A gun barrel suddenly poked through the crack in the metal door and aimed directly at Marcus.
Instinctively, Marcus shifted his body, and a bullet, glowing with a purple hue, struck the wall behind him.
"Sunlight?"
As he crouched near the edge of the door, Marcus felt the ultraviolet radiation emanating from the impact site. Fearing the destructive power of sunlight and realizing he had yet to recover his full strength, Marcus made a snap decision: escape.
He darted to the hidden tunnel, flung open the floor hatch, and dove in, sprinting down the narrow passage at breakneck speed.
Not even ten seconds into his flight, a thunderous crash echoed through the tunnel as the chamber door was smashed open and fell to the floor. The sound reverberated all around him.
Escape. At this moment, the only thought dominating Marcus's mind was to get away. Despite the tunnel's cramped quarters, he extended his bat-like wings and leapt forward, accelerating rapidly through the passage.
The moment he emerged from the tunnel and flew into the open air, Marcus spotted Victor's messenger chained to a large tree.
Already in a weakened state and desperately needing blood, Marcus didn't hesitate. He pounced on the messenger and sank his fangs into his neck.
As he drained the messenger's blood, he began to sift through the memories stored within it.
But his time was short. Marcus had only seconds to feed before the sound of mechanical footsteps—clack, clack, clack—reached his ears from behind.
Spreading his wings, Marcus shot into the sky, looking back just in time to see several combat robots with glowing red eyes emerging from the tunnel.
The robots scanned their surroundings briefly before spotting him in the air. Then, without hesitation, they leapt toward him, trying to drag him back to the ground.
Startled, Marcus flapped his wings furiously, gaining altitude until he was dozens of meters above the ground. He briefly hovered in the air to assess the situation, but a sudden sense of danger surged through him.
Without thinking, he twisted his body mid-air in a series of evasive rolls.
Zing, zing, zing!
Purple streaks of ultraviolet energy lanced through the air where Marcus had just been.
Centuries of battle experience had honed Marcus's instincts to a razor's edge. He immediately made the smartest choice: instead of ascending further, he dove lower, gliding just above the treetops to use the dense canopy as cover.
The trees disrupted the robots' line of sight, forcing them to adjust their aim. Marcus beat his wings with all his might, weaving through the forest as he fled.
After several seconds of frantic flying, Marcus risked a glance over his shoulder. To his dismay, he saw that the robots were still in pursuit, their glowing red sensors cutting through the gloom of the forest like demonic eyes.
"Damn it! What the hell are these things?"
Thankfully, the trees worked to his advantage. The robots, though fast, struggled to maneuver through the dense forest as efficiently as Marcus. Using his agility, he continually adjusted his flight path to lead them into the thickest parts of the woods.
As the distance between him and the robots grew, Marcus dared to ascend higher. At an altitude of over a thousand meters, he finally hovered in place, confident he was beyond their reach.
Looking down, he saw the robots raise their weapons and open fire.
The sight of ultraviolet bullets flashing through the air sent a primal wave of fear coursing through Marcus, prompting him to instinctively flap his wings and climb another hundred meters higher.
Hundreds of glowing projectiles streaked toward him but lost momentum and fell back to the ground before reaching his altitude.
Seeing that the robots below couldn't hit him but continued to stand guard, Marcus felt a mix of anger and unease.
He quickly realized their strategy: they were waiting for him to exhaust himself. Once his wings grew tired and he had no choice but to descend, they would attack.
"Damn you, Devonshire," Marcus cursed under his breath.
Drawing upon the memories he had glimpsed in the messenger's blood, Marcus understood the situation more clearly. In the brief seconds he had fed, he had extracted enough to piece together recent events.
Marcus now knew that his chances of defeating William were slim. The man's mechanical army was beyond anything Marcus could fight alone.
For over a thousand years, Marcus had been the ultimate predator, standing at the apex of the food chain. But now, not only was he being hunted, but the balance of power between vampires and humans had completely shifted.
Though his heart burned with hatred and the desire to rip William apart, Marcus's survival instincts told him to bide his time.
He needed to recover his strength and gather allies before he could even think about confronting William.
Yet the thought of Victor's death—and the likely destruction of most of the Western vampire faction—left Marcus with only one option: to release his brother, William Corvinus, the first lycan.
If he could unleash an uncontrollable tide of feral lycans, he would plunge the world into chaos and turn the tables.
"Wait for me, my brother," Marcus muttered darkly. "Once a horde of mindless lycans rises, they won't be hunting me anymore. They'll be drowning in the flood."
However, with Victor dead, Marcus had no leads on the location of William Corvinus's prison. After wracking his brain, he decided to seek out his father, Alexander Corvinus, for help.
From the messenger's memories, Marcus had obtained Alexander's current location. Spreading his wings, he began flying toward Dover, where his father was hiding.
Meanwhile, back at the vampire estate, William lounged in the bathtub, holding Selene close as she playfully splashed water.
Hearing Sunday's report, William smirked. Everything was proceeding exactly as he had planned.
He raised his hand, and a golden portal appeared in the estate's main hall.
Moments later, dozens of cleaning robots emerged to sanitize the area, while combat robots began sorting through the estate's valuables—antiques, jewelry, and other treasures.
The collected items were packed into crates and transported to the secret base in Yellowstone Park. After thorough decontamination, they would be moved to the underground vault at William's London estate.
By six in the morning, William had carried a thoroughly worn-out and satisfied Selene to her bed, where she quickly drifted off to sleep.
Meanwhile, Marcus, having finally evaded the pursuing robots, found refuge in the shadows of a small farm's barn just before dawn.
As he hung from the rafters, trying to calm his racing thoughts, he remained unaware that less than a kilometer away, a large truck—resembling Optimus Prime—had parked by the roadside.
Inside the truck's 15-meter-long cargo hold, the eleven combat robots that had chased Marcus rested in their charging stations.
The modified trailer wasn't just equipped to carry up to 30 combat robots—it also housed systems to recharge drone carriers and resupply their ammunition.
As the day passed, William and Selene remained inseparable, enjoying their time together at the vampire estate while waiting for nightfall.
The only awkward moment came during dinner when Selene, now fully devoted to William, hesitated to eat in his presence.
Taking her cold hand in his, William reassured her, "It's okay. As long as you don't bite people directly, I don't mind."
Playfully, he added, "In some parts of the world, people consider animal blood, like chicken or duck blood, a delicacy.
"I've even tried dishes like that at Chinese restaurants. So, you don't need to worry about me being repulsed.
"Besides, the Devonshire family isn't religious. I've never once stepped foot in a church to pray."
"Really?" Selene's face lit up with joy at the revelation. Then, with some doubt, she asked, "But you're a noble. Don't you have to join the Church of England to inherit your title?"
William laughed. "Philip is the head of the Church of England. If he says it's fine, then it's fine."
Reassured, Selene finally relaxed and drank the crimson liquid in her glass.
After dinner, Sunday reported that Marcus, after feeding on a horse, had resumed his flight toward Dover.
Two hours later, Marcus landed on a crane at Dover Harbor, his eyes fixed on a large ship anchored nearby.
He carefully observed the guards onboard, waiting for the harbor to fall silent.
An hour later, the Optimus Prime-style truck arrived at Dover Harbor and parked just a few hundred meters away from Marcus's perch on the crane.
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Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 256)
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 336)
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 542)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 924)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
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