Ch.9Equipment Items

TANG-!

With the intense gunshot, red blood splattered across the sky.

My vision shook from the impact.

Aurel, who had been walking beside me, stared at me with a shocked expression.

“Lady Charlotte…!”

Aurel’s scream burst out belatedly.

I steadied my staggering body and glared in the direction the bullet had come from.

In the center of the city shrouded in thick darkness.

Through the gaps between collapsed building walls, something glimmering in the moonlight caught my eye.

Once more.

Flash-

TANG-!

The sound reached my ears only after a small light flickered.

It was a precise sniper shot aimed directly at me despite the distance.

I exhaled softly and moved my shadow.

Swoosh-

The rapidly rising shadow created a barrier in front of me.

The straight beam of light couldn’t penetrate the shadow barrier and was blocked.

I looked down at my pierced shoulder.

Red blood was gushing out, but the wound had already begun regenerating.

I felt no pain either. It meant the wound wasn’t life-threatening.

“Aurel.”

“Y-yes!”

“Hide somewhere suitable.”

Aurel silently nodded.

She seemed to understand that she wouldn’t be of help in this fight.

An attack powerful enough to wound a level 20 vampire.

Combined with long-range sniping skills.

This meant the human user was at least level 15.

It was obvious that Aurel, at level 12, would be turned into minced meat after just a few slashes from a human user.

I silently launched myself toward the city.

Wrapping shadows around my body, I climbed up the building’s exterior wall as naturally as breathing.

I thought while jumping between buildings.

The sniper was most likely from the same faction as the humans I dealt with yesterday.

When their companions who went to buy weapons didn’t return, they must have become suspicious and come to investigate.

I was worried they might not show up, but they came at just the right time.

How fortunate.

They were a faction that knew about the shop NPC.

This meant they likely knew the location of other shops as well.

The reason I didn’t immediately leave the city and spent a day farming credits was to meet them.

Tap-!

I kicked off the building’s exterior wall and jumped high into the sky.

Finding a single person while relying on the faint moonlight would normally be extremely difficult, but a vampire’s senses far exceeded such common sense.

The faint smell of human blood.

Though they covered their scent with the strong smell of gunpowder and oil, a vampire’s sense of smell wouldn’t miss even the faintest trace of blood.

A faint sound reached my ears.

I could hear the sound of blood flowing through veins just beneath the skin.

TANG-!

A bright white flash flew toward me the moment I rose into the air.

The instant I located the attack’s position, my shadow spread out to protect my body.

Fwick-!

The more I used my skills, the closer I felt to becoming a vampire itself.

I began using Charlotte the vampire’s powers instinctively and naturally.

The moment I thought I needed to change direction in mid-air.

The shadow wrapping around my body spread behind my back, creating massive wings.

FWAAAH-!

I didn’t bother with basic concerns like how to use the wings that had just appeared on my back.

They moved the moment they formed.

Moving my shadow felt similar to moving my hands and feet.

FWANG-!

As the large flapping wings pushed against the air forcefully, my body began to fly rapidly.

Having wings didn’t mean I could fly freely through the sky like a bird.

It just allowed me to glide on the wind for a short time.

The muzzle flash inside the abandoned hospital quickly changed direction.

The sniper inside was clearly trying to escape.

I drew my katana from within the shadow and swung it wide.

My flight speed didn’t decrease.

Flying rapidly and striking with the sword as I went.

I was able to cut through the large hospital wall and enter inside.

CRASH-!

The hospital’s exterior wall collapsed behind me.

Narrowing my eyes to perceive my surroundings, I spotted a human user running at the end of the corridor.

I could hear their loudly beating heart and rough breathing.

The human user’s emotional changes were transmitted to me in real-time.

Excitement and fear.

The smell of their blood had changed.

I gripped my katana tighter and ran toward the end of the corridor.

FWACK!

As I swung my katana, I thought.

That I would win this fight easily too.

But the next moment.

BOOM-!

With a violent explosion, my body was rolling across the floor.

Through my severely shaking vision, I saw black smoke rising.

I bit my lip while spitting out the dark red blood flowing from my mouth.

I gasped for breath as I barely managed to get up.

My body was in terrible condition.

Most of my clothes were torn, and my left arm, which had taken the full force of the explosion, was charred black.

“Still alive?”

A slightly surprised voice came from beyond the black smoke.

The cold wind blowing through the window cleared away the black smoke.

The opponent revealed was a tall man.

He was crouching with his gun aimed at me, pointing directly at my heart.

