Sixth Bloodline [BxB]

CHAPTER 37: ASSASINATION ATTEMPT [THIS PERSON... IS WORHY OF BEFRIENDING]

cHAptEr 37:

AssAsinAtiOn AttEmpt

[tHis pErsOn is wOrtHY Of bEfriEnding]

FINALLY HAVING gotten rid of Natalie, Mikhael no longer feared for his future husb— target. In any case, he'll have a lot time to interact with him later, so he wasn't in a hurry to speak with him.

As for the Hunter's HQ... Well, Mikhael was — despite being unreliable when it comes to work or taking action — someone who took camaraderie seriously, so he won't make a move on those guys. He also didn't know what this Higher Noble did to offend them. One needs to know that despite always being interested in this city, Hunters never managed to get out alive from it.

Even if they succeeded in sending out their intel, they themselves would end up dying. Just as any vampire trying to break into a City of Dawnbringers was met with the same outcome.

There were cases of Nobles and Esteemed Seats dying on the outside, but it never really sparked a fire that would led to the two sides clashing with the intent to exterminate each other. However, that's only under condition that no one crossed the bottom line.

For both sides, sending their elites in the city full of enemy's weaker people was precisely that bottom line.

If Higher Noble or even a Pureblood appeared in Hunter's HQ, they'd be able to exterminate the entire place until someone from Immortal Seats came to stop them. But one fighting to destroy and one to protect, it's obvious who'd be at disadvantage.

The same matter applies to the City of Evernight.

So the two sides had a tacit understanding to never cross that line.

Well, except for Mikhael. Who told him to be a half-blood?

And Mikhael also had his own bottom line — regardless if they were humans or vampires, Mikhael didn't favor either side particularly. He only hunted down those that deserved to be hunted down, and visited City of Evernight just to relax. Even if his target resided right next to him in this place, he would just pretend to be blind.

So...

Once he took everything into consideration, it only made him more confused.

In a place where not even Immortal Seats would dare take a step in, what was an ordinary Esteemed Seat doing? What kind of grudge did this guy have to make them act in this city? Natalie probably came to die together with him, and Spirit Armaments aren't able to come inside this city, which is no different than cutting her hands.

Mikhael recognized her, but people here were all the best forces tasked with protecting the City of Evernight. Hunters all had a special aura around them that made them stand out from the crowd. No matter how well they hide it when going undercover on missions, there would always be some moments where they slipped.

Not to mention that Natalie, despite being an outstanding Hunter, was just a human that didn't even live over twenty-five years. Surrounded by hundreds of thousand of vampires, will she really not show a moment of weakness?

No matter how he looks at her, she won't survive this ride.

It shouldn't be his problem... It really shouldn't, but Mikhael is someone who sought death constantly. For example, a half-blood living in city full of Purebloods. Or a vampire working as a Vampire Hunter.

Ah, can't he even sleep peacefully? What does it have to do with him that the two sides wanted to — following the long tradition of over three millenniums — kill each other? Once he begins his deep sleep this time, he should be stuck for at least fifty years.

No matter what, Mikhael didn't think that she'd make a move on this train, but rather once they arrived at their destination. In that case, he can always seek her out and help her get away. But catching this handsome guy next to him...

Hehe.

Now that he set his eyes on this guy, Mikhael wouldn't accept this mission even if the old geezer knelt down and asked for it, forget about helping someone get the credit!

Just look at the air or dominance around this guy and how he showed concern for Mikhael, he's certainly someone good... Not to mention that he was probably rich, therefore Mikhael won't have to worry about his well-being either. Also, that suit... Mikhael had a thing for men wearing suits, perhaps since he was long used to seeing men in suits, he took those guys who still worried them to be more serious, mature and attractive.

Mikhael loved drama, but if that drama was about himself, then he'd run away.

He really had no strength to argue with his partners, nor accept their childish antics. Once you lived for as long as he did, you get tired from those short-lived relationships that once seemed fresh and attractive.

...

Well, unless you are like Dominique.

He's a lost case, anyways.

As he slowly began to remember his Deep Sleep that's about to come and how he'll be able to enjoy the next fifty years in peace and silence, Mikhael's eyelids gradually became heavy and he fell asleep. It took the other three a while to notice this situation because of his mask hiding his face, but once he dropped and fell on Ethan's shoulder, it was impossible to ignore him any longer.

"..."

Ethan dropped the book he was reading as he turned to stare at Mikhael with s frown.

'This... What about all that food then? You don't happen to have forgotten about it, do you?'

"Sixth Lord, this person..." The one to the left — Vane, spoke as Ethan sighed.

