles. His tailcoat whipped in the gale, his hands raised high like wings, multiplying from one to ten, then ten to a hundred, then a hundred to a thousand, only to reverse the process: a thousand becoming a hundred, a hundred becoming ten, ten becoming one, before plunging deeply into Fang Senyan’s right flank, seizing his liver!
“I favor human livers when they are freshest, especially when still warm,” the vampire Edward’s voice whispered like a specter next to Fang Senyan’s ear. The five fingers buried in Fang Senyan’s liver already began to contract, scoring hideous gashes across the dark red surface of the organ!
But—
But!
In that precise instant, his right wrist was seized by Fang Senyan. Simultaneously, Fang Senyan’s abdominal muscles and even his internal organs contracted, generating an immense suction force! Although Edward sensed danger and desperately struggled to pull back, he was delayed nonetheless!
At this juncture, he met Fang Senyan’s gaze.
It was a look of overwhelming ferocity, hungry enough to devour flesh and soul.
It was a look as if his very spirit was burning itself into sheer fighting will.
“Taste the sensation of a brain pierced by a lead slug, you filthy brute!” Fang Senyan roared with maniacal fury! His shout cracked through the darkness like a bolt of lightning, momentarily illuminating the mountains and rivers. In that split second, Fang Senyan heard his own ragged breathing, heard the violent pounding of his heart against his ribs, and a favorite mantra flashed through his mind:
Live fully, die without regret!
A heavy, dark firearm materialized abruptly in his left hand.
It was a crude, seemingly primitive weapon, yet it radiated palpable killing intent!
The instant this weapon appeared, flocks of birds within several kilometers took fright simultaneously, beating their wings as one and soaring into the sky.
“Ambition”—this dark instrument from the Caribbean—was slammed tightly against the vampire Edward’s forehead, then roared into deafening existence, spewing forth a blinding flash of fire!
In that single moment, the entire world in the vampire’s eyes seemed to dissolve into a deep, black ocean, and a colossal wave crashed down, threatening to bury everything at the bottom of the profound, deep, dark sea!
The vampire Edward’s face still held a flicker of sheer panic before half of his head quite cleanly splatted open! Thick blood and pale gray brain matter instantly smeared the surroundings in gruesome horror.
From the very beginning, Fang Senyan had been setting a trap.
He had never retaliated from the outset. This was not because he was so completely suppressed that he couldn't fight back, but because Fang Senyan understood that against a dark creature like a vampire, which possessed no true fatal weaknesses and excelled at recovery, conventional attacks were merely throwing water on a blaze—they would only serve to heighten its vigilance without achieving anything substantial.
Thus, Fang Senyan focused entirely on defense from the start, utterly discarding offense. This naturally gave the vampire Edward the illusion that his enemy possessed absolutely no offensive capability.
Secondly, there was the matter of Fang Senyan chopping the trees. Although the vampire’s speed was immense, it was still bound by physical laws. The trees Fang Senyan felled seemed to serve no purpose, but as he swung his axe, he had precisely calculated the angles. The falling trees created a brief, intersecting barrier. If the vampire insisted on charging straight ahead, it would slam directly into the timber!
Of course, even being struck by a tree wouldn't kill the vampire, but vampires are creatures that value superficial elegance and gentlemanly conduct. Therefore, Fang Senyan was at least ninety percent certain it would not attack from the front. With Fang Senyan’s left side shielded by a large tree, the vampire’s inevitable approach vector was limited to the right or from behind. Having established the enemy’s most likely angle of attack, Fang Senyan then proceeded to use his battered body to set up a near-certain fatal trap, which naturally culminated in success! A single, decisive blow!
“Your weapon: Ambition will inflict 140 points of theoretical damage upon the vampire Edward.”
“Flintlock Weapon Special Effect: Buildup is triggered; Buildup now grants an additional 50% Critical Hit Rate.”
“You targeted the enemy’s vital head region; your Critical Hit Chance for this attack is increased by an additional 37%.”
“Your weapon: Ambition’s damage for this attack will be a critical strike.”
“The critical effect triggered by Buildup will increase the bonus damage from 200% to 250%.”
“Your theoretical damage for this strike is increased to: 140 * 250% = 350 points!”
“You successfully struck the vampire Edward’s head; your weapon: Ambition inflicts actual damage of 324 points upon the vampire Edward!”
“The damage inflicted upon the vampire Edward’s head exceeds 1/6th of its maximum health, therefore this damage will simultaneously cause partial functional loss of the cranial organs.”