Chapter 148: 148
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Point-of-View: Rai Rumel
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Well...this is bad. First off, Persia ran off to the front before Key or I could stop her or even follow after her, and then, the Vampires flew into the Rustlands. And now, here we were, fighting the Vampires that had remained outside. And while the Adventurers on our side outnumbered the Vampires...they weren't using that advantage to the fullest. It quickly became painfully clear that the Adventurers were just getting in each other's way as they tried to attack the Vampires.
As soon as Key realized that, she urged that we should get away from the crowd and gain some space before fighting. And after we got away from the crowd...none of the Vampires seemed to notice us, all of their attention on the crowd of Adventurers outside the north gate. They were mostly watching in amusement, as the Adventurers were basically self-destructing...the Vampires were staying in the air and firing their Blood Magic blasts down at the Adventurers, who were countering with Elemental Magic attacks, but there was no sense of coordination or teamwork, so a lot of their attacks ended up colliding with each other.
"Well, this is a disaster...what should we do?" I asked Key, as we stared at the chaos.
"Hm...let's go up front, maybe we can still catch up with Persia and the frontline. None of the Vampires seem to have noticed us, so it should be safe...or at least, as safe as it gets in a situation like this."
"Good call, babe, you're so smart!"
"Stop being an idiot and let's go, we need to move fast!"
We ran across the right side of where the chaotic battle was taking place, the Adventurers dropping like flies. I think only about a couple hundred had stayed out here, but the Vampires flying above them definitely had the advantage...a few of them got shot down, some even went up in red flames and died as they happened to get hit in the area their cores were at, but...the occasional Vampire deaths were just flukes, while the far more regular Adventurer deaths were a lot more deliberate.
It was clear that the Adventurers were just firing in a blind panic, save for a few of them, but most of the Vampires just seemed to be having fun. Most of the Vampires and Adventurers were clumped in one chaotic area, but some of the Vampires had broken away from the crowd and swooped down on Adventurers that had the sense to get away from the crowd and were fighting them on the ground...strategically, that was a dumb move on the Vampires' part, but I'm assuming they're just bored after being sealed for two hundred years, and wanted to feel the rush of taking such a risk.
The Adventurers who had gotten some distance from the crowd were faring a lot better than the ones that were clumped together, a couple of red flames going up in my peripheral as some of the Vampires who had decided to fight on the ground were killed. I think some of those Adventurers were the S-Ranks from Bronztan...yeah, I spotted Marti and Lonfi fighting a Vampire together, and they were overwhelming it. Oh, and there's Gela and-...woah, I almost feel bad for the Vampire she's fighting...if you can even call that a fight.
After Kuro, Az and Persia, that crazy chick was probably the strongest of our classmates, especially because of her wild tenacity and brutal sadistic tendencies...she was definitely the only person on our side who was smiling right now. I also spotted Les and Selesa, fighting a Vampire away from the crowd, and it looked like they had the advantage. Oh, and there's Vi and Siert, they were holding their own too. Well, they're all S-Ranked Adventurers, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
Suddenly, a Vampire came flying towards us from the front, but he wasn't even looking at us...he was staring behind him with a look of sheer terror, I glanced in that direction, to see a flash of black and red zoom away to the north at a blinding speed...what was that? The Vampire let out a sigh of relief and halted, right as Key drew out her sword, coated it in flames and swung a Fiery Slash attack at him.
The attack struck him before he even noticed, leaving a diagonal burn mark on his torso, and as he let out a cry of pain, I shot forward with my x3.8 Lightning Boost, running lightning through my scythe using Stream, before springing up and swinging it down at him...
"Lightning Reaper!"
He sprang back in alarm, letting out a yell as I sliced off his right arm from just above his elbow. I jumped off to the side as her fired a Blood Magic blast at me, his arm regrowing rapidly.
"You dare cut off the arm of a Vampire General!? Know your place, human!" He exclaimed with a growl, drawing out a sword.
"Uh...my bad? But, if you're so great and all, how come I was able to slice your arm off at all?"
"Why, you-...!"
"Oh, and you looked like you'd seen a ghost just before...I didn't know Vampires could get so scared," I remarked in a taunting voice.
Kuro said that riling up your opponent would make their attacks more emotional and less logical, which subsequently made them easier to predict and potentially gave you more openings as well. But as I taunted him, his expression darkened, fear returning to his eyes.
"Th-that...that monster...such a creature should not be allowed to exist, I-I only escaped because of the power of my Cross, but the other eight Generals w-were all-...the king erred in his judgement, and as a result, has inadvertently created a terrifying beast..."
...was he...talking about Kuro?
"Well, he has gotten pretty overpowered lately, so I get where you're coming from..."
"I...I cannot let such a humiliation stand! You must die!" He exclaimed, a near hysterical look in his eyes as he shot towards me and swung his sword straight down at me.
"Why, what did I do!?" I inquired, as I deflected his strike and swung my scythe up at him.
I don't know what Kuro did, but whatever it was, had been enough to traumatize this guy and break his sanity. He evaded the upward swing of my scythe, right as Key snuck in behind me and drove her blade through the gap by my armpit, the blade piercing through the Vampire's left hip. He gritted his teeth and let out a sharp exhale of pain, before springing back and gaining some distance.
"The humans of this era...you are truly stronger than the humans of two centuries ago...it is a sign...a sign that your filthy race must be subjugated and brought under control! I, Quail, of the Vampire Generals, swear to kill you!"
Uh-oh...somehow, he had managed to regain his composure. I mean, he wasn't exactly calm right now, but he definitely wasn't all hysterical and panicked. And his last attack had been kinda sloppy, but he was definitely a fair bit stronger and faster than we were...fortunately, the two of us had practiced fighting in tandem against someone stronger and faster than us quite a bit...
Granted, Kuro definitely held back a lot whenever we sparred against him for training, but still, we had definitely gotten stronger as a result of those bouts. Suddenly, Quail bit off his own finger and flung it towards me...huh? I got ready to knock it away with my scythe, when suddenly, it vanished, and he was in my sight where his torn off finger had been...
He swung his sword down with his right hand, I swiftly brought my scythe up to block it, but the impact forced me down onto one knee, as a jarring sensation went through my arms...his attack was a lot cleaner than before. A slash of flames went over my head, but before it could strike him, he fired a Blood Magic blast to cancel it out, as Key drove her flaming blade at him from above my left shoulder.
He swiftly slashed off a piece of his back using his tail and flicking it away, before disappearing as a small meaty chunk took his place. Was this his Cross? Let's see if I can find out, anime villains always love explaining what their powers can do, so maybe...
"Is that the power of your Cross?" I inquired, as I got off my knee and back on my feet.
"Indeed...I call it Bloody Exchange. I can swap places with any severed body part before it fully regenerates," He smirked confidently, before firing powerful blasts at us.
So that's how he got away from Kuro. He must have severed something, thrown it away and then switched places. I probably would've figured it out if he'd used it a couple more times, but still, getting him to directly tell us what it does was super useful!
"Now that we know that, we can end this quickly. Try this...," Suggested Key, whispering her idea to me.
"Great plan, babe, you're so smart!"
"...when you talk like that, I feel like you're too dumb to understand what I say, even though I know that you're not...forget it, just go follow the plan!"
I nodded and shot towards the Vampire, who fired a volley of Blood Magic blasts at me, which I evaded and deflected using my scythe, charging more lightning into it to increase its power. As I neared him, he whipped his tail at me, I sprang over it, before jumping straight up off the edge of his tail and swinging my scythe straight down at him while increasing the amount of lightning running through the blade...
"Lightning...REAPER!!!"
He blocked the strike with his sword, and upon contact, I added more lightning into the scythe that I could control, deliberately losing control of the Stream technique, and as a result, the lightning burst out, streaks scattering all over from the blade, zapping the Vampire multiple times at point-blank range.
I then sprang back as I fired a bolt of lightning from my hand, which he sprang away to the left to dodge, an irritated look on his face. I don't think my sparks hurt him much, but considering that even little static shocks felt really annoying, this was probably really grinding his gears.
He had regained his composure earlier, and for Key's plan to work, I was going to need to undo that. I probably can't land a finish hit, but I can definitely annoy him! He bit off another finger and flung it at me with a ticked off expression, but this time I was ready for it. I lower my scythe with the blade pointing up, and the instant his finger neared me and vanished from my sight, I swung the scythe up with all my strength.
