Point-of-View: Arturo Lagusa

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  This is not good, our bullets are having no effect on this Vampire, he is even more powerful than that damned boy! We were keeping our distance while firing, but he was evading and deflecting them with ease. We would soon run out of bullets, and if he were to attack then, which he likely would, we would be finished in a heartbeat.

  "This sucks, we haven't hit him even once yet, what the hell, man!?" Yelled Rex in a panicked voice, firing his final magazine of bullets.

  "Shut up and keep firing!"

  I had to admit, I was starting to lose my cool as well, this was a dire situation. The Vampire deflected some the bullets with his claws, while dodging the rest without a problem. His eyes moved so fast, and his body reacted equally fast, his speed was incredible.

  "Those weapons are impressive, they may have worked quite well against my subordinates, but unfortunately for you, they are useless against me," Remarked the Vampire with a bored sigh, "Stop dragging this out pointlessly, I wish to get this over with as soon as possible."

  I began charging up lightning in my left hand while firing my final clip of bullets at him. This was nothing more than a last ditch effort that probably would not work, but I might as well try it……

  The instant I fired my final bullet, I flung the empty pistol at his head around the level of his eyeline, before zipping across to his left and firing the bolt of lightning at him, while Rex continued firing his rifle from the opposite end. Right before my attack could hit, the Vampire's eyes glowed, and my lightning dissipated. Even if he had not been expecting that, the distance gave him enough room to see it coming in time to activate his magic nullification ability.

  He didn't keep it activate at all times, but he could activate it in an instant when he needed to……to put it simply, we stood no chance of defeating him, not without our magic.

  "Hey, Sicario, what do we-?"

  "Isn't it obvious……run away!" I replied, activating my Lightning Boost and zipping away as fast as I could.

  But it was no use, a few seconds later, I felt my Mana flow stop, my Lightning Boost nullified. And the Vampire was in front of me.

  "I suppose I should commend you for understanding that you are out of your depth, cowardly as that may be……now, I can finally get this over with."

  I leapt back and flung a hidden dagger at him, before he disappeared from my sight along with the dagger, and I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my lower back. It had been a blur, but I had just about been able to see him catch my blade and slip behind me. And then he must have stabbed me with my own dagger. I could not even begin to react.

  I cannot channel my Mana at all……looks like that troublesome ability of his was active. But I am not completely out of options, not yet. I swiftly reached behind and grabbed his wrist with my left hand, tightening my grip as much as possible.

  "Oh? A desperate but futile effort, I still have one hand free, as well as my fangs, you will not be able to stop me from consuming your life force."

  "Maybe so……but that does not matter……Rex, attack, now!" I exclaimed, as I unleashed my Retractable Anima on my right arm, morphing it into a mantis arm, spinning around and swinging it at his head as fast as I could, letting out a gasp of pain as the dagger got wrenched out of my back painfully.

  I did not let my grip loosen, digging my fingernails into his wrist as I swung around and slashed at his head, he tilted his neck back, but the edge of my mantis arm slashed across his eyes deeply, blinding him. I then let go, right as Rex flew in and slammed a punch onto the side of his face. I morphed my left arm as well, before noticing that I could channel my Mana again.

  "Rex, attack ceaselessly, do not give him a chance to counter!" I commanded, zipping towards him with Lightning Boost and slashing his torso, before Rex swooped down and dug his claws, extended by ice, into his left shoulder.

  We must strike his core before he can recover, we will not get another chance! I coated my morphed arms with a powerful electric current and swirling black flames, before unleashing a series of rapid thrusts at his torso, piercing him multiple times, blood spewing out with every strike as he collapsed onto his knees. Damn it, where is his core!?

  Rex was striking his back, he had damaged his wings, tail and slashed his heels, while I kept piercing his front, slashing his eyes each time they began healing, along with his shoulders and the tendons in his wrists to keep him from striking back. Only his eyes were showing signs of regeneration……I see, Vampire injuries heal in order of infliction……

  "Hey, cut his head off, Sicario! He probably won't be able to move at all without a brain!" Yelled Rex, as he tore apart the flesh on the Vampire's back.

