Among Charlot Meburg's adventurers, there were no Transdents. A Fourth-Tier Knight like Winterburn, i on fleeing, was far beyond the reach of ordinary pursuers.

  Besides, if Winterburn ran, he ran. By the time he returned with reinforts, Charlot would have long disappeared without a trace.

  Just as Charlot was ing things up and preparing to tinue fooling his band of adventurers, a sharp whistling sound pierced through the air. A knight’s nce, like a vicious dragon desding from the heavens, struck with immense force, impaling Winterburn’s body. The nce carried on with unstoppable momentum, dragging the Fourth-Tier Knight several dozen steps before pinning him to the ground.

  Witnessing this, a chill surged through Charlot’s heart. The strength of the person who had made this move was beyond anything he had ever entered.

  If this individual was an enemy, even if all 100-plus adventurers fought to the death by Charlot’s side, the oute would likely still be a one-sided sughter.

  The adventurers were also stuhough they were mere low-level adventurers, their experience surviving in the wild and stant skirmishes meant they had sharp instincts. Many excimed, “A high-level Transdent!”

  Charlot took a deep breath. He uood there was no use in hiding or running. With a vampiric axe in one hand and a magical rapier iher, he strode forward boldly and shouted, “Who’s there?”

  A calm, steady voice responded, “This time, the Empire’s pns ot afford any mistakes. It’s fortunate I arrived in time; otherwise, letting this man escape ahe Empire’s grand designs would have made you a criminal.”

  “State your name and rank, or I’ll file a formal pint with the War Office.”

  These words were spoken in Byron’s tongue. While most of the adventurers didn’t uand Byronese, many reized the nguage due to the historical ties between Fars and Byron, two of the Old ti’s five great empires. This realization filled many of them with dread—they had just been posing as Byronese spies.

  Now, they were faced with a real Byronese operative!

  Everyone could imagihe likely oute.

  Charlot silently prayed, Thank the goddess, thank Sheffield Uy, thank higher education. In fwlessly enunciated Byronese, he replied, “Apologies, I am currently on a cssified mission and ot reveal my identity.”

  Charlot Meburg was fluent in seven nguages, including Byronese. His response was impeccable, devoid of any at that might betray him as a Fars native.

  The fual differeween Charlot and these adventurers was that he had genuinely received the highest level of imperial education.

  From the shadows emerged a tall, strikingly handsome middle-aged man fnked by two followers. His pale skin, golden hair, and faintly blood-red eyes marked him unmistakably as a vampire. With an approving tone, he said, “Impressive. You don’t promise your principles for authority. I might sider holding off on that pint.”

  “You’re using Bloodfire Qi! Are you of the Adonis ?”

  Charlot breathed a sigh of relief and replied, “Yes!” Simultaneously, he hurled his Vampiric Rapier, striking Winterburn’s already lifeless body. He then shouted, “I need all of you to act together and deliver the final blow to these Fars men!”

  “To those willing, I shall sider you one of my own.”

  “To those unwilling, I’m afraid... apologies are in order.”

  “Sorry! But you know too much.”

  The mysterious Byronese vampire gnced over the group of adventurers, exuding an oppressive aura as heavy as a mountain. It felt as though an a beast was staring down a group of rabbits, paralyzing them with fear.

  The adventurers exged uneasy looks before some made the prudent choiember stabbed a ko a Fierce Horse Detective Agency operative.

  Charlot’s strategy, blunt as it was, mirrored the “pledge of loyalty” seen in Water Margin. The adventurers, divided into over ten small groups, cked cohesion and could easily abandon him at any time.

  By leveraging the mysterious Byronese high-level Transdent’s aura, Charlot forced them to provide their “pledge of loyalty.” This act signifitly bolstered the group’s unity and his personal authority. It also vely expined posed “Byronese spy” had a group of Fars low-level adventurers with him.

  Charlot’s profi Bloodfire Qi and fluen Byronese allowed him to vingly pose as a Byronese vampire. The adventurers, who couldn’t even speak Byronese, had no hope of pretending to be vampires. They could only be seen as his “blood thralls,” a time-horadition among Byronese vampires.

  Uhe mysterious Byronese vampire’s “terrifying pressure,” all 100-plus adventurers, whether willing or not, begrudgingly stepped forward and stabbed the seven Fierce Horse operatives with daggers, swords, or hammers—even the already-dead Addison, Winterburn, and two others killed in earlier skirmishes were not spared.

  The three surviving Fierce Horse operatives, however, suffered the most gruesome deaths.

  Charlot pulled his Vampiric Rapier from Winterburn’s body and stowed it in his left arm. He theracted the knight’s nd respectfully ha to the mysterious Byronese vampire. Finally, he ordered the group to search the dead operatives’ bodies.

  The search yielded cash totaling seven écus, with five écus ing from Addison—a reasonable find, as only someone on the run would carry their entire fortune.

  Charlot appraised the equipment from the seveives, verted it into value, and distributed the sum alongside the cash among the adventurers.

  After imposing fear, he offered rewards—ensuring the adventurers' loyalty.

  Such a banced approach was on sense ba Earth.

  The adventurers visibly rexed, the tension easing somewhat.

  The tall, handsome Byronese vampire nodded slightly, his face softening into a smile. Clearly impressed, he said, “Well done. You exhibit the demeanor of a true Byronese soldier.”

  “I am Lord Leo. Like you, I am entrusted with a special mission. I hereby requisition you and your men. State your name.”

  Charlot sighed in relief and replied, “Kainan. You may call me Kainan.”

  Lord Leo casually touched the knight’s ransf it into a rapier, which he elegantly sheathed at his waist.

  Charlot, retly introduced to such morphing ons, couldn’t help but excim, “Shanlens’ Spear? You’re from the Arthur ?!”

  Lord Leo’s knightly nce was even more magnifit than Louis Simy’s, with aimated value of at least 1,500 gold écus.

  The Adonis was one of the Six Kingly s, but the Arthur was one of the Three Imperial s, whose status overshadowed all other vampires.

  Lord Leo nodded slightly, his arrogance expertly cealed, and said, “Grand Duke Ferdinand of the Behemoth Principality is heading to Strasb to meet Emperor Julius VI. I require his route aailed intelligence.”

  “Kainan, you entered Fars before me.”

  “Do you have any information to share?”

  Charlot was startled, w, What do these Byroend to do with Grand Duke Ferdinand’s route to Strasb? He replied casually, “I was just heading to Machubi. It’s only 200 kilometers from Strasb, and I heard the Grand Duke may pass through this a orc stronghold’s ruins.”