"You're late. I've been waiting forever."
Jeanne walked up and looped her arm through Rod's, her tone carrying the authority of an elder cousin scolding a younger one.
The curvaceous blonde from earlier narrowed her eyes, sizing them both up.
She looked between Rod's dark hair and yellow skin and Jeanne's blonde hair and pale complexion with open skepticism.
"You two are really cousins?"
She clearly wasn't buying it.
"Of course. We're distant relatives," Jeanne said sweetly, then nudged Rod forward. "You can ask him."
"…Yeah," Rod muttered, playing along.
He wasn't sure what Jeanne was up to, but judging from the faction lines, she clearly wasn't one of the vampires.
The blonde bombshell scoffed and turned away, but not before a glint of scarlet flickered in her eyes.
Whatever. They'll both be dead soon anyway.
...
Jeanne led Rod into a shadowy corner of the bar.
"Never thought I'd run into you here," she said with a grin.
"Do I… know you?"
Rod gave her a side glance.
She didn't quite match his hazy memory, decked out like a punk rocker: black leather pants, jingling accessories, heavy makeup, and a gold chain thicker than his pinky.
Rod's trained eye guessed the "gold" was probably stainless steel.
"Oh, right, forgot to introduce myself. I'm… Jeanne."
She leaned in and whispered the name near his ear, waiting expectantly for a dramatic reaction.
But Rod just blinked. Calm as ever.
"…So?"
"What do you mean, so?! Aren't you surprised?! I'm Jeanne d'Arc!"
"There's like… what, ten thousand girls named Jeanne out there? Why would that surprise me?"
Rod watched her theatrics with flat amusement.
"I mean the real Jeanne! The saint who led France against England!"
Still unconvinced, Rod shrugged. "I'd expect the real Jeanne not to call herself a saint."
"I can prove it to you!"
Grabbing his hand, Jeanne released a small stream of power.
Rod nodded slowly. "Oh. So you really are her."
Satisfied that she'd finally gotten through, Jeanne sat back, ready to explain her purpose, until Rod leaned forward with a mischievous smile.
"I have a secret too."
She froze. "…What kind of secret?"
Rod's voice dropped into a serious tone. "I'm actually Arthur Pendragon. I never died. My powers were sealed, but if you wire me a million bucks, I can break the seal, restore Camelot, and make you Grand Marshal of the new empire, second only to me!"
His face was so sincere that Jeanne almost believed him.
…Almost.
Then reality caught up.
For one, Arthur wasn't Asian.
And second, her Hero Faction had already located Arthur's true descendant, they were planning to recruit him.
Which meant…
"You're messing with me."
Jeanne pouted, a little ticked off.
She had come with genuine intentions!
"Fine. The real reason I came to find you was-"
Suddenly, a shriek tore through the bar.
"AAAAAHHH!!"
"OH MY GOD!!!"
Both Rod and Jeanne instinctively turned.
In the center of the dance floor, the busty brunette from earlier had leapt onto the older British man and was tearing into his neck with inhuman force.
Her fangs sank deep, blood spraying in rhythmic bursts.
The man spasmed, but it was already too late.
The moment froze the crowd, then chaos exploded.
Other humans screamed and stumbled backward, but it was too late.
The vampires, who had been holding back all night, now descended on them like wolves at a buffet.
It looked eerily like a school cafeteria at lunchtime, if all the kids were armed with claws and fangs.
Screams, bone snaps, and flesh tearing drowned out even the pounding metal music.
In mere seconds, a dozen humans were already dead, throats torn open, blood gushing.
"Damn it!"
Jeanne's expression hardened. She hadn't expected the vampires to lose control this fast.
Without hesitation, her body blurred into a streak of light, launching herself into the fray.
The vampires were rabid.
Eyes red, even their reason was gone.
One of them lunged at Jeanne, baring its teeth, ready to rip her throat out,
But the next second, a cold gleam flashed.
Slice.
The vampire's head separated cleanly from its body.
Before the blood could hit the ground, the corpse disintegrated into ash.
…Well. That's surprisingly eco-friendly.
The rest of the vampires froze.
Ash still floated in the air, stinging their eyes and reminding them of the price of arrogance.
But then, one of them shouted:
"She's alone! There's dozens of us!"
Alcohol and bloodlust rekindled their courage.
"Get her!"
Emboldened, the others roared and charged at Jeanne, fangs bared.
In seconds, she was surrounded.
To make matters worse, seeing her fight back caused the few surviving humans to gather behind her, seeking protection.
Now Jeanne had to protect them too.
Though she'd left the Church and joined the Hero Faction, she still couldn't ignore the innocent.
The more cunning vampires stayed behind, hiding in the shadows, letting their lesser kin be the meat shields while they prepared sneak attacks.
But their fun was short-lived.
Bang!
A bullet tore through the skull of one of the hiding vampires.
More followed.
Panic broke out among the ambushers.
"Wait, what the hell?! Who else is here?!"
Someone else was shooting.
And they weren't alone after all.
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200 P.S / 1 Extra Chapters
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