"Are we going to fight him?"

  "Yeah, we are……I can either use Store on him, or I can transfer his life force into you……I'll let you pick."

  "Hm……I guess I'll go with the latter, that option might be difficult to use once we rendezvous with the others……also, are you okay? You're drooling again, Kuro."

  "I'm fine, it's just that I can sense his life force and it's pretty tantalizing……I literally can't help it."

  It was a couple of hours later, and we were within sight of the old church that was to serve as our rendezvous point, about five hundred meters away. And about two hundred meters away from us, was a Vampire in a cape……a Vampire Knight.

  I had decided to transfer the life force of one Vampire Knight into Persia, which we'd discussed after her fight with Lagusa. After all, I didn't need to consume the life forces of all the stronger Vampires, my body wouldn't be able to handle that much anyway.

  "Alright, then……let's lure him away from the open, there doesn't seem to be any other Vampires around, but if we fight him here, even with that barrier, it'll be hard to hide evidence of the fight afterwards……there's every chance that he'll put up much more of a fight than the previous Vampires we encountered did," I remarked, before looking around and spotting an alley between two buildings.

  I flung a needle towards the alley, a quiet but audible clang ringing out as it hit the wall of the alley. Good, looks like he heard that……and he's headed straight for it. He looked alert and cautious……that explains why he was just standing there, he must have been keeping watch, which means that they were reacting to the diversionary attack. A little over twenty-four hours had passed since we began the attack, which still left plenty of time before the next phase. Persia and I had taken out only seven Vampires so far, five killed and two captured.

  In the worst case scenario, we'd have to fight all the Knights and Evil Numbers when we storm the castle, so this was a golden opportunity to take at least one of them out of commission. And another thing, this guy was definitely on alert, but not overly so, which meant that no one had been discovered yet. That, or this guy just hadn't received a report on any of us being discovered.

  Good, guess everyone was following the plan……we had emphasized to the A-Ranked Adventurers and lapdogs who were a part of this to ignore any Vampires they ran into if they weren't confident in defeating them. If they felt that the risk of discovery was greater than their chance of victory, then prioritize getting to their assigned rendezvous points instead, where they could join up with the others and launch the second wave of diversionary attacks from the east and west. They were no doubt afraid, so I bet most of them were glad to get that particular bit of advice.

  Still, I had been worried about any wild cards acting up, especially Gela and Kuua. I guess everyone had managed to keep a low profile……at least, I hope so. It's not like the Vampires have a way to communicate over distances, so even if someone was discovered, it'd take a while for the news to spread.

  I entered Vampire Mode, Persia unleashing the full extent of her Retractable Anima, before we both followed after the Vampire as he walked over to the alley, his tail raised and his claws extended. He peered into the alley and looked around, before walking in cautiously. Now's our chance!

  We followed him in, and then swiftly deactivated the Stealth barrier and activated the other one as we neared him. The alley was narrow, so the barrier adjusted to fit the space, just as it had been designed to. I shot towards the Vampire and swung my blade at the back of his neck, but he was able to just about react in time, getting his tail in the way and blocking my slash.

  He spun around and began to fire a Blood Magic blast at me with a look of alarm in his eyes, right as Persia snuck in from under me and swung her foot up, striking his wrist upwards and changing the trajectory of his blast, which struck the top of the barrier……good, just a tiny crack, which repaired itself almost instantly, this barrier was definitely pretty sturdy.

  I then fired a bolt of lightning at his chest, he began to evade, but was far too slow, the entire blast striking the right side of his chest and scorching a hole through it. Huh, what the……? He's slow for a Vampire Knight…… slower than I'd be with x3.3 Lightning Boost and eighty percent Karma……so not much faster than a Vampire Minion, and way slower than a Vampire General. Is he really a Vampire Knight? My craving was about as strong as it was when I consumed those Vampire Knights that attacked the Rustlands, so he had to be, but come on, he's really weak……

  Well, it doesn't matter, first I'll destroy his brain……before I could move towards him, he suddenly vanished from my sight……what the, where did he……I felt a sharp blast strike my left shoulder, I swung my blade in that direction, but he was already gone……where'd this speed come from, he's suddenly way faster than I am, I can barely follow his movements.