"He's not the enemy. He should be the person Dante spoke about," even though Mikhael was sleeping, they still continued to talk in low voice. In any case, this is just a human.

"Still..." The other guy began. Who cares about that guy's identity, isn't he too brazen for using their Lord Pureblood as a cushion?!

Ethan only shook them off as he took another look at Mikhael.

"It's just a human child. Don't forget out goal on this trip." In any case, the closer this kid was to him, the easier will it be to drag him once the fight begun. Ethan had long noticed various eyes on him when he boarded this train, and he's afraid that they didn't have just a single enemy.

Ethan was confident in dealing with whatever they planned, even if it's another of his siblings that appeared, he has his means to fight them off.

But still...

He took off his coat before draping it around Mikhael's body. Humans are quite fragile and get sick easily. It's a must for them to sleep covered, according to his research!

The other two: "..."

That feeling from earlier about them being an old couple... It seems to only grow stronger, no?

"Go and tell them that we cancel our previous order," humans also sleep for long time, "Though, it's quite likely that anything we get will be poisoned anyway."

"..."

Vane could only stand up and leave in silence.

He really wasn't paid for this kind of job, ah! A Higher Noble had to manage a mere mortal's food, it's okay if it's his lover — but what is this ridiculous situation?

MIKHAEL WOKE due to loud noise.

It only took him a moment to regain his composure, but as he tried to get up, he realized that he was in rather odd position. There was a hand holding him down as he rested his head in someone's lap.

"You're awake?" A cold and indifferent voice asked and Mikhael raised his head to see his potential husband looking down on him.

"I'm not sure," how did he end up in the arms of this handsome specimen? Actually, he's still dreaming, right?

But what a good dream, should he take some liberties with this beauty now?

'No, wait! That's wrong!'

What was that noise from earlier?

He pried away from Ethan's hands before noticing something falling to the ground. Looking closely, isn't this the coat the other guy wore? It appears that it fell off from his own body, in that case...

"Handsome, you're really good to me!"

"..."

Ethan was just about to tell the other two to prepare to break through encirclement, but this guy really found a moment to speak some nonsense.

"Handsome?"

"I know I am, you don't have to flatter me," Mikhael decided to be shameless. He had dealt with some Higher Nobles before or at least talked to them and he came to a painful realization that they were all: "If I don't see you, you aren't real." So, acting cute and pitiful, or serious and smart won't work at all.

Higher Nobles weren't vampires who rose to that position because they pursued romance, and they were all masters of manipulation. Do you know just how many times hunters try the honey trap on them per year?

Even Dominique finds less hookups per year than that number, which actually says a lot!

If they are still alive after all this time, how could they possibly fall for that nonsense again? They'd just use reverse psychology, which is the reason Natalie's clan declined to its current state!

So, if you want to take one home, what should you do?

Shameless! Be as shameless as possible!

"You're the only one in this world that can match my handsomeness, so I'll reluctantly part with that title for you, unless you're — of course — willing to give me your name?"

Ethan was left speechless once again.

This is really the same person Dante told him about? He didn't pick some random human on the way or something, did he?

Mikhael didn't mind the lack of response as he stood up, he's confident that he'll be able to get his name sooner or later! If not, he can always get Dante to investigate him, hah!

He headed towards the door, but Ethan grabbed his hand before he could open them.

"Don't go, something's going on outside," he warned, "It's dangerous."

Mikhael could almost see pink bubbles around this guy as he decided for certain that he has to win over this person.

"I know," Mikhael patted his hands, "Handsome, you provoked some dangerous people, but don't worry — as long as I'm here, I won't let anything happen to you!" Which Hunter could possibly fight against Mikhael if he wanted to protect someone?

"..."

'Aren't YOU the one who provoked some dangerous people?'

"It's fine, I might not look like it, but I'm quite powerful. In fact, you might not believe me, but I'm even stronger than your Vampire King! He probably won't be able to accept even a single attack of mine." Mikhael said seriously, he needs to prove that he's a good and strong person, he'll put on display every good point he has.

In any case, he can fight Einz for five minutes, vampire king can't even withstand a single slap of his — so he isn't necessary lying.

"..."

"Shameless!"

"Yeah, quite shameless of that person to brag about being the strongest in the world, when he can't even beat me."

What was dignity? Will it somehow help him get laid?

"..."

"Vane, Cole, break the window," he decided to ignore Mikhael for now, "We'll get off immediately."

'This person is dangerous. He shouldn't let Dante get involved with him any longer. He'll corrupt his sweet little brother!'

The other two nodded before Vane got in front of it. From the tips of his fingers, a little ball of flame appeared before he brought it closer to the window. Like butter being cut by a hot knife, the window began to melt down wherever the flame passed.

