Mastermind

Lucius being sent out to capture Van Helsing, and inciting the townsfolk's animosity towards Anna and her family, were naturally all Roy's ideas.

Since he had decided to take Anna's soul, which had the potential to become a Noble Soul, into his possession, Roy naturally had to cooperate with Dracula's actions, even giving him a push. Separating Van Helsing and Anna was a good way to achieve this.

Roy had two objectives. The first was Anna's soul. He wanted Dracula to test Anna. If Anna was willing to sacrifice herself for her brother, then a Noble Soul might truly form. Conversely, if Anna was unwilling to do so, then even if she died, she would only be an ordinary Low-grade Soul, not worth Roy's further attention.

As for the second objective, it was naturally Lucius. Lucius's already fallen soul was the one with the highest chance of success. Although Roy was bound by a Demon Contract and could not directly act against Lucius, he could use Dracula, or even Van Helsing, to get them to kill Lucius.

The matter of Lucius meeting Van Helsing was a contingency plan. As a Monster Hunter, Van Helsing would surely be able to smell the demonic aura clinging to Lucius...

Regardless of who ultimately killed Lucius, Roy would achieve his goal. He found that he quite enjoyed this feeling of being a Mastermind!

As for Van Helsing's soul, it was not part of Roy's plan. Although he didn't remember the plot clearly, he vaguely recalled that Van Helsing seemed to be a very powerful being, perhaps an angel incarnate or something similar. Therefore, out of caution, Roy had no intention of coveting Van Helsing's soul. Lucius appearing might expose his dealings with demons, but as long as Roy didn't appear before Van Helsing, there would be no problem. If Van Helsing couldn't pursue the demon, he would only act against Lucius. Once Lucius was dead, Roy could leave and return to the abyss.

Of course, Lucius was also very cunning. No one could guarantee that he wouldn't act against Van Helsing to avoid exposing his dealings with demons, especially since Van Helsing was sent by the Church.

Whether Lucius acted or not was irrelevant to Roy. If he could actually kill Van Helsing, it would be a bonus for Roy!

The crucial point now was that Roy needed some time for Dracula to execute his plan...

Van Helsing and Carl were left by the townsfolk in the wilderness outside the Town. They were tied to Cross Stakes, their hands and feet bound. Then the townsfolk left. This was a common method the Town had used for years to execute criminals. When night fell, starving Beasts would come here to find food! All the townsfolk had to do was to collect their corpses the next day and claim their bounty with their heads.

As he was leaving, Lucius deliberately stayed behind. After everyone else was gone, he said to Van Helsing, "I bet the Church's expression will be quite something when they see your corpse!"

Van Helsing's face remained expressionless. He calmly said to Lucius, "I can smell the demonic aura on you from a long distance. I didn't expect that in this place overrun by Vampires, there would be another person making deals with demons. The Church was right to send me to cleanse this place!"

"Hmph, so what if you know?" Lucius's chubby face contorted into a fierce expression. "For all these years, the Church never cared about our lives. Now they come pretending to be good people? What was wrong with me seeking help from a demon for my own self-protection?"

"That is not a reason for your corruption!" Van Helsing said. "No matter what kind of deal you made with what kind of demon, I will kill you and banish that demon back!"

"Another sanctimonious facade!" Lucius shook his head. "However, you'll have to be able to do it. You should pray that the creature that comes here to feed tonight is a ferocious Beast. That way, at least you'll die a quicker death!"

After speaking, Lucius left without looking back.

"Van Helsing, what should we do? I don't want to end up as wolf food here!" Carl asked Van Helsing dejectedly after Lucius had left.

Van Helsing struggled a few times but found himself tied very tightly, unable to break free. However, he didn't seem too discouraged. He said to Carl, "Don't worry. That beautiful blonde today is a Descendant of Villeris Family. Since she knows my identity, she should understand that we were sent by the Church to help her. She won't let us be eaten by Beasts. Perhaps after dark, she will come to rescue us!"

"What if she doesn't come?" Carl asked worriedly.

"Then we'll have to find a way to save ourselves!" Van Helsing sighed.

As time passed, night slowly descended. Finally, a figure appeared.

Seeing that Anna had indeed come, Van Helsing breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed his gamble had paid off.

Anna wasn't foolish. She understood that Dracula sending his Bride to deliver a message, while ostensibly for her brother, was definitely not well-intentioned. If she had naively walked into a trap, she might not have saved her brother and instead endangered them all. After much thought, she came to rescue Van Helsing, planning to rescue him first and then have him help her rescue her brother Viken.

Anna approached with a torch, quickly cut the ropes, and freed Van Helsing and Carl from the Crosses.

But, just at this moment, an unexpected event occurred. Two gunshots suddenly came from the darkness. Van Helsing's body trembled, and he slowly fell to the ground.

"Oh no!" Anna threw herself onto Van Helsing, looking at the blood gushing from his chest with despair.

Lucius walked out from the shadows. In the firelight, his face was full of smugness. He said, "Miss Anna, I guessed you might come to release these prisoners, so I've been waiting for a long time!"

"Why did you kill him!?" Anna roared at Lucius, questioning him.

"Why can't I kill him?" Lucius retorted. "He's a wanted criminal. Do I need a reason to kill him? On the other hand, Miss Anna, you came here privately to release prisoners. Are you planning to collude with him?"

Van Helsing coughed up blood and said to Anna, "Don't listen to him. He's someone who made a deal with a demon. He's already fallen!"

Upon hearing this, Anna immediately took out her gun, pointed it at Lucius, and fired two shots.

Although the distance was far, Anna's marksmanship wasn't great, and she didn't hit Lucius. However, it startled him, and he quickly crouched down to hide.

"My Lord! Save me!" Lucius cried out.

As soon as he finished speaking, Lucius's body was dragged away by a force that appeared out of nowhere.

That's right, Roy had also arrived. He just didn't show himself, hiding in the shadows and letting Lucius handle things. Although he was speechless at Lucius's cowardly nature, Roy couldn't let Lucius get killed for now, so he pulled him away.

All of this was hidden under the cover of night. Anna and the others couldn't see it. They just thought Lucius had escaped.

Anna felt a sense of despair. She had originally wanted Van Helsing to go with her to save her brother. But with the appearance of Lucius as a variable, Van Helsing was injured first. Even if he wasn't dead yet, under these circumstances, Van Helsing couldn't go with her to save people. So, after hesitating for a while, Anna stood up and said to Carl, "You stay and take care of him. I'm leaving!"

She had already decided to go to the appointment alone.