He managed to back away enough so that my blade just grazed his midsection, but that little strike was enough to zap him again, and more importantly, I wasn't finished. As my upward swing continued on, I let go of the handle and swiftly stood on my hands, grabbing the airborne handle with my tail and swinging it down again...
"Ring-Tailed Lightning Reaper!"
Yeah, I could channel Mana through my tail, but I usually avoided it since it made my fur go all fuzzy and difficult to comb back down. Oh, and the speed of my swing with my tail was a lot faster than how fast my arms could swing the scythe. He swiftly brought up his sword defensively, but couldn't get it up in time, my scythe sliding off the end of his sword and slicing off a chunk of his right shoulder. I then flung the scythe high into the air, sprang up into the air off my arms in a front flip, my feet landing on the top of his head.
I then bent my knees and jumped straight up as high as I could, as he collapsed onto one knee with a groan. I then caught my scythe with my left hand as I reached the peak of my jump.
"How about another Lightning Reaper!?" I exclaimed with a grin.
"Damn you-...!" He growled, as he quickly sprang back.
Heh, that's just what I wanted him to do. I flung my scythe at him as hard as I could, the blade piercing through his right leg and getting stuck in the ground. Earlier, the moment I grabbed my scythe with my tail, I began charging lightning into my right hand, so I had a pretty powerful amount stored in my fist right now. As I landed, I shot towards him with my fist cocked, lightning violently crackling around it...
"Have a taste of my most powerful attack...Shocker Punch!"
He had a panicked look on his face...he doesn't have enough time to pull the scythe out and then evade, so he'll have to...
He hurriedly bit off a finger and flung it away...yes! That's exactly what I wanted him to do! Wow, this felt pretty good...but what a waste of a perfectly good Shocker Punch. He then vanished from my sight...now he's finished. Because the moment he flung his finger away, Key shot towards it at full speed with her most powerful attack charged up, and was now just a couple of meters away from it. And the instant he vanished from my sight, I exclaimed...
"Yell out the attack name!"
Her eyebrow twitched with irritation, and as the Vampire appeared in front of her, she swung her blade straight up at him...
"Blazing Slash: Point Blank!" She yelled out, as she unleashed her normally-long range attack straight onto Quail, incinerating him into ashes almost instantly, a brief red flames appearing in the middle of her slashing inferno.
"Woah, that was awesome, babe!" I grinned, as I jogged over to her, "And that 'Point Blank' addition to your attack name's so freaking cool!"
"Sh-shut up, you idiot...I j-just ended up blurting it out in the heat of the moment, I regret it...," She muttered, her face turning red.
"But it was so cool! Heh, and nice...your 'heat of the moment' pun, I mean!" I laughed, smacking her butt playfully.
"H-hey! And n-no, I wasn't making a pun-!"
"Well, never mind that...we should get moving, we don't have time to mess around, babe."
"Wha-!? But you're the one who-...you know what, whatever, I don't care anymore. Let's just go..."
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Point-of-View: Cora Tabbs
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"I am impressed, humans, to be able to put up such a commendable fight against I, Pythea Crimson of the Vampire Knights," Remarked the Vampire that I was fighting alongside Princess Cusnai Bronztan.
The Vampire, Pythea Crimson, had short, spiky black hair, except for her bangs in front which covered her forehead and eyebrows and was red in color. She wore a black cape that was red underneath, with a loose-fitting red short sleeved t-shirt and a short black skirt over dark blue shorts, along with a large, jagged sword on her back. We had been fighting her for about two or so minutes, but she was yet to use that weapon. Earlier, she had reacted strangely, stiffening and muttering something like 'eight of the nine are already-...' and then trailed off as a rapid black and red flash shot to the north.
"It would behoove you to avoid underestimating us, unless you wish to perish," Responded the princess, as she fired a bolt of lightning at Pythea and shot across to her left, her spears drawn.
She was remarkably fast and powerful, as one might expect from the number one S-Ranked Adventurer of a nation, but the way she speaks, it seemed somewhat...artificial. She was keeping her distance, as was I, while attacking with long range lightning strikes. This Vampire was too powerful for us to handle in a head-on battle, but any minor damage we were able to inflict from a distance healed within seconds.
And the longer this fight drags on, the more stamina and Mana we use up, while Vampires had an endless supply of their Blood Magic and much higher stamina reserves than humans did. For now, Pythea was staying on the defensive, and we must kill her before she decides to be more proactive. As the princess retreated and rejoined me after yet again failing to inflict some damage, I decided to relay my thoughts to her.
"Your highness, we cannot kill this monster unless we get closer and attempt to strike with more powerful attacks. I suggest trying this...," I whispered, before telling her my plan.
"It is a rather risky venture...however, I agree that our attempts thus far have been lackluster and ineffective. Very well then."
I nodded and flew up using Flight, before folding my wings inwards and rapidly spreading them out as I charged my Mana into them and expelled it out in a swirling motion, creating a small tornado hurling towards the Vampire. Pythea reacted by swirling Blood Magic around her hand and swinging it outwards as my attack closed in on her, dispelling it and kicking up a cloud of snow.
However, the princess had been rushing in a few meters behind the tornado, and before the snow cloud could settle, she shot forward and unleashed a series of lightning-enhanced thrusts with her two spears. She was able to graze Pythea a few times as she caught her by surprise, before the Vampire extended her claws out and deflected all the subsequent strikes.
Princess Cusnai then swiftly sprang back and flung a small glass vial at Pythea's face, who shattered it with a swipe of her claws, but the liquid inside the vial burst out onto her face, and she let out an excruciating scream of pain as the liquid melted some of her skin off, along with blinding her. Some form of acid? Quite a clever utilization...
Meanwhile, I was already in position, right above the Vampire, ready to unleash my attack. I channeled Mana into my vocal chords, before screaming out the waves that my Anima let me, drastically enhancing the scale using my Mana...Kuro had informed me that they were called sonic waves, and were highly effective as deafening attacks. Oh, and Rai had given my techniques names, as a part of the 'trend' he started. I believe he named this straight-down attack from above...
"Sonic Chamber!" I exclaimed as I screeched out my attack straight down at her, blasting onto the ground and kicking up a large snow cloud as she let out a shrill scream, which was barely audible as my attack drowned out the noise...the prospect of naming my attacks was embarrassing, and yet, also somewhat thrilling.
Since all that I am doing is amplifying something that I can do naturally due to my Anima, these 'sonic' attacks hardly consumed any Mana. However, they did leave a rather unpleasant ringing in my ears if I fired continously at a large scale. And I could only maintain a continuous blast for as long as I could exhale, my attack would cut off the instant I could no longer do so...which was about to happen now...
I let out a gasp as I sharply inhaled the instant my attack ceased, but I forced myself to waste no time, as I wrapped wind around my right wing and swooped down rapidly towards her, aiming to slice her in half. Right as I began to near her, she sprang back, seeing me as her eyes healed just in time to react, while I was mere inches away from vertically slicing straight down her body. What incredible speed. Her ears were bleeding profusely, and her movements were slightly unsteady, her expression dazed...and yet, she had been able to react so swiftly and decisively.
"Get down, quickly!" Came the princess's voice from a few meters behind her.
I swiftly dropped to the ground, Pythea didn't hear her since her ears were still bleeding, but the instant I lowered myself, she swiftly spun around, right as a large blast of lightning came barreling towards her. She sprang away to the right, but could not avoid a significant amount of her left side getting incinerated off, around her hip and waist area.
I then zipped forward inches above the snowy ground using Flight, both my wings wrapped in wind while I channeled more Mana into my vocal cords. Her eyes met my gaze as I closed in, she narrowly dodged my sonic attack as I fired it at her head, before forming a spiraling Blood Magic attack in her right hand. I halted and unleashed all the wind around my wings straight onto the snow in front of her, before starting to fly back...when suddenly, my body froze, unable to move.
And then, I felt my body being pulled forward rapidly, seemingly by an invisible force, before I let out a gasp as Pythea caught me by the neck, a tight grip around my throat.
"I do not know what that attack was, the one that ruptured my hearing...but I shall make sure you die an agonizing death for that," She stated coldly, an eerily calm look in her eyes as she aimed the Blood Magic attack at my midsection.
