Point-of-View: Vi Loubder

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  "W-we should……we should go protect the people," Stuttered Naro indecisively, a conflicted look on his face.

  "Yeah……," I trailed off, my feet unable to move.

  "Don't be stupid, we'll die. I hate to say it, but……our best choice is to escape to the Rustlands and report this," Les interjected with a grimace.

  "But that's……n-no, you're right, we can't fight these things, there's just too many of them," Sighed Naro with a defeated look in his eyes, "No one's around this spot, so we should leave before any Vampires show up."

  "Wait, could we first go back and rescue the representatives, I know it's far, but-," I began.

  "No need, look over there," Interrupted Les, nodding towards the street.

  Prince Ocroed and Advisor Rist Sivoda were being escorted by two of the other Adventurers who were on this Quest, one of whom was injured, his arm bleeding profusely.

  "Okay, let's join them and get out of here," Said Naro, beginning to head out of the alley.

  We started to follow him, before freezing as a loud crash erupted from the direction of the group we were about to join. It was a Vampire, it had swooped down at the group, ripping the head off one of the Adventurers, his blood bursting out of his neck as his body limply collapsed onto the ground. The Vampire then turned his attention to the prince and swung his claws at him with a smirk, but Advisor Sivoda pushed the prince out of the way, the Vampire's claws slashing deep through the left side of his chest, killing him.

  "Give me some space!" I urged Naro, pushing him out of the way, putting my right foot forward and bending my knees.

  I was too scared to think, but my body just started moving, I knew our best chance was to catch that monster off guard……I'll put all my strength into this kick.

  I sprang forward as hard as I could, shooting forward rapidly and as I neared the Vampire, I swung my left foot with as much power as I could muster, slamming it onto the left side of the monster's ribcage. I felt it's bones shatter and my foot continued through, tearing it's body in two from the chest upwards.

  "What-!? No, damn it, my core-!" The monster exclaimed, as I felt my foot crushing something small and round.

  The instant I felt it break, the Vampire's body went up in flames, before turning into ash and flying off in the wind following a howl of agony. Woah, that was different to how normal monsters died……and those flames, despite having been right by the Vampire, I wasn't burnt at all, in fact I didn't even feel any heat.

  "Woah, you actually killed it! Now's our chance, let's go," Exclaimed Naro, rushing out of the alley with Les.

  "Yeah, okay. Prince Ocroed, we should leave immediately," I urged the prince, who was staring in horror at the corpse of Advisor Sivoda.

  He looked at me with a dazed look, before silently nodding and shakily following after us. Naro and Les ran in front, while the prince was behind them, and the A-Rank from the Rustlands and myself were at the back.

  "This can't be real, I don't want to die here……," I heard the A-Rank mutter to himself over and over, as we ran past several corpses.

  The echoes of screams and cries rang out all around us, the air heavy with the smell of blood, making me nauseous. Since the Vampires had come in from the south gate, the path leading to it was deserted, with the monsters having spread out elsewhere around the country. But the only reason it was deserted was because they had already killed all the people in sight, and then spread out because there was no one in this area left to kill.

  Some of the less-bloodied corpses had visible bite marks, most of them on their necks, and some on their arms……the Vampire King said the people were going to be their sustenance, this must be what he meant. I shuddered and placed my hand over my mouth, as another wave of nausea hit me.

  It didn't take us long to get close to the south gates, but upon reaching it, a major obstacle stood in our way. Two Vampires were standing by the entrance, they must have been posted here to keep anyone from leaving. They seemed bored, and were half-heartedly chatting with each other……

  "We certainly drew the short straws, why could they not have assigned some of the other Vampire Minions to guard duty?" Groaned one of them.

  "It cannot be helped, the burden was going to fall on someone, and we happened to be unlucky enough to be those someones. Fret not, we will be relieved in about a half hour, we will be free to rampage ourselves afterwards. And besides, we are among the strongest of the Minions, which is likely why we were picked for this," Replied the other one.

  The first one had short gray hair with a red streak at the middle of the front, and the second one had curly black hair with three vertical red streaks. The second one said they'd be relieved in half an hour, which meant that some other Vampires were going to show up by then……which means we can't afford to linger here for too long.

  "What now?" I asked, as we all hid behind a building.

  "This m-must be a dream, this is not happening," The prince muttered, his body trembling.

  "I don't want to die, I don't want to die……," The A-Rank mumbled repeatedly, his eyes beginning to well up with tears.

  "Get a hold of yourselves," Naro urged quietly, to no avail.

  "It's no use, they aren't listening. I don't think any other Vampires are close by, we'll have to fight our way through these two. At least we know that they aren't unkillable, thanks to you," Les reasoned, before adding, "Take one of them by surprise with another of your kicks, and we'll gang up on the other one."

