Chapter 76: Bloody Battle

Hu Guozheng and his group drove out of the city. To avoid harming innocents in the coming battle, they headed toward the mountains. Before long, a number of ability users began trailing after them. Deliberately, they drove to a deserted beach, the late hour ensuring it was nearly empty of people.

Within moments, more than a dozen ability users had surrounded the Honda. Hu Guozheng was the first to step out, running straight toward them. He raised the Azure Dragon Blade and, gathering all his strength, smashed it into the ground. With a loud boom, the force spread from the earth's core in all directions, but the ability users completely ignored his trick.

“Damn, they're unharmed? I used all my strength,” Hu Guozheng muttered, seeing that they hadn’t even tried to dodge and had taken the shockwave head-on, suffering no internal injuries.

Le'er leapt onto the car roof, and the nearby ninjas engaged the ability users. Chanting softly, Le'er summoned a red glow before her. It slowly stretched, solidifying into a katana.

“It’s the demon blade Muramasa! Everyone, be careful,” one of the ability users warned, sensing the evil power lurking within the sword.

Aunt Lan did not join the fight. To maintain the realism of their act, she stayed inside the car, guarding the ninja disguised as Ye Tang. A kilometer away, many other ninjas lay in wait, ready to act at Le’er’s command.

With a metallic ring, the demon blade was unsheathed, its glare dazzling. Accompanied by a crisp sound, Le'er gripped the blade in both hands and charged forward. Sword energy trailed in her wake. None of the ability users specialized in close combat, so none dared face her head-on; instead, they kept their distance, waiting for stronger allies to arrive.

Le'er spun, slashing upward in a half-arc. A wave of sword energy howled toward the ability users, who all dodged aside. The sword energy crashed into a boulder, exploding violently. As they scattered, Le’er spun around, sending sword energy flying in all directions. Another thunderous blast echoed.

The explosion caught the attention of the American military base’s radar. In the darkness, GPS only showed a flash of light from the blast. Lieutenant General Louis immediately ordered a squad to investigate.

While this fierce battle raged on, elsewhere, Ye Tang and her companions were heading toward their destination. Since learning the truth, Ye Tang had been sobbing uncontrollably. Du Bin managed to calm her down, but within minutes, her emotions flared up again.

“Why am I a vampire? Why did you lie to me all these years? Why?”

“There’s no why. You’ve grown used to living as a human. She was right not to tell you; she didn’t want you to be tormented by this.”

“If that’s so, why make me a hunter? Why force me to kill so many of my own kind?”

“Aunt Lan had no choice in that. Have you forgotten your identity? The seal on your powers required the elders’ incantations. It was the clan leader and the others who raised you as the new successor, instilling in you this enmity with vampires and ordering you to hunt them. As for their purpose, we don’t know. Aunt Lan could not interfere—she only ever wanted you to live as an ordinary girl.”

Ye Tang said nothing, wiping her tears away. Du Bin knew she still couldn’t accept her true nature, but he had done all he could. Seeing her no longer in hysterics, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

Unknowingly, they had arrived at Naha International Airport. They hurried out of the car and entered the terminal.

At that moment, YOYO had just eaten her fill and emerged. She noticed Du Bin and a girl hurrying by, and smiled, “So, a diversion, is it?”

Under the protection of their bodyguards, the two passed safely through and boarded their private jet, which soon took off. For a few minutes, everything was calm, but then a surge of energy appeared from the sky, striking the fuselage in a violent explosion.

The blast sent everything in the cabin tumbling. Smoke trailed from the stricken jet as it lost control and plummeted. Inside, everyone donned parachutes and jumped one by one, fortunate to land on a small island rather than the open sea.

After landing safely, Du Bin hurried to Ye Tang’s side and untied her bonds. “Are you all right, Tang?”

She shook her head, gazing at the deserted island. Before they could recover, YOYO had arrived with more than a dozen ability users. Ye Tang noticed the red blade in her hand: this was the sword that could truly rival Phantom. She could sense the formidable power of the ability users behind YOYO.

She realized that as a human, she stood no chance against so many powerful opponents. Only as a vampire would she be able to fight back. Still, she could not accept that identity. She stared hesitantly at the pendant on her chest.

“We meet again, vampire,” YOYO said mockingly, settling on a flat boulder.

Unused to being called that, Ye Tang shouted, “Don’t call me that!”

“Oh? If you’re not a vampire, but you’re not human either, what are you—a beast?” YOYO’s words made the other ability users burst out in laughter. Humiliated, Ye Tang clenched her fists tightly.

“All right, I’ll give you a chance, since you’re so pitiful. Defeat all my companions, and I’ll let you go.”

“What difference does that make?” Du Bin protested.

YOYO shot him a deadly look. “If you’re so eager to die, I can send you both to the afterlife together.”

With a wave of her hand, the ability users advanced. The bodyguards, mere mortals, were slaughtered in less than a minute.

A plump man summoned a whirlwind, lifting himself into the air; another ability user burrowed into the ground like an earth dragon; yet another controlled the ocean, raising a wall of water to encircle the island.

“With your current firepower, facing the sea is like an ant against a flood. You might as well embrace your vampire nature—only then will the game be interesting.”

“That’s my choice to make,” Ye Tang retorted, summoning fire. The earth dragon leapt out of the ground to attack, but Ye Tang struck first, launching a scorching fireball. The man dove back into the earth, and the fireball exploded harmlessly on the ground.

Du Bin knew he was hopelessly outmatched by these powerful ability users. Still, he fought to protect Ye Tang, channeling lightning through his body. To conserve his strength, his lightning attacks were weak and shattered on contact.

“Kid, are you a rookie? That’s not even enough to tickle,” the earth dragon mocked from underground.

He burst out of the soil, spiraling into Du Bin’s body. The impact sent Du Bin spitting blood and flung him over ten meters away.

Ye Tang wanted to help, but she was surrounded. No matter what she tried, she couldn't break free. The fire she had just conjured was instantly doused by another ability user’s water.

“You can’t even beat a water ability user—how could you ever defeat me? I’m colder and deadlier than liquid itself. You’d better turn into a vampire; killing you would be far more fun.” YOYO crossed her arms, her tone mocking.

In a moment of carelessness, Ye Tang was struck by a wind blade, slashing her all over. Before she could recover, a jet of water shot toward her, sending her flying into the air. Losing balance, she tumbled into the sea.

“You’re in trouble now—the water is my domain,” said the ability user named Mengqi, whose power was to control water in all its forms. He could merge freely with any source of water.

Ye Tang struggled to swim ashore, but suddenly her legs were seized by an invisible force. Her whole body was dragged down. She thrashed, scattering spray, choking on seawater. Soon even her head slipped beneath the surface, sinking ever deeper into the ocean’s depths.