Point-of-View: Tirayze Valaque

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  Aw, man, this is so exciting, I can't wait! We were long past the hall where the Rustlands group were facing the Vampire Knights and Evil Numbers, and we shouldn't be too far from where the king was. Right after we passed that hall, Arturo went around to each of us to relay a plan we could use to take out the Vampire King……and it definitely wasn't a bad plan, especially since I'd be the one dealing the finishing blow, assuming the others did their parts properly. Suddenly, a large, fancy doorway came into sight, it looked like it might be the entrance to the throne room……looks like we finally made it!

  We ran in through the doors, and sure enough, sitting on the throne, was a Vampire. Ooh, the throne room also had a chandelier, which lit it up in a bright glow. So this is the Vampire King, Lazarus Orlock, huh……he had longish straight crimson red hair that framed his face, with three black streaks, two across the front and one down the back. He wore a red unbuttoned shirt under a long black coat that went down past his knees, black trousers and black shoes. Huh, unlike most other Vampires, this one had decent fashion sense……well, he is the king, after all.

  His expression suddenly turned alert, and he swiftly began charging up a Blood Magic blast, swirling and crackling violently. Does he know we're here? How!? Can he sense bloodlust or whatever? Arturo mentioned that a few times and even tried to teach me how to do it, but I just couldn't get the hang of it.

  Arturo charged up a ball of lightning and flames in his right hand, Rex aimed one of his rifles at Lazarus, Kuua formed a swirling sphere of black water enhanced by lightning, Rion charged up a massive black fireball, Azeria melted a chunk of the floor and formed a spear of lava and I formed a combined blast of lightning, fire and wind in my left hand, right before each of us deactivated our Stealth barriers and fired out our attacks.

  Without batting an eye or even appearing to be startled by our sudden appearance, Lazarus fired out the attack he'd been charging up this whole time. As our attacks clashed with his, a loud explosion burst out upon impact, a shockwave slamming onto us and nearly knocking me back. His blast then canceled out our attacks and continued on towards us, right as the floor in front of us rose up and formed a wall, Presde putting up a shield to block his attack.

  The wall shook and began to crack severely, before crumbling and collapsing, but it held out just long enough to absorb the force of his attack. Okay, if there was any doubt about how strong this guy is, those doubts were cleared now……he's strong af. As the dust cleared, I saw that the floor ahead of us was scorched and had deep cracks all over it, a section of the ceiling had caved down, and the walls on either side were almost completely destroyed.

  I think we majorly lucked out by the fact that this throne room was on the ground floor, if it had been on a higher level, the floor would have collapsed for sure and things would've gotten pretty messy for us real fast.

  "Oh? All of you are still alive? So, then, humans truly have gotten stronger in comparison to two hundred years ago, hm?" He remarked, standing up and walking down the stairs to the throne, "Although whether or not you can adequately entertain me remains to be seen."

  "I don't know about that, but I bet that I'm stronger than any human in the history of this world, so you're totes fucked, dude!" I declared, as I charged up wind, water and lightning around my fists.

  "Hah, a bold claim……hm, perhaps you are a human who can unleash the true form of what you call your 'Anima', I have not seen that in over five hundred years……very well, I shall humor you. Show me what you are capable of, human!"

  "Before that, we should introduce ourselves……I mean, we're not savages, amiright? I'm Tirayze Valaque, the strongest human ever! Also, like……what are you talking about? True form of the Anima? What?"

  "Ah, so I was mistaken, after all……in that case, forget I said anything. Quite amusing, I sense no fear in you, but is it bravery or arrogance……well, I suppose it does not really matter……I am the Vampire King, Lazarus Orlock, and I sincerely hope that you can entertain me……now let me see what you can do, do not disappoint me……Tirayze Valaque!"

  I shot towards him at top speed using my x2 Lightning Boost, while intensifying the Elemental Magic around my fists. He wasn't showing any signs of dodging……I'll make him regret that! I closed in and drew back my fists, before unfurling a rapid series of continuous punches……

  "Take this, Double Death Cyclone Fist Barrage!"

