Chapter 148: ¹⁴⁸Night At Zenithar

?Carmilla descended the cliff without a sound.

?The spring wind tugged at her black cloak, but she walked straight ahead. She stopped a few paces away from the wall of golden light enveloping Zenithar Academy.

?The barrier pulsed softly. Beautiful, if you happened to like fragile things.

?The Queen had given her only one command: bring the records. Carmilla didn’t ask further. Asking questions wasn’t her job.

?Behind her, dozens of lesser vampires stood in silent formation. Their pupilless red eyes glowed in the dark. Saliva mixed with blood dripped onto the earth.

?Celion was dead. Carmilla had felt it a few hours ago, like a single lamp going out in a massive house. The Queen was not angry. The Queen was simply silent.

?And that silence was far more terrifying than anger.

?"Wait," Carmilla ordered.

?She raised a single finger and touched the surface of the barrier.

?Ripples of light spread from her fingertip, as calm as a stone dropped into a pond. Then, a hairline fracture appeared from the point of contact.

?Crack.

?The fracture spread rapidly, webbing across the entire wall of light.

?CRASH!

?The barrier shattered like glass. The golden shards rained down, fading out before they even touched the ground.

?Carmilla lowered her hand. She didn’t even furrow her brow.

?"Move in," she commanded. "Kill anyone in your way. But do not touch the old man guarding this place. I need him."

?The dozens of lesser vampires darted down through the breached barrier.

?At the gates, over a dozen academy guards scrambled to form a defensive line. Their spears were raised with trembling hands. The vampires swept them away in a single rush.

?Carmilla walked past the corpses without even looking down.

?Carmilla followed behind. Her steps were composed, like a guest strolling through the front door.

?The records were here. She just needed to ask the right person.

?The first scream echoed from the student dormitories.

?Windows shattered. Doors were kicked in. Tattered cloaked figures lunged inside, crawling along the walls and ceilings like spiders. A first-year student barely opened his eyes before a black shadow pounced onto his bed. His scream was cut short.

?Within seconds, the dormitory corridors descended into pure chaos. Students fled in their sleepwear. Some frantically chanted spells while trembling. A stray fireball veered off course, setting the curtains ablaze.

?At the end of the corridor, a female student dragged a friend with an injured leg.

?"Don’t stop!"

?"I can’t..."

?"I said don’t stop!"

?The instructors on night duty came running.

?A female instructor unleashed a wave of fire down the hall. Three vampires ignited and fell to the floor, writhing. Two male instructors fought back-to-back—one wielding an aura-coated sword, the other casting wind magic that sheared through the air.

?But the vampires kept coming. Through the doors. Through the windows. From the ceilings.

?The female instructor realized the shadow above her head a second too late.

?"Watch out!"

?Too late. The fire in her hands was snuffed out, and the corridor lost its only remaining source of light.

?Head Instructor Vane tore through the crowd from the barracks. The veteran Gold Knight swung his staff, blazing with golden aura. A single strike crushed three vampires against the wall.

?"To the Main Tower!" Vane’s baritone voice boomed down the corridor. "All students, to the Main Tower! Now!"

?The students bolted. Some wept, others dragged each other along.

?From the windows of the Main Tower, the surviving students watched their dormitories consumed by flames. One kid dropped to his knees and threw up. The rest merely stared blankly.

?Vane stood at the mouth of the corridor’s archway, blocking the path with his own body.

?He held off dozens of vampires single-handedly. His aura flared, then slowly began to dim. His breathing grew heavy. A claw tore into his shoulder, but he didn’t take a single step back.

?"Don’t... touch the kids," he growled.

?He never got to see the last student make it to the tower.

?From behind, a vampire lunged at his back.

?His aura died out.

?That night, five instructors and dozens of students would not live to see the dawn.

?From the peak of the Main Tower, Cornelius saw everything.

?His oak staff trembled in his grip. His sharp right eye watched the fires in the dorms, the screams rising into the sky, and the horde of students fleeing toward his tower.

?He had lived long enough to know when a single night was about to change everything.

?He didn’t immediately head down.

?He sensed something. Something far older and infinitely stronger than the swarm of vampires below.

?He waited.

?When those footsteps finally echoed, ascending from the main corridor, Cornelius slowly descended the stairs. His staff tapped against the stone floor with every step.

?They met on the second floor.

?A black-haired woman strolled calmly down the center of the hall. The lesser vampires bowed their heads, parting to make way for her.

?"Stop right there," Cornelius ordered.

?The woman stopped.

?"You’re the one running this place."

?"Sage Cornelius. And you are?"

?"Carmilla."

?Cornelius clenched his jaw. He had never heard that name before. But the black crescent moon on her forehead—that, he recognized.

?"A Crimson Moon."

?"The new one," Carmilla corrected. "The old one never came home."

?"I set up the barrier outside myself," Cornelius stated.

?"I was impressed for a moment," Carmilla replied. "Almost."

?"What are you looking for?"

?"Ancient records. Regarding a dimensional seal."

?Cornelius didn’t answer. He knew exactly where those records were. In the forbidden library, right beneath his feet.

?And down there was a young man he had just permitted to open them. Cornelius briefly wondered if he had made a mistake. Only for a fleeting second.

?Carmilla offered a faint smile. "You know. Good. Then I don’t have to kill you right away."

?"Then you’ve come to the wrong house."

?"I despise waiting, Human."

?She stepped forward.

?Cornelius raised his staff. Spatial magic swirled at the tip of the oak wood, warping the air into a blade as sharp as a razor.

?Vwooom!

?The distortion wave shot straight toward Carmilla.

?Carmilla raised her left hand. Blood from the air, from the floor, from the remains of the victims in the corridor, solidified into a crimson mirror as thin as glass.

