42: Induction

Back in the room.

Before Serena could even close the door, Erica followed her in.

Once all three were inside, Serena locked the door securely to prevent anyone from eavesdropping.

She then pulled Locke Galahad to the sofa, where she and Erica stared at him intensely.

Locke Galahad felt a bit uncomfortable under their gaze and rubbed the tip of his nose.

"Stop staring at me, will you? If you have something to ask, just ask."

Serena and Erica exchanged a glance, then, without a word, pulled him up and began to inspect him, hands moving all over him.

They pulled back his collar to check his shoulders and neck, rolled up his sleeves to examine his arms, and Erica even subconsciously reached out to undo his belt to check his lower body.

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?"

Locke Galahad had never seen such a scene before and hurriedly waved his hands. "I don't think this is the time for that kind of thing, is it?"

Serena poked his head in annoyance. "What is going on in your head? How can you have the mood to joke at a time like this?"

"Serena and I are just checking you over."

After discovering he wasn't injured, Erica took advantage of a moment when Serena wasn't looking to quietly pinch his inner thigh.

"Looking at you now, it seems like you're completely fine. I don't know how you survived. Could it really be that you were just lucky enough to escape, as you claimed?"

"Cough, cough, cough. Of course not. That was just something I said for them to hear. There's no such thing as being that lucky."

Locke Galahad was nearly startled by her bold action, coughed twice, and shot her a fierce glare.

"This woman is truly bold. Serena is right here, and she still dares to make such intimate gestures toward me."

After getting the answer she wanted, Erica blushed slightly and stuck out her tongue nonchalantly.

The reason she took the risk right under Serena's nose was that for the past few days, whenever she closed her eyes, she would see visions of herself and Locke Galahad entangled together.

She had acted on impulse and couldn't help herself.

Once Serena was sure he wasn't injured, she looked at him with a hint of resentment.

"You went out on a mission, and when it failed, you didn't even send us a message. You left the two of us here at the base worrying for nothing."

She didn't care about the details of the mission; what she cared about most was Locke Galahad himself.

"Didn't I rush back as soon as I finished?"

Locke Galahad scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed, as this was indeed his fault.

After all, logically, he could have returned much sooner, but he had spent a bit too much time playing with the snow-white Emilia, which caused the delay.

But he felt he couldn't be entirely blamed; who could blame him when Emilia was just too alluring?

Anyone else might not have handled it better than he did.

"You, oh you."

Erica felt some resentment as well, shook her head, and said irritably:

"If I hadn't been constantly trying to persuade Serena, she would have torn things apart with Kraven today and gone down with him."

"If I hadn't stopped her, I'm afraid that when you returned alive, you would have only been looking at Serena's corpse."

Locke Galahad's pupils constricted, and his expression shifted subtly, losing his previous calm and composure.

"Serena, is what Erica says true?"

"Yes." Because of her impulsiveness, Serena didn't dare to look at him and turned her head away.

"You... sigh..."

Locke Galahad wanted to scold her, but the words wouldn't come. In the end, it only turned into a silent sigh.

"Why are you sighing?" Hearing him sigh, Serena quickly turned her head back and stared at him, pouting.

"The reason I acted like that is your fault. If you had come back sooner or told me the news, I wouldn't have ended up like that."

"Uh..."

Locke Galahad was dumbfounded; he opened his mouth but dared not say a word.

"What are you 'uh'-ing about? Next time something like this happens, you must contact us immediately."

"Okay, I will."

Locke Galahad nodded and agreed to Serena's instructions; this wasn't difficult for him at all.

"Serena, you must never be so impulsive again. I don't want to be separated from you by life and death."

"Hmph, you only know how to say things to please me."

Serena's heart raced at his words. She quickly turned her head away again, deliberately putting on an icy expression, not wanting Locke Galahad to see her blushing.

But the sharp-eyed Locke Galahad still noticed the slight curl of her lips, and a smile couldn't help but touch his own eyes.

"Alright, don't you want to know what actually happened on this mission?"

As soon as he said this, Serena and Erica became interested. The two of them sandwiched him in the middle, staring at him with curiosity.

"Tell us quickly."

Locke Galahad raised his hand and pointed to his cheek. Serena, on his right, glanced shyly at Erica, then shook her head and refused. "No."

Erica's eyes lit up, and she tilted her head up, preparing to kiss him.

"Hey, Erica, what are you doing?"

But before her red lips could touch Locke Galahad's face, Serena blocked her.

Caught by the main partner, Erica didn't feel embarrassed. "I'm just doing it for you, aren't I? Since you're not willing, I guess I'll have to do it."

"I... I am not unwilling."

With that, she reached out, hooked her arms around Locke Galahad's neck, and kissed him.

However, the moment she made contact with Locke Galahad's cheek, she pulled away immediately and turned her head to the side, not daring to look at him. "Now you can tell us, right?"

Seeing the shy expression on her icy-cold, pretty face, Locke Galahad felt a secret thrill.

"This mission was truly extremely dangerous. If my marksmanship hadn't been superior, I might not have made it back."

To make the story more engaging, Locke Galahad intentionally exaggerated.

"Oh, stop keeping us in suspense and just tell us."

Because she had just lost out, Serena didn't want to hear him stall and immediately urged him on.

"Alright, alright. Actually, after Claube and his group ambushed and killed Elder Emilia, I caught them off guard, drew my gun, and avenged the Elder."

"So that's what happened. No wonder you didn't dare to tell the truth."

Locke Galahad's words were half-true and half-false, and Serena nodded, believing him completely.

He didn't mean to deceive Serena and Erica; he mainly had reasons for having to do so.

Only by making Serena believe that Elder Emilia was dead and that Kraven had malicious intentions would she potentially disregard the internal rules of the Vampire Clan and awaken Victor. Only then would he have an opportunity to complete his mission.

"It's a good thing you were smart enough not to say that just now, otherwise Kraven would definitely not have let you off easily."

Serena looked at him with lingering fear, and Erica's heart was pounding non-stop. "It's a good thing your marksmanship is good; otherwise, you would likely have fallen for Kraven's trap."

Locke Galahad shook his head and said with deep concern, "But the biggest crisis now is that Elder Emilia is dead. Kraven is very likely to join forces with the Lycans to launch an attack on the Vampire Clan."

"You make sense. We cannot let Kraven succeed."

Serena fell into deep thought, then looked up at Locke Galahad and Erica. "I don't want either of you to die at the hands of the Lycans. At worst, I'll risk punishment from my adoptive father to wake him up."

Hearing this, Locke Galahad felt a surge of joy. "Finally, the goal is achieved. Victor, you probably never expected someone to come and kill you."

As long as he took out Victor, and then eliminated Marcus and William, his main mission would likely have no further obstacles.

There was no other way; Victor was the biggest obstacle to harmony between the Vampire Clan and the Lycans. Locke Galahad had to kill him; only by killing this guy could he better complete his mission.

Furthermore, the fact that the other party had slaughtered Serena's entire family gave him one more reason to kill him.