The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Iron Hoof City Harbor.

In the middle of the night, it was still noisy and bustling; knights bored during the voyage were still making a ruckus at the harbor, either gambling, competing in drinking, or disembarking to find amusement in the city.

Liszt, however, was fast asleep in the small tower building.

As was his custom no matter how drunk, he would always take a bath before returning to his room to sleep. But today, for some reason, he had been overcome by drunkenness and went straight to bed.

Outside the cabin, servants stood watch.

There was also a team of knights patrolling back and forth, constantly on guard against the outside world—of course, many more knights were in the lower cabins drinking and playing games, just careful not to be loud and disturb Liszt's sleep.

A sailor got up in the night and fumbled his way to the toilet.

Facing a urinal that emptied directly into the sea, he relieved himself with a splash. One could imagine that the next day, Iron Hoof City Harbor would be filthy beyond measure. Almost all the ships had toilets that discharged directly into the sea, which might sound disgusting, but the sea had the power to purify.

After all, the fish and shrimp also defecated, and their waste went directly into the sea too.

It was because of this pollution that Liszt had specifically anchored the Sunset on the outskirts of the harbor, to avoid being suffocated by the stench accumulating inside.

The sailor finished up, feeling much lighter, and shivered abruptly.

He pulled up his trousers and headed back.

Suddenly, he felt a bird flying past and got a big scare, "Damn it, what kind of bird isn't sleeping at night!" He cursed, then returned to the cabin to continue sleeping.

However, what he didn't see was.

It wasn't a bird but a bat, pitch-black all over with only its eyes a blood-red color. The bat circled the Sunset once, finally determined its direction, and quietly landed above the window of the small tower building. Hanging upside down, its head just peeked over a little bit of glass, allowing it to see inside the room.

This was a bat that wasn't particularly remarkable, only the size of a palm, but its blood-red eyes were exceptionally alert.

And it was nimbly surveying the interior of the home.

Inside, one could see three servants, one man and two women; the two maids seemed to be reporting something to the manservant. Then the manservant nodded, indicating for them to continue their work. He himself took an iron out of the cupboard, fixed it with charcoal, waited for the iron to heat up, and then started pressing clothes.

After watching for a while, the bat dropped down, then flapped its wings to move to another window.

After several changes, it finally chose a room, squeezing through the gap under the door and onto the floor. The room was very dark with no lights on, but it was chilly, much cooler than outside. This made the bat's gaze momentarily dull with confusion, as if it didn't understand why the room was so cool.

But it didn't pay too much attention to this and flew up towards the bed.

Circling the bed twice, it seemed to be making sure the person sleeping on it was indeed asleep. Seeing that the sleeping person was reeking of alcohol and breathing evenly, it flew away from the bed, satisfied. The next moment, the bat at the edge of the bed suddenly emanated a crimson light.

As the light flickered, it transformed into a plump, short statured woman wearing tight black leather clothes. Her pale complexion and pitch-black hair were just visible in the dark room; her blood-red eyes were particularly clear, as if shining.

From a bat into a woman, she stood at the bedside, pulling out a small tool resembling a syringe from her swollen chest area.

Then, bending over, she seemed about to collect a bit of blood from the person asleep on the bed using the syringe.

But just as she was about to proceed.

The person who had been fast asleep suddenly stretched out a hand, grabbing the female bat's neck directly. Then, a light bloomed, though no one knew when a crystal lamp had been placed at the head of the bed. The lamp's light swiftly illuminated the room and also the owner of the arm clutching the female bat's neck.

It was indeed Liszt who had drunkenly stumbled back and immediately fallen asleep.

His eyes, swirling like starry vortexes, were full of indifference and mocking expression. His handsome face bore a faint sneer as he said, "Bats in the dark night, I thought you were some terrifying entity, but it turns out you're just a sneaky vampire. Speak, what is your identity!"

From his tone, it was clear he fully understood the nature of the female bat's assault.

And indeed he did.

In his heart, he had been aware of the Dark Night Bats for several days, so he never let his guard down. No warnings had come from his territory, and it was unlikely to encounter a bat during a voyage. Thinking it over, Bull Hoof City was clearly the best place to encounter the Dark Night Bats. That's why he had feigned drunkenness, trying to attract the Dark Night Bats.

Alcohol intoxication can be easily dispelled by circulating Dragon Dou Qi, so he couldn't actually get drunk at all.

He had only planned to give it a try and didn't hold much hope. Unexpectedly, while using his Eye of Magic in the dark room, he spotted a blood-red, glistening bat circling the tower's small building.

Therefore.

There was the act of pretending to sleep.

Lying on the bed, his body was tense, ready for confrontation. When the bat flew over the bed, he had intended to capture it; however, he didn't act rashly but waited a moment longer. Then he witnessed a miraculous scene: a bat actually transformed into a living woman.
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As suspected, a legendary vampire, able to switch between human and bat form at will.

Under the light of the lamp, the female vampire's appearance became clear: wavy black hair, blood-red pupils, a pale but beautiful face. Her seductive red lips parted slightly from Liszt's choking grip, revealing white teeth yet without the fangs that vampires were supposed to have.

Beneath the tight leather outfit, her body was curvy, with full breasts and plump buttocks, looking quite sexy.

"Why won't you answer my question?" Liszt wasn't intimidated by the vampire, gripping her throat without any mercy.

But the female vampire suddenly stuck out her tongue, licked her lips, and forced a smile.

Then her body burst with a bang, and a blood-red light flickered. She had transformed into dozens, maybe even hundreds of small bats, frantically fleeing in all directions.

The room instantly filled with bats, their chaotic flight obstructing his view, with some even launching attacks at Liszt.

"Trying to escape?"

Liszt's body burst with Dou Qi, shooting forward like an arrow, seizing a bat attempting to squeeze through the door gap.

Of all the bats, this one shone the brightest.

After catching it, he turned and punched with a surge of Dou Qi that turned into flame, roasting the bats filling the room popping and crashing into blood-red light. In the blink of an eye, the room full of bats was left with only a few still aimlessly flying, but none daring to approach Liszt again.

The bat in his hand screeched shrilly, struggling to escape his grip.

Although Liszt wasn't gripping tightly, he released a dense High-level Fire Attribute Dragon Dou Qi, easily overpowering the blood-red magic power emitted by the bat.

"Stop struggling, you think you can escape from my grasp?" As the foremost person below a Dragon Knight, Liszt felt his power was unfathomably deep.

A sneaky vampire, how could it possibly escape from his hands.

In any Knight's novel, aside from their elusive behavior, vampires didn't seem to possess much strength. After a few confrontations, he had already gauged the vampire woman's strength. Physically weak, it was evident she wasn't a Knight-like being, but rather a caster similar to a magician.

A caster, when confronted up close by a Knight, let alone a Half-Step Dragon Knight, the outcome is predictable.