  He was surprisingly level-headed, considering the situation we were in……none of the rest of us were in any state to have been able to come to a solid decision so quickly.

  "Yeah, you're right, we don't have time to hesitate or we'll die. Vi, we're counting on you," Remarked Naro, a bead of sweat running down his face.

  "O-okay. Here goes……," I replied nervously, moving towards the corner leading out of the building we were hiding behind.

  The Vampires were talking to each other, and weren't looking anywhere close to this direction. Okay, here I go……

  I quietly stepped out of the corner and bent my knees, getting ready to spring forward. If they happened to so much as glance in this direction, they'd see me, and that would be that. Just stay calm, don't attack too early, wait till I've built up a strong enough base to launch from……and……now!

  "What the……watch out!" Exclaimed one of the Vampires, swiftly getting out of the way as I sprang forward with all my strength, but the other one was a bit too slow to react.

  He spread his wings in alarm and began to fly up, but before he could get away, my foot crashed onto the middle of his torso, my momentum carrying me forward with the Vampire at the end of my foot, till my kick slammed him against the wall, leaving a deep indentation and several cracks, while flattening the monster's abdomen, his broken bones poking out and blood pouring out of his mouth.

  "Y-you……damned human!" He gargled in pained fury, his mouth foaming.

  Suddenly, a blast of wind erupted from behind me, as Naro and Les charged out at the second one. Right, me too. I dashed towards him and swung a rapid kick up at his face, but the next thing I knew, my foot got deflected away, with a sharp pain in my calf.

  I quickly sprang back, as Naro swung his three-section staff at the monster, erupting a blast of wind from the end of it.

  My leg was bleeding profusely, a deep gash in it……the Vampire's tail had a few streaks of blood running down its tip and looked like it was broken……had it whipped my leg away before I could strike? I grimaced as its broken tail healed up almost immediately. My wound was deep, but I could still move my leg. I reached into my pocket and activated the healing Spell Card I had on me, the wound closing up and the bleeding stopping.

  Naro was swinging his staff at the monster, but wasn't able to land a solid hit, the Vampire was dodging them with ease. He then caught the staff as Naro swung it down diagonally at his neck, before pointing his hand at Naro's torso. In his palm, a ball of glowing red light appeared, which blasted onto Naro and sent him flying back and crashing onto the ground.

  "Damn it, I wasn't thinking……we can't effectively gang up on him since we aren't used to fighting in tandem with each other," Les growled in frustration, as he shot forward with water in the shape of claws around his fingers.

  "Wait, I'll help……," I began.

  "I'm going to kill you, human bitch!" Came an angry voice from behind me.

  I slowly turned around, my eyes widening in horror as the one I kicked was standing behind me, his torso intact. No way……

  I jumped up and unleashed a barrage of repeated kicks down at him, which he blocked using his forearms, grimacing slightly. The instant I ran out of momentum, he healed his arms, grabbed my ankle and swung my over his shoulder, slamming me onto the ground with some serious force. I let out a pained gasp as I felt a couple of my ribs crack.

  "I shall break you down till you are on the verge of death, and then, I shall consume your life force," Growled the Vampire, forming a red orb in his hand, "Now, take this- gahh!"

  Before he could blast me with it, a wooden pole burst out through the left side of his chest, as he let out a gasp and coughed out blood. I quickly scrambled to my feet and grabbed his head, slamming it against my knee as hard as I could, smashing his face in.

  "I don't understand……why won't he die?" I asked, stumbling back as his body remained intact.

  Earlier, one kick had been enough to kill that Vampire, but this one was still alive after what should have been three fatal strikes. Naro was holding him in an armlock, his knee pressed against the base of his tail to prevent him from attacking with it, but he was unlikely to be able to maintain that hold for long……the Vampire's injuries were already healing. Woah, and I thought Kuro had incredible healing capabilities……this was a step up from even that.

  While Naro struggled to keep the monster in his hold, Les was being pushed back by the one he was fighting. The Vampire whipped its tail up at him, Les blocked it but was unable to avoid deep gashes being left in his forearms, blowing his guard wide open. In a split second, the monster blasted him with that red light, knocking him onto his back. The Vampire then walked towards him, extending out his claws as he pressed his foot down on his chest.

  "We may currently be in weakened states, but you still put up a good fight, human……I shall enjoy feeding on your life force," Remarked the monster, starting to drive his claws down towards Les.

  "Oh, no-!" I yelled, beginning to dash towards them……no, I wasn't going to make it!

  "Now die……wh-what just……?" The Vampire started to exclaim, before a rapidly spiraling cone of water tore off his arm and burst through his chest.

