"Anya! What the hell are you doing? Stop right now. Let Autumn go."
Ethan hurriedly tried to pull Anya away from Autumn, but he couldn't. Even though Anya never liked showing off in combat, she was still clearly far stronger than him - a mere human boy.
A few seconds later, Anya suddenly lifted her head…
Pfft!
She puffed out her cheeks and spat out a mouthful of pitch-black blood, mixed with a tiny object shimmering with a silver glow. It was the hidden weapon from the Anti-Vampire Defense System - the very thing that had left Autumn looking like a motionless, ice-cold corpse.
The brows of the Vampire girl famous for having the attention span of a goldfish twitched slightly. Even though the muscles on her face kept spasming from the so-called "Cursed Blood" flowing through Autumn's veins, she still lowered her head again and continued sucking out the poisoned blood.
When Ethan saw the black veins on Autumn's body gradually fading away, and her tiny fingers twitch ever so slightly, he suddenly understood why Anya had acted this way.
Autumn's brothers and Ruby's older sister were still on their way here. But judging from Ruby's condition, it was obvious that the girls - once so beautiful - would have a hard time preserving even their appearances while waiting. That was why Anya had risked her own health to help Autumn - the only Vampire in the room powerful enough to restrain or even defeat Kai - recover her strength.
Realizing this, Ethan no longer dared interfere with Anya's work.
After that, every few seconds, Anya spat out another mouthful of blood. But the poison within Autumn's "Cursed Blood," which was harmful to her own kind, continued affecting her. Sweat drenched the face of the pastel pink-haired Vampire girl.
"GRAAAAA!"
From the middle of the room, Kai suddenly roared like a monster, startling everyone.
The sofa held high above Kai's head swung left and right, following the violent trembling of his body. It was as if the remaining traces of his humanity did not want him to throw it, but his body no longer obeyed his reason.
Boom!
The sofa flew straight toward Ruby. Fortunately, she was pulled away just in time before the heavy object crashed down onto her limp body.
But Ruby was unlucky as well. Her stunning, hot body gained even more cuts from the sharp shards of broken mirror scattered across the floor. At the time, Ethan hadn't had the luxury of carrying her carefully - he had only managed to grab both of her wrists and drag her across the ground to get her out of danger as quickly as possible.
Still, Vampires healed extremely well anyway. The cuts on Ruby's body would recover soon enough without leaving a single scar behind.
"YOUUUU! Stop right there!"
Kai roared when he realized what Ethan had done. But there were no objects left around him to throw anymore.
Knowing Kai's weakness well, Ethan ignored him and dragged Ruby all the way behind the armchair.
Seeing this, Anya paused her work and flashed Ethan a grin with her chipped fangs. Seeing the pain hidden within Anya's bloodstained smile of gratitude, Ethan nodded back in thanks - because life had finally returned to Autumn.
Still lying on the floor, her trembling hands clutching weakly at the ground and her knees slightly curled, Autumn bit her lip as tears threatened to spill from her eyes, but she still couldn't stand up yet. The black veins on her neck and shoulders had not completely disappeared, while Anya herself seemed close to reaching her limit. She looked as though she might faint at any second.
"I need… more time…"
With a voice gone hoarse, Anya spoke between ragged breaths. Her broken voice no longer carried the childish, absent-minded tone she usually had.
It seemed that Anya…
…wasn't truly as airheaded, careless, or even stupid as she always pretended to be.
Why was she hiding her true self?
Though his mind was filled with questions, Ethan had no choice but to put them aside for now, because Kai had already taken another one or two steps closer. And with his gigantic body - nearly 230 centimeters tall with absurdly long legs - that meant he was already dangerously close to Ethan and the girls.
"Hey, Poodle! I'm over here. Come get meee."
Ethan dashed out from the Vampires' hiding spot. As he ran, he shouted to provoke Kai while quickly surveying the battlefield.
There was no way he could lure Kai near the entrance anymore, because over there, Yara was still hiding inside the giant spherical cocoon made from her own pale blue hair.
And if, by some chance, Kai managed to escape the VIP Dressing Room - and drank even a single drop of blood from some unlucky human inside Harmony High - it would become a disaster for everyone here… including himself.
Even though Ethan had only known Kai for a short time and didn't particularly like his personality, he still couldn't bear to let that lovesick boy meet the same fate as the Feral Vampires that had appeared in Harmony Town before.
In short, the only area left spacious enough to lure that horn-headed Infected into was the center of the room, where the grand piano had once stood. And somehow, Ethan had to find a way to keep him there - until Autumn recovered enough strength to fight again.
Well…
That was going to be difficult.
"Coward! Stop running!!!"
Kai roared.
Blood streamed down Kai's legs as he forced himself to move after Ethan.
And from those wounds… things kept writhing in and out.
Good grief!
If those were tentacles or eyeballs forming, then this was really bad. Autumn probably wouldn't even be able to overcome such a deeply feminine fear to fight something that disgusting.
Distracted by the slimy things emerging from the wounds of the Infected who had once been barely over 150 centimeters tall, Ethan suddenly saw a huge crater appear right beneath his feet. His face turned pale as Kai pulled his fist back.
He needed to be even more careful and faster!
Thinking that, Ethan quickly darted behind Kai, forcing him to awkwardly twist his body - with all sixteen abs of it - to face him again.
Ethan silently thanked Mr. Silvan for all those morning exercises: running, climbing mountains, swinging on ropes, and practicing parkour in the forest near his house. The man might have been overly strict, but thanks to that training, Ethan now had enough speed and stamina to stall Kai and buy time for the Vampire girls.
"Hey! Who's the real coward here? Who was it that threw an entire sofa at an unconscious girl? You said you loved her, so how could you treat her like that?"
Ethan challenged Kai.
Although he had slowed down slightly, Ethan still carefully maintained enough distance to stay outside Kai's reach.
And he hoped that this Infected would become distracted by his questions and slow down his attacks.