Under the Tower Bridge, by the Thames.

Wang Bugui picked up Hanae Chiou’s weapons and squatted back down beside the pool of blood. He hugged the blood stained scythe and icy cold chain tightly as he looked at the pool, before turning his attention to the bits of gore strewn around his surroundings. He stared so hard that his eyes turned bloodshot, and his heart ached as though it had been pierced again and again by a sharp blade.

“Ah! Sister Chiou, I’ll never go against you again. I promise you that I’ll become strong, so strong that nobody else in the world will dare take me on! Just you wait, I’ll rescue you. I will!” He shrieked in agony, scaring off the birds in the surrounding wood. They fled in such a hurry that many of them began shedding feathers.

Wang Bugui was unable to accept the fact that Hanae Chiou was dead, and he gritted his teeth so hard that they nearly broke. He began coughing out large mouthfuls of blood, but yet he could not stop his tears from flowing. His trembling body could not help twitching from his sorrow, and he finally collapsed into the pool of blood in despair. The light had gone from his bloodshot eyes, and he felt that his vision was now completely devoid of color.

Soon, he gradually began to stop hearing the sound of the rain falling around him, as it was replaced with sounds of people crying and shrieking. Wang Bugui closed his tired eyes slowly, but tragic scenes of the Blood Hunter Clan fighting the vampires to their death immediately appeared before him.

Countless numbers of his clanspeople roared as they took on the vampires, but they were unable to prevent themselves from slowly being destroyed. An infinite amount of vampires swarmed over them, taking one life after another.

Wang Bugui saw how some of his seniors charged fearlessly into the fray to protect the rest of their clansmen. Some of them even decided at the very last breath to ignite their blood vigour so that they could drag the vampires along with them into the other world. He could still recall scenes of the older men playing with the children of their tribe, but all of them had perished tragically here today.

The older children, who were only slightly more senior than him, had always been extremely caring toward him, as he was the youngest of the clan. Yet, they had died in battle here as well. Wang Bugui saw how the elder male children chose to self-detonate after being surrounded by a few Viscounts.

The older female children were torn into shreds by the vampires when they no longer had any more energy to charge, and Wang Bugui saw their broken bodies fall lifelessly onto the ground. They should have been in the prime of their beauty, but yet they had perished tragically in the battlefield and would soon turn into skeletons beneath the ground.

Wang Bugui sat on the ground and tried hard to think of ways to save Hanae Chiou, but all of the forbidden art of his clan were offensive and none of them could help him. The Sanctuary only had ways of destroying and exorcising spirits, while the Black Tower only had ways of summoning spirits that had been left intact.

“What should I do? No method can bring her back to the world of the living.” Wang Bugui thought as he felt that his head would soon explode from all that stress.

By this time, Druid and Merutia had hurried back to his end of the Tower Bridge, and as they saw the terrible scenes of carnage before them, they could only imagine how painful Hanae Chiou’s death had been. They stood at the end of the bridge, afraid that they would disturb Wang Bugui if they went forward any further. They had to give him some personal time to accept the truth.

Suddenly, Wang Bugui lifted his head and looked at the Scythe of Soul Degeneration in his arms— he had thought of a being that could help him. That was the Azrael, Brock, the only true god still capable of appearing in this world. Strictly speaking, he was the most powerful being of the West. He would gather all of the dead souls from the West, and everyone’s soul, no matter how powerful one was, would eventually be absorbed into the Nether World.

Brock controlled all of the souls in the Nether World and could be considered as the creator of all soul magic in the world. Wang Bugui picked up the Scythe of Soul Degeneration and cut his arm with it, his blood soon flowing on the blade on the weapon. He then began chatting the Azrael’s name.

The scythe began to emit a demonic red glow after it absorbed his blood, as if a deity residing inside it had been awakened after taking in Wang Bugui’s blood. A magic circle soon appeared in front of Wang Bugui, and a terrible aura emanated from it. This alarming wave of power made the surrounding area tremble, and naturally, Druid and Merutia were also shocked by it.

