I Awakened The Ancient Vampire System

Chapter 94: Chapter 94: Rat Chase

Zara hit the far wall of the building with bone-rattling force.

A line of blood appeared across her torso — a deep, ragged gash that cut from her left shoulder to her right hip. Blood poured from the wound, soaking her purple clothing, pooling beneath her.

If Bashir hadn’t thrown himself in front of her. If her crossed whips hadn’t absorbed even a fraction of that slash’s power.

She would be dead. Just like Bashir.

What the fuck was that?

Lucian dropped to one knee on the street, the Moon Shattering Blade planted into the pavement. Blood dripped from his nose. His vision swam.

The only reason I kept up in that fight... He swallowed hard, tasting his own blood. Was just of my mana reserves which is almost twice of hers. I can only fire attacks fueled by more mana to keep up.

Inside the ruined building, Zara moved.

She stood up slowly. One hand pressed against the wound on her chest, blood seeping between her fingers. Her face was pale — paler than before, which was saying something for a vampire. Her dark eyes found Lucian through the hole in the wall.

Lucian tensed. He gripped his sword tighter. She’s going to—

Zara turned and ran.

Fuck.

Lucian’s eyes widened. She’s seen all my abilities. She knows I’m a vampire. I can’t let her get away.

He forced himself to stand. Every muscle in his body ached like he’d been beaten with hammers.

He shoved the last of his Blood Energy into Eternal Regeneration. The wounds on his arms, his back, his ribs closed — slowly. He reached into shadow storage, pulled out a blood bag, and bit into it.

Cold, stale blood flooded his mouth. He swallowed desperately. His Blood Energy crept upward. 15%. 18%. 22%.

He dropped the empty bag and ran.

Zara was already a block away, leaping from rooftop to rooftop with inhuman grace. Lucian chased her on the streets below, Light Steps flickering him forward in bursts of speed. Each use cost mana he didn’t have.

Come on. Come on.

Above him, Zara glanced back. Her eyes were wide and fearful.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Her thoughts were a panicked spiral. My blood energy is running out just trying to heal this wound. I need to gather my mana. I need to gather my blood energy. If I can just use Blood Mist again—

She pushed harder to move faster. The gap between them widened.

Lucian’s body screamed.

The sword intent. That single attack. It had done something to him — something beyond just draining his mana. His meridians ached. His core throbbed. It felt like someone had scraped the inside of his veins with sandpaper.

His next Light Step came out wrong. He stumbled instead of flickering. Caught himself on a wall. Pushed off.

Lucian’s legs gave out.

Lucian collapsed face-first onto the pavement.

Thud. His chin hit the ground. The Moon Shattering Blade clattered out of his grip.

Above him, Zara hesitated. She looked back one more time.

Zara using that space immediately stopped and gathered her remaining mana before turning into blood mist fleeing.

Then her body dissolved into blood mist — a swirling cloud of crimson that rose into the night sky and vanished into the darkness.

Gone.

Lucian lay on the ground. His chest heaved. Each breath felt like swallowing glass.

"Fuck." The word came out as a rasp. "Just a single attack with sword intent is already straining my body so much."

He let his forehead drop against the cool pavement.

"Damn. I’m so fucked. She escaped."

He lay there for thirty seconds. Then, with a groan, he rolled onto his back and pulled out another blood bag. Bit into it. Drank. His Body Energy climbed. 28%. 32%. 35%.

He sat up. Looking around, the street was empty — everyone with sense had fled when the blood mist appeared. Bodies lay scattered in the distance, some moving, some not.

The survivors would need help.

But that wasn’t his problem.

Lucian got to his feet, retrieved his sword, and started walking back toward his hotel.

He made it half a block before the voices came.

"PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!"

Lucian stopped.

"You’re surrounded! Step away from the weapon and put your hands in the air!"

Eight figures emerged from the shadows — men and women in tactical gear, the Kharga City Task Force patch visible on their shoulders. Late Neophyte. Peak Neophyte.

And in front of them — one man in an officer’s uniform. Early Core Realm. His hand rested on a holstered sidearm, his eyes locked on Lucian with cold intensity.

"You’re under arrest, terrorist. Put your hands up. Now."

Lucian stared at him.

