Chapter 38

"These blue-faced bastards. Pain in the ass at hiding, I'll give them that."

Madam Anne raked a hand through her silver hair.

She studied the goblin pack. They were huddled together like herd animals—exactly what the vampires wanted when they drove the prey here.

"Time to go. Four days is long enough."

She glanced over her shoulder.

"Yes, Madam."

The deputy manager bowed hurriedly.

"Each of you grabs one and flies."

"Grab... them?"

"If there's nothing to hold, sink a claw through the skin—whatever works. We only need to dump them in the red-light district."

The surrounded goblins couldn't understand her words, but the menace in her tone was unmistakable. They trembled, too terrified to resist.

"We scatter them through the heart of the district while the humans are still reeling from shock."

Madam Anne's lips curled in a smile—the same crooked grin the Thief's Right-Hand Man wore.

"Then we swoop in like heroes. Prettier than the Imperial Army ever looked."

* * *

"Why's it so dead out here?"

Amon scanned the empty streets. The Special Task Force had left their carriage at the edge and started walking, lantern light their only guide.

"Thought a red-light district would be livelier."

"Why would you expect anything from a red-light district?"

Belle turned her head.

"Well, you know—booze, crimson lights, a little 'hunting'..."

"Oh, please."

"What? I'll be an adult next year."

"I'll tell Louise you said that—every last word."

"Hey, Belle..."

"'Hunting,' huh."

One of the agents nodded: a man with cropped hair who had once dragged the 66th Class back from leave to the Training Center—the same man who first uncovered the Chief Instructor's death, now interim commander of Units 42 and 43.

"Captain Karasma?"

"Amon. Sorry, but the 'hunting' you have in mind isn't on tonight."

The interim captain lifted his gaze along a shaft of moonlight.

"Task Force hunting's simple: we chase monsters."

Winged shapes swooped overhead—demon beasts clutching goblins in their talons.

"Invasion! This is the Third—!"

A Unit 43 agent shouted.

"The vampires Mago warned us about already bolted! Damn it—we have to move—!"

"I get it, Amon."

Belle drew her sword.

* * *

"The Third Invasion isn't tonight."

They had relocated—from the warehouse to an inn—but there was nothing to do except wait for Madam Anne.

Two days crawled by.

Something passed the window, flying in from the sky.

"White Hair, that's..."

Winged demon beasts glided toward the red-light district, green goblins dangling from their claws.

"Yeah, we've seen that before."

Especially those wings—the same ones the half-turned hybrids wore. Humans who'd tasted vampire blood.

"Madam Anne's putting on a play."

The vampires, shifted into giant bats, skimmed low overhead. Instead of the special armor they'd worn during the Second Invasion, their cargo was impaled—flayed and hooked—a living torment for the goblins.

One after another, the bat-vampires released their prey, unleashing a flood of monsters onto the streets. The goblins rampaged like beasts fresh from a broken cage—exactly what Madam Anne wanted.

"Gyaaah—!"

"Monsters—monsters in the city!"

"They've reached us...!"

Screams erupted everywhere. Among the fleeing crowds, black Task Force uniforms flashed into view.

Nine in total.

“White Hair, over there. Looks like your people.”

“I just spotted them too.”

Amon and Belle were unmistakable.

But something was off.

“Where’s Kinjo...?”

He was nowhere to be seen.

Oscar belonged to the Technical Division.

Louise could be excused—she was using her old Hunter experience to analyze the beasts.

Yet Kinjo’s absence was unexpected.

“Still can’t find Majo...!” the Boss sneered.

“Brother, should we help?”

“Madam Anne thinks I’m dead. Showing myself gains us nothing. If she believes I’m gone, we can play a few cards.”

All he could do was pray they stayed safe—from afar.

“I don’t want to leave them either...”

Screams and sobs filled the red-light district.

One woman stood frozen in place.

She had fainted on her feet.

Her mind had simply shut down.

Trapped in an endless nightmare, she had given up even trying to run.

Amon swept her up and carried her to safety.

“Stand back! Hurry!”

“Y-yes...”

Still dazed, she offered no resistance.

The crowd kept fleeing—away from the Task Force and straight toward the goblins.

“We’re all going to die...”

“Again, again! The Imperial Army does nothing...!”

“Hic, hiii!”

The goblins began tearing people apart, venting on them the rage they felt toward the vampires.

Horrible shrieks rang in every ear, so piercing they hurt.

Just as hope seemed lost, Madam Anne appeared—like a hero stepping onto the stage.

“Everyone, behind me!”

That was exactly the image she wanted.

“Anne...!”

The vampire clenched his teeth, glaring down at her.

A ghost was still a ghost.

She had humans enthralled without lifting a finger.

“Belle, that old woman who just arrived.”

“Silver-Haired Elder—and red eyes. The Vampire Lord Mago described in her letter must be her.”

Belle nodded to Amon.

“Then she’s our target. Their leader.”

“Right. I’m about to—”

Belle’s skin flushed crimson as she readied a single slash.

“Hey, little chicks. Planning to strike me now?”

Madam Anne spoke.

With a jerk of her chin she indicated the crowd behind her.

