A huge thank you to Joseph_Walton_8082 for the Golden Ticket! Your support truly ans a lot and keeps motivated to continue writing and improving the story.
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As the raging flas of Bloodfang Stronghold continued to burn fiercely behind them, casting an ominous crimson glow across the ruined landscape, everyone slowly began recovering from the shock of their narrow escape from death.
Several Hunters sat directly on the cold, debris-strewn ground, breathing heavily as they tried to calm their racing hearts. Others stood in stunned silence, staring at the destroyed fortress with a mix of exhaustion and disbelief.
Not only had the massive stronghold been reduced to rubble, but most of the critical experintal records, laboratory evidence, and underground research data had likely been destroyed along with it.
anwhile, Isha’s expression had grown increasingly cold and terrifying. Her sharp gaze kept returning to Carol with barely contained fury.
Earlier, she had already been enraged by what happened between Carol and Vikram in the laboratory. Now, after Victor Draven’s escape and the complete self-destruction of the stronghold, her anger had intensified even further.
This mission had nearly turned into a total disaster, and much of it stemd from Vikram and Carol becoming intimate instead of focusing on capturing Victor and securing the data.
At this mont, Carol quietly avoided direct eye contact with her sister. For perhaps the first ti in a long while, even she understood that Isha was genuinely furious. The usual playful confidence on her face had been replaced by visible unease.
After several long seconds of heavy silence, Isha finally spoke in a cold, sharp voice:
"Carol, you’re coming back with ."
Her tone imdiately made the surrounding Team mbers fall completely silent. Even Vikram chose not to interrupt.
Carol hesitated briefly, biting her lip. However, despite clearly sensing her sister’s deep anger, she still wasn’t truly afraid of her. After a few monts, she quietly nodded.
"...Okay."
Soon afterward, they all climbed back into the armored vehicles they had arrived in. The remaining Hunters began reorganizing themselves for the long return journey to Caron City.
Injured mbers received ergency treatnt, support teams checked the condition of the vehicles, and the few surviving mission data fragnts they had managed to recover were carefully secured.
Inside the lead vehicle, Vikram, Isha, and Carol sat together. This ti, the atmosphere was deathly silent, not a single word was spoken. The tension between the two sisters was thick enough to cut with a blade.
Before starting the vehicle, Vikram quietly glanced toward the distant burning remains of Bloodfang Stronghold. His eyes narrowed slightly with deep suspicion.
Although the mission wasn’t a complete failure, far too many strange things had occurred inside that fortress. Especially Victor’s final escape and his deliberate destruction of all the information.
For so reason, Vikram increasingly felt that this mission had only revealed a small portion of sothing much larger and far more dangerous hidden beneath the surface.
After several hours of tense travel, the convoy finally returned to Caron City.
However, the faces of both Team 10 and Team 11 mbers were grim. The mission had been a complete failure.
Although they had discovered the existence of hidden laboratories and confird the involvent of a Vampire Baron, the most critical objectives had not been achieved. Victor Draven had escaped, the Stronghold was destroyed, and they had obtained not a single piece of valuable information.
As soon as they arrived at Headquarters, Isha imdiately grabbed Carol by the wrist.
"Co with ."
She then looked at Vikram. "You too."
Without waiting for a response, she headed straight toward the highest floor — Mist King’s office.
---
Inside the office, Mist King was reviewing reports when the door opened. Seeing the dark expressions on his two daughters, he imdiately understood that sothing serious had happened.
"Report," he said calmly.
Isha didn’t waste any ti. She recounted the entire mission from beginning to end — the infiltration, the maze, the horrifying laboratories, Victor Draven’s appearance, and the self-destruction of Bloodfang Stronghold.
Finally, she concluded coldly, "The mission failed."
Mist King simply nodded. "Many missions fail. That isn’t important. As long as everyone returned alive."
However, Isha’s expression remained icy. "The problem isn’t that it failed. The problem is *why* it failed."
She turned sharply and pointed directly at Carol. "It failed because of *her*."
Mist King’s forehead began to throb. He already sensed where this was heading.
Isha continued rcilessly, "From the very beginning, Carol acted strangely. She insisted on riding in the sa vehicle with us. She kept bringing up childhood mories to create an emotional atmosphere. She deliberately asked for Team 11’s help. And the mont we were alone in the laboratory, she used her abilities on Vikram and seduced him instead of focusing on the mission!"
Carol’s face flushed with anger. She stepped forward and shot back, "That’s not fair! I didn’t plan everything! My ability activated because I was ntally exhausted after fighting Victor. I never intended for it to affect Vikram that strongly!"
Isha laughed bitterly. "You expect to believe that? You’ve always been like this, Carol. You manipulate situations to get what you want. You knew exactly what you were doing when you asked to pair with Vikram. You wanted this to happen!"
