Point-of-View: Ekai Zabel

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  "Impressive flames, human, I declare you to be a worthy opponent!" Exclaimed the Vampire I was fighting, as he evaded the flames I fired up at him.

  He was flying above me, dodging and canceling out my flames. Is he trying to make me use up my Mana? Hm……no, I don't believe that's the case, it seemed more like he was assessing my strength. He had medium length straight white hair with a tall red mohawk down across the middle, white and red striped eyebrows, and wore a long sleeved dark green t-shirt, white trousers and tall dark green boots, under a black cape that was red inside.

  He suddenly stopped hovering over me and flew away, descending a short distance in front of me, drawing out a weapon from under his cape……it was a sword, with a hooked edge.

  "You are giving up your advantage in the sky?" I inquired, as I covered my hands in flames.

  "I was merely determining whether or not you were a worthy opponent……you see, I crave challenging fights against powerful individuals, and I have decided that you are worthy of battling me……I am Magna Aleron of the Vampire Knights. I would ask you for your name as well, human."

  How strange, Vampires truly are unlike other monsters. Hm, if he was showing me such courtesy, I should respond in kind……

  "Ekai Zabel, I am an S-Ranked Adventurer of the Rustlands," I replied, as I kept my gaze locked on him and fixated my nose on his scent while channeling Mana into my nostrils……

  Usually, my improved eyesight due to my Anima would suffice in following an opponent's movements, but if that was not enough, I had a more reliable option in my heightened sense of smell also due to my Anima, which I could further strengthen, or alternatively dull, using my Mana……when I lock onto and fixate my sense of smell to my opponent's scent, my body will instinctively react to their movements a lot earlier than I usually would by simply following them with my eyes.

  However, it was not something I did very often, as familiarizing myself with another person's scent was rather……off-putting. And it was a technique that was near-impossible to execute when fighting multiple opponents, as focusing on multiple scents was difficult and not something I had trained extensively enough to do.

  This will be the first time that I am relying on this particular ability so heavily, because it was apparent that this Vampire, Magna Aleron, was far faster and stronger than I was, the ease at which he had been able to evade my flames was proof of that.

  "Very well, then, Ekai Zabel of the Rustlands……prepare yourself!" He exclaimed as he shot forward towards me at a breakneck speed.

  I swiftly swung my right arm out, sending out a large wave of flames in his path……this attack appeared large in scale, but that was simply because I had expanded the flames without maintaining the heat level……to put it simply, I had weakened my flames in order to allow me to fire a wider attack quickly and without expending additional Mana.

  As I fired out the flames, I lost sight of him, but my nose was locked onto his scent……he was rushing around the left, which meant that he would be heading for my right. I concentrated the flames I had been charging up in my left hand, waiting for the instant he came into sight around the flames I had already fired……

  The instant he entered my field of vision, I blasted out the flames in my left hand in a narrow and rapid streak at him, taking him by surprise……even with his speed, he cannot fully evade this……suddenly he sprang up, his gaze locked on the spot directly behind me, and then he vanished, not just out of sight, his scent disappeared as well……I instinctively and swiftly expelled a blaze of flames directly behind me from my heels, as his scent suddenly reappeared behind me.

  I spun around and sprang back the instant he jumped away to avoid my flames, shooting out fireballs as he fired Blood Magic blasts at me, our attacks canceling each other out. Upon impact, a large smoke cloud formed between us, and I swiftly fired a barrage of fireballs to the left of the smoke as he zipped around that direction……he was once again caught by surprise, narrowly avoiding a couple of my attacks, one scorching past his right shoulder, when he suddenly disappeared again.

  I quickly turned my head up and blew out an inferno from my mouth straight up, as his scent suddenly reappeared directly above me. A hint of alarm appeared in his eyes, his arms getting scorched as he began to cross them in front of himself defensively, before his gaze shifted to the spot directly in front of me, and he disappeared again……reappearing in front of me.

  I swiftly sprang back and blasted flames out of my hands as he swung his hooked sword straight down at me, leaving a shallow gash in my left shoulder as my flames disrupted the speed of his swing, striking and burning his right side and left elbow. I can create large scale flame attacks, but I needed a bit of time to build them up……with his speed, I only had enough time to build up weak to moderate flames, the only benefit to that was that I had hardly used up any Mana so far. But I cannot use any of my named attacks like this.

  "Excellent……such incredible reaction speed, what a glorious battle this is turning out to be!" Exclaimed Magna, his eyes gleaming.

  "Your ability to teleport……is that your Cross?"

  "Indeed! I simply call it Teleport, it allows me to instantly move anywhere within my sight! I would like to ask you a question as well……how is it that you are able to react so quickly, I can clearly see that your eyes are incapable of keeping up with my movements," He asked curiously.

  I cannot tell him that……but something told me that I should avoid telling him nothing.

  "It is my sense of hearing……I have highly sensitive ears," I lied, as I used this opportunity to channel as much Mana into my hands as I possibly could, building up my flames.

  "Ahh, quite impressive……well, then, let us continue, this time I shall fight you in earnest!"