  "Have a taste of my Water Drill, you fucking monster," Remarked Les, his breath ragged and heavy, he had raised his arm towards the Vampire while wrapping it with water, shaping it into a cone with a sharp end and rapidly spinning it.

  "N-no, my core, it c-can't be……," He began, before bursting into flames and turning into ash.

  "Core……that's it! The one I killed before, I felt my foot breaking something right before it went up on flames!" I realized, my eyes widening.

  "Oh, that makes sense……it's a 'destroy the core' kinda deal, huh? Hey, stomp all over this one- woah!" Exclaimed Naro, before the Vampire desperately broke free of his grip and kicked him away, firing a blast of red light at me.

  That desperation, it looks like I was right about their weakness. I sprang back and crossed my arms in front of myself defensively, but my forearms took the hit. Ahh, this really hurts……my arms were burnt, but it felt different to burns from fire……it stung more and the pain was a lot sharper.

  The Vampire painstakingly flew up with a growl, out of our reach……was it retreating? If so, that would be the perfect chance for us to esc……oh, no! He suddenly swooped down towards the prince, who stumbled back in fear and tripped, falling down. The Vampire crashed down onto the A-Ranked Adventurer, who had been standing next to the prince.

  "I cannot allow this humiliation to stand!" Roared the Vampire, sinking his teeth into the Adventurer, ignoring his terrified screams and desperate pleas, which soon faded as the life was drained out of his body, slumping to the ground lifelessly.

  He then turned his attention to the prince, before swiftly flying up as I leapt forward and swung a kick at him. What the? He was suddenly almost twice as fast as he was before.

  "Tch, it looks like I will have to drain a few more humans for a permanent restoration, but for now, it looks like I can use my full power for a short time. It'll just have to suffice, I suppose!" He exclaimed, firing a barrage of red light blasts as I grabbed the prince and sprang away as fast as I could.

  What the hell, he's so much stronger now!? And those red beams he was firing, they were a lot more powerful than before, they'd probably burst through me if I took a direct hit.

  "Hey, do you have a healing spell?" Asked Les urgently, as we regrouped.

  "Yeah, I……never mind," I replied, as I reached down to my pocket, only to see that it had been struck by one of those blasts.

  With all the adrenaline pumping through me, I hadn't even realized that I'd been hit.

  "This is bad……I don't think I can fight him in my current state," Muttered Les with a look of concern.

  Yeah, neither could I……I hadn't gotten a chance to heal my scorched arms, and I couldn't fight and defend the prince at the same time……Naro wasn't exactly unscathed either, though he was in better condition than the rest of us.

  "Get ready to die, humans, I shall drain you all!" Declared the Vampire, as a red hue began emanating from his body.

  "Guys……get out of here, I'll hold him off. Go join Selesa and get away using the carriage. Don't even think about arguing for even a second, or we're all as good as dead. Go on, get the fuck away from here!" Yelled Naro, gripping his staff while wind began swirling all around him.

  "Don't be stupid, we can't outrun Vampires with a damned carriage!" Protested Les in despair.

  "Wait, we can outrun……I have the teleportation Spell Cards on me," I suddenly recalled, patting the pouch strapped to my lower back, "We set a Teleportation Point at the spot where we parked the carriage, so the moment we reach Selesa, we can get away."

  "Great, then get going! Les, you know I'm right! You two can't fight effectively in your current states, so this is the option that results in the least amount of deaths. There's no way all of us can escape, he won't let us. Go!" Urged Naro, dashing forward and blasting himself up with a couple of bursts of Propulsion, swinging scything wind slashes up at the Vampire using his staff.

  "Damn it, no……," Les began with despair in his expression, before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, opening them to reveal a look of sorrowful determination, "Come on, let's go."

  After a brief moment of hesitation, I followed him out, biting my lower lip and resisting the urge to turn around……because if I did look back, I wasn't confident that I'd be able to continue running……

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  Point-of-View: Naro Soment

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  I let out a sigh of relief as I saw Les and Vi rushing out the south exit, with the Rustlands prince in tow. Now, then……

  "A futile effort, human. You will die now."

  "Yeah, I probably will. But my effort wasn't futile, I accomplished what I wanted to."

  "How amusing……after I am finished with you, I shall go after your comrades with haste."

  "Well, in that case……I better take you down with me!" I exclaimed, blasting forward with a shot of Propulsion and swinging my sansetsukon at him.

  He slipped under it and began to swipe his claws up at me, I swiftly fired out a blast of Propulsion from my mouth to duck backwards past it, blowing out a couple of my teeth, the tip of his claws grazing my chin, as I fired out another blast of Propulsion from my right heel, simultaneously extending out a blade I keep hidden at the tip of my boot.

