"Let's finish this fast," Kael muttered as he lunged at them with his sword.

One of the knights tried to block the strike, only for Kael to dissolve his blood sword as the knight's weapon was launched upward. In less than a second, the blade reformed. Using his left hand, he sent the other knight flying with a wave of conviction from his vampire bloodline.

As the knight stammered, Kael moved in a single swift motion and cut off the head of the knight whose sword had been thrown off by Kael's evasion. His attack pierced through the aura knight's energy, sending the severed head falling in a pitiful and humiliating way.

"Nomaaaaan," the other knight shouted as he watched his best friend's head fall without any real fight. Even so, in this tower, they were not good people. They always carried the pride of knights who fought without tricks.

"Don't panic. I will send you to him now," Kael said, his eyes empty, as if he had just crushed two ants under his foot, and he continued forward.

Kael's blood sword disappeared as he shook both hands casually, a clear sign that he was beginning his second warm up phase.

His speed increased as he activated his bloody mode. Heat surged from his body as all his physical abilities were enhanced. His blood circulated faster than any normal being. This was a form meant purely for combat.

Kael's strategy was simple.

Separate them, then kill the weaker one.

The remaining knight's face turned terrifyingly tense as his friend's death fueled his rage, forcing him to focus everything into a single decisive strike. He already understood that he was facing an assassin, and the most important rule when fighting one was never to give them time, or your chances of survival would drop with every second. This experienced aura knight knew that well.

That was why he activated his knight mode, a renowned state where knights pushed their aura to its peak, creating overwhelming offense and solid defense. Only the most talented could maintain speed while using it in their base form.

Kael began moving left and right at blinding speed, his figure becoming unrecognizable as afterimages appeared and heat radiated from him.

The knight tried to release an explosive aura, but failed. Kael was suddenly in front of him, balanced on one hand, having moved so fast it felt like teleportation. He delivered a powerful heel kick that sent the knight flying back.

The knight counterattacked, but Kael spun to avoid the strike. As he descended, he raised three fingers in a pistol-like gesture. A blood sphere formed, absorbing everything around it, then exploded forward.

A massive, heated blood projectile shot like a bullet, piercing through the knight's head and erupting in an explosion. It did not stop. It continued in a concealed trajectory behind the falling knight and struck a hidden figure.

The hidden knight's eyes widened. He had not expected to be discovered.

He raised his sword to block the attack, but a smile appeared on Kael's face.

"Multiple destructive attack."

"The blessed Bloodhart vampire explode."

The knight released sacred light that burned away the blood without taking damage.

His name was Kamilion, the leader of the knights here, youssence level three, specifically tier twenty two.

"A dog may become a knight, but a knight who behaves like a dog is far worse," Kael said as he stood upright.

"If you think I would reveal all my techniques in a battle against a pack of dead dogs, then you are gravely mistaken."

"You made two mistakes. First, you did not escape. Second, even though you are a sacred knight, you should have fought alongside them. That would have increased your chances of survival, assuming I would have let you escape."

"Haaaa… an arrogant child who has not even faced the boredom of daylight dares to insult me."

"Do you really think you stand a chance against me?"

"Do not forget what we did in the last war against your kind. We wiped out a quarter of your population and turned many into slaves."

"It is not even a possibility. You were a slave too, were you not?"

"I already smelled you."

"Blood manipulation is the only ability I have seen from you."

"And it seems you do not know me. I am Kamilion, an old knight."

"How about you introduce yourself first, Mr. Vampire?"

"No need for a dead man to know unimportant information."

"Haaaaaa!"

Kamilion covered his eyes with his hand as they glared with hatred, madness, and disgust.

"A child with a single ability thinks he can challenge an advanced Aura Knight."

"Truly pathetic."

"If you think so, then let it be."

"Do you think I can only use blood manipulation?"

"Let me show you something you have never heard of and will not live to speak about."

At that moment, Kael removed his assassin's cloak.

He revealed messy black hair falling to his nape, with long bangs partially covering his eyes, giving him a sharp, untamed look. Small black sphere earrings rested on both ears, and his loose long sleeved shirt hung off his frame, adding to his quiet, dangerous presence.

He slowly removed his bat ring, which had been suppressing his power. The moment it came off, he pressed his hand against his chest, and a powerful heartbeat echoed. As he coughed blood, ten chains began to form, each connected to a ring wrapped tightly around his fingers, extending up to his shoulders.

This was his weapon, the Cursed Chains of Dusk, one of the deadliest weapons in existence. It once belonged to the first vampire to ever exist, and it had now chosen Kael, not because of his bloodline, but because of his potential. There was also a deal between them that Kael had yet to fulfill.

The chains manifested into ten forms: Sickle, Hook, Spark Ball, Blade, Crescent of Silence, Ashen Skull, Abyssal Bind, Withering Bloom, Dusk Bolt, and Dusk Aegis (Shield).

Kael was born half Vyrakth and half vampire.

The Vyrakth were a unique race that could reproduce with any other gender except their own, granting them diverse and unusual abilities.

Kael was the first being to possess both Vyrakth and vampire traits.

Normal vampires relied solely on blood manipulation, with variations depending on their lineage. However, Kael could fuse blood with different types of mana, such as darkness and fire, and could even evolve his abilities by consuming the blood of others.

That was not all.

He had also been trained as an assassin since he was a kid, and after he grew his fangs, he went mad for a time. He slaughtered his former organization and group; not only that, but he also managed to keep his identity unknown even among vampires. And as for his former title, it was the Nightveil Executioner.

With one hundred thousand successful assassinations and over one million kill

s, he ranked second within the organization.

Even so, none of that defined whether he was good or evil.