Chapter 207 – Sophie, the Vampire Princess

Dark Realm Creatures could sense when one of the Seven Monarchs of Desire appeared in the human world.

Of the forty-seven anomalous Dark Realm energy fluctuations detected by the Countermeasures Bureau, one had occurred on the outskirts of Z City.

Several hours earlier…

Atop an abandoned clock tower on the edge of Z City, Vampire Princess Sophie reclined against the tip of a rusted hour hand.

The hem of her black lace dress hung twelve meters above the ground like a pair of inverted bat wings.

Pale fingers toyed with a strand of silver hair. Her bloodred pupils contracted into narrow slits, focusing on the mana storm erupting in the distant sky.

“My, my… What a marvelous show.”

Sophie’s voice was sweet as honey, and her fangs gleamed like pearls in the moonlight.

Her Thermal Vision captured every detail of the battle five kilometers away. The Queen of Lust’s purple-black mana collided with the three different energies of the Magical Girls, bursting into lethal “fireworks” across the night sky.

A huge black bat flapped down onto Sophie’s shoulder and squeaked several times.

Sophie scratched beneath its chin with one pointed nail.

“Don’t rush me into reporting to Lord Drax. They haven’t finished fighting yet…”

She shifted position and crossed her legs, revealing the point where her black stockings met their lace garters. Pinned there was a badge forged from Shadow Alloy, engraved with the mark of Drax the Destroyer:

A longsword piercing a skull.

The badge radiated faint heat, reminding her to keep communications open.

“Lord Drax is always so impatient…”

Sophie pouted. The Shadow Communicator on her pointed ear blinked faintly.

For the moment, she ignored her superior’s summons and continued watching the battle.

Through the Thermal Vision unique to a Vampire Princess, she saw the Queen of Lust glide elegantly through the gaps between the Magical Girls’ attacks. Every sweep of her hand raised ripples of pinkish-purple mana.

To Sophie’s eyes, those ripples possessed a distinctive spectrum-like wine laced with gold dust, magnificent and dangerous.

“What a waste…” Sophie sighed as one Magical Girl crumpled under the Wind of Lust. “Such exquisite virgin blood should be savored properly…”

The battle suddenly shifted.

The Queen of Lust apparently had no intention of killing the three Magical Girls. She took the Super-Grade Disaster who wielded Fireballs and the Giant Dragon-and left.

“She’s just leaving?!”

Sophie sat bolt upright. Her pupils expanded until they nearly filled her eyes, a sign that the Vampire Princess had pushed her observational ability to its limit.

“Wait, what? She crushed the Magical Girls, and now she’s not going to finish them off?”

“The Queen of Lust suddenly appears, rescues someone, and doesn’t kill anyone?!”

“Is she really one of the Seven Monarchs of Desire…?”

The Shadow Communicator began vibrating violently. Drax’s will forced its way into the connection.

Sophie reluctantly touched one pointed ear. “I’m listening, my lord.”

“You are three minutes and twenty-seven seconds late.” A cold synthetic voice emerged from the communicator. Drax never used his true voice. “Report.”

Sophie narrowed her eyes as the Queen of Lust opened a spatial gate, sent Lin Xi and the Giant Dragon away, then dissolved into drifting petals.

The three Magical Girls withdrew in miserable condition, obvious traces of pinkish-purple contamination covering their bodies.

“Just as you predicted, the Queen of Lust really is in Z City. She appeared moments ago, but she wasn’t here to cause destruction. She came to rescue someone.”

“What?! Rescue someone?! Who?!”

“One was… well, a Super-Grade Disaster who uses Fireballs. The other was Dragon Princess Thor, whom you previously sent on a mission to Z City. She never returned.”

“What?! Thor?! And a Super-Grade Disaster?! What is the Queen of Lust’s relationship with those two? What is Thor’s relationship with this Super-Grade Disaster?”

“Well…” Sophie pursed her lips. “So far, I’ve only seen them fighting the Magical Girls. I don’t know the details.”

The other end of the communicator went silent for several seconds.

“Sophie, remain in Z City and investigate,” Drax finally ordered.

Sophie stroked the bat on her shoulder. “Infiltrate Z City? That sounds fun.”

“This is not an adventure game!” A burst of imperious static crackled through the communicator. Drax’s voice sharpened. “We are preparing for the arrival of the great Monarch of Pride!”

“And remember-do not fail me the way Thor did.”

“Find out what happened. If Thor has betrayed us, kill her.”

Sophie’s expression immediately sobered. She rose with effortless grace, her skirt spreading like flower petals.

“As you command, my lord.”

The moment the connection ended, she made a face at the empty air.

“If Thor, that Super-Grade Disaster, and the Queen of Lust are all on the same side, how am I supposed to kill her?”

She turned to the bat on her shoulder.

“Find their trail. And don’t let them spot you.”

Sophie flicked out a drop of her own blood and fed it to the bat. The creature swallowed it, abruptly shrank to the size of a bee, and glided soundlessly into the night.

She looked toward the place where the Super-Grade Disaster had vanished.

“She endured the combined assault of three Magical Girls by herself and even fought them to a draw…”

Sophie’s fangs unconsciously lengthened by an inch.

Even from so far away, she could smell the power on Lin Xi.

That ancient, overwhelming aura stirred the instincts of vampirekind in her blood.

“I would love to have a taste…”

Sophie’s soft laughter scattered into the night wind as her Bat Scout flew toward Z City.

…

Sophie’s true body curled in the shadows of Z City’s tallest clock tower like a lazy black cat.

She split off a thread of consciousness and attached it to the scouting bat, allowing the night wind to carry its tiny body over the city.

“The third window on the left…” Sophie guided it through their Vampire Mental Link. “That’s the Super-Grade Disaster’s scent! The scent of someone strong!”

Sophie abruptly sat upright.

The bat landed silently on an outdoor air-conditioning unit and peered through a gap in the blinds.

Sophie shared its vision, her bloodred pupils glowing faintly in the darkness.

What she saw nearly sent her tumbling off the clock tower.

“W-what kind of humiliating role-play is this?!”

Inside the spacious apartment kitchen, a tall young woman worked with her back to the window.

She wore a black-and-white Maid uniform, its ruffled apron tied around her slender waist. Beneath the skirt, a dragon tail covered in emerald scales swayed gently to the tune she was humming.

Two small dragon horns gleamed like honey in the warm light.

Sophie recognized her at once. Human form or not, Maid uniform or not, that was unmistakably Dragon Princess Thor.

“Lord Drax would never imagine this…” Sophie’s true body covered her mouth. “The mighty Dragon Princess Thor he entrusted with an important mission is working as somebody’s Maid!”