The entirety of Staten Island was now plunged into chaos. Sarus's assault plan took no heed of the human world's reaction, resulting in utter pandemonium across the borough.
Compared to the Bronx, where Lynn was, which had only experienced a brief instant of day turning to night, Staten Island was a full-blown mess. Sarus's offensive swept through three entire blocks, sending the nearby beat cops and civilians fleeing, everyone scrambling to take cover in their basements.
A throng of punk-dressed vampires, wielding weapons stamped with the Monopoly logo, surged onto the streets, unleashing frenzied attacks on several office buildings. Their targets weren't just rival vampires—they went after anyone in Staten Island who dared to resist, and even unarmed civilians.
Fortunately, this time the National Guard mobilized almost immediately. As soon as the fighting broke out among the vampires, National Guard soldiers arrived on the scene.
After all, the heavy firepower those vampires were packing was way out of the NYPD's league.
On both sides, Stryker infantry fighting vehicles were blasting away with their .50 Browning machine guns, trading heavy fire in scenes reminiscent of a small-scale war zone.
"Goddammit, this is not what I signed up for when I joined the National Guard!"
"Take out that firing point! If we lose the Stryker, we're all dead!"
"Don't kid yourself, Harry! That's a wide-open street out there—there's a dozen of them behind those cars. I'm not going out there to get killed."
"No way in hell, I'm not going! You hear me? I'm not going."
Behind the Strykers, a whole bunch of National Guard soldiers were huddled together. These guys, unlike veterans like Maroon, weren't exactly battle-hardened—they weren't elite, and when confronted by outright criminals, they were woefully lacking in tactical skill.
And in courage.
Dozens of soldiers cowered behind the two Stryker vehicles. At the end of the street, there was only a single Humvee, a handful of ARs, and a Marine Humvee fitted with a .50 Browning.
Amazingly, they were suppressing two full squads of infantry all on their own.
"Screw this! I'm going in! I'm not sitting here waiting to die!"
One of the soldiers just couldn't take it anymore. He didn't believe the Stryker would keep shielding them from enemy fire forever. They had to break through the barricade somehow—there were still a lot of civilians trapped inside, and he couldn't let these maniacs have their way.
Just as he was about to charge out and risk it all, a blue figure appeared in his field of vision. For a moment, he thought he was seeing things, and the soldiers around him stared wide-eyed.
"Soldier, hand me your sidearm."
"Uh… sure." The soldier instinctively drew his pistol and handed it over.
"Where's your commanding officer?" the man asked.
"Killed in action. Uh, I've got the comms here," replied the soldier, handing over the commander's headset.
"Sorry, I'm going to have to take command for now," the man said.
With that, Steve took the comms and activated the mission channel.
"When I draw their fire, your squads provide suppressive fire. Aim for their weapons or their heads—remember, use wave attacks, and never expose yourselves for more than three seconds at a time.
Remember your training manual. Got it?"
Everyone on site nodded, including the soldiers across the way.
"Good. After we secure this area, I need you to cross 54th Avenue and head toward 75th. Link up at Silver Lake Park. Focus on covering civilian evacuation as you move.
Avoid direct engagements along the way. Specialist units are on their way—minimize casualties and protect yourselves."
With that, Steve issued his orders.
"Move out—now!"
With a single command, Steve Rogers led the charge. The low-level vampires quickly spotted him—after all, his gear was impossible to miss, and that iconic shield was unmistakable.
These vampires looked like true American kids of the new generation, and there was no way they didn't recognize Steve Rogers, the one-and-only Captain America and his indestructible shield.
"Are my eyes playing tricks on me?"
"Shit, he's charging—open fire!"
The Browning on the armored Humvee immediately swiveled, unleashing a torrent of rounds at Steve, taking the pressure off the National Guard soldiers.
"Soldiers!"
At Steve's command, the National Guard soldiers, who'd been pinned down by withering machine-gun fire, finally popped up with their weapons—not just pokers anymore.
They returned fire at the vampires, who, outnumbered, quickly found themselves in a bad spot.
These vampires hadn't been carefully selected. Their combat abilities were all over the map, and it was only thanks to their superhuman constitution and reflexes that they'd been so intimidating.
But once the panic-stricken "flock of sheep" found their courage, they pressed the attack. With overwhelming firepower, head after head exploded in a shower of blood.
Steve's shield rang out as bullets ricocheted off the vibranium surface. Some of those rounds bounced back, hitting the vampires who were firing the machine gun, blasting their heads open and turning them into ash.
With the first vampire down, the rest started to lose their nerve. They turned their attention from the soldiers to Steve.
But that just accelerated their collapse. Two soldiers, seeing that the vampires had slackened their fire, scrambled onto a Stryker.
The Stryker's Browning was still intact—they hauled it out, fed it a fresh belt, and let loose. The vampires kept trying to pin down Steve.
But Steve Rogers, the only successful super-soldier of the past fifty years, had fought through far worse.
That thin curtain of fire couldn't slow him down. Eventually, the vampires' Browning ran dry.
As the National Guard's Browning opened up, Steve hurled his vibranium shield with a ringing hum.
The vampire on the other side dropped dead, and as hand-to-hand broke out, Steve was joined by a hail of covering fire.
The vampires' bodies weren't tough enough to withstand .50 caliber rounds. As the Browning's muzzle flash spewed fire, they were reduced to burning blood-mist.