?The spell reflected right back.

?BAM!

?The stone wall beside Cornelius was blasted to pieces. Cornelius flinched.

?Carmilla was already right in front of him.

?Her pitch-black claws slashed in from the side. Cornelius stepped back, but he was a fraction too late. Three red lines appeared across his left arm. Blood gushed out. His oak staff slipped from his grasp, clattering onto the floor.

?Carmilla raised her right hand. The blood from Cornelius’s wound flowed into the air, condensed, and formed a small spear.

?Cornelius threw himself to the side. The spear shot past him, embedding itself deep into the wall.

?He chanted again. The space directly in front of Carmilla’s face folded and snapped shut. But Carmilla merely tilted her head and slipped right through, as if she had already memorized the gap.

?Too fast. Too strong.

?A brutal kick slammed into his chest.

?Cornelius was launched backward, crashing into a stone pillar before slumping to the floor. His breathing was ragged.

?Carmilla crouched in front of him, lifting his chin with two fingers.

?"Where are the records?"

?Cornelius smiled, despite the blood trickling from the corner of his lips.

?"Someone else is already reading them."

?Carmilla furrowed her brow.

?Then she lifted her head and sniffed the air. From below. From deep underground.

?"What is that stench?" she muttered.

?Cornelius closed his eyes. Ethan... do not come up.

?Carmilla released his chin and stood up. She walked to the end of the corridor, faced the stairs, and waited.

?Ethan reread the scroll for the third time.

?The contents had not changed. The absolute dimensional seal demanded a toll: the bond one cherished most.

?Elara’s face flashed in his mind. Then Isolde’s. Then Kaelia’s. He banished them all.

?He rolled up the parchment and tucked it inside his coat.

?It had been nearly an hour since he promised Isolde to wrap things up here quickly. The gnawing feeling in his chest hadn’t faded. In fact, it had grown heavier. Asmodeus was dead silent too, and that was the most unsettling part.

?At the threshold, Miya hugged her medical bag. Her pointed ears twitched nervously.

?"Are you finished?" Isolde asked.

?"Not yet," Ethan replied. "But something is wrong."

?"What do you mean, My Lord?" Miya asked softly.

?Ethan didn’t answer. He strode past them, ascending the stone stairs. His steps were calm, but his shoulders were visibly tense.

?Isolde and Miya exchanged a glance before following him.

?As he climbed the stairs, Ethan’s thoughts drifted back to Valen. The three strongest people he possessed were there. It should have been enough. Yet the premonition refused to go away.

?At the top of the stairs, Ethan pushed open the old iron door.

?The metallic stench of blood was overwhelming.

?He stopped at the threshold. Deep claw marks scarred the surface of the door. The guardian runes etched into it were still glowing faintly. Whoever had scratched it from the outside earlier hadn’t managed to break through.

?That was why he hadn’t heard a thing.

?The subterranean corridor that had been so quiet earlier was now littered with lifeless bodies. Lesser vampires. Instructors. Students.

?Ethan stepped forward. His boots tread silently through the pools of blood.

?Isolde paused in front of the body of a female student. She recognized that face. Her jaw tightened.

?Miya knelt beside another student and checked his pulse. She shook her head slowly, fighting back tears.

?"My Lord..." Isolde caught her breath. "Is this another Red Night?"

?"No," Ethan replied. "This is an attack."

?He glanced at the claw marks on the iron door. "And they were looking for something down here."

?"The scroll?" Isolde whispered.

?"Maybe."

?Miya covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes wide with horror.

?Ethan continued his ascent. The higher he went, the more corpses he found. At the foot of the first-floor stairs, he recognized Head Instructor Vane’s cloak. The Gold Knight lay sprawled on the ground, his staff still tightly gripped in his hand.

?Ethan didn’t stop. He simply took note of it, cold and calculating, as if adding another number to a ledger that he would collect on later.

?On the second floor, he finally came to a halt.

?The corridor walls were severely fractured. Near a half-collapsed pillar, Cornelius lay sprawled, his left arm drenched in blood. His sharp eye was still open.

?"Ethan..." he whispered. "Run..."

?"My Lord," Miya whispered, "Sage Cornelius..."

?"I see him."

?Something cold and patient began to awaken within Ethan.

?And at the end of the corridor, a woman stood with her back facing them.

?The woman turned her head slowly.

?Long black hair. Skin as pale as bone. Pupilless, blazing red eyes. A black crescent moon on her forehead. A faint smile curled on her lips, revealing razor-sharp fangs.

?"Ethan Valen," she said.

?Ethan stared at her coldly. Behind him, Isolde began pooling freezing energy into her palms. Miya gripped the handle of her medical bag tightly, pale purple light glowing from her fingertips.

?"Are you the one who caused this mess?"

?"I can freeze this corridor," Isolde whispered.

?"Wait."

?Carmilla chuckled softly. "I was just passing through. While looking for the records that I heard you’ve already read."

?The scroll hidden beneath Ethan’s coat felt like it was burning.

?Carmilla stepped forward, slowly, soundlessly. Her eyes narrowed.

?"Your blood smells strange," she remarked.

?She tilted her head. Her smile widened.

?"Fascinating."

?Her gaze shifted briefly toward Isolde and Miya. "You’ve brought two lovely ornaments with you."

?"They are none of your business," Ethan replied flatly.

?Fufufu... fresh prey, My Lord, Asmodeus whispered inside Ethan’s head.

?Ethan took a single step forward. Sin Mana seeped from his pores, forming a reddish-black mist that slithered across the floor.

?"You are standing in my way."

?Carmilla smiled. Her fangs glinted beneath the flickering torchlight.

?From behind the ruined pillars, several lesser vampires began to hiss, waiting for the command.

?"In that case," she said, "I will just have to remove you."