Mikhael was speechless, they can't be serious about this? No matter what, aren't the three of you Higher Nobles or something? Can you really just turn tails and run like this?

Rolling his eyes, Mikhael began to tap the floor with his feet. Hidden from everyone's gaze, ripples began to spread all over the cabin, before expanding over the whole train.

For spell-casters, they needed a medium in order to use and influence mana. Overwriting mana on another talisman to negate or change it's purpose was even harder, but Mikhael was well proficient in that field.

This train he was on... Wasn't it a perfect medium itself? Some inscriptions like making it stop or completely cancel its functions might be hard and would take long time to finish, but merely using this train to find positions of people on it was a simple matter.

His confidence wasn't unbased, Mikhael expected to run away once he arrived in the city, so he naturally had means to escape. Even though he — quite regrettably — couldn't throw explosions and such on the train, he could still use some less harmful talismans.

By the time the two removed the window and Ethan removed his eyes from Mikhael to look into a distance, Mikhael had already opened the doors and gone out.

"You!" Ethan moved immediately after him, but once he got to the doors, he paused as an odd gleam appeared in his eyes. In front of him were two vampires falling to the ground with an odd yellow talismans stuck to their foreheads. Turning around, he saw Mikhael sticking another talisman to a third person that was rooted in one place, obviously surprised because of the young spell-caster.

Just as he finished sticking the talisman, Mikhael kicked off using the guy's knees before he jumped to the wall, then kicked off once again moving above his hand and skillfully throwing another talisman to the person behind him.

Other people might be worried about fighting at a close range or in closed space, but those two were precisely Mikhael's specialties. Not to mention that his body was somewhat slender, so he had an easy time maneuvering it as he pleased, and together with his speed he trained by running awa— hunting his prey, he was just like a fish in ocean in this kind of battlefield.

Just as that man's eyes began to dim, Mikhael kicked him and use the recoil to jump further to the next guy who finally managed to clear his mind, but before he could take an action Mikhael skillfully sled in between his legs, throwing another talisman to the person behind him. Then he reached out and grabbed his shirt before throwing him to the guy he just avoided making him stumble and fall down.

At that moment, Mikhael slapped the last talisman on his forehead, nailing the guy to the ground.

The he stood up and dusted off his clothes, before sighing.

"Just six? Isn't this a bit too few?" Then he turned and saw Ethan standing in front of him.

"What do you say? I told you I'm strong!" Unfortunately, Ethan couldn't see that bright smile on his face because of the mask.

He only bewilderingly stared at Mikhael's hand. How come this thin hand is so strong to throw over a person trice his weight? He couldn't understand, weren't humans really fragile?

He poked Mikhael's hand who only let him touch as he wants. In fact, between touching and being touched by the other party, it still counts as taking liberties, right?

"You, why did you run out on your own, you know it's dangerous!" He could only helplessly sigh. He really didn't want this person to die before he finished the job, but how come this human is this careless?

'Let's be honest, you're really clueless that those guys are aiming for you?'

In fact, he wasn't wrong. Mikhael really was clueless about this thing.

He thought that Ethan and the company wanted to leave through the window, then go on the roofs and slowly take back the train!

But Mikhael was lazy, so he thought... Why just not use doors, ba? They were made with purpose!

"You guys might be strong and full of vitality, but I still prefer using doors over roofs."

"..."

'What roofs? We're running away here?'

Ethan feared that he couldn't think on the same wavelength as this human. He didn't even bother to explain anything as he finally came to conclusion that Mikhael was an i***t.

"It's fine, those talismans work for as long as one doesn't remove them, so we can easily go and save everyone now," he couldn't understand why this cold Noble cared about strangers. It's dangerous even for him to walk on the train going over thousand miles per hour surrounded by scorching dessert.

Mikhael wanted to prove his worth to Ethan in order to pursue him, but what about the other party?

Again, misunderstandings can be such a beautiful thing sometimes.

He thought that he finally caught a glimpse of a noble and carrying older brother figure Dante spoke about. This guy, despite being in danger, still wanted to go and help other passer-byes. And he didn't even kill his pursuers, but just knocked them out!

"Alright then," he nodded before turning to the other two, "We'll be going ahead. You guard those people here and bring them all to one place. There will be someone in the City of Evernight to deal with them."

So Mikhael decided to be good for Ethan's sake and Ethan thought to help Mikhael making the two cooperate for the first time. It wouldn't be until many years later when the two realized what kind of black-bellied partner they actually had that they'll remember today as a bitter memory.

But that's a story for another time.

Right now, Mikhael relied on this train and mana to sense people in this passenger cargo, and he only sensed six people. But this cargo had four cabins, therefore...

