**

Dragged out of the carriage, Red fell to the ground. His clothes are tattered and torn while cuts and bruises can be seen visibly with a glance of a look. This was the appearance of livestock to the vampires.

Sure enough, this is the vampire's hideout, Red thought to himself as the first thing he saw were other humans in the same state as him. Or even worse. Some of them were chained with a collar attached to their neck and dragged to move like a dog. Some were forced to be the seat of the vampires.

This was truly a difficult sight to digest even for Red.

Deep in his heart, Red's fury started erupting. His rage paced along with his heartbeat it started increasing at a faster pace as more humans were seen dragged into the castle.

[Calm down. Thou are on enemy territory.]

Then, a child no more than the age of 5 appeared, dragged by another vampire leashing him like a dog.

Thu-Thunk.

Red's heart sank. As his rage rise beyond what he could control. He wasn't able to stand and do anything.

THUNK!

But he couldn't act rashly. Red immediately clenched his teeth to control his emotion. His job here was to get information. Not to be a hero.

However, in that short time when he was about to break loose. What Red didn't know was that he had leaked out his bloodlust unintentionally, catching the attention of every one of the pureblooded vampires.

Now, all bloodlust from the higher vampires has directed their bloodlust onto Red.

[Bloodlust detected]

"!"

[You suffer from the status effect: Fear]

[Strength temporarily decreased]

Red, surprised by the sudden notification, took a closer look at his skill.

<Killer Instinct Lv. 7>

Bloodlust can be activated voluntarily. Able to sense bloodlust within a radius of 1 km.

Able to withstand the Enemy's bloodlust and pressure unless they are a lot stronger than you.

[Looks like there are several of them a lot stronger than thou, judging by their bloodlust. Don't act rashly.] Ryong warned while Red complied quietly, continuing his role as a prisoner.

Vone dragged Red as both of them reached a ballroom of sought where more vampires can be found inside. These vampires were dressed in fancy clothing, almost like the nobles from those historical TV shows. Some of them were dressed in modern attire, such as wearing business-branded suits and dresses or owning several expensive accessories. However, the thing that all of these vampires share is the fact that they have a human being beside them degraded to what seems like a pet to them. 

In other words, humans are a plaything for them to showcase, it seems.

The vampires in the ballroom began conversing among themselves, socializing and catching up with one another. On their hands were wine glasses filled with a thick bright liquid as every sip they took filled their faces with pure ecstasy, making them ingest more.

 [Those are...]

'Blood of the human beings. I know.'

[*Master...*]

'It's ok. I'm ok.'

It was vile how the vampires were drinking the blood of a person like water, yet in Red's mind, he had to endure it so that he could collect the info he needed. He was able to stomach the stench of the blood due to his experience as an awakener.

However, not as much as the others, it would seem.

One of the noble's humans must have figured out what was in his master's drink, which ended up throwing up in public, making a scene in the ballroom and ruining his master's dress.

The whole room stared in silence as all eyes lay on the human and his master. The man then started shaking and vibrating violently in fear.

The silent noble stood up from her seat and walked calmly towards her slave. With a single look of disgust towards the man, she swipes her hand directly where the man's neck was located.

SKinth!

Thud.

Something dropped on the ground and rolled towards the noble where she took her leg to step on the object.

It was the head of the slave.

The noble lady vampire then spoke, "Even in death, you continue to humiliate me," before squashing the head and leaving, apologising for the unsightly scene earlier.

That one act instinctively scared every human in the room as they kept quiet, averting their eyes to whatever was left of the man's body.

All except Red's eyes.

Because of his mask, no one was able to predict his reaction. Yet he was still drawing attention because of it.

"Viscount Vone, I see you have bought your pet this time. He is rather unique, isn't he?" 

An elder male approached, leering Red from head to toe similar to how one would inspect the freshness of a fish in the market, Red was being seen as goods ready to be sold or traded at any time.

"Ah, Marquis Adon! It's great to see you." Vone replied while bowing.

"And to you too. So where did you get this one over here? His bone structure is dense, and his physique is similar to the olden days' swordsman, while his vitality is incredibly strong. On top of that, he has mana in his body. It's a truly fine specimen if I say so myself."

"Thank you for the compliments, Marquis," Vone replied while bowing.

"So how much for him?" The old man known as Adon said while grabbing his coin pouch and counting the gold he had inside it.

"!"

"Surely, you jest..."

"Nonsense, for a human of this quality in this age, he is valuable. What's your price?"

As Adon started bargaining, his voice was spoken in a louder tone, which attracted the attention of the other vampire nobles.

"Well? How much for him?" Adon pressured on while Vone kept quiet. The rest of the nobles started mumbling among themselves,

"A mere viscount was about to refuse an order from a marquis?"

"Is that allowed?"

"No, he will be punished for insubordination by the queen directly."

 The murmuring among them got louder as talks of how Vone was showing disrespect to a higher rank noble was spreading like wildfire, garnering the attention of every vampire there. With no other choice, Vone bowed his head straight down and replied to Adon.

"My apologies, Marquis Adon. I simply can't give this human to you. He is meant to be a gift that I prepared, given to our beloved queen."

"For the Queen?" Adon repeated Vone's answer curiously as if doubting his answer. But before he could continue interrogating him, a set of sounds echoed through the hall.

Click

Klak

Click

A set of high heels can be heard ascending down from somewhere as the curtains from the ballroom, untangled themselves, and slowly revealed the imposing aura of the person behind it.

[She's here.]

KACHINK

The curtains opened fashionably while a ray of light shines directly upon the stage as the rest of the light in the ballroom seemingly extinguished.

The sound of high heels clicking against the ground gradually got louder as the figure appeared right in front of the stage, followed by the rainfall of rose petals scattered all over the stage.

"I present you, the Queen."

The queen then reveals herself upon shining under the light while every one of the vampires simultaneously kneeled to show respect for their queen.

[...]

[*...*]

'...'

Instinctively, the 3 beings in Red's mind all muttered the same thing.

[*Disgustingly flashy...*]

'Extra flashy.'

That was when Red figured out that he was the only one standing. The rest of the humans were on all fours with their heads placed on the ground as if they were praying to a god before them.

'Shit!' Vine thought to himself as he failed to remind Red of the vampire etiquette when it comes to facing royalty. Those who fail to perform the necessary respect are punishable by death immediately.

Alas, the Queen approached Red slowly with every step she took, the sounds of her heels clicking echoed through the ballrooms, taking the last step, she stood directly in front of Red. Starting down at him.

'Jesus, she's freaking tall.'

Standing at least 2 meters, the Queen raised her hand, removing her gloves and revealing her pale and beautiful-looking hand befitting of a noble lady. Using her index finger to lift Red's head, staring directly at the mask.

"What do we have here, hmm?"