  He had a point, I might as well……I had stabbed his entire torso, both arms and thighs and legs thoroughly, and I was yet to hit the core……I then swung my arm towards his neck, when suddenly he moved his head and caught the end of my arm between his teeth. I instinctively sprang back in alarm as he began sinking his fangs in, before he suddenly whipped his tail up at Rex, leaving a shallow diagonal slash in his torso, forcing him to spring back as well.

  Was that an instinctive reaction……or had he gotten used to the timing and flow of our attacks? Either way, this is not good, we need to……no, my Mana……I cannot channel it again. I looked at him, to see that his eyes were healed, and glowing bright red, as the rest of his injuries began healing up at an incredible pace. I was frozen to the ground, my feet refusing to move.

  Rex was paralyzed with fear as well, trembling slightly. The look in the Vampire's eyes, was one of pure fury. We do not stand a chance……especially since I cannot use Lightning Boost to enhance my perception or speed. With it, I might have at least been able to follow his movements, but without it, I was far too slow to keep up or even see him coming……

  We had attacked ceaselessly, without giving him a chance to recover, but when Rex yelled at me to decapitate him, he heard that, and knew to expect me to attack his neck, which meant that he knew where my line of attack would cut through. Despite being covered with injuries, he was still able to calmly make such a quick decision?

  And he hadn't healed his tail when he whipped it up at Rex, who had earlier struck the base of it, after which it slumped down……had he been pretending that it was more damaged than it actually was? As I watched him heal, I realized that his injuries were healing in order of infliction……or to put it simply, the first injury he received healed first while the last injury he received healed last.

  "I have to say, that was quite painful……how very careless of me, this may be my first battle in over two centuries, but even so……I must admit, I am quite enraged, I do not believe I have felt such fury in a very long time. Hm……yes, I have decided that I will not leave this place until I kill you both," He stated bluntly, his expression one of cold fury, his tone dangerously calm, and his bloodlust stifflingly and terrifyingly heavy.

  Fear had paralyzed me, but if I do not move……I'll die……

  "Quickly, Rex, we must……oooofff!" I began, before being cut off as a powerful impact struck my abdomen, I felt something rupture, before coughing out a puddle of blood.

  "Do not worry, I will not kill you immediately……first, I shall inflict as much pain as I can. To ensure that, I will not use my Blood Magic. I usually prefer to finish my tasks as soon as possible, but I can make an exception this once," He remarked as I lay writhing on the ground in pain.

  Rex then silently sprang up behind him and swung his raptor claws at his throat, but he was on alert this time, we were not going to be able to catch him off guard again. He extended his claws and countered Rex's strikes using them, before Rex adjusted his position using his wings and swung a punch at his face, but the Vampire caught his fist effortlessly, before snapping his forearm like a twig with a simple flick of his wrist.

  Rex let out a cry of pain before gritting his teeth and twisting his body across, whipping his tail towards the Vampire, who grabbed it before it hit him. He gave Rex a cold look, before tightening his grip on the end of his tail and swinging him down onto the ground like a ragdoll, slamming him with a deafening impact. I definitely heard something break. He swung him around a few more times, crashing him onto the ground repeatedly, before tossing his limp, unconscious body aside.

  He was bleeding all over, and it looked like several of his bones were badly broken, a few were poking out of his skin.

  "How fragile you humans are. Ah, yes, I am sure you are wondering why you were unable to hit my core……I must admit, I was afraid you would strike it soon, but fortunately, you did not……I shall tell you, I located it in my toe……my feet were practically the only part of me that you did not attack, although I did get rather alarmed when your partner slashed my heels," Said the Vampire, stomping on my head as I tried to get up and reach for my healing spell, which was in a pouch along my right calf, pushing my head into the ground, "Yes, you did quite well, for humans to come so close to killing an Evil Number is unheard of. You blinded me, before your partner struck the side of my head, dazing me, and before I could re-orient myself, my limbs and wings were all rendered useless, leaving me entirely at your mercy……but now, the situation has reversed. How does that feel, human?"