He moved to the doors closest to him before opening them. Inside the luxurious cabin was empty of life, only some ash scattered around when he entered. The other two were the same, save it for the last one which had some unfinished food and blood in crystal glasses, traces of resistance, a single jacket and a little toy on the ground.

"Damn it!" He cursed.

This wasn't done by Hunters.

Hunters never involved innocents, not even other vampires. Not many Hunters had a blood debt nowadays, so they didn't specially hate vampires. They only hunted the worst scum not even the other side wanted to accept.

Those cabins were all soundproof so he didn't hear anything, it was only because theirs had a little window open that they noticed explosion from earlier. One can only imagine the scale of that mess if they could hear it despite the speed the train moved.

Ethan also entered and saw the same thing. His eyes gleamed with dangerous light before he turned around to leave.

Good.

What good siblings he had, willing to even slaughter their own kind just to get 'that thing'!

"I've really underestimated you..." Constantine. Without a doubt, only Constantine would be this merciless. The rest of them would at least wait until they arrived in city and then tried to ambush them.

But apparently, Constantine didn't want to take risks and just made his move before the game even began.

It would appear that he needed to go and talk with him properly about this later.

Just as he was about to step out, he heard a sobbing sound which made him pause. Mikhael was more focused on that toy, so he also noticed the crying sound nearby. He moved to the window before crouching down. Raising his hand, he gathered mana around it before tearing down the air.

As a blood red talisman appeared in front of him, he crossed it with his hand making it snap in two, revealing a crying boy crouching in the corner.

His heart tightened as he saw him, to use the concealing talisman was easy even without mana. One only needed to drop a blood on it and it will hide that person, they were specially made for ordinary people and vampires.

Even so, it was extremely rare to get one of the red grade.

This boy's parents must've noticed something wrong so they had him hide first, Mikhael didn't doubt their sixth sense.

"It's alright now," he whispered to the boy who only cried harder. The boy could see the bodies of two people in outside of the cabin, it were precisely those that came in earlier.

In that case, the big brother with mask should be a hero that came to save him?

"You're safe now," he gathered the boy in his arms.

"Mommy and daddy are gone!"

Mikhael's heart ached once again.

"The bad guys made mommy and daddy into ash."

Damn it!

"Where are mommy and daddy?"

Why did he sleep for long? Why didn't he notice something wrong earlier?!

"I want mommy!" The boy continued to cry in his arms as Mikhael bit his lips in frustration which slowly morphed into a demonic smile. His eyes gradually became tinted with red colour as he spat out the breath he was holding on.

"It's fine, your mommy and daddy are still here," he mused, but Ethan noticed the odd tone, "You can't cry, they will be very sad."

He sniffed as he raised his hand to look at Mikhael.

"Really?"

"Yes, your mommy and daddy are still here, but you can't see them now. Still, they will always remain here to protect you, so you have to be a strong boy for now and stay with two uncles here, so that big brother can catch more big guys."

The kid wasn't really innocent, but what did he know about death being born as a vampire. He wasn't even five years old, Mikhael didn't want this child to grieve for now.

As for what happened once he learns the truth...

"Your mommy and daddy are right here now," he pointed to the boy's chest, "if you're afraid, just ask them to borrow you some bravery. They will surely respond and help you out." He stood up holding the boy's hand.

He didn't even look at Ethan as he brought him to his cabin.

"Come inside and don't leave him out of your sight," he commanded. The other two only glanced between each other before turning to Ethan.

Ethan nodded.

He could sense the killing intent Mikhael emanated at the moment, so he could guess what's the other party about to do. He was going to do the same thing while he wasn't looking, Ethan didn't want to show mercy to the scum killing their own kind without a second notice.

Especially when they had nothing to do with their goal.

The two led the little boy inside and closed the doors, trying to start conversation with him, but they weren't as effective as Mikhael.

Mikhael had that aura that made people, especially children, trust him. Perhaps it's because he took care of all those children in the past, but Mikhael of now rarely met someone who would hate him.

Still, that benevolent aura was completely suppressed with murderous intent the moment those doors to the cabin closed. He originally wanted to spare those people, but now...

"Mercy? They aren't deserving of it!" With a thought, he took out a red talisman which immediately transformed into a blade in his arms. Without an ounce of hesitation, he mercilessly slashed with his blade, killing those six in an instant.

This act alone was already far beyond Mikhael's bottom line.

And Ethan only stood next to him, carefully observing his every move.

Sure enough, Dante's eye for talented people was never wrong, although this person had some quirks. But even so, this person...

This person was indeed someone worthy of befriending.