Old Eight the Vampire

At this very moment.

Deep within the Eternal Night Palace lies a massive, cylindrical chamber, plunging dozens of meters into the earth.

At the very bottom sits a circular dais resembling an altar, etched with eerie, runic patterns and surrounded by twelve stone pillars also inscribed with runes.

Bound beneath each of these stone pillars is a vampire—every single one of them a pureblood vampire elder.

"Release us at once!"

"Frost, we are purebloods! How dare you treat us this way!"

"You half-breed bastard, Frost, you will regret this!"

The vampire elders cursed and railed.

They had been sleeping soundly in their own coffins until Frost suddenly arrived with his subordinates and pried the lids right off.

The vampire elders were incensed and immediately launched a counterattack.

Then, they were brought to their knees.

There was no helping it; the vampire elders had lived too long and their thinking was far too archaic.

While they were still relying on the traditional vampire methods of biting and clawing, Frost and his band of young vampires had already adopted firearms, perfectly illustrating that within seven paces, a gun is both fast and accurate.

Furthermore, these young vampires had no sense of honor.

They were using silver bullets, for heaven's sake!

Frost had merely scoffed: who decided that vampires couldn't use weapons designed to kill vampires?

Yet, no matter how the vampire elders clamored, Frost, standing at the very center of the altar, remained unmoved.

He gazed up at the blood gradually coalescing on the dome, an expression of intense excitement appearing on his face.

"This moment is finally at hand!"

According to ancient vampire texts, there exists a forbidden ritual known as the Blood God Ritual.

By using the blood of a dhampir as a medium, the power of twelve pureblood vampires can be funneled into a single vampire, granting them strength far beyond that of any ordinary vampire.

Years ago, Frost had specifically sought out a pregnant woman nearing her due date, infected her with vampirism, and brought forth a half-human, half-vampire child.

That child, needless to say, was the unfortunate Blade.

Frost had been preparing for this ritual for a long time, pouring countless efforts and meticulous planning into the process.

"Once the ritual is complete, I shall become the god of vampires and rule the entire world!"

Frost threw his arms wide in a state of manic ecstasy.

Soon, the blood on the dome gathered together and, following the pull of gravity, dripped onto Frost's forehead.

Outside the Eternal Night Palace, the night sky suddenly shifted.

Dark clouds swirled above the palace, with lightning rolling incessantly within them.

BOOM!!

In an instant, a thick bolt of lightning struck the Eternal Night Palace!

The terrifying power of the lightning surged down through the twelve runic stone pillars, slamming violently into the vampire elders bound beneath them!

"AAARGH!!!"

The elders let out blood-curdling screams!

Amidst the violent lightning, their flesh rapidly disintegrated into ash. Twelve grey, bat-winged skeletal frames tore free from the ashes, flying and crashing wildly above the altar like restless spirits from hell!

What the hell!

Seeing such a horrifying sight, the vampire subordinates guarding the edge of the altar couldn't help but shrink back.

Though they were vampires themselves, they were still afraid of ghosts.

After circling in the air a few times, the grey skeletons seemed to be pulled by an invisible force; they suddenly changed direction and surged in a swarm toward the center of the altar, drilling frantically into Frost's body!

Frost's eyes bulged, his pupils and whites completely saturated with a deep, blood-red hue, looking utterly terrifying!

"Frost!!"

A roar filled with monstrous hatred exploded through the air!

Blade descended from above, slamming heavily onto the edge of the altar, his eyes fixed on Frost with fury.

Frost was already his nemesis, and now, with the added identity of his stepfather, Blade's murderous intent toward him reached its boiling point!

Having retrieved his gear, Blade drew his silver longsword and charged at Frost without a second word!

"Damn it, it's the Daywalker! Stop him!"

Seeing Blade appear, the vampires were startled at first, but immediately moved to intercept him, engaging him in a brutal melee.

On the platform above the altar, several vampires raised their firearms toward Blade, preparing to pull the triggers.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Silver bullets erupted, instantly piercing the skulls of the vampire gunmen.

Immediately after, several concentrated garlic essence grenades were tossed from a higher vantage point, tracing arcs as they landed across the platform!

Hiss—!

Dense yellow smoke erupted violently, spreading rapidly!

The vampires shrouded in the garlic mist let out shrill, miserable screams; their bodies sizzled as if splashed with strong acid, and in the blink of an eye, they were reduced to piles of charred ash!

"He's up there!"

A sharp-eyed vampire spotted the source of the attack, pointing at Du Mu, who was standing upside down on the highest point of the ceiling.

What the hell is this thing!?

The vampires were all stunned.

First ghosts and skeletons, now a human hanging upside down from the ceiling.

By comparison, they, the vampires, seemed perfectly normal.

Coming to their senses, they hurriedly turned their guns and fired wildly at the eerie figure on the ceiling!

Relying on his Gravity Boots, Du Mu moved as freely as a phantom between the ceiling and the vertical walls, weaving through the space while raising his gun to pick off the vampires within his field of vision one by one.

In no time at all, the vampires on the platform had been cleared out by him.

Du Mu looked down at the platform below and saw Blade still locked in an intense struggle with over a dozen vampires.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Five crisp, clean gunshots rang out!

The heads of the few vampires about to pounce on Blade blossomed on cue, instantly turning into flying ash!

"I've finished clearing my side, why haven't you solved yours yet?"

Du Mu landed steadily in front of Blade in a standard superhero pose.

Blade slashed a lunging vampire in half and retorted stubbornly, "Give me a few more seconds, I would've handled them!"

Seeing Du Mu and Blade closing in together, the remaining vampires retreated in terror, backing all the way to the center of the altar.

Suddenly, a pale, bloodless hand rested gently on a vampire's shoulder.

The vampire subordinate turned his head; the owner of the hand was none other than Frost.

Frost's appearance had changed drastically; his complexion was an inhuman, deathly pale, his eyes glowed a bright, scarlet red, and his entire body radiated a chilling, sinister aura.

The vampire subordinate said with delight, "Boss, you succeeded?"

A sinister, eerie smile curled the corners of Frost's mouth: "Yes, but I feel very hungry right now, extremely hungry..."

"I'll go find you some fresh blood bags right away!" the vampire subordinate said hurriedly.

"No need for the trouble."

Frost's scarlet eyes locked onto the vampire subordinate: "There... are ready-made ones right here!"

As soon as he finished speaking!

Frost lunged forward with speed too fast for the naked eye to track, his sharp fangs sinking viciously into the vampire subordinate's neck!

"Urgh!"

The vampire subordinate only had time to let out a short, sharp cry before his body withered away at a speed visible to the naked eye!

In less than half a second, he had turned into a skin-and-bones mummy.

"A vampire biting a vampire?"

Du Mu's expression was very strange.

Some time ago, he had curiously asked Blade if vampires could consume the blood of other creatures.

At the time, Blade's answer was that although blood was the only food for vampires, they only consumed human blood, whether refrigerated or fresh.

As for the blood of their own kind or animals.

To a vampire, the taste and texture were no different from eating excrement.

Now, Frost's actions were undoubtedly a reenactment of the old "Number Eight" meme; he was just missing the catchphrase.