Okay, just as I thought……this isn't working. It had been about a minute since I switched from Vampire Mode to Karma, and I was totally on the defensive. It was taking everything I had just to keep myself from taking any major hits, he was too much faster than me right now from me to counter or strike back. And it just kept getting harder and harder to maintain my focus and concentration.

  Damn it, what do I do? I'll be forced to enter Vampire Mode again soon at this rate, but if I don't have a plan by then, it won't make much of a difference……since he thinks I used up my time limit, I had the element of surprise up my sleeve, but that'd be pointless if I couldn't find a way around his Cross. I feel like I'm losing my mind, trying to both fight and think while simultaneously suppressing this ravenous desire was getting harder and harder.

  Suddenly, Six-Six-Six appeared right in front of me……crap, I got distracted for just an instant! I just barely blocked the swing of his claws with my blades, before I got sent flying back as his knee slammed onto my midsection, breaking my lower ribcage and rupturing several organs, as I crashed onto the wall and fell onto the ground. I shakily got on my feet and shot away as he fired a barrage of Blood Magic blasts at me……damn it, he knows which way I'm going thanks to his Cross, I can't evade these for much longer……a couple of the blasts struck my right side, knocking me off my feet.

  I felt like my body was burning up, the more I suppressed this desire, the more it tried to burst free, and it was starting to take all my concentration to hold it back……I can barely spare the brainpower to think anymore.

  "Is this all that you are capable of? How pitiful, you truly thought you could devour my life force? Hah, I would rather die than be consumed by a human! Not that it matters, because you are the one who is about to be devoured," He remarked with a laugh, firing a Blood Magic blast as he began approaching me.

  I fired a bolt of black lightning to cancel it out, but his attack was slightly more powerful, my lightning only managing to weaken it before it struck my shoulder. I only have about ten seconds before he reaches me, by when I'll have to transform. I need a plan, right now! I bit down on my lower lip to try and compose myself a bit……come on, think……I need to get past his Cross somehow, but his eyes were glowing right now……

  I know it only works when his eyes are glowing, but I'd noticed something while evading him in Karma Mode……whenever he blinked, they seemed to stop glowing for an instant before glowing again, which means that……the Cross doesn't work when his eyes are closed. That means the he's probably only foreseeing what his eyes would see five seconds later. I need to shut his eyes for five seconds……I can use a flash of lightning to get that done……

  He fired another blast at me, I countered with lightning again, this time even less effective, my hand taking some significant damage, the bones of my fingers exposed. Come on, keep thinking while holding him off……

  While his eyes are closed after I blind him, I'll transform and use Teleport to slip behind him……okay, that's about as a good a plan as I can come up with in my current start ……and speaking of that, as for this unbearable craving……I can't fight it anymore, and I can't afford to waste any concentration trying……so……I'll just let it run wild. I can't be bothered to restrain myself anymore. I'll enter Bloodlust Mode to sharpen my senses, to keep myself from completely losing control……he's gotten close enough, time to strike back!

  An alert looked appeared on his face, his eyes still glowing, before I swiftly compressed a spark of lightning in my left palm before letting it erupt, creating a blinding, crackling flash of light, as he closed his eyes a second before the spark lit up. I swiftly returned to my normal state and entered Vampire Mode within a second, and then teleported behind him, simultaneously swinging my short-sword across towards the top of his head and driving my left class towards his spine.

  At the last fraction of a second he sprang forward, my blade gashing the back of his head and my claws nicking his back, as he narrowly evaded taking a fatal hit. Grr, when I teleported, the flash disappeared as well, I didn't think he'd be able to open his eyes again so quickly. But more importantly……I don't care about that……I……I want to tear him apart……and……I want……I want to consume his life force……

  A bloodthirsty grin spread out on my lips as I began salivating, drool running down the sides of my mouth. I forgot, why was I thinking so hard? After all, nothing else matters……that's right, so long as I get to torture him and then devour his life force, nothing else matters!

  I shot towards him at top speed with a snarl, right as he began to ascend……I followed after him, swiftly teleporting behind him. As soon as I did, his tail pierced through my chest, narrowly missing my heart, but I ignored it, slashing at the top of his head with a wild roar. He ducked, but I still managed to tear off his scalp and a bit of his skull, as he let out a cry of pain. It's not enough……I need to make him scream more!

  He wrenched free of my grasp in desperation, right as I tore off two of my fingers and jammed them into his eyes. He let out a deliciously agonized scream of pain, firing out Blood Magic erratically to keep me at bay, but without being charged up, those blasts wouldn't do damage further than shallow skin burns, and were therefore useless against me. Yes, that's it, scream!