  He began evading to the right, but my kick was too fast, the blade piercing into and slashing off his left arm at the shoulder. He let out an enraged roar and slashed his claws at my leg, severing it halfway down the calf. I bit my lip to keep from screaming in pain, as blood gushed out of the stump of my foot. He then grabbed my shoulders and flapped his wings, pushing me down and slamming my back onto the ground.

  Crap, this hurts like a bitch……

  "You lowly human," Growled the Vampire, his eyes filled with rage, as he extended his claws and raised his arm, aimed to bring it down and pierce my chest.

  As he drove it down at me, I got my hand in the way, his claws piercing through my palm and the tips grazing my neck, drawing out some blood. Ahh, I always hated needles and getting injections in my old world, so this felt really unpleasant. And given that I was missing about a third of my right leg, that was saying a lot.

  I grimaced and grabbed his hand with my pierced hand, preventing him from breaking free. His other arm was still healing, now's my chance.

  "I have no idea where your core might be, but……," I began, reaching up with my free hand and grabbing his face while swinging my legs up and wrapping them around his waist as tightly as I could, ignoring the throbbing pain in my right leg as best I could.

  "Wh-what are you doing!? Let go of m-!"

  "……but if I blow apart your entire body, there's a good chance I'll get it, wouldn't you agree!?" I yelled, concentrating Propulsion into my palm and fingers and blasting it out with as much force as I could muster.

  The top half of his head got blown off into tiny chunks, leaving only his lower jaw onwards intact. His body slumped a bit, but was still alive. Not for long, I'll destroy his core if it's the last thing I do, and I doubt he can move unless his brain regenerates, but I won't let that happen!

  I drove my hand down his exposed throat, building up as much wind as I possibly could, pushing my limits as far as I could stretch them, my hand felt like it was about to explode, but I kept channeling Mana into it……I need to make sure I destroy his core with this blast.

  I suddenly let out a choked gasp, as I felt a sharp pain in my chest. H-huh……? I looked down, to see his left arm going through my chest. It hadn't even finished healing yet, it had only grown back a few inches past his elbow, but he stabbed me through the heart using his partially-grown and uncovered forearm bone. No way……how, his brain isn't even……my eyes widened as I looked up at his head……his brain was partially grown back, as was one of his eyes, he hadn't grown back any part of the skull or muscles or skin, just the absolute bare minimum he needed to pull this off. Damn it, I'm starting to black out……am I dying again……?

  No, I'm not going down empty-handed, damn it! This Vampire was probably just a lackey, no one important……aw, man, I wish I couldn't at least died while fighting their leader or at least one with a high-rank, that'd be something to brag about in my next life……

  I gritted my teeth and let out a loud yell, before mustering up all the physical and mental energy I had left and blasting all my Mana out of my hand inside his throat, firing all of it into his body. In that instant, his body suddenly disappeared from my sight in a red mist……no wait, it didn't disappear, it exploded……

  My vision was starting to fade, the strength leaving my body. The last thing I saw with my blurry, fading sight was a small, red marble-like orb crack and shatter, and the red mist went up in flames, vanishing into ashes……my body slumped as my vision went black, along with my other senses, before I found myself surrounded by a familiar white light……

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  Point-of-View: Vi Loubder

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  "Why didn't you teleport the carriage with us? All you had to do was activate the spell while pressing it to the floor of the carriage!" Snapped Les.

  "Sorry, I didn't have any time to think it all through, my mind was all muddled when you guys burst in! I-it doesn't matter that much, we can still teleport back without the carriage, I made sure to grab hold of the pouch with the teleportation Spell Cards," Retorted Selesa defensively.

  "Stop arguing, you two……let's just get back to the Rustlands right away," I interjected with a tired sigh, feeling dejected and deflated.

  The prince was silent, absent-mindedly drawing in the snow with a blank look in his eyes, staring up at the sky. The two siblings were clearly devastated over Naro's likely death, but it seemed like they were trying to distract themselves from it for right now……even their arguing seemed slightly half-hearted.

  Now that I had gotten some distance, I could finally process everything that just happened. However, that was easier said than done……it had all happened so fast that I could hardly believe any of it was real. The fact that the Vampires were now free, and the fact that I was still alive……they were too hard to believe.

  We had managed to kill two of them, but without the element of surprise, I doubt we'd have stood a chance. Including me, we'd been a group with three S-Ranks, and yet, we'd barely escaped by the skin of our teeth. And one of those Vampires mentioned something about them currently being in weakened states……was this the end of the world? Maybe that was being a bit dramatic, but……how the hell were we supposed to fight against all that?

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  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!

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