  With each time I drove either of my fists towards him, he effortlessly deflected my punches by tapping my wrists to the side, dissipating my charged up magic bit by bit……crap, this isn't working! I sprang back and began to shoot out a ball of fire and lightning from my mouth, when he suddenly neared me in an instant, and flicked my forehead. The force knocked my head back, a twinge of pain resulting in the back of my neck, nearly breaking it……oww, I think that fractured my skull.

  "Wait……is that all you are capable of? How disappointing," Lazarus sighed, as I stumbled back with a groan.

  He then extended out his claws and raised them, before his eyes darted off to the side as Rex fired his rifles at him. Lazarus swung his claws rapidly and deflected the bullets at a blinding speed……woah, he's fast, but……he can't defend himself against me now!

  "Take this-!" I began, before being interrupted as he fired a Blood Magic blast from his tail at me, sending me flying back and crashing onto a wall of……sand?

  Oh, I get it, Presde broke my fall. Rion fired a large black fireball at Lazarus from behind, who canceled it out with another blast from his tail, right as Kuua sprang up to his right and latched onto his arm tightly, before taking a bite out of his shoulder and flinging it away. He winced in pain a bit, a few of Rex's bullets striking him, before he slammed his elbow onto Kuua's midsection as she began to attempt another bite, eliciting a pained gasp as she coughed out blood and her grip on his right side loosened. The bullets definitely did some damage, the spots where he was shot were bleeding.

  He then whipped his tail at her torso, inflicting a gash on her abdomen and sending her flying away and crashing onto the wall just above the throne, breaking through it and falling into the other side. His attention then turned to Rex, who had stopped firing to reload, when he suddenly lost his balance and let out a stifled cry of pain, as the floor beneath him turned to lava. Looks like Arturo's plan was underway……Presde had tunneled Azeria underground while the others held Lazarus's attention, and she melted the ground into lava.

  And Arturo had climbed up to the ceiling using his Stealth barrier, and was currently dropping down unnoticed towards the restrained Vampire, his arms morphed into his mantis arms and coated with black lightning, while I began charging up fire, wind and lightning between my hands. Nice, this was going just as Arturo had planned, and the instant he slices off Lazarus's head, I'll blast his body with this.

  Arturo raised his right arm, poised to slash off the Vampire's head, when suddenly, right at the last moment, Lazarus noticed him, his eyes darting upwards. How did he……? It was too late to pull out, Arturo gritted his teeth and swung his arm at his neck, but Lazarus blocked it with his left claws before firing a Blood Magic shot from his right finger, sending Arturo crashing onto the corner where the wall and ceiling met, before plummeting down and slamming onto the ground. Crap, he still had his head attached, but……damn it, I might as well fire!

  "Blazing Electric Death Storm!"

  My massive blast shot forward towards him and went through uninterrupted, destroying the throne and the wall behind it, as more of the ceiling crumbled and fell down, the chandelier crashing onto the ground and the Light Crystals that it was made of scattered all over the room……did I get him?

  "Hm, that last attack was not terrible……but still disappointing from one who claims to be the strongest human," Came Lazarus's voice, from above us.

  I looked up, to see that his legs were growing back……looking at the length of his trousers, he must have cut off his legs from below the knees, probably with his tail, in order to free himself from the lava trap right before my attack could hit him……if that was true, then he did it in an instant. Looks like he was staying in the air now, guess he didn't like that lava attack.

  Right on cue, Azeria crawled out through an opening in the ground near the back of the room, since her lava attacks would be useless now with him in the air. Rex fired his rifles at Lazarus, but his bullets were a fraction slower since he was firing upwards, so the Vampire King was able to deflect them using his claws with ease. Rion, Arturo and Kuua were back on their feet, looks like they'd healed themselves.

  "What's the matter, Lazarus, too afraid to come down here?" I taunted, as I fired some Elemental attacks up at him.

  "And what of you, Tirayze Valaque, are you too afraid to come up here?"

  Did he really just say that……to me, of all people!?

  "Huh!? You think I'm scared of you!?" I snapped, flying up to him while firing a barrage of flames, wind and lightning at him.