If that hits me, given it's spiraling motion, it will tear straight through my body...
Suddenly, she swung her right arm behind her and fired the attack, at the princess who had snuck up behind her. She narrowly avoided the attack, it grazing her left shoulder as she jumped off to the right. Pythea then tightened her grip on my throat further before flinging me away with incredible force, my back hitting the ground with a resounding impact and I coughed out blood. If it were not for the snow, I would likely have broken my spine just now...
I had only seen Kuro in his 'Vampire Mode' form a limited number of times, but if I had to compare his capabilities to Pythea, I would estimate that she was about two thirds as fast and strong as he was, or maybe a little bit more than that...and she was still far stronger than either the princess or I were. And more importantly, what did she just do, when she pulled my body towards her without even touching me? I think her left palm had been pointing towards me...could she do that with both hands or just the left? And what was the limit of her range?
Unfortunately, I do not have time to stand around and ponder, as she was flying at the princess, who was running away but rapidly losing ground...she was not running in a straight line, using zigzag and unorthodox movements to keep evading for as long as possible, while Pythea was attempting to point her left palm at her, a Blood Magic blast in her right.
I flew up while charging Mana into my vocal chords, as she fired her Blood Magic blast at the princess, who got struck on the left shoulder, letting out a cry of pain as she dropped her left spear. She began to run away again, but Pythea then pointed both palms towards her, halting her from getting away and rapidly attracting her towards herself. She then drew out her sword and pointed it straight in front of her, as Princess Cusnai came flying towards her right palm.
I swiftly blasted a sonic screech down at the Vampire, who let the princess drop to the ground before swiftly pointing her palm upwards towards me, I quickly flew up at an angle, changing my lines of ascension as she attempted to follow my trajectory with her palms...until she dropped them with a look of frustration, before evading a lightning bolt from the princess and countering with a barrage of Blood Magic shots. The princess evaded as best she could, but was unable to avoid taking multiple direct hits onto her back and legs, collapsing onto the ground in pain.
Why did she stop trying to pull me towards her, was it just because the princess attacked...no, that does not explain her expression...I was about thirty meters above her, perhaps I was outside her range...so, then, if I stay at this distance-...how foolish of me, I almost forgot...she can fly too.
As she zipped up towards me, I flew away as fast as I could, but she was faster than I was in the air. I fired sonic blasts at her, but she evaded them with ease, my aim was not perfectly accurate when I fire while moving at top speed...and she was rapidly closing in...the instant she got within about twenty-five meters of me, she pointed her palms towards me, pulling me towards her before I could get away.
She grabbed the back of my neck, I let out an agonized cry of pain as I felt a burning sensation in the spot she was holding, before a sharp pain went through my back as something pierced in...her tail?
"Your attraction power...is that your Cross?" I inquired, while subtly channeling Mana into my vocal chords.
"Indeed, it is called Beckon. You literally cannot get away from me!" She laughed tauntingly.
"I suppose so...," I replied in a forlorn voice, feigning despair by slumping my body, before swiftly and suddenly turning my head back around to the right as far as I could, ignoring the ache in my shoulder as I did, and rapidly firing a compressed sonic blade, which blasted onto the right side of her head, blood bursting out of her right ear as her expression twisted into one of immense pain and disorientation.
Her grip on the back of my neck weakened, and I quickly wrested free of her grasp, letting myself plummet down before shifting my position so that I was facing upwards and firing slashes of wind from my wings along with a powerful sonic blast from my mouth. She was dazed, but managed to evade to the side with a flap of her wings, my sonic attack missing but one of my wind attacks left a deep gash in her left side.
She let out an angry snarl and fired a volley of spiraling Blood Magic bolts from her right hand while clutching her head with her left hand. I evaded as best I could, but one of the blasts pierced through my right wing, making me lose my balance...I wasn't very used to using Flight without my wings...and my Anima was retracting due to the pain. My right forearm had a hole through it as my wings turned back into arms.
I crashed down onto the ground below, letting out a cough of blood as I slammed down onto my back. I quickly reached for my healing spell to heal my injuries as she swooped down towards me, her sword drawn in her right hand and a viciously spiraling Blood Magic attack around her left hand.
I sprang back and fired a sonic blast from my mouth as she closed in and swung her sword down at me. She canceled out my attack with her spiraling Blood Magic attack before shooting towards me and swinging her sword up at me, gashing my right shoulder and driving her claws towards my neck, grazing the left side. I began to fire blasts of wind from my hands, but she whipped her tail up at my hands, leaving deep gashes in my foreams and dissipating my Mana.
She then fired Blood Magic blasts at my torso and legs, forcing me to collapse onto the ground, she was too fast for me to even begin to dodge. I started to get up, before being knocked onto my back with a crashing pain onto my face, as her knee slammed onto my face, breaking my nose and cracking my cheekbone severely.
"Now, you die...," She remarked, raising her sword and tightening her grip on the handle.
Suddenly, Princess Cusnai sprang up behind her, with both spears raised and charged with lightning. She began to swing them down with serious force, when Pythea swiftly spun around and blocked her spears with her sword, before firing a blast up at her, leaving a deep burnt patch on her torso and sending her flying away and crashing onto the ground.
"Pests...I will put you insects out of your miser-...!" She began, before stiffening and turning her attention to the north with a shocked and confused expression, "Eighty-Seven...what are you-!? Damn it, what is she doing-...!?"
Suddenly, she took off into the sky, rapidly flying off to the north, a concerned and irritated expression on her face. We were spared...I do not quite understand why, but at present, I could not bring myself to care. I was too overcome with relief to still be alive...
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Point-of-View: Rai Rumel
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Well...this is bad. First off, Persia ran off to the front before Key or I could stop her or even follow after her, and then, the Vampires flew into the Rustlands. And now, here we were, fighting the Vampires that had remained outside. And while the Adventurers on our side outnumbered the Vampires...they weren't using that advantage to the fullest. It quickly became painfully clear that the Adventurers were just getting in each other's way as they tried to attack the Vampires.
As soon as Key realized that, she urged that we should get away from the crowd and gain some space before fighting. And after we got away from the crowd...none of the Vampires seemed to notice us, all of their attention on the crowd of Adventurers outside the north gate. They were mostly watching in amusement, as the Adventurers were basically self-destructing...the Vampires were staying in the air and firing their Blood Magic blasts down at the Adventurers, who were countering with Elemental Magic attacks, but there was no sense of coordination or teamwork, so a lot of their attacks ended up colliding with each other.
"Well, this is a disaster...what should we do?" I asked Key, as we stared at the chaos.
"Hm...let's go up front, maybe we can still catch up with Persia and the frontline. None of the Vampires seem to have noticed us, so it should be safe...or at least, as safe as it gets in a situation like this."
"Good call, babe, you're so smart!"
"Stop being an idiot and let's go, we need to move fast!"
We ran across the right side of where the chaotic battle was taking place, the Adventurers dropping like flies. I think only about a couple hundred had stayed out here, but the Vampires flying above them definitely had the advantage...a few of them got shot down, some even went up in red flames and died as they happened to get hit in the area their cores were at, but...the occasional Vampire deaths were just flukes, while the far more regular Adventurer deaths were a lot more deliberate.
It was clear that the Adventurers were just firing in a blind panic, save for a few of them, but most of the Vampires just seemed to be having fun. Most of the Vampires and Adventurers were clumped in one chaotic area, but some of the Vampires had broken away from the crowd and swooped down on Adventurers that had the sense to get away from the crowd and were fighting them on the ground...strategically, that was a dumb move on the Vampires' part, but I'm assuming they're just bored after being sealed for two hundred years, and wanted to feel the rush of taking such a risk.
The Adventurers who had gotten some distance from the crowd were faring a lot better than the ones that were clumped together, a couple of red flames going up in my peripheral as some of the Vampires who had decided to fight on the ground were killed. I think some of those Adventurers were the S-Ranks from Bronztan...yeah, I spotted Marti and Lonfi fighting a Vampire together, and they were overwhelming it. Oh, and there's Gela and-...woah, I almost feel bad for the Vampire she's fighting...if you can even call that a fight.
