"Most of them went out with the angel guards, some went to the shopping district to find lighting supplies, they haven't come back yet..."

Norma's voice revealed a hint of worry, it's understandable given the situation outside.

"I think it's best if we don't make bright lights anymore..."

The shrieks from the creatures in the sky just now made me feel uneasy. What if our location gets discovered because of the lights?

But just after I finished speaking, another shriek sounded, even closer this time. Then I saw swarms of shadows rushing in through the windows.

"Ahhh!"

Juliet and Gwen screamed and hid under the service counter, too shocked to know what to do.

I had no choice but to quickly cast two "Light Shields", one in front of Norma and one for myself, barely blocking the first wave of impact.

Bats?

In that instant when the shadows collided with my shield, I seemed to make out their silhouette. Among the creatures I know, only vampires match that bat-like form. But even if they were vampires, why would so many come at once?

After crashing into us once, the bats seemed to realize the angels were tough opponents. They didn't linger in the hall but flew back out as quickly as they came.

"Be careful! I almost forgot monsters can also locate us by the light element."

Seeing Norma was unharmed, I yelled to remind them. But it was useless to say it now, our location was exposed.

The abundant light elements in the air could have provided some cover earlier, but after dissipating outside for a while, almost nothing was left.

"Then... what do we do? There's nowhere left to hide?"

Gwen and Juliet poked their heads out from behind the counter, trembling as they asked.

Somehow those two didn't seem injured. Their hiding spot was quite good.

"There's nowhere left to hide!"

With a shrill laugh, the ceiling was suddenly blasted open. A figure plunged from above.

"Since my kin found you, how could I let you escape?"

"Another vampire!"

Seeing his coat and tailcoat through the hole's light, my body started shaking too. I couldn't help backing away one step.

Our luck today was just too bad, running into our nemesis right off the bat. I still vividly remembered almost dying under a vampire before!

But this one seemed weaker than the last, probably not sixth level yet based on his dark aura.

If he was only fifth order, we angels working together should have no problem defeating him. We took down Camille, another fifth-order succubus, so...

"Feliciana, we're counting on you! You must destroy him!"

Under the powerful aura of a high-order creature, Juliet and Gwen didn't dare come out from the counter. I could only hear their voices.

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Norma wasn't much better. Realizing something was wrong, she hid over there, but the space was too small and half her wings stuck out.

"Hey now! This wasn't my plan!"

I was completely stunned. They were only one order below me, yet they chickened out this badly?

"You got second place in the magic contest! With your skills, it's different for us!"

Norma's voice came from behind as she cheered me on.

"Go for it, blast him away with your best magic!"

"Hahaha, so this is what angels are really like? Not like the legends at all!"

Seeing this situation, the vampire burst into loud mocking laughter.

"You dared to come alone when you knew we were angels. Looks like you want to die?"

On the surface, I retorted him tit for tat, but secretly I felt a little uneasy. Although I learned a lot of magic in Edenmere recently, facing a near sixth-order creature alone still made me nervous.

"Who said it was just me?"

Just as he finished speaking, another black shadow dropped down from the ceiling...

A second vampire!

"Crap!"

I wanted to slap myself for jinxing it with my big mouth! The newcomer felt just as strong as the first. They seemed to be identical twins.

What a nasty combo! As if one wasn't bad enough. Double the "fun".

"Norma, I suggest we strategically retreat..."

Without daring to turn my head, I whispered back to discuss escape plans.

"It's just one more, right? Champion of the magic contest, Phoebe, once said she could fight ten creatures at once. As runner-up, two shouldn't be an issue for you either, right?"

Juliet snuck another peek at me.

"That depends on the opponents!"

I was speechless. This girl was just a sheltered little bird. She had no clue how dangerous the outside world was.

"Who said there were only two of us?"

But to my surprise, both vampires responded in unison to her words.

As their voices faded, a third vampire plunged from above...

"What the heck... will this ever end?"

I was in chaos! Three fifth-order creatures? Way too much to ask of me!

"We're triplets, we always act together. You think we'd dare attack the angels' base alone otherwise?"

The three vampires lined up together, looking even more identical now. The last arrival even licked his lips and chuckled weirdly.

"I wonder how angel blood tastes..."

"Angel blood is pure light element. Aren't you afraid you'll burn your mouth?"

I couldn't help retorting. Looking back at the three still hiding behind the counter, escaping seemed impossible now. No way could we win a confrontation, so I had to stall them while finding another way out.

"That six-winged angel looks quite strong. I heard she got second place in some magic contest. We should attack together, don't give her a chance to pick us off one by one!"

The first vampire was more cautious. He reminded the other two while moving to attack me.

"Michelle! You came too!"

I suddenly acted surprised, pointing at the hole in the ceiling and shouting.

"Huh? Lady Michelle?"

As expected, all three vampires looked up, but of course, nothing was there.

"You tricked us!?"

Gotcha! My mouth curled into a faint smile. With a downward sweep of my raised hand...

"Ever heard of an aerial magic attack?"

I will never forget the advanced magic I learned at the contest, "Paradise Lost Shockwave". Its range was huge. And after relentless practice these past months, my new record casting time was... 3 seconds!

As an enormous pillar of light descended through the hole, the three vampires were caught right in the center.

Without checking the damage, I immediately circled the counter to drag the three scaredy cats out the window before the enemies recovered.

"Why are you running?"

Clearly, Juliet and the others didn't understand yet, but they flew up under my pull anyway.

"Hurry and follow me, we're outmatched indoors!"

I planned to get outside while they were still dazed from the spell, widening the distance before engaging again.

Once we reached the open air, it would be the angels' domain. I knew these vampires couldn't fly in human form, they had to revert to bats. And bats were slower than angels. We could easily escape or pick them off one by one.

It was flawless! I couldn't think of a better plan. As long as the vampires didn't pursue us, we had zero losses.

Now everything was ready, just had to see how they reacted.

"Wait, Feliciana!"

But right before flying out the window, Juliet's voice suddenly called me back.

"Something's wrong with them..."

"Huh?"

I immediately turned to look. In the gray outdoor light, the three "corpses" were sprawled motionless amid the hall's wreckage.

"No way, I didn't even attack yet. What about the plan?"

I didn't expect this outcome.

"What plan?"

Norma asked, still confused about what I was doing.

"Nothing..."

Not sure how to explain, I looked at the "corpses" and said,

"They can't be playing dead right? That would be too lame."

Being cautious, I didn't dare approach. But it seemed after being blasted by "Paradise Lost Shockwave", the vampires had shrunk to a fraction of their earlier size.