Chapter 2: Vampire Reconnaissance Team

In the rainy night outside the window.

Accompanied by the light of thunder and lightning, inhuman creatures were approaching.

A giant bat flapped its wings in the air, revealing a terrifying silhouette under the illumination of the lightning. Unlike a normal bat, its body appeared remarkably humanoid in the light.

It was just like the creatures found in fantasy settings—a bat-man type of monster.

Below it, on the streets of the small town.

Two hunched monsters were crawling on the ground.

Every now and then, they would stand upright on their hind legs, seemingly sniffing at something in the air.

"One giant bat, two ghouls. A classic combination."

"What?" Alirise asked, somewhat confused.

Although they had been fleeing for their lives and had fought these monsters, they had never seen them before, and until now, they had simply referred to them collectively as monsters.

"The names of the monsters. Wait, don't move."

Kana suddenly spoke, pressing down on Alirise beside him. He pulled his own head back and remained motionless.

The situation was sudden, but although Alirise was puzzled, she obeyed the order and stood as still as a wooden statue.

An invisible ripple passed by.

Amidst the thunder, both of them experienced a ringing in their ears.

The manifestation was a bit different from the game, but the difference was negligible.

Kana thought to himself.

This was a method of detection used by the giant bat. If one’s movements were even slightly too large when the ripple occurred, it was extremely easy to be discovered.

Even on a rainy night filled with thunder and lightning like this.

The manifestation was that it would cause a certain degree of tinnitus.

If the ringing faded from strong to weak, it meant the detection sound wave had passed through them without them being spotted.

If the ringing appeared suddenly and then vanished just as quickly, as if it were an illusion, and you happened to be moving at that moment, then you had been detected.

Without understanding how this mechanism worked, no one would notice the anomaly, and they would be caught by the giant bat in their hiding spot.

Especially since these monsters had only just appeared.

"Hao!"

In the gaps between the thunderclaps, the howl of a ghoul could be heard from below.

It seemed those three soldiers were done for.

"We can move now. We need to leave this place. First, take off that armor; it will give away our position."

The armor on Alirise was severely damaged and made a very crisp sound, making it easy to be exposed.

Moreover, she was currently having trouble moving.

"But..." Hearing this, Alirise wanted to refuse.

"Listen to me, Alirise. We have to escape from here."

"...Yes."

Alirise compromised and nodded.

Her left leg was already fractured, and wearing a full suit of plate armor like this was indeed very inconvenient.

She began to remove the armor.

After a short while, Kana, who was watching the situation outside the window, noticed that the movement behind him had stopped.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, Your Highness. I can't take it off by myself."

Right, this wasn't a game; there was no "one-click equip" feature. Kana came back to his senses.

"Then I'll help you."

Kana didn't hesitate and went straight to work.

But as soon as he started, he encountered a problem: how exactly was this thing supposed to come off?

The game wasn't realistic enough to require one to slowly unbuckle every piece.

"Your Highness, from here..."

Alirise directed him while watching Kana work, wondering what he was thinking.

Soon, the outer armor was removed. Underneath, Alirise was still wearing light inner armor, which could provide a little bit of protection.

"Let's go. We need to leave this building first."

As he spoke, Kana helped Alirise up from the floor and handed her the sword from nearby.

As Alirise was helped up, she pointed to a corner nearby.

"Your Highness... your sword."

"Oh." Kana nodded in realization, walked over, and retrieved the sword from the corner.

Looking at the sword in his hand, Kana's eyes lit up.

[Scarlet Flourish]

However, judging by its appearance, this should be the version that hadn't yet been corrupted by the Scarlet power.

Without the dark effects of the Scarlet, it actually looked even cooler.

He pulled back his thoughts; now was not the time to ponder such things. He tucked the sword into his belt.

Supporting Alirise, he quickly headed downstairs.

The old wooden building creaked and groaned harshly under their rapid movements.

"Your Highness, the noise is too loud. It might attract the enemy."

