Facing Wolves and Tigers

"Whoa!"

The troop of riders pulled their reins in succession. Marcus sat on his horse, looking down at the two men before him, yet he felt not the slightest sense of superiority. Vampires possess vision and sensory capabilities in the dark that far exceed those of the day, and he clearly observed the young man before him, who was both imposing and somewhat handsome. His face was cleanly groomed, devoid of a beard, his medium-length black hair neatly combed back, and he wore a sophisticated velvet casual jacket. In his black pupils, there was only calm.

This young man was tall and broad-shouldered enough, but the giant half a step behind him had such an exaggerated physique that it made the young man appear somewhat ordinary by comparison.

The giant had long, deep-brown hair that was still slightly damp, protruding brow ridges, deep-set eye sockets, and a thick beard covering his cheeks. He wore a loose linen shirt, his chest exposed, and his shoulders were as thick as a blacksmith's anvil. His arms reached down to his knees and were as thick as masts; even though Marcus was on horseback, he vaguely felt the giant was looking him straight in the eye.

"I am James Howlett. I presume you are here for me." James broke the silence, taking the initiative to speak. Upon hearing this, Marcus's troop slowly urged their horses forward, surrounding the two men in the center.

"Mr. Howlett, since you—"

"Is this all of you? Are you all here?" James interrupted, glancing around at the dozen or so riders with pale complexions and scarlet-rimmed eyes.

"We are all... what did you say!" Marcus answered subconsciously, feeling more and more that something was wrong. He tugged at his horse's reins in agitation; the horse, feeling the pain, shook its head and backed away, its hooves stamping incessantly.

James suddenly said to Victor beside him, suppressing a hint of excitement: "Half each? Keep the fat one. These guys aren't easy to kill; destroy their heads, and be careful not to get bitten."

"Tch! Who's splitting them with you? It's based on ability."

Victor curled his lips, revealing overly long canines. As he spoke, he walked forward slowly, while the surrounding knights looked at each other in confusion.

Neigh! Ah!

The miserable screech of a horse rang out. Victor stepped forward and lunged at a tall, thin knight beside Marcus, slamming a palm into the horse's head, instantly crushing it to the ground. The vampire knight, caught off guard, was pinned beneath the horse. A massive foot crushed his chest, and just as a mouthful of black blood choked his throat, he felt his neck pierced by several iron-like fingers. The next moment, his vision spun, and the world turned upside down.

Thump!

A perfectly good head landed to the side, accompanied by a string of black-red matter, rolling twice before the eyes blinked.

Victor had plunged his hands into the vampire's neck, straining his arms to rip the head off entirely, along with a bloody segment of the spine tangled with various veins.

In the blink of an eye, the rest of the vampire riders remained frozen in their saddles, watching the giant, his arms and chest splattered with black blood, roar toward the sky with a screech that sounded nothing like a human.

Curses and screams erupted in chaos. The vampires leaped from their saddles, leaving behind trails of afterimages as they pounced. Some figures gradually blurred, merging with the night and disappearing from sight entirely.

"Crude..." James muttered, meeting the first vampire that lunged at him. Its speed was immense, and in an instant, its hideous, split lips, dripping with foul-smelling mucus and sharp teeth, were right in front of him.

James did not unsheathe his bone claws. He stepped forward with a cannon punch, exploding it into the vampire's chest. The abundant Anjin force blasted a bowl-sized hole through the torso. He retreated, twisting his hips, his arm whipping through the air with a crackling sound. A horizontal strike smashed into the creature's head, shattering it into fragments from the cheekbones up. The body, with its head split in two, collapsed limply to the ground.

The scene descended into chaos. Most of the vampires had lunged at Victor, assuming James was more like an ordinary human compared to the giant. Instead, this man, who carried a touch of aristocratic elegance, proved even more terrifying. The trajectory of his punches was so bizarre that it opened the eyes of the vampires, who were accustomed to simply pouncing and biting.

James tested the vampires' strength with his opening moves. Once he had a grasp of it, he relaxed slightly, using these disgusting creatures for practice. He moved with the Bagua Kun Step, combining his grandmaster-level martial arts experience and beast-like senses to stroll and circle among four or five vampires. Regardless of whether they hid their forms or moved with the speed of afterimages, they could not land a single blow on him.

