An awkward ride.

[Red's POV]

Have you ever had an awkward ride home? It's fairly common. Like sitting next to the girl, you liked for 4 years or sitting next to the girl who rejected you because both of you lived in the same district. How about sitting next to your principal while on the way home?

It's all pretty relatable, right?

So how about sitting next to the person who tried to kill you? It's still awkward, but I would have this crippling to kill the other person before he kills me. After all, my enemy is sitting directly opposite me.

"What are you looking at, Plebian?"

Mother*&%#@.

I kept my mouth shut and looked out the window for the scenery. It's ironic how we both needed each other's help even though we were trying to kill each other a few days ago.

I stared out the window, trying to distract myself from the long ride when Vone interrupted me, tapping me in the shoulder.

"What."

"What's your plan now?"

"Huh?"

"I said, what's your plan when we return to London."

He was right.

What was my plan for returning to London?

Someone outside the vampire faction is trying to revive the first vampire, and we don't even have a single clue where he came from. Can they even return to my world in the first place?

[Ask about the werewolf you saw that day.] Ryong prompted out of nowhere.

'That's not a bad idea.' I replied Ryong before briefly coming back to my senses.

"Hey, do you vampires get along with the werewolves?"

"Werewolves? What's that?"

[Try saying Lycanthropes.]

"Sorry, I meant Lycanthropes," I asked again upon hearing Ryong's suggestion.

"Those shape-shifting mutts? The last I heard from them was when the current Queen had a truce with them. Since then, we haven't had any contact with their kind for over a few centuries. They might even be extinct. Why?"

"Well, one of your kind is working with them, attacked the academy, and flee. Why do you think the old man is pissed?"

"But we never knew the existence of this world. Why would we launch an attack on something we didn't know existed?"

"Then what's with the attacks back in London?"

"It appears that devouring a human with magical attributes increases our magical capabilities. Who would have thought about that, Hahaha."

Hearing him say those words made my stomach swirl in disgust. I kept my head low and calmed myself before asking Vone the next questions.

"When... was the last time you feasted on a human?"

Surprised yet not amused by my question, Vone turned his head towards the mirror and stared out the window.

"... days."

"Huh?"

"3 days."

That answer shut the conversation between us immediately. It was a clear reminder to me and Vone what we are to each other despite needing each other's help.

We are enemies.

"You can't blame us. We, vampires, are after all hemovores."

"?"

"In your term, we are beings that ingest blood as part of our main diet."

Tension once again filled the space between us as time appeared to be stretched as the awkward tension hung heavily in the atmosphere. The awkward tension lingered throughout the entire ride since there was nothing we could say to each other for us to get along.

A few hours into the ride, I fell asleep.

**

With the magic train flying through the sky in a different direction, it was hard for Vone to tell just how long the train would take to reach its destination. Right in front of him was his masked captor, still looking out through the window. It was hard for him to tell if his captor was asleep or just looking through the scenery.

On top of that, there was the matter of the magic chain attached to his neck. It seems like it would activate by itself even without the masked awakener's presence. With those 2 details sorted out, Vone gave up trying to escape or kill Red and decided to rest, closing his eyes.

Although vampires had no need for sleep generally, his magic was constantly drained and sealed, causing mental fatigue to build up in his mind. Despite living for so many years, it appears mental health is still an ongoing issue for vampires.

With that, Vone shut his eyes for a quick breather.

Having evolved as a species, the basic 5 senses of a vampire are vastly superior compared to that of a human.

Vone's ear immediately picked up a noise.

"...Ignite."

Without wasting a single millisecond, he threw his body forward, slamming against Red's seat, and shouted:

"SCRA___"

BOOM!

Thunderous booms echoed through the surroundings, ripping everything in its path. The train is now completely missing the bottom half of what it originally was.

With his vision distraught, Vone stabilized himself with whatever was left of the train and lay beside it. Beside him was Red, lying there unconscious while flying directly above him where 4 figures hovered over the train with a cloak covering their identities. He was not able to see them, but he was able to hear them.

"Hey, this one managed to survive."

"How the hell did you manage to miss your spell?"

