Chapter 9: Vampire Evolution.

*Step* *Step* *Step!*

*BANG!* *BANG!*

*BABABABBABBABA!*

"Evacuate as many people as you can!"

"Don't hold back on the ghouls just because they were once people! Don't let them spread their bite!"

When the armed forces and British army entered the scene, the sound of heavy footsteps was drowned out by the rain and gunfire as they fired and shot at every vampire and ghoul they saw.

They were spread out among Britain's cities, trying to save as many people as possible.

Besides them, there was a different organization slaying the vampires and ghouls in the area, in a different way.

Swords and other kinds of weapons including knives and daggers were carried on their waists. The swords were specially made to work with a person's supernatural ability, amplifying them as they drew energy from the person.

These weapons were deadly, there was no doubt about it.

Furthermore, they wore white uniforms that made them easily identifiable.

"ONE GHOUL BREACHED THROUGH THE DEFENSE!!"

"AAAH!! THE SON OF A BITCH BIT ME!!

"S-SHOOT ME BEFORE I TURN!! QUICK!!!"

The city was filled with gunfire and fighting immediately after the sirens. The ghouls were only multiplying in numbers with every passing second as more and more people were bitten.

Instead of trying to kill them, the army and organisation working with them were given a single order of evacuation on short notice. Many other countries followed the same procedure.

It was clear that the Vampires who struck first had an advantage.

-

-

-

England, Central London, King's cross.

10:30 AM.

[Squad X, come in?]

[Situation report?]

As the squad followed behind him, a tall, muscular young man with moss green hair spoke into the microphone.

"Successfully entered central and we've managed to secure some evacuees. They've been sent back to the base on the armed vehicles."

[Luke, did you confirm whether or not they were human?]

"Yes, we conducted a physical examination and tested for a reaction against UV rays. It was all clear."

[Number of evacuees?]

"With the recent batch, the number will increase to seventeen."

[Well done.]

[Current operation? Your GPS shows that you're in a school.]

"There may be some students which survived... We're checking the situation."

[It's a waste of time. Most schools were the Vampires first target, many students have been taken captive across the city.]

"It's still worth to checking."

[Understood.]

"Captain, the coast is clear." Said one of the members of the squad behind him as they entered through the school gates.

Chestnut brown hair and bright yellow eyes with a bow on her hands. A white uniform was worn by her as well, and the bow was nothing short of extraordinary with its high-tech design.

The squad had five members, two of whom had returned to their base with other evacuees. Now there were just the three of them.

The first thing they did was follow the trail of blood from the school gate to the gym.

There was also damage in the main school building, but it was empty.

"Hey... What the hell happened here...?" The third squad member asked. It was a tall, slim man with mint-turquoise hair.

The captain was the attacker, while the girl with the bow was the scout, so he was acting as the support.

In the area, there were countless corpses belonging to students and ghouls. Although the rain washed it all away, the smell of blood lingered.

The red puddles of water only accentuated this.

"Isn't it obvious... This is probably another failure..." The Captain murmured as they approached the Gym.

As they approached the bloodied door, the girl's expression suddenly changed.

"Captain! I'm sensing something! There's a large number of people on the other side of that door!" Spoke the girl.

"What!?"

Following her words, the captain quickly and carefully rushed over to the door, kicking it open with his hand on the grip of his sword in it's sheath.

His two members followed behind with their guards up, ready to face another deadly battle.

But after seeing what lay beyond the door. The group stopped dead in their tracks with wide eyes.

In the gym there were countless corpses belonging to both ghouls and students.

They were just ahead of a group of female students who were all staring nervously at something on the far end of the gym.

It wasn't the gory scene that caught their attention... It was the figure of a young man covered in blood who had the body of a vampire pinned to the wall and a sword impaled into his chest.

After losing all its blood, the Vampire's body quickly grew pale. The body had become a mummified corpse.

In an instant, the young man turned his gaze from the Vampire to the squad which had just arrived as he removed the sword from the corpse.

"More Vampires...?" He questioned as he took a step in their direction. "So killing my family wasn't enough... They're after me too, huh...?"

"That's fine... "The more kills, the better," Xavier murmured with a grin.

*Step*

His step sent chills down the spines of the squad members. They smiled nervously as they sensed the bloodlust directed at them by this single fearless young man.

The bloodshot eyes and blood-stained hair, along with the many veins bulging out of his arms and neck make him seem just as menacing as a vampire.

The support called out, "Captain...".

"Yeah... Get ready to engage-"

The Captain's heart was filled with surprise as he witnessed Xavier collapse on the ground, then and there, letting go of his sword.

Bloodlust immediately subsided as the veins retreated back into his body.

Xavier had lost consciousness.

