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Chapter 248 – The Laboratory Secrets
Chapter 248 – The Laboratory Secrets
The scent of blood and burnt wood still lingered in the air as Seraphis stepped deeper into the underground chamber. The battle had been fierce, but her true objective lay ahead.
The answers to the Sleeper mystery were inside this room.
She pushed open the heavy iron door, her fingers brushing against deep claw marks embedded in the metal. Something had tried to escape once… and failed.
Inside, the chamber was eerily quiet.
Tall stone bookshelves lined the walls, packed with scrolls, ledgers, and aged tomes. Magical crystals hovered above, casting a dim, flickering glow over the parchment-strewn tables.
And sitting at one of those tables—
Two robed vampires.
The Silent Observers
The figures did not move.
One slowly dipped a quill into an inkpot, continuing to write on a parchment scroll as if Seraphis’s presence meant nothing. The other sat still, hands folded before him, his hooded face shadowed beneath the dim light.
Seraphis stepped forward, her boots clicking against the black marble floor.
Neither vampire flinched.
She was used to enemies fighting back.
These two? They were waiting.
The First Strike
Seraphis didn’t have time for games.
She whipped a card forward, slicing through the air—
And pinned the writing vampire’s hand to the table.
The quill snapped in two, ink splattering across the scroll.
The vampire let out a sharp hiss of pain, his crimson eyes flickering as he finally acknowledged her presence. The other remained unmoving.
"You’re going to talk," Seraphis said coldly.
The injured vampire’s lips curled in a sneer. "We knew you would come."
Breaking the Calm
Seraphis twisted the embedded card deeper into the vampire’s hand.
His composure shattered.
A strangled gasp escaped his lips as dark blood dripped onto the parchment below.
The second vampire finally moved.
He lifted his hood slightly, revealing an ancient face marked by deep scars. His voice was calm, almost amused.
"Pain will not loosen our tongues."
Seraphis scoffed.
"Then I’ll find something that will."
No Escape
With a flick of her wrist, another card shot forward, severing the first vampire’s other hand at the wrist.
A choked scream echoed in the chamber.
The scarred vampire’s fingers twitched, but he did not move to help his companion.
"Interesting," Seraphis mused. "You don’t even flinch when I carve him up."
The injured vampire struggled against the pain, his body trembling.
"You’re just a scribe, aren’t you?" she whispered. "A tool. Dispensable."
She turned her gaze to the scarred one. "But you? You hold knowledge."
A Dangerous Truth
A slow, knowing smile crept onto the old vampire’s face.
"You think knowledge is something you can steal?" he murmured.
Seraphis drove a blade into his thigh.
His breath hitched, but the eerie smile remained.
"I do," she said flatly.
The old vampire chuckled, blood seeping into his robes. "Then listen carefully, assassin. You will regret it."
The Sleeper Revelation
"The Sleepers…" he began, his voice a rasp. "Are not vampires."
Seraphis narrowed her eyes.
"Explain."
The scribe whimpered, but the scarred vampire continued.
"They were never meant to be turned. They were… born."
A chill ran down Seraphis’s spine.
Born?
The Forbidden Experiment
"They are not undead. Not creatures of the night." His voice was growing weaker, but his smirk remained. "They are something new."
Seraphis’s grip tightened on her blade.
"What do they feed on?"
The vampire exhaled a slow, ragged breath. *"Not blood. Not flesh. But… essence."
She felt her stomach twist.
"What kind of essence?"
"Life itself."
An Endless Hunger
Seraphis pulled her dagger free, and the vampire coughed, dark blood splattering onto his robes.
"You’re saying they devour souls?"
The scribe shuddered, his remaining fingers digging into the table.
"Not just souls," the old vampire rasped. "They drain existence. Where they walk, the world withers. The land dies. And they… grow."
Seraphis’s mind raced.
If this was true—if the Sleepers were evolving into something beyond vampires—then this wasn’t just an experiment.
This was a weapon.
The Scientist Behind It All
"Who created them?" Seraphis demanded.
The scribe made a pained noise, as if the answer itself burned his tongue.
The scarred vampire chuckled weakly.
"Dr. Caelum Veyne."
Seraphis memorized the name.
"Where is he?"
The old vampire’s breath was labored now, but his eyes gleamed.
"You will never reach him."
Seraphis disagreed.
No Loose Ends
She flicked her wrist.
A card slashed through the air—
And the scribe slumped forward, throat neatly cut.
The old vampire exhaled softly.
"You think killing us changes anything?" he murmured.
Seraphis stepped closer.
"No," she admitted. "But it makes things easier."
She drove a final blade into his heart.
His smile faded.
And then—silence.
The Final Clue
Seraphis turned to the bloodstained table, her gaze sweeping over the scattered scrolls and ledgers.
She grabbed a thick tome, flipping through its crumbling pages.
Her eyes scanned the text.
-
The Sleepers were designed to surpass vampires.
-
They could not be turned—only born.
-
Their hunger was endless.
-
They were being bred in secret.
-
And Veyne was still alive.
Her heart pounded.
The last page contained one final detail.
A location.
A hidden underground facility.
A New Mission
Seraphis shut the book.
Dr. Caelum Veyne was the key to everything.
If she could find him—
She could end this nightmare before it consumed the world.
She stepped out of the chamber, leaving behind the corpses and bloodstained scrolls.
Her next target was set.