"Come on." His voice was flat. Frustrated. "You have got to be fucking kidding me. I just saved your sorry asses and you point weapons at me?"

"Hands. Up."

"I dispersed the blood mist. I fought the terrorists. I—"

"I said hands up."

The officers tightened their grips on their weapons. Mana flickered around the awakened ones. This was about to escalate.

Then — voices. From behind the Task Force line. Civilians. Survivors.

"That’s him!"

"He’s the one! He made the red mist go away!"

"I saw him — he raised his hand and the mist just... went up into the sky!"

"He saved us! He saved my daughter!"

"Leave him, you useless fools!

The officers exchanged glances. The Early Core Realm officer’s jaw tightened.

"You’re still coming with us," he said, his voice slightly less certain now. "We need to verify your identity and get a statement."

Lucian exhaled slowly through his nose. "Fine. But I need to make a call first."

"No calls until—"

"I’m with the Knights of the Horizon." Lucian pulled out his communicator. "You can verify it. Or you can explain to your superiors why you detained a Knight operative who just saved your city."

The officer’s expression shifted recognizing the name.

"One call," he said finally. "Quick."

Lucian activated the communicator. Miss Solstice’s voice came through almost immediately — she’d probably been monitoring.

"Lucian. I left just a few hours ago and you’ve already gotten yourself into so much trouble."

"I have valuable information for you."

A pause.

"...What kind of information?"

"The kind that changes the mission. I’ll explain when I’m back at a secure location."

"Fine. Go with the Task Force. Someone will come to pick you up."

The line went dead.

The Kharga City Task Force station was a squat concrete building near the city center. Lucian sat in an interrogation room — empty, no cuffs, just a table and two chairs — waiting.

He checked his system.

╔══════════════════════╗

║ QUEST COMPLETE ║

║ Kill at least one vampire ║

║ REWARDS: ║

║ ├─ Blood Clone: A → A+ Rank ║

║ ├─ Hidden Quest Progress ║

║ │ (Hassan Investigation) ║

║ ├─ Bloodline Seal: -2% ║

║ │ (84% → 82%) ║

║ └─ System Credits: +2,000 SC ║

║ PASSIVE BONUS: ║

║ Physical Stats +5 each ║

╚════════════════════════╝

Lucian felt it — a subtle shift in his body. Stronger and faster. Just a little. Five points didn’t sound like much, but it added up.

He leaned back in his chair and waited.

Two hours later, the door opened.

A man walked in. Brown trench coat. Dark hair.

"Lucian Grimaud?" His voice was neutral.

"Who’s asking?"

"Name’s Steve. I’m your ride." He gestured toward the door. "Come on. Miss Solstice is waiting."

A few moments later, after Steve finished talking with the head officer, the man left them to go.

Steve led Lucian out of the station without a word. The head officer watched them go, his expression tight, clearly unhappy about losing his suspect.

A black vehicle waited outside. Steve got in the driver’s seat. Lucian took the passenger side.

"Oi, kid." Steve’s eyes stayed on the road. "You caused quite a lot of trouble."

Lucian said nothing.

"But thanks to you, the city was saved. At least." He shrugged. "Could’ve been worse."

The rest of the drive was silent. They arrived at a small airfield on the outskirts of Kharga. A private jet waited on the runway, its engines already running.

They boarded. Steve took the pilot’s seat. Lucian sat in the back, staring out the window as Kharga shrank beneath them.

Three hours. That’s how long the flight to New Miami took. Lucian spent most of it with his eyes closed, cycling the Blood Eclipse Art to recover what little mana he could.

The Knights of the Horizon mansion appeared through the clouds — massive, white, sprawling across the Florida coastline like a fortress dressed as a luxury resort.

Steve led Lucian inside.

They stopped at a set of double doors. Steve knocked.

"Come in," a sharp voice said from inside.

Steve opened the door. Miss Solstice sat behind a large desk, her pink hair pulled back in a neat ponytail today. Her eyes moved from Steve to Lucian.

Lucian was covered in dried blood. His hoodie was torn. His silver hair was matted. He kind of looked like he’d crawled out of a grave.

Miss Solstice’s nose wrinkled.

"Thank you, Steve. You may leave."

Steve nodded and closed the door behind him.