Point-of-View: Persia Gerit

  ———————————————————————————


  "What is the matter, humans, are you too afraid to attack me?" Inquired Five tauntingly, as Blood Magic swirled around his hands.

  Az send a blistering wave of ice shooting towards him while I wrapped wind around my claws and swung them down to send compressed slashes of wind down at him. He evaded them swiftly while firing his Blood Magic at the ice as it closed in on him, before rapidly flying up towards me. Crap, I'm not fully used to these wings yet, I can fly around just fine but I wasn't used to them to the point where I could use all my agility to it's full extent in mid-air.

  I swiftly let myself plummet as he closed in, firing Propulsion upwards from my hands to send myself shooting down, right as the Vampire split into two again and one of the two grabbed the other's wrist, spun him around and flung him down at me rapidly. Before he could reach me, a spiky wall of ice burst up in front of me, I fired a short but powerful blast of Propulsion beneath me as I neared the ground, to keep my back from slamming onto it.

  The ice wall then shattered as the Vampire, back to one, shot through it and towards Az. He fired a volley of Blood Magic blasts at me from his right hand, forcing me to spring away and get some distance……I shouldn't fly up, he has the advantage in the air. Az blasted out a massive cloud of steam from his hands, Five let out a hiss of pain as he flew into it, before the mist suddenly froze into several ice needles that flew in towards Five, piercing into him.

  He didn't stop though, firing a large blast at Az, who formed an ice wall with a saucer-like shape, which absorbed and spread out the impact throughout its shape before shattering. As the Vampire closed in on him, Az shot out a large mass of water out of his hands, capturing the Vampire within it. He tried to break out of it, but it was like the outside of the water bubble he was in was made of rubber……I think Kuro called it manipulating surface tension.

  The Vampire then began glowing red, Az swiftly froze the water with a look of alarm, but he was too late, the Vampire split in two, with both halves outside the water bubble, which was now a ball of ice. The two of them fired out Blood Magic blasts at him, he sprang back while raising a row of ice shields in front of himself, but in his rush, he couldn't make them sturdy enough, the blasts breaking through his ice and striking his defensively positioned arms, which were encased in blocks of ice, the impact sending him flying back and crashing onto the staircase to the left of the space.

  This is bad, I think he's unconscious……and this Vampire might be too much for me to handle by myself! And I only had about a minute left in this form.

  The two copies then combined again, before the Vampire shot towards me at a rapid pace……is he getting faster as this fight progresses? He hadn't been bluffing, he really had just been warming up before. As he neared me and drove his claws towards me, I shot up and above him by firing Propulsion below me, before firing another two bursts consecutively, one behind me, and the next one above me, slipping behind him in the blink of an eye.

  I fired a blast of wind from my mouth right as he swung his tail up at me, my blast striking his back as his tail gashed my right shoulder, as I sprang back just in time to avoid him slashing off my right arm entirely. He then swiftly spun around and fired a Blood Magic blast at me, I shot out Propulsion to my right to evade it, but he was too fast, his attack striking my right hip with a searing impact.

  He then shot towards me and drove his claws towards my face, I ducked under to avoid it before driving a hurriedly-formed Exspiral Sphere at his arm, tearing apart some of his skin and flesh, but since I couldn't compress and pressurize it properly, it wasn't powerful enough to shred his entire arm. His knee then shot towards my midsection, I started to use Propulsion to dodge it but I was too slow, his knee slamming onto my stomach and sending me flying up and crashing onto the ceiling, as I coughed out blood with a groan of pain.

  I quickly blasted myself back down as he zipped up towards me, firing a barrage of wind shots from my hands to keep him at bay, which he easily evaded before firing a Blood Magic blast at me, which grazed my left arm as I narrowly dodged it. I fired a blast of wind at the ground to soften my fall as I neared the bottom, right as he landed a few meters ahead of me and began charging up a massive sphere of Blood Magic above himself.

  That'll definitely kill me if it hits, but with both his arms raised like that, he was wide open, and I should be able to dodge an attack that large without a problem. I shot towards him at top speed, forming a powerful and drastically compressed Exspiral Sphere in my palm as I did. He can't unleash that attack if I get in close-range, since it could kill him too.

  As I closed in and began to drive my attack towards his head, his mouth spread out into a wide and triumphant smirk, his body starting to glow red. In an instant, he had split into five copies, each surrounding me, and the mass of Blood Magic he'd been charging up had also split into five……he baited me, I should have figured as much, it should have been obvious since otherwise, he'd had flown up before charging up his attack……crap, he's going to blast me from all sides, and I don't have enough time to evad……and that's when I noticed it……the floor was covered in a thin layer of frost……

  In the next split second, ice burst out from the floor, encasing all five copies of Five before any of them could react.

  "Hurry, their heads!"

  I immediately understood, swiftly extending out my claws while swirling wind around them, before rapidly spinning around with my arm extended, slicing off the tops of each of their heads without giving them the chance to use their Cross. Without their brains, they shouldn't be able to rejoin. Az stood up from his spot on the stairs and walked down with a sigh. I returned to my normal state, with about ten seconds left in my Vampire Mode form.

  "You were pretending to be unconscious, weren't you?" I inquired with a hint of exasperation.

  Okay, maybe more than just a hint.

  "You're welcome. I spread out my ice under the floor so that I'd be able to burst it out from a distance and capture this guy at a moment's notice, so I was just waiting for the perfect opportunity. And it worked……he never even saw it coming."

