Chapter 60: Like a queen
Inviting more people under their banner could go both ways.
Celes knew the dangers of that move, so she'd decided to sleep less and be more active than her master and little sis. It wasn't anything dangerous to her lifestyle, for vampires could go sleepless for at least two weeks.
So while Leon and Louise took breaks and slept, Celes kept her eyes on the refuges and used her free time to write down a few alchemy methods of using the bug-type blood. If she were to get her hands on proper alchemy items, she'd try out her theories and ideas.
But nothing stopped her from doing light experiments that didn't require any items.
BANG!
A small and not loud explosion occurred in a room Celes had booked for her experiments. She'd been using the green blood in many ways, mainly mixing it with her blood.
After a few more short explosions, Celes suddenly halted and looked outside the window. "A creep is trying to peek inside our fortress."
With the help of the inventory feature, Celes took off her spare clothes, then donned her usual official outfit. She couldn't rely on them to protect herself, but it was the closest to the style she liked. Moreover, in her current situation, Celes could only rely on the system and its quests to get suitable equipment.
And it seemed like it was time to get some good stuff.
[You've received a quest.]
[Deal with the lurking spy around your master's fortress.]
[You'll receive an adequate to your performance reward.]
Because Celes was convinced she'd sensed the spy and had locked his presence on her minimap, turning it into a radar by leveraging her bats hanging and flying around the fortress, the system bluntly passed her a quest to deal with the enemy.
She pondered about her next move, still standing in her experiment room. "I'm obliged to follow Master's wishes and tell him about the spy."
The system had said that the spy was around her master's fortress, clearly aware of Celes' situation. Although Leon had given her freedom, the bond connected them, and she was naturally under him. There was a chance that the system would give her the best reward if she were to immediately notify him of the lurking spy.
And then, they'd deal with that enemy together.
Celes closed her eyes, connecting to one of her bats. She spread them in the best locations — one of them kept an eye on Leon's resting room.
Peeking inside, the vampiress had noticed him and Louise sleeping together. It was a night, after all. No one dared to come close to them, so nothing should ever disturb their nights in the fortress, including Celes.
Louise looked too happy in her master's arms, gleefully smiling as he had wrapped his arms around her. This girl had been using the same excuse all over again, yet she was always able to make her master cuddle with her.
Leon surely saw through her but didn't press on that matter.
Who wouldn't want to cuddle with such an adorable woman?
"I'll deal with him alone." Celes decided, disappearing from her experiment's room.
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A man in black robes lurked around the fortress.
He'd already seen that bug monsters avoided this place and that many humans had taken refuge there. Clearly, the owner of this place had done a splendid job of recruiting others and fending off all monsters, sowing fear in their hearts.
Though not intelligent, those monsters strictly followed their instincts.
Having his mind full of swirling thoughts, the man hadn't noticed someone else creeping around his presence.
He only did when a cold wind slapped his neck, only to turn into a merciless slash. With some fortune, the man bent his back, avoiding the lethal slash. However, whatever had gone through him had managed to cut off some of his flesh, leaving a serious laceration on his neck.
The man stumbled and swayed, his vision spinning. "Come out!"
The trees rustled above him, and the sound of flapping wings assailed him. Hearing that, the man raised his guard and expected the attack from above. Still, his warrior senses allowed him to sense an attack from behind.
Alas, he was a little too late.
"Ugh!" The man's stomach bloated as the heavy punch pushed him forward. He tripped and rolled on the ground, then strained to push himself off the ground.
But a much stronger presence pressed on his back, rooting his body to the ground.
Celes stood like a queen, not giving a man to even catch a glimpse of her beauty. "Black Asura… Have you grown weak in the new generation, or has Master's blood made me stronger?"
She couldn't believe her own strength.
With Leon's preparation and Louise by his side, Celes had too many advantages against monsters. It was also effortless to spread her consciousness across hundred bats and control them all at once. Of course, the vampiress believed she could do all those feats unimaginable for a level fifty vampire because she used to be a high-level vampire before her fall.
But now that she easily dominated the despicable race, Celes could only question aloud. She'd never do it, yet Leon's influence had changed her again.
Anyway, what Celes had done was simple. Beneath the dark sky, the vampiress leveraged her race's features and moved between shadows, hiding her presence. She was way above the black asura, for he hadn't noticed her until her skill got too close to him.
It was a bat — an offensive bat with lethal teeth!
She then drew the black asura's attention with the same bat and smashed the man's back with her new profound strength.
And now that she looked at her leg, Celes had a feeling her pose was similar to Her Highness. It was an odd feeling, for she would never allow herself to be similar to her.
Yet, she'd done it. She disrespected the queen!
[You can never sully your teeth with foreign flesh. Leave that to bats and siphon your enemies' blood through them!]
Following the speech from the far past, Celes unconsciously turned off her skill, which had summoned all bats to oversee the fortress, then called them anew. Her whole voluptuous figure turned black for a moment as dark mana coalesced into bats. In the next second, the army of bats draped over the fallen spy.
And all of them sucked his blood.
"I don't like it." Celes closed her eyes, hating what she'd done. She'd endangered her master and Louise because of feelings she didn't confirm.
It stung her heart.
"I hope you've woken up, Master."
And when the man's dead body disappeared, Celes knew that Leon had woken up and turned the black asura into a card.
She remained outside for a little more, collecting her thoughts. In the meantime, Celes ordered her bats to return to their positions to fix her blunder.
A cold, chilling breeze went through her, gently lifting her hair.
Celes understood that she'd repeat that mistake if she kept ignoring her past.
[You've completed your quest.]
[You've received the following rewards: five levels, 20 stat points, and Her Highness Veronica B. Jade's Battle Uniform.]
Celes' eyes rippled with mixed emotions.
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