As the blowers activated, countless silver powders drifted from the vents into the ancient castle.
It's worth mentioning that in the distant Middle Ages, when Vampires were rampant, humans had a period where using silver tableware was popular.
This behavior was not only because silver tableware had disinfectant properties, but also because silver products could effectively kill the Vampire virus.
For Vampires, who carried Vampire toxins throughout their bodies, silver products were no different from arsenic.
Now, the "arsenic" descended, covering most of the ancient castle, and the first to face the test were the dense Blood Servants in the middle of the castle.
The miscellaneous Vampires could still resist the silver powder with their powerful regenerative abilities, but the frail Blood Servants, upon contact with the silver powder, were like fish thrown into a boiling oil pot.
Immediately, the grand cheers in the ancient castle turned into screams, and large groups of Blood Servants turned into ashes amidst their wails.
"What's going on?" Deacon, who was enjoying the cheers, saw the tragic state of his Blood Servants and a look of anger rose on his face.
"Reporting, sir, I forgot to tell you earlier, besides Blade, another group of enemies snuck into the ancient castle..." A Half-Vampire member reported the news.
"Useless!" Deacon glared fiercely at the Half-Vampire minion in front of him and continued to ask, "Is there anything else I don't know about?"
It wasn't that the minions weren't dedicated; it was entirely because Deacon's attention had been focused on La Magra summoning ritual, and he simply didn't want to hear any other news at that time.
"And... and also, the ancient castle seems to be surrounded by the NYPD," the Half-Vampire minion said, trembling, delivering another piece of bad news.
"All useless!" Deacon, who had been full of himself, heard two bad pieces of news in a row, and the anger on his face could no longer be hidden.
With nowhere to vent his anger, he directly grabbed the neck of the Half-Vampire minion in front of him and lifted him up.
This Vampire leader, whose bloodline had just been elevated, revealed his fangs, intending to taste fresh blood.
He considered this Half-Vampire minion in front of him a form of 'waste utilization.'
"P-please spare my life... sir... I won't dare again..."
Although the ultimate goal of the Half-Vampire was to obtain the "First Embrace," seeing the leader's ferocious face and the fangs gradually approaching his neck, this Half-Vampire minion was terrified; his intuition told him that what was about to happen would not be good.
In any case, at that moment, this Half-Vampire minion regretted it.
"Whoosh—"
"Bang... Bang..."
Just then, a special bullet flew from a distance, then struck both the Half-Vampire minion and Deacon's heads, one after the other.
"Well done, Wesley. Your timing was excellent..." In a hidden corner of the ancient castle, Cross affirmed his son.
As for Wesley, after nearly two months of special training, he had almost learned eighty to ninety percent of his old man's skills.
It had to be said, he truly lived up to being a man born with the bloodline of an assassin.
At this moment, listening to his old man's praise, Wesley also showed a smug smile.
Back to Deacon, he did not fall down despite his head being shattered. Because of the previous blood god ritual, his Vampire level had reached that of a Count, and he had even awakened the [Blood Rebirth] talent.
As long as his vital essence blood was not completely consumed, he could use blood to regenerate, an effect somewhat similar to a lower-quality version of 'Regeneration from a Drop of Blood.'
Among the many bloodline talents of Vampires, although the [Blood Rebirth] talent was not the strongest, its life-saving ability could definitely rank among the top few.
Not long after, under the bloodline talent, Deacon's head regenerated to its original form through Creep, and he hadn't even changed his body posture.
It was just that the Half-Vampire member he was holding had already become a headless corpse, with blood splattered everywhere.
"Damn ants—!" Although Deacon was unharmed by this attack, the sneak attacker's actions still made him feel offended.
"Don't let me find you..."
Dropping the headless corpse in his hand, Deacon's anger gradually filled him.
In the hidden corner, Wesley's face was filled with shock when he saw his target's shattered head instantly return to normal.
However, thinking that this was his first official mission with X Squad, Wesley, eager to make a contribution, calmed himself down and raised his special sniper rifle again.
"Wait, we might have been exposed..." Cross, who was more experienced and had been monitoring the target's status, pushed down his son's sniper rifle and began to move with him.