  So that's why the floor was frosty, there was ice underneath it. Huh, but more interestingly……

  "Hey, look……their heads aren't healing. Wow, guess they can't heal if they're trapped in ice, huh?" I noticed.

  "No, they're trying to heal……if I left them alone, the ice would start cracking at the top. I'm trying to make it so that their injury is at the same temperature as the ice, that way it's almost like they're fused to the ice, so if it shatters, they will shatter too……but that's easier said than done."

  "So, uh……which one has the core?"

  "Huh? How would I know?"

  Fair enough, I guess.

  "What should we do next? Go help the others or wait here till they're done and make sure that this guy doesn't escape?" I inquired.

  "Dunno, do what you want. I have to stay here though, to make sure that my ice holds. If he breaks free, we'll have to capture him all over again. I'd prefer to avoid that."

  From the sounds coming from inside the hall we started fighting in, it sounded like some of the fights had ended, but not all of them.

  "Okay, then……I'm going back in, good luck with your ice," I remarked, before heading back towards the doorway.

  "Uh-huh. Good luck to you too."

  ———————————————————————————


  Point-of-View: Kuro Black

  ———————————————————————————


  "Er……why are you salivating so heavily?"

  "Shut up, it's not like I want to be drooling," I grunted in reply, before firing a bolt of lightning at him.

  He evaded it and countered with a Blood Magic blast, which I batted away with my hand. We're more or less on the same level……but he can see into the future, and a full five seconds at that. I've got two minutes in Vampire Mode, I need to defeat him quickly, or I won't get another chance.

  I shot towards Six-Six-Six with my short-sword drawn and lightning charged up in my left hand as his eyes began glowing, I swung my blade down at him, which he blocked with his claws, before driving the lightning I'd charged up towards his chest, but he sprang away as soon as he blocked my blade, avoiding my lightning and flying up, I fired a bolt of lightning from my mouth, but he evaded it without any effort, his eyes glowing again.

  Okay, ranged attacks are pointless since he can see them coming five seconds ahead of time, and using my Crosses aren't a good idea either, he could just blast me by foreseeing where I reappear if I use Teleport, and he could easily stay out of the line of my palms to avoid Beckon……fine, in that case, I'll attack relentlessly at close range, it won't matter how far he can see into the future……I think he only uses his Cross when his eyes glow, that means he isn't using it all the time. I shot towards him, countering his Blood Magic blasts with my lightning.

  As I closed in, his eyes began glowing again, as I drew out my blades and swung them at him, he evaded my strikes before driving his knee up towards me, I swiftly brought up my leg to block his kick, before swinging my tail to counter his as he swung it up at me. This is really tough……my body felt hot and my mind was a blur, the craving was really powerful and the more I resisted it, the stronger it got……attacking him while suppressing the desire was an incredibly difficult challenge, and it was keeping me from fighting at my best.

  He was keeping his Cross active now that I was attacking at close-range, narrowly avoiding my strikes. Damn it, if he couldn't see them coming, I'd have inflicted a significant amount of damage by now.

  "What's the matter, human? You seem to be restraining yourself!" He remarked, as a Blood Magic blast shot out of his mouth, which I struck away with my lightning-coated blade.

  That did some damage to my hand, I had to react pretty quickly there.

  "And for someone who can see five seconds into the future, you're not as tough as I thought you'd be!" I retorted, as I flung my dagger at him.

  He evaded it and swung his claws up at me, I quickly got my left wrist in the way, and as he sliced off my hand, I fired off a blast of lightning that I'd been charging up inside my wrist at his face. He narrowly dodged it, my blast incinerating his right ear. He then swiftly got some distance as I regrew my hand and retrieved my dagger, which was stuck in the ceiling, before zipping after him.

  "You overestimate my Cross……just because I can see into the future does not mean it is absolute……if I were to react too early, my opponent could adjust to that and act differently to what I saw……for instance, I did not foresee that you would fire lightning out of your stump," He said, as he deflected the downward slash of my blade with his tail.

  "Oh, that's some pretty handy info……why would you tell me that though?"

  "……"

  "……"

  "……n-no matter, there will not be a problem if I just kill you!"

  I dodged the thrust of his claws, before grabbing his arm and swinging him down with all my strength, slamming him onto the ground with a resounding impact. I then shot down towards him with lightning around my fist, before suddenly halting and firing the lightning instead, as he opened his mouth and shot a powerful blast of Blood Magic up at me, our two attacks canceling out.

  Crap, I've used up a minute of my time limit already, at this rate, I'll run out of time before figuring out how to defeat him……

  I landed a few meters away from him and returned to my normal state, before entering Karma Mode: One Hundred Percent, and firing bolts of black lightning at him. The craving eased slightly, but it was still pretty distracting. Damn it, how do I get rid of this desire!? It's really holding me back right now.

  "Hm, what is this, you are weaker and slower. Is that the limit of how long you can use the powers of a Vampire?" Scoffed Six-Six-Six, with a look of amusement, "You humans truly are foolish, not only did you waste your most valuable weapon, but you did not even attempt to use your Crosses against me!"

  He thinks my time limit is up? Well, that's a convenient misunderstanding. But more importantly, I need to figure out a way to defeat him quickly, I doubt I can hold my own against him with just Karma for too long. Also, I wasn't using my Crosses because he could easily use them against me……but I don't need to tell him that.

  "Oh, please, I don't need my Vampire powers to defeat you," I bluffed, as I ran lightning through my blades, my ravenous craving continuing to intensify, "In fact, I won't just defeat you……I'll fucking devour you."

  _____________________________________________

  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.