Blood!

  Ats’s eyes shot open, his instincts screaming at him. Blood. A lot of it.

  He quickly sed his surroundings.

  Baldric was still there. Edrik sat a short distance away, calm but alert, and Manna was now sitting upright. Her body was cloaked in a shadowy aura, faint tendrils of darkness curling around her.

  Ats g his system clock. Still in the middle of the night. Damn it!

  He groaned inwardly. He’d barely slept for a few hours, hoping he’d wake up t light, but no such luck. Worse, the temperature had plummeted further, now hitting -65°C (-85°F).

  The air was merciless, cutting through even the best gear like a knife.

  "What’s going on? Manna?" Ats asked, his voice hoarse from the cold.

  The Vampire Queen said nothing, her pierg red eyes log onto him with an iy that needed no words.

  Edrik spoke up, breaking the silence. "I suspect there’s a Lord and their forearby. Likely wounded."

  Manna’s gaze shifted toward the distance, her crimson eyes narrowing. There was no mistaking her i.

  She wao hunt.

  Ats met her gaze, sighing as he realized what she was silently asking for.

  " you ha alone?" he asked.

  Manna didn’t respond, but her sharp gnce made him regret the question immediately.

  It wasn’t just unnecessary—it was an insult to her pride as the Vampire Queen. She stood without a word, the shadowy aura around her pulsing slightly.

  Baldric let out a rumbling ugh. "I’ll go with her." He rose to his feet, turning to Edrik with a raised eyebrow.

  Edrik nodded curtly. "I’ll stay here and keep watch over the camp."

  Baldriced back at Ats. "My Lord?"

  "I’m ing," Ats replied without hesitation.

  Before he could even rise fully to his feet, Baldric scooped him up with ease, hoisting him onto his broad shoulder as if Ats weighed nothing.

  "You sit here," Baldric decred with a booming ugh. "Enjoy the most fortable ride on the shoulders of a giant dwarf! Ha! Ha!"

  Ats let out a sigh but didn’t argue, though he adjusted his position slightly to keep his bance. As he goward Manna, he caught a glimpse of her shadow-cloaked form before she vanished into the darkness.

  Though he couldn’t see her anymore, somehow, he just knew where she was headed.

  Baldric began to move, his body radiati as he charged through the deep snow with ease, plowing through the icy drifts that would have slowed anyone else.

  The sound of Baldric’s heavy footfalls was pletely masked by the raging storm around them, and his fiery glow was muted by the stant onsught of falling snow, leaving them practically invisible to anyone nearby.

  Ats raised a hand to shield his face from the biting wind and swirling snow, though he realized, somewhat surprisingly, that his vision in the dark was sharper than expected. Even ich-bck surroundings, he could make out details with retive crity.

  The jourretched on in silence, broken only by the howling wind and Baldric’s steady, purposeful strides.

  How far had they traveled? Ats wasn’t sure.

  Eventually, Baldric slowed, his fiery aura dimming slightly as he crouched low, finding cover behind a cluster of frozen trees. He gestured toward Manna, who now stood nearby, her body pletely shrouded in shadow, blending seamlessly into the enviro.

  They all turheir attention to the same point in the distance.

  There, amidst the swirling snow, was a campfire.

  But this fire wasn’t like any ordinary fme. It bureadily, ued by the raging storm around it. Around the fire sat a group of people, ughing loudly, eating, drinking, and talking as if the blizzard wasn’t a threat at all.

  Ats narrowed his eyes, studying the se. Whoever these people were, they were well-prepared, and their fidence wasn’t something to take lightly.

  As Ats observed the group more closely, his eyes narrowed as reition dawned on him.

  "It’s them," he muttered.

  Yes, it was the Lord with the beastmaster ability and his troops—the same group they had entered earlier in the day. The beasts still circled the camp, their massive forms partially obscured by the storm, but something was different.

  "Their numbers have dropped," Ats noted, sing the group carefully.

