Sion Eltnam Atlasia was a natural vampire.
She wasn't a Dead Apostle, nor a typical vampire, but a vampire with vampiric traits.
She didn't resent her physiology. There were no negative side effects like an urge to drink blood, and her mental state was very stable. She only needed to consume artificial blood regularly to meet her vampiric needs.
Until now, Sion had been quite satisfied.
But now, she wasn't so satisfied. Vampires were highly sensitive to blood. Even the faintest scent of blood could be detected accurately, and Sion was no exception. And now, as she saw the tall man enter the restaurant, an overwhelming scent of blood assaulted her!
It was as if she had fallen into an ocean of blood—the thick, potent scent flooded all five of Sion's senses, causing her eyes to redden instantly!
Truly, this was the first time Sion hated her vampiric nature, and the first time she hated blood itself.
As if noticing Sion, the only one reacting so strongly, the tall, burly man turned and looked at her. Upon seeing her, he showed an expression and gaze of understanding.
"I see. No wonder I sensed it. Are you the reason I appeared here?"
"Sion Eltnam Atlasia of this world."
Hearing her name called so precisely, Sion, her face slightly pale, hurriedly stepped back. "You… know me?"
"Inaccurate phrasing. To me, you're merely a pawn with some significance. I didn't come here of my own will. On the contrary, being forced to appear here makes me very displeased."
The tall, burly man's voice was filled with hatred and anger. As if to demonstrate his rage, a large black mass suddenly emerged from beneath his black-clad body. The mass detached from him, elongating and expanding, quickly transforming into a pitch-black beast.
In shape, it resembled a hunting dog, but if it was a hunting dog, its size and ferocity were excessive. Crawling, it stood over a meter tall, and its length exceeded two meters. A single one was enough to block the entire restaurant aisle.
"What… what is that?"
"A monster!"
"It's terrifying!"
Panicked screams began to spread through the crowd. The customers' faces were clearly filled with fear and horror.
That was understandable—after all, the black hunting dog looked utterly terrifying. For ordinary people who had lived in a peaceful environment for so long, it was not something they could accept.
A woman's ear-piercing scream rang out.
As if unable to tolerate the noise, the tall man glanced around with cold eyes and said in a low voice, "Noisy. Such disgusting sounds truly pollute this peaceful environment."
"Roar!"
The black hunting dog suddenly howled, then, like a fired bullet, it turned into a shadow and charged into the crowd!
Without pause, as the black shadow flickered through the crowd, numerous tearing sounds echoed simultaneously!
*PU-CHI!* *PU-CHI!* *PU-CHI!*
The black dog's sharp claws tore through the crowd's bodies with terrifying speed. After a brief pause, among those whose bodies were ripped apart, a wave of roars filled with various negative emotions erupted!
"Uwaaaaaaah!"
"It hurts—!"
"Help!"
"Run!"
Right after the sounds exploded, many customers, amidst the splattering blood, fled in all directions in panic. But the restaurant wasn't large. With the only exit blocked by the tall man, the only places they could go were the restroom and the door to the kitchen.
Naturally, these places were immediately overcrowded. And due to the sudden chaos among the crowd, the entire restaurant became extremely hectic. People pushed and collided with each other, and with the blood already flowing on the restaurant floor—
In an instant, a scene of worldly hell unfolded before Sion's eyes.
Taking a small black pistol from her pocket, she cocked it and aimed at the tall man before her. Suppressing the nausea in her heart, Sion asked, "Who… are you?"
"Who am I? Are you asking about this shell I'm borrowing, or the real me inside it?"
(Shell? Inside? Is he not his true self right now?)
The thought flashed through Sion's mind. At the same time, as the chaos grew, the overcrowded crowd in those two areas finally led to a stampede—
"Truly disgusting. Humans are truly vile creatures."
Looking at the tragedy unfolding in the restaurant, the tall man showed an expression of utter disgust. "Selfish, weak, cowardly, lacking resolve—when pushed to the brink of death, these ugly traits erupt all at once."
"It's unbearable to look at. No matter how many centuries pass, this same situation repeats—nauseating, utterly nauseating!"
"Roar—!"
Another black hunting dog detached from the man's body. The two black dogs, as if competing for tonight's meal, raced to charge into the dense crowd. They reveled in the sea of blood!
Ignoring the horrific scene, the tall man turned his gaze back to Sion. "Alright, your turn now, Sion Eltnam Atlasia. Since you came to kill me, I don't need to show you mercy."
(I came to kill him?)
(No, I came to kill the Headmaster.)
(If so, is he the Headmaster?)
(No. The Headmaster is at the Atlas Institute. So who is this person in front of me?)
Sion's mind, split into seven parts, continuously analyzed the situation before her. If she had enough time, she might have figured out the true situation. But seeing the black hunting dogs getting closer, her thought process unconsciously shifted toward [how to get out of this situation].
Then, without the slightest hesitation, Sion suddenly redirected the barrel of her pistol from the tall man to the window and firmly pulled the trigger!
*DOR!*
The bullet shattered the glass and shot across the street.
"This is your resistance? Indeed, it's the only thing you can do."
"Who told the Headmaster to say that if I ran into trouble, I could ask for his help?" Sion gave a weak smile. "If you can, please help me out of this situation, the one the Headmaster called the [strongest]…"
*KRAK!*
Almost the next second, the entire window was suddenly smashed open from the outside!
A golden figure leaped into the restaurant, stepping onto a table covered in broken glass.
"Natsukawa Naoki."