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The abdomen of Lisa’s velvet robe, once a clear and elegant shade of blue, was rapidly darkening as her blood soaked through the fabric, spreading into a grotesque black-red stain. Her legs trembled violently. She should have collapsed. Yet she did not fall. The chain that had pierced through her waist and emerged from her lower abdomen was holding her aloft. Blood streamed down her thighs. The pool gathering beneath her feet grew larger with every passing second.

“Hi—! Aghh! Hiiiiiiiigghhhh!!”

The chain surged upward again. Against the backdrop of the silver wall, now beginning to emit a faint holy glow, Lisa’s agonized scream echoed through the dark forest.

“LISAAAAAAA!!”

Kyle shouted her name and charged forward. The instant his foot left the ground, however, two shadows shot past him like a gale. Howard and Conrad.

Though they had been standing farther back, both men had reacted the moment the chain pierced Lisa. Kyle’s response had not been slow. He had moved within a second of seeing the attack. The problem was that the other two were simply beyond normal human limits.

Like a storm wind, they raced toward her. Howard reached out, intending to seize the chain and protect Lisa. Conrad raised his battle axe, aiming to sever the chain extending from the darkness.

But before either of them could reach her, the chain instantly wrapped itself around Lisa’s entire body. Then, as though a giant had grabbed her ankle and yanked downward with mocking force, the chain coiled around her right leg and dragged her away. In a single instant. She vanished into the darkness of the forest.

“No! Ahh! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”

Her desperate scream faded into the night. Howard’s hand grasped only empty air. Conrad’s axe struck the earth instead, carving a crater into the ground and sending a dull shockwave through the area.

But there was one more shadow moving through the darkness. Gilbert. The magical sigils on his demon-seeing eyepatch faintly glowing, he sprinted toward the source of the chains.
Keeping low, he rushed directly at the hideous presence his enchanted eye had detected writhing within the forest.

“Damn it! Gilbert, get back!”

Howard shouted. At that exact moment, the softly glowing silver wall erupted into blinding light.

Gilbert saw it as well. He immediately leapt backward. A heartbeat later, the spot where he had been standing exploded. A deafening blast tore through the wall. An overwhelming torrent of flames engulfed the area.

“Damn! A Fire Storm?!”

Cedric raised an arm to shield his face from the inferno. It was a high-tier spell. The roaring flames subsided quickly, but the trees both inside and outside the wall had already caught fire. The surrounding darkness of the forest was ripped apart by blazing light.

“Well now…” A woman’s voice drifted through the flames. “I noticed a rather unusual flow of magical energy and decided to investigate. What an entertaining sight I’ve stumbled upon.”

No one had seen her arrive. No one knew from where. Standing before the shattered wall was a woman who looked utterly out of place in the depths of the great forest. Or rather. Her very existence felt wrong. She wore a black evening gown fit for a noble’s ballroom rather than a battlefield.

Her golden-blonde hair, loosely waved and reaching her waist, danced in the heat of the burning trees behind her. Covering her lips lightly with one hand, she laughed softly.

“Hohoho…”
“Heh…” Another voice emerged, “Now that’s more like it. Looks like there are some strong ones here.”

To Howard’s right, from the darkness of the eastern forest, another woman stepped into view.

She had dark bronze skin. Long black hair tied behind her head like a tail. Though she wore shoulder guards, gauntlets, and greaves, the rest of her body was covered by little more than thin straps and a minimal bikini-like armor. Resting upon her shoulder was a massive single-edged sword resembling a gigantic cleaver. Her grin widened.

“Hehehe… I like this. They’re exactly my type.”
“Ufufufu…” A third voice followed. “Just look at this. So many holy practitioners… and we even caught a maiden. Lord Halbert will be delighted with such an offering.”

This woman emerged from the darkness to the west. The metallic sound accompanied her arrival. Her skin was pale blue. Her ears slightly pointed. Silver-white hair was gathered atop her head. Black leather bondage attire clung tightly to her body, narrow belts barely concealing her most intimate areas. A collar circled her neck. Heavy shackles bound her wrists and ankles. From each hung thick rust-colored chains.

The chains spread around her in a vast circle. They writhed across the ground like living creatures. Several more extended outward into the darkness. One of those chains was slowly rising upward.

At its end hung Lisa. Suspended upside down by her leg. A muffled groan escaped her lips. Only now did they notice that several other chains were being raised as well. Behind the chain-wielding woman hung multiple figures. All of them suspended by chains. All of them were members of the knight order’s clergy. The battalion had only four holy practitioners. Every single one of them had been captured. And all of them now dangled behind the smiling woman.

“Impossible…! When did this happen?!”

Kyle stared in disbelief. He had been so focused on Lisa’s attack that he had completely failed to notice the others being taken. Not just Kyle. Cedric, Howard, Conrad. All of them were equally shocked.

“Ufufufufu… Taking out the healers first is a basic strategy in any group battle, isn’t it?”

She licked the blood coating her fingers with slow, sensual movements. As though what she had done was simply common sense.

By now, the other two women had moved closer. The three stood together. All three possessed lips red as fresh blood. And in the darkness of the forest, their crimson eyes glowed like burning embers.

“Vampires…”

Howard muttered grimly.

Deep lines formed between his brows. The flames from the burning trees illuminated the three women. Their scarlet lips curled upward into sinister smiles. The crackling roar of the fire. The metallic rattling of chains. The pained groans of the captives hanging helplessly in the air. And above it all… The confident laughter of the three vampire women echoed throughout the depths of the forest, mocking every sound around them.