A ck M9 Excelsior raced down the empty afternoon toll road, a ce where few people travelled because of the high cost at peak times.


    This road soon became abandoned, a ce where criminals and low-lives roamed. The walls were filled with old leaflets and graffiti, with homeless people upying the empty buildings.


    ''Phew...''


    [Toll Fee Paid!]


    Niki rarely even checked his bank bnce anymore because it never became lower than several million, even when he spent money or visited an expensive restaurant on a date.


    ''Well those girls are rich too...''


    Today, he just finished his training with Alexei and the morning training with his mother using their soul force. So, right now, he wanted to find somewhere to eat something sweet to replenish his lost nutrients from the harsh morning.


    ''Those shakes that Alexei make me drink are strange... since I started taking them my muscles don''t hurt after spending five hours training a day.''


    ''Although he told me not to visit the tower on training days... which messed up my schedule.''


    ''I should message Selene, since I broke our promise, she''ll probably be mad...''


    "Huh... what''s this ce?"


    A sudden advertisement caught his eye and reminded him of something he found in the tower a few weeks ago.


    His car came to a stop, and his evolved eyes were able to spot the small A4-sized sign on a dirty wall with various details. "Do you want to learn the spear?" The picture showed an anime-style drawing of what seemed to be the historical figure Lu Bo from the Romance of the Five Kingdoms.


    "Hmmm... Do you want to strike down 1000 men with one spear?"


    "These kinds of advertisements are so stupid."


    However, Niki remembered picking up a strange item when he first entered the dungeon and forgot about it until now.


    [What are you thinking about, Niki?]


    His mother''s voice of concern sounded tired—after all, they had spent two hours channelling their soul force to the limit, exhausting her current state.


    ''Do you remember that spear book I found?''


    [Oh... Let me think back...]


    [Amelia Fenrir - Supernatural ying Spear Art]


    [This one?]


    ''Yeah...''


    Niki pulled over to the side of the road, his engine roaring with a loud hum as he inspected the leaflet.


    The ce seemed to be in the slums, and it would probably be inferior to Alexei''s gym. Niki wondered if learning the basics of the spear might help him grow stronger. He didn''t know if it was because the sword felt like a mismatch when he used it with Ryan.


    ''I also don''t want to be identified by what weapon I use...''


    ''A spear could be used by my thralls too, right?''


    Continue your journey on mvl


    [Do you think it would be worth it to learn from this gym?]


    [I think you could just study the manual directly.]


    That also seemed a viable option. Currently, Niki was constricted by time, with training and learning to use soul power, visiting the tower and preparing for the future.


    Not to mention, there was an agreement with Alucard about meeting his lovers.


    "Well what to do... Old Wangs Gym... it sounds really cheap and fake."


    [True...]


    [Niki, look out!]


    BANG—!


    While Niki read the leaflet, a huge ck jeep with silver, military-grade features rammed into his car before he could react.


    With a screech of grinding metal, his vehicle was mmed into the wall, crushing arge amount of his trunk and the rear driver''s seat.


    In a moment of focus, Niki shifted gears, trying to drive forward but only spinning its wheels madly on the hot summer asphalt.


    However, the heavy SUV proved too powerful as it pinned the sports vehicle with no space to move.


    "Aaaah!" A man screamed hysterically as he stepped out of the car, holding an automatic rifle with a redser sight, "Come out! Come out!"


    "Hands in the air!" Another man yelled. His voice shook with excitement. It seemed as if they had just won the lottery.


    ''What the hell?!''


    [That thing in their hands! What is it!]


    The two men held a device that was bleeping rapidly, with a tone that made Niki''s ears hurt.


    "Brother, are you sure this man is a monster?!" The excited male holding a pistol spoke with a crazed voice.


    Therger man with an automatic rifle looked down at his beeping device and pointed the gun towards Niki.


    "He has to be! Just shoot him and see!"


    "You have to use silver bullets, Brother!" The smaller male pulled out a magazine that was silver-ted.


    [Niki, they must be hunters!]


    ''What are those?''


    However, before his mother could mention them properly, something happened; one of the males pulled back on the slide action of his firearm.


    ''They''re just handguns?''


    Niki quickly reacted, his body leaping from the car and rushing at the two men, ignoring his mother''s warning. A bullet was simply too slow, especially from these ancient types of guns that didn''t contain mana or magic runes.


