58: Completely silenced (still 10,000 views per day)

The Vampires belonging to Kraven's faction sneered, looking at Locke with mockery, clearly disbelieving his claim.

They assumed this was merely Locke trying to take the fall for Serena, shouldering the capital crime of killing a kinsman.

But that was not what they wanted to see. Regardless of the truth, they only hoped that Serena was the killer.

Because Kraven was the leader of their faction, and now that their leader was dead, they certainly could not allow Locke to take the blame and let Serena escape judgment.

However, there were some rational ones among this group of Vampires, such as the old Vampire who had led them earlier. He neither doubted nor fully believed the claim, but thought calmly before offering his own suggestion to Locke:

"Since you claim to have killed Lord Kraven, are you aware that killing a kinsman is a capital crime? You had better think carefully; this is no time for jokes."

"A capital crime? Heh, and who exactly do you expect to sentence me to death? Victor? Or Marcus?"

Facing the accusations and threats of the crowd, Locke remained unmoved. He simply looked up calmly at the Vampire questioning him and said:

"If you do not believe me, you are welcome to come and test whether I am capable of it. Or, if you wish to avenge Kraven, you may all come at me together."

"Are you not afraid of death? This is a crime even more serious than betraying our kind. If you shoulder this, even Lady Serena cannot protect you."

"Of course, if you tell the truth and implicate Serena, I believe Elder Victor will not hold it against you."

Kraven's subordinates were still unwilling to give up, trying to find a way to make him shift the blame for Kraven's death onto Serena.

Then they could ask Elder Victor to preside over justice.

Only then could their faction maintain a balance with Serena's, preventing them from being completely swallowed by the other side after today.

Locke, naturally, remained unmoved by such words. As for trying to threaten him by invoking Victor, it was completely useless.

He was not afraid of Victor or Marcus. Both of them were targets he intended to hunt, so how could they possibly strike fear into him?

Locke simply raised his chin calmly, and then said in a tone of contempt:

"Stop with the nonsense. Even if I were to leave right now, is there any one of you who could stop me? Or, is there anyone here capable of killing me?"

As soon as Locke finished speaking, his gaze suddenly sharpened. He was not bragging. Even if all the Vampires present attacked him together, they would be no match for him.

This was the massive difference between an extraordinary being and an ordinary creature. Although Vampires were already extraordinary beings in the eyes of ordinary humans, to Locke, this group of common Vampires was no different from ordinary people.

Killing this group of Vampires was just as effortless as killing any other creature. A single bullet or a single swing of a blade was all it would take to easily send them to hell. Even without a weapon, he could find a hundred ways to kill them.

As Locke spoke, the cold, stern aura that quietly emanated from him immediately startled the Vampires. Combined with his murderous gaze, the Vampires began to involuntarily believe the fact that he had indeed killed Kraven.

After all, none of them were fools; such a gaze could not possibly appear on a weakling.

"Could it really be that he defeated Lord Kraven and killed him?"

"This... is truly hard to believe."

"I don't believe it!"

A stubborn Vampire from Kraven's faction, emboldened, stepped forward to challenge him:

"Since you claim to have killed him, I will now escort you both to Elder Victor and let him preside over justice for Lord Kraven."

"I refuse to believe that you will still be able to spout such nonsense in front of Elder Victor."

The main reason was that he simply could not believe that Locke, a novice Vampire of less than half a month, could kill Kraven, an elite Vampire who had survived for centuries. Even though the gaze and aura Locke had just displayed made him feel uneasy, it still wasn't enough to convince him.

Stubbornness is a disease that must be treated, and Locke specialized in curing those with a stubborn mouth.

"You... escort me? Heh, I'm afraid that's wishful thinking."

Locke did not indulge him. With a slight downward curl of his lips, he flashed forward in the next instant, appearing before the Vampire in the blink of an eye. None of the surrounding Vampires could track his movement; they all gasped in shock, feeling as if they had a fishbone caught in their throats.

Locke looked at the stubborn fool who had yet to react and sneered:

"It's not that... I look down on you, but a Vampire like you isn't even worth the effort of killing. Had you not insisted on jumping out, I might have spared your life today, but now... heh."

The Vampire had never seen such a sight and was instantly stunned. Looking at Locke, who had rushed before him at lightning speed, he couldn't even manage a gesture of resistance. He could only widen his eyes, staring at him with a helpless gaze. He realized too late that something was wrong and tried to beg for mercy.

"I..."

But the moment his mouth opened, his voice was silenced forever. Locke, holding a silver dagger, simply gave a light flick forward.

"Die."

The command fell, and the blade followed. A flash of silver light instantly illuminated the eyes of everyone in the room; the cold, sharp gleam of the blade swept across the Vampire's neck in an instant.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. No one had expected such a sudden turn of events. From the moment Locke rushed forward to the moment he struck, the entire process took less than a second—merely a fleeting instant. The next moment, everyone saw that the Vampire, who had been clamoring just a second before, had suddenly gone silent.

A spray of crimson blood immediately erupted into the crowd, and the pale head fell to the ground. Driven by momentum, it bounced a few times like a ball before finally rolling to the feet of the other Vampires. The look of astonishment and terror still lingered on the Vampire's face, though there was no pain. Because Locke's strike had been so swift, he had lost his life before he could even react, so how could he possibly feel pain?

Soon, the previously clean floor was dyed bright red, and another headless corpse lay on the ground, its state of death even more gruesome than Kraven's. The bowl-sized wound was flat and smooth, like a mirror; this swordsmanship was nothing short of art.

In that instant, Locke had stunned every Vampire present with a single move. The scene immediately caused the Vampires, who had previously been clamoring and suspicious of him, to widen their eyes and open their mouths wide enough to fit an egg, not daring to make another sound.

Having witnessed such a scene, no one dared to utter the questioning words they had spoken before. Nor did anyone dare bring up the matter of finding him guilty. All the Vampires were terrified of angering Locke again and suffering the same fate of being decapitated. No one wanted to die, especially Vampires; as long-lived creatures, their desire for life was particularly intense.