He moved through various fist techniques with ease. Every time his fists and feet crossed with theirs, he could see a part of a vampire's body explode, though he was careful not to attack their heads.

As he fought, James measured the gap in strength between himself and these vampires. These dark creatures, which made him feel nauseated, were surprisingly on par with him in terms of basic physical attributes—he, who was only one step away from entering the Huajin stage of fist techniques—and were even slightly faster.

Coupled with their special abilities to hide their forms and create illusions, as well as their bodies that were difficult to kill due to rapid healing, they were very troublesome to deal with.

James had been in this world for over a decade, training diligently every day. It was only through the combination of a martial arts grandmaster's understanding and accumulation with the mutant talent of Wolverine that he had achieved his current strength. If there were hundreds or thousands of such vampires, or if they were organized into an army, it would be a terrifying prospect.

Fortunately, aside from pouncing and biting, they possessed no decent combat skills and lacked any coordination or teamwork. It was like a group of ordinary people fighting; one was a professional fighter with superb combat techniques, while the others were merely street thugs who knew only how to swing wildly. Although it was one against many, it was effectively a one-sided slaughter.

Those who possess great inherent power are often accustomed to the simplest method of winning through brute force, paying little attention to so-called technique.

On the other side, Victor's situation was not as good; it was even somewhat "tragic." Yet, this Sabretooth seemed to enjoy it immensely. The vampires constantly circled him, using their sharp claws to tear deep and shallow wounds into Victor's body, but they dared not pounce to bite, forced to keep moving.

This was only because Victor's strength was too great, and his fighting style was too terrifying. Whenever a vampire pounced, it would be firmly gripped by those thick "tiger paws," and the next moment, its head would be crushed by the beast-like giant. He didn't care about the vampires' attacks at all, employing a purely suicidal trade-off style. The pain of his injuries only made Victor more excited.

Marcus the vampire watched his companions being toyed with and slaughtered, with no intention of joining the fight. At this moment, only one thought occupied his mind: "Could this be another branch of our vampire kin?"

The vampires surrounding James and Victor began to attempt an escape. Sensing the shift in the battle, James stopped holding back. Having mastered his opponents' movements and combat logic, he began to dance with the Taiji Hammer Technique, which was best suited for crushing skulls. With moves like the Parry and Punch, Slanting Body Punch, and Cannon Punch, the afterimages of his arms instantly smashed the heads of the vampires around him. He then dashed toward Victor like an arrow, snatching up the "kills."

"Get lost!"

Victor roared at James in anger. In his frantic rage, he relied on his beast-like senses to turn and grab a vampire pouncing from behind. He used a tiger-style heart-piercing strike, punching through its back, but failed to destroy the brain immediately. The vampire took the opportunity to lunge forward, biting into his shoulder.

Roar!

Victor, feeling the pain, quickly backhanded the head into pieces. He ignored the bite wound on his shoulder, where four blood holes oozed black blood before immediately healing.

He crouched, moving on all fours like a tiger, and leaped toward the remaining vampires.

Marcus had completely lost the courage to stay. As a vampire, he had not felt the fear of death for over a hundred years. Even those vampire hunters who used silver weapons could only ambush and surround lone vampires; never had anyone, or any creature, been able to fight their way in and out so fiercely against a group of vampires. Aside from his progenitor, Adam, no such powerful individual should exist in this world.

At this moment, he felt a vague sense of empathy. The humans who were wantonly toyed with and slaughtered by vampires must have felt this same powerlessness and despair.

The fiery horse Marcus rode had long since been unable to wait to flee this terrifying place. Without needing its master's urging, it turned and galloped away. But after running only a few steps, Marcus saw that the castle gates were already firmly shut. He hurriedly looked around, and with an agility that defied his size, he leaped from the saddle, sprang onto the city wall, and crawled rapidly toward the main building like a spider.

James had been keeping a peripheral eye on the entire battle. He immediately stopped lingering in the fight and chased after Marcus.

The place this vampire was fleeing toward was the very study where O'Hara was hiding.