    "How fast is this fucker?!"


    *CRACK—!


    But...


    "Huh..."


    His hands paused mid-grab at the strange weapon with the sound of his flesh burning and popping with ck smoke. A bullet prated his abdomen, making him feel pain like a red-hot poker pressed against his skin.


    "How can you move so fast?"


    Niki''s vision went bloodshot as the damage triggered the awakening of his devil''s blood.


    The men panicked and fired multiple rounds, each containing deadly silver, which struck his vital organs, making the Vampiric regeneration almost nullified. But Niki wasn''t a normal monster, but a hybrid species.


    "Brother help!" The short male cried out as Niki''s right arm transformed into a ck w.


    It wasn''t a normal transformation but almost felt eerie and forced as his entire arm deformed, cracking the bones before he cleaved the jaw from the male''s face. Blood sprayed all over him, with a meaty chunk dropping onto the floor. And then...


    DONG! Dong-Dong!


    Niki sensed danger and narrowly avoided the red line pointing towards him as another hunter opened fire at his head. Although he avoided most bullets, one tore away a long gash of skin, exposing his pulsing neck muscle.


    He tried to retaliate, but the instant the bullet touched his flesh, it seemed to cause his neck to transform into the devil form... ck fur forming over his torso.


    [Niki... you have to kill them... these men are hunters, they are not normal humans!]


    ''Hunters... the hell are they?!''


    The only monster hunters he knew were the SSS, but these people seemed like amateurs, rednecks...pared to Ryan and the mercenaries.


    The sound of grinding metal caused his hair to stand up as another ck SUV rushed towards him. However, this one was a 4x4 military jeep. When it turned on its side, a small hole poked out the back window.


    ''Shit...''


    What Niki didn''t know was that not only did d, Dimitri and his wives cause many monsters to lie low, but it also stopped the hunting families from taking action.


    Now, S-City was a chaotic ce where a free-for-all began between the monsters, hunters and the SSS.


    "Hurry, the monster is wounded!"


    "We borrowed money from those government hacks... let''s bring in a juicy haul!"


    As soon as they saw the new vehicle, the men grew confident, their eyes glowing with greed.


    At this point, even without his mother''s guidance, Niki felt anger surging through his chest. He clenched his fist as his face became disfigured like a rabid dog.


    With the adrenaline pumping, his heart pounded as he tried to gain control.


    The bullets caused a burning pain at first before the wounds bubbled and became swollen, seemingly able to nullify one of his bloodlines, but not both at the same time.


    As if he suddenly became a pure werewolf, he felt the blood arts of his Báthory blood draining from him with every step he took.


    ''I cannot use my Báthory blood art right now...!''


    One thing that concerned Niki was that he felt berserk after being attacked with these weapons. As a safety, Niki ced one of the masks he used when buying items in the Nexus on his face, luckily hidden from the second car''s view.


    ''The guy with an assault rifle needs to die!''


    If a high-speed round struck his head... he wasn''t sure he could survive.


    *Screetch...*


    The other jeep pulled up behind Niki, a male wearingbat pants and boots and a bullet-proof vest strapped on.


    When he stepped out, Niki''s body stiffened as a terrifying chill filled his spine.


    ''Ryan''s father?!''


    Niki felt confused. His eyes narrowed as his entire form became a ck wolf. The mask covered his human face, but he couldn''t stop the forced transformation.


    When his werewolf blood became dominant, the control over his Obsidian Tide shrank.


    In front of him, dressed in an all-ck bullet-proof vest, stood a male holding a device connected to a wire.


    "We''ve found the target... Confirmed absence of Ivan Volov, dimir Tepes and Dimitri Fenrir!" The troops held their guns at Niki while Ryan''s father smiled... as if he knew.


    ''This... was it not a random attack?''


    [Niki...]


    An abandoned toll road, the night after attacking a high-level facility and the absence of the leading families.


    "Just as Lord Nosferatu said..." Ryan''s father whispered, but Niki heard it.


    ''What?!''


    The first thing Niki thought was that Ryan betrayed him, but then he shook his head and rejected that thought. ''These men are not the SSS! They look more like a private firm... and cearly have links to the Nosferatu n and Ryan''s family in the nobles district!''


    ''Mother, I need guidance before my bloodlust takes over...''