Novel Bin
Chapter 181 – The Blood Hunt Begins
The Stillness Before the Storm
Seraphis moved deeper into the forest, her boots pressing silently against the damp earth. The thick canopy above her blocked most of the moonlight, leaving only faint silver streaks across the moss-covered ground. The air was still—too still.
She stopped. Something wasn’t right.
Her senses, honed by years of experience, prickled with warning. The natural sounds of the forest had vanished. No rustling leaves, no distant howls, no chirping insects. Just silence.
She was being watched.
The First Strike
A whisper of movement.
Seraphis spun—just in time.
A figure lunged from the shadows, moving faster than a human eye could track.
She barely managed to dodge, flipping backward as razor-sharp claws slashed through the space where her throat had been a second earlier. The force of the attack tore through the bark of a tree behind her, splintering it into jagged shards.
Three figures emerged from the darkness. Vampires.
Their crimson eyes gleamed like embers in the night, their predatory grins revealing elongated fangs dripping with anticipation.
One of them, taller than the rest, tilted his head. “Ah… we were right. You do smell divine.”
Seraphis didn’t reply. Instead, she moved.
Her hand flicked out.
The first card flew.
The Vampires’ Mistake
The lead vampire’s hand snapped up to catch the incoming card. He sneered, confident in his reflexes.
A fatal mistake.
The moment his fingers closed around the card, its edges shifted.
What was once a simple playing card expanded into jagged steel shards, twisting in his grip like a living thing. The explosion of metal shredded his palm.
A scream tore from his throat.
Seraphis was already in motion.
Two more cards shot from her hand, each one glowing with dark energy.
The second vampire dodged the first strike—but not the second.
A card buried itself deep in his throat.
He staggered back, clawing at the embedded steel, blood gurgling from his mouth as he collapsed.
A Dance With Death
The third vampire was fast.
He came from her blind spot, a blur of black and red. His claws lashed toward her spine.
Seraphis twisted at the last second, the wind of his strike brushing against her neck. Too close.
Her feet barely touched the ground before she used the momentum to flip backward, kicking off a tree trunk.
Midair—she unleashed three more cards.
They spun like silver blades through the darkness.
The vampire tried to weave between them. He succeeded in dodging two—but the third sliced through his shoulder, nearly severing his arm.
He howled in pain, staggering back.
Seraphis landed smoothly, already preparing her next attack.
But the lead vampire—the arrogant one—was healing.
Fast.
A Deadly Curse
The leader grinned, flexing his shredded hand as it slowly regenerated. “You’re good,” he admitted. “But I am—”
His mouth opened.
Seraphis’s eyes narrowed.
A blood curse.
She barely had time to react before a piercing screech erupted from the vampire’s throat.
The air itself became heavy.
Her vision blurred for a fraction of a second—her limbs slowed.
And in that moment—he moved.
A Race Against Death
The vampire was gone.
No—above her.
His claws were already descending toward her skull.
Seraphis had one chance.
Her fingers flicked toward her belt—activating a special card.
A black-etched card glowed red.
The moment the vampire’s hands touched her, the card latched onto him—draining.
His triumphant smirk shattered into terror.
A shriek ripped from his throat as his own blood was ripped from his body, siphoned into the card’s swirling vortex.
His veins blackened. His muscles shrunk. His skin turned ashen.
He clawed at his own chest, trying to break free.
Too late.
The Executioner’s Strike
Seraphis pulled the card back, now dripping with stolen vitality.
The vampire collapsed to his knees, barely a husk of his former self.
Seraphis stood over him, silent.
One final flick of her wrist—a clean, precise strike.
The vampire’s head hit the ground before his body even realized it was dead.
The Aftermath
Silence.
Seraphis exhaled, steadying herself.
The battle was over.
But she knew this was just the beginning.
Somewhere, deep in the shadows, more were coming.
And she would be ready.
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