Chapter 33: Unexpected Encounter with an Old Acquaintance

Emily deeply felt the gap between herself and Bloodblade after their encounter. With over two hundred years of combat experience, he clearly surpassed her, who had only been fighting for two months. Until now, she remained "intact" without any broken limbs or injuries. It seemed like she had been extremely lucky, as if fate was favoring her by always providing a turning point at critical moments.

However, no matter how she tried to improve, Emily felt like a headless fly, encountering a bottleneck. Besides practicing with her dagger a few more times each day, she didn't know what else to do. She had a fast learning ability and quickly mastered the tactics taught by Olivia.

Olivia's tactics combined various martial arts such as swordsmanship, judo, taekwondo, and more. Although Olivia had limited real combat experience, she had gone through simulated battles since childhood.

The devilish training of the family made young Olivia understand that if she didn't become stronger, she would get hurt. Every time she emerged from a simulated battle, she was covered in wounds. After experiencing it a few times, she realized that the elders were not joking. Even though she was the only daughter of the family, the blades of the family's servants showed no mercy. So whenever Olivia stood in the center of a fight, she imagined it as a simulated battle.

Emily was different. The current Emily, even after learning tactics, still seemed like she was playing with fancy moves. When faced with real combat, her mind went blank, and she couldn't apply the learned techniques. She simply relied on brute force, charging around like an impulsive young person, waiting for luck to favor her by colliding with the right opponent, allowing her to win.

Bloodblade's sudden departure that day seemed inexplicable to Emily. She thought that luck had favored her with that collision. If Bloodblade hadn't given up, with their three strengths combined, it would have been difficult to say who would have won. Emily's idea of winning meant inflicting the same level of injuries on Bloodblade as Benjamin, leaving him bedridden, without anyone offering him blood. It was just about seeking revenge, not intending to kill.

But why did Bloodblade suddenly leave?

That night, Emily was strolling through the streets with Benjamin and Olivia, her mind constantly occupied with thoughts about Bloodblade. He was truly a strange vampire, hating vampires to the core and killing them on sight. Despite his cold and ruthless appearance, he would crack jokes during battles and then run away. What kind of vampire was he?

Benjamin pulled Emily's arm, causing her to take two steps back. She was interrupted in her thoughts and felt a bit annoyed. But before she could react, she noticed a group of people standing in front of them.

"Damn it, I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn't notice the strong fragrance of flowers. Looking ahead, there's a massive group of them, at least dozens. Fortunately, most of them are Burmese jasmines, with only a few mixed scents that are unclear. They should be at the boundary between two levels of strength, which makes them quite formidable."

Swiftly discerning the opponents' combat power based on their scents, Emily's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, suddenly relaxed. She observed the people in front of her and found many of them familiar.

"They're from Les Umbra," Benjamin said, not bothering to keep his voice down since even the quietest sound would be heard.

"Finally, they've arrived!" Emily raised her chin and smiled. This smile gave them a show of strength, as if Emily had been waiting for them for a long time.

In truth, she sometimes wished that Les Umbra's people would hurry up and come, so that she could end these grievances sooner. Otherwise, she would live in constant unease, always worrying about their attacks. In that case, she would never find peace in her lifetime.

Another thing was that Emily couldn't seem to integrate the tactics she had recently learned into actual combat. She was just thinking that she needed some practice.

Emily was a person who faced problems head-on and sought to resolve them. Running away was never her style. She remembered when she was just a teenager and didn't know why she was so incredibly ugly, with a face full of acne. She had even doubted whether her mother, who never held her, was her biological mother.

James, on the other hand, was incredibly beautiful, heavenly even, with a beauty that surpassed mortal standards. Either Emily had a jumble of genes or she wasn't James's biological child. She was ugly to the point where there was no comparison. At that time, her classmates didn't want to associate with her, and she had considered asking James about it. But every time she saw the sorrowful look on James's face, she swallowed her words.

During that time, she developed a crush on a member of the sports committee at school. As a young girl experiencing the first stirrings of love, she, like many others, was attracted to athletic and sunny boys. However, she was still young, and many people who had a crush on the sports committee member kept it to themselves, silently admiring from afar.

Emily was different. Despite her unattractive appearance, she confessed her feelings to the sports committee member. She even startled him to the point where he almost wet himself. Most girls, when faced with such a situation, would cover their faces and run away in embarrassment. Emily noticed his reaction and casually tugged at his collar, pretending to console him, saying:

"I just like you, don't be so scared. I won't eat you. You can pretend you never heard anything!" After saying that, Emily turned and walked away. From that day on, she would openly stare at the sports committee member dozens of times a day, making him feel uncomfortable. He would take detours whenever he saw this jinx from afar.

At that time, Emily had no friends. Everyone found her ugly, and no one told her that looking at a boy like that was considered "shameless." She simply believed that if she looked at him every day and felt no ripples in her heart, even feeling disgusted, it would resolve her feelings.

Therefore, Emily always liked to face things head-on. In this moment, facing the people from Les Umbra, Emily's face was filled with curiosity. She pretended to be reunited with old friends, approached them, hugged one of them, and patted his back, saying, "Brother! Long time no see. I've missed you guys so much!"

Emily's hug almost made the vampire blush. If he could blush, he would have blushed just to show her. Unfortunately, his bloodless face was predetermined, but his embarrassment couldn't be concealed. The other vampires also became restless because of this hug, and the vampire who was hugged showed obvious displeasure. They almost forgot the purpose of their visit here.

The leader pretended to cough twice, and Emily released the vampire, looking at the leader with a carefree and rogue-like manner. "Where's Alexander?"

The leader's face showed some embarrassment. This girl didn't seem to regard him highly, but it wasn't surprising. Emily was the first person to escape from Les Umbra's prison in thousands of years.

"When you're dead, we'll take your head to meet him. Don't miss him so much. It'll be soon!" The leader imitated Emily's casual tone.

"My head?" Emily pretended to be surprised and touched her neck, then looked disappointed. "It's too firmly attached. What will you do if you can't take it with you?"