  Persia had surrounded herself with a sphere of wind, which was keeping him from attacking her, but she wouldn't be able to keep that up forever. I narrowly evaded as he fired another blast, as I immersed myself in Bloodlust Mode so that I could better sense his intent to kill and see his attacks coming a bit better.

  Tch, it's no good, he's too fast, it's all I can do to just keep dodging……no, I can do this, I just need to play my cards right. Hm, let's see……yeah, that'll work. Especially since his attacks and movements seem to be getting more desperate and erratic. I evaded another blast, which grazed my left side, before yelling to Persia……

  "Get down, now!"

  The instant she hit the floor, I rapidly unleashed streaks of lightning branching out from my fingers all around me, filling the space inside the barrier……

  "Scarlet Lightning Web!"

  He let out a stunned yell as one of my streaks struck him, and as he stopped for a moment to compose himself, I swiftly used Teleport to slip behind him. He began to zip away with a look of panic, before I used Beckon to pull him towards me, my claws going into his back, before I closed my fist to grab hold of his spine and run a steady stream of red lightning through it, paralyzing him.

  "Wh-why y-you……!"

  "Alright, Vampire, I don't have a lot of time, so I'll need you to answer my questions without delay……first, tell me your name."

  Come on, refuse, that'll give me a reason to torture you……

  "Go t-to hell, you……arrrrhhhhh!" He yelled, as I tore off a fingernail, before breaking the finger like a twig.

  A wave of sadistic satisfaction ran through my body, thrilling me……

  "You Vampires certainly have impressive regenerative capabilities, even my Healing Factor doesn't compare……but let me show you how that can be used against you. Ah, look, your finger is already healed……let's see if it hurts the same the second time around, 'kay?" I remarked with a chuckle, before repeating the dose.

  I know that I can't waste time, but……my sadistic urges were surfacing, drawn out by my Bloodlust Mode. Between that and my ravenous desire to consume his life force, it was hard to stay fully rational, since I had to concentrate hard to keep the desire in check. Fortunately, it didn't take him long to crack.

  "Why don't we try two fingers this time-?"

  "N-no, stop! I-I will answer your questions!"

  That's all he can take? Talk about disappointing. Alright, time for me to snap out of it……

  "Now, was that so hard? You better not lie, or I'll do three fingers, 'kay? You're a Vampire Knight, right? Your name?"

  "……Sin Waldron."

  Ah, that explains it……his Cross was Accelerate, though Atticus didn't know the specifics of its limitations, all he knew was that this guy could boost his speed significantly.

  "Tell me the specifics of your Cross."

  "Y-yes……I-I can double my speed for six minutes……or triple it for four minutes……or multiply it by four for two minutes……if I fully use any of those time limits……I have to wait half an hour before I can use it again……"

  Woah, upto a fourfold boost? Looks like we hit the jackpot……

  "Did you get all that, Persia? So, what do you say, want this power?"

  "Yeah, I definitely do," She replied without any hesitation.

  Aw, man, I'd have really liked to get this Cross for myself……but I did give her dibs, plus I already have multiple Crosses and planned on stealing even more, so missing out on one wasn't a big deal.

  "Wh-what are you-?"

  "Hm? Oh, we're gonna kill you now, that's all," I replied with a smirk.

  "N-no, but I……I-I told you everything you wanted to know-!"

  "And? I never said I'd spare you if you did. No hard feelings or anything, I mean……you Vampires were the ones that started this war, and I'm sure you've consumed the life forces of plenty of humans so far. So have a taste of your own medicine, Sin Waldron," I stated, before biting Persia's neck and draining his life force, transferring it into her.

  I felt like I was torturing myself right now, I wanted to take his life force into my own body so badly that I could hardly contain myself……come on, just a bit more, the craving will fade once he dies……

  "How hypocritical! Do you have any idea what you humans were doing in the past? Betraying enslaving the other races for their own benefit, and even betraying and enslaving their own! You are of a filthy race that deserves to……!" He began, trailing off as I drained him.

  Huh, he didn't get to finish his last words, but he made some good points there. As he went up in red flames, I quickly switched to Soul-Eater Mode, in which I could share my Healing Factor a little bit better than I could in Vampire Mode. Okay, so far, so good……and I spoke too soon.

  Her body suddenly stiffened, and I began healing her as fast as I could, as I felt some of her organs starting to get damaged and rupture. She wrapped her arms around me tightly, her nails digging into my back as her body trembled violently, and a whimper of pain escaped her lips.