  I shot towards him with a wide smirk as he pulled out my fingers from his eye sockets, letting his blasts hit me before teleporting again right as his eyes were nearly healed. He saw me for an instant, but his eye didn't glow……he immediately swung his claws behind him proactively, but he predicted wrong……even in this state, I wasn't going to use the same trick twice……this time, I teleported above him! The look of horror that was starting to appear on his face……that's exactly what I wanna see!

  "Where do you think you're looking!?" I snarled viciously, as I grabbed the top of his head with a tight grip.

  I then gleefully jammed my hand down his throat and sliced his neck open from the inside with my claws, before slamming my knee onto his midsection as hard as I could, sending him flying back. Before he could crash onto the wall, I used Teleport to appear ahead of him and grabbed his throat as he shot towards me through the air.

  I swiftly pulled out some needles and jammed them into his eye sockets to keep them from regenerating, before slamming a lightning-enhanced punch onto his chest. The feeling of his bones breaking beneath my hits……I want to feel it again!

  I used Teleport to appear ahead of him again and balled my fists together, slamming them straight down onto his back, his spine cracking and snapping upon impact as he got sent zipping down towards the ground. Again!

  I gleefully teleported below him and spun myself rapidly, slamming a rising kick onto his midsection and sending him flying back up again. Hm, he's stopped screaming……better be careful, don't want to break him before I'm done having my fun!

  Now, then……I used Teleport and appeared above him again, grabbed his head with a tight grip, my claws digging into his skull, then spun him across rapidly and swung him down at the ground with all my strength.

  He slammed onto the floor with a devastating impact, his bones shattering and blood pouring out of his mouth like a waterfall, as I zipped down at top speed. He began to try to move, a look of sheer panic on his face, I couldn't get enough of that expression……even though he couldn't foresee what I was about to do to him, he could certainly wager a guess……and unfortunately for him, even a Vampire's regenerative capabilities weren't fast enough to save him from me!

  I grabbed his ankle as he began to take off, before repeatedly slamming him onto the ground over and over, stopping for a few seconds to let him heal a bit since he stopped screaming. He then let out a beautiful, agonizing cry of pain as I violently twisted and tore off his limbs and tail one by one, before slamming him down onto the ground on his front, stomping viciously on his back and brutally ripping off his wings.

  "What's the matter……is that all you've got!? Come on, come on, come on, I'm just getting started here!" I exclaimed gleefully, as I ripped out his spine with a violent twist and pull, eliciting an excruciating scream of pain from him, "Don't worry, it'll grow back……aw, is something wrong, maybe you're……feeling kinda spineless? Hahaha! Hey, come on, what's the matter, Vampire, answer me!"

  I then ripped out his tongue with my claws, blood foaming in his mouth as I did, before I wrenched out his teeth one by one……I didn't even notice that my time limit was up and that I was no longer in Vampire Mode, I was having way too much fun, and in his current state, he couldn't do anything even against my normal form……

  After what felt like a while, but couldn't have been more than a couple of minutes, I had my fill of tormenting him. I was sweating profusely, my body trembling slightly, and adrenaline pumping through my veins……looks like all that was just what I needed to whet my appetite. Time for the main course……

  "I guess you can't talk without a tongue, so I can't give you the chance to say any last words……I suppose I'll at least thank you for the meal," I smirked, entering Soul-Eater Mode and starting to sink my fangs into his neck.

  Suddenly, a noise escaped his lips, it sounded like he was saying something……and then, as a cracking sound echoed out from his ribcage, he went up in red flames, right before I could begin draining his life force. No way……did he just……? He……he broke his own core, he must have moved it around his body and pushed it between his ribs, breaking it……

  Grrrrr……damn it……I felt so……huh, actually, I felt……absolutely nothing, really. Guess my craving faded as soon as he died, it was still there, but it was a lot, lot easier to suppress now……wait, I should still be feeling the craving if the other Vampires are all still around, does that mean that the other fights are over……? Yeah, looks like it. It was quiet all around me. I could still feel a slight, faint craving……good, that means at least some of them were still alive, hopefully incapacitated.

  Huh, what did Six-Six-Six say at the end there……? I think it was 'I'd rather die', but since his tongue and throat had been in ribbons, I can't be sure. Man, I sure was brutal back there……still, it hadn't been what I'd expected, I didn't simply go mindlessly berserk……my mind had been feral, sadistic and bloodthirsty, but also cold and calculating……looks like entering Bloodlust Mode before stopping restraining the craving was the right call.

  Persia the walked in through the doorway at the back of the hall, waving and jogging over towards me as she spotted me. I glanced up and looked around……huh, I don't see Instructor Tabbs……she must have decided to help one of the others, guess that was fine since it looks like all the fights got split up.

