Chapter 594 Leave One Alive II
Neither Lana nor Lilith interrupted him.
Even Vanessa, who had just landed nearby after rescuing another squad of soldiers, quietly listened.
Dickson finally shrugged.
"So..."
"I’ve got an idea."
Lana sighed.
"This better be good."
A grin slowly spread across Dickson’s face.
"We kill every single one of them..."
He raised one finger.
"...except one."
Silence.
Lilith tilted her head.
"You want a prisoner?"
Dickson nodded.
"If they’re fighting because they want to..."
"...then we’ll kill them."
"If they’re fighting because someone is making them..."
"...then one of them is going to tell us who."
Vanessa’s expression remained thoughtful.
"...Reasonable."
Lana crossed her arms.
"I hate admitting it..."
"...but he’s right."
There had been too many strange things happening over the past three months.
Entire vampire clans suddenly abandoning centuries of secrecy.
Launching open assaults on cities.
Throwing away thousands of lives without hesitation.
Elite warriors willingly marching toward certain death.
None of it made sense.
Dickson stretched lazily.
"So yeah."
"Leave one alive."
The moment he finished speaking, he let out an exaggerated groan before dramatically clutching his shoulder.
"Owww..."
"My whole body’s killing me."
Without another word, he casually walked over to an overturned military transport vehicle before climbing onto its hood.
The metal creaked beneath his weight.
He sat down comfortably.
Then leaned back.
Completely relaxed.
One boot rested over the other.
He stretched his back until several loud cracks echoed through the air.
"Aaaah..."
"That’s better."
Lana slowly turned toward him.
"...You’re not coming?"
Dickson blinked innocently.
"Hm?"
Lilith stared at him.
"...Seriously?"
He nodded without the slightest shame.
"Oh, come on."
"I’ve already done my part."
He pointed toward the enormous crater where the vampire leader had died.
"I fought their strongest guy."
"I nearly died."
"My energy’s completely drained."
He spread both hands dramatically.
"I’m exhausted."
"I’m practically useless now."
"You two go shine."
"I’ll support you emotionally."
Lana’s eyelid twitched.
Lilith simply stared at him.
Long.
Very long.
Neither woman spoke.
They merely exchanged a glance.
Then...
Both sighed at exactly the same time.
"...Weakling."
Lana muttered.
Lilith nodded once.
"A little fight..."
"...and he’s already finished."
Dickson almost choked.
"...A little fight?"
His eye twitched violently.
The urge to argue nearly burst out of him.
Instead, he simply waved dismissively.
"Yeah..."
"Whatever helps you sleep."
Under his breath, however, his expression changed.
"You two assholes..."
"...you’re lucky Liam specifically told me to keep my real ability hidden."
He spoke so quietly that even he barely heard himself.
Almost.
Lilith’s head suddenly snapped toward him.
Her silver hair swayed behind her.
"...What did you just say?"
Dickson froze.
His entire body stiffened.
"...Huh?"
"I thought I heard..."
Lilith narrowed her eyes.
"...’Assholes’?"
A bead of sweat slowly rolled down Dickson’s forehead.
His brain worked faster than it ever had in combat.
Then...
He forced out the most awkward smile imaginable.
"No."
"No no no."
"You heard wrong."
Lilith continued staring.
Dickson rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"I said..."
"My ass hurts."
"...not..."
"...you know..."
"...assholes."
A dead silence followed.
Lilith blinked once.
Then another.
Finally...
She slowly shook her head.
"...You’re unbelievable."
Dickson immediately nodded with complete seriousness.
"Exactly."
"I’ve always been honest."
Lana snorted despite herself.
"...Liar."
Dickson pretended not to hear.
Vanessa couldn’t help smiling faintly before her attention shifted back toward the battlefield.
The remaining vampires had begun tightening their formation once more.
They understood another attack was coming.
Their weapons rose.
Their eyes hardened.
Despite everything...
Not one of them fled.
Vanessa looked toward Lana.
Lana looked toward Lilith.
The two women shared a quiet understanding.
Lilith gently raised one hand.
"...Shall we?"
Lana’s flames immediately reignited around her fists.
A confident smile slowly spread across her face.
"...Let’s end this."
Fire, ice, space... and the gathered werewolves prepared to descend once more.
The battlefield held its breath.
Only the crackling of Lana’s flames, the whisper of frost gathering around Lilith, and the distant growls of the werewolves disturbed the heavy air.
Seventy vampires.
That was all that remained.
They stood shoulder to shoulder, battered and wounded, yet none of them lowered their weapons.
None of them turned around.
None of them even glanced toward the endless forest behind them where escape still existed.
Dickson sat lazily atop the military transport with one leg crossed over the other, quietly observing them.
"...See?"
He murmured.
"They’re still here."
No one replied.
Because he was right.
The vampires were afraid.
Their breathing had become uneven.
Several of them tightened their grip so hard around their weapons that their knuckles trembled. Others swallowed nervously while staring at the five overwhelming figures before them.
Fear...
It was written plainly across every face.
Yet...
Not one took a single step backward.
Lana slowly stepped forward.
"You know..."
"I almost pity them."
Lilith’s voice remained calm.
"...Almost."
Vanessa lifted one hand.
"Leave one alive."
"Everyone else..."
Her blue eyes sharpened.
"...doesn’t leave this battlefield."
The werewolves answered first.
A thunderous howl erupted across the plains.
"AWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
Sergei was the first to move.
