Chapter Twenty-Seven: Battle in the Dark (I)

Bronx currently harbors a significant number of vampires. Although the sphere of influence of the Nosferatu Covenant is vast, the combat strength concentrated within the Bronx has not yet reached an overwhelming magnitude.

Lynn has mobilized almost every vampire combatant he inherited from Daken for this operation, and it is not merely for the sake of his deal with Blade. Even without the Vibranium Blade had offered, Lynn suspects he would have come here himself; after all, having inherited Daken’s possessions, he was bound to eventually come into irreconcilable conflict with the original owners of these items.

Moreover, he had heard incredible news from Blade: Brutus possesses a page of the Darkhold. By sweeping through the memories of the vampire named Herman with his psionic tentacles, Lynn had managed to acquire some knowledge of magic.

The price of magic in this world is steep. One must either sign contracts with dimensional lords, serving as their lackeys or tools to borrow their power, or—like the Secret Covenant—use special means to steal it from them. Alternatively, one must be an incredibly powerful entity with an inexhaustible reservoir of internal energy to manifest magic. Otherwise, one must rely on magical artifacts that spontaneously siphon energy from various dimensions. However, most such artifacts are forged under the watchful eyes of dimensional lords or with their power, making them unique and impossible to mass-produce.

Magic in this world is destined never to be a tool that everyone can master.

"Doctor, the assembly is basically complete. There are one hundred and fifty of them in total. They have surrounded the entrances to the underground palace, and as you instructed, one has been deliberately left for Blade. But can he really handle it alone? I have my doubts..."

As Lynn was digesting his newfound magical knowledge, Kara approached him, having apparently made the arrangements.

"Oh? Why do you think that?"

"Judging solely by his physical capabilities, it does not seem sufficient to accomplish this task."

"Kara, sometimes surface-level physical data does not decide the outcome of a battle. We will leave him to it; there is no need to send reinforcements."

"I understand, Doctor. Everything will proceed according to your arrangements."

"It doesn't matter. Just secure the nodes and try to contain as many vampires as possible. I don't want to let a single one escape; after all, employees who don't get tired and are hard to kill are valuable labor. Such staff are very difficult to find."

The two armed vampire soldiers standing near Lynn heard this but showed no reaction. In their view, working for Lynn was far more comfortable than working for their original vampire masters. At least there was no risk of having their heads crushed for poor performance. While they might still be disciplined for failures, those individuals were merely tortured by Maria; though it was grueling, as long as they didn't lose their lives, it was a blessing to them.

"Blade should be arriving soon."

As the agreed time approached, a man descended from the sky. Lynn did not know how he managed to drop from above in a place filled with low-rise buildings, but regardless, the man had done it.

"Your way of making an entrance is as unique as ever."

"Spare the small talk. Are we moving now?"

"Kara, explain the plan to him."

Kara then briefed Blade on the structure of the Nosferatu underground palace, the layout, and the magical traps used to deter attackers. The process did not take long. When it came to tactical arrangements, they were simple—but the simpler a plan, the more effective it usually is.

"So you left me an entrance all to myself?"

"Just like last time. I will handle the majority of them, and you and your friend will handle the rest. I think this arrangement suits you, Blade."

"No problem. It suits me just fine—a simple, easy-to-understand plan."

"It's just a siege; no amount of planning makes much difference. Very well, Kara and I will launch an attack from the front. You will receive the signal. I hope you don't let the lord of this covenant get away."

"Of course not."

With that, Blade left the meeting point, leaving behind only Lynn, Kara, and their vampire subordinates as the frontal assault force.

"Let's begin, Kara."

"Very well, Doctor."

***

This is the territory of the Nosferatu. Almost everyone has a consensus: do not venture out at night, or you will encounter the legendary demons that claim souls. Those who do not believe often find themselves abnormally weak after a night of revelry, only to fall into an incurable illness that modern medicine cannot treat. They slowly approach death, and one morning, they simply vanish—not even a corpse can be found.

Unless they go to a pharmacy under Romulus Pharmaceuticals, where there are special drugs that can prolong their lives.

Just like tonight, a man with an ashen face arrived at the flagship store of Romulus Pharmaceuticals. This Gothic-style building is open twenty-four hours a day, yet during the day, its interior is barely visible. At all times, it is filled with dim lighting, and the staff are as lifeless as the shelves, as if they were not living people.

"No money, no medicine. Get out."

"Please, just an advance this once. I am a loyal customer, but the company has been having cash flow issues recently. I only need it once, I beg you."

The lobby manager had had enough of the man and was preparing to send him to the underground palace when the pharmacy doors suddenly opened.

A woman in professional attire walked in. She wore leather gloves, her deep purple hair pinned up, and a delicate black veil attached to a small black hat masked her face. One could catch a glimpse of her dark red lipstick and a hint of enchanting purple. Her tall, graceful figure and mysterious aura quickly caught the manager's attention. He kicked the drained merchant aside and walked over to her with a wide grin.

Behind her followed a man whose face was obscured, as if his cowboy-style jazz hat blocked the light.

The manager rubbed his hands together, imagining the charming and soft body supported by those matte-textured legs, not bothering to hide his predatory gaze. In that moment, he almost forgot he was a vampire, completely unaware of the impending danger.

