Of course…
Pity couldn't fill a stomach.
There was no way Vlad would abandon his plans over something as trifling as pity.
He was simply satisfying his own curiosity when he asked, "What about your girl? She didn't run with you?"
Virt slowly lowered his head, his voice heavy with grief. "I drew the Golem away for her. She should have made it back before curfew."
Vlad was stunned.
Faced with a woman who had deceived his feelings, Virt Gold was repaying cruelty with kindness!
Perhaps… this was what it meant to be a Hero's son.
"Hah." Vlad let out a sigh, then said to Virt, "Come closer. I have something to tell you."
"Whatever it is, can't you just say it?" Virt was curious, but leaned in anyway.
Vlad bent forward, tilting his head close to Virt's, and whispered something into his ear.
"What did you say?" Virt hadn't quite caught it and frowned in confusion.
But Vlad had already quietly opened his mouth. In the crimson light, his fangs slowly extended and aimed at Virt's neck.
A vampire's fangs carried hormones that paralyzed the nervous system. But Vlad was borrowing Robert's body at the moment — his teeth hadn't fully transformed. He had to catch Virt off guard and do it in one clean motion, or the plan would fall apart.
Fortunately, Virt trusted Robert completely.
Such a suspicious movement didn't raise even a flicker of wariness in him.
"Just a little more — almost there!"
Vlad's mouth filled with saliva.
Before it could drip, he snapped his jaw open and bit down hard.
"Ahh—"
The sharp fangs pierced skin in an instant.
Virt let out a sharp cry of pain. Almost on instinct, he grabbed for Vlad's arm.
But Vlad had already thrown his full weight on top of him. Using Robert's superior strength and mass, he clamped both arms around Virt's head and neck, pinning him flat against the floor.
"Robert! What are you doing?! Robert!" Even now, Virt still hadn't pieced it together, and screamed his question with everything he had.
But Vlad, having already sunk his fangs in, had no intention of pulling back. That impossibly sweet blood flowed through his fangs and into his mouth, sending a wave of exhilarating pleasure crashing through him.
Hidden within it was a faint trace of something special — a particular note in the blood that made him feel as though he'd found an oasis in a desert.
His entire body trembled with ecstasy.
"Don't move!"
Vlad let out a dark, hissing growl through the corner of his mouth. As he continued to absorb Virt's blood, his strength surged — he pressed Virt down so completely that the boy couldn't budge an inch.
Virt's strength was laughable against him. He couldn't make so much as a ripple.
But in that moment, Virt finally sensed something was wrong.
His voice rang out in a mix of shock and fury. "You're not Robert. Who are you?!"
"Hahaha!"
Vlad kicked Virt's card pouch aside and drank greedily, gulping down his blood in a frenzy.
As more and more blood poured in, the fangs in his mouth gradually turned red.
When those fangs grew as red as gemstones—
Vlad's eyes turned crimson all at once. The soul that had never fully taken hold of Robert's body began to stir and rise.
The fangs buried in Virt's neck became a bridge for the soul's transfer.
After one final burst of mad laughter, Vlad plunged himself into that bridge.
His eyes went blank in an instant.
But from within the fangs, an explosively blinding crimson light suddenly burst forth.
The stench of blood spread outward, saturating the entire classroom.
"I'm — I'm in!"
The moment Vlad forced himself into Virt's body, he was hit by a sensation of warmth that soaked through his very soul.
If Robert's body had been a humble brick house, then Virt's body was a magnificent castle.
Lying within Virt's body felt like sinking into a vast, cloud-soft bed — it made you want to never leave.
Vlad realized he'd been wrong!
He never should have endured hiding inside Robert's body for the sake of that worthless studying!
He should have made his move the moment he slipped past the initial search — transferred directly into the body of the Son of the Hero!
This body was, without question, the ideal cradle for any vampire.
In fact, Vlad felt his soul being elevated within mere seconds of slipping inside.
Absolute bliss.
This was beyond anything he'd ever imagined.
...
While Vlad was lost in the euphoria of inhabiting Virt's body, Robert — having reclaimed control of his own — was slowly waking from a deep slumber.
He opened his eyes in a daze.
The scene in front of him felt like something out of a nightmare.
But the overwhelming taste of blood in his mouth was undeniably real.
"I was possessed by Vlad… and I bit Virt?"
Robert jolted awake and immediately scrambled off Virt.