“Wang Bugui, what are you doing? Why would such a terrible power appear?” Druid asked him loudly. The surge of energy was far too powerful, almost on par with Dracula at full power.

“Bugui, what are you exactly planning to do? How could such an alarming power be emitted from this magic portal?” Merutia’s bright and moist eyes stared frightfully at Wang Bugui, not knowing what he wanted to do. A summoning portal was the type of magic circle that could conceal energy surges the best, but yet an energy wave comparable to a full strength Dracula had emanated from this portal. She understood how terrifying the source of such an energy was.

The boy, however, did not reply both of them and continued summoning the being forth— the process was about to be completed. All of a sudden, the alarming surge of energy stopped and a figure appeared from the portal.

“Haha, welcome to Brock Collection Store. Everything you wish to buy will be on the 20 percent discount during Halloween.” Said the being as it laughed and walked out of the portal.

“Whoosh!”

Both Druid and Merutia sucked in a breath of cold air, their lips forming into a “O”. They knew who this being was— it was the Azrael, Brock! He was a person that was even more terrifying than Dracula, and the only god in the entire world that could come and go from the land of the living as and when he pleased.

“You’re here.” Said Wang Bugui as he looked at Brock.

“Oh? You’re just a boy. How long has it been? Why, do you want to challenge me now? Or, do you wish to buy something from me? I won’t give you a discount!” Teased the Death God.

“I don’t have time to speak about such nonsense with you. I need your help to save Sister Chiou. What terms do you offer?” Asked Wang Bugui, unwilling to waste any time.

“Oh, so it was indeed she who died. Sigh, you should also know that the last forbidden art she used before her death sacrificed all of her body and soul. Now that both of them have been destroyed, it’ll be tough resurrecting her.” Brock replied as he furrowed his brow.

“Even you don’t have a way to do that?” Wang Bugui could not help but think nobody else in the world could help him.

“Yes, there is, but you’ll have to pay a small price.” Said Brock.

“I can accept whatever kind of price to pay, as long as I can save her. Tell me quickly!”

“Just sign a pact with me.”

“Tell me!”

Wang Bugui was overjoyed- he had finally found a way to salvage Hanae Chiou’s life. He could not wait to sign the pact with the Azrael and bring her back to the world of the living, but his promise caused the hair of Druid and Merutia to stand. Both of them knew it was insane to sign a deal with the Azrael, and that no one who did that ever had a happy ending.

“Wang Bugui, are you insane? Signing a pact with the Azrael will only kill you. Furthermore, you offended him earlier on, can you promise that he won’t make things hard for you?” Druid reminded Wang Bugui loudly, genuinely afraid that nothing good could come to the boy.

“Bugui, he’s the Azrael. Don’t tell me that you’ve forgotten what terrible fates the people that made a deal with him suffered, do you still wish to be tricked? His terms are too hard to meet, don’t promise him anything!” Merutia anxiously reminded the boy. In the past, Clara had told her how those that made a pact with Brock had suffered. Nearly all of them failed to meet the terms of the contract and had their souls taken away by the Azrael, condemned to an eternity of suffering in the Nether World.

“Sigh, seems like you people have already begun to celebrate Halloween. Was that your prank? Don’t be anxious, I’ve sweets for all of you. Don’t be naughty.” Said Brock with a smile, as he fished out two sweets from his long robe. He looked like he was threatening Druid and Merutia, and they were terribly frightened.

Their faces turned pale instantly, and Merutia was about to cry. Such sweets were even more scary than demons to them; they could still remember how they had transformed into puppies for a week after eating his sweets last Halloween. During that time, they had been brutally chased by other dogs across dozens of streets, and no magic could cure them.

Their memories led them to keep quiet. Anyway, Wang Bugui had paid no heed to their warnings. In his eyes, the most important thing he had to do was to save Hanae Chiou, and it was worth paying any price; other things were unimportant. This was because the other people he had lost could no longer be saved, but there was still a glimmer of hope in rescuing her.