At the same time, Steve used his vibranium shield to take out any vampire aiming at him. Lacking the reflexes or sheer strength to match him, the vampires were swiftly reduced to ash by his attacks.
They vanished into the New York night.
The entire skirmish was over in less than a minute. Before this, the National Guard had been completely outmatched.
Steve holstered his shield, took off the headset, and handed it back to the soldier rushing up to him.
"Well done, soldier. Here—you remember your orders?"
The soldier caught the headset.
"Cross 54th Avenue, move up to 75th, link up with the main force at Silver Lake Park, and focus on covering civilian evac."
"Then carry out your orders."
With that, Steve slung his shield and continued moving into the next block, leaving the soldier staring at his back with a look of awe.
"Who the hell is that guy? You look more excited than you did at the strip club. Don't tell me you swing that way."
"You seriously don't know who that is?"
"I'm Mexican, man."
——
When Steve reached the rendezvous point agreed upon with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s special ops unit, one of their tactical team members ran up to greet him. The area was still ablaze—neon signs blown to bits, and inside the makeshift HQ, the S.H.I.E.L.D. squad was checking their gear.
"Fury told me to meet you here. Rumlow, has the target—the vampire known as 'The Smoker'—appeared yet?"
"Not yet, Captain. As you can see, we're waiting for you. You're about a minute late."
"I ran into some unexpected resistance. I know the tactical situation, but honestly, I don't think protecting a vampire is a good idea."
"I just follow orders, Captain. HQ doesn't get it."
It was obvious this squad had been sent to protect The Smoker, but the situation was so bad they had no idea where their target even was.
As they waited, suddenly a distant building erupted in a blast of dark energy—inky magical power billowed outward. That only happened when two high-level mages were going at it.
A second later, a black knight and a huge multi-armed monster came tumbling down from the sky, still locked in battle as they fell.
The knight's black blade crackled with magical arcs, his armor impenetrable—no matter how the vampire monster struck, he couldn't leave a mark.
Instead, he lost several arms to that sword, letting out a howl as they finally separated. The black knight pushed off and fell back; a magic pegasus burst from the void and caught him in midair, leaving The Smoker to crash to the ground.
Dust flew everywhere, and S.H.I.E.L.D. finally snapped out of their daze.
"Shit, that's The Smoker! Move—move!"
Led by Rumlow, the special ops team surged forward, running toward the spot where The Smoker had crashed. Steve hesitated, frowning at the monster.
He just couldn't see that bloodthirsty beast as any kind of ally. Why would S.H.I.E.L.D. want to protect a creature like that?
They'd be better off evacuating civilians. The vampire civil war could wait.
"What the hell happened in these eighty years…"
The flames lighting up Staten Island filled Steve with doubts, but his sense of duty took over. Whatever the reason, the civilians had all been evacuated. Now, it was time to end this chaos.
Still, as he watched the squad run off, he couldn't help but remember the black knight soaring through the sky on his magic pegasus, and decided to follow. He wouldn't let his comrades go in alone.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. squad quickly reached The Smoker. The dust was still settling, and the huge vampire had already regenerated several new arms.
He glared at Rumlow.
"You're late! That goddamn black knight killed all my men."
Before he could finish, the black knight's silhouette reappeared in the sky, this time with a lance instead of a sword. The magic black horse screamed as it blazed across the ground like a streak of darkness.
Before the squad could even react, the black knight snatched up one of the agents and shot into the air. Rumlow's team wasn't slow—after losing one of their own, they fired on the black knight, but that pegasus was just too fast, dodging the heavy-caliber rifles with ease.
With a casual sweep of his lance, Nathan Garrett tossed the lifeless body aside and vanished once more amid the stars.
"What the hell is that thing?!"
"Your boss didn't tell you? That's the Sword Claw's new enforcer!"
The Smoker clearly had no intention of sticking around—he didn't think these mortals could help him. Protecting his head and heart with his many thick arms, he was already planning his escape. That guy was just too strong.
The ebony blade in the knight's hand sliced through his dark magic defenses like a hot knife through butter. That black armor might look ordinary, but it could block all his attacks.
The Smoker had no thoughts of victory.
He was getting out of there. The humans could die here for all he cared.
If he could stall for even a little while, that would be enough.
"He's invisible—flare out!" Steve shouted, flinging his shield at the same time. The shield ricocheted through the air, sparking as it struck something invisible, forcing the black knight to reveal himself and giving the targeted S.H.I.E.L.D. agent just enough time to hit the dirt and avoid death.
The rest of the agents, trained by Captain America himself, quickly pulled out flares. The sudden mix of light and smoke made the sky twist and blur unnaturally.
Everyone started firing at the places where the distortion appeared, but the bullets couldn't penetrate the black knight's magical shield. He didn't even slow down.
But that split second was enough for The Smoker to escape. He reverted to his original form, yanked open the nearest manhole, and disappeared into the sewers.
Nathan was clearly frustrated by this turn of events. His lance began to hum, energy gathering at its tip.
But before he could unleash its power, two blasts of energy struck his pegasus's wings, nearly knocking it from the sky.
Nathan glanced back—floating there in midair was a metallic Iron Man figure. With S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agents still pouring fire on him below, Nathan finally chose to retreat.
He vanished into the New York night.