  He countered them with Blood Magic blasts, one came barreling towards me, I crossed my arms in front of myself defensively while expelling an inferno of flames from my mouth to try and cancel out the blast, but it was too powerful, crashing onto my arms and sending my back slamming onto the ground with a resounding impact.

  Ow……he hadn't charged up that blast at all before firing, and yet, it was that powerful? I stood up with a groan as I healed myself, starting to feel frustration, as well as a bit of……despair. This is bad, the longer this fight goes on, the harder and harder it's becoming for me to even imagine how we can beat him.

  And he hasn't even used his Cross yet……crap, I've been making a ton of eye contact with him within twenty meters, he could have used it any time he felt like it……he wasn't taking this seriously. Even now, he was just watching us from above with a look of boredom, waiting to see what we would do next.

  "Calm down, we won't beat him if we get emotional," Remarked Presde, looking a bit more alert than usual.

  "Yeah, he's right, boss, we gotta play this smart," Added Rion in agreement.

  "He's not unbeatable, we almost had him earlier," Chimed in Azeria.

  Rex was continuing to fire his guns up at Lazarus, but to no avail, all his bullets were either deflected or dodged with little effort. Kuua just looked eager to get another opportunity to tear into him, and Arturo was unusually quiet, which didn't make me feel very optimistic.

  "So, uh……anyone got a plan?" I inquired sheepishly, looking around at the others.

  "Yeah, I've got something……it's gonna be a lot of work for me, but ain't like we got a choice," Sighed Presde, before whispering his plan to us.

  "Have you given up, humans? If so, I shall finish you now. You were mildly entertaining, but compared to the one I have been waiting to fight, you have been less than an appetizer," Remarked Lazarus, before firing streaks of Blood Magic down at us.

  We evaded his blasts, before I swiftly flew up towards him, firing a barrage of ice shards at him. He evaporated them with a flash of red, I blasted out flames as intensely as I possibly could to keep his Blood Magic from hitting me, right as a couple of large chunks of the floor shot up towards him from either side.

  He evaded them effortlessly, his attention on me as I neared him……good, he didn't see it……Arturo was riding on one of the large chunks he just evaded. As I fired a concentrated blast of lightning and flames at him, he canceled it out with a swing of his hand, which was coated in a dim red glow, which brightened as he swung the back of his hand at my chest, sending me flying back and crashing onto the wall, right as Arturo jumped down at him silently and swung his arms at his head.

  Lazarus narrowly dodged it, evading so late that it almost seemed too late, but Arturo couldn't even scratch him. But this time, he had more up his sleeve……right as the Vampire began to knock him away, he fired a blast of black lightning and flames from his mouth, which struck Lazarus on the side of his face. His foot then swung up and slammed onto Arturo's midsection with a loud crack, sending him shooting up to the ceiling and bursting through it. Arturo's last attack did some nice damage, but it was already healing up.

  I then flew back up, keeping my distance while firing a variety of Elemental Magic attacks at him. He shot towards me with his claws extended, at an incredible speed……woah, is he finally using his full speed? He's crazy fast, I can barely follow his movements……

  I formed several spiky walls of ice in front of me before he could reach me, he swiftly halted and spread his arms out, before clapping his palms together with a stunning impact, sending out a powerful impact which shattered my ice in an instant and nearly sent me crashing back onto the wall again. Come on, hurry up, Presde……

  Suddenly, the wall behind me morphed and rapidly extended out into large spikes, the sharp ends barreling towards Lazarus, who blasted them into dust with his Blood Magic. Rion then zipped up behind him using Flight, he swiftly spun around and swung his claws at Rion's throat, when a large chunk of the floor shot up between them.

  This was Presde's plan, to support us using this entire room, but he'd needed a bit of time to get the influence of his Earth Magic over the entire space, so that he could instantly move or reshape any section of it as necessary. While he was using this technique, he couldn't move much, so it was the up to us to finish this fight.

