The First Judgment

"I've had my revenge. I finally got my revenge!"

Bill felt his little heart pounding, his breathing quickening, even his cheeks burning hot.

If they hadn't been on a treacherous mountain path, Bill would have been cheering, jumping, and dancing for joy.

"Hahahahahic~~ Ahab Gul, so this day finally came for you too!"

Thud—

Ahab landed steadily among the trees, on a large net woven from springy vines.

While he was still in midair, before he had even touched the ground, he had already used the bloodline power he had transplanted and controlled the vines.

Together with the physical enhancement brought by Bloodline Transplantation, he hadn't even broken the skin.

"Now then, I can move freely."

"My dear Mr. Bill, I hope you'll enjoy the arrangements I've made for you to go up mountains and down into the sea later."

Ahab quickly slipped into the jungle and vanished from sight.

After moving on his own, Ahab immediately arrived at the beach on the northern side of the island.

As time passed, the other distress signals gradually faded.

Only the one on the beach kept calling for help nonstop.

"I see them. Over there!"

Ahab advanced the whole way crouched low in the forest. When he reached a spot near the beach, he saw two figures.

More accurately, they were two Bloodkin.

One of them was larger and seemed to be trying to catch the smaller one.

But every time it was about to succeed, the smaller one would run toward the beach with all its might.

The blazing sun shone down on the beach. The larger one had more exposed skin, so the burns it suffered were more severe, and it had no choice but to retreat into the forest.

The two vampires, one large and one small, remained locked in this constant tug-of-war.

"The one calling for help is the smaller one."

Ahab blinked his left eye, and his pupil turned a clear, silvery white.

From the perspective of Spirit Vision, both vampires appeared silvery white.

That meant both of them were Void Cultists!

However, the silvery white on the larger one was extremely dim and no longer had much effect.

It looked as if it had been struck from the Void's rolls.

At the same time, there was also a number woven from black on the larger vampire's body.

4!

That meant 4 points of sin. In other words, the other party had violated the principle of "all are born equal" and had directly or indirectly caused the deaths of 4 lives.

"Wait. After committing sins, you can also be struck off by the Void?"

"Then why wasn't I?"

Ahab realized something was off.

The old saying really was right: when away from home, beware of your fellow countrymen...

After the stalemate dragged on for a while, the larger vampire finally seemed to run out of patience.

"Haaah~~"

With a hissed breath, the larger vampire flapped its wings.

Judging from that posture, even if the smaller one fled onto the beach again, it would be chased to the very end.

Ahab didn't have any intention of upholding justice. The law of the jungle was the most fundamental rule.

But...

The larger one had sin on it.

Judging sin could earn faith and allow him to use Authority!

"Stop!"

Ahab shouted and made a grabbing motion through the air toward the larger vampire.

The vines in the forest received the order and surged up in overwhelming waves.

The larger vampire was tightly bound.

"Are you the one sending a plea for help to the Void?"

Ahab stepped forward, continually approaching the smaller vampire at the edge of the woods.

When the smaller one saw the person in a wizard robe approaching, she was so frightened she nearly wet herself.

But after she clearly saw Ahab's silver left eye, she let out a breath of relief.

"It's me, me and my sisters!"

As she spoke, the little vampire winked her left eye, revealing the same silver iris.

"I'm Ahab Gul. What should I call you?"

As he spoke, Ahab looked the vampire up and down—this Bloodkin.

Her appearance was very similar to a human's. She had four limbs, stood upright, and her facial features were much the same. She was clearly wearing prison clothes.

The difference was that her ears were long and pointed, like an elf's.

Her fingernails were more like a cat's—curved cylinders that could retract and extend.

"I was born in the prison. I don't have a name. The wizards call me Subject No. 7."

After saying that, the vampire Qi Qi lifted her bare foot and walked over to the bound-up big vampire—

"Haaah~~"

She bared four sharp fangs and hissed, borrowing someone else's strength to act fierce.

"Aren't you all Bloodkin? Why was she trying to catch you?"

As Ahab spoke, he calculated silently in his heart.

Hadn't the notice said ten female cubs had escaped?

This little one was already 1.6 meters tall, a head taller than Tolia.

The big one was over 1.7 meters tall, about the same height as him.

Right. The books had said that once Bloodkin reached adulthood, their bodies could reach 2.5 to 3 meters.

Then 1.6 or 1.7 meters was equivalent to a human being eighty or ninety centimeters tall.

They really were cubs.

"We escaped to the island several days ago and never had anything to eat."

"She, she used being bigger to prey on us!"

After saying that, the vampire girl Qi Qi opened her mouth again, bared her fangs, and hissed at the larger one.

Four points of Sin meant she had preyed on four of them... Damn it! If they'd been brought back to the academy, those would have all been my mission rewards!

Money! My money!

Ahab walked to the side of the big vampire, pressed his left hand against her chin and twisted upward, while his right hand pressed against her forehead and twisted downward.

Crack!

There was no helping it. He needed to gain some Faith, so it would be easier to kill Bill.

Otherwise, if he brought this big one back to the academy, the reward at settlement might even have been higher than for the others.

The big vampire died.

In an instant, Ahab felt that invisible connection again.

Under Spirit Vision, a cloud of black energy flew out from the dead big vampire.

The black energy circled in the air a few times, quickly faded into silver-white, then merged into Ahab's body.

"Judgment successful. Gained 4 points of Faith Power."

"Then the current me can use 'See Through' now... No rush to kill Bill first. He can't run."

"This Bloodkin cub looks easy to fool."

Ahab reached out and rubbed Qi Qi's head.

Her hair was a little greasy, but it felt pretty much like human hair.

"As far as I know, apart from you, there should be four more Bloodkin on the island."

"Where are they?"

Qi Qi met Ahab's eyes with a "wise" look.

"Are you here to save us? Are you from Mensis Academy?"

Guess whether I'm going to tell the truth or not... Ahab revealed a warm, friendly smile.

"The academy organized apprentices to come capture you. I'm one of them."

"But you saw it. I'm a believer of The Void. I'm actually here to save you and help you escape."

As Ahab spoke, he reached out with his other hand and patted Qi Qi on the back.

This could bring a sense of security.

Acting skills at full throttle!

After all, this little one looked very easy to fool, but the notice had already given a warning.

This kind of Bloodkin cub had a physique on par with a second-class wizard apprentice!

Without a sneak attack, just killing her would be difficult.

Let alone the fact that the way to obtain the mission reward was to capture them alive.