  I slowly pressed my claws into her shoulders, healing her with both my fangs and claws, but I could barely keep up with the rate at which her body was falling apart……damn it, I should have known this wouldn't go as smoothly as it went for me.

  I had my Healing Factor to begin with, my body was boosted by Karma, and the Vampire King himself laid the groundwork for the Vampiric element in my body……and even with all that, I still felt immense backlash when I consumed the life forces of those Vampires. That's it, I'm re-extracting the Vampire life force from her……

  "N-no……don't stop now……," Whispered Persia, agony in her voice.

  Seriously……damn it, fine! If she fought through that much pain just to beg me not to re-extract the life force, then I guess I should at least give it my best shot before giving up. I can do this……I have to do this, because if I don't……then I'll have to hunt down another Vampire for her, and I'd rather avoid the extra work……

  "You……reckless……idiot!" I panted out of breath, more in relief than exhaustion, although I had used up a fair bit of stamina just now in healing her.

  "H-hey, come on……if you really wanted to re-extract the life force, it's not like I could have stopped you……ow!" She replied sheepishly, before I flicked her forehead.

  I ended up having to use my Healing Factor to spread out the Vampire life force throughout her body, which made it integrate into her body a lot smoother……I realized it when I noticed that only the organs in her torso were being damaged, while her limbs were perfectly fine. When I transferred it into her, I had bitten into the right side of her neck, and most of the damage had been by the right side of her chest.

  I'm really glad I didn't go with the left side, I was really panicking for a moment there since I was just barely able to keep the damage from spreading towards her heard, before I figured out that I need to disperse the life force all throughout her. Come to think of it, when I felt the backlash with fighting Eighty-Seven and those Knights, most of the pain had been by my chest and arms……I had consumed some of the Vampire Generals' life forces with my claws instead of my fangs, so that made sense……and I'm pretty sure my legs didn't feel much of any pain at all.

  "Well, I'm just glad it worked out……and I am not doing that again for you, not even with a Vampire Minion."

  "Yeah, I'm fine with that……I know I said I'd bear the pain, but……I really don't want to feel all that again," She replied with a shudder, "And besides, I feel a lot stronger now."

  She looked a bit different too……she had a bunch of red streaks in her black hair, which also looked a bit wilder, whereas it'd previously been almost perfectly straight. Also her eyes were red now, and her body looked more toned. The fur on her ears and tail looked a bit fuzzier, and her tail had a couple of red rings near the end of it.

  "Well, whatever, it all worked out so I guess I don't have to complain……," I sighed, before asking, "So, can you use Vampire Mode? What about the Cross?"

  "Uh……I don't know. I feel a lot stronger, but I don't know what Vampire Mode is supposed to feel like, so……I don't know."

  "Hm……it's hard to explain, it kinda feels like a switch inside that can be triggered……I don't really have anything to compare it to……"

  "Huh, I see……I don't get it at all."

  Fair enough, that wasn't a very helpful explanation.

  "What about when you unleash your Retractable Anima, how does that feel?"

  "It's, uh……hard to explain," She replied sheepishly.

  "Try transforming, maybe you'll feel something different," I suggested, unable to think of anything else.

  "Okay, I guess……"

  Maybe she didn't have a Vampire Mode form because she didn't absorb the life force directly, getting it through me instead……woah……scratch that……

  "Holy crap, you look awesome," I remarked with a grin.

  The jet-black fur on her body had red streaks all over it, with sleek black wings on her back and the end of her tail had a sharp edge on it. Her fangs and claws were a bit longer and sharper than usual.

  " I think I can feel the Cross too……but I don't think I can use it yet, it feels kinda difficult to activate……," She responded with a frown, before swirling wind in her palm, "I'm using a small amount of Mana, but the output is greater than usual."

  I glanced at the stopwatch……we had more than five hours left before thirty hours, and we shouldn't go into the next phase with her new powers completely unknown. The rendezvous point was within sight, so we had time to spare.

  "Okay, Persia, let's forget about the Cross for now. Let's test the limits of your abilities in Vampir……ahem, VamPanther Mode."

  "……"

  "……"

  "……yeah, let's just call it Vampire Mode."

  _____________________________________________

  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.