Ranking System

"I have three minutes left before I go. It\'s been nice meeting you two."

Grace and Eris were people anyone could ideally get along with. It wasn\'t time to leave, but I had to tell them I had to go. Constance, of course, could have used another summoning crystal but decided against it.

"I didn\'t expect you to be such a charmer. You\'re welcome to visit me anytime."

"You have been a great company, and you\'re also free to come visit me."

Their impression of me would seem incredible if they said this from the bottom of their hearts.

"Constance, are you going to stay?"

"I will stay for a bit. There\'s no rush to go back."

"Before I leave, take this."

Constance was wondering what gift I would give her. But instead of it being a physical gift, I leaned in and kissed her on the lips.

The moment our kiss ended, it was time for me to leave. Constance didn\'t get to say a word to me before I returned to my previous location.

[Constance POV]

"..."

"What an exit. Your lover sure is bold."

I can\'t believe he keeps doing these things to me in public. I like it when he does these things, but it makes my heart skip differently in front of people I know well.

"Nina? Have you finished your business? You missed out on a lot."

"We have trouble."

"Trouble?"

Nina looked tense when she arrived. Saying there was trouble meant something terrible was going to happen.

"What\'s the problem?"

Eris spoke, urging Nina to hurry with what she would say. We all listened closely to what Nina had to say.

"Do you remember what happened to Rex and his group?"

Everyone here nodded at what she said. Rex\'s death was shocking. Most of us agreed that the killer had already been kicked out of the hub.

"There are more people around the hub that are murdered."

The calm attitude the three of us displayed had now disappeared. We were disturbed that more deaths were occurring in a hub like this.

"We don\'t know what the target wants, and we won\'t know where they will appear next. We could be next if we weren\'t too careful."

"Should I recall Charles? He can protect us."

"Do it when you\'re in danger. It would be a waste to use it now."

Hearing what Nina had said, I could only agree with her. Should I just leave now and wait for the hub to be safe? I\'m sure everyone here could protect themselves.

"I think it\'s better for us to leave until the killing has disappeared."

I voiced my opinion. There was no need to get involved. I think we shouldn\'t be involved with something unrelated to us.

"Then we buy a barrier, it\'s the best option we have."

Looking at my credits, I saw that I only had 5,000. I don\'t know much about a barrier cost, but I doubt I could even pay for a fraction of it. Even if I could, I doubt it would be helpful.

"I would like to help, but I don\'t have much."

"You shouldn\'t worry too much. No one expects that from you."

Hearing what Grace had said, my heart stung. Grace could be absolutely ruthless at times. Even so, did she have to word it like that?

"Sorry, but your world just ranked up. You aren\'t expected to have much in the first place. We should hurry up and buy a barrier now. It\'s better to be safe than sorry."

"What barrier should we buy?"

Eris asked, wondering what kind of protection they should get. I wasn\'t aware of the market, so I wouldn\'t have a clue.

Before we could go to the market, the sky turned red. A strong wave of energy had sealed us off and surrounded the hub.

"What\'s going on?"

The crowd was wondering what was happening. Some panic was heard from our surroundings, but everyone was too focused on the changes happening. This was getting weird. Without any hesitation, I tried my best to summon Charles.

"..."

"Constance, is something wrong?"

"The summoning crystal in my hand is inactive. I think it\'s better if we run."

I felt my knees weak, seeing that Charles could not respond to my summons. Knowing something terrible would happen, we stopped our plan to buy a barrier. We then retreated to our base.

There were times when I tried to return home, but the system wasn\'t responding, and my heart dropped seeing this happen.

"Do we have something that allows us to check what\'s happening outside?"

With something stirring up, my curiosity rose. Everyone in this room wanted to know what was happening outside.

"Sorry, but I don\'t have any peeping tools."

"The same goes for me."

"I do, but it only has a short distance."

Out of everyone, Nina had something we could work with. Even if the distance was small, it should give us a clue about what was happening.

[Third Person POV]

"How\'s the ritual proceeding?"

"We still need more blood—at least a few thousand more people."

Standing in the center of the hub, a group of masked men formed a circle and gathered all the blood into the magic circle.

The terror these men had caused had already begun to spread. The knights protecting this hub were already in battle, doing their best to defend anyone they could.

This hub had become a warzone. Within five minutes of this battle, many things had already happened. The shopkeepers hid in their store, trying their best to avoid the situation. Some were unlucky, had their place broken into, and were captured to be sacrificed.

"You bastards! Identity yourself! What do you plan to do with everyone!"

One of the knights tried to gather information from the cultist. The cultist laughed at the knight and proceeded to attack.

"Since you\'ll die, let me tell you what we will do. We\'re going to summon the blood, God! Our God will dye this world in blood, and it will be our paradise!"

"Summon God? You crazy bastards! Don\'t think you will win!"

The fangs of the cultist started to grow as his excitement for him rose. Like most of his compatriots, this cultist wore a white cloak with gray outlines.

"Vampire?!!"

Caught off guard by the fangs, the vampire took the chance and started to sink his teeth into the knight. Once his teeth were deep inside the neck of the knight, the blood was drained instantly. The vigorous knight fell as he lost most of his vitality.

"Shit. I got too excited. He should still have some blood."

"We aren\'t here to play. We need all the blood we need."

Suddenly another vampire appeared. Compared to the vampire that wore a white cloak, this one had a purple one with a blue outline.

"Boss!"

Seeing a superior, the white-cloaked vampire straightened his posture and greeted his boss. The boss seems pissed at the white-cloaked vampire.

"The next time you drink blood out of your desire, you will be the next to be sacrificed."

"Yes!"

"Fuck..."

With the vampire leader leaving, the white-cloaked vampire could only cuss silently. Knowing that your boss hated you was the last thing anyone wanted. Not only would you be treated harshly, but the chance of dying would only increase drastically. It wouldn\'t be surprising if he were used as bait for the upcoming missions.

After a few minutes, the work of these vampires was showing results. The blood sacrificial ritual was getting closer to finishing, and all the high-ranking vampires gathered around for a short meeting.

"Master Ark. The ritual should be done in three minutes. What do we do after we summon a Blood God?"

"Once we summon the God, we will sign a pact. Our powers will increase along with the other branches, and we will start a new age."

Ecstasy can be seen in the vampire. He thought of the billions of worlds out there, and he would be the one to control them all.

[Constance POV]

"..."

I couldn\'t believe this was happening. Grace, Eris, and Nina were slashed right before me. They were alive but weren\'t in a condition to move at all. We were then captured and sent to the middle of the hub along with the others. With them being harmed, I tried my best to heal them.

*PAK*

"Stop your nonsense. You\'re lucky that you\'re immortal. Otherwise, you would have been tortured."

A vampire slapped my face when I tried to heal my friends. I glared at him, which didn\'t phase him as he continued to watch every captive.

It was uncomfortable being tied up. I felt my limbs turning numb; every second of it was torture. I wish Charles didn\'t leave...

I might have already died if it weren\'t for Charles\'s ability. These vampires tested my immortality and considered using me as a blood bank.

Charles, if you ever do show up, please send them away to hell.