Stealthily Exterminated

~~~

As Layla and Mia made their preparations for tonight, the red moon that provided the littlest of light to the land disappeared under the Earth's horizon, leaving the land in absolute darkness.

Knock, knock~! A knock came from their room's door.

"Yes?" Mia opened the door, peeking her head out, and found that emerald-green-haired lady from earlier.

"The blood ceremony is about to begin. You are to be at the gates of the central mansion by 8:50 tonight!"

"Thanks." Mia smiled, and the emerald-green-haired lady left after finishing what she wanted to say. Mia then closed her door. 'Layla, have you finished with the shadow clone?'

'I'm just about finished.'

Layla placed her hand on the transparent square core in front of her. Inside the core was purplish-black Aether—it was of the shadow attribute.

Hum~

The core hummed and glowed with a purple hue. Shadow Aether leaked out from the four sides of the core and started to shape itself into the figure of a young, curvy, long-haired girl dressed in a hooded robe.

'Now all that's left is for it to gain color.'

Gradually, it gained color and took on the appearance of Layla—a direct clone of her.

'Finished.' Layla faced Mia. 'It'll follow you, but it won't be that supportive in battle as it can only use a small percentage of my power, but it'll work efficiently as long as you don't get into any conflict.'

'Thanks.' Mia smiled. 'I'll be going now. After all, I don't want to be late for the blood ceremony.'

Mia and the shadow clone disguised as Layla left the room, leaving Layla behind.

'I suppose it's my time to move...'

Layla lifted the hood of her robe over her head and faded into the nearby shadows.

…

Outside the mansion, on a stone-paved balcony,

A red-haired and a black-haired vampire were sipping from a glass of blood, seeming to enjoy it slowly as they casually chatted.

"It was a good decision to be turned! After all, we have already evolved into Elite Vampires, and we're far superior to those pesky humans!" The red-haired vampire said, taking a sip from his glass of blood.

"We get this lavish life with an endless supply of blood. If I could've been born a vampire from the start, I would." The black-haired vampire added.

"Yeah." The red-haired vampire sighed. "We low-rank vampires were ordered by master Ywain to run the blood ceremony. I'll be heading down. Are you coming?"

He looked to his side, where the black-haired man was…

On the floor of the balcony lay the black-haired vampire, with blood leaking out from his severed head. However, hovering over the back-hauled vampire's corpse was a woman clothed in a brown robe, her blue eyes glimmering under the balcony's light. The woman's gun pointed directly at him.

"Do you think that~"

Pfft~

Firing a shot with optimal accuracy, she blew his head right off his shoulders. Unbeknownst to her, the souls of the two vampires she killed were absorbed into her aether palace.

Shatter~! The glass of blood dropped from his hand and shattered as blood splashed all over the red-haired man's collapsed corpse.

Immediately after killing him, Layla hid herself in the shadows and dashed into the mansion.

'Has the blood ceremony started?' Layla asked Mia through telepathy.

'Yes. It just started. I'll begin the slaughter when it becomes my turn.'

'I'll slay those who remained on the top floors.' Layla said, and cut off the telepathy link.

That was when four vampires ran into the red-carpeted corridor that led to the balcony. All four of them were elite vampires. They were here to investigate the cause of the glass shattering after hearing it from the balcony.

With four stiletto daggers in her hands, she threw them all, all aimed for the base of the neck.

The four stiletto daggers pierced through the soft tissue of the neck and protruded out from the other side. The four elite vampires clutched their necks and collapsed to the ground; they died shortly after.

'Elite vampires may have superior strength than a human, but their poor regeneration makes them easily vulnerable to fatal wounds, which will kill them, especially when you cut off their supply of oxygen.'

Layla's blue eyes glowed with a red hue for a split second before turning normal. 'I don't sense any vampires on this floor, but there are ten on the third floor. Three of the vampires' auras are radiating the strength of pure vampires, while seven radiate the strength of an elite vampire.'

According to the mansion's layout, which she had gotten from the scout corps, the mansion was divided into three floors. The second floor, which she was currently on; the first floor, where the blood ceremony was said to take place; and the third floor, where the given intel from the watch said that the pure vampires resided.

'Mia should be starting soon; I should finish this up quickly.' Layla thought, slipping into the shadows and emerging within a corridor on the third floor.

Tap~Tap~! Footsteps came from down the right corridor, connecting to the one Layla emerged into.

A brown-haired vampire dressed in light armor was walking casually with a sword hung around his waist. He was one of the guards ordered to survey the third floor.

Suddenly, the brown-haired vampire stopped in his tracks as blood trickled down from the right side of his face. His eyes went dead, and his body collapsed to the ground. A dime-sized, see-through hole was left behind where his temples were.

Layla selected her next target and stealthily dashed in their direction. She avoided using her shadow attribute, as the pure vampires had higher sensitivity to it, with their affinity being higher than elite vampires.