After Kuro, Az and Persia, that crazy chick was probably the strongest of our classmates, especially because of her wild tenacity and brutal sadistic tendencies...she was definitely the only person on our side who was smiling right now. I also spotted Les and Selesa, fighting a Vampire away from the crowd, and it looked like they had the advantage. Oh, and there's Vi and Siert, they were holding their own too. Well, they're all S-Ranked Adventurers, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
Suddenly, a Vampire came flying towards us from the front, but he wasn't even looking at us...he was staring behind him with a look of sheer terror, I glanced in that direction, to see a flash of black and red zoom away to the north at a blinding speed...what was that? The Vampire let out a sigh of relief and halted, right as Key drew out her sword, coated it in flames and swung a Fiery Slash attack at him.
The attack struck him before he even noticed, leaving a diagonal burn mark on his torso, and as he let out a cry of pain, I shot forward with my x3.8 Lightning Boost, running lightning through my scythe using Stream, before springing up and swinging it down at him...
"Lightning Reaper!"
He sprang back in alarm, letting out a yell as I sliced off his right arm from just above his elbow. I jumped off to the side as her fired a Blood Magic blast at me, his arm regrowing rapidly.
"You dare cut off the arm of a Vampire General!? Know your place, human!" He exclaimed with a growl, drawing out a sword.
"Uh...my bad? But, if you're so great and all, how come I was able to slice your arm off at all?"
"Why, you-...!"
"Oh, and you looked like you'd seen a ghost just before...I didn't know Vampires could get so scared," I remarked in a taunting voice.
Kuro said that riling up your opponent would make their attacks more emotional and less logical, which subsequently made them easier to predict and potentially gave you more openings as well. But as I taunted him, his expression darkened, fear returning to his eyes.
"Th-that...that monster...such a creature should not be allowed to exist, I-I only escaped because of the power of my Cross, but the other eight Generals w-were all-...the king erred in his judgement, and as a result, has inadvertently created a terrifying beast..."
...was he...talking about Kuro?
"Well, he has gotten pretty overpowered lately, so I get where you're coming from..."
"I...I cannot let such a humiliation stand! You must die!" He exclaimed, a near hysterical look in his eyes as he shot towards me and swung his sword straight down at me.
"Why, what did I do!?" I inquired, as I deflected his strike and swung my scythe up at him.
I don't know what Kuro did, but whatever it was, had been enough to traumatize this guy and break his sanity. He evaded the upward swing of my scythe, right as Key snuck in behind me and drove her blade through the gap by my armpit, the blade piercing through the Vampire's left hip. He gritted his teeth and let out a sharp exhale of pain, before springing back and gaining some distance.
"The humans of this era...you are truly stronger than the humans of two centuries ago...it is a sign...a sign that your filthy race must be subjugated and brought under control! I, Quail, of the Vampire Generals, swear to kill you!"
Uh-oh...somehow, he had managed to regain his composure. I mean, he wasn't exactly calm right now, but he definitely wasn't all hysterical and panicked. And his last attack had been kinda sloppy, but he was definitely a fair bit stronger and faster than we were...fortunately, the two of us had practiced fighting in tandem against someone stronger and faster than us quite a bit...
Granted, Kuro definitely held back a lot whenever we sparred against him for training, but still, we had definitely gotten stronger as a result of those bouts. Suddenly, Quail bit off his own finger and flung it towards me...huh? I got ready to knock it away with my scythe, when suddenly, it vanished, and he was in my sight where his torn off finger had been...
He swung his sword down with his right hand, I swiftly brought my scythe up to block it, but the impact forced me down onto one knee, as a jarring sensation went through my arms...his attack was a lot cleaner than before. A slash of flames went over my head, but before it could strike him, he fired a Blood Magic blast to cancel it out, as Key drove her flaming blade at him from above my left shoulder.
He swiftly slashed off a piece of his back using his tail and flicking it away, before disappearing as a small meaty chunk took his place. Was this his Cross? Let's see if I can find out, anime villains always love explaining what their powers can do, so maybe...
"Is that the power of your Cross?" I inquired, as I got off my knee and back on my feet.
"Indeed...I call it Bloody Exchange. I can swap places with any severed body part before it fully regenerates," He smirked confidently, before firing powerful blasts at us.
So that's how he got away from Kuro. He must have severed something, thrown it away and then switched places. I probably would've figured it out if he'd used it a couple more times, but still, getting him to directly tell us what it does was super useful!
"Now that we know that, we can end this quickly. Try this...," Suggested Key, whispering her idea to me.
"Great plan, babe, you're so smart!"
"...when you talk like that, I feel like you're too dumb to understand what I say, even though I know that you're not...forget it, just go follow the plan!"
I nodded and shot towards the Vampire, who fired a volley of Blood Magic blasts at me, which I evaded and deflected using my scythe, charging more lightning into it to increase its power. As I neared him, he whipped his tail at me, I sprang over it, before jumping straight up off the edge of his tail and swinging my scythe straight down at him while increasing the amount of lightning running through the blade...
"Lightning...REAPER!!!"
He blocked the strike with his sword, and upon contact, I added more lightning into the scythe that I could control, deliberately losing control of the Stream technique, and as a result, the lightning burst out, streaks scattering all over from the blade, zapping the Vampire multiple times at point-blank range.
I then sprang back as I fired a bolt of lightning from my hand, which he sprang away to the left to dodge, an irritated look on his face. I don't think my sparks hurt him much, but considering that even little static shocks felt really annoying, this was probably really grinding his gears.
He had regained his composure earlier, and for Key's plan to work, I was going to need to undo that. I probably can't land a finish hit, but I can definitely annoy him! He bit off another finger and flung it at me with a ticked off expression, but this time I was ready for it. I lower my scythe with the blade pointing up, and the instant his finger neared me and vanished from my sight, I swung the scythe up with all my strength.
He managed to back away enough so that my blade just grazed his midsection, but that little strike was enough to zap him again, and more importantly, I wasn't finished. As my upward swing continued on, I let go of the handle and swiftly stood on my hands, grabbing the airborne handle with my tail and swinging it down again...
"Ring-Tailed Lightning Reaper!"
Yeah, I could channel Mana through my tail, but I usually avoided it since it made my fur go all fuzzy and difficult to comb back down. Oh, and the speed of my swing with my tail was a lot faster than how fast my arms could swing the scythe. He swiftly brought up his sword defensively, but couldn't get it up in time, my scythe sliding off the end of his sword and slicing off a chunk of his right shoulder. I then flung the scythe high into the air, sprang up into the air off my arms in a front flip, my feet landing on the top of his head.
I then bent my knees and jumped straight up as high as I could, as he collapsed onto one knee with a groan. I then caught my scythe with my left hand as I reached the peak of my jump.
"How about another Lightning Reaper!?" I exclaimed with a grin.
"Damn you-...!" He growled, as he quickly sprang back.
Heh, that's just what I wanted him to do. I flung my scythe at him as hard as I could, the blade piercing through his right leg and getting stuck in the ground. Earlier, the moment I grabbed my scythe with my tail, I began charging lightning into my right hand, so I had a pretty powerful amount stored in my fist right now. As I landed, I shot towards him with my fist cocked, lightning violently crackling around it...
"Have a taste of my most powerful attack...Shocker Punch!"
He had a panicked look on his face...he doesn't have enough time to pull the scythe out and then evade, so he'll have to...
He hurriedly bit off a finger and flung it away...yes! That's exactly what I wanted him to do! Wow, this felt pretty good...but what a waste of a perfectly good Shocker Punch. He then vanished from my sight...now he's finished. Because the moment he flung his finger away, Key shot towards it at full speed with her most powerful attack charged up, and was now just a couple of meters away from it. And the instant he vanished from my sight, I exclaimed...
"Yell out the attack name!"
Her eyebrow twitched with irritation, and as the Vampire appeared in front of her, she swung her blade straight up at him...
"Blazing Slash: Point Blank!" She yelled out, as she unleashed her normally-long range attack straight onto Quail, incinerating him into ashes almost instantly, a brief red flames appearing in the middle of her slashing inferno.
"Woah, that was awesome, babe!" I grinned, as I jogged over to her, "And that 'Point Blank' addition to your attack name's so freaking cool!"
"Sh-shut up, you idiot...I j-just ended up blurting it out in the heat of the moment, I regret it...," She muttered, her face turning red.
