"Oh? They moved fast."

One day after Irina and I had returned to the Everwinter Estate; I noticed a minute change in Damien's abode. From the moment we returned, I observed and noted down every single detail about Damien's headquarters. The number of inhabitants that lived within it, the secret corridors that led to escape routes, the vast number of buildings within the expansive estate… Everything was being recorded down with my vision.

At my current level, even if one additional fly entered Damien's abode, I could notice the difference. But, there wasn't just one fly…

"What is it, Brother?"

"The Church guys… They've arrived."

"So soon?! But how?!"

Irina took a break from sucking my blood and shook her head in shock. Her confusion was understandable, given how soon Damien's men had moved. The Everwinter Estate was well-known as a stronghold, an impregnable fortress that no enemy had infiltrated before. Be it the Outer Demons under Cthuhlu's command, other Guardian Houses, or even the Holy Church itself. The Everwinter Estate had never been breached before.

Yes, insiders were helping the Holy Church infiltrate, but even then, they would have to sneak through layers of defence set up by the elders of the Everwinter House and Matriarch Innocence herself! To arrive in just one day… There was only one explanation for such haste.

"They used a Warp Gate. Not only that, it must have been created with unknown Holy magic. Otherwise, the Matriarch would have sensed it."

"Has Holy magic really developed that far? Besides the Moonreaver House and you, I've never heard anyone else create a Warp Gate!"

I shrugged and gave Irina a similar look of perplexion.

The Moonreaver House specialised in Dimensional magic, while my Spacetime attribute allowed me to create holes in Space anytime I pleased. From my knowledge, the other races had yet to develop magic that could also create Warp Gates. Yet, the Holy Church has done so…

It looks like I've greatly underestimated Holy magic.

"Five… No, seven… Seven members of the Holy Church have arrived. They're talking to Damien as we speak."

"Seven? That's all? Do they intend to summon an Archangel with just seven people?!"

"No, I highly doubt that's the case." I frowned and thought back. "Remember Rosa's words? For the Holy Church to summon an Archangel, numerous preparations must be made. Rituals aside, they'll need nine hundred Priests, ninety Bishops and nine Cardinals to summon an Archangel. No matter how desperate they are to kill me, there's no way they can afford to send that many personnel into the heart of the Everwinter House."

"You're right…"

"If my guess is right, those members are here to spy on me and measure my strength. Once Damien manages to kidnap you, they'll attempt to lure me into a trap that would likely teleport me using their Warp Gate. And that's where their Archangel will appear."

It was a cliche yet a surefire way to capture me. And from everything I'd heard about Damien and the Holy Church from Rosa, that was the likely chain of events Damien had planned.

Alas, their plot was foiled long before the first move was played.

"So, should I just willingly play along?" Irina suggested her own scheme to counter the sinister plot. "I'll answer Damien's request to meet me and lead him on. He'll let his guard down and won't suspect a thing. The moment he thinks that his plot will work, I'll reveal that we know everything, and you'll pop out and annihilate them!"

"... Huh?"

What was with that childish plot? The girl has been watching too many dramas…

"No, why would you go through all that trouble?"

"What do you mean?"

I couldn't hide the broad smile emerging from my lips as my Vampiric fangs started to show. Unable to contain my excitement, I blurted out:

"Why wait when we can just annihilate them now?"

??

Damien Everwinter welcomed his visitors with an uneasy frown on his face. Watching the sacramental robes of his guests brush against the precious ground of the Everwinter Estate placed a certain feeling of repulsion in his heart.

As a Vampire, there was an innate disgust towards the members of the Holy Church, particularly those who specialised in hunting Vampires and other beings of the night. The Exorcists that emerged from the Warp Gate were no different. No, given the notoriety of his visitor, Damien felt his skin crawl and his stomach churn from the inside out. It took all he had to lock eyes with the man who led the squad and not puke his guts.

"Angelo Augustus Amorth… I didn't think the Holy Church would send a bigshot like you."

"Father Amorth is fine, Everwinter Vampire. The Pope is paying all of his attention to this mission. Of course, he'll send his very best."

Just as Damien had a natural aversion to those from the Holy Church, Father Amorth felt the same way. In fact, the Exorcist was in a far more undesirable state. The moment he stepped foot in the Everwinter Estate, the lack of Holy magic in the air, plus the repulsing scent of Vampires, made the Holy man think twice about his mission.

Deep in the belly of the beast, there was nothing that Father Amorth could rely on. Not to mention, he hated Vampires to his core, especially opportunistic ones like Damien Everwinter.

Alas, his mission was far too critical for his feelings to get in the way.

"... Angelo, has your beloved Pope told you what comes next?"

Damien didn't call the man Father for the same reason Father Amorth didn't call Damien by name. They didn't want to acknowledge each other. While they had entered into a partnership to assassinate Jin, neither side liked their current predicament. Unfortunately, for the sake of their goals, they could only swallow their pride and shake hands with the enemy.

Which was why these blatant words of hostility were largely ignored by both parties.

"Don't be stupid; I was the one who organised this whole operation. Of course, I know what comes next."

"Oh? So you're the mastermind behind everything?"

"I wouldn't say I'm the mastermind," Father Amorth smiled and stared straight into Damien's eyes. "I wasn't the one who sought to betray his own House just to save his skin. The plan to use an Archangel was my idea, everything else… If you want to know who the true mastermind is, all you need to do is look into a mirror."

"..."