  Rion shot up and over the chunk, before driving his fist, enhanced by wind and flames, down at Lazarus, who quickly flew back to avoid it, but was halted as another rocky chunk appeared behind him, his back knocking against it before he noticed it. Rion blasted out flames from his mouth, which Lazarus swiftly batted away with his hand. Rion quickly flew away, as Kuua shot straight up on a column of earth raised by Presde.

  As the column neared Lazarus, spikes shot out from the side of it to keep him busy with deflecting them, and as soon as they did, Kuua sprang up towards him, grabbing hold of his legs and biting a chunk out of his right side, as Presde continued firing the spikes to keep his hands and tail busy.

  Kuua formed a ball of electrified water and began to funnel it into the wound she'd just bitten off before it could fully heal, when Lazarus suddenly fired a powerful Blood Magic blast down at her from his mouth, sending he crashing down onto the ground as the column got blasted into pieces. Her arms were completely gone, she must have brought them up just in time……otherwise her head would've been incinerated instead.

  Rex then appeared a distance behind Lazarus and unloaded a hail of bullets at him……he was starting to run low on ammo, so he'd had to wait for the right opportunities to fire, in order to avoid wasting too many bullets. And with that injury to his right side, this was one of those opportunities……wait, never mind it's already healed. I zipped towards him as fast as I could straight at him, wind, water and lightning around my right fist. He whipped his tail at me, right as a chunk of earth shot up beneath me.

  I leapt up off it, his tail leaving a deep gash just below my left knee as I did, before swinging my fist down at him. Unfortunately, Rex's bullets ran out right at that moment, and with his arms free from deflecting, Lazarus drove his claws up at me. The chunk of earth I jumped off suddenly split into spikes and blades, which shot towards him, he quickly pointed his hands below him and fired out Blood Magic to blast the earth away, but as a result, he was in no position to block my punch!

  He began to whip his tail up, but I was straining myself as much as possible to drive my fist down as fast as I could, pushing my limits to the absolute maximum. My fist slammed onto his face, right as his tail began to slice into my wrist, sending him zipping down towards the ground……but right before he could crash down, he spread his wings and halted himself, wind bursting out as he forcibly negated the downward momentum.

  The ground below him then melted into lava and shot up towards him, but he countered with a large wave of Blood Magic, rapidly flying up and getting some distance. Ahh, so close……but that confirms it, he's insanely powerful all right, but he's just barely within our reach, we can definitely defeat him if we time our attacks right……but we should hurry, before he really starts going all out……

  "Now that……that was impressive. Such vast control of Earth Magic, very impressive indeed," Remarked Lazarus, warily hovering by a part of the wall that had already broken off……looks like he'd figured out that Presde was controlling the entire room.

  "Alright, let's try again!" I exclaimed, zipping towards him.

  Before I reached him, he suddenly vanished from my sight……no, he flew straight down……and he's heading straight for Presde. Not good! Azeria dashed in front of Presde and formed a row of lava spears, firing them as Lazarus shot towards him, but he canceled them out with a Blood Magic blast, the shockwave upon impact sending her skidding away along the ground painfully.

  Presde began raising and firing spikes as Lazarus closed in, but the Vampire King had turned it up a notch, dodging and deflecting his attacks with ease. And suddenly……

  "Now, I command you……kill yourself," Ordered Lazarus, his eyes glowing as he met Presde's gaze.

  Presde ceased his attack instantly, his eyes bulging and his body straining to move……

  "D-damn it, no……," He stuttered between gritted teeth, before suddenly raising a series of spikes from the ground……straight through his own body.

  His body then slumped lifelessly, blood running down the spikes.

  "Hm, he attempted to resist, but unfortunately his will was not strong enough. I would commend him for pushing me to this extent, however, he is dead now, so it does not matter. Before we continue, I must congratulate you, humans……I have not fought in over two hundred years, and I had planned on slowly working my way up to full power over the course of today's battle……but you forced me to use close to my full capabilities just now. If I go easy on you any longer, it shall be at my own peril……therefore, I will now attack with everything I have got!" Proclaimed Lazarus, as an ominous red aura began surrounding him, sending chills down my spine.

  I think that, uh……yeah, we're totally fucked……

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