"What is this?" Martha stared at the small vial John had produced.
"Something that can temporarily suppress your vampiric instincts." John gently took Martha's hands, which had been burned beyond recognition by the afternoon sunlight.
Martha instinctively tried to pull away, but John had already drawn his wand and whispered softly, "Episkey."
New, healthy skin grew over the burned and blistered flesh, rapidly restoring her hands to their former appearance. Martha stared at them in wonder—everything that had happened defied medical explanation.
"Are you a magician?" she asked, her cheeks flushing as she looked at John's face.
"To be precise, I'm a wizard," John replied with a slight smile. "You should have seen the news reports."
"So you really exist!" Martha had indeed seen the coverage—the Miracle Children project and the public emergence of wizards had been impossible to miss.
She smiled with innocent hope. "So you're some kind of agent of justice?"
"Agent of justice?" John's smile carried ambiguous meaning.
He could hardly be called just. His decision to spare this vampire's life stemmed only from her earlier restraint against her bloodthirsty urges, which had earned his approval. While not particularly just, John never hesitated to help genuinely good people.
Martha received the magic-suppressing blood, and her vampiric compulsions were immediately dampened. This single drop of blood could only affect her directly, but it was enough for now.
Since their target was a vampire hunter, locating the prey he sought should draw him out. The vampire named Hume that Martha had mentioned hunted at parties—likely one of the young faction vampires.
Young faction vampires all maintained territories, making them relatively easy to track down.
The Vampire Council had convened an emergency session to address the destruction of young faction territories, the activities of the Daywalker, and the recent unrest among younger vampires that threatened the delicate peace between their kind and humanity.
The council elders gathered solemnly in their ancient meeting hall. All were ancient vampires who had survived centuries. In the dimly lit chamber, twelve ornate chairs surrounded a massive oak table.
"How many casualties?" asked the elder seated at the head of the table.
A vampire elder in an expensive suit replied grimly, "The Daywalker killed many, but our most severe recent loss was that territory—every vampire was slaughtered, including a viscount."
"We face serious trouble," the head elder said, his expression darkening. "This is no longer merely a young faction problem."
One Daywalker had already inflicted devastating losses on vampire-kind, and now there appeared to be another. For vampires, this was nothing short of a nightmare scenario.
"What do our magical world counterparts say?" he asked, referring to the vampires who lived within the Magical Kingdom.
"They refuse involvement in human world affairs," came the disappointing response.
The assembled vampire elders' expressions soured at this news.
"We're all vampires—why would they abandon us?" one elder demanded indignantly.
The head elder shook his head. "They are more ancient than we are. We were the ones who chose to enter the human world actively."
Strictly speaking, those vampires hadn't betrayed anyone—it was the council vampires who had diverged from the old ways. Moreover, the magical world vampires lived comfortably within the Magical Kingdom and had no incentive to involve themselves in human conflicts.
Their extended lifespans meant that as long as they avoided courting disaster, they could live very comfortable existences.
The protesting elder fell silent, though his face still showed clear dissatisfaction.
"This isn't the time for internal blame," the head elder continued. "I'll attempt communication with the Ministry of Magic, though you all know their stance regarding vampires."
"Ever since that person appeared fifteen years ago, this world's balance has been shattered. The Ministry of Magic is no longer the incompetent organization it once was. They're not someone we can threaten anymore."
This was a simple fact. The old Ministry of Magic would have capitulated to pressure from a few well-placed threats. Those days were long gone.
If vampires dared to pressure them now, retaliation would be swift and severe. The Ministry of Magic shouldn't be underestimated—even their Legendary Auror alone could probably devastate the Vampire Council.
Furthermore, the Ministry wasn't short-staffed anymore. They could easily spare personnel to make the council's existence extremely difficult.
"What about the Daywalker?" another elder inquired.
The head elder drummed his fingers on the table, his gaze falling on an empty chair at the far end. "He remains a threat. We need to find a way to eliminate him."
After a pause, he asked, "Where is Cooper?"
Cooper was both an elder and a young faction vampire who controlled more territories than any other council member. One of the recently destroyed territories had belonged to him.
"He's hunting for that killer," the female elder to his right replied. "Should we recall him?"
"No need. He wouldn't listen anyway. Let him deal with that individual," the head elder said with calculated indifference. "Find an opportunity to eliminate the Daywalker, then..."
He left the sentence unfinished, but every vampire elder present understood his meaning.
Young faction vampires like Cooper had never shown proper respect to the ancient vampire elders. He was merely a weapon to be used for solving problems.
Keeping him around served the purpose of having someone to charge into battle on their behalf. Cooper's recent activities gathering vampires had also attracted government attention—perfect timing to eliminate him while maintaining the illusion of peace between vampires and humans.
The threat posed by human governments was hardly less significant than that of the Ministry of Magic.
A conspiracy to hunt down the Daywalker was taking shape.
Throughout the city, vampires moved in the shadows with deadly purpose.
John was also taking action. As darkness fell, he sat in a car with Martha, preparing for their next move.
Martha was driving—John still lacked a license.
She appeared nervous and guilt-ridden, emotions that puzzled John.
"What exactly are you feeling guilty about?" he asked.
"Guilty? I'm not guilty!" Martha's immediate denial only intensified her obvious guilt.
John had devised a simple plan: Martha would approach and lure Hume away from the crowd. Since they had nearly been intimate before, Hume wouldn't easily give up on Martha as potential prey.
But Martha felt overwhelmingly guilty because she harbored no genuine feelings for Hume whatsoever. Even her supposed desire to "end her single status" had merely been opportunistic—seeing him intoxicated at a party and planning to sleep with someone popular.
Instead, she'd been bitten, failed to sleep with him, and lost everything in the process. Hume would probably just think she was some deranged woman if he saw her now.
John observed her silently, easily reading her chaotic thoughts through Legilimency, then sighed. "Your current mindset is quite dangerous."
"Huh?" Martha had no idea the person beside her could read minds.
John watched as a handsome man in a sports car arrived to immediate cheers from the crowd. It seemed he couldn't rely on Martha after all.
He opened the car door, left her with a simple "Wait for me," and walked toward the lively party.
Hume, who had been basking in the attention of his admirers, spotted John approaching from the corner of his eye. His interest immediately piqued. He dismissed the others and sauntered toward John with predatory confidence.
Perhaps becoming a vampire had enhanced his already considerable attractiveness—Hume was supremely confident in his appearance.
Holding a cocktail in one hand while leaning against a wall to display his muscular physique beneath a deliberately dampened shirt, he whistled appreciatively.
"New face around here. I'm Hume," he said with obvious interest. "If you're looking for some real excitement, I can show you things you won't find anywhere else."
His eyes carried explicit hunger, his mind filled with indescribable intentions.
Worth noting—as a British vampire, Hume's sexual preferences could best be described as "those who know, know." He wasn't particularly discriminating about gender, as long as his targets were sufficiently attractive.
And he had definitely set his sights on John.
(TL NOTE: Unfortunately, my LOTR: Playing Minecraft in Middle-earth book was mistakenly flagged as spam on Webnovel and removed. I'll re-upload it under a different title by tomorrow at the latest. Thank you for your patience!)