Point-of-View: Azeria Folix

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  I'm afraid……fear was coursing through my body, as the two Vampires I'd lured away stared down at me, their eyes glowing bright red. The only time I had felt fear like this before was against that Kuro guy……but despite my fear, this time, I felt like I could still think clearly……because even though these monsters were terrifyingly powerful, I could tell that they were weaker than he was……

  "Such a fierce look in those eyes of yours, human……I cannot wait to see them plunge into despair," Smirked one of them, "I shall beat you within an inch of your life, make you my plaything, and then I will consume your life force once I am bored of you!"

  Ugh, how off-putting……

  "Tch, are all the members of your race sick in the head?" I growled, getting down on all fours as I began emanating my flames.

  The Vampire who had just spoken had short white hair with a few red flecks across it, and a thin black mustache. He wore a long-sleeved orange t-shirt and dark green trousers. His expression was……sleazy. Hm, I don't think these Vampires are too different from humans at their very core……

  "On the contrary, this one here is a rather defective specimen……his words and actions do not represent the rest of us," Said the other one, his claws extending out.

  This one looked like less of a creep, he had black hair that was combed back, except for two locks of hair in the front that stood up like horns, one had a red tip while the other had a couple of red streaks. He was wearing a white short sleeved t-shirt with red curve patterns and black knee-length shorts. Neither of the Vampires were carrying any weapons.

  "Huh!? Nobody asked for your opinion, Stratelayse! I do not see why my personal hobbies are of any concern to you!"

  "Hmph, that's General Stratelayse to you, Bauchert."

  "Wha-? We are of the same rank, it should not matter-!"

  Grr, enough of this! I crouched and strained my muscles as I intensified my flames, before leaping towards them with as much speed as I could generate, a chunk of earth clutched in my left hand and a ball of black flames in my right. The two Vampires had been standing close to each other, and now spread out as I shot towards them, the creepy one to my left and the other one to my right.

  I generated and concentrated extreme heat from my left hand, melting the rock I was holding. I then pointed it at the Vampire, while aiming my black fireball at the other one to my right. I blasted the fireball first, the Vampire countering by firing a red ball of light at it, canceling it out. I then used Earth Levitation to take control of the near-molten rock, as it melted into a scorching glob of black lava. I then fired it at the creepy Vampire as fast as I could, shooting it in a narrow shape like an arrow.

  He fired that red light attack again, but unlike my flames, this wasn't canceled out, my lava arrow pierced past his attack and burst through the middle of his chest, searing a hole through it. He let out a pained gasp and stumbled back, clutching his wound in shock. My lava attacks combined my flame manipulation with Earth Levitation, so I could generate a lot more speed and momentum than I could with my flames alone or with regular earth projectiles.

  I sprang forward and sprinted across as the not-so-creepy Vampire fired a barrage of those red attacks at me, which I was able to evade with relative ease. His attacks certainly had speed, but there aren't many things I can't dodge with my agility. I blasted out a ball of flames from my mouth at him in retaliation, he ceased his attack and quickly flew upwards with a couple of flaps of his wings to avoid it, my orange and black flames scorching the ground where he'd been standing.

  Suddenly, the creepy Vampire sprang up behind me, a chilling look on his face……his mouth was spread out in a wide smile, but his eyes were burning with rage. I ducked backwards as he swung his claws at my face, expelling heat from the bottoms of both my feet to melt the ground beneath me before using my backward momentum to backflip, kicking up the lava I'd just formed up at his face.

  He sprang back, but some of the lava splashed onto his eyes, he let out an excruciating scream of pain as he was blinded. Now's my chance-! Before I could attack him, the other one swooped down at me, forcing me to spring back as he drove his claws towards me.

  "It appears as though we cannot take you lightly, human……I shall show you my Cross, behold my Seeking Projectile!" He exclaimed, firing another red blast at me.

  I sprang across to the left to avoid it, when it suddenly changed its course and followed me……not good! I brought up a chunk of earth as fast as I could, but his attack burst through it and seared my forearms, which I'd crossed in front of myself defensively. This is painful, my arms stung like crazy. The Vampire then fired another, I sprinted away from it, but once again, it was following me.

  And every time I moved forward, a sharp pain went through the burns on my arm, making it difficult to focus……my healing spell was in my pocket, but I did not have any time to stop and use it. I bit down on my lower lip to distract myself from the pain, as I desperately raced across the ground, trying to avoid the Vampire's attacks that were still following me. From the corner of my eye, I could see that the creepy Vampire had healed his eyes and looked ready to pounce.

  Damn it, as soon as this attack catches up with me, he was probably going to jump in and finish me off, or whatever he planned to do to me……in that case, I'll do this! I changed my course and made a beeline straight for him, straining my limbs to put on as much of a burst of speed as I could possibly generate. Come on, faster!

