Late at night, He Shenyan lay on the soft bed in the inn and opened his eyes.
He had not been asleep, nor had he chosen to meditate. He had merely closed his eyes to think through a few things and wait for dawn, but the surge of magic power he had just sensed forced him to stop thinking.
That magic power had erupted in the Lower City he had visited during the day. It was gloomy and bloody, carrying an inescapable malice. He Shenyan sat up in bed, blue light glowing in his eyes as Far Sight traveled from the window all the way to the Lower City. In an alley, a man in a hooded robe of brown and black held a small knife and cornered a woman. Two blood-red tentacles extended from beneath his feet, binding her so tightly that she could not move.
There was no time to waste. He immediately opened a Portal and stepped through it, appearing in the alley in the blink of an eye. Sensing movement behind him, the man did not stop what he was doing. Instead, he sped up. The knife in his hand continued toward the woman's throat, only to halt the next instant.
His body began to float. The woman had fainted the moment the blood-red tentacles restrained her, fortunately sparing her from witnessing what came next.
The knife fell from the man's hand. Floating in midair, he spoke with difficulty, yet his tone was remarkably relaxed. "You'd better let me go, Mage."
He Shenyan frowned. Taking a step forward, he gathered black magic power in his right hand and tore the man's heart from his chest. Blood splattered everywhere, yet a strange smile appeared on the man's face. "You shouldn't have done that, Mage."
His limbs began to twist, becoming slender and pale. His fairly handsome face gradually lost its human traits. His mouth split into four parts, scarlet within and dripping blue saliva. Savage horns rose from his head, along with four scarlet eyes. The indescribable monster slowly stood and faced the Black-Robed Mage, spitting out blurred, icy words. "You'll die soon, Mage."
"Is that so?"
The Black-Robed Mage looked at the monster with disgust. He did not explain much, nor did he choose to end the battle immediately, though he was clearly capable of doing so. Instead, he allowed the monster to vanish into a cloud of mist. It concealed itself in the darkness, speeding through the thin fog beneath the moonlight as its huge, hideous claw struck toward He Shenyan's back.
"Clang!"
A tremendous crash like clashing metal rang out as the monster's claws collided with a black magic power barrier. Seeing that its attack had failed, it immediately slipped back into the mist. But the Black-Robed Mage did not let it have its way again.
"Stop."
He spoke an obscure language, roughly translatable as that single word. In an instant, magic power imprisoned the surrounding space, rendering the monster unable to move once more. He Shenyan walked up to it and unleashed Mind Reading at full force. The monster resisted desperately; it seemed to possess considerable mental abilities as well. But it was futile. Every memory was still laid bare before him—and for the first time, a cold smile appeared on the Black-Robed Mage's face.
"You truly deserve to die."
"A Higher Vampire, is that it?"
The Black-Robed Mage contemptuously identified the monster. He removed his black robe and let it float in the air. He cast a spell on himself, then cast one on the Higher Vampire as well.
The spell was called Titan's Might, just as its name suggested. This enhancement spell greatly strengthened the recipient's power and physique, making them nearly comparable to a true Titan.
"Wondering why you suddenly became so much stronger? Don't worry. You'll understand."
With a wave of his hand, he unfolded the Mirror Dimension. Then, bolstered by Titan's Might, the combat arts of Kamar-Taj erupted with strength comparable to fifty Steve Rogerses. He punched the monster in the face. It shrieked as a chunk of flesh was violently blasted from its slender cheek, scalding blood spraying out. But He Shenyan did not stop. He threw another punch and broke the right horn atop the monster's head.
He grabbed the horn, weighed it twice in his hand, and suddenly asked, "Is this how you tortured them? Those people?"
The monster roared but said nothing. He Shenyan sneered. "Not talking? Good."
In an instant, black magic power altered the broken horn's very nature. The skill he had once displayed at Ollivanders Wand Shop appeared again, only this time he was far more serious. The horn took on a metallic sheen, lengthened, and twisted into a spiral, becoming a long nail. He Shenyan's magic power flowed as though it cost nothing, layering dozens of Demon-Breaking Formations onto it. Frankly, even the nails used to crucify Jesus himself might not have been of higher quality.
Holding the nail, he drove it into one of the monster's four eyes, then viciously twisted and turned it. Amid the monster's agonized screams, he hammered it all the way into its brain. Golden flames suddenly ignited across its body. Flame of Demon-Breaking was practically poison to Higher Vampires, who were weak to fire, but because of Titan's Might, it not only did not die, it even slowly recovered from its injuries through the pain.
Its remaining three eyes stared at the man, and it suddenly realized what he intended to do.
He Shenyan looked at him calmly and said, "Yes. That is my purpose."
For the first time in its life, it begged for mercy. "I can give you my wealth, accumulated over centuries. You'll be richer and more knowledgeable than the mayor of Novigrad. Don't you Mages love knowledge most? I can share the location of the Higher Vampire library with you."
"As long as I let you go?"
"Yes, as long as you spare me. I'll leave the human world of my own accord and never return."
"Ha."
He Shenyan gave a soft, humorless laugh and pulled out the nail. The stabbing pain in the Higher Vampire's brain eased slightly, but before it could recover from the agony, it suffered an even worse blow. The nail plunged into the top of its head, precisely where its magic power converged. Its form gradually shifted, turning into a naked human man with a nail still embedded in his head.
"Wondering why you can't use magic power anymore, yet have transformed into a human?"
He Shenyan crouched down and spoke softly.
The Vampire looked at him in terror. He Shenyan raised a finger to his lips. "Shh."
"Because simply killing you isn't enough, Mr. Hubert. Don't you love people's admiration most? Don't you love seeing their high regard for an accomplished and handsome man? I'm going to destroy that."
He said patiently, "I'm going to utterly destroy the Hubert Family you spent two hundred years building. You care so much about that surname, appearing one after another as grandfather, father, and son. Completing your studies at university... hm, a coroner? You had a clear understanding of your own perverse fetishes. Before I found you, you had already killed twenty-seven people. Don't try to argue, Mr. Hubert. I saw your plans in your mind. You wanted to make a grand display of yourself, didn't you?"
"Get ready, Mr. Hubert. You're about to die, and you'll die without a shred of dignity. When the corpse collectors find your cold body lying in the alley the next day, they'll find your home and inventory your belongings. Then they'll discover the souvenirs you failed to take away. Eyes, hands, intestines. Oh, perhaps that won't be enough. After all, everyone has their little quirks, and you are a coroner. But your diary is sitting safely in the drawer of your desk, isn't it?"
"Then they'll discover that the respected scholar, Mr. Hubert the coroner who spoke for the deceased, was a monster through and through. Not only did he kill twenty-seven people bit by bit over three years, he also planned to kill fifty women in the coming year to warn people of the sins upon them."
"Sadly, you don't deserve it."
The Vampire's gaze had already become despairing. He Shenyan spoke his final sentence. "And honestly, what decent person keeps a diary?"
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