  I fired a compressed, vicious blast of roaring flames from my left hand, before swiftly turning my right hand above to the left, across my left arm that was still pointing forward, and fired an even more powerful blast of flames at him as he appeared a few meters above my left shoulder.

  Right as the flames reached him, he disappeared again, this time behind me, as I shot out flames from both my heels as quickly as I could, but the instant I did, he was once again above me, although I did feel that my flames began to strike him. He seemed to have taken a bit of damage, but it was already healing.

  With my arms in a tangle and having just finished firing, I could not fire fast enough, and jumped away to the right as fast as I could, when a sharp pain went through my left bicep as he swung his hooked sword down at me, the edge piercing into my left arm a few inches above my elbow, before dragging all the way up to my shoulder and leaving a long, deep gash as I sprang away.

  And then, he was suddenly to my right. I began to attempt to fire out a blast of flames, but I was far too slow, as he slammed a powerful kick onto my side, sending me flying off to the left, my shoulder skidding painfully along the ground before I came to a crashing halt with a groan. I then hurriedly attempted to get up and started to shoot out a fireball from my left hand, but once again, I was too slow, as a Blood Magic blast came hurling towards me, crashing onto my chest.

  I let out a pained gasp and reached for my healing spell, but it was not in my belt, where I had stored it……had it fallen out when he sent me flying? That was far from ideal, I could feel that I had a few fractures in my left arm and right side……

  His Teleport ability is far too fast, I cannot……wait, I believe he said that he can use it to teleport to anywhere within his sight……if that was true, then……

  "It would seem that there is not much to you beyond your incredible reaction speed, however, I must admit that I found you to be a rather challenging opponent for a human……therefore, I shall give you a swift and painless death, Ekai Zabel," He remarked, before shooting towards me at a rapid speed.

  I swiftly fired a large, snaking streak of flames at him from my right hand while down on one knee, with my left hand on the ground, increasing my focus on my nose……I need to react as fast as possible……right before my mass of flames reached him, he vanished again……and appeared above me to my right. I swiftly slid my left hand on the ground to the right and fired out the flames right into the ground, using the Mana I had been building up in my left palm all this time, evaporating the snow and scorching the ground underneath, kicking up a massive snow and dust cloud all around us.

  I held my breath for a moment to avoid my sense of smell from getting overwhelmed by the dust, before continuing to fire a barrage of flames at the ground all around, rapidly expanding the mass of steam, dust and smoke all around me……

  I then refocused my nose on Magna's scent and rushed towards it……I could sense his panic and confusion, he was moving indecisively, when he suddenly began to fly straight up to try and escape the smoke. I cannot let him get away! I sprang up as high as I could, stretching my right hand up while wincing at the twinges of pain all over my body……and grabbed hold of his ankle.

  Using all my strength as I let out a roar, I swung him straight down onto the ground, his head and face slamming onto the scorched earth with a resounding thud. I swiftly pinned him down, my right knee on the base of his tail, my left calf across the back of his knees, my right hand on the back of his neck, pushing his face into the ground to prevent him from looking somewhere to teleport, and my left hand holding his left arm down. He had landed on his right arm, so I did not need to pin it down.

  I then began forming my Flaming Tornado around us, flames slowly starting to swirl around us, before rapidly increasing speed and growing hotter and larger with every passing second……

  "This is my Flaming Tornado, what used to be my most powerful flame attack……but now, I will be using it to contain my current most powerful attack……I call this technique……Absolute Inferno."

  He could not reply since his face was in the dirt. Flames began violently bursting out all around me, after I took in a deep breath and held it. This attack involves me expelling Mana all around myself……or rather, it required me to deliberately and violently expel flames from my body with no control whatsoever……as I had a rather large Mana capacity, this attack had to potential to be wildly destructive, which was why I cast my Flaming Tornado first, to act as a funnel and channel my exploding flames upwards instead of outwards……

  This combination takes a heavy toll on my body, it guzzles my Mana at a rapid rate, makes it impossible to breathe while in effect, and it also burns me. Since my flames are created with my own Mana, I had a degree of resistance to them, but resistance does not mean that I am invulnerable to them……

  I tightened my grip on him as flames burst out and roared all around us, his skin starting to get incinerated bit by bit, as he began violently struggling, desperate to break free. He was incredibly strong, it was taking all my strength to keep him pinned down like this, even though he had no leverage to generate any power whatsoever. He suddenly stopped struggling, as his right arm began wriggling violently……was he trying to free his arm and strike me with his claws?

  I had better end this quickly. My lungs were starting to reach their limit as well. I gritted my teeth and maximized the intensity of the flames as much as I could, so much so that I could only see a blazing, fiery orange in my sight……

  Most of the back of his body was scorched off into ash, I could feel that I was now holding down raw flesh and bones……just……a little bit more……

  With a final burst of strength and using the last of my Mana, I increased the rotation of my tornado as fast as I could, rapidly increasing the heat and intensity of my flames, before funneling the infernal blaze straight up onto the sky, dissipating it all and letting out a hoarse and sharp exhale, choking as I gasped for air. I crawled away a few meters and collapsed onto my back, deeply gasping for breath, my vision blurring and a wave a dizziness hitting my head. There wasn't so much as a drop of snow anywhere in sight.