Damien clicked his tongue and averted his eyes. Father Amorth's words weren't a compliment but a warning. Damien was the one who planned this whole charade, and there was no turning back now. Even if he did have second thoughts about betraying his House, he has gone too far to back down. The only way this story ends is with Jin's death… or his.

Ignoring Father Amorth's warning, the Everwinter Vampire looked at the other members that came with the Exorcist and said:

"We'll create a pretext to lure Irina to my estate. Since it's a conversation between two Everwinter heirs, Jin Valter will not be allowed to participate. Even if he comes, we'll have multiple opportunities to kidnap her right under his nose. We'll smuggle her into this chamber, and when he comes to rescue her, you'll warp them back to the Cathedral where the Archangel can be summoned."

"Yes, that's the plan…" Father Amorth rubbed his chin happily. "However, there is one more detail you've missed."

"What?"

"We're going to do some reconnaissance on the Progenitor."

"Are you fucking crazy?!"

Damien's heart almost stopped after hearing the Exorcist's words. Controlling the urge to slam his collar onto the wall and choke the man to death, he blurted out his innermost thoughts. ????n????????e????d.＆nbsp;????????????

"Smuggling you in is already a crime great enough to get me executed! Now, you expect me to let you Church dogs roam freely in the Everwinter Estate?! Even if I wanted to, your disgusting Holy power would be noticed when you leave this chamber! Do you want to kill us before the mission could even commence?!"

The only reason Matriarch Innocence and the other high-ranking members of the Everwinter House have yet to discover Father Amorth's appearance is due to the unique attributes of Damien's chamber. Magic doesn't seep in or out of this place, and various protection spells prevented anyone from peeping. Even Matriarch Innocence herself wouldn't notice Father Amorth's presence unless she came into the chamber herself.

It was practically impossible for anyone to notice that Damien had successfully smuggled in seven members of the Holy Church. However, if they left the chamber, that would be a different story.

"Don't worry, us five members of the clergy won't be participating in the reconnaissance."

In the face of Damien's threats, Father Amorth remained calm. He pointed his thumb back to the two men draped in black robes and said:

"These two will be the ones monitoring the Progenitor. They aren't biblically trained, and their bodies don't have an ounce of Holy magic. However, they've been trained in stealth and espionage techniques. If they really tried, they could be undetectable for weeks on end. Not even Matriarch Innocence or the Progenitor will be able to notice their existence. And the cherry on top of it all…"

"They're Vampires…"

It only took one look for Damien to recognise what species those two men were.

They weren't Bloodservants or lesser Vampires that the Church may have created. They were True Vampires, bona fide higher existences offering their services to the Holy Church, the very entity that hunted them.

"Have you no shame? Subjecting yourselves to the rule of the Holy Church." Damien snorted in disgust.

"Aren't you doing the same, Damien Everwinter?" One of the men growled.

"Don't misunderstand," the other added. "The moment you signed the deal with the Pope, you're just as deplorable as we are."

"... Fuck!"

Damien cursed out loud and once more averted his eyes. At this point, he was really second-guessing himself. If he surrendered these people to the Matriarch, would he be forgiven? No, of course not.

Bringing anyone in without the Matriarch's permission was a crime, let alone seven members of the Holy Church. Not only that, Damien was planning on kidnapping Irina, the favoured child, and eliminating the newborn Progenitor. Everything that Damien has done thus far was akin to a thousand death sentences.

Alas, he had pushed himself into the corner.

If only he didn't provoke Irina and Jin when they were weak… If only he hadn't bribed Irina's brother to force her to marry him… If only he had the foresight to see Jin's potential…

There were too many ifs to count now. He had already rolled the dice, and now Damien had to see it through.

"I assume you have no issue with our plans."

"... Do as you please."

"Alright," Father Amorth smiled, knowing he'd gotten the upper hand. "We'll plant these two agents as servants. If we can't get them assigned to Irina's mansion, we can assign them to the area near them. Anywhere within fifteen kilometres is fine. My agents are professionals; they can handle it from there."

"What kind of reconnaissance will they do?"

"Ideally, we could test his strength, but that would alarm the Progenitor. So, we'll measure his magic power discreetly and spy on his every movement. How he sleeps, how he eats, how he breathes… My men will record down every detail."

"Hoh… That's pretty good."

"Yes, and once we get enough data, we'll…"

At this moment, Father Amorth froze. He'd realised that Damien had stopped speaking entirely, and his eyes were wide open. But the eeriest thing… The voice that responded to his… wasn't Damien's.

Snapping his head back in a frantic, Father Amorth jumped as he saw the other individual who shouldn't be in this chamber.

Decked with white, black and gold, the suave Adonis stood amused in his Winter fur coat while watching the other individuals scramble in attention. Just under two metres tall, the man was easily a head shorter than Father Amorth, who stood at an outstanding 2.2 metres. Yet, Father Amorth didn't feel he was the biggest man in the room. Far from it, in fact.

As he examined the beauty of a man from head to toe, the Exorcist felt a chill he hadn't experienced since he was six years old. A primal fear that begged the man to run at the top of his heels and never look back.

In front of that handsome man… Father Amorth was nothing more than a child. An ant that could only be trampled. And in the entire world, other than the Archangel, which required half of the Holy Church's resources to be summoned, only one being could make him feel that way.

"What's the matter? Please continue! I want to hear about how you plan to kill me!"

A cheerful smile was plastered on the man's face. But to the other individuals in the chamber, that smile was akin to a smile from the Grim Reaper himself.

"Jin Valter…"