"You bastard!" Snapped Persia, zipping towards me as Az disappeared, with an enraged expression on her face, her bloodlust intensifying.

  It hurts to see her looking at me like that, and to feel her desire to kill me……but I can't let it get to me. I summoned a Snow Serpent to try and teleport her away, but she swiftly killed it with a blast of wind from her finger before it could latch onto her. In that case……I then opened my mouth and fired out a large spiderweb net at her the instant she got too close to evade, restraining her right as a strong gust of wind blew across the area, kicking up flecks of snow.

  Shiro shot towards me as she fell onto the ground and struggled to break free, but I ignored him, instead using Teleport to appear behind Rex and summoned another Snow Serpent to get rid of him before he even noticed me, before rapidly repeating the process with Gela, Rion and Azeria, all of them too slow to react in time, as I used the cover of the snow being blown around by the rapidly intensifying wind gusts blowing around to conceal my movements. That just leaves Ekai.

  Hm, Shiro is deliberately not interfering……I get it, he's hoping that I kill one of them so that he can further back up his claim of being the original……hmph, he may have my memories, but he doesn't know me at all. As the snowstorm continued to grow in intensity, I teleported towards him, he immediately reacted, as he spun around and swung his claws at my head, which I ducked under and avoided……I see, he's tracking me by scent, huh?

  Even with this intense wind, he can keep track of me. I summoned another snake monster, but he scorched it instantly, before blasting out a ball of flames from his mouth towards me, which I swiftly deflected away using my hand, coated in lightning, flames and wind.

  Shiro then flew up and swooped down towards me with his blades drawn, I used Teleport to appear above him as he closed in and slammed my heel down towards his back, which he swiftly spun around and countered by pointing his short-sword up, the blade going through my foot.

  I ignored it and rapidly grew out a sharp shard of bone out of the back of my foot, he quickly let go of his blade and teleported away before I could pierce him……futile, even with all the snow that was blustering around, I could clearly see where his gaze is directed at with these eyes, I know exactly where he'll reappear.

  I used Teleport to chase after him, appearing right in front of him as he reappeared, a look of alarm forming on his face as I swung my short-sword, coated in water, wind and lightning, at his neck. He flew back hurriedly, as I left a deep gash in his throat, blood bursting out, but not deep enough to kill him.

  Before I could try again, a massive pillar of flames burst up towards me, forcing me to get back and out of the way, when Shiro suddenly appeared behind me and swung his blade up towards my heart from behind. I quickly shifted my position across, as he ended up slashing off my left arm instead.

  "I command you to plummet," I remarked, as I met his gaze, he immediately stopped flying and dropped down to the ground, resisting my command at the last moment and halting his descension by rapidly spreading out his wings.

  I zipped down after him, as I regrew the bones in my left arm in a spiral shape. Ekai sprang at me with intense flames all around him, I hesitated for an instant, before blasting him with Repulsion, sending him flying back and crashing down onto the snow with a resounding impact, losing consciousness as his flames dissipated and he returned to his normal state.

  "You sure are persistent, damn it……just fucking die already!" Snapped Shiro, teleporting behind me and swinging both blades and his tail at me.

  I swiftly grew out sharp shards of bone out of my body to block his strikes, and then drove my left arm towards him, nearly done forming……a large drill made of bone. I shredded off a huge chunk of his right side as I drove the bone drill that was in place of my left arm at him, he coughed out blood as it drilled through him, his knees buckling.

  "I'm stronger than you, and I've got more skills than you……now that my friends aren't here for you to hide behind, I no longer need to hold myself back, you're finished, Shiro, you damned imposter!" I snarled, as fear filled his eyes and he teleported away.

  I've only got less than twenty seconds left in Vampire God Mode, but he has a few seconds less than I do……time to finish this. I shot after him, my bone drill spinning rapidly with flames and lightning swirling around it. He used Teleport again, but I was following his gaze, so I knew exactly where he was going to reappear.

  "Crap-!" He began in a panic, starting to cross his arms above himself as I appeared above him and slammed my heel down towards him.

  He couldn't get his arms up in time, but managed to tilt his head a bit, avoiding my foot crushing his brain, as I instead struck his right shoulder, severely cracking the bone as I sent him screeching down towards the ground rapidly.

  As he crashed down with a resounding impact, cracking the ground apart and kicking up a massive dust cloud that swiftly got blown away by the snowstorm, I swiftly closed the gap using Teleport and blasted his eyes with acid venom as he began to stand up. He tried to scramble away desperately as I blinded him, before I fired off consecutive shots of Repulsion to repeatedly slam him onto the ground on his back, his bones cracking and blood bursting out as he let out a pained gasp.

  I fired more acid venom onto his eyes, before pinning him down with a spiderweb net. He then reverted to regular Vampire Mode, his time limit used up, while I had just below five seconds left. I'll pierce his heart with my bone drill and end this.

  "H-how……?" He began, trembling in fear.

  It's over.

  "You may have my abilities, but I have a lot more to lose than you do……now die," I replied, driving the drill down towards his chest.