"But it was so cool! Heh, and nice...your 'heat of the moment' pun, I mean!" I laughed, smacking her butt playfully.
"H-hey! And n-no, I wasn't making a pun-!"
"Well, never mind that...we should get moving, we don't have time to mess around, babe."
"Wha-!? But you're the one who-...you know what, whatever, I don't care anymore. Let's just go..."
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Point-of-View: Cora Tabbs
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"I am impressed, humans, to be able to put up such a commendable fight against I, Pythea Crimson of the Vampire Knights," Remarked the Vampire that I was fighting alongside Princess Cusnai Bronztan.
The Vampire, Pythea Crimson, had short, spiky black hair, except for her bangs in front which covered her forehead and eyebrows and was red in color. She wore a black cape that was red underneath, with a loose-fitting red short sleeved t-shirt and a short black skirt over dark blue shorts, along with a large, jagged sword on her back. We had been fighting her for about two or so minutes, but she was yet to use that weapon. Earlier, she had reacted strangely, stiffening and muttering something like 'eight of the nine are already-...' and then trailed off as a rapid black and red flash shot to the north.
"It would behoove you to avoid underestimating us, unless you wish to perish," Responded the princess, as she fired a bolt of lightning at Pythea and shot across to her left, her spears drawn.
She was remarkably fast and powerful, as one might expect from the number one S-Ranked Adventurer of a nation, but the way she speaks, it seemed somewhat...artificial. She was keeping her distance, as was I, while attacking with long range lightning strikes. This Vampire was too powerful for us to handle in a head-on battle, but any minor damage we were able to inflict from a distance healed within seconds.
And the longer this fight drags on, the more stamina and Mana we use up, while Vampires had an endless supply of their Blood Magic and much higher stamina reserves than humans did. For now, Pythea was staying on the defensive, and we must kill her before she decides to be more proactive. As the princess retreated and rejoined me after yet again failing to inflict some damage, I decided to relay my thoughts to her.
"Your highness, we cannot kill this monster unless we get closer and attempt to strike with more powerful attacks. I suggest trying this...," I whispered, before telling her my plan.
"It is a rather risky venture...however, I agree that our attempts thus far have been lackluster and ineffective. Very well then."
I nodded and flew up using Flight, before folding my wings inwards and rapidly spreading them out as I charged my Mana into them and expelled it out in a swirling motion, creating a small tornado hurling towards the Vampire. Pythea reacted by swirling Blood Magic around her hand and swinging it outwards as my attack closed in on her, dispelling it and kicking up a cloud of snow.
However, the princess had been rushing in a few meters behind the tornado, and before the snow cloud could settle, she shot forward and unleashed a series of lightning-enhanced thrusts with her two spears. She was able to graze Pythea a few times as she caught her by surprise, before the Vampire extended her claws out and deflected all the subsequent strikes.
Princess Cusnai then swiftly sprang back and flung a small glass vial at Pythea's face, who shattered it with a swipe of her claws, but the liquid inside the vial burst out onto her face, and she let out an excruciating scream of pain as the liquid melted some of her skin off, along with blinding her. Some form of acid? Quite a clever utilization...
Meanwhile, I was already in position, right above the Vampire, ready to unleash my attack. I channeled Mana into my vocal chords, before screaming out the waves that my Anima let me, drastically enhancing the scale using my Mana...Kuro had informed me that they were called sonic waves, and were highly effective as deafening attacks. Oh, and Rai had given my techniques names, as a part of the 'trend' he started. I believe he named this straight-down attack from above...
"Sonic Chamber!" I exclaimed as I screeched out my attack straight down at her, blasting onto the ground and kicking up a large snow cloud as she let out a shrill scream, which was barely audible as my attack drowned out the noise...the prospect of naming my attacks was embarrassing, and yet, also somewhat thrilling.
Since all that I am doing is amplifying something that I can do naturally due to my Anima, these 'sonic' attacks hardly consumed any Mana. However, they did leave a rather unpleasant ringing in my ears if I fired continously at a large scale. And I could only maintain a continuous blast for as long as I could exhale, my attack would cut off the instant I could no longer do so...which was about to happen now...
I let out a gasp as I sharply inhaled the instant my attack ceased, but I forced myself to waste no time, as I wrapped wind around my right wing and swooped down rapidly towards her, aiming to slice her in half. Right as I began to near her, she sprang back, seeing me as her eyes healed just in time to react, while I was mere inches away from vertically slicing straight down her body. What incredible speed. Her ears were bleeding profusely, and her movements were slightly unsteady, her expression dazed...and yet, she had been able to react so swiftly and decisively.
"Get down, quickly!" Came the princess's voice from a few meters behind her.
I swiftly dropped to the ground, Pythea didn't hear her since her ears were still bleeding, but the instant I lowered myself, she swiftly spun around, right as a large blast of lightning came barreling towards her. She sprang away to the right, but could not avoid a significant amount of her left side getting incinerated off, around her hip and waist area.
I then zipped forward inches above the snowy ground using Flight, both my wings wrapped in wind while I channeled more Mana into my vocal cords. Her eyes met my gaze as I closed in, she narrowly dodged my sonic attack as I fired it at her head, before forming a spiraling Blood Magic attack in her right hand. I halted and unleashed all the wind around my wings straight onto the snow in front of her, before starting to fly back...when suddenly, my body froze, unable to move.
And then, I felt my body being pulled forward rapidly, seemingly by an invisible force, before I let out a gasp as Pythea caught me by the neck, a tight grip around my throat.
"I do not know what that attack was, the one that ruptured my hearing...but I shall make sure you die an agonizing death for that," She stated coldly, an eerily calm look in her eyes as she aimed the Blood Magic attack at my midsection.
If that hits me, given it's spiraling motion, it will tear straight through my body...
Suddenly, she swung her right arm behind her and fired the attack, at the princess who had snuck up behind her. She narrowly avoided the attack, it grazing her left shoulder as she jumped off to the right. Pythea then tightened her grip on my throat further before flinging me away with incredible force, my back hitting the ground with a resounding impact and I coughed out blood. If it were not for the snow, I would likely have broken my spine just now...
I had only seen Kuro in his 'Vampire Mode' form a limited number of times, but if I had to compare his capabilities to Pythea, I would estimate that she was about two thirds as fast and strong as he was, or maybe a little bit more than that...and she was still far stronger than either the princess or I were. And more importantly, what did she just do, when she pulled my body towards her without even touching me? I think her left palm had been pointing towards me...could she do that with both hands or just the left? And what was the limit of her range?
Unfortunately, I do not have time to stand around and ponder, as she was flying at the princess, who was running away but rapidly losing ground...she was not running in a straight line, using zigzag and unorthodox movements to keep evading for as long as possible, while Pythea was attempting to point her left palm at her, a Blood Magic blast in her right.
I flew up while charging Mana into my vocal chords, as she fired her Blood Magic blast at the princess, who got struck on the left shoulder, letting out a cry of pain as she dropped her left spear. She began to run away again, but Pythea then pointed both palms towards her, halting her from getting away and rapidly attracting her towards herself. She then drew out her sword and pointed it straight in front of her, as Princess Cusnai came flying towards her right palm.
I swiftly blasted a sonic screech down at the Vampire, who let the princess drop to the ground before swiftly pointing her palm upwards towards me, I quickly flew up at an angle, changing my lines of ascension as she attempted to follow my trajectory with her palms...until she dropped them with a look of frustration, before evading a lightning bolt from the princess and countering with a barrage of Blood Magic shots. The princess evaded as best she could, but was unable to avoid taking multiple direct hits onto her back and legs, collapsing onto the ground in pain.
Why did she stop trying to pull me towards her, was it just because the princess attacked...no, that does not explain her expression...I was about thirty meters above her, perhaps I was outside her range...so, then, if I stay at this distance-...how foolish of me, I almost forgot...she can fly too.
As she zipped up towards me, I flew away as fast as I could, but she was faster than I was in the air. I fired sonic blasts at her, but she evaded them with ease, my aim was not perfectly accurate when I fire while moving at top speed...and she was rapidly closing in...the instant she got within about twenty-five meters of me, she pointed her palms towards me, pulling me towards her before I could get away.
