Seraphina hurriedly finished explaining the subsequent matters within the manor and set off.
She had to resolve all of this before Lin Shu discovered anything more.
“Family Head, according to the intelligence we gathered, the opposing side is a specialized demon hunter squad from the Holy Church. They are specifically responsible for hunting demons who cross the borders of the Holy Nation. They are highly experienced.”
A half-Bloodkin knelt on one knee before Seraphina and said respectfully, “Please be extremely careful, Family Head.”
“I understand,” Seraphina nodded with a solemn expression.
She turned around, facing a team of the Drago family’s most elite Bloodkin warriors who were accompanying her, and instructed, “What we are about to face is a professional demon hunter squad.”
“There are only five of them. Although we have the advantage in numbers, we must not let our guard down. The enemy has ample experience in dealing with demons.”
“It would be best if we can wipe them out in one go, but if any emergencies arise, I will order you to evacuate immediately. Leave the rest to me.”
Seraphina explained everything that needed attention one by one.
The Bloodkin warriors responded in succession, “Yes, Family Head!”
‘Once everything is over, I can go back to see Lin Shu.’
Seraphina recalled Lin Shu’s expression when they parted, and her heart stung slightly.
***
Following the direction indicated by the intelligence, they arrived at the place where the demon hunter squad had settled for the day.
The demon hunter squad had chosen to station themselves in an abandoned inn on the outskirts of the Demon Capital.
Although the dilapidated building’s structure was intact, the surrounding area was long since overgrown with weeds. From the outside, the inn appeared long-abandoned, providing them with a natural barrier for concealment.
Seraphina stood on a carriage high in the sky and looked down.
Faint light filtered through the windows of the abandoned inn, and several figures moved past them.
It was currently late at night, with the full moon hanging high. This was the time when a demon’s abilities were most active, making it the perfect moment to launch a siege.
Seraphina stared intently at the figures moving inside the house, her gaze gradually turning cold.
***
Inside the building, Hati and her team members were each in their own small rooms.
“Pah, pah, pah!” Hati spat out the meat she had been chewing halfway, looked at the half-leg of black mutton still in her hand with disgust, and threw it onto the table.
“The mutton here in the demon realm tastes awful. What on earth are they feeding these things?” Hati complained loudly.
“Give it up, Captain. You’ve already tried almost every kind of meat in the Demon Capital and still haven’t found anything good. Maybe there isn’t any edible meat in the demon realm at all.”
A team member sat on a shabby bed, wiping the gun in his hand, and said, “We were destined to be ill-suited for this environment. We’ll just have to endure for as many days as we can.”
“Aaaah, I don’t want to!”
Hati sat in her chair, stretching her limbs out straight as she gave a massive yawn. “Besides hunting, a wolf’s greatest interest in life is eating meat. How boring is it to be missing delicious meat!”
“As long as we catch that Bloodkin and complete the mission, won’t we be able to go back and eat proper barbecue?” the team member comforted her.
“Speaking of which, Captain, have you actually picked up the scent of that Bloodkin yet?”
“I smelled it in a tavern,” Hati said, resting her chin on one hand as she leaned against the armrest of the chair. “I heard they’re called… the Dex Family or something.”
“The what-ex Family?”
“It’s Drago!” the teammate carrying the gun corrected loudly.
As soon as the teammate finished speaking, Hati suddenly stood up from her chair.
Due to her abrupt movement, the chair fell backward onto the floor with a heavy thud.
Hati propped both hands on the table, her head leaning toward the bed, and the wolf tail behind her stood ramrod straight.
Seeing Hati act this way all of a sudden, the other teammates immediately fell silent.
Long-term cooperation had already forged a tacit understanding between them; their captain’s reaction meant she had definitely smelled or sensed something.
The abandoned inn instantly fell into a deathly silence.
One teammate carefully moved to the bedside and picked up the lantern on the table.
Hati twitched her nose, sniffing hard. Her ears suddenly stood up, and her eyes flashed with a look of excitement.
“Hehe… they’ve come right to our door.”
The other teammates looked at each other and said in hushed tones, “Captain, are you talking about the target?”
“It’s the scent of that Bloodkin, exactly the same as the one on the note,” Hati said, grabbing her other wrist and rotating it in a circle.
The team member with the gun quietly climbed off the bed and lifted her ammunition bag from the bedside.
The atmosphere in the room instantly became heavy and oppressive, and everyone held their breath.
The candlelight on the nightstand flickered in the night wind, causing the shadows cast on the wall to sway uneasily.
“Hey, go to the next room and notify the other two guys — “
“Boom!!!”
The moment the words left his mouth, the floor beneath their feet shattered instantly.
Everyone lost their support and fell downward, surrounded by a cloud of black mist.
Hati saw that the black mist was a circle composed of countless black bats, clearly familiars summoned by a Bloodkin.
“Formation!” she shouted.
After the roof of the inn collapsed, the five members of the demon hunter squad were exposed right under Seraphina’s eyes.
She quickly scanned the physical characteristics of the five people and locked onto a nun holding a crucifix.
Crucifixes were naturally disadvantageous to the Bloodkin. If that nun’s skills were related to restraining Bloodkin, she had to be dealt with early.
Seraphina gave a decisive order, “Kill the nun holding the crucifix.”
“Yes, Family Head.”
Two clouds of black mist suddenly emerged from the circle of bats below. The bats grabbed the nun’s clothes by the shoulders and forcibly threw her out of the circle.
“Eh?” The nun sat paralyzed on the ground, looking up blankly to see her teammates still inside the shrinking circle.
A Bloodkin warrior dropped from high above, swinging a giant sword high in front of the nun.
Just as the sharp, giant blade was about to swing down and the nun was about to become half a nun…
A piercing white light suddenly erupted from within the circle, directly penetrating the swarm of bats. They dissipated into black smoke amidst shrieks.
As the bats dispersed, they revealed the four people inside who had already assumed a combat formation.
One team member held a lantern high. The lantern continuously emitted holy light, which was the source of the white light that had just dispersed the circle.
*Bang!* A piercing gunshot rang out.
the Bloodkin warrior’s movements froze. His brow was instantly pierced by a bullet, and he fell powerless to the ground.
The direction of the giant sword’s descent shifted, only slicing off a few strands of the nun’s hair.
“The formation was a bit slow this time,” Hati stood in the middle of the group, evaluating the situation calmly.
Beside her, a marksman holding a rifle breathed a sigh of relief.
Seraphina frowned. She saw that the wound on the fallen Bloodkin warrior’s head did not heal itself, and he had long since stopped breathing.
“Family Head, the bullets they are using are no ordinary bullets,” the other warriors realized.
“The Holy Church uses specially made silver bullets,” Seraphina reminded them. “Everyone, be careful. Do not get hit.”
Crucifixes, holy light, silver bullets.
The people sent by the other side were all specifically chosen to counter the Bloodkin.
Seraphina clenched her fists. She hadn’t expected the enemy to crack the encirclement so instantly. It seemed the upcoming battle would not be optimistic.
Hati looked up into the sky, her green pupils flashing with excited light.
“Oh… they’re all Bloodkin.”
“The purple-haired one at the top looks like the leader. Send me up there. I’m going to go meet her,” Hati ordered.