I Level Up Dragons with My Evolution System-Chapter 101: Vampires

"The food here is good," Edward admitted as he sampled a few items from the table set up in the lounge outside a certain nightclub.

"We’re food specialists, Ed," Aurora smiled at him, tasting some fruit. "They’re not bad; it looks like the fruit harvests are on the right track." She praised the texture and sweetness.

"It seems they’ve been improving their fruit cultivation as well." Edward nodded.

"We’ve been trying to diversify the market for a year now. The Hazzards have managed to deal some serious blows to our economy, using dirty tactics. So we have to find ways to develop better—especially since the death of my uncles and my grandfather."

"I see." Edward knew that the death of Aurora’s uncles and grandfather about 10 years ago was what had caused them to fall into such a difficult situation now.

Although they died defending the region in a bloody battle against powerful beasts from the Cursed Lands, the kingdom has not treated them well. On the contrary, it has simply allowed the Hazzards to advance against them, leading to the current dire situation.

With the vampires’ advance into the territory, chaos has erupted everywhere. Large cities like this one are slowly descending into a state of chaos from which it will be difficult to recover.

This series of unfortunate events, worthy of a movie about a string of misfortunes, has only gotten worse with each passing day.

"Arnold is in position," Edward said suddenly. "Those two are too."

"And the contact?"

"Well... things are about to heat up, so take the chance to eat a little. At least we have the opportunity." He smiled.

"Did you find a vampire?" Aurora asked, popping an apple into her mouth.

Although there were many nobles and people in the room, the two of them were standing in a corner, unnoticed by anyone. So no one could hear what they were saying.

"There are a few of them, but not many. We shouldn’t try to attack them, though we’ll give them a bit of trouble. Then we’ll follow them and attack when they’re at their base." Edward replied and took one last bite of an apple before tossing it on the floor.

"They’re moving. Let’s go inside."

They both entered the other room, and seconds later, someone came out to summon those who were there.

All the nobles were invited to the ballroom, where the hosts had gathered.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the dance will begin shortly. But before that, we’d like to have a few words with you. We all know we’re here to network. So let’s have a little chat—between our hosts and you, dear friends," said Baron London, stepping forward to speak with grace.

"We want to be friends with all of you. That is why this gathering was not held just for dancing, but with the intention of achieving that."

"You may be wondering, how do we plan to do this? The answer is simple. You’re all already familiar with the silver market, aren’t you? As nobles who live off that precious resource and its uses, it’s hard for us to sit idly by. That’s why we’ve decided to create an organization to restore and surpass the nobles of the City of Silver, just as in days gone by."

"But, to be honest, it requires a significant investment. All of us, the hosts..." he said, gesturing toward the group beside him.

The Iron Baron, the Smith heir, the Presley heir, Baron London, General Jake, and a stranger who looked dangerous.

"We have decided, unanimously, to support this and invest in it. That is why we wanted to extend this invitation to you to join us. This organization will not only seek to share land and resources among us all, which will benefit us, but also to create a brotherhood that..."

As Baron London spoke, Edward sighed. "I have to admit, he’s good at winning over the masses."

"Is he a traitor too?" Aurora asked from beside him, and Edward nodded.

"They’ll die tonight, if all goes well."

"All of them?" Aurora frowned. "They’re renowned nobles. That Iron Baron is known throughout the Kingdom."

"He’s one of the Four Principal Barons, isn’t he?"

"Yes. I don’t know if we’ll be able to kill him."

"Don’t worry, things will work out." Edward smiled.

"It embarrasses me that these guys don’t realize they’re being deceived." Aurora sighed as she listened to everything Baron London had to say and saw that everyone agreed to join him.

But things were just starting to heat up.

Suddenly, Baron London took a deep breath and raised his voice: "Gentlemen, you all know that I am not the highest-ranking person here. Therefore, I will leave you in his care. He is a wise and law-abiding man, a good man. I present to you, Lord Murphy, a legendary man." He stepped aside and pointed to the door they had left behind.

The doors swung open with a loud bang, and one person, followed by two others, entered.

They wore long, form-fitting robes made of some mysterious, durable fabric; it seemed magical. Perhaps the fabric itself was the hide of some very powerful beast.

They were tall, standing nearly two meters, and their formal robes reached the floor, though at the same time they were gathered at the hem.

What caught everyone’s attention most was his pale but lively face. His slightly pointed ears and those fangs that glinted with his smile.

The whole room shook.

"This is bad!" Edward muttered under his breath immediately and grabbed Aurora’s hand to turn around quickly.

He’d sensed the danger breathing down his neck a second ago—these guys already knew they were here!

’We have to run!’ his inner voice told him.

These weren’t vampires they could kill; they’d been ambushed... or betrayed.

All the nobles around them froze as they watched three powerful vampires walk through the door. They didn’t even try to run. Most of them were ordinary people; they felt fear in their bones.

Meanwhile, the beast masters who weren’t trained in combat were paralyzed by a spiritual attack that no one saw, but which struck them squarely.

"Do you really think you’re going to get away?" The lead vampire’s face twisted into a mocking grimace, and he turned to his right.

Everyone in that direction trembled, but he wasn’t looking at any of them.

"I’m talking about you, you little scum of the armed forces." Suddenly, a dagger shot out from under his jacket... It wasn’t just any dagger. It was made of blood and covered the distance in a single second, striking two figures running toward one of the club’s exits.

But just then, one of those figures turned around and stomped on the ground. The wind surged and exploded toward the dagger, weakening its power in an instant.

Aurora thrust both hands forward and sent the wind racing through the room in an instant, creating a powerful restraining ability that left the three vampires stunned.

"How about that? Was that a good trick?" Edward smiled coldly, approaching from behind with a lightning-fast movement. "I’ve been thinking about it, so I want to find out: Who gave you the information?" His sword sliced through the wind, imbued with deadly fire, delivering a fatal blow to one of the six-foot-tall vampires.

"Aghhh!" The cry of pain was stifled as a powerful black claw emerged from the darkness and Arnold flew through the air, managing to crush him.

The impact caused chaos.

"Gentlemen, come with me. Quickly." Among those on stage, who hadn’t expected such a thing to happen, Harry Smith quickly alerted them. "We have to escape through the back door. We can’t get ourselves into this mess."

Although the Iron Baron hesitated, he eventually nodded. "Let’s go." They began to run as Harry led them. None of them realized that this Harry knew the place all too well.

Suddenly, when they were near the emergency exit, Harry stopped in front of them.

They thought he had sensed something, so they clasped their hands together in fear.

But Harry suddenly spoke up. "Did you know there are magical tools capable of transmitting spells with a delay? They’re called Death Clocks," he said abruptly.

They didn’t understand what he meant, so they stared at him. "Young..." But suddenly they felt as if they were running out of air. A scorching heat and a terrifying fire ignited in everyone’s chest.

In Harry Smith’s hand, a small golden watch glowed, and the "gold" covering it fell away, revealing a dark, deadly color.

He smiled at them.

"The fate of traitors is to die without a proper burial," he said, glancing at them out of the corner of his eye. "Remember that this is a little gift from Miss Ashford. Good luck in your possible reincarnation." With that, Harry leaped out of the house.

’Miss, if I die tonight, I hope you’ll at least help my family and tell them to build me a statue. I can’t die for them and then have no one remember me.’ Even though he appeared determined on the outside, inside he was trembling with fear.

He kept telling himself: ’I shouldn’t have come to this place... What was I thinking when I accept those idiots’ invitation, which then led me to end up in the hands of Miss Ashford and that fire demon?’

He let out a sigh on the fly and started running as if his life depended on it...