Chapter 32 – Revenge

The window of Lyon's apartment opened without making a sound, and not because Lyon had suddenly learned how to open windows carefully...

Lyon was perfectly capable of tripping over a chair in his own room even if that chair had been sitting in the same spot for months.

No.

The window opened quietly because the person using his body at that moment wasn't Lyon.

The white-haired girl leaned out over the edge, looking down at the nighttime city with calm red eyes. The clothes she was currently wearing annoyed her because they reminded her of Cya.

The princess clicked her tongue.

"Terrible taste."

Behind her, the black-haired vampire waited silently, standing beside the wall. Her posture was straight, obedient, almost military. She barely seemed to breathe, and she didn't even give off much of a presence.

The princess turned her head slightly.

"Let's go."

"Yes, Princess."

The white-haired girl stepped toward the window.

Then she fell.

For a moment, her body dropped through the dark air between the buildings.

Then, before she could touch the ground, her figure folded in on itself.

Her hair vanished, her arms became wings, her body shrank, and a white bat with red eyes shot upward with an elegant movement.

The black-haired vampire jumped after her.

Her transformation was even cleaner.

A black bat appeared in the night and silently followed behind her.

The two of them rose above the rooftops, and the city opened up beneath them.

Illuminated streets.

Tiny cars.

Lit windows.

A few antennas.

The princess flew in front.

She didn't need to look back to know the other vampire was still following her.

"Did you finish investigating where those bastards live?" she asked irritably.

The black bat answered without flying too close.

"Yes."

"Talk."

"The boys who regularly harass the human live relatively close to his university. Two of them live in middle-class neighborhoods. One lives in a wealthy district with private security, cameras on the internal streets, and night patrols."

The princess let out a quiet laugh.

"Was that supposed to be a warning?"

"Yes."

"Are you scared?"

"No."

The princess smiled.

"Try being more honest."

The black vampire slowed down slightly to avoid an antenna, then moved back into position behind her.

"I wanted to warn you about the risk. If this goes badly, the normal life that human wants could be seriously affected..."

The princess didn't answer immediately.

They flew between two tall buildings, passing through a current of cold air that would've made any ordinary bird tremble.

She didn't.

She only adjusted the angle of her wings.

Below them, a couple walked out of a restaurant.

A security guard yawned beside an entrance.

A giant screen displayed news about portals, guilds, and the Night Vigilante.

The princess looked at the screen for barely a second before turning her attention forward again.

"That will never happen while I'm the one controlling the body."

"I understand."

"No. You don't."

The black vampire stayed silent.

The princess rolled through the air with an almost offensively effortless movement, briefly ending up upside down while continuing to fly forward.

"Lyon is incompetent."

The black vampire said nothing.

"He's clumsy with mana. Clumsy with blood. Clumsy with his instincts. Clumsy with his decisions. He's even clumsy at rejecting human women who clearly want to devour him."

"..."

"I'm not."

The princess rolled again and returned to her normal flying position.

"I'm not going to ruin his normal life."

The black vampire lowered her gaze toward the streets because she didn't have the courage to point out that secretly breaking into a rich student's house to beat him up might qualify as something capable of ruining Lyon's normal life.

There was no need.

The princess surely knew what she was doing.

"The cameras will be covered," the black vampire said.

"They'd better be."

"The guards in the area aren't Hunters. Just private security."

"Then they won't be a problem."

"There's a government patrol six blocks away. They change routes every fifteen minutes."

"Perfect. I'll be quick."

"I'll support you."

The princess slowed down.

A different kind of neighborhood appeared beneath them.

Cleaner streets.

Larger houses.

Higher walls.

There were even decorative trees covered in warm lights inside gardens where a single lamp probably cost more than Lyon's monthly rent.

The princess looked down at all of it with disdain.

"So this is where you live..."

◇◆◇

Zultan was on the phone with his father in a rather large bedroom.

He had an enormous bed, an expensive desk, a built-in closet, a brand-new console connected to a giant screen, and several boxes containing devices he hadn't even bothered opening yet.

In one corner, his university backpack had been thrown onto the floor.

Several books remained unopened on top of the desk.

He didn't need them much.

At least, that's what he told himself.

"Yes, Father," Zultan said, pacing back and forth with the phone pressed against his ear. "Things at the university are going well..."

A dry male voice answered from the other side.

"Perfect. Then you've earned the position I'm getting you inside a guild."

The boy stopped.

"Seriously?"

"Yes. Hogwarts Guild."

The boy's eyes widened.

"Hogwarts? Cya Hogwarts's guild?"

"The same one."

"That's..."

