Chapter Sixty-Six: The Eve of Battle

“Sharp eyes, that’s right. This is a vial of holy water blessed and prayed over by the Pope of the Vatican. I believe this should be enough to prove I have the ability to heal Mr. Whistler,” Gu Chongyan said with a smile.

Whistler drew in a sharp breath, his gaze towards Gu Chongyan growing ever more complicated. This self-proclaimed sorcerer, Sean Gu—what was his background, to have obtained holy water blessed by the Pope himself?

Such holy water is a strategic resource, rarely seen outside the Vatican and not even easily accessible by the Pope. If it truly was of this caliber, then saving him and halting the progression of his cancer was indeed possible.

With the holy water as assurance, and after Gu Chongyan healed Whistler’s crippled right leg, the two men had no further objections and agreed to cooperate with him.

Once the alliance was decided, Whistler produced his copy of the Vampire Bible, though unfortunately, his version contained only a few scattered pages. The pages merely offered textual interpretations, which were of little use to Gu Chongyan, who could decipher the Vampire Bible directly with magic.

Fortunately, his main objective this time was Blade; the remnants of the Vampire Bible were, at best, a minor bonus.

As he had speculated, Blade’s own powers were unremarkable, but within his blood lurked a singular, extraordinary magical force. This power, embedded deep in Blade’s veins, was unlike any magic Gu Chongyan had seen before. Though he could not yet fully unravel its mysteries, the uniqueness of this magic had broadened his horizons and given him greater confidence in his secret plan.

Naturally, beyond studying the magic within Blade, Gu Chongyan remembered his promise to suppress the vampire bloodline stirring inside him.

Blade’s difficulty in restraining his vampire nature stemmed from his own weakness. The vampire bloodline’s power was inherited from the great sorcerer Varna—founder of the vampire race, master of the Dark Grimoire, and esteemed chief sorcerer of Atlantis. Varna’s magical prowess was legendary, likely rivaling even the Ancient One.

As an ordinary man, Blade could not withstand this power, and so his body instinctively sought ways to strengthen itself—by drinking blood and absorbing the vitality of others.

Gu Chongyan’s method of suppressing Blade’s bloodline was simple: since Blade could not endure the power, he would disperse it. He inscribed special magical runes onto all of Blade’s weapons. In battle, these runes would absorb some of the bloodline’s energy, lessening Blade’s burden while simultaneously empowering his attacks.

However, this was merely a temporary fix. As Blade’s awakening power grew, even this method would eventually fail to contain it. But if Gu Chongyan’s secret plan succeeded, Blade might finally bid farewell to that force. He kept all this from Blade, knowing that if he failed, other measures would be needed to keep the power in check.

Through analyzing Blade’s abilities, Gu Chongyan also discovered a way to identify vampires. The first was a spell he named “Blood Shadow Manifestation,” which would cause vampires within a certain range to glow red—but only those with magical sight could see it. At present, only Gu Chongyan himself could use this spell.

Fortunately, he had a backup plan. The second method involved crafting a pair of special glasses through magic, using Blade’s blood as a base. When worn, they showed no difference for ordinary people, but when viewing a vampire, the glasses would emit hues ranging from pink to deep crimson, depending on the type of vampire—like a customized infrared lens.

Sadly, making these glasses required fresh blood from Blade, so mass production was impossible. Still, for the Defenders League’s needs, it was sufficient; after all, among their six members, two were blind.

This left Matt and Stick somewhat disgruntled, once again feeling the world’s malice toward the blind. Though they lacked the glasses, it did not exclude them from the coming battle—their destination was a vampire stronghold, populated only by vampires and the Ha Ghost clan, so there was little risk of hitting the wrong target. It was merely galling to have nothing while others did.

Brooklyn—the infamous gathering place of New York’s poor, home to its largest slums.

They say bad lands breed unruly folk; though not as chaotic as Hell’s Kitchen, Brooklyn was hardly less dangerous. Graffiti-covered walls, filthy streets, and prostitutes and gang members everywhere—the nights here were no safer than those in Hell’s Kitchen.

In the darkness, six figures appeared silently atop a rooftop—the unmistakable members of the Defenders League. Each was uniquely attired, their faces concealed beneath hoods and cloaks.

The sole woman, Jessica, pointed toward the bar at the crossroads below. “This is the place where the halfblood vampires most often gather. From my observations, every Thursday night, a large number of vampires congregate here.”

“Yet, judging from the size of this bar, it can’t possibly accommodate so many vampires. I suspect there’s a secret passageway inside leading elsewhere.”

“If past patterns hold, tonight at least five hundred vampires will gather here—almost all of Brooklyn’s vampires.”

Five hundred. Not a small number. Hearing this, the others fell silent for a moment.

If Brooklyn alone housed at least five hundred vampires, then all of New York must have thousands. With eight million citizens, that meant one vampire per thousand people—a startling figure.

Gu Chongyan nodded to Jessica. “Good work, Jessica. Your deduction is correct. There’s a secret tunnel here, just behind the freezer in the bar’s kitchen.”

“This building is the headquarters of the halfblood vampires’ leader, Deacon Frost. To recruit more vampires and fight for the rights of his kind, he hosts a blood feast here every week, expanding his control.”

“One can imagine how many innocents he’s ruined over the years. Tonight, let’s send these bastards to meet their ancient vampire ancestors.”

“Begin the operation!”