The enormous wolf exploded forward like a cannonball, the earth shattering beneath his paws. Every stride covered impossible distance until he crashed directly into the front line of vampires.
BOOM!!
The impact alone scattered the formation.
Before the nearest vampire could recover, Sergei’s massive paw swept sideways.
Three vampires were sent flying through the air, crashing through broken vehicles before disappearing beneath collapsing debris.
Mikhail arrived an instant later.
Unlike Sergei’s overwhelming force, Mikhail moved with frightening precision.
His claws flashed once.
A vampire swung toward him.
Mikhail stepped inside the attack.
One clean strike.
The vampire’s weapon spun harmlessly away while he collapsed moments later, unable to continue fighting.
Two more rushed him together.
Mikhail twisted between them like flowing water before driving both opponents backward with a combination of sweeping claws and crushing shoulder checks that left neither able to regain their footing.
Around them, dozens of werewolves surged into battle.
They hunted in coordinated packs.
Whenever a vampire tried escaping one direction, another wolf was already waiting.
Every retreat became another trap.
Every mistake was punished immediately.
Meanwhile—
Lana finally raised both hands.
The battlefield glowed orange.
Flames burst upward around her before spiraling into dozens of blazing streams that raced across the ground like living creatures.
The remaining vampires scattered instinctively.
Exactly as she intended.
"Run."
She smiled.
"I’ll still catch you."
The streams suddenly split apart.
Instead of chasing one target...
They hunted them all.
One vampire vaulted over the fire.
Another wall of flames immediately rose to meet him.
A third attempted rolling beneath it.
The ground itself erupted beneath his feet.
Every direction became another blazing obstacle.
The battlefield transformed into a maze of fire.
Lana wasn’t trying to burn them all at once.
She was controlling where they moved.
And someone else was waiting there.
Lilith.
She calmly stepped forward.
The temperature plummeted once again.
Mist spread across the battlefield before racing over the burning ground without extinguishing it.
Fire and frost coexisted in impossible harmony.
The first vampire burst through Lana’s flames.
Only to find the earth beneath him frozen solid.
His footing disappeared.
He stumbled.
Lilith gently raised one finger.
A pillar of crystal erupted from beneath the frozen ground, throwing the vampire high into the air.
Before gravity reclaimed him—
A streak of blue light flashed overhead.
Vanessa.
She appeared above him.
One strike from her glowing gauntlet.
The vampire was blasted across the battlefield like a cannon shell, crashing into two others and knocking all three into Sergei’s path.
The gigantic wolf didn’t slow down.
He barreled straight through them, scattering bodies in every direction before continuing toward the next cluster.
Vanessa disappeared again.
Space folded.
She reappeared beside another isolated group.
One vampire attempted striking her.
His claws sliced through empty air.
Vanessa calmly stepped around him before touching his shoulder.
The surrounding space twisted.
The vampire suddenly found himself facing the opposite direction, directly toward Mikhail.
"...Wrong way."
Mikhail smiled.
The fight ended a heartbeat later.
Across the battlefield, the elite vampires continued resisting with everything they had.
They attacked.
They defended.
They coordinated.
They fought like experienced veterans.
But something never changed.
Not one of them fled.
Peter noticed it first.
"They’re trapped..."
One nearby soldier frowned.
"No..."
"They’re not."
Peter slowly shook his head.
"The forest is right there."
"They can run."
"They know they’ll die..."
"...but they’re still charging."
Another soldier lowered his rifle.
"...Why?"
No one answered.
Because no one understood.
One wounded vampire stumbled backward after barely surviving Sergei’s attack.
His breathing became ragged.
His entire body trembled.
His eyes darted toward the open plains behind him.
Freedom.
He could escape.
He knew it.
For a single second...
One single second...
His body actually turned.
Dickson leaned forward slightly.
"There."
"He finally—"
The vampire stopped.
His shoulders trembled.
Then...
He slowly turned back around.
Fear filled every inch of his face.
Yet he charged again.
Straight toward certain death.
Dickson’s smile disappeared.
"...Damn."
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Lana clearly saw it too.
"This isn’t loyalty..."
Lilith quietly finished her sentence.
"...It’s compulsion."
Within minutes, the battlefield grew quieter.
The vampires fell one after another.
Each coordinated assault from humanity overwhelmed another defender until their once disciplined formation completely collapsed.
Thirty remained.
Then twenty.
Then twelve.
Then six.
Eventually...
Only two vampires still stood.
Both breathed heavily.
Both stared silently at the overwhelming force surrounding them.
Vanessa slowly descended from the sky.
"Lana."
Lana nodded.
"I know."
The first vampire suddenly roared before throwing himself toward Sergei.
The giant wolf met him head-on.
Their clash lasted only moments before the vampire fell motionless beside the countless others scattered across the battlefield.
Silence returned.
One vampire remained.
He stood alone.
His sword shook violently inside trembling hands.
His breathing came in uneven gasps.
Fear had completely consumed him.
His eyes wandered across the battlefield.
Fire.
Ice.
Werewolves.
Human soldiers.
Vanessa.
Lana.
Lilith.
Mikhail.
Sergei.
There was nowhere left to run.
Dickson slowly climbed down from the military vehicle.
He walked toward the lone survivor before stopping several meters away.
"You can stop now."
The vampire said nothing.
Dickson looked directly into his terrified eyes.
"You’ve lost."
"...So tell us."
"Who sent you?"
The vampire’s lips trembled.
His breathing grew even heavier.