Amon and Belle’s heads turned of their own accord.

Anne had appeared in the midst of chaos.

She owned this district.

Formidable power—and the arcane tools to match.

Every civilian’s hope rested on her.

The people sprawled behind her stared at her back alone, certain her relics could sweep the beasts away.

“Take your shot if you want. Whose side do you think they’ll be on?”

“Happy to oblige.”

Belle smashed her blade into Anne’s skull.

The impact sent her sliding across the ground.

“Ugh, thought she was made of stone...”

Belle shook her ringing right arm, then kicked Madam Anne and yanked her up by the hair.

A second sword-slash followed.

The crack of steel on flesh echoed.

Anne simply took the blow.

Then shouts rose from behind.

“Let Madam go!”

“Get lost! We don’t need the Imperial Army!”

“Where were you when it mattered...!”

After the yells came the trash: fruit, glass bottles, stones, even garbage.

“Hah... this is what they think of you. Understand? This is the Empire’s reputation.”

Gasping, Madam Anne spoke.

“I don’t give a damn about that.”

Belle’s third blow fell.

A fourth. A fifth.

She smashed Madam Anne down with everything she had.

Anne only hung on, coughing blood.

No counterattack came.

That silence made everything worse.

The sixth strike.

Belle raised her sword, the blade already cracking.

She swung—but her arm never completed the arc.

Four people had seized her right arm.

More rushed in from behind.

Bodies piled on, coiling around her like snakes.

“Everyone! Grab those Imperial dogs!”

Some clawed, some bit.

“Let Madam go! She’s the only one who can stop the invasion...!”

“The only one? Don’t make me laugh! That thing isn’t even human!”

Belle screamed until her throat bled, but no one listened.

Right in front of her eyes, Madam Anne rose, slow and theatrical.

Her crimson eyes blazed.

“You’ve already lost, Special Task Force.”

She slipped two fingers into her own mouth and stretched her lips in a mocking smile.

Long, pointed fangs flashed—deliberately.

She pointed to the Goblins.

A knot of them were trampling humans in the square.

Anne drew a bead on the pack.

A Blue Bow in her right hand; the left nocked an arrow.

Blue Lightning punched clean through the Goblins.

“What...”

Amon’s lips froze at the sight.

Madam Anne bared her claws next.

She waded in and tore the Goblins apart like paper.

“Attack, all of you!” she shrieked.

The Anakonda Staff moved as one.

Sleeping Vampires snapped awake, nails lengthening into scythes.

Together with their mistress they butchered the Goblins—

the same Goblins her people had dragged here.

She had staged their deaths in the heart of the Red-Light District.

It was over in moments.

The crowd erupted—cheering, weeping, praising.

The troupe was Anakonda.

The star, Madam Anne.

The city had fallen head-first into her play.

She appeared on the fourth-floor terrace.

“I am a Vampire,” she proclaimed, “and among us, a Monarch.”

No more secrets.

“The staff of Anakonda—and most other taverns—are Vampires.”

A lie followed: “I was once human; they drank my blood and made me one of them.”

No one cared.

Everyone watching her sweep away the Goblins was already enchanted.

“You’ve seen our strength with your own eyes!”

She played her role to the hilt.

“If you want that power—if you refuse to be crushed by the Demon King’s army—”

She raised a clenched fist.

“—then follow me. Become a Vampire. Become strong.”

A victor’s promise.

“Gladly, I will share my blood.”

Hypnotized, the crowd poured into Anakonda.

* * *

“The rule that forbids threatening civilians—how delightful. That way...”

Madam Anne looked down on the entire Special Task Force.

“...the Empire’s own leash strangles them.”

She had seized the Red-Light District outright.

No longer a mere businesswoman, she could now reach even beyond the night.

She no longer needed to act in person; scores would move at her word.

With Vampires and humans both at her side, the Task Force was isolated.

She used her new human allies to pen the agents in.

Elite they might be against Demon Beasts, but ring them with civilians and they were as helpless as children.

“What are you planning to do with the people—with the humans?”

Amon spoke at last.

“You’ve already learned what we are and marked us as your target. If you fail, another detachment of the Imperial Army will come.”

Madam Anne answered with a shrug.

“We’ll simply vanish somewhere your eyes can’t reach.”

“Then why not slink off right now?”

Belle cut in.

“Before we go, we need provisions. I want to stockpile as much blood as we can. If there’s no restaurant near our new place, we’ll starve—and that would be troublesome.”

“By blood, you mean human blood?”

Amon asked again.

“Of course.”

“You’ll slaughter every person who still believes you’re a Hero...?”

“Exactly.”

Madam Anne replied as if it were of no consequence.

“What about Mago?”

It was Amon’s final question.

“Mago? Ah, Mago was the one who summoned you, wasn’t she?”

“Answer me...!”

“Dead.”

“That’s impossible...”

“Fast and strong, sure—but no one outruns lightning.”

“No, that can’t be right...”

“I was about to fetch the corpse anyway, and collect my missing subordinates while I’m at it.”

Madam Anne seized the rope that bound Amon and yanked him closer, chair and all.

“Perfect timing. If you don’t believe me, let’s go see for yourself.”