  He was slowly but surely increasing the amount of pressure he was putting on my head……I could not breath, my face was being jammed into the dirt, and even more alarmingly, I could feel that my skull was starting to fracture and crack, it would not take much more pressure to crush my head like a watermelon……

  As the pain began to increase steadily, I was trying desperately to think of a way to survive, to no avail……when suddenly, the pressure pressing down on my head disappeared, and I felt a sharp stinging pain on my back, the impact resonating throughout my body.

  "Tch, unbelievable, the Generals are one thing, but for a Knight to be killed……consider yourself lucky, you can live for a while longer……but I shall be back for you, human," Growled the Vampire, before I let out a yell of pain as I felt both my legs break like twigs, after which the Vampire zipped away, in the direction of the outer wall……

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  Point-of-View: Tirayze Valaque

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  "Alrighty, then, now that I've lured you Vamps right where I want ya, it's time for me to kill the fuck out of ya!"

  "Er……you do realize we let you 'lure' us, right? Such an obvious ploy, we only went along with it because we have more license to cut loose if we are spread out and because it makes no difference to us. Really, did it not seem strange to you how easily it was to make us follow you?" Remarked one of the three Vampires I'd lured with a raised eyebrow.

  Oh……

  "Well, uh……I guess I just thought you were all stupid," I replied with a sheepish shrug.

  "This human is a fool," Sighed one of the others.

  Hey, that's not very nice.

  "You guys are rude, aren't you? Oh, well, no biggie……alright, before we get to fightin', let's introduce ourselves! You guys go first!"

  "……and why would we do that?"

  "Because, uh……why not? Come on, it won't cost you anything, what's the harm?"

  All three of them looked taken aback and confused, exchanging wary looks with each other.

  "Well, I suppose there is no harm……very well, I am Fane Obediah of the Vampire Knights," One of them finally replied with a skeptical expression.

  He had short gray hair with red flecks scattered throughout, and a big bald spot on the top of his head, along with a goatee. He wore a white tank top with black trousers, along with a flowing cape that was black on the outside and red on the inside, and didn't seem to be carrying a weapon.

  "This is quite bizarre, I have never encountered such a strange human……I am Jorin Klyn of the Vampire Knights," Chimed in another with a look of bemusement.

  He had spiky white and gray hair with a thick red streak straight down the middle, and wore an open dark green blazer with a short white trouser that went a few inches past his knees, along with the same cape at Fane Obediah. He was carrying a long cleaver in his right hand.

  "Perhaps he has gone mad with fear, that should make our jobs here easier……I see no point in introducing myself, but since the others already did, I may as well……I am Vanity Aerin, also of the Vampire Knights. Can we fight now?" Sighed the last one with an exasperated and unamused expression.

  She had white hair tied in twin tails with two red streaks in each tail, and wore a narrow purple tube top and tight dark blue shorts under a cape like the others.

  "Wait, it's my turn, we can fight after I'm done! Ahem……my name is Tirayze Valaque, ruler of The Valaque Empire, destroyer of Goldway, future destroyer of the rest of this world, the strongest human in this world, breaker of chains, and mother of drago……oops, I kinda ripped off that last bit in the heat of the moment, heh, ignore that! Hey, by the way, should I call you guys by your first names or your last names……I think I'll go with first names, we're all friends here, right?" I remarked with a cheerful laugh, before turning serious and adding, "Now, then……why don't all three of you come at me together? Because if you don't……you'll die."

  "You talk too much, human!" Exclaimed Vanity, zipping towards me and swinging her claws at me face, which I narrowly ducked under and grabbed her arm, unleashing my Retractable Anima and forming my porcupinefish spikes in my palms, before throwing her over my shoulder, slamming her onto the ground.

