I’m Really Not Trying to Be Chased by the Heroine as the Villainous Playboy! – Chapter 214

Chapter 67: The Man’s Dread

At the back of the adventurers’ group, a few rogue scouts led by Andy were peering through their binoculars, carefully watching their movements.

The ambush by the ghouls was a complete stroke of luck.

Attacks from these magical beasts were unpredictable, and getting tangled with them would mean a tough fight.

The rogues were itching to jump in for a second strike while the adventurers were dealing with the ghouls. But to their surprise, the adventurers were faring much better than they imagined.

To be precise, that young boy and girl were turning out to be much tougher than expected!

Andy observed the agile movements of the two, letting out a cold snort, “Hmph, it seems those two kids are something else.”

A curly-haired youth with a cheeky grin urged, “Boss, there’s still time! If we attack now, we can catch them off guard!”

He was Andy’s younger brother, Angus, the vice leader of the rogue group.

However, Andy shook his head in response.

“Not yet. It’s not the time to scare the snake out of the grass.”

“Especially with that girl around—having her there means we can’t ambush. Just now, she almost sensed my presence.”

Hearing their leader’s rare show of concern, the other rogues were taken aback.

You see, the Silver-level bloodline “Black Claw” had the ability “Shadow Bind,” which substantially reduces one’s presence, and Andy was already at Sequence 7!

According to the intelligence, that green-haired girl was only at Sequence 8, but her detection capability was no joke!

“But…” Angus glared at Nia, gritting his teeth, exuding an intense murderous aura.

His younger brother was quite the troublemaker, but he usually listened during missions. Sensing his unusual behavior, Andy frowned and asked, “What’s up? Do you know her?”

Angus, on the verge of tears, nodded fiercely, “Bro! She’s the one who hurt me!”

A deep silence fell over the group as they collectively realized.

A few days prior, Angus had taken on a shady job to help a descendant of elves smuggle into the Academy City—but of course, not all thieves were good-natured. That dreamy elven girl was stunning; how could they resist a little fun?

Robbing both treasure and beauty was a traditional skill of their rogue gang.

However, Angus never anticipated that the sweet-looking girl would be so ruthless, taking him down in a single blow to his family jewels!

Everyone still recalled the time Angus was brought back, moaning and clutching his groin in utter agony.

Even Andy fell silent for a long moment before comforting him, “Don’t worry, I’ll avenge you.”

“But not right now.”

“There’s definitely some sort of trap in the blood clan’s castle that will allow these adventurers to clear the way for us. After they’ve bustled around figuring out the blood clan’s castle and obtained the treasures, that’s when we strike!”

“By then, that woman will be at your mercy!”

With anger clouding his eyes, Angus nodded heavily, staring at the girl in the distance.

——————

All the way there, Reid had lost the previous energy of being a know-it-all and appeared a bit despondent.

It was only when they reached the location of the castle that Reid finally perked up.

Under the gloomy sky, a crumbling castle stood tall in the desolate land. The high walls and sharp peaks had suffered serious damage, with cracks crisscrossing the walls, piles of rubble littering the ground, and large portions having collapsed. The pillars and arches lay in ruins, and the clock tower had lost its chime, engulfed by empty silence.

This was their destination.

It was said that a concealed magical barrier once protected the area, but over time, it lost its effectiveness, finally revealing the place.

Though the adventurers had roughly scouted earlier and found no treasures nor encountered dangers, the worn ruins naturally stirred feelings of both anticipation and caution among them.

“Be careful, everyone. Spread out and explore; call for help if anything unusual occurs.”

“You two especially, I know you aren’t weak, but don’t touch anything you shouldn’t!”

“Got it!” Nia said in a quirky manner, leaving Reid very worried.

This girl looked like she was going to mess around.

But with the steady Roy around, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem, right?

Unbeknownst to Reid, beneath Roy’s calm exterior, he was already devising how to thoroughly search this place.

As the group dispersed, they crossed through a garden now in shambles and entered the castle’s interior, which had lost most of its ceiling.

Roy ignored the other rooms and headed directly to the innermost part of the castle with Nia.

The dim and dusty corridor was filled with cobwebs, and bats occasionally swooped down to give them a fright. It looked like something straight out of a horror movie.

Yet, in this gloomy setting, Nia was practically bouncing with excitement, glancing around and bubbling with energy.

Nia gazed at a blurred portrait on the wall, expressing her thoughts while daydreaming, “This place has such atmosphere! Ruins and relics— I have this feeling vampires will pop out any moment, and after defeating them, we’ll find endless treasures!”

“Think a bit! What if some monster we can’t handle shows up?” Roy said with a hint of exasperation.

Nia turned around and smiled, “What about you then?”

“If we really run into danger, I’ll be counting on you.”

“Got it, I’ll just turn and run.”

“Hey! How can you just leave a girl behind?” Nia pouted, clearly unhappy.

Hearing her grumble, Roy couldn’t help but chuckle quietly.

The two checked out a few more rooms, finding only some junk, until they reached the main bedroom of the castle, where they finally struck gold.

Miraculously, despite spanning thousands of years, the master bedroom was spotless, as if time had frozen just yesterday.

Bright red carpets, beautiful flowers, a lavish crystal chandelier, a luxurious double bed, and a striking double portrait hanging on the wall.

They rummaged through the room but found no treasures apart from household items.

The most suspicious thing left was that portrait.

It depicted two blood clan sisters who bore striking similarities yet exuded entirely different vibes.

The one with long hair was smiling decadently, clutching her short-haired sister closely. The short-haired girl, with a faint blush, offered a shy glance, filled with mixed emotions.

“Blood clan sisters… have you heard of them?” Roy asked Nia for confirmation.

It was said that the blood clan originated as a branch of the elf race, also known as blood elves. Nia, as a descendant of elves, should have been familiar with this history.

But Nia shook her head in bewilderment.

“The most famous ones are the First True Ancestor Lilith, and the Last True Ancestor Lilium. Especially Lilium—she’s the founder of the Crimson Tears we drank last time.”

“It’s said she fell in love with a male adventurer and turned him into a blood clan member to share eternal life. After that, the blood clan pretty much disappeared, and I haven’t heard anything about sister pairs.”

However, upon hearing this, Roy’s expression turned strange.

He looked back at the portrait, noticing an indescribable shame etched on the short-haired sister’s face.

In Roy’s previous life, some blood clan transformations weren’t just about the change of race…

Hiss!

Connecting those dots, Roy felt a chill run down his spine, making him wary of this ruin.

A severed head is frightening enough, but one without a body is the most terrifying!

Yet for the sake of the False King’s proof, Roy still mustered his courage and, following Nia, approached the portrait.

Nia curiously asked, “Do you think there could be any mechanisms?”

As she spoke, she reached out a hand.

To their surprise, as soon as she touched it, the scenery before them seemed to be brushed aside by an illusory curtain.

In the blink of an eye, they found themselves transported from that bedroom into the interior of a gothic-style church.