Chapter 594: Catching Bats Barehanded

The port of Ironhoof Harbor.

Even in the middle of the night, the harbor remained bustling and raucous. The knights, bored from their sea voyage, were still raising hell—some gambling, some drinking heavily, and others disembarking to find some fun in town.

Meanwhile, Liszt was passed out in the lighthouse tower.

By habit, no matter how drunk he was, he would always take a bath before going to bed. But today, for some reason, the drunkenness overwhelmed him, and he collapsed directly into sleep.

Outside the cabin, footmen kept watch.

A squad of knights patrolled back and forth, on high alert for trouble—though, of course, most of the knights were playing dice and drinking in the lower cabins, careful so they wouldn’t wake Liszt.

A sailor, half-asleep, fumbled toward the head.

He relieved himself into the urinal that dumped its waste right into the sea. One could imagine how filthy the port of Ironhoof Harbor would be by morning. Nearly all ships discharged their waste straight into the ocean—a disgusting thought, sure, but the sea had its own purifying power.

After all, fish and shrimp also excreted waste, and where did that go? Straight into the sea.

Because of this pollution, Liszt had deliberately anchored the *Sunset* at the outer edge of the harbor to avoid being overwhelmed by the accumulated stench inside.

The sailor, now relieved, gave a satisfied shiver.

He pulled up his pants and turned to leave.

Suddenly, he felt something like a bird flit past him, startling him. "Damn it, what damn bird doesn't sleep at night?" he cursed before returning to his cabin to continue sleeping.

What he didn’t see, however, was that it wasn’t a bird at all—but a bat, pitch-black with only its blood-red eyes visible. The bat circled the *Sunset* once before finally choosing its direction and silently landing atop the glass window of the lighthouse tower. Hanging upside down, its head just peeked over the edge of the glass, allowing it to peer inside the room.

It was an otherwise unremarkable bat, no larger than a palm, but its crimson eyes gleamed with uncanny sharpness.

It scanned the room intently.

Inside, there were three servants—one male and two female. The two maids seemed to be reporting something to the footman, who nodded in response before gesturing for them to carry on with their tasks. He then pulled out a pressing iron from a cabinet, filled it with hot coals, and waited for it to heat up before pressing clothes.

The bat watched for a while before dropping slightly and flapping its wings to move to another window.

After switching positions a few times, it finally chose its target room, slipping through the gap beneath the door. The room was pitch-black, unlit, but noticeably cooler than the outside—so much so that the bat seemed momentarily thrown off by the cold.

But it paid no further mind and instead launched itself, heading toward the bed.

It circled the bed twice, as if confirming whether the sleeping figure was truly asleep. Satisfied by the steady breathing and the strong scent of alcohol, it finally flew away from the bed. The next moment, a crimson magic aura flickered around the bat perched on the bed’s edge.

In the glow, it transformed into a curvy, short woman clad in tight black leather. Her pale face and dark hair were faintly visible in the dim room, but her blood-red eyes shone unmistakably, as if glowing.

From bat to woman, she now stood beside the bed, retrieving a syringe from the swell of her chest.

She bent down, ready to siphon a small sample of blood from the sleeping figure.

But just as she was about to act—

The man who’d seemed dead asleep suddenly reached out and seized her by the throat. At the same time, light flared—unnoticed until now, a crystal lamp had been placed at the head of the bed. The glow quickly illuminated the room, revealing the arm’s owner, still gripping the bat-woman’s neck.

It was none other than Liszt, who had earlier returned drunk and passed out.

His whirlpool-starred eyes were filled with cold mockery, and his chiseled face wore a faint, derisive smile. "A bat in the night—I thought it might be something terrifying, but it’s just a pathetic bloodsucker. Speak—who are you?"

His tone made it clear he had seen her coming all along.

Indeed, that was the case.

For the past few days, the matter of the Night Bat had been weighing on his mind, so he never let his guard down. There were no alerts from his territory, and encountering a bat during the voyage was highly unlikely. After much thought, Oxhoof City seemed the most probable place to encounter the Night Bat. Thus, he put on a drunk act in an attempt to lure it out.

The effects of alcohol could easily be dispelled by channeling his Dragon Aura, so he wasn’t truly drunk at all.

Originally, he had only intended to give it a shot without much hope. To his surprise, while using his Magic Eye in the darkened room, he spotted a bat with a glowing blood-red sheen circling the tower's small building.

And so.

That's when the fake sleeping began.

Lying on the bed, his body was tense, already prepared for an attack. When the bat flew around the bed, he had initially planned to capture it immediately but held back, waiting a moment longer. Then, he witnessed the astonishing sight of a bat transforming into a living woman.

Truly a legendary vampire, capable of shifting between human and bat forms at will.

Under the lamplight, the female vampire’s features became clear—wavy black hair, blood-red pupils, a pale yet delicate face. Her bewitching red lips parted slightly as Liszt gripped her throat, revealing a set of white teeth, though none of the fangs typically associated with vampires.

Her tight leather outfit accentuated her curvaceous figure—full chest and rounded hips—radiating seductive charm.

"Why won’t you answer my question?" Liszt remained unfazed by the vampire, his grip on her neck unrelenting.

But the female vampire suddenly stuck out her tongue, licked her lips, and managed a smirk.

Then, with a loud *bang*, her body burst into what seemed like hundreds of tiny bats, frantically scattering in all directions.

In an instant, the entire room was filled with bats, their chaotic flight blocking his view, some even daring to attack Liszt directly.

"Trying to escape?"

Liszt’s aura flared as his body shot forward like an arrow, snatching one bat that was attempting to slip through the door crack.

Among all the bats, this one shone the brightest.

After seizing it, he whirled and unleashed a punch. Surging mana erupted into flames, setting the bat swarm ablaze, each bursting back into a blood-red aura. In the blink of an eye, only two or three bats remained, fluttering aimlessly, too terrified to approach Liszt again.

The bat in his grasp shrieked and twisted, desperate to break free.

But though Liszt didn’t tighten his grip, he released a concentrated blast of high-tier fire Dragon Aura, effortlessly crushing the bat’s blood-red magic power.

"Stop struggling. Did you really think you could escape my grasp?" Being second only to a Dragon Knight, Liszt knew his own power was unfathomable.

Some sneaky bloodsucker didn't stand a chance of escaping him.

In all the knight stories, vampires were known for their eerie behavior but never for formidable strength. From their brief encounters, he had already gauged the female vampire’s capabilities—her physical prowess was pitifully weak, clearly not that of a knight but rather akin to a spellcaster.

A spellcaster caught at close range by a knight—let alone a half-step Dragon Knight—was doomed from the start.

—Bai Yu Han

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