"Stop blaming me, It's f*cking annoying."

With his entire back receiving the full force of the explosion, Vone struggled to stand while forcing his blood to focus pumping on his back for accelerated healing.

"How___ dare you... attack a nobility!" He yelled while trying to catch his breath.

Catching the attention of his attacker, Vone forcefully grabbed the attention of the 4 unknown assailants.

It was from here, was he able to smell it. It was the smell of a common vampire. Could her majesty have sent someone over to rescue him?

"Who sent you here!" Vone shouted once again, demanding an answer from the 4 figures.

"Pfft, hey hey, that guy is shouting at us."

"Dude, get rid of him."

"Fine, fine."

One of the figures flew out and retrieved something from within his sleeve, revealing a wand.

"A wand?"

The figure then started swinging her wand vigorously before swiping it downwards in Vone's direction.

The ground around him started shaking roughly as the sky suddenly darkened, and thunders began to rumble.

DOOOOMM

Vone stared at the sky blankly, still confused as to what his attacker did. Then, something grabbed his waist, and he was dragged forcefully all the way to the front.

In a few seconds, bolts of thunder roared, striking where Vone stood and destroying the train even more.

"Why did... you save... me?" Vone asked weakly while lying against the wall. The burn marks on his back were taking a long time to heal compared to before.

"I always pay off my debts," Red said while he started inspecting Vones's injuries.

"Can you fight?" Red asked.

"As you can see, I can hardly move at all."

Red turned his head towards the broken parts of the train as the 4 figures slowly descended to the wreckage they caused when casting a spell.

In an act of desperation, Red asked Ryong,

'Ryong, what the hell can I do?'

[Thou can try fighting them. But thou are at a disadvantage since you need to protect the vampire.]

Red continued inspecting the burn marks. They were healing for sure, but it was remarkably slower compared to when they first fought.

Is it due to the lack of blood?

Red thought to himself as he recalled the time when their fight ended with both sides suffering major blood loss. And it has been 3 days since he fed.

'F*ck, looks like I have no choice.'

Red took out Fang in its dagger form from his inventory and grabbed it tightly.

[Are thou sure?]

'Looks like I don't have a choice.'

From there, he slit his arm, allowing the blood in his body to drip.

The smell of blood instantly woke Vone from almost passing out.

"I need your help. Wake the hell up." Red said before shoving his bleeding arm in Vone's mouth, allowing the blood to flow through his throat.

"This?!"

With a few drops of blood, the injury Vone sustained healed instantly as he stood up from the ground.

"Feeling better?" Red asked, changing his weapon from a dagger to a spear.

"..."

From there, he flings his spear like a javelin, throwing it with all his might, striking the first person who stepped foot on the train.

The attack was successful with the spear piercing through the figure's body with the spear's effect of freezing its target, causing the figure to have a hole in his body while having his entire body frozen in ice as he fell off the flying train to his death.

Vone who managed to regain his strength, joined in the action going straight for the kill. He immediately latched on to the nearest hooded figure and choked-slammed the figure against the wreckage with all his strength. His claws impaled on the hooded figure's neck, killing him instantly while he bared his teeth against the remaining attackers.

"Wait?! Aren't you one of u___"

Before the hooded figure could finish his sentence, he was silenced by the last member of his group, decapitating the head of the speaker.

"You talk too much." The last hooded figure spoke before jumping of the train, giving a small salute to both Red and Vone.

"Wai___" Red yelled, but it was too late.

He was gone.

All that remained was 1/5 of what remained of the train while Red and Vone stood at the edge, looking at the damage caused by their assassins.

**

[Vone's POV]

They were gone.

Whoever those 4 were, they were not acting under the queen given that they didn't know how to distinguish a vampiric nobility.

But that's not the major concern I have.

The blood I just ingested. What the hell was it? 3 drops of it were able to bring me back to peak condition.

No, peak condition would be an understatement. There was no way I was able to exert that kind of power previously. The blood must have amped up my strength in one way or another.

But the most prominent effect? The cravings I have for human blood seemed to have vanished.

Just what the hell are you, Cedrick Jenkins?