  His eyes widened in alarm as he realized what I was doing, and stumbled back as he tried to get away, his wings starting to spread out. But he was too slow. I sprang at him as he began to take off, before twisting my body in mid-air, planting my feet against his abdomen and flipping off of him, narrowing jumping over the crimson ball hurdling towards me. Before it could blast onto him, another red attack came shooting towards it from the side, knocking it away.

  Tch, the other one fired another blast to cancel out the one that was about to strike his partner. I was slightly stronger than these two individually, but fighting both together was difficult……ideally, I'd incapacitate one, then kill the other, and then go back and kill the first one, but they recovered from injuries so quickly that I didn't have enough time to pull that off.

  "Clever trick, human, but I'd like to see you dodge all this," Remarked the Vampire, firing a barrage of about ten red blasts at me.

  Damn it, they weren't giving me any opportunity to use my healing spell. I shot off to the left, all the blasts he fired honing in towards me……not good, they're all following me! Fine, then, I'll lead them straight back to their source! I ran around to create some distance before sprinting straight towards the Vampire who had fired these, his blasts hot on my tail as I raced towards him. Unlike the other one, he looked unfazed, before charging up a red beam between his hands, intensifying it rapidly as I neared him.

  Oh, no, I need to get away! I halted and sprang off to the left, rolling away before forming a wall of earth in front of me. He then fired the blast he'd been charging up right as the ten shots he'd fired before caught up with me. I backed away as fast as I could while blazing out flames from both my hands, as my earth wall crumbled with just one hit.

  The blasts cut through my flames, dissipating them rapidly and nearing me. This is bad, I can't hold them off much longer! In desperation, I ceased my flames and focused on my Earth Magic, forming another wall right under my feet, boosting myself up at the last possible moment before leaping straight up into the air off of it, letting out a cry of pain as the soles of my feet got scorched as the blasts converging onto the earth wall below me.

  I landed on all fours with a wince, the bottom of my feet were badly seared. It was going to be even harder to run like this, the pain in my burnt forearms was seeming to grow worse, and every movement caused waves of pain to emanate from my feet. I need to heal.

  "Hah, you are finished, human!" Exclaimed the creepy one, appearing behind me with his claws extended, before I could reach into my pocket and use the spell.

  I swiftly spun around and sprang back while blowing out a large black and orange swirling fireball at him, but before it reached him, he flew up and above it, swooping down towards me as the flames blazed past him. I fired a barrage of fireballs at him from my hands, which he countered with those red blasts. And then, just for a second, our eyes met……and I couldn't move.

  "Wh-wha……? My b-body……," I strained to say, completely frozen on the stop.

  "Behold my Cross, Terror-Stricken! I can activate it upon making eye contact with my target within ten meters, which results in the target being frozen in place until and unless I decide to free them!" He declared giddily, before slashing my right shoulder with his claws.

  I tried to scream, but all that came out was a wispy cry of pain, I couldn't even move the muscles needed to yell out……

  "Finish her off, Bauchert. She is a threat, and would likely have won this fight if it were a one-on-one battle against either one of us. It would appear as though the humans currently in existence are far stronger than the humans we encountered in the past."

  "Tch, you worry too much. I admit, she is strong for a human, but I disagree……she is no threat," The creepy one replied, before digging his claws about an inch into my side and twisting them around.

  "I find your use of your Cross to be in poor taste, but I have no intention of troubling myself and stopping you……yet. Have your fun for five minutes, and then the girl must die. You may have her life force if you wish, I already consumed a satisfactory amount from the rabble."

  I-I need to move……come on, damn it, move……! I let out a strained and quiet cry as he continued to pierce and twist his claws into me, in my shoulders, biceps, forearms, abdomen, chest, thighs, legs……all while making sure not to hit a spot that would kill me.

  He then found my spell, as my pocket tore open when he pierced the side of my thigh, the Spell Card falling out. He smirked before crushing it under his foot, after noticing the look of dismay in my eyes. Is there……is there nothing I can do……?

  I……I hate being alive……I've hated being alive for as long as I can remember……I've suffered for the longest time, I don't even know which nation I was born in, my earliest memory is the inside of a slave trader's cage, I was sold off to nobles only to be sold back since I was incompetent……well, I don't think that was my fault, I couldn't have been older than three or four years old……but that cycle repeated for some time, and I was as meek and obedient as possible, since I didn't want to be whipped or hit. Even back then, when I was too young to understand the concepts of life or death……deep down, I hated being alive.