  "Hey, you're done t……? Wow, that's a lot of drool on you," She remarked, as she got close.

  I looked down at myself and let out an utter of disgust. Aw, man, gross……I had drooled all over my chest.

  "Yeah, I let myself lose it for a while there. Where's Az?"

  "Oh, he's making sure that the Vampire we restrained doesn't escape."

  I see, that makes sense……I'm guessing the others weren't here because they were doing the same. They couldn't have been defeated though, because if that was the case, then the Vampires that beat them would have come after the rest of us……right? Right, the fact that none of the Vampire Knights or Evil Numbers had shown up meant that they were all either captured and dead. Hopefully more of the former than the latter.

  "Alright, then……let's quickly go find the others and retrieve the restrained Vampires, and then, I'll be ready to take on Lazarus……I hope everyone managed to restrain the Vampires they were fighting……but at the same time, I don't want to be the only one who failed to restrain a Vampire."

  "You ended up killing the one you fought?" She inquired, as we headed for the hole in the wall on the left side of the room.

  "No, he killed himself, broke his own core."

  "Wow……I know they're our enemies and all, but……somehow, I can respect that."

  "Yeah, I know what you mean."

  Especially considering the level of torment I put him through.

  As we reached the opening in the wall, we both jumped up to it……right as Fuo appeared from the other side, her head knocking onto Persia's, while I narrowly managed to avoid the collision.

  "Ow, what the……oh, it's you two," Said Fuo, her expression downcast.

  "That hurt……," Groaned Persia, rubbing her forehead.

  "You alright?" I asked Fuo, "Did you fail to restrain the Vampire you fought or something? If that's the case, don't worry about."

  "No, that's not it……I mean, yeah, I killed that Vampire……but he……he killed Instructor Tabbs," She replied quietly, a guilty and miserable expression on her face.

  What? No way, that couldn't be……

  She explained what had happened, as Persia and I listened in shock……this can't be real, she was dead? I couldn't very well deny it with her corpse just a few feet away, but even so……I was in disbelief. She'd been a great help to me for a long time, and I respected her a lot too……I couldn't believe that she was killed, and in a way like that……

  "She's……she's really……," Whispered Persia, her eyes glistening slightly as she stared down at her lifeless body.

  "It's all my fault……," Muttered Fuo miserably.

  "I……I hate to be the one to say this, but……we really don't have time for this……if we don't hurry……her death might be in vain," I spoke up through gritted teeth, struggling to get the words out.

  "Kuro……"

  "But that's……! No……no, you're right, I know that you're right……but, even so, I……," Trailed off Fuo, before taking a deep breath and calming down a bit, "Come on……let's go."

  The three of us got back into the hall, leaving the corpse of our former teacher where it was, before heading for the entrance from which we entered this place. I got a bad feeling as we walked through the doorway……I could smell blood in the air. As my craving started to resurface again, I heard a faint noise coming from somewhere……

  I then spotted the source of the noise, Gela was seated on the ground by a pillar, a headless Vampire body near her. Each time it began to regenerate, she slashed at the neck with her talons, that's what's making the noise I heard. But ahead of her, was another headless body, this one human……no, it couldn't be……

  "H-hey……that's……that's not Vi, r-right?" Asked Persia shakily, her voice trembling.

  "No way, that can't be right……," Muttered Fuo, denial in her eyes as she walked over to Gela.

  Persia and I tentatively followed after her, a growing sense of dread enveloping us. There's……there's no doubt about it……that's Vi……that's her corpse……

  "Oh……it's you guys……," Mumbled Gela, as she noticed us approaching, before slashing at the Vampire's neck again with burning hatred in her eyes.

  "Hey……what h-happened……?" Inquired Fuo, her breathing starting to get ragged.

  "Nothing happened……except……that I……I got her killed……Vi's dead because……because of me……it's……my fault," She replied with a nervy laugh, her voice trembling as tears ran down her face.

  She explained what had happened, and why she blamed herself……I had to admit, I was surprised to see her like this, but looking back, I had seen the two of them talking every now and then, guess they were closer than I thought……

  Damn it……right from the start, I expected plenty of casualties on our side……but deep down, I hoped……no, I expected that no one I knew well would die……an optimistic and irrational expectation, one that my past self would have laughed at me for……but even so, I couldn't help feeling a sense of disbelief, an urge to deny the facts I could so clearly see, and a growing sense of sorrow as I realized that, no matter how much I deny it or refuse to accept it, it wouldn't change a thing. They were dead……and I couldn't do a thing to change that fact……

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