  My armor was completely gone, and I had heavily severe burns all over my body……just the smallest movement sent waves of stinging pain throughout my body……at least it is over……

  I then stiffened in horror as I smelt it……his scent……it was faint and barely present, but it was still there……and it was slowly getting stronger. I winced and shuddered in pain as I slowly lifted my head in the direction the scent was coming from, my eyes widening in dismay……

  There was a small hole in the ground right where I had been holding him down, barely big enough to fit a hand into……but something was growing out of it, and rapidly at that……bones appeared, along with organs, muscles, flesh……and finally, skin……he was……he was still alive……

  He had a wide-eyed expression on his face, his breathing ragged……he slowly stood up and looked around with a dazed expression, before staring down at his hands, which were trembling slightly……

  He then shook his head rapidly, looking a bit more composed, before taking another look around, his gaze settling on a scrap of his cape that had flown off, several meters away. He teleported towards it, picked it up and tied it around his waist, before teleporting again, this time just a few meters ahead of me.

  "Truly……truly brilliant! Without a doubt, that was the best battle I have ever experienced! To strike such fear and terror into me……even my sword melted into nothing! But it would seem that you can no longer move, let alone fight……"

  "H-how did you……?" I strained to say, trailing off with a cough.

  "Ah, you wish to know how I survived your fiery assault? Very well, as a show of respect for the excellent battle we shared, I shall tell you, human……Ekai. Using my right hand, I was able to tear out my core, within a chunk of my flesh, and then I used my claws to bury and push it into the ground as deep as possible……even so, your flames very nearly reached it……my core has sustained minor damage……and any damage a Vampire's core sustains will not ever heal……the damage is not severe enough to kill me, but it has left a permanent scar on my very core, a scorch mark……I commend you for that."

  All that……and my attack had only left a small burn on his core?

  "I shall never forget this fight, nor your name, Ekai Zabel of the Rustlands……now, you die-!" He began, raising his claws, before springing back as a flaming spear came hurling towards him.

  A blast of wind followed, which he also evaded.

  "Hey, are you alright, man?" Exclaimed a familiar voice……Einn Olbaw, and with him……Zira Rufaim.

  "No……but I don't think I will die."

  "Let us handle this, you look in bad shape," Remarked Zira, placing a healing Spell Card in my hand, before picking up her spear and pointing it towards Magna.

  "No, wait-!" I began in a hoarse voice, but the two of them were already rushing towards him.

  I can't shout like this……I need to heal myself first, and I need to do it fast. I quickly and desperately began running my Mana through the spell, as they shot towards him. Einn used Flight to swiftly fly up, while Zira was sprinting straight at Magna with her spear pointed at him, her flames rapidly swirling around the tip. Magna had a look of dark fury on his face, and pure disgust in his eyes.

  "Filthy insects……you would dare interrupt the end of the best battle I have ever experienced……I will fucking kill you."

  "Be careful, he can teleport-!" I yelled, cutting off as he vanished and appeared behind Zira, firing a Blood Magic blast at the back of her head and slashing her lower back with his tail.

  "You bastard-!" Exclaimed Einn, swooping down as fast as he could, but he was too slow.

  Magna extended and plunged his claws into the back of her head, before pulling them out after a few seconds, her body lifelessly collapsing onto the ground. Einn let out a roar of anger and swung his wooden weapons at Magna, who teleported behind him in the air and whipped his tail towards him, slicing off his right arm. Einn let out a cry of pain, before Magna fired a powerful blast at his back, sending him plummeting down and crashing onto the ground, he coughed out a puddle of blood and let out a gasp.

  No, he was going to kill him, and I was powerless to stop him, I could not even stand……wait, Magna was not looking at him, his attention was to the north, a look of disbelief on his face.

  "It can't be……Eighty-Seven……tch, that coward……!" He growled with a frustrated expression on his face before turning his attention to me.

  I froze, my body overcome with fear as his gaze met mine.

  "Well, it would appear that things have taken an unexpected turn……I think I will spare you, after all……but we will do battle again soon, I am sure……farewell, for now, Ekai Zabel."

  With that, he flew off to the north. I unsteadily got onto my feet and slowly walked over to Einn. He was bleeding profusely from his arm, and he was unconscious. I picked up his severed arm and dragged my feet towards him, collapsing onto my knees a few meters away from him. I crawled towards him and placed the healing spell on him.

  I hope this works……I pressed his severed arm to the stump and activated the spell……yes, the skin around the cut was growing back, it was working. His injuries healed, but he did not regain consciousness. He had lost a lot of blood, so it was not surprising. But at least it looks like he was alive and in stable condition.

  I collapsed onto my back with a groan. I was completely out of Mana and stamina, I could barely move anymore. I had brought Mana Orbs with me, but they had been destroyed in my final attack. We were a few hundred meters away from the battle outside the gate, so we should be safe……I shook my head as my vision began to darken, but I could not stop my consciousness from slowly fading……I am so tired……

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