I Awakened The Ancient Vampire System

Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Saint-Étienne

The military transport touched down at Lyon-Bron Airport.

The tarmac was crowded. Military personnel moved between supply crates. Hunter Guild operatives in black armor stood in clusters, checking weapons and communication devices. Other planes were already unloading students from different academies — Lucian spotted dark red uniforms from the Chinese Institute and green-trimmed jackets from the American Apex Academy.

A soldier approached the France group before they’d fully disembarked.

"Wrist bracelets." He held out a tray of thin metal bands. "Each one links to the World Government’s monitoring network. Every zombie you kill is logged automatically through mana signature detection. Don’t remove it. Don’t tamper with it. Your kill count determines your ranking."

Ramzi distributed them. Lucian slipped his on. The band tightened briefly, scanned his mana signature with a faint prick, and locked. A small screen on the inner wrist displayed a single number: 0.

"Your assigned zone is Saint-Étienne," the soldier continued. "Fifty kilometers southwest of Lyon. The city was partially evacuated before full outbreak. Military estimates put remaining zombie population in the low thousands. Other French zones have already been cleared — Marseille, Toulouse, Nice. You’re one of the last active deployments."

Saint-Étienne. Lucian knew the name. Industrial city. Not far from where Vienne City had been.

The group loaded into armored vehicles. The drive took forty minutes. Ruined highways gave way to suburban streets. Abandoned cars lined the roads like metal corpses. Collapsed power lines hung across intersections. Buildings with shattered windows and doors hanging off hinges passed in a blur.

"Most cities in France have been cleared already," Ramzi said from the front seat. "Military sweep teams went through two weeks ago. Saint-Étienne was flagged as low priority — smaller population, contained outbreak. They pulled resources for Paris and Marseille instead."

The vehicles stopped at the city perimeter. A makeshift command post had been set up near a collapsed overpass. Tents, satellite dishes, and a handful of bored-looking soldiers.

And another group of students.

Lucian spotted them immediately. Different uniforms — dark blue with silver trim, a crest of a mountain peak surrounded by stars on the chest. Sky High Academy. Canada.

There were eight of them. Four men, four women. Their leader was a tall woman with auburn hair tied in a tight braid and a scar running from her left ear to her jaw. She looked at the French delegation with open assessment.

"You’re the European All-Star group?" she asked. Her accent was crisp. Canadian.

Ramzi stepped forward. "France division. We’ll be operating in the eastern districts."

"We’ve got western." The woman jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "Stay out of our zone and we’ll stay out of yours."

One of the Canadian men — broad shoulders, smug expression, Early Core Realm by the mana pressure — looked past Ramzi at the French students. His eyes landed on Clara and Rose. His smile widened.

"Pretty girls you’ve got over there," he said loudly. "You guys share?"

Clara and Rose rolled their eyes.

Lucian stepped slightly in front of Clara. His crimson eyes met the Canadian’s with a flatness that made the smile falter.

The Canadian opened his mouth.

"Next word that comes out," Lucian said quietly, "comes out with your tongue on the ground."

The tension spiked. Two of the Canadian men shifted forward. Clara’s hand drifted toward her hip. Rose’s shield generator hummed faintly.

The scarred woman raised her hand. "Marcus. Shut up."

Marcus closed his mouth with a smirk on his face.

The scarred woman looked at Lucian. "Keep your dog on a leash and we won’t have problems."

Lucian didn’t respond. Neither did Clara.

Ramzi clapped his hands. "Right. Let’s move."

The two groups separated. The French students split further — Ramzi organized the teams, assigning districts. Arthur’s group took the city center. Three other teams took the northern, southern, and western districts.

Lucian’s group of four took the eastern industrial zone.

Ruined buildings stretched in every direction. Factories with collapsed roofs. Warehouses with gaping holes in their walls. Residential blocks with broken balconies and dark windows.

Rose looked around. "This place isn’t far from Vienne City. Maybe we can go there after we’re done here. I’m sure we’re the only group in this city. Everyone will want to clear the bigger zones first."

