Chapter Seventy-One: Spoils of War

Looking at the multitude of unconscious vampires scattered across the floor, Blade frowned and stepped forward, pulling his sword from Deacon Frost’s body.

“You’re faster than I expected. It seems that holy water the wizard gave you really transformed you,” Blade said, glancing at Whistler.

“It’s not bad,” Whistler replied with a wide grin. “If that kid hadn’t wanted them alive, I could have moved even faster.”

Blade retorted, “As for you, it took you quite some time to bring down Deacon Frost. You’re nothing like Whistler in his younger days.”

Ignoring Whistler’s boasting, Blade swept his gaze across the vampires sprawled on the ground, a flicker of suspicion in his eyes.

“What do you think the wizard wants with so many pure-blooded vampires alive? And it’s not just any pure-bloods—why did he ask for Deacon Frost as well? If I recall, Frost isn’t a pure-blooded vampire.”

Whistler shook his head. “I don’t know either, but from what I can tell, he doesn’t seem to have any goodwill toward vampires.”

“In any case, let’s trust he means no harm for now. If he does, you know what to do.”

Blade said nothing in response, merely lowering his head to look at the sword in his hand, a glint of resolve in his eyes.

Gu Zhongyan arrived much later than they had expected—he didn’t appear at the castle until the third evening.

“Why are you so late?” Blade’s brows knitted together, unable to hide his displeasure.

As a vampire hunter, spending several days among vampires was far from ideal.

Gu Zhongyan gave an apologetic smile in the face of Blade’s complaint. “Sorry, I wanted to come sooner, but purging all the vampires in New York isn’t easy.”

“You can’t just blow up those bastards, nor can you cause too much of a stir among civilians. You’ve been at this for years—you should know it better than anyone.”

Besides, he didn’t want the Defenders League to know about Deacon Frost and the pure-blooded vampires, so he needed some time to cover his tracks.

After Gu Zhongyan explained, Blade didn’t say anything more. He gave Gu Zhongyan a deep look before turning toward the conference room.

With a creak, the conference room door swung open, releasing a wave of fetid stench mixed with countless odors.

Caught off guard, Gu Zhongyan nearly fainted. Seeing the slight upward curl of Blade’s lips, Gu Zhongyan finally understood the source of Blade’s foul mood.

Foreigners naturally had strong body odor, and vampires, being creatures of darkness, were even worse. Three days without a bath made them indistinguishable from a rotting garbage bin in summer.

“Cleanse!”

With a flick of his wand, Gu Zhongyan cleared the room of its foul smells and then took stock of the situation inside.

The small conference room held over forty vampires, their spirits withered, bound beneath wire mesh. Each bore marks of electrocution, proof they had not enjoyed the past few days.

Upon Gu Zhongyan’s arrival, the vampires grew agitated, especially Gautano.

When he was first captured, Gautano thought he was doomed. After all, in all these years, not a single vampire caught by Blade had survived.

Yet as time passed and Blade showed no sign of killing them, Gautano, seasoned with age, realized he must be of some use.

He spoke urgently, “Wizard, esteemed sir, please don’t kill me—please, I beg you! Whatever you require, Gautano will cooperate fully. Do you want money, ancient tomes, or something else?”

“I promise, whatever you need, I’ll do everything to find it for you. Please, just spare me.”

The other vampire elders joined in, pleading for their lives, offering up their wealth, beauty, power—anything they possessed, now up for sacrifice.

Blade watched coldly, his gaze instinctively shifting to Gu Zhongyan, scrutinizing him as if to discern what he sought from the vampires.

Deacon Frost watched the elders’ disgraceful display and sneered, “You disgusting swine, worthless fools, you’ve disgraced all vampires. Do you think by groveling to this wizard he’ll spare you?”

“Ha! The mighty lion will never befriend lowly pigs. Once he gets what he wants, your fate won’t be any better than any other vampire.”

He glared fiercely at Gu Zhongyan and shouted, “Listen, wizard! Whatever you want from me, it’s a pipe dream. If you want to kill me, do it! Otherwise, one day, I’ll turn the world into a paradise for vampires.”

“You degenerate mongrel humans are destined to be slaves beneath the feet of vampires.”

Before Gu Zhongyan could react, Blade drew his sword, ready to teach Frost a lesson.

From his practiced movements, it was clear this had happened more than once in the past few days.

But this time, things would be different.

“Expel your weapon!”

Just as Blade’s sword was about to strike Deacon Frost, a white light flashed onto the blade. He felt a sudden force, and the sword flew from his grasp.

“Wizard?” Blade frowned.

Seeing this, Deacon Frost laughed wildly, “Looks like you really have something to beg me for. Too bad, I’ll never give it to you! Hahaha!”

Gu Zhongyan ignored Frost’s deranged laughter, gave Blade an apologetic nod.

“Sorry, but I’ll handle this one myself. Don’t worry—he won’t have an easy time with me.”

Then, as Frost sneered, the dragonbone wand unleashed a surge of dark green light.

“Cruciatus!”

“Ahhh!”

The wild laughter turned instantly to agonized screams. An unprecedented pain, like a tidal wave, crashed through Deacon Frost’s mind.

It was pain he had never felt before. Compared to the stabbing agony of Blade’s sword piercing his chest, this soul-rending torment was the difference between a firefly and the moon.

Time stretched unbearably long. In just a few seconds, Frost seemed to writhe in hell for centuries.

Even Blade and Whistler, witnessing from the sidelines, felt as if they could sense the indescribable pain.

Having hunted vampires their entire lives, always seeking new ways to destroy them, they had never seen a vampire in such a state.

After a few brief seconds, the light faded. Deacon Frost looked as if he’d been dragged from a pool, drenched in sweat.

Gu Zhongyan finally spoke, his tone unhurried, “I think now you’ll be willing to cooperate with my work, won’t you?”