It doesn’t take very long for me to get down to them from the building, but it does feel like something is off still. Soldiers are all over the city, yet these ones are here and don’t seem to have a hunter with them already.

I crouch down next to the captain.

"Is there more than one hunter here?" I ask with a serious tone.

"Why would I answer that..." He responds weakly.

"If you prefer death then I’ll just give you it already," I say with a cold tone.

He sits there silently for a moment before looking up at me.

"We only brought one hunter, he is strong enough that we didn’t think about bringing more," The Captain replies before coughing up blood.

One hunter is still going to be an issue to deal with when I don’t even know the strength of them myself. The captain here said he’s strong enough that it is pointless to bring any others.

If that is true... I’ll definitely be in for quite the fight against them whenever I meet this hunter.

The chances of running into them is strong since I’m in the middle of looking for the princess. Amelia is still the priority before getting out of here.

"What does Lumiel want from Ariel?" I ask while gripping his chest plate.

"I don’t know! They just told us to secure the capital," He answers with fear in his voice.

I’m starting to think that none of them were told about what to look for here; All of the soldiers were just told to take the place without any reason on why.

The King of Lumiel must be quite interesting if he keeps everything from his own soldiers as well.

Perhaps the hunter might know.

"We should probably get going Dante," Lia chimes in.

"You’re right. We have more important matters to attend to," I respond while letting go of the captain.

"He’ll probably—

She doesn’t even let me finish before she pierces her sword through his chest. His body hits the ground after that with no more words to follow.

"I didn’t think we would spare him anyway," Lia says while wiping her blade.

"Good. Then we definitely need to continue since we are running out of time," I reply while looking up at the airships.

This whole capital is fighting right now but they still have more soldiers arriving by air as well. I don’t see it holding up for too long here.

Remi probably hasn’t been drinking any blood either so I doubt he’ll be capable of much fighting. Then again, his wife could be the type to supply him with whatever he needs to keep everyone safe.

Lia has been doing great with giving me blood as needed. There is hope for me to find this girl before it is too late, especially with the blood I’ve already consumed.

[Somewhere deep Within The Shop District]

"No soldiers or bodies anywhere here," Lia speaks up with a bit of a surprised tone.

"They might not have made it this far yet," I respond while looking around.

Like the other areas before this, everything is reinforced by those who live here. Nobody seems to be in the open... Not that it can be expected when the capital is under attack.

"Finding Amelia is starting to feel like an impossible task at this point," Lia says with some frustration in her voice.

"We’ll find her," I reply confidently.

"Where? Dead? Because that is what I’m starting to think is the case," Lia says while pacing back and forth.

"She’s not dead," I reply without any hesitation.

It is understandable for her to think that the princess might be dead since we have been searching for a little while now. She should know that Amelia is probably hidden quite well.

Her guard would make sure she survives no matter what. I don’t think he is the type to let her die while he runs off to find his own safety somehow.

Then again, he is human. Humans tend to be selfish... Otherwise this war wouldn’t be started like it is.

I continue to move forward while checking for anything out of the ordinary in the streets; There is something that sticks out amongst the rubble in parts of the street.

A small piece of fabric from the dress Amelia was wearing when I saw her earlier on.

BA-DUM. BA-DUM. BA-DUM. BA-DUM.

Such a thing is causing my heart to race all of a sudden... What is this? I haven’t felt anything like this before but it makes me want to find her more.

A craving I’ve never had before.

RUSH!!!

Without thinking I begin to run down the streets while tracking her scent, trying to find where it could possibly lead to. Lia probably is thinking I’m crazy with my sudden change of pace.

"Dante wait up!!" Lia shouts while running behind me.

After running for a couple of minutes I find myself standing in front of a small chapel with some portions of the door barricaded. A few bodies also sit outside with swords jammed into their chests.

Somehow soldiers came through here but they didn’t reach the other part of the city.

I also didn’t expect a chapel to even be in a capital like this when Remi is the one ruling over everything here. Then again, the church isn’t responsible for the hunters forming in the first place.

That’s something to think about another time though.

Amelia’s scent ends here so she must be within the chapel, or maybe I am leading myself into a trap. Anything is possible with a hunter in the area.

They wouldn’t know to use her as bait though... Unless they have been watching us from afar this whole time. That one guy back at the guild building did seem off, plus the lack of a heartbeat seemed odd.

But I doubt a vampire would be hunting us since we have hated hunters for centuries.