In the middle of the open space, Deacon, whose Vampire level had been elevated, also had a huge improvement in his five senses.
At this moment, he had indeed roughly determined the sneak attacker's position, and he only needed one more attack to pull them out.
"Surprise~"
Just then, accompanied by "congratulations," a dozen ultraviolet bombs were thrown among the miscellaneous Vampires and Half-Vampire, followed by three figures descending from the sky.
The ones who appeared were Mike and his two companions, who had just finished scattering the silver powder.
At this time, in the ancient castle, due to the scattering of silver powder, the frail Blood Servants had been mostly eliminated. What remained were more powerful miscellaneous Vampires and Half-Vampire minions.
"It was you who were causing trouble!" Deacon obviously hadn't forgotten the grudge of the silver powder, and now, adding the grudge of the sneak attack, it was all counted against Mike and his two companions.
"Kill them!!!"
Amidst his roar, Deacon gathered the remaining Vampires and charged towards Mike and his two companions.
A great battle officially began—
Then, not long after, the scene turned into a king-versus-king, general-versus-general confrontation.
"Human, I will drain your blood to commemorate my fallen subordinates!" Deacon sought out Mike, who looked like the leader.
To be honest, although Deacon looked down on Blood Servants, the most numerous and loyal Blood Servants were indeed his best choice for controlling New York.
Now that this useful force had been eliminated before doing anything, the frustration in Deacon's heart needed an outlet.
"It seems a Vampire said that to me yesterday too. But in the end, he became a pool of blood on the ground..." Mike looked at the extremely angry Vampire leader in front of him and said indifferently, "Good luck, at least hold on a little longer."
The Vampire from yesterday was one of the four miscellaneous Vampires Deacon had sent to raid Blade's lair.
One of them was precisely blown into a bloodstain by Mike using an anticoagulant.
"I wonder if your strength is as great as your mouth..." Deacon laughed in extreme anger, but his mood was not as volatile as when he was consumed by rage earlier.
He sought out Mike not because he thought the other party was particularly strong, but rather treated Mike as a strategist-like figure.
As the saying goes: to catch the bandits, first catch the ringleader!
Deacon obviously understood this principle.
Moreover, you might be afraid of the threat of a giant dragon, but you would only find the threat of an ant laughable.
Mike's previous posture, in Deacon's eyes, who did not understand his strength, was just a bluff.
It was no different from the laughable provocation of an ant.
It could also be said that Deacon, whose Vampire bloodline had been elevated and who had awakened a bloodline talent, now felt terrifyingly powerful.
He simply didn't know how he could lose.
Therefore, this Vampire leader, who had self-coherently thought through certain aspects of his logic, naturally didn't need to appear as angry as before.
Anyway, he would win in the end—
"Are we fighting or not?" Mike looked at the Vampire in front of him, whose expression kept changing, and couldn't understand what the other party was thinking.
The atmosphere was clearly set, but after the verbal sparring, the other party made no further moves.
He looked a bit dazed.
"I've changed my mind. I'm going to let you live and then endure endless torment..." Although he knew he shouldn't be angry, seeing the human in front of him looking so relaxed, Deacon still felt annoyed.
He decided he would teach this human in front of him a good lesson, to let him know what fear was.
Immediately, the Vampire leader launched an attack, his large hand with sharp claws quickly grabbing towards the target's neck.
This move was very effective when bullying weaker opponents; it was something anyone who used it would know.
However, what puzzled Deacon was that it was clearly a very sudden attack, one that most people wouldn't be able to react to.
Yet, the young, handsome man opposite him effortlessly pinched his wrist, and there was not a ripple in the depths of his eyes.
This discovery startled the Vampire leader.
"Oh, so you're that weak?" Mike's words carried sincerity, along with a hint of confusion.
He had thought Deacon would be much more formidable, given how grand he made the ritual of La Magra, but after receiving the baptism of the ritual of La Magra, the other party's strength wasn't as strong as he had imagined.
Comparatively, he wasn't even as strong as the Green-Faced Monster who "robbed" the bank a while ago.