They had fled all the way from the palace in the capital to here, and along the way, they had dealt with these monsters they had never seen before.

Alirise also knew that these monsters had extremely keen hearing.

"Don't worry about that now. They've been drawn away by the soldiers from earlier. Let's take this opportunity."

He said this while quickly descending the stairs. Just as they reached a hole in the wall and were about to head out, they heard screams coming from the distance.

He could only tell that the voice was male.

"It's Matt." Alirise recognized whose scream it was.

So it was that foul-mouthed soldier?

If they followed them, perhaps their survival rate would be higher. Of course, this was only from Kana's current perspective.

"This is our chance," Kana said, immediately supporting Alirise as they stepped quickly through the mud and rain, weaving through the alleys of the town's houses.

"Which way?" Kana asked. He had some vague memories in his mind, and the closer he got to the time of his transmigration, the clearer those memories became.

But the original owner was the original owner; his brain contained absolutely no useful information, only various panics and curses.

"That way. That way is the exit of the town." Alirise pointed to the other side of the town.

Well, it turned out they had hidden as soon as they entered the town.

Thunder rumbled.

Suddenly, Kana stopped and pressed his hand firmly on Alirise's shoulder.

Alirise understood instantly, and the two stopped in the shadows.

The sensation of tinnitus returned.

Having experienced the ringing twice while remaining still, even in her poor state, Alirise instantly grasped the important information.

The ringing meant they were being scanned.

But the problem was... she looked at the motionless Kana.

After a while, Kana's voice sounded.

"More than one squad? This is troublesome."

If it were before, even at level two or three, he would have had the confidence to clear out these two blood-kin scout squads in this small town.

Although he didn't have a personal status panel, he could still feel from experience that this body was at most level one.

And it was only the base stats that someone with nothing would have.

This feeling was too familiar.

After all, when he participated in the closed beta, he would never forget the shocking feeling of experiencing a virtual game for the first time.

Later, after the public beta, he had played several accounts, so he was very sensitive to the feel and data of a body in the newbie stage.

Still, it would be nice if there were a data panel or something.

He continued to accelerate.

Ahead was the town square. Without cover, it was too easy to get caught.

He looked at a nearby house with a hole in it and decided to detour through there.

As soon as they ducked inside and reached the next room, a gust of wind swung down from the side.

"Crack!"

The sound of a wooden club shattering.

"Monster, die!"

Someone behind the door had attacked them, but the club was blocked by Alirise.

The club shattered against her arm, and Alirise threw a backhand punch, striking the enemy.

It must have been a resident of the town; they were smashed against the wall by the punch and knocked unconscious.

"Ah!"

A sharp shriek.

Damn it, they had been discovered.

There were actually still people in this town.

They hadn't run away with the main group, had stayed behind, and hadn't been caught by the blood-kin scout squads.

Yet, they had run into them.

"Your Highness, you go quickly. I'll cover the rear," Alirise said, drawing her longsword and leaning against the wall on one leg.

Kana glanced at her, thought for a moment, and didn't refuse. He nodded: "Then be careful."

He turned and ducked out through the inner door.

Alirise watched Kana's back, her eyes devoid of desolation or sorrow.

That's right, this is how His Highness should be.

She thought to herself.

After Kana woke up, his behavior along the way had made her think she was under an illusion.

Now that Kana had acted as he once should have, it actually put her mind at ease.

Gripping her sword, she looked toward the direction the sound came from.

She had never thought she could escape from here in her current state; she only thought that perhaps she could help His Highness one last time before she died.

It wasn't that she was so loyal to Kana; it was entirely because she was loyal to the Queen and grateful to Kana's mother.

And just a few days ago, when the capital fell.

The Queen had found her one last time, hoping she would protect Kana well.

For the request made by her savior, the kind and perfect Queen.

She naturally agreed and swore her allegiance.

She would die before His Highness.

A loud crash.

The wooden wall was smashed open, and the enemy rushed in.