  When I was six, or maybe seven, years old, I'm really not quite sure how old I was, but around that time, I was sold to a noble in Goldway who didn't find me incompetent and actually kept me around……he didn't ever whip or hurt me, so long as I did as I was told……but the only reason I wasn't incompetent was because……was because all he asked of me was to let him violate me……I didn't understand what he was doing to me at the time, but even before I eventually found out exactly what it meant, I felt dead inside during the years he owned me……at the time, without a doubt, I hated being alive.

  Eventually, he lost interest in me as I grew older, and when I was eleven or twelve, I was sold again, things became a blur for a while after that……until I was sold to the Magic Research Group as a human test subject, and things looked as hopeless as ever, only further reminding me of how much I hated being alive. And then……Tirayze Valaque took over, and changed the organization drastically.

  All things considered, it was still a pretty cold and unforgiving organization, but……it was a fair one. Even those who were called pawns had the opportunity to lift themselves up with enough effort, the opportunity to change their lives for the better……that alone made it seem like heaven to me. When I found out about the Karma experiments, I didn't hesitate to volunteer, even when I heard about the low success rate……no, maybe I volunteered because of the low success rate, maybe I just……wanted to die.

  But, then it worked. I became a Karma user. From then on, my life changed, I was no longer oppressed, enslaved or tormented in any way, suddenly, I found myself near the top, I was someone important……it felt surreal, like a dream come true. And yet, deep down, I couldn't bury or forget the horrific memories of my childhood and adolescence, as much as I tried, as much as I wanted to forget, to this day, they still haunt my nightmares. And they remind me, that even now, I hate being alive.

  Yeah, that's right, I hate being alive, I always have……and yet, at the same time, contradictory as it may be, I……I don't want to die……!

  You……you can't restrain me, you fucking Vampire……I……I won't let you! I let out a hollow yell as I struggled, both physically and mentally, resisting against his power with all my might……

  and broke free, my body slumping onto the ground.

  "N-no, impossible……!"

  "Kill her now, Bauchert, a human that can resist the effects of a Cross like yours is dangerous!"

  They're both near me……the creepy one was right in front, and the other one was a couple of feet behind me……

  "As I said before, you worry too much, Stratelayse. Look at her, she cannot move! I have inflicted enough damage to ensure that. But I suppose I am rather bored of playing with her……fine, I shall put her out of her misery……what the-!? What is this!?" He exclaimed in confusion, before collapsing onto his knees with a scream of pain.

  I've got you. The other one followed suit, falling forward with an alarmed yell. While I'd been paralyzed by the creepy one's power, one of my toes had slightly dug into the ground……I'd been channeling my Mana into it this whole time, melting the earth a few inches below the surface. And just now, when I broke free, I made all that lava rise up to the surface, and they had been too busy arguing to even notice……I……win……

  "This is not good, we need to……!" Began the other one, before I fired flames out of my mouth towards him and out of my hands towards the other one……or more specifically, at their wings, "……fly."

  He was desperately trying to reach me with his claws, but I was just out of his reach, and the creepy one was closer, but his hands had melted off when he fell. And they weren't healing, his feet were healing but their were melting off faster that they could heal……I see, if they sustain multiple injuries, the subsequent injuries wouldn't begin healing until the first one healed. Which means that their wings won't grow back. And the pools of lava I'd created in front of and behind me were both about two meters deep, and they were starting to sink in.

  "But……I won't let you die that easily……," I growled at the creepy one, jamming my right hand in through his eye sockets and sending my black flames scorching through his body, before adding coldly, "Burn to death from the inside out, you disgusting monster."

  He screamed and howled in excruciating pain as his skin, flesh and bones began turning into ash, before clutching his left hip with a look of despair……

  "N-no, stop it……! M-my core, y-you'll……arghhhh!!!!" He screamed, before his cries faded out as what was left of his body went up in a heatless red flame.

  I was on my hands and knees, I couldn't even stand up anymore, my Mana was almost empty, and my body was bleeding and burnt all over, I felt like my body was screaming at me to just pass out……in my hazy peripheral, I noticed that the other one was crawling out of the lava pit, his lower half was almost entirely gone, and he was using the ends of the bones of his forearms to dig himself out.

  "You……won't get away……!" I panted, my vision blurring as I channeled the last of my Mana to raise the lava and drop onto him like a blanket……

  "……I cannot survive this……that fool, if you had not already killed him, I certainly would have……well played, human……"

  With those last words, I dropped the lava onto him, melting him into oblivious, a dim flash of red emanated from the lava, before fading. I……I did it, I won……I killed them……

  Huh, I can't feel my body, and I can't really think anymore either……so tired……I……I'm going to sleep. I finally let myself slump down, as the lava around me began to cool and harden, I lost my train of thought and my consciousness faded, everything going dark as I fainted on the ground……

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