His dull gray hair and the sharp scar running across his cheek were striking.

Blue flames slowly flickered within his black eyes.

The smell of blood changed instantly.

It meant his emotions had changed.

Anger, calmness, excitement, curiosity.

The emotion of fear had disappeared without a trace.

His emotional changes were unnaturally fast.

I could recall one skill that humans possessed in Blood Carnival.

[Emotion Control]

It was a skill that only level 20 human users could use, allowing them to set their character’s emotions as desired.

Emotions have a huge impact on a character’s stats.

Being able to set emotional buffs as desired meant they could offset penalties from the emotion system to maximize benefits.

The man was a level 20 user like me.

I assessed the opponent’s capabilities while waiting for my body to recover.

He used long-range sniping skills and had set up reactive bombs for close encounters.

Both skills were far from close-combat abilities.

Even if the opponent was level 20 like me, I would definitely win in close combat.

Of course, that’s assuming there were no additional bombs set up.

I looked down at my left hand that had just been injured.

Due to the time that had passed, white flesh was growing between the blackened skin.

I gripped my katana tightly and glared at the opponent.

Despite his build being more advantageous at a distance, the opposing user remained silent and held his position.

Did he have some hidden trick? Or was it simply a bluff?

It was truly frustrating that I couldn’t read his thoughts because he was using Emotion Control.

“What… level are you?”

The question that broke this subtle silence came from the opposing user.

He asked me with an expression no different from before.

Just as I had assessed his capabilities, he too was calculating his chances of winning against me.

And he needed one final confirmation.

“Twenty.”

The opponent frowned at my answer.

He seemed to hesitate for a moment before continuing.

“Let me make a proposal…”

“A proposal?”

“How about we both pretend we didn’t see each other and withdraw?”

I frowned at the unexpected suggestion.

Pretend we didn’t see each other?

Was he suggesting we stop fighting?

Of course, I’d like that too if it were possible.

But it was a proposal that couldn’t be kept.

The opponent was a sniper.

The greater the distance, the higher his chances of winning.

I had to kill this opponent before me no matter what.

“How does that make any sense…”

I trailed off while assessing the situation.

At that moment, I detected a strange flow.

An instinctual realization.

A certainty that I shouldn’t waste any more time.

I trusted Charlotte’s instincts and lunged forward.

Tap-tap-tap-!

My legs took large strides forward as I swung the katana in my hand.

Just as my shadow spread wide and flew like a blade, the opponent also reacted.

He quickly rolled across the floor and fired the gun he was holding.

With a BANG-, the surroundings lit up brightly.

Since I was prepared for the attack, blocking it wasn’t a problem.

The moment the shadow wrapped around my body deflected the bullet, a sudden explosion sound was heard.

BOOM!

My body shook violently.

The instantaneous shock made me lose my center of gravity and my body floated up.

Though I used shadows to protect myself, I couldn’t completely escape the impact of a bomb that exploded right in front of me.

The opponent seized the opportunity and quickly distanced himself.

I bit my lip as I sensed his presence moving away.

It would be a disaster if I lost him.

I spread wings behind my back and cleared away the black smoke obscuring my vision.

FLAP!

The smoke that filled the hospital corridor dispersed, restoring my vision.

That’s when I spotted the human user.

He was standing on the stairs at the end of the corridor, aiming his gun at me.

TANG-!

The sound of gunfire was heard again.

The moment the rapidly approaching bullet was blocked by my shadow and fell to the floor, he threw himself out the window.

It would be a disaster if I lost him.

I flapped my wings and launched myself through the window right beside me.

After leaving the hospital, the opponent began quickly leaving the city by squeezing through gaps in collapsed buildings or running along walls with movements beyond human capability.

A battle between an opponent desperately trying to escape and me trying to catch and kill him.

The chase, relying on faint moonlight, continued until the opponent’s mana was completely depleted.

CRASH!

The moment I caught up with him, I flapped my wings and pressed down hard on his body.

“Urgh!”

With a short scream, the opponent slid across the road.

Immediately, my shadow moved to pierce through his arms and legs, pinning him to the road.

THWACK!

There were no more bomb attacks like before.

I licked the blood flowing from the corner of my mouth and stabbed my katana into the opponent’s waist.

SQUELCH-!

CRACK-!

“AAAAGH!”

The solid blade cut through his body, slicing through the bones inside.

The opponent writhed in pain and screamed, but it was just meaningless struggling.

I swung the katana in my hand in a long arc, completely separating his upper and lower body.

SLASH!