  Woah, now, she's fast, a fair bit faster than Arturo or anyone else in my Empire besides me! Hm, it doesn't look like my toxin had any effect on her. The other two then sprang up on either side of me, Fane to my right with a large red energy blast charged up between his hands and Jorin to my left with his cleaver raised. I raised a thick wall of earth to my right as Fane fired his blast, and an ice wall to my left as Jorin swung his cleaver at me.

  The earth wall absorbed most the impact of the blast before crumbling, traces of his blast stinging my right side, while the cleaver sliced through half the ice wall before getting stuck in the middle. While Jorin was busy trying to pull his cleaver out, I grabbed Fane's wrist with my left hand as he began to try and fly away, before swirling wind, water and lightning around my right fist, intensifying and charging it up rapidly.

  "Been a while since I used this……have a taste of my Death Cyclone Fist!" I exclaimed, slamming my fist onto his midsection.

  He let out a tortured scream as my fist tore through his stomach like a drill through tissue paper, sending him flying back and crashing onto the outer wall, a massive hole in his torso, blood splashing everywhere. Woah, he's healing, talk about sturdy……I had just destroyed, like, all his vital organs. Guess his core wasn't in his torso.

  Suddenly, a couple of rocks came hurling towards me, I quickly jumped away to avoid them, but they followed my path. Heat-seeking rocks? Eh, doesn't matter. I blasted them into dust with powerful lightning bolts.

  Vanity was sprinting towards me, with three large rocks floating around her……ooh, telekinesis? Cool!

  "Hey, that's a nifty ability you got there!"

  "It is the power of my Cross, Levitation!"

  "Cool! So, uh……what's a Cross?" I inquired curiously, as I blasted her rocks.

  With her projectiles destroyed, she halted and quickly flew up, getting some distance in the air, right as Jorin leapt at me and swung his cleaver straight down at me. At the last moment, I caught the blade between my palms, before it could strike me head. Heh, I've always wanted to do that. That was closer than I'd have liked though, these Vampires are really strong. He then let go of his cleaver, his hands starting to glow red.

  I sprang back and blasted out flames and lightning as he fired his energy blasts, our attack canceling each other out. I then spotted Fane in my peripheral, approaching me. Woah, he's already fully healed up? And wait, there were others with him……more Vampires? No, those were humans……more specifically, human corpses. Corpses of my lapdogs and pawns.

  "How dare you injure me as you did, human, behold my Cross, Necro!"

  Necro……as in necromancy? Either way, I didn't like it……

  "Hm, while I do consider my pawns and lapdogs expendable, this, I do not like……," I remarked coldly, before charging up and combining wind, fire and lightning between my hands, "Get out of my sight……Blazing Electric Death Storm."

  I fired it all out, a massive blast of pure destruction, and one of the most powerful attacks in my arsenal. The walking corpses got vaporized, along with the Vampire, his screams fading as a flash of red shone out, and as I finished firing my attack, there was no trace of him left.

  I then shot away using Lightning Boost at my max speed of x2, as the other two fired a barrage of red energy blasts down at me, both of them were up in the air, warily keeping their distance. Too bad for them……I could fly too. I activated Flight and zipped up towards them, firing fireballs and lightning bolts at them to negate their blasts.

  I flew towards Vanity and formed a massive, jagged ice blade, five meters long and one meters wide, swinging it straight down towards her with all my strength. She zipped off to the right, my blade slashing off half her left wing and a chunk of her shoulder. As she let out a cry of pain and began to plummet to the ground, the weight of my blade pulled my balance forward, forcing me to let it go before it pulled me down with it.

  It crashed to the ground and shattered, and before I could fully regain my balance Jorin swooped down behind me and swung his cleaver at my back, I formed a hastily-made chunk of ice behind me, but he cut through it, leaving a shallow slash on my back. Ow, that hurt!

  He then extended the claws on his right hand and drove it towards my back, right as I spun around and tore his hand into shreds with a compressed, spiraling loop of wind, before grabbing his hair, tightening my grip and swinging him down to the ground with all my strength. He crashed onto the ground with a devastating impact, creating a bloody crater upon impact and kicking up a massive dust cloud, his innards splattered all over the ground……but he was still alive.