  Right before I could pierce through……Persia blasted herself between us, she was still entangled in my web, but she'd managed to move and get in the way by firing off Propulsion from her feet……and I couldn't stop in time, it was too late for that. She let out a scream of pain as my bone drill twisted and pierced through the middle of her chest, her blood splattering all over the snow, as the wind began to die down.

  N-no……why……? I exhaled sharply as my heart began pounding erratically, reverting to regular Vampire Mode as my time limit ran out, a sense of horror and despair overwhelming me as she glared up at me with a pained expression, her blood dripping down my bone drill and down onto the snow.

  "You……stay away from Shiro!" She warned me threateningly.

  "Wh-why did you……he's not……he's the imposter, not m-!" I began in despair, before I was interrupted as he drove his blade up and swung it across, slashing my right eye.

  "How dare you hurt Persia! I'll kill you!" He snapped, but I could tell that he was putting on an act……his bloodlust lacked intensity.

  He then pierced her shoulder with his claws and healed her, before turning his gaze to me, a triumphant glint in his eyes……he had a lot more of his time limit in Vampire Mode intact than I did……he had the advantage now. But that wasn't what was on my mind right now……Persia's glare and bloodlust felt like it was piercing through me and……it hurt.

  Shiro then appeared behind me using Teleport, I spun around and began to swing my claws at him, but he blasted me with Repulsion before I could, sending me flying back, before I felt a powerful blast of wind and flames from Persia hitting my back, scorching my wings and back severely.

  I collapsed onto the snow with a sense of dejection. It's no good……my movements are sloppy and half-hearted, I could feel my will to fight slipping away……the image of my bone drill pierced through Persia and her expression of pain was burned into my mind……

  I-I've……I've had enough.

  As Shiro shot towards me, his bloodlust spiking rapidly as his mouth slowly curled up into a vicious grin as he closed in, I summoned over a hundred Goblins all around me, had one of them grab onto my leg, and then undid the summon of that Goblin……

  I was back in the Goblin cave.

  "Kuro? You jerk, what was the big idea, huh? Sending me away like th……hey, are you okay?" Fuo began, as she noticed me and walked over, before trailing off as she saw my expression, "And, uh……what's with your arm?"

  Huh? Oh, the bone drill. I broke it off and began regrowing my left arm normally, as I collapsed onto the ground on my back, staring up at the ceiling blankly.

  "I already knew this……the fact that everyone's memories of me had been replaced with him……so what happened was well within expectation……but……even so……even though I knew that……I……I……I didn't expect it to hurt so much. They way they looked at me……it wasn't surprising, given the circumstances……but it still hurt……"

  Logically speaking, nothing unexpected happened……but knowing that logic didn't make a damned difference, not even a little……

  "H-hey, um……don't cry, it's going to be okay," She replied, squatting down next to me and awkwardly patting my shoulder.

  "I'm not c……oh, I am," I realized, as my voice cracked, "That's weird, I didn't even notice. Heh, what's wrong with me? I think I've just got something in my eye……yeah……that has to be it……"

  ———————————————————————————


  Point-of-View: Shiro Blanc

  ———————————————————————————


  Damn it, that was too close! I was this close to getting killed just then……I would have died for sure if not for Persia. She turned out to be a more useful pawn than I expected. Tch, but once again, I failed to kill him……no, it's more accurate to say that he failed to kill me, I was very nearly a goner back there……how the hell did he get all those powers!?

  He's definitely stronger than I am, not by a drastic amount, but enough so that he had a fairly significant advantage in a one on one fight. Still, it wasn't a total waste……he almost killed Persia, that's sure to have inflicted some significant psychological damage to him.

  That works out for me for the next time we fight……but for now, I suppose I'll have to keep up this act for a while longer. It's a good thing I decided to heal her, I did so as a precaution, just in case he managed to get away……which he did.

  "Hey, you okay Persia?" I asked, as I put on a look of concern and knelt down beside her as she tried to break free from the web she was trapped in.

  What is this stuff? From the way it was clinging to her, it had to be unbelievably sticky, and pretty tough too, she had fired out a couple of wind blades from her hands, but it was no use, the webs were far too strong to cut.

  "Yeah, I'm fine……it hurt pretty bad when he pierced me, but I'm okay after you healed me. Now if I can just break free of this……," She muttered with a frown.

  I want to get back to the Rustlands already, but I can't exactly maintain my cover if I leave her here. How annoying, I have to figure out how to cut through this web. I drew out my dagger and tried to cut it……but the blade got stuck to the web as well. I should definitely avoid touching the web, or I'll get stuck too.

  I tried using Stream with my various Elemental Magic types, none of which worked, before then trying combined Elemental Magic types……and I finally got it cut, when I combined Fire and Water Magic, essentially using a slash of steam……hm, neither fire or water on their own could cut through……so then, these webs are weak to hot water, huh? That's useful to know, for future reference. I soon freed her from the webs, and she stood up with a sigh of relief.

  "Glad that worked, I was afraid that I'd be stuck like that for a while……ready to head back?" She inquired, as she stretched her arms up

  "Yeah, let's go."

  I could sense that Kuro was to the west of the Rustlands, likely in the Goblin cave again……hmph, I'll concede, he won this round……but the next encounter will end with me victorious, I'll make sure of that……and I'll do so as soon as possible……

  _____________________________________________

  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.