She grabbed the back of my neck, I let out an agonized cry of pain as I felt a burning sensation in the spot she was holding, before a sharp pain went through my back as something pierced in...her tail?
"Your attraction power...is that your Cross?" I inquired, while subtly channeling Mana into my vocal chords.
"Indeed, it is called Beckon. You literally cannot get away from me!" She laughed tauntingly.
"I suppose so...," I replied in a forlorn voice, feigning despair by slumping my body, before swiftly and suddenly turning my head back around to the right as far as I could, ignoring the ache in my shoulder as I did, and rapidly firing a compressed sonic blade, which blasted onto the right side of her head, blood bursting out of her right ear as her expression twisted into one of immense pain and disorientation.
Her grip on the back of my neck weakened, and I quickly wrested free of her grasp, letting myself plummet down before shifting my position so that I was facing upwards and firing slashes of wind from my wings along with a powerful sonic blast from my mouth. She was dazed, but managed to evade to the side with a flap of her wings, my sonic attack missing but one of my wind attacks left a deep gash in her left side.
She let out an angry snarl and fired a volley of spiraling Blood Magic bolts from her right hand while clutching her head with her left hand. I evaded as best I could, but one of the blasts pierced through my right wing, making me lose my balance...I wasn't very used to using Flight without my wings...and my Anima was retracting due to the pain. My right forearm had a hole through it as my wings turned back into arms.
I crashed down onto the ground below, letting out a cough of blood as I slammed down onto my back. I quickly reached for my healing spell to heal my injuries as she swooped down towards me, her sword drawn in her right hand and a viciously spiraling Blood Magic attack around her left hand.
I sprang back and fired a sonic blast from my mouth as she closed in and swung her sword down at me. She canceled out my attack with her spiraling Blood Magic attack before shooting towards me and swinging her sword up at me, gashing my right shoulder and driving her claws towards my neck, grazing the left side. I began to fire blasts of wind from my hands, but she whipped her tail up at my hands, leaving deep gashes in my foreams and dissipating my Mana.
She then fired Blood Magic blasts at my torso and legs, forcing me to collapse onto the ground, she was too fast for me to even begin to dodge. I started to get up, before being knocked onto my back with a crashing pain onto my face, as her knee slammed onto my face, breaking my nose and cracking my cheekbone severely.
"Now, you die...," She remarked, raising her sword and tightening her grip on the handle.
Suddenly, Princess Cusnai sprang up behind her, with both spears raised and charged with lightning. She began to swing them down with serious force, when Pythea swiftly spun around and blocked her spears with her sword, before firing a blast up at her, leaving a deep burnt patch on her torso and sending her flying away and crashing onto the ground.
"Pests...I will put you insects out of your miser-...!" She began, before stiffening and turning her attention to the north with a shocked and confused expression, "Eighty-Seven...what are you-!? Damn it, what is she doing-...!?"
Suddenly, she took off into the sky, rapidly flying off to the north, a concerned and irritated expression on her face. We were spared...I do not quite understand why, but at present, I could not bring myself to care. I was too overcome with relief to still be alive...
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Point-of-View: Rai RumelWell...this is bad. First off, Persia ran off to the front before Key or I could stop her or even follow after her, and then, the Vampires flew into the Rustlands. And now, here we were, fighting the Vampires that had remained outside. And while the Adventurers on our side outnumbered the Vampires...they weren't using that advantage to the fullest. It quickly became painfully clear that the Adventurers were just getting in each other's way as they tried to attack the Vampires.As soon as Key realized that, she urged that we should get away from the crowd and gain some space before fighting. And after we got away from the crowd...none of the Vampires seemed to notice us, all of their attention on the crowd of Adventurers outside the north gate. They were mostly watching in amusement, as the Adventurers were basically self-destructing...the Vampires were staying in the air and firing their Blood Magic blasts down at the Adventurers, who were countering with Elemental Magic attacks, but there was no sense of coordination or teamwork, so a lot of their attacks ended up colliding with each other."Well, this is a disaster...what should we do?" I asked Key, as we stared at the chaos."Hm...let's go up front, maybe we can still catch up with Persia and the frontline. None of the Vampires seem to have noticed us, so it should be safe...or at least, as safe as it gets in a situation like this.""Good call, babe, you're so smart!""Stop being an idiot and let's go, we need to move fast!"We ran across the right side of where the chaotic battle was taking place, the Adventurers dropping like flies. I think only about a couple hundred had stayed out here, but the Vampires flying above them definitely had the advantage...a few of them got shot down, some even went up in red flames and died as they happened to get hit in the area their cores were at, but...the occasional Vampire deaths were just flukes, while the far more regular Adventurer deaths were a lot more deliberate.It was clear that the Adventurers were just firing in a blind panic, save for a few of them, but most of the Vampires just seemed to be having fun. Most of the Vampires and Adventurers were clumped in one chaotic area, but some of the Vampires had broken away from the crowd and swooped down on Adventurers that had the sense to get away from the crowd and were fighting them on the ground...strategically, that was a dumb move on the Vampires' part, but I'm assuming they're just bored after being sealed for two hundred years, and wanted to feel the rush of taking such a risk.The Adventurers who had gotten some distance from the crowd were faring a lot better than the ones that were clumped together, a couple of red flames going up in my peripheral as some of the Vampires who had decided to fight on the ground were killed. I think some of those Adventurers were the S-Ranks from Bronztan...yeah, I spotted Marti and Lonfi fighting a Vampire together, and they were overwhelming it. Oh, and there's Gela and-...woah, I almost feel bad for the Vampire she's fighting...if you can even call that a fight.After Kuro, Az and Persia, that crazy chick was probably the strongest of our classmates, especially because of her wild tenacity and brutal sadistic tendencies...she was definitely the only person on our side who was smiling right now. I also spotted Les and Selesa, fighting a Vampire away from the crowd, and it looked like they had the advantage. Oh, and there's Vi and Siert, they were holding their own too. Well, they're all S-Ranked Adventurers, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.Suddenly, a Vampire came flying towards us from the front, but he wasn't even looking at us...he was staring behind him with a look of sheer terror, I glanced in that direction, to see a flash of black and red zoom away to the north at a blinding speed...what was that? The Vampire let out a sigh of relief and halted, right as Key drew out her sword, coated it in flames and swung a Fiery Slash attack at him.The attack struck him before he even noticed, leaving a diagonal burn mark on his torso, and as he let out a cry of pain, I shot forward with my x3.8 Lightning Boost, running lightning through my scythe using Stream, before springing up and swinging it down at him..."Lightning Reaper!"He sprang back in alarm, letting out a yell as I sliced off his right arm from just above his elbow. I jumped off to the side as her fired a Blood Magic blast at me, his arm regrowing rapidly."You dare cut off the arm of a Vampire General!? Know your place, human!" He exclaimed with a growl, drawing out a sword."Uh...my bad? But, if you're so great and all, how come I was able to slice your arm off at all?""Why, you-...!""Oh, and you looked like you'd seen a ghost just before...I didn't know Vampires could get so scared," I remarked in a taunting voice.Kuro said that riling up your opponent would make their attacks more emotional and less logical, which subsequently made them easier to predict and potentially gave you more openings as well. But as I taunted him, his expression darkened, fear returning to his eyes."Th-that...that monster...such a creature should not be allowed to exist, I-I only escaped because of the power of my Cross, but the other eight Generals w-were all-...the king erred in his judgement, and as a result, has inadvertently created a terrifying beast..."