Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Noire sent the crimson sword-shaped spears flying forward. They shot through the air toward the diving wyverns, meeting them head-on midair. The blood weapons sliced and stabbed as the wyverns descended, tearing through wings, necks, and bodies before the beasts could even reach the ground.
The twenty-five blood spears moved as if they ruled the sky itself. They curved, adjusted, and chased their targets, dominating the space between Noire and the wyverns with terrifying control.
Tskkkk!
Xavier moved at the same time. The giant halo of crimson blood behind him began to spin wildly. In seconds, it stretched and thinned, transforming into a massive, razor-like ring nearly five meters wide. Without delay, it shot forward toward the wyverns crawling across the ground as they rushed toward the two.
Swoosh!
The spinning blood ring tore through them. Bodies were sliced apart as it passed, cutting through scales and flesh with brutal force. None of the wyverns that approached on the ground were spared.
The eight wyverns charging from below were killed instantly—some cut clean in half, others torn into scattered pieces.
Above them, the wyverns that had dived were also struck down. Only a few managed to survive, badly wounded and panicked. They flapped desperately, retreating into the sky, barely dodging the remaining blood spears that continued to chase them before finally losing control and falling away.
Roagh!
The alpha wyvern let out a thunderous roar that shook the air. The sound echoed violently across the park, sending sharp pain through Xavier and Noire's heads. For a brief moment, both of them lost focus. Their blood weapons wavered, some stopping midair, others losing their spin.
That single opening was enough.
The alpha rushed forward with killing intent, charging straight toward the two who had slaughtered its kin.
Roagh!
It roared again just as Xavier and Noire regained their senses. Both of them clutched their ears, wincing in pain, before stepping back toward the tall wall behind them. They didn't dare turn around fully, wary of the injured wyverns still circling above.
As the alpha closed the distance, both of them willed their blood weapons back at once. The blood converged in front of them, forming a massive, thick shield just in time to face the unavoidable charge.
"We can't split up," Noire said quickly. "If we do, it'll target one of us. This is the best option."
Using what remained of her blood reservoir, Noire formed a shorter blood spear and sent it past the shield toward a nearby wyvern corpse. Xavier did the same, slicing off a portion of blood from the thick crimson barrier and sending it after hers.
Bang!
The alpha wyvern slammed into the shield with full force. The impact shook the ground violently, and the blood shield burst apart, splattering thick crimson blood in all directions.
Before the alpha could follow through, Xavier and Noire used ice manipulation to grab onto the wall and climb several meters upward. The massive head of the alpha passed just beneath them, missing them by a narrow margin.
As the blood from the shattered shield rained down, the two immediately regained control of it. The warm blood twisted and hardened midair, forming countless sharp spikes that slammed into the alpha's body. The spikes pierced its tough skin just enough to trap it in place, locking its limbs and wings.
The alpha tried to roar again, this time in pain and rage, but the two didn't give it the chance.
From the corpse they had marked earlier, more blood surged out. It shaped itself into long, two-meter spears—at least ten of them—floating above the battlefield before shooting forward.
The spears struck the alpha's body, wings, and legs. They pierced shallowly, struggling against its thick scales and failing to break through its skull.
That was when Xavier and Noire jumped.
They released their grip on the wall and fell freely, both holding long icicle cones formed from ice. Each weapon extended more than three meters, sharp and deadly.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
They threw them with all their strength.
Xavier's spear flew faster, driven by his superior physical strength. It pierced straight through the alpha's skull. A moment later, Noire's spear followed, striking the same spot and driving deeper inside.
Bam!
They landed on the alpha's head and used their remaining ice weapons to stab down again, making sure the massive wyvern was truly dead.
The giant winged body collapsed to the ground, completely lifeless.
Only then did the two let out a long sigh of relief. Without hesitation, they sent the remaining controlled blood spears after the fleeing wyverns, finishing off the survivors who tried to escape after seeing their alpha fall.
"Sigh… that was fun while it lasted," Xavier said with a smile. His clothes were soaked in blood, and Noire looked no better.
"Yeah," Noire replied. Using blood manipulation, she pulled the warm blood off their clothes and back toward herself. Their outfits dried quickly, though dirt and battle marks remained.
"Bet it was."
...
The couple leveled up at the same time, rising from their previous levels to level 25 in perfect unison. Along with the increase in power, Noire unlocked a new skill.
[TEMPORAL HUMANITY – Allows the vampire to temporarily change their race back into a human for up to 12 hours by consuming mana. While active, the user can walk under the sun again. Cooldown is equal to the time spent. Power output is limited to 90% during the duration.]
"With this, traveling will be much easier for me," Noire said. "The sun should start showing itself again in a couple of days."
She activated the skill immediately. Strangely enough, the system showed that the skill could not be upgraded. It was already marked a master-level, meaning it had reached its full potential from the moment it was obtained.
Noire then spent her level-up rewards on improving her physical stats, focusing mainly on stamina and strength. These were the areas she lacked the most, and they were also the most important for prolonged fights and travel.
Xavier made different choices. He used all of his rewards to finally break through the limit of his physical stats, maxing them out completely. The remaining points were invested into spirituality, a stat he had been neglecting until now. Along with this, he also received a new system function rather than a skill.
[IDENTIFICATION – Allows the classless host to view another individual's system, if present, and read basic descriptions of objects or beings.]
Xavier tested it immediately.
"It says here you're already twenty-three," he said while looking at Noire. "I thought you were only twenty-two this year?"
Noire stopped checking her system and shot him a sharp glare.
"I had my birthday a few months ago," she replied. "Don't tell me you already forgot how you celebrated it by having s*x with me."
"…Never mind," Xavier muttered, quickly shifting his focus back to his own system.
He spent all of his coin rewards on upgrading the Raising System, since the shop items were far too expensive for anything useful at the moment. Noire also handed over a portion of her coins, as she had no use for them either. Combined with the coins he had saved over the past few days, the system bonus had now reached around 1.4x.
They didn't stay long in the ruined district center, which was still filled with corpses. Instead, they moved west and encountered the remaining surviving players who were hiding in the protected area of the western district near the center.
After dealing with them, the two gained very little experience. Most of the players were below level 10, and compared to their own level 25, the rewards were barely noticeable.
That night, they stayed at the edge of the district in a rundown house. Neither of them slept. They kept watch, wary of any possible revenge from Ravencroft. To pass the long night and ease the tension, they stayed close to each other, having s*x until dawn and the appearance of the sun in the horizon again.
...
"Great Leader Xian, we have received good news from the recent raids in the neighboring districts," the young commander reported as he bowed deeply. "Most of the districts have been reclaimed successfully. However, District 10 and District 17 were excluded. We failed to secure them due to the accidents that occurred there."
Xian sat calmly upon her throne in the dimly lit throne room, her posture perfect and her expression unreadable. She listened without interrupting, her fingers resting lightly against the arm of the throne.
"That is enough," she said at last. "We have already achieved our first goal by restoring production. With that complete, and our second goal nearly fulfilled, we can now move forward."
A slow smirk formed on her lips as she considered her next move, clearly confident in her control over the central government.
"Let us begin the third phase," Xian declared.
"Let us form a new and powerful army."