  Baldric, crouched beside him, chimed in. "They just finished a fight. You tell by the wounds on their bodies—still fresh, not fully healed. And look at them—they’re exhausted."

  Baldric gestured subtly toward the group. "There are only thirteen of them left. Earlier, they had twenty. And four of them are injured pretty badly."

  Ats studied the se further but frowned. "I ’t hear what they’re saying," he admitted, frustrated by the distand the storm muffling their voices.

  Suddenly, Baldric’s expression shifted. "Ha ha ha ha! You should’ve seen the look on that Lord’s face when I slit his throat!"

  Ats turoward him, raising an eyebrow. Baldric gave him a knowing smirk.

  "What are you doing?" Ats asked.

  Baldric gestured toward the group ahead. "I hear them clearly. I’m just dubbing it for you."

  Ats sighed and gave a nod. "tinue."

  Baldric leaned in closer, and tinued. "Oh, and then he begged for mercy! I tell you, his scream was better than the victory!"

  "Ah, seriously," one of the men said. "I thought only idiot Lords would dare to set foot on this isnd. And, of course, I was right—a damn Rank-1 Lord decided to try his luck." He burst into ughter. "What did he think this was, a pyground? Hahaha!"

  Ats tinued watg them from a distanoting their body nguage and expressions. Their ughter, their tone—everything aligned with the mog words Baldric had been reying moments earlier.

  "But damn… we’re low on troops now," another said.

  "Take it easy," the Lord himself spoke up. "I’ll summon more troops tomorrow m. That fight should’ve been easy—it shouldn’t have cost us this muext time, I’ll tighteandards for the batants I recruit into my team. This… this is depressing."

  Ats’s eyes narrowed as he focused on the Lord, studying his posture and expressions. The frustration in his voice was clear, and while he spoke fidently, there was an undeniable edge of irritation and exhaustion.

  It was obvious—they were far from their full strength now.

  This Lord had e to the isnd with a clear purpose: to sughter anyone unaffiliated with an allianbsp;

  If their path crossed with Ats and his team, a battle was unavoidable.

  But what the beastmaster Lord didn’t realize was that a Rank-1 Lord and his two elite subordinates were already watg them from the shadows—a Lord who also wasn’t part of any alliance.

  Ats ched both fists tightly, the cold biting into his skin.

  Unnoticed, Manna now stood in front of him, her crimson eyes glowing faintly as she locked her gaze on him.

  "Kill them?" she said.

  Manna was a subordio Ats, yet she was far from ordinary. In her past, she had been mighty, a force of terrifying power. Even now, her demeanor held that same strength, but over time, she had grown more open, her iions with him shifting toward something almost familiar.

  Even now, despite her bloodlust, she was able to voice her iions clearly, waiting for his response.

  Behind them, Baldric, still kneeling in the snow, added in a low voice, "They’re weak right now. They weren’t built for an enviro like this. If we strike now, we have the advantage."

  Ats gnced back at Baldric, but as he turned his gaze fain tanna, something ued happened.

  She stepped closer.

  And then...

  Her lips pressed against his.

  What?

  Ats froze in shock as Manna’s cold yet soft lips met his. His body stiffened as he felt her fangs pierce his lower lip, a sharp sting followed by a rush of warmth as blood began to flow.

  He felt her drink, the sensation both fn and overwhelming.

  It wasn’t just the physical feeling—it was the way his entire body seemed to react.

  A sudden jolt of energy surged through him, followed by a strange numbhat spread from his lips to his chest, down to his limbs.

  His heart began to slow, each beat thudding heavily in his chest. The bitter cold of the enviro seemed to fade, but not in the way he expected.

  It wasn’t warmth repg it—it was as if he was being pletely desensitized to the cold, his body no longer reizing it as a threat.

  "What… is this…?"

  [Manna's Bloodlink has activated. You have eemporary Vampire Mode.]