...was he...talking about Kuro?"Well, he has gotten pretty overpowered lately, so I get where you're coming from...""I...I cannot let such a humiliation stand! You must die!" He exclaimed, a near hysterical look in his eyes as he shot towards me and swung his sword straight down at me."Why, what did I do!?" I inquired, as I deflected his strike and swung my scythe up at him.I don't know what Kuro did, but whatever it was, had been enough to traumatize this guy and break his sanity. He evaded the upward swing of my scythe, right as Key snuck in behind me and drove her blade through the gap by my armpit, the blade piercing through the Vampire's left hip. He gritted his teeth and let out a sharp exhale of pain, before springing back and gaining some distance."The humans of this era...you are truly stronger than the humans of two centuries ago...it is a sign...a sign that your filthy race must be subjugated and brought under control! I, Quail, of the Vampire Generals, swear to kill you!"Uh-oh...somehow, he had managed to regain his composure. I mean, he wasn't exactly calm right now, but he definitely wasn't all hysterical and panicked. And his last attack had been kinda sloppy, but he was definitely a fair bit stronger and faster than we were...fortunately, the two of us had practiced fighting in tandem against someone stronger and faster than us quite a bit...Granted, Kuro definitely held back a lot whenever we sparred against him for training, but still, we had definitely gotten stronger as a result of those bouts. Suddenly, Quail bit off his own finger and flung it towards me...huh? I got ready to knock it away with my scythe, when suddenly, it vanished, and he was in my sight where his torn off finger had been...He swung his sword down with his right hand, I swiftly brought my scythe up to block it, but the impact forced me down onto one knee, as a jarring sensation went through my arms...his attack was a lot cleaner than before. A slash of flames went over my head, but before it could strike him, he fired a Blood Magic blast to cancel it out, as Key drove her flaming blade at him from above my left shoulder.He swiftly slashed off a piece of his back using his tail and flicking it away, before disappearing as a small meaty chunk took his place. Was this his Cross? Let's see if I can find out, anime villains always love explaining what their powers can do, so maybe..."Is that the power of your Cross?" I inquired, as I got off my knee and back on my feet."Indeed...I call it Bloody Exchange. I can swap places with any severed body part before it fully regenerates," He smirked confidently, before firing powerful blasts at us.So that's how he got away from Kuro. He must have severed something, thrown it away and then switched places. I probably would've figured it out if he'd used it a couple more times, but still, getting him to directly tell us what it does was super useful!"Now that we know that, we can end this quickly. Try this...," Suggested Key, whispering her idea to me."Great plan, babe, you're so smart!""...when you talk like that, I feel like you're too dumb to understand what I say, even though I know that you're not...forget it, just go follow the plan!"I nodded and shot towards the Vampire, who fired a volley of Blood Magic blasts at me, which I evaded and deflected using my scythe, charging more lightning into it to increase its power. As I neared him, he whipped his tail at me, I sprang over it, before jumping straight up off the edge of his tail and swinging my scythe straight down at him while increasing the amount of lightning running through the blade..."Lightning...REAPER!!!"He blocked the strike with his sword, and upon contact, I added more lightning into the scythe that I could control, deliberately losing control of the Stream technique, and as a result, the lightning burst out, streaks scattering all over from the blade, zapping the Vampire multiple times at point-blank range.I then sprang back as I fired a bolt of lightning from my hand, which he sprang away to the left to dodge, an irritated look on his face. I don't think my sparks hurt him much, but considering that even little static shocks felt really annoying, this was probably really grinding his gears.He had regained his composure earlier, and for Key's plan to work, I was going to need to undo that. I probably can't land a finish hit, but I can definitely annoy him! He bit off another finger and flung it at me with a ticked off expression, but this time I was ready for it. I lower my scythe with the blade pointing up, and the instant his finger neared me and vanished from my sight, I swung the scythe up with all my strength.He managed to back away enough so that my blade just grazed his midsection, but that little strike was enough to zap him again, and more importantly, I wasn't finished. As my upward swing continued on, I let go of the handle and swiftly stood on my hands, grabbing the airborne handle with my tail and swinging it down again..."Ring-Tailed Lightning Reaper!"Yeah, I could channel Mana through my tail, but I usually avoided it since it made my fur go all fuzzy and difficult to comb back down. Oh, and the speed of my swing with my tail was a lot faster than how fast my arms could swing the scythe. He swiftly brought up his sword defensively, but couldn't get it up in time, my scythe sliding off the end of his sword and slicing off a chunk of his right shoulder. I then flung the scythe high into the air, sprang up into the air off my arms in a front flip, my feet landing on the top of his head.I then bent my knees and jumped straight up as high as I could, as he collapsed onto one knee with a groan. I then caught my scythe with my left hand as I reached the peak of my jump."How about another Lightning Reaper!?" I exclaimed with a grin."Damn you-...!" He growled, as he quickly sprang back.Heh, that's just what I wanted him to do. I flung my scythe at him as hard as I could, the blade piercing through his right leg and getting stuck in the ground. Earlier, the moment I grabbed my scythe with my tail, I began charging lightning into my right hand, so I had a pretty powerful amount stored in my fist right now. As I landed, I shot towards him with my fist cocked, lightning violently crackling around it..."Have a taste of my most powerful attack...Shocker Punch!"He had a panicked look on his face...he doesn't have enough time to pull the scythe out and then evade, so he'll have to...He hurriedly bit off a finger and flung it away...yes! That's exactly what I wanted him to do! Wow, this felt pretty good...but what a waste of a perfectly good Shocker Punch. He then vanished from my sight...now he's finished. Because the moment he flung his finger away, Key shot towards it at full speed with her most powerful attack charged up, and was now just a couple of meters away from it. And the instant he vanished from my sight, I exclaimed..."Yell out the attack name!"Her eyebrow twitched with irritation, and as the Vampire appeared in front of her, she swung her blade straight up at him..."Blazing Slash: Point Blank!" She yelled out, as she unleashed her normally-long range attack straight onto Quail, incinerating him into ashes almost instantly, a brief red flames appearing in the middle of her slashing inferno."Woah, that was awesome, babe!" I grinned, as I jogged over to her, "And that 'Point Blank' addition to your attack name's so freaking cool!""Sh-shut up, you idiot...I j-just ended up blurting it out in the heat of the moment, I regret it...," She muttered, her face turning red."But it was so cool! Heh, and nice...your 'heat of the moment' pun, I mean!" I laughed, smacking her butt playfully."H-hey! And n-no, I wasn't making a pun-!""Well, never mind that...we should get moving, we don't have time to mess around, babe.""Wha-!? But you're the one who-...you know what, whatever, I don't care anymore. Let's just go..."Point-of-View: Cora Tabbs"I am impressed, humans, to be able to put up such a commendable fight against I, Pythea Crimson of the Vampire Knights," Remarked the Vampire that I was fighting alongside Princess Cusnai Bronztan.The Vampire, Pythea Crimson, had short, spiky black hair, except for her bangs in front which covered her forehead and eyebrows and was red in color. She wore a black cape that was red underneath, with a loose-fitting red short sleeved t-shirt and a short black skirt over dark blue shorts, along with a large, jagged sword on her back. We had been fighting her for about two or so minutes, but she was yet to use that weapon. Earlier, she had reacted strangely, stiffening and muttering something like 'eight of the nine are already-...' and then trailed off as a rapid black and red flash shot to the north."It would behoove you to avoid underestimating us, unless you wish to perish," Responded the princess, as she fired a bolt of lightning at Pythea and shot across to her left, her spears drawn.She was remarkably fast and powerful, as one might expect from the number one S-Ranked Adventurer of a nation, but the way she speaks, it seemed somewhat...artificial. She was keeping her distance, as was I, while attacking with long range lightning strikes. This Vampire was too powerful for us to handle in a head-on battle, but any minor damage we were able to inflict from a distance healed within seconds.And the longer this fight drags on, the more stamina and Mana we use up, while Vampires had an endless supply of their Blood Magic and much higher stamina reserves than humans did. For now, Pythea was staying on the defensive, and we must kill her before she decides to be more proactive. As the princess retreated and rejoined me after yet again failing to inflict some damage, I decided to relay my thoughts to her."Your highness, we cannot kill this monster unless we get closer and attempt to strike with more powerful attacks. I suggest trying this...," I whispered, before telling her my plan."It is a rather risky venture...however, I agree that our attempts thus far have been lackluster and ineffective. Very well then."I nodded and flew up using Flight, before folding my wings inwards and rapidly spreading them out as I charged my Mana into them and expelled it out in a swirling motion, creating a small tornado hurling towards the Vampire. Pythea reacted by swirling Blood Magic around her hand and swinging it outwards as my attack closed in on her, dispelling it and kicking up a cloud of snow.However, the princess had been rushing in a few meters behind the tornado, and before the snow cloud could settle, she shot forward and unleashed a series of lightning-enhanced thrusts with her two spears. She was able to graze Pythea a few times as she caught her by surprise, before the Vampire extended her claws out and deflected all the subsequent strikes.Princess Cusnai then swiftly sprang back and flung a small glass vial at Pythea's face, who shattered it with a swipe of her claws, but the liquid inside the vial burst out onto her face, and she let out an excruciating scream of pain as the liquid melted some of her skin off, along