Not long after Brax had said those words, Lucian stepped on a tile with an echo. That's strange, Lucian thought before kneeling down to inspect the floor.

A concerning thought crossed Lucian's mind upon having stumbling upon making such a discovery. It appears to have a hollowness to it, Lucian thought.

Lucian lifted the loose tile while his heart lurched within his chest. A sickening feeling consumed him since he knew what he would find wouldn't be good. He gasped, and his eyes widened in shock as soon as he caught a glimpse of stairs that led to pitch-black darkness.

"Brax, it's far worse than I thought!" Lucian shouted loud enough for Brax to hear him from across the way upon making such a disturbing discovery. "There's a trap door with a staircase underneath it!"

"There's a what?!" Brax yelled out while furrowing his eyebrows with shockwaves coursing through his veins.

"I'm impressed. You priests are better than you look. I felt like it was hidden pretty well, but I guess I was wrong since you managed to find out about what I had been put in charge of guarding over," Kent admitted.

"Hey, you keep your mouth shut! No one wants to hear what you have to say!" Brax barked. He kept his sword directed at Kent in case he tried to pull a stunt at any point if an opportunity arose.

"I'm going to go down there and see where it leads! I need you to stay here and keep a close eye on that Kent guy for me!" Lucian instructed.

"Are you crazy?! You can't do all that on your own! I'm not going to let you go and do something stupid that could possibly get you killed!" Brax yelled out.

"You should listen to your friend," Kent said while giving Lucian a side glance as a devilish smirk spread across his face. Sinister laughter erupted from his frame, sending shudders rushing through his entire body.

Clearly, Kent was fully aware of whatever dark truth was kept stashed away down there in the shadows.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you unless you're incredibly stupid, that is," Kent darkly admitted while grinning. "You're only asking for trouble if you put your nose where it doesn't belong. It's not too late to turn back, you know, and pretend like you didn't see anything."

"Nothing you say is going to stop me. You're only wasting your breath if you think for a second you could frighten someone like me that easily," Lucian darkly admitted while narrowing his eyes at Kent.

With a serious look in his eyes, Lucian turned to Brax. "You have to stay here because if you don't, we'll all be in trouble if he presses whatever he wants to reach for so badly under that counter!"

"Brax, I'm entrusting you with a very important task. Don't let me down; I'm counting on you," Lucian said before leaping onto the first step.

"Fine, whatever, I'll do what you want," Brax grumbled while crossing his arms across his chest. "Hey, you better not go and die on me, you hear! I need you to be alive so I can see the look on your face when I surpass your ass," Brax called back.

Even though Brax sounded upset, the smug look plastered on his face said otherwise. He stood proudly with his feet firmly planted on the floor, clearly letting Lucian's compliment inflate his ego after being assigned such a crucial task.

"That'll be the day," Lucian shot back before descending the steps into pitch-black darkness.

After a while, wild cheering pierced through the air and filled Lucian's eardrums while his eyes zeroed in on the flicker of light up ahead that illuminated the darkness. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion about what he was about to uncover. Given the volume, such applause had to be coming from a rather large crowd.

Lucian squinted his eyes when he walked out of the darkness into a brightly lit underground room with a barricaded square-shaped ring in the center.

What is this? Lucian thought to himself as his eyes widened in surprise, and he frantically glanced around at all the people screaming at the top of their lungs. Some were jumping up and down while others were pumping their fists into the air.

Before long, Lucian could feel the vomit crawling up his throat as he gasped for air. He shielded his nose as he fought the strong urge to gag when the overwhelming scent of iron hit him all at once.

After looking closer, he knew exactly where such a rancid smell was coming from. He couldn't pry his eyes away from the wine glasses resting comfortably within the palms of some of the spectators' hands.

The wine glasses oddly contained a mystery liquid within them that was the shade of crimson. They appeared to have a consistency like that of chocolate syrup that swished around in the hands of those who became ecstatic at the entertainment being displayed before them. It was undeniably human blood they were savoring to their heart's content.

That is the moment when Lucian's worst nightmare sprung to life, manifesting into the horrific reality standing directly in front of him.

Damn, they're everywhere, Lucian frantically thought while his eyes darted all around him in a daze, overwhelmed by just how many pairs of fangs there were all around him.

Lucian cringed at the mere thought of being surrounded by a room teeming with vampires rather than humans. The worst part was he was the only priest present.

Despite Lucian's skill set, he couldn't deny being vastly outnumbered. He knew without a doubt that if any of the vampires had caught a whiff of his presence and got their hands on him, it wouldn't be a pretty sight in the end.

Lucian was well aware that there were plenty of vampires who wanted him dead and would be willing to take any means necessary to wipe him out the first chance they got. He wasn't oblivious to the fact that his name had spread through the streets like wildfire.

Vampires affiliated with gangs and associated with activities deemed as illegal cowered in fear over the frightening reputation Lucian held. The number of bad vampires who had been put to an end by the hands of Lucian was immense.

There was no way that the gang vampires in the city didn't hate his guts. Lucian couldn't shake the unsettling thought that had been lingering in the back of his mind for quite a while.

There was a high probability that multiple hits had likely been placed upon his head. He had become a major threat and stood as one of the few obstacles preventing the vampires with malicious intentions from doing as they pleased.

The people of the city of Rossen worshipped Lucian, the Order of the Cross, and all the priests who stood under its name. They were all the people who had to protect them from the vampires who endangered their lives. Little stood a fighting chance against such alarming capabilities that the vamps possessed that far surpassed those of an average human.

Lucian snapped his fingers, channeling his power to erase his scent so he would be able to slip under their noses undetected. He wouldn't have been praised for being a man of stealth if he didn't have a couple of tricks hidden underneath his sleeve.

Lucian slowly and cautiously pushed through the sea of cheering people while pulling his hood further down to make certain his identity was concealed.

Dying was not on his agenda, so he had to be extremely cautious with his decisions and strategic options before taking a specific course of action. One false move could end in tragedy in the most brutal way possible.

Once Lucian reached the front, he clenched his teeth and tightened his hands into fists at his sides. His heart nearly stopped when he recognized the notorious figure across from him on the other side of the barricaded fighting ring.

Viktor! Lucian screamed inside his mind. He wanted to unleash such an agonizing cry out loud until his throat became raw and sore, powerful enough to shatter glass with its pitch.

That was the name of the vampire who was responsible for putting a hit on and wiping his entire family from existence. If it wasn't for you, they'd probably all still be alive right now, Lucian hissed within his mind while his eyes narrowed with anger.

There sat the man he despised with every ounce of his being across the way. Viktor, the kingpin in the city's criminal underworld, sat perched on a literal throne in the shade of deep mahogany.

Viktor was a rather muscular man with long waves of obsidian strands and golden eyes that people feared. He cradled his face within his hand while letting his elbow rest against the armrest.

The notorious kingpin, to Lucian's disgust, appeared rather bored since the expression on his face conveyed a lack of interest, and he seemed to be zoning out. He repeatedly tapped his long-clawed fingers against the armrest while sitting in a slumped posture.

He's probably the one who's in charge of this whole damn illegal underground fighting scandal, Lucian angrily thought within his mind.

A small gasp escaped Lucian's lips when Viktor felt his stare's intensity and immediately glanced back directly in Lucian's direction.