"Is there anything I can help you with, miss?"

"Of course, sir. Please gather all your employees. We are hosting a grand banquet, and I hope for as many guests as possible."

Kara leaned into the manager's ear and whispered, her sexy, raspy voice drilling into his eardrum like a parasite, gnawing at his consciousness and spirit.

The manager was about to show a look of confusion, but in the next second, his face locked into an unnatural smile. The blood in his body began to boil, as if his instincts were driving him to fight against some power. But in the end, he was defeated.

The unnatural smile remained on his face. He turned toward the shop and shouted to all the busy employees present:

"Assemble, you idiots!"

By this time, multiple extra pupils had appeared on his head and face, rotating unnaturally against each other.

The ashen-faced man had already fled like a refugee. He knew something major was about to happen here and only wanted to escape; after all, there were many places to buy Romulus medicine, but one only had one life.

As all the vampires in the hall were gathered by the manager, Kara asked:

"Is this everyone?"

"Of course, dear lady. These idiots are all the staff here." The man's pupils had stopped rotating and were now all closed, but his face still wore that wooden smile.

"Very good." Kara raised her voice. "Open the gates to the underground palace, kill your kin, and march toward the main hall!"

The reaction speed of these vampires clearly did not exceed the speed of sound. In an instant, they succumbed to Kara’s mental control, scattering to pull out pre-prepared firearms and weapons from the shop.

The manager walked to the front desk, constructing a black magical rune in his hand. Sparks of magic flickered, and a hidden door behind the shelves slowly opened. He and his vampire subordinates walked in silently, their weapons reflecting a cold light, as emotionless as robots.

"What are you standing there for? Move out."

Under Kara's command, Lynn's subordinates finally reacted and headed toward the gates of the underground palace. Her mental control was still terrifying; even vampires had no room to resist.

***

"Doctor."

Kara bowed at the side entrance, gesturing for him to enter, as if this were not the Nosferatu’s underground palace but her own backyard.

After Lynn strolled into the underground palace, Kara followed closely behind. The war of annihilation against Brutus had officially begun.

The moment Kara activated her ability, she issued commands through the parasitic structures within her vampire subordinates. No additional communication was needed. Simultaneously, Lynn’s men began their operation. Although these vampire combatants appeared helpless in the face of supernatural power, this time they were fully prepared. After all, they were the special forces Daken had spent years selecting.

On this night, two Romulus Pharmaceuticals shops in the Bronx erupted in violent explosions. In the darkness, the muzzle flashes from assault rifles quickly blanketed the shops, piercing the one-way glass. The vampire staff inside were riddled with bullets before they could even prepare; they had never imagined anyone would dare attack the Nosferatu like this.

After the initial shockwave and high heat cleared the internal bunkers, the second wave of the assault struck without delay. A large number of smoke grenades were tossed into the shops.

Those vampires not scorched by the heat were just beginning to form a defense and reach for weapons hidden in secret compartments when they discovered a deep blue mist spreading from the smoke grenades. As the mist touched their bodies and penetrated their nasal cavities, the vampires' bodies quickly began to swell, and the tissues under their skin started to squirm restlessly.

"Damn it, what is this..."

Before he could finish his thought, his entire body ballooned and exploded on the spot, scattering scarlet flesh across the floor, which then quickly ignited and vanished into ash.

Combat teams equipped with heavy gear and filtration systems filed in. They began planting explosives on the gates. A massive explosion flipped the entire surface building, leaving behind a slightly deformed opening. Lynn's combatants rushed down into the underground palace.

They soon encountered the first wave of resistance. But as their guns fired, special ammunition struck the unprotected limbs of the vampires, turning the palace guards into pools of blood, which then dissolved into ash, leaving behind only empty suits of clothes with a few bullet holes.

These vampires didn't need any communication devices or tactical hand signals. The parasites Kara had left in their bodies granted them a shared sensory perception; only when they were far apart did they need communication gear.

As for the last two entrances Lynn was responsible for, there was no decent resistance at all.

Jekutor’s thermal rays lit up the night sky in an instant, leaving behind a red, melting entrance. He easily pried the doors open, and his combatants entered without effort to begin the cleanup.

As for Maria’s side, the building remained intact, but the blood and scattered organs made the scene hardly worth describing. The vampires' hearts were still beating, and their heads bore expressions of extreme terror, as if they had seen something unprecedented.

The clean cuts on the palace gates and the perfect cross-sections of the surrounding shelves were clearly the result of Lynn testing the biological high-frequency blade on her. The blades on her wrists and her long tail were weapons of pure slaughter. The viscera and bodies were still slowly writhing, attempting to reassemble, though in this state of intermingled flesh, it was hard to say what they would eventually become.

The night battle to purge the Nosferatu had begun, but this fight was not being monitored by S.H.I.E.L.D.

Their eyes were on Staten Island to the south.

The battle there was more eye-catching and lacked any restraint. Across Staten Island in the dead of night, firefights and gun battles raged, and magical energy erupted everywhere. S.H.I.E.L.D.’s special task forces were clearly spread too thin, with only two teams left to protect the retreating civilians.

The large force Sarrus had gathered was clearly not in the same league as Lynn's, and they had no intention of hiding themselves at all.