with blinding her. Some form of acid? Quite a clever utilization...Meanwhile, I was already in position, right above the Vampire, ready to unleash my attack. I channeled Mana into my vocal chords, before screaming out the waves that my Anima let me, drastically enhancing the scale using my Mana...Kuro had informed me that they were called sonic waves, and were highly effective as deafening attacks. Oh, and Rai had given my techniques names, as a part of the 'trend' he started. I believe he named this straight-down attack from above..."Sonic Chamber!" I exclaimed as I screeched out my attack straight down at her, blasting onto the ground and kicking up a large snow cloud as she let out a shrill scream, which was barely audible as my attack drowned out the noise...the prospect of naming my attacks was embarrassing, and yet, also somewhat thrilling.Since all that I am doing is amplifying something that I can do naturally due to my Anima, these 'sonic' attacks hardly consumed any Mana. However, they did leave a rather unpleasant ringing in my ears if I fired continously at a large scale. And I could only maintain a continuous blast for as long as I could exhale, my attack would cut off the instant I could no longer do so...which was about to happen now...I let out a gasp as I sharply inhaled the instant my attack ceased, but I forced myself to waste no time, as I wrapped wind around my right wing and swooped down rapidly towards her, aiming to slice her in half. Right as I began to near her, she sprang back, seeing me as her eyes healed just in time to react, while I was mere inches away from vertically slicing straight down her body. What incredible speed. Her ears were bleeding profusely, and her movements were slightly unsteady, her expression dazed...and yet, she had been able to react so swiftly and decisively."Get down, quickly!" Came the princess's voice from a few meters behind her.I swiftly dropped to the ground, Pythea didn't hear her since her ears were still bleeding, but the instant I lowered myself, she swiftly spun around, right as a large blast of lightning came barreling towards her. She sprang away to the right, but could not avoid a significant amount of her left side getting incinerated off, around her hip and waist area.I then zipped forward inches above the snowy ground using Flight, both my wings wrapped in wind while I channeled more Mana into my vocal cords. Her eyes met my gaze as I closed in, she narrowly dodged my sonic attack as I fired it at her head, before forming a spiraling Blood Magic attack in her right hand. I halted and unleashed all the wind around my wings straight onto the snow in front of her, before starting to fly back...when suddenly, my body froze, unable to move.And then, I felt my body being pulled forward rapidly, seemingly by an invisible force, before I let out a gasp as Pythea caught me by the neck, a tight grip around my throat."I do not know what that attack was, the one that ruptured my hearing...but I shall make sure you die an agonizing death for that," She stated coldly, an eerily calm look in her eyes as she aimed the Blood Magic attack at my midsection.If that hits me, given it's spiraling motion, it will tear straight through my body...Suddenly, she swung her right arm behind her and fired the attack, at the princess who had snuck up behind her. She narrowly avoided the attack, it grazing her left shoulder as she jumped off to the right. Pythea then tightened her grip on my throat further before flinging me away with incredible force, my back hitting the ground with a resounding impact and I coughed out blood. If it were not for the snow, I would likely have broken my spine just now...I had only seen Kuro in his 'Vampire Mode' form a limited number of times, but if I had to compare his capabilities to Pythea, I would estimate that she was about two thirds as fast and strong as he was, or maybe a little bit more than that...and she was still far stronger than either the princess or I were. And more importantly, what did she just do, when she pulled my body towards her without even touching me? I think her left palm had been pointing towards me...could she do that with both hands or just the left? And what was the limit of her range?Unfortunately, I do not have time to stand around and ponder, as she was flying at the princess, who was running away but rapidly losing ground...she was not running in a straight line, using zigzag and unorthodox movements to keep evading for as long as possible, while Pythea was attempting to point her left palm at her, a Blood Magic blast in her right.I flew up while charging Mana into my vocal chords, as she fired her Blood Magic blast at the princess, who got struck on the left shoulder, letting out a cry of pain as she dropped her left spear. She began to run away again, but Pythea then pointed both palms towards her, halting her from getting away and rapidly attracting her towards herself. She then drew out her sword and pointed it straight in front of her, as Princess Cusnai came flying towards her right palm.I swiftly blasted a sonic screech down at the Vampire, who let the princess drop to the ground before swiftly pointing her palm upwards towards me, I quickly flew up at an angle, changing my lines of ascension as she attempted to follow my trajectory with her palms...until she dropped them with a look of frustration, before evading a lightning bolt from the princess and countering with a barrage of Blood Magic shots. The princess evaded as best she could, but was unable to avoid taking multiple direct hits onto her back and legs, collapsing onto the ground in pain.Why did she stop trying to pull me towards her, was it just because the princess attacked...no, that does not explain her expression...I was about thirty meters above her, perhaps I was outside her range...so, then, if I stay at this distance-...how foolish of me, I almost forgot...she can fly too.As she zipped up towards me, I flew away as fast as I could, but she was faster than I was in the air. I fired sonic blasts at her, but she evaded them with ease, my aim was not perfectly accurate when I fire while moving at top speed...and she was rapidly closing in...the instant she got within about twenty-five meters of me, she pointed her palms towards me, pulling me towards her before I could get away.She grabbed the back of my neck, I let out an agonized cry of pain as I felt a burning sensation in the spot she was holding, before a sharp pain went through my back as something pierced in...her tail?"Your attraction power...is that your Cross?" I inquired, while subtly channeling Mana into my vocal chords."Indeed, it is called Beckon. You literally cannot get away from me!" She laughed tauntingly."I suppose so...," I replied in a forlorn voice, feigning despair by slumping my body, before swiftly and suddenly turning my head back around to the right as far as I could, ignoring the ache in my shoulder as I did, and rapidly firing a compressed sonic blade, which blasted onto the right side of her head, blood bursting out of her right ear as her expression twisted into one of immense pain and disorientation.Her grip on the back of my neck weakened, and I quickly wrested free of her grasp, letting myself plummet down before shifting my position so that I was facing upwards and firing slashes of wind from my wings along with a powerful sonic blast from my mouth. She was dazed, but managed to evade to the side with a flap of her wings, my sonic attack missing but one of my wind attacks left a deep gash in her left side.She let out an angry snarl and fired a volley of spiraling Blood Magic bolts from her right hand while clutching her head with her left hand. I evaded as best I could, but one of the blasts pierced through my right wing, making me lose my balance...I wasn't very used to using Flight without my wings...and my Anima was retracting due to the pain. My right forearm had a hole through it as my wings turned back into arms.I crashed down onto the ground below, letting out a cough of blood as I slammed down onto my back. I quickly reached for my healing spell to heal my injuries as she swooped down towards me, her sword drawn in her right hand and a viciously spiraling Blood Magic attack around her left hand.I sprang back and fired a sonic blast from my mouth as she closed in and swung her sword down at me. She canceled out my attack with her spiraling Blood Magic attack before shooting towards me and swinging her sword up at me, gashing my right shoulder and driving her claws towards my neck, grazing the left side. I began to fire blasts of wind from my hands, but she whipped her tail up at my hands, leaving deep gashes in my foreams and dissipating my Mana.She then fired Blood Magic blasts at my torso and legs, forcing me to collapse onto the ground, she was too fast for me to even begin to dodge. I started to get up, before being knocked onto my back with a crashing pain onto my face, as her knee slammed onto my face, breaking my nose and cracking my cheekbone severely."Now, you die...," She remarked, raising her sword and tightening her grip on the handle.Suddenly, Princess Cusnai sprang up behind her, with both spears raised and charged with lightning. She began to swing them down with serious force, when Pythea swiftly spun around and blocked her spears with her sword, before firing a blast up at her, leaving a deep burnt patch on her torso and sending her flying away and crashing onto the ground."Pests...I will put you insects out of your miser-...!" She began, before stiffening and turning her attention to the north with a shocked and confused expression, "Eighty-Seven...what are you-!? Damn it, what is she doing-...!?"Suddenly, she took off into the sky, rapidly flying off to the north, a concerned and irritated expression on her face. We were spared...I do not quite understand why, but at present, I could not bring myself to care. I was too overcome with relief to still be alive..._____________________________________________Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.