  Damn, these Vampires sure are sturdy as hell! Vanity then flew up towards me, her wing and shoulder healed, and six large rocks floating up with her as she zipped towards me. She then flung the rocks outwards, rapidly floating through the air till they were surrounding me, before making them all converge in on me at the same time.

  I blasted three of them, before dodging the rest by flying up at the last secomd, as they crashed onto each other and broke into smaller chunks……and some of the chunks shot up towards me. I fired out multiple ice shards to counter them, but a few struck me, specifically on my right shoulder, abdomen, left forearm and my collarbone. Ahh, I think my collarbone was fractured.

  She then shot towards me while charging up those red blasts in both hands, I zipped down as she fired them at me, before shooting up towards her with another ice blade, a smaller one this time since I was moving up instead of down. I swung it straight up at her as I neared her, she slashed her claws down at me in retaliation, deflecting and shattering my blade. She then whipped her tail down at me, I quickly caught it with my right hand and tightened my grip, before swinging her around rapidly.

  I looked down to see that Jorin was starting to get back on his feet, so I swung her down straight towards where he was, slamming her down onto him with a loud crash. Now's my chance to finish them off! I swooped down at top speed after using my healing spell, charging up my Death Cyclone Fist in both hands as I rapidly descended. Both Vampires were nearly healed, but they wouldn't recover in time to evade……suddenly, as I neared them and winded my arms back to launch my punches, Jorin made eye contact with me, his eyes glowing eerily, and the instant he did, my entire body froze.

  And I mean that literally, I couldn't move a muscle, as if I'd been paralyzed. I plummeted past them, crashing onto the ground on my right shoulder, unable to move. What just happened?

  "This is the power of my Cross, Stagnate……you will not be able to move for twenty seconds," Remarked Jorin, as they both stood up and walked towards me, charging up their red blasts.

  Not good, not good, not good! I can't move a muscl……wait, my Mana was still flowing normally, I can still channel it! As they started to fire at me from near point-blank range, I raised a series of earth spikes in their direction, Vanity managing to fly away with just a pierced foot, but Jorin got totally skewered, letting out a yell of pain as I riddled him full of holes. Before I could destroy him completely, he forcibly wrenched his body out with a stifled gasp, flying away and crashing onto the ground, out of my range as he began healing.

  I then used the earth below to prop myself up, lifting my right arm up using a narrow pillar of earth, as Vanity began to swoop down on me again. I can't really aim like this, but I just need to keep her at bay till the twenty seconds are up. I then channeled my Mana through my arm and into my fingers, branching out streaks of lightning all around and above me, keeping her from closing in too much. She then fired a large red blast at me, I responded with a fireball from my palm, but my aim was off, my flames weakening her attack as it brushed past it, but not canceling it out.

  I raised a wall of earth as fast as I could, but it burst through it, hitting me square on the left shoulder. Oh, wow, that really stings……it felt kinda like a really bad chemical burn, I once got accidentally splashed with mid-strength hydrochloric acid on my leg, it hurt real bad.

  Vanity then shot down with her claws extended and her fangs bared, rapidly closing in……and suddenly, I could move again. I grabbed her wrists as she swung her claws in at me, before she let out a scream as I ripped her arms off, before grabbing the top of her head and crushing her skulll between my finger, her body slumping as I did.

  "Okay, your turn to die," I remarked, holding her popped head with my left hand and swirling flames, lightning and wind into my right palm, getting ready to unleash it into her, when suddenly……

  A massive red blast came hurling towards me from my left, I quickly spun around and positioned her body in front of me as a meat shield, before springing back and letting go of her as I realized she probably wouldn't be enough to fully shield me.

  The blast burst onto her back, searing off her skin, most of her flesh, and some of her bones, her organs and blood spilling out. I spotted a slight glint near where her spleen was……that must be her core! Wait, who fired-?

  "You are a strong one, aren't you? You cannot be allowed to live," Came a voice from behind me, I quickly spun around, to see a large red blast inches away from me……

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