Shrouded Seascape

"Didn't you say they would take half a day? Why are they already here in two hours?"

The blind vampire, Audric, became flustered upon hearing Charles' question. He didn't know how to respond to Charles' question and muttered something incoherent under his breath.

Charles gestured to his crew members with a wave of his hand and commanded, "We can't wait any longer. All aboard!"

***

The vampire duchess, Akasha, looked at the locked shipyard ahead as a hint of amusement flashed through her eyes. The corners of her lips curled into a smile and revealed her pearly white pointed fangs.

"How interesting. These humans seem to be somewhat capable. Armand, won't you let me have a taste of them this time? It's been a while since I had some fresh blood," Akasha commented.

The vampire duke next to her shook his head. "My love, that won't do. We had an agreement."

"You are just like your sister—stingy." Akasha replied with a sneer. Her disdain was apparent as she approached the locked doors.

Standing at the height of only 150 centimeters, the petite vampire stuck her fingers into the gap between the thick metal doors and effortlessly pulled them open.

The metal doors grating against the floor produced an ear-piercing noise. Half a second later, the half-foot thick steel yielded like flimsy paper under her strength.

However, the sight that welcomed the two vampire nobles was beyond their comprehension. They were startled to find a heap of explosives on the spacious ground in front of them, and a dwindling fuse right at the top of the pile.

Before they could even react, a deafening explosion erupted and towering flames engulfed the shipyard.

Amidst the billowing smoke, a charred corpse emerged from the sea of flames as she watched the Narwhale moving into the distance. The body swiftly regenerated to reveal Akasha, this time stark naked.

"Well well. A powerful prey is more delicious," Akasha remarked, her voice tinged with a sinister delight.

As soon as she spoke her last word, black fur started growing all over her fair skin as she rapidly transformed. Within moments, a half-human, half-bat monster standing at a towering height of three meters appeared in her spot.

Screech!

The deformed creature disintegrated into groups of smaller bats, and they swarmed toward the Narwhale.

From within the black smoke, another group of bats took flight and followed in pursuit.

Observing the rapidly approaching bats in the air, Charles turned toward Lily, who was positioned at the deck cannon, and roared, "Lily! Strike them down!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The continuous roar of cannon fire echoed. Fragments of bat carcasses torn apart by the projectiles rained down into the water. However, their numbers were overwhelming, and the firepower of the Narwhale was insufficient.

As they got closer, the sound of their flapping wings was like the song of death; its melody tightened around the hearts of everyone on board as they felt a sense of dread.

Very soon, the bats were in close reach and they regathered in mid-air to form the half-human, half-bat monstrosity. Leaving afterimages in its flight, the large creature swooped toward the deck and its sharp claws swiped mercilessly at the brown mice manning the cannon. The splattered blood and flesh had Lily screaming in horror.

Akasha stared at the scurrying mice with her crimson eyes as she summoned a ball of fire in her palm.

Just as she was about to throw the fireball at the mice, Charles had already appeared beneath her with the Clown Mask over his face.

With his razor-sharp black blade, he drew a horizontal slash across her arm. Akasha' right limb that still held the summoned fireball fell onto the deck.

"Hello, pretty~ Did you drop this hand?" Charles taunted.

"That smile on your face is so infuriating." With a kick of her feet, she lunged at Charles and the two swiftly engaged in battle.

Meanwhile, the other half-bat monstrosity had also arrived at the deck. Standing at a height of four meters and with snoot flowing from his nose, James welcomed it with a steel beam in his hand. The remaining crew members stood at a safe distance with various weapons in their hands to provide support.

With a backflip, Charles narrowing avoided Akasha's sharp front claws. With the black blade in his right hand, he retaliated with a swift slash.

The man and vampire weaved and clashed with fluid and precise momentums. Charles executed another backflip and landed gracefully on the ship's rail.

Akasha chose not to chase after Charles. She stood in place and stared at the human before her with her crimson eyes.

Upon seeing that the monster before him had fully regenerated its severed limb, Charles couldn't help but curse in his mind.

What the bloody hell. That's hacking the system!

"Young man, that thing on your face looks pretty interesting. Where did you get it from? It's a pity that it has followed the wrong owner."

Having become more spontaneous and lighthearted upon wearing the mask, Charles immediately seized the opportunity and replied, "How about I give it to you, and you let us go?"

Akasha covered her mouth with the back of her hand as she let out a chuckle. "Do you think that's possible? It's okay, I'm not in a rush. We can take our time to talk."

"Ahhhh! Hurts!! It hurts!!" Hearing James' cries from behind him, a sense of urgency gawed at Charles' heart. The situation didn't seem favorable on the other side, and if things dragged on, he might soon find himself facing two half-bat monsters instead.

He turned to Audric who was cowering in the pilot house and shouted, "Hey! Blind man! Do you know the weakness of these blood-sucking tampons?"

Feeling apprehensive, Audric immediately revealed, "Her heart is her only weakness. You must thoroughly crush it to stop her from regenerating."

"Hmph!" For the first time, visible anger was displayed on Akasha's terrifying face. With a flap of her gigantic wings on her back, she charged toward the bridge. The betrayal of one's own kind was more detestable than an enemy.

With a resounding crash, the window of the pilothouse shattered into pieces as Akasha easily caught Audric in her claws. The latter had no chance of escaping. With her sharp fangs, she bit down fiercely and tore off half of Audric's neck. A gruesome scream instantly pierced the air.

Just as she was about to devour and swallow the traitor, Charles stealthily appeared behind her. A black blade glinting coldly in the spotlights pierced through her chest.

The creature flapped its wings, forcing Charles to do a couple of backflips in retreat. Lowering her gaze toward the wound on her chest, a look of menace appeared on Akasha's face.

"I've changed my mind. I will send you humans to the bottom of the sea!"

She reached behind her with her left hand and took out a round mirror that was the size of a palm. The moment the mirror appeared, the air filled with an increasingly strong, blood-sweet scent.

"Fuck! She actually has a relic too!" Charles was about to push off against the ground to charge at her but Akasha soared into the air as her wings extended.

Under the illumination of the Narwhale's searchlight, her grotesque body underwent yet another metamorphosis. From a half-human, half-bat monster, she transformed into a colossal five-meter-long pig-nosed bat.

Parting its beastly maws, the pig-nosed bat emitted an ear-piercing screech like a haunting melody from hell.

Instinctively, everyone, including the transformed Armand, covered their ears with their hands in an attempt to block out the screech. In just a few moments, blood began to seep from their ears.

In the midst of all this, Charles witnessed another chilling sight—a crack had appeared along the rail of the Narwhale and was rapidly expanding downward.

The Narwhale was made of steel! The duchess' sonic attack was not only effective on living creatures but also dealt huge damage to the ship. If he allowed her to continue with her sonic attack, the Narwhale would probably disintegrate!

Scanning the chaotic environment around him, Charles jumped onto James' wounded chest. He then pointed to the bat in the sky and then at his own hand.

James remained motionless, and his gaze was completely blank. Charles had no choice but to slap him across the face, waking him from his stupor. The giant then grabbed Charles by the legs and hurled him into the air.

Charles crashed into the bat like a projectile flying out of a cannon, and the excruciatingly painful sonic screech in the air came to a halt.

Driving his blade as deep as he could into the bat's body, Charles exerted all his strength and bellowed, "Lily! Fire the cannon!"