"Temporary," his father cut him off. "Don't get excited. You'll enter as an intern in the records department. Under supervision."

The boy frowned.

"A records assistant? Father, I—"

"You're going to do what I tell you."

The boy closed his mouth.

His father's voice lowered slightly.

"The Phoenix Guild needs certain documents. Internal movements. Reports on closed portals. Records of personnel assigned to recent incidents."

"You want me to steal files from the Hogwarts Guild?"

"Yes."

The boy swallowed.

He walked toward the window and looked out at the dark garden.

"If they catch me..."

"They can't catch you."

The boy let out a quiet, tense laugh.

"Listen carefully," his father continued. "That guild is moving too quickly on the Night Vigilante case. Phoenix can't afford to fall behind. If Hogwarts finds that girl first, Cya will gain far too much political influence."

"So they really are trying to recruit her..."

"Everyone is looking for her."

The boy looked at his own reflection in the window.

The Night Vigilante...

That white-haired girl who'd appeared on television.

The hottest topic around.

Forums.

Videos.

Memes.

Theories...

Everyone was talking about her.

Even at the university.

Even those idiots who didn't understand anything were talking about her like she was some kind of hero.

Zultan clicked his tongue.

"I understand..."

"No. You still don't understand. If you get those files, Phoenix will owe us a favor. A big one."

The boy tightened his grip on the phone.

"I'll do it, Father."

"Good. You'll receive the details tomorrow."

"All right."

"And don't do anything stupid at the university. I've heard you've been having problems with some classmates."

The boy frowned.

"They're just jokes."

"I don't care what they are. I don't want anything staining your record before you enter the guild. You cannot do anything that draws attention."

"Yes, Father."

"Good."

The call ended, and Zultan lowered the phone.

For several seconds, he stood still, staring at the dark screen.

Then he let out an annoyed sigh.

"Insufferable old man... Ha. And now I have to stay out of trouble too. Piece of cake."

Zultan placed the phone on the desk and ran a hand through his hair.

Enter the Hogwarts Guild.

Steal files.

Help Phoenix.

And on top of all that, pretend to behave himself at the university.

Perfect.

A perfect week.

Then he heard something behind him.

It wasn't a door.

It wasn't a window.

It wasn't a footstep.

It sounded more like the faint brushing of fabric.

The boy turned around.

Too late.

A white-haired girl was standing behind him, red eyes fixed on him with a cold expression.

And the craziest part was that she was standing barefoot on the floor of his bedroom.

The boy opened his mouth.

"Who—"

BAM!

The punch hit him in the stomach.

It wasn't a big punch.

It didn't even look like a big punch.

The girl barely moved her arm, but all the air exploded out of the boy's lungs at once.

"Ggh...!"

His body folded forward.

His legs gave out.

He dropped to his knees, clutching his abdomen.

The phone vibrated on the desk.

The girl didn't look at it.

The boy raised his head with difficulty.

"W-what... who are you...?"

The girl didn't answer.

She only kicked him.

BAM!

The blow sent him rolling sideways until he slammed into the base of the bed.

"Agh!"

He tried to get up.

He couldn't.

The girl walked toward him.

"Wait!" the boy shouted, raising one hand. "Wait, wait! What do you want? Money?"

The girl kicked him again.

This time in the ribs.

BAM!

The boy groaned and curled up.

"Shit!"

He tried to grab her ankle.

That was a mistake.

The girl barely moved her leg, avoided his hand, then stepped down on his fingers against the floor.

CRACK!

It wasn't a serious fracture.

But it hurt enough.

"Aaaaah!"

"Pathetic," she finally said.

The boy struggled to breathe.

He looked up at her from the floor, his eyes filled with fear and anger.

"You have no idea who you're messing with!"

The girl tilted her head slightly.

"I do."

"My father—"

BAM!

Another kick.

This one cut him off mid-sentence.

The girl crouched down slightly, just enough to get a better look at him.

"Your father isn't here."

The boy trembled.

For the first time, he understood something.

This wasn't a thief standing in front of him.

Maybe a bounty hunter.

Zultan had trained a little.

He wasn't a Hunter, but he knew how to defend himself.

He'd fought other guys before.

He'd won.

He'd beaten up people weaker than him.

He'd enjoyed watching them back away.

But this wasn't a fight.

This was just an absurd difference in power.

An adult stepping on an ant.

And he was the ant.

"Please..." he said between broken breaths. "We can work this out."

The girl looked at him.

"I have money."

Silence.

"A lot of money."

The girl's expression didn't change.

"I can pay you. Whatever you want. If someone hired you, I'll pay double."

