Returning to the Mysterious Era

Chapter 117 - Cold and Ruthless

"Huh... Not dead yet, are you?" Cassius approached the sofa.

Charles, who had just been shot in the head by an arrow, was nowhere to be seen. It was as if he had vanished into thin air.

"Ah!" Emily let out a terrified shriek from the sofa.

"Stop screaming, or I'm taking you out first," Cassius said, without even turning to look at Emily. His voice was cold and indifferent.

Emily immediately clamped her mouth shut. Her eyes were already red with fear, and her heart pounded wildly. This intruder had killed Mr. Charles, and she was scared that she was next.

Not to mention, she was a natural beauty. Things weren't looking good for her.

While she was consumed by those thoughts, Cassius whipped around, raising his mechanical crossbow and pulling the trigger. Three or four bolts shot swiftly toward Emily, hitting the space around both sides of her waist. They sunk into the sofa with a soft thump, stabbing into the shadows behind it.

The dark shadow gave a muffled groan and a figure rolled out from behind. Charles shot to his feet, yanking out the silver-plated bolts from his shoulder.

Since he wasn't even human, he wasn't going to die just because of a few arrows through the head. However, the silver coating on the arrowheads weakened him, slowing his regenerative abilities slightly.

Charles had immediately hidden, pulling out the arrows from his body. But never did he expect Cassius to shoot recklessly in Emily's direction! Wasn't he afraid of hurting a human? This man was truly ruthless! How could he attack such a lovely and charming woman?

But Cassius had anticipated this. Fighting wasn't all brawn; it also required brains. The only hiding spots near the French window were the two sofas and the coffee table in the lounge area. Charles could only hide behind one of those sofas, most likely behind Emily.

From Twilight's previous experience, this Blood Clan member was despicable enough to think hiding behind a human was the safest option. But Cassius was much more coldhearted.

If he wanted to shoot that arrow, then he was going to shoot that arrow! It didn't matter if a beautiful young woman was in the line of fire, he would still let that arrow fly.

Thud, thud, thud...

Cassius dashed toward the wall switch. In the dim light, his mechanical crossbow skills that he had learned from Twilight were going to be less effective and less accurate.

Charles seemed to realize Cassius's intentions. He sprinted over, hands slightly curled. A faint red glow emanated from his skin, quickly enveloping his hands like gloves.

Charles wasn't some lowly blood slave; he was a true Blood Race member, adept at using low-level blood arts. His hands were coated in toxic blood energy, and highly corrosive. A single touch would burn a human's skin off, exposing their bones.

Agile and fast, Charles came up from behind, his hands clawing toward Cassius.

Swish! Slash!

A flash of cold light in the darkness.

In an instant, Cassius turned and plunged a bright silver dagger into the bloodsucker's stomach! It happened extremely quickly. He ducked, forcefully knocking Charles's arms aside with his elbows before slamming into him, and driving the dagger deeper into his stomach until, in the blink of an eye, the only thing visible was the handle.

"Ugh..."

Charles's eyes widened, pain etched across his face. The dagger had a silver coating!

Since when was Twilight so skilled in close combat?! Wasn't he supposed to only be proficient with the mechanical crossbow? What the hell kind of twist was this to switch from long-range to close combat?

The thoughts had barely taken form when a series of muffled thuds resounded. A sharp pain erupted in Charles's abdomen. Looking down, he saw the cause. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

A mechanical crossbow pressed against Charles's stomach. Cassius activated it at maximum power, triggering the berserk steam mode. A dozen or so silver arrows shot into his flesh with a sickening noise, piercing through Charles's back. Blood sprayed explosively out. Some of these arrows were coated with poison, some had barbed tips, and others were specialized three-edged arrows designed for bloodshed.

"Ugh..." Eyes wide and furious, Charles glared at Cassius. Cassius stared back, cold and emotionless.

Cassius deftly parried and dodged every one of Charles's attacks; none of his strikes so much as even grazed his clothes. In Cassius's eyes, Charles's attacks were laughable, like those of a beast acting purely on instinct and were far too predictable.

Even though Charles was much stronger, Cassius easily deflected all his attacks with minimal effort. Since Twilight's body was still weak, Cassius relied on the destructive power of the mechanical crossbow. After a few rounds, it was clear: Cassius was toying with Charles like he was playing with a child.

"Argh!!!" Charles roared. He was infuriated but it wasn't like he could do anything to counter. He was now, in essence, a child. Born from the blood pool less than three years ago and having been in human society for less than a year, Charles lacked maturity and combat skills. All he had were his strong body and the basic blood arts that were ingrained into his instincts.

Charles's hands, glowing with red energy, slashed through the air. Cassius sidestepped, firing another volley of arrows.

Feeling pain in his back, Charles felt mortified. Humans were just food for the noble Blood Race! How dare this lowly creature continue to hurt him!

He panted heavily, turned around, and swiped fiercely. He hit nothing but air, receiving two to three more arrows for his troubles. Charles roared in pain and anger as one hit his eye.

Whoosh!

An arrow went through his mouth and directly into his throat!

"Ugh..." He had never been this humiliated!

I’m Charles, a proud Blood—

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three arrows lodged themselves in his cheeks!

"Ahhhh, damn it!" Charles raged helplessly while Cassius calmly fought and retreated. Cassius could handle this idiot easily; he was just a dumb mule.

"What a weakling, I thought he was high-class..." Cassius mocked coldly. He was planning to experiment further.

"Ahh! You wretched human, you deserve to die!" Enraged, Charles charged at him.

Cassius dodged, firing off three more arrows. "Alright, this guy is a real fool..."

After some more entanglement and fighting, Charles started to slow, blood pooling on the floor where there were already bloodstained arrows strewn about. Cassius held his crossbow, taunting, "I'm waiting for you to bleed out. What are you waiting for?"

The Blood Race had a critical weakness: the amount of blood they had in their bodies. The less blood they had, the weaker their abilities and healing power. The best way to kill them was to destroy their heart.

However, the Blood Race's bones were different from a regular human’s. Their hearts were protected by tough bone armor. Thus, the alternative was to make them bleed profusely.

Heavy breathing echoed in the hall. Charles, realizing how dire the situation was, decided to make his escape. Clarity returned to his mind, and he sprinted toward the French windows. Cassius followed closely behind, firing arrows and turning Charles into a pincushion.

Emily stood paralyzed with fear by the French windows. She had considered running but the intense fight and flying arrows made it too dangerous. Terrified, she shuddered.

As Charles ran past her, he had the bright idea of using Emily as a hostage. But three arrows shot past him, with one even tearing through Emily's dress and only narrowly missing her thigh by a hair.

Emily screamed in horror.

Right! This heartless human doesn't care about strangers' lives! Taking Emily hostage wouldn't even be a threat to him, and would only slow me down! Charles gritted his teeth and dashed out, abandoning the idea of taking Emily.

Cassius glanced at the terrified, urine-soaked Emily before stepping out expressionlessly to continue his pursuit.

In the original timeline, Charles had taken Emily hostage, forcing Twilight into a critical fight, resulting in Charles gravely injuring Twilight and killing Emily. But due to Cassius's ruthless approach, Emily escaped her grim fate by the narrowest of margins.

Fate had a funny way of playing out.