"I didn’t!" Carol protested, her voice rising. "Yes, I wanted to get closer to him, but I didn’t force anything! My powers went out of control after using them at full strength. It wasn’t completely my fault!"
"Stop lying to yourself!" Isha snapped. "You’ve been jealous of for years. You’ve always tried to take what I have. This ti you crossed the line. You used your body and your powers to seduce my husband during a critical mission!"
The argunt between the two sisters grew fiercer, their voices echoing inside the office.
Carol’s eyes turned red with frustration. "Why are you acting like this? Vikram isn’t only yours! And besides..." She suddenly crossed her arms and declared boldly, "Since Vikram already took my virginity, why shouldn’t I be near him? In fact, he should be transferred to Team 10. He can work with directly from now on."
The room fell into dead silence.
Even Mist King froze for a mont, completely stunned.
Isha stared at her sister in disbelief. After several seconds, a cold realization appeared on her face.
"So that was your plan all along," she said quietly, her voice filled with disappointnt. "The emotional talk in the vehicle, the request for Team 11’s help, pairing with Vikram... everything was calculated. You didn’t care about the mission. You just wanted to steal him from ."
Carol didn’t deny it. She simply looked away, which was answer enough.
---
anwhile, Mist King rubbed his forehead heavily, feeling a headache coming on.
After hearing the entire situation, he understood almost imdiately what had happened. Carol had intentionally manipulated events, maybe not every single detail, but enough of them. The problem was that both girls were his daughters, and he understood them far too well.
If he sided with Isha and ordered Carol to stay away from Vikram, he had no doubt what would happen next. Carol would cry, complain, follow Vikram everywhere anyway, and probably create even more trouble. Ever since childhood, when she wanted sothing, she never gave up, no matter how much chaos she caused.
But if he sided with Carol, he would be wronging Isha, sothing he was increasingly unwilling to do. Especially because deep in his heart, he already carried heavy guilt toward his elder daughter and Isha.
The office gradually fell into heavy silence.
anwhile, Vikram remained surprisingly calm throughout the argunt.
"Yes, I want him on my team. What’s wrong with asking for the person who took my virginity?" Carol said again, deliberately emphasizing the word while glancing at Vikram’s reaction.
Hearing her repeat it so boldly, the last thread of patience inside Isha finally snapped.
"Enough!"
Her voice exploded throughout the office like thunder. Even Carol was startled.
Isha wasn’t finished. For perhaps the first ti in years, all the frustration she had buried deep inside her heart ca pouring out.
"You keep talking about Vikram as if he’s so mission reward that can be transferred between teams!" she shouted. "Did you ever think about what *he* wants?"
Her eyes first landed on Carol, then slowly shifted toward Mist King.
"And you."
For the first ti since entering the office, her anger was directed entirely at her father. The room instantly beca deathly silent.
"Both of you don’t deserve Vikram," Isha said, her voice trembling with emotion. "Now you want to discuss him? Now you care? Where were you when he needed soone?"
Mist King remained silent.
Isha continued, her voice growing more emotional. "When everyone called him lazy... when everyone mocked him... when everyone looked down on him... I stayed. I raised him. I taught him. I protected him. I was the one who remained beside him."
She paused briefly, her eyes glistening.
"After my sister died... there was nobody left for him. So I took care of him. Every single day. Every single year. And eventually..." She looked toward Vikram with soft, unwavering eyes. "I fell in love with him."
The room beca completely silent.
Isha continued calmly, "When he asked to beco his wife... I agreed. Not because I pitied him. But because I genuinely loved him."
Then her gaze returned to both Carol and Mist King.
"So neither of you has any right to decide anything about Vikram."
---
Mist King slowly lowered his eyes.
For a long ti, he remained quiet. Because he knew Isha wasn’t entirely wrong.
Years ago, after the death of Vikram’s parents, he had gradually distanced himself from his grandson. To others, it looked like he had abandoned Vikram because he was disappointed in his laziness. But that was not the truth.
The real reason... was fear.
It might surprise others to know that one of humanity’s strongest Hunters carried such a deep fear. But he did, a fear for his grandson.
After his daughter and her husband killed Lord Dracula, they beca heroes. Legends. But they also beca targets. The Vampire Nobles never forgot. The Vampire Kings never forgot. And neither did those who had served Dracula.
If the Vampires ever discovered how important Vikram was to him... if they learned he was his grandson... they would stop at nothing. Kidnapping. Assassination. Anything.
He had already failed once in saving his daughter. He didn’t want to fail again in protecting her child.
Neither Isha nor Carol knew what Mist King was thinking. The truth, that he had deliberately distanced himself from Vikram all these years to protect him from Vampire retaliation, had remained buried deep inside his heart. He had never told anyone. Not Isha. Not Carol. And certainly not Vikram.
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