She kicked him again.

Not as hard as before, but enough to shut him up.

"Listen."

The boy immediately closed his mouth.

The girl's voice was low.

Very cold.

She didn't need to shout.

"If I find out you hit someone again..."

The room seemed to darken.

The shadows in the corners stretched slightly.

The boy stopped breathing for a second.

The girl smiled.

"I'll make sure you're disabled for the rest of your life."

The boy felt sweat running down his back.

"U-understood?"

"I didn't hear you."

"Understood!" he said quickly. "Understood, I promise! I won't hit anyone again!"

The girl looked at him.

"Anyone?"

"Anyone!"

"Ever?"

"Never!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

The girl kicked him one more time.

BAM!

The boy fell onto his back, gasping.

"That was for lying."

"I'm not lying!"

The girl approached.

He dragged himself backward across the floor until his back hit the bed again.

"I won't do it anymore," he said, his voice breaking. "I swear. I won't touch anyone. I won't bother anyone. I won't... I won't..."

The girl watched him for several seconds.

Then she turned her head toward the phone on the desk.

The screen had lit up with a notification.

[Father: Here's the application form for the Hogwarts Guild.]

The girl read the message.

Her red eyes glowed faintly.

"You're also going to be careful around the Hogwarts Guild."

The boy froze.

"What?"

The girl looked at him again.

"I'm not patient."

He swallowed.

"I... don't know what you're talking about."

The girl took one step forward.

The boy raised both hands.

"Okay! Okay! I won't do anything! I won't touch any files! I won't take anything!"

The girl's smile returned, though she had absolutely no idea what he meant about not touching some files.

"Good boy."

There was nothing affectionate about the way she said it.

It was humiliating.

The boy lowered his gaze, trembling.

The girl straightened.

Then, without giving him another thought, she walked toward the window.

The boy's eyes widened.

The window was still closed.

She didn't open it.

Her body simply dissolved into a white shadow.

Wings.

Hair disappearing.

Clothing folding into something impossible.

And in less than a second, a white bat slipped through a dark gap between the glass and the frame that shouldn't have existed.

The boy remained on the floor, alone, his body aching, his fingers throbbing, and above all...

His pride completely destroyed.

One sentence remained stuck in Zultan's head.

"If you ever hit someone again..."

Zultan trembled.

Then he crawled toward the desk, grabbed his phone, and looked at the screen.

His father had sent another message.

[Don't forget what we discussed.]

The boy stared at it for several seconds.

Then he turned off the phone.

For the first time in a very long time, he didn't immediately reply to his father.

◇◆◇

The white bat returned to the roof of the neighboring house.

The black vampire was already waiting for her, hanging upside down beneath the edge of an antenna as if that were the most normal thing in the world.

"Did he understand the message?" she asked.

The black bat partially transformed, just enough for a human smile to appear on her face.

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"He was shaking quite a bit."

The princess returned fully to her bat form and fluttered her wings.

"Did you disable the cameras?"

"Of course."

"All of them?"

"Every one that could've recorded anything useful."

The princess laughed quietly.

"Good."

The black vampire looked toward the boy's house.

"I also heard the phone call."

"What call?"

"Phoenix Guild."

"Oh?"

"They're trying to infiltrate someone into Hogwarts."

"Mm. Sounds like something a human would do."

"Should we report it?"

The princess stayed silent for a moment.

Below them, the security lights slowly swept across the garden.

None of them pointed upward.

None of them saw them.

"Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"First, the other bastards."

The black vampire didn't argue.

She only lowered her head.

"As you command."

The princess looked toward another part of the city.

Her red eyes glowed in the night.

"Lyon wants a normal life."

The black vampire stayed silent.

"So I'm going to clear the road for him."

"Princess."

"What?"

"Cleaning too much can leave stains."

The princess glanced sideways at her.

For a second, the night seemed colder.

Then she smiled.

"Then we'll clean better."

The black vampire lowered her head.

"Understood."

This novel will be put on hiatus while I finish my main novel.

Right now, pretty much all of the paid support has shifted over there, and to be honest, this story is also pretty difficult to write alongside it since it has to stay consistent with parts of the main novel's canon. On top of that, my workload has gotten heavier lately, so I have less time to work on both. U_U

If you'd like to support this novel through a subscription, that support will absolutely be taken into account when I decide whether I can prioritize it again and bring it back sooner. This is its final trial month, so I'll release one last 7-chapter marathon before putting it on hiatus. If you subscribe to my Patreon for this novel and I end up pausing it afterward, feel free to message me and I'll do my best to refund you.

Thank you so much for all the support you've given this story so far.