He stared at Virt's neck as if in a trance. The aching that wracked his entire body nearly brought him to his knees.
"Hey, Robert."
Out of nowhere, a light green breeze drifted past Robert's ear.
Robert gave a sharp start.
"Virt?"
He was absolutely certain the voice by his ear belonged to Virt Gold.
But wasn't Virt still lying beneath him?
"Step back, Robert!"
A faint chill brushed his ear, pulling him more fully into his senses.
Fighting through the ache in his body, Robert instinctively pushed himself off Virt and stumbled backward several steps.
At that very moment—
Six points of light suddenly lit up on the classroom ceiling.
Robert blinked, and those six points became six long, slender pillars of light.
The pillars pierced down through the ceiling and kept falling.
Not a sound — only light.
By the time Robert focused his eyes, the six pillars had already driven themselves into the floor.
From ceiling to floor.
White barriers of light materialized on both the upper and lower planes.
The six slender pillars of light — silent as ghosts — formed a complete cage.
Virt Gold and the soul of Vlad that had burrowed into his body were both locked within this "Six-Pillar Light Cage."
By the time Vlad had fully settled into Virt Gold's body and opened his new eyes to look at the world, he was already separated from Robert — on the other side of a barrier of light that could not be broken.
"Step farther back, Robert." The voice by his ear spoke again as a reminder.
Robert stared at Virt inside the light cage, his eyelid twitching.
But in the end, he chose to trust the voice, and continued to retreat.
Meanwhile, the "Virt Gold" inside the cage wore an expression of total bewilderment.
Vlad had succeeded in his parasitism.
But the "elevation" he had so desperately wanted — never came.
That hollow, lost feeling was so crushing it almost drowned out the terror of being imprisoned in the light cage.
"What went wrong? Where exactly did it go wrong?"
Vlad slowly sat upright inside the cage.
His gaze drifted aimlessly around the room.
And then — in an instant—
A familiar silhouette appeared in his field of vision.
At the back door of the classroom.
The golden-haired boy who commanded the goddess of cats was walking unhurriedly into the room.
Robert — the one Vlad had previously inhabited and hadn't yet "consumed" — lit up with wild joy at the sight of the golden-haired boy.
"Dark! It was you helping me?"
That naturally booming voice rattled the air.
And gave Vlad a splitting headache.
"What went wrong? Where exactly did it go wrong?"
He pressed his fingers to his temples again, straining to remember.
A flash of realization flickered—
And then he saw the golden-haired boy draw a Magic Guide Card from his sleeve, its surface radiating a faint golden halo.
A golden halo — the mark of a gold-tier card.
...
Dark Demon entered the classroom with an unhurried stride — calm on the surface, but every nerve on high alert beneath.
Vlad had walked into the trap just as expected.
But vampires were the most cunning of creatures.
The moment you let your guard down, they bared their fangs.
Last time in the secret passage, he'd let this same Vlad self-destruct and escape.
This time, Dark had no intention of letting anything go wrong again.
He would not act rashly until both Professors had arrived on the scene.
...
Facing Robert's overjoyed expression, Dark pointed the Magic Guide Card — its face completely blank — in his direction.
"Stop there, Robert."
"Huh?"
Robert was confused, but obediently halted.
The two of them were now standing at a reasonably safe distance from each other.
Dark carefully observed Robert and the "Virt" inside the "Six-Pillar Light Cage," then said, "Professor, you can come down now."
And so—
From within the faint green breeze that had been coiling around Robert's ear, Professor Kazel's voice came through: "On my way."
Moments later—
A hexagram magic circle blazed to life on the ceiling once more.
The entire ceiling was pierced through by its radiance.
Professor Kazel, positioned directly above, leapt into the magic circle and passed clean through the thick floor slab, dropping down into the classroom in a single bound.
Professor Kazel swept his wand in time, wrapping his feet in wings of wind.
He rode the gusts down and landed cleanly between Dark and Robert.
Looking up—
Professor Silf descended from above as well, holding Virt Gold by the collar.
Professor Kazel's sudden appearance left Robert both startled and quietly relieved.
It was at that moment that Robert realized he had violated curfew — though he hadn't quite registered it yet.
But as Professor Silf descended with the real Virt Gold, Robert's brain seemed to short-circuit. His head swiveled back and forth, eyes bouncing between the Virt standing beside him and the "Virt" sealed inside the Six-Pillar Light Cage, his mouth hanging open wide enough to fit an egg.
...