Some of the girls stayed because they were still hesitant, but most of them rushed over to the unconscious Xavier in that moment, trying to help him while crying.

"Does anyone here have anything to help close his wounds!?"

"H-He'll die from blood loss at this rate!"

"I-I think there's a first-aid kit somewhere in here! I'll go look for it!"

Squad members stood dumbfounded as they tried to process what they had just witnessed.

The female student happened to turn to the entrance and noticed the three squad members standing there.

"AAAAH!!" She screamed out. "There's more vampires!!"

Immediately, the room became tense as all of the girls turned to the entrance she pointed to. Their newly found abilities caused the girls to get defensive, pointing the strongest weapon they had available at them.

In case things went south, they stuck together around the girl who could create a barrier.

The squad captain sighed.

"We aren't vampires."

"That's what a vampire would say!" One of the girls retorted.

-

-

-

"So you're telling me, this young man killed all the ghouls here, including three vampires? All by himself?" The captain asked.

"Yes." The blonde-haired student replied, looking him square in the eye.

There was no sign that she was lying.

"Um... Are we really safe now...?" Another student asked.

"Yes, that is correct... We'll be taking you back to our base as part of our mission."

Although the squad had shown them their IDs along with other forms of proof, students were still nervous around them.

Many of them had been traumatized by the hellish sight they had seen.

"That's good... I'll help you carry him." She added, grasping Xavier's arm.

"That won't be necessary." The captain replied. "Step away from him."

The blonde-haired girl's ears twitched as she heard this.

"Step away? Why?" She asked.

The tall support behind him responded, not the captain.

"It's dangerous to be around him. Actually, we don't trust him, no regular human could have accomplished what he did."

"Based on what you said, he was covered in injuries which would have killed any normal person only for the injuries to disappear after killing one of the Vampires inside?"

"No regular person can have their wounds simply heal like that... Even if he had a healing ability, he wouldn't be able to use it so masterfully that he could accomplish what he did with it."

Despite their reluctance to admit it, the girls agreed with him. Xavier was anything but a fighter.

Besides being skinny, he was short, shorter than most of them. He looked like the kind of person who would die five seconds into an apocalypse.

There was definitely something strange about him.

The blonde student glared at the captain while standing in front of him, "You can't hurt him.".

When the captain saw this, he smiled.

"Don't worry, we will only restrain him. Once he's confirmed to be human back at the base, he'll be released."

"...I-If that's the case..."

Other girls seemed to agree as well, as it seemed like the best course of action.

"Now, to the important stuff... How many are there out there?" The Captain asked as he stood up.

"Seven... Eight... Ten... The numbers of ghouls are increasing, if we don't leave now, evacuation will be hard. Even for you."

A smile spread across the captain's face when he heard this. He slowly got up and left the gym.

Upon exiting, he drew his sword slowly. Immediately after his blade was released, a dark miasma filled the air around him and darkened his aura.

"Even for me...? That's quite rude... Especially after you've seen me take out a Vampire noble before."

The ghouls that were swarming in the area bared their fangs as they lunged at him. However, even as he swung his sword, his confident smile did not fade.

-

[Level UP, Evolution feature available.]

[Traces of blood belonging to a Vampire detected around the neck region.]

[...]

[Evolution Option 1: Vampire Fledgling.]

[The Vampire race, an immortal race which feeds on the blood of humans. Their appearance and traits are similar to those of regular humans.]

[A Vampire fledgling is a newly created or turned vampire who has not become a fully transitioned vampire yet because they have not yet drunk any human blood after drinking the blood of a vampire.]

[They are inferior to Vampires, Purebloods, Nobles and the other more advanced variations of the race. They are the weakest of their kind.

[...]

[Traces of blood belonging to a Chronos detected throughout the body.]

[...]

[Evolution Option 2: Half Chronos.]

[The Chronos is a race of higher humans that traversed the boundaries of time. Their appearance and traits are similar to those of regular humans.]

[A Half Chronos is an inferior race to the Chronos which can only result from the union between a member of the Chronos race and a human.]

[Genetics and blood samples belonging to the race are present within the User's body since estimated birth.]

[...]

[Both blood samples detected within the User's body.]

[...]

[Evolution Option 3 (Fusion) available.]

[Half Chronos & Vampire Fledgling Hybrid.]

[The Hybrid of a higher human unrestricted by time constraints with the superior abilities of a Vampire.]

[Would you like to evolve?]

[If so, which option does the User select?]

[Time Limit for selection: 10 seconds.]

[...]

[Time passed, no evolutions were selected.]

[As a result, the most promising will be automatically selected.]

[Evolution Commencing.]

Xavier was unconscious at the time, so he was unaware of the changes that were taking place within his body. Neither he nor the squad noticed as they returned to the base with his body.