"Focus on the mission first," Clara said.

Ryan crouched and placed a small device on the ground. It looked like a metal disc the size of a palm, with a single blue light in the center.

Clara frowned. "What is that?"

"Proximity detector," Ryan said. "It’ll map every zombie within a four-kilometer radius. Gives us numbers, rough locations, and realm estimates."

Lucian raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you dabble in tech?"

Ryan pushed his glasses up. "I know a thing or two. Mostly I focus on bioengineering, but tech and bio aren’t that far apart when you get into the details."

He tapped a watch on his wrist — not the kill-count bracelet, something else entirely. A holographic display projected from the watch face, showing a green-tinted map of the surrounding area. Red dots appeared in clusters across the grid.

"Looks like all survivors were evacuated by the government," Ryan said, studying the display. "There are only zombies now." He zoomed in. "One Core Realm zombie in this radius. Multiple Peak Neophyte. And more than 972 normal zombies." He tapped a summary icon. "Total: 2795."

"That number in a 4km radius," Lucian said. "Well, this will be fun."

"Residential blocks have the densest clusters. The industrial buildings are sparser but probably have the stronger variants."

Lucian drew the Moon Shattering Blade. The A-Rank weapon hummed faintly in his grip — a slender sword with a crescent-shaped edge, lighter than the Sword of Aikis but carrying a dense mana presence that made his arms tingle.

"Residential first," he said. "Easiest cluster. About 400 normal zombies. We clear them fast, build momentum."

They moved through the streets in formation. Lucian at the front. Clara flanking left. Rose behind with her shield generator ready. Ryan at the rear with Lumina on his shoulder.

The first zombie appeared around a corner. A man in a torn business suit, skin grey, eyes milky white. It shambled toward them with a guttural moan.

Lucian swung the Moon Shattering Blade.

The zombie’s torso split apart along the arc of his swing.

+10 EXP. Kill count: 1.

The difference from his previous swords was staggering. The Moon Shattering Blade’s edge didn’t just pierce — it amplified the kinetic force of every swing, turning a normal cut into a localized demolition.

More zombies appeared. Two. Five. Twelve. They poured from broken doorways and shattered windows, drawn by the noise.

Clara raised her hand. Ice shards materialized in the air around her — twelve of them, each the size of a dagger. Psychokinesis launched them simultaneously at twelve different targets. Each shard pierced a skull with surgical precision.

Twelve zombies dropped.

Kill count: 13.

A cluster of thirty surged from a residential block to their right. Rose’s shield generator activated — a translucent blue barrier materialized in a semicircle, funneling the zombies into a narrow corridor. Lucian stepped into the corridor and swung.

The Moon Shattering Blade carved through five zombies in a single arc. The kinetic shockwave knocked ten more off their feet. Clara’s ice shards picked off the rest.

Kill count: 48.

They worked through the residential block systematically. Lucian led — his sword clearing paths through dense clusters. Clara supported with ranged ice attacks, using Psychokinesis to control the battlefield. Rose dropped barriers when the numbers got overwhelming, creating choke points that made the kills efficient. Ryan hung back, using Ice Creation to freeze zombies that slipped through, while Lumina extended vines to trip stragglers.

Three hours. +1,120 EXP. Kill count: 112.

Quest Progress — Kill 1,000 Normal Zombies: 112/1,000.

Lucian wiped black blood from the Moon Shattering Blade. The residential block behind them was silent. Bodies littered the streets in various states of destruction.

"400 down," Ryan said, checking his wrist display. "The industrial zone has fewer zombies but they’re spread out. And the Core Realm one is in there somewhere."

Clara stretched her neck. "Let’s keep moving."

Rose deactivated her shield generator and flexed her fingers. "At this rate, we’ll clear the whole zone before nightfall."

Lucian looked toward the industrial district. Factories with broken smokestacks loomed against the afternoon sky.

"Then let’s not waste daylight," he said.

They moved out.