"Team One has secured Area A. Holding position."
"X-2. Y-11. Z-13. Unknown presence detected. Stay alert."
"Team Two has landed. Requesting permission to seize Sector C."
A massive metal beast loomed above the castle.
Two thick ropes dropped down from its belly.Dozens of soldiers slid down in waves, boots hitting stone almost in perfect rhythm.
Radio signals flowed silently through the air.
Gunfire echoed through the castle.
So did the screams of bandits.
This wasn't chaos.
This was a clean, highly coordinated, high-tech assault.
Adam and the Baron of Smoke stayed silent, crouched behind the stone railing of the balcony, watching everything unfold.
Gunshots.Footsteps.Low whispers transmitted over encrypted channels.The shrieks of dying men.Bullets smashing into stone.
Every sound was crystal clear.
The hearing of a bloodkin was terrifyingly sharp.
They could even hear Vine's uneven breathing—five meters ahead, barely clinging to consciousness.
Vine had been hit.
Bloodkin were not gods.They had flesh.
Ordinary bullets—without special modifications—wouldn't kill them outright.
But dozens of rounds tearing through an unprepared body at full velocity?
That was more than enough to strip someone of all mobility.
"He—"
"Rat-tat-tat—!"
Stone fragments exploded.
The Baron of Smoke had barely opened his mouth when a burst of bullets slammed into the balcony.
Not to kill.
A warning.
They had sensitive sound-detection equipment.
And Adam knew immediately—those bullets weren't meant for them.
Just a message.
We know you're there.
Moments earlier, the attackers had exchanged quiet radio chatter.
Quiet to humans.
Perfectly audible to Adam.
From what he'd heard, this balcony was already marked as a priority surveillance zone.
No doubt about it.
More than one gun barrel was aimed right at them now.
That volley had only one meaning:
Don't move until we're gone.
"Professional," Adam said calmly, speaking in bat-frequency.
Humans couldn't hear it.
The Baron could.
He stiffened, instantly understanding, and replied in the same high-frequency tone, his hand tightening around the concealed weapon at his waist.
"Your Highness… who are they? Descenders?"
"Who else?" Adam replied.
He glanced at his own body.
Then remembered the cold black muzzles he'd glimpsed earlier.
And another memory surfaced—
Angels.Shredded apart by bullets in Eden.
…No need to take risks.
Adam reached out and pressed the Baron's arm down.
"Don't act. They'll be gone once they're done."
"Done?" the Baron asked, confused.
Adam smiled, but said nothing.
Of course they were here to do something.
From the footsteps alone, Adam counted twenty-seven operatives.
Most took up key positions and stayed put.
Eight of them moved fast.
Straight for the dungeon.
They were here for Feng Mi.
No surprise there.
Two thousand years.
The Eden lineage had never exceeded a population of a hundred thousand.
Limited people.Limited resources.Limited growth.
But time was still time.
Their technology had long surpassed what it once was.
Under those circumstances, Feng Mi carrying a hidden GPS-based distress beacon?
Completely reasonable.
Judging from their precision, they'd probably scanned the entire castle in advance—infrared, X-ray, the works.
They knew exactly where she was.
That was why they dared to fire freely from the air without worrying about collateral damage.
No warning.No negotiation.
Because they didn't want the target taken hostage.
Gunfire continued.
Screams followed.
"Pig!" Adam shouted suddenly.
Instantly, another burst of bullets smashed into the outer side of the stone railing behind him.
Adam ignored it.
"Pig! Everyone on the ground! Hands up! Don't run! Don't resist!"
"They're here for the woman in the dungeon!"
The effect was immediate.
The bandits stopped running.
One by one, they raised their hands and dropped to the ground.
Under the soldiers' commands, they were herded into corners.
Order returned to the castle.
No—
The castle had been completely occupied.
Only Adam and the Baron of Smoke remained hidden behind the balcony railing.
And clearly—
The attackers weren't done yet.
"People on the balcony," a voice boomed through a loudspeaker."Come out."
The Baron looked at Adam, waiting for his decision.
"Let's go," Adam said.
He raised his hands and stood up.
The Baron followed a heartbeat later.
The tall squad leader glanced at Adam.
Inside his helmet, the built-in holographic display zoomed in on Adam's face.
No panic.
None at all.
This wasn't his first rescue mission.
Plenty of their kin liked wandering the world—until they got into trouble and triggered their beacons.
Usually, the locals were terrified.
This man wasn't.
No fear.No shock.
And judging by his position…
He might be the master of this castle.
The leader didn't have time to dwell on it.
Feng Mi was already being carried out of the dungeon, wrapped in a thermal blanket.
The moment she saw Adam, she froze.
Then she pointed at him and screamed:
"He's a vampire!"
Every Eden soldier flinched.
In an instant, every weapon locked onto Adam.
One command.
That was all it would take.
"Your Highness…" the Baron's voice trembled.
So bloodkin could feel fear after all.
"If they fire," Adam said quietly, "you hide inside. I'll deal with them."
Being aimed at by weapons created by a civilization he had personally nurtured—
It didn't feel good.
The very concept of firearms had come from him.
He hadn't planned to start anything here.
But if they insisted—
He didn't mind teaching them a lesson.
The squad leader stood still.
Right hand resting on the pistol at his waist.
His face hidden behind the helmet.
No one could see his expression.
A full minute passed.
Then—
He turned abruptly.
Pressed a hand down on Feng Mi's head and shoved her into the descending rescue pod.
"My mission is to retrieve lost lambs," he said flatly.
"Dealing with bloodkin falls under the Exorcist Division. Not my problem."
He stepped into the pod.
Before the hatch closed, he looked back at Adam once more.
The soldiers retreated backward into the pod.
The hatch sealed.
Jets roared beneath it.
Air blasted downward.
As the pod lifted away, Adam finally had time to examine the steel monster hovering above.
A massive aircraft.
Its shape resembled a crouching toad—wings where limbs should be, a conical head.
Two vector thrusters at the rear.Two more at the front.
All four capable of full 360-degree rotation.
That was how it hovered.
From Adam's past-life understanding of sci-fi—
It wasn't space-capable.Not a fighter either.
A special-operations transport ship.
That was all.
Still—
Watching technology surpass even his past world…
The feeling was strange.
The ship rose higher.
Then shot away into the distance.
Adam smiled faintly.
"Well. The uninvited guests are gone."
He turned to the still-shaken Baron of Smoke.
"I don't plan to kill the people here. They may be useful later."
"You handle the rest."
He glanced back at Vine, who had managed to sit up, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.
The Baron nodded sharply.
"Your Highness. Dawn is approaching."
"I'll take you to my estate first. Vine will remain here. I'll retrieve him tomorrow night."
"The rest will be arranged properly. Please rest assured."
He straightened and bowed deeply.
This time—
He had truly chosen his side.
Perhaps the craziest decision of his life.
But maybe—
The right one.
The right one in five hundred years.