With both Professors now on the scene, Dark let out a small breath of relief.
He said directly, "Professors, let's get a confirmation first."
Professor Kazel furrowed his brow slightly, then tapped his wand lightly against Robert.
A flash of magical energy swept across Robert's entire body.
Robert shuddered. The last trace of blood energy lingering inside him was expelled by the magic.
Professor Kazel gave a nod, then turned toward the "Six-Pillar Light Cage."
"Kazel, are you sure your barrier will hold?" Professor Silf asked.
Professor Kazel answered without missing a beat, "Silf, you've already asked me that a dozen times. It can contain a soul!"
"Good." Professor Silf's brow remained tightly knit. "Souls are just too intangible. I'm completely out of my depth with something I have no concrete framework for."
Professor Kazel nodded. "Same here, honestly. I only know as much as I do about souls because of certain experiences. The true experts in this area are the shamans of some of the beast tribes. The Owl Clan among the Hawlucha, for example — once night falls, they can see souls with the naked eye. But I've used this Six-Pillar Light Cage to capture souls before. It won't fail. If you have questions, ask them now while it's still alive."
Professor Silf tossed Virt toward Robert, then walked toward the "Six-Pillar Light Cage."
Professor Kazel and Dark followed close behind.
Virt, once he steadied himself, patted Robert on the shoulder and murmured, "You alright, Robert?"
"Just… pretty worn out." Robert exhaled shakily, suppressing the urge to demand an explanation on the spot.
Reading the mood, he understood this was not the moment for questions.
Virt gave a wry smile and glanced at the "version of himself" sealed within the Six-Pillar Light Cage. A shadow buried deep in his heart stirred and lifted its head.
He said quietly, "Don't worry about it, Robert. Look on the bright side — at least neither of us is going to detention."
...
Dark followed behind the two Professors and came to stand before the "Six-Pillar Light Cage."
He then heard Professor Silf ask, "Vlad? Where do you come from?"
Vlad raised his eyelids, gave her a long look, then curled the corner of his mouth into a contemptuous smirk and let out a cold snort.
Dark said, "Professor, he may not know himself."
Vlad's expression shifted at once. He shot Dark a vicious glare.
Which was also, in itself, a confirmation of Dark's assessment.
Professor Silf's frown deepened. She pressed on at once: "Vlad — who are you?"
This time, Vlad simply averted his gaze entirely. His eyes locked with bitter resentment onto the real Virt standing in the distance.
That flash of realization from moments ago had brought back the memory of a certain Magic Guide Spirit — one that had once transformed into his exact likeness and fought him in a fierce battle.
Now, seeing the real Virt Gold before him, Vlad understood: he was utterly finished.
The great Vampire Vlad — reduced to failing to tell the difference between a human and a Magic Guide Spirit.
He hadn't noticed during the blood-sucking. He hadn't even noticed after the parasitism.
It was terrifying.
Vlad felt a deep, creeping fear toward a "transformation" so perfect it left no seams whatsoever.
To parasitize a Magic Guide Spirit was to parasitize a dense clump of magical energy.
An extraordinarily special clump, to be sure — one containing elements he couldn't even begin to analyze.
But a clump of magical energy was still just a clump of magical energy.
The moment the Magic Guide Spirit's master dismissed the summon, that clump would vanish entirely.
And Vlad — parasitizing within it — would be reduced back to a mere wisp of soul.
Without a body—
Vlad, whose soul was already incomplete, would be entirely at the mercy of others.
Thinking it through—
Oddly enough, the fear left him.
Either way, it was death.
Better to go out before even the ability to "take himself out" was stripped away.
Before he became a fish on someone's chopping block.
Better to go out in a blaze of glory!
He refused to let anyone look down on vampires!
Vlad straightened up and slowly rose to his full height. He fixed Dark and the two Professors with a cold sneer and declared, "You win this time. But the glory of vampires will never fade. Kill one of me, and ten thousand more will rise. This world will eventually be embraced by the Demon race!"
...
"Dark!" Professor Silf's voice cracked out like a whip.
Dark's thoughts moved, and he channeled a thread of magical energy into his fingertip.
The "Virt Gold" inside the Six-Pillar Light Cage suddenly began to dissolve.
But if Vlad wanted to take his own life, this alone could never stop him.
His soul fragmented in an instant.
"Pfft."
The final explosion produced was neither impressive nor dramatic.
Just a dull, anticlimactic pop.
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