Point-of-View: Zero

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  "It appears that they have arrived," Remarked Cleon, as the intruders came into view.

  "Finally, I was getting tired of waiting……let us get this over with," I sighed in reply, as the Elf and Halfling approached us.

  The Elf has Demonic features, just as Lord Kuro said……what a pain, she is likely to be fairly powerful……

  "Those are……Vampires! Be careful, they can regenerate from any amount of damage so long as their cores remain intact!" Exclaimed the Halfling, as he drew out a blade with a jagged edge.

  "Yes, I am aware," Replied the Elf with a frown, as she took out her weapon, a pair of daggers, with the handles connected by a chain, which was about a meter long.

  "Do you mind fighting both of them? I will use my Cross to back you-," I began to suggest.

  "Do not be foolish, you will both use your Cross AND fight," Responded Cleon with a frown, interrupting me before I could finish, "I shall take the Halfling, since he is likely to be faster."

  "Fine, but if the Elf turns out to be the stronger of the two, we will switch opponents," I replied, as the two enemies cautiously kept their distance, while on high alert.

  "Allow me to point out that you are more powerful than me, so if you wish for this to be over quickly, then capture or kill that Elf as soon as possible," He stated bluntly, before zipping towards the Halfling, drawing out his weapon, a sharp, narrow piercing blade.

  The Halfling was quick to spring back and fire out a bolt of lightning at him, which he evaded and continued to rush in towards the Halfling. The Elf began to take aim at Cleon, before leaping away as I reluctantly intervened, firing an arrow-like projectile of Blood Magic.

  "I do not fear you, Vampire!" Growled the Elf, as she fired a wind blast at me.

  I countered with a wide blast of Blood Magic, canceling out her attack, as she swiftly flew up, charging up an Obliteration Magic blast in her hands. She has some rather troublesome abilities, abilities that I would prefer not to deal with……well, then, this appears to be the ideal opportunity to use my Cross……

  "I hope this fall is enough to incapacitate you," I muttered to myself, as I activated my Cross, Zero.

  With this, for the next fifteen minutes, within a radius of fifty meters of myself, all forms of magic will be nullified. However, Vampire Crosses are not a form of magic, so Cleon will still be able to use his Cross……but the Elf and Halfling will be unable to use any of the attacks they likely usually rely on.

  The Elf then let out a sharp cry of alarm as she suddenly began plummeting down towards the ground, her charged up blast dissipating, as I took my weapon into my hands, a large, spiky hammer. I swung it up at her midsection as she began to close in on the ground, she quickly responded by using the chain connecting her two daggers to attempt to block my swing.

  The force of my swing snapped the chain in half and sent her flying across to the side and skidding along the ground, before crashing onto a large rock……that chain absorbed a fair bit of the impact of my hammer, but it would seem that I still managed to inflict a reasonable amount of damage.

  I believe I cracked, or at least fractured, her ribcage, and some of the spikes on the hammer had pierced her torso. I had coated the head of my hammer with tranquilizer, inspired by Lord Kuro's poisonous twin blades.

  I carry several vials of various liquids, such as tranquilizers, paralysis toxins, poisons and so on. Before the Elf and Halfling came into view, I poured out on of the tranquilizer vials over the head of my hammer. Ordinarily, I would have chosen a poison, but I am supposed to capture her, so it was between this and paralysis.

  This is much easier than simply trying to knock her unconscious, all I need to do is land a single strike and my task is complete. I should restrain her now, and once Cleon is finished with his target, we can head back to the castle……and I shall indulge in some much-needed and well deserved rest.

  As I approached the Elf, I glanced over to see how Cleon was doing……rather well, it would seem. Both he and the Halfling were approximately thirty meters from my current position, so they were both well within my range of nullification.

  And without Lightning Magic, the Halfling was clearly at a disadvantage, despite Cleon not even using his Cross so far. Tch, he is toying with his opponent, at this rate it will take a while before I am able to go back.

  "Cleon, enough playing around, end this," I remarked loudly.

  "Very well, then, I suppose that it is about time that I wrapped this up," He responded with a smirk, as the Halfling let out a desperate yell and slashed at Cleon with his blade.

  Cleon did not bother trying to dodge, instead standing still……as the blade went right through him, the Halfling's eyes widening in shock and horror, as Cleon stepped forward and walked through him, before striking the back of his head and knocking him out.

  His Cross, Intangibility, as the name indicates, allows him to turn himself intangible, either fully or partially. It is a simple yet highly effective ability, one that would be quite a pain to go up against. I consider my own Cross to be highly convenient and useful, more so than all other Crosses……with Cleon's Intangibility being the one exception.

  Now, then, my task will be complete once I Restrained the Elf and……damn it, no, she is running away! Tch, the tranquilizer must not have been powerful enough. No matter, she will not get away……

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  Point-of-View: Esta Grefiel

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  For……forgive me, Lord Laus. It would seem that I am about to fail the task you gave me……

  "Esta? What is happening over there!? Six of the others have already informed me that they have been captured by Abyss, what about you!?"

  I believe that I am about to share in that same fate, my lord. Rarp, my partner, has just been knocked unconscious, and a Vampire is approaching me. My body feels rather sluggish, I think that his weapon must have been coated with something.

  "……I command you to escape, right now. I forbid you from being captured!"

  M-my lord, but I……

  "Leave now! Your strength, with the added boost of the Demonic powers, is invaluable to the Laus Domain, we cannot afford to lose you! The rest are of no consequence, but you must return no matter what, understand!?"

  I……yes, Lord Laus, I understand!

  I then glanced up, to see the Vampire still looking at his partner, who had Rarp draped over his shoulder, his limbs restrained. Mustering every last drop of willpower I had in me, spurred by my determination to not fail Lord Laus's commands for the second time, I clumsily rose to my feet and began sprinting as fast as I could, struggling to maintain my balance, but my speed was not too badly affected……if I can just keep from losing my balance, I can get away! The Vampire was quick to notice, and immediately gave chase, rushing after me.

  I still cannot use any magic, but even so, that will not be enough to stop me! What……have I always been this fast? Is this because of the boost I received from the Demonic powers I gained?

  It is true that I have not yet fully tested my current physical limits, but even so, this level of speed is rather unexpected, especially since my body is currently compromised by whatever was coating that Vampire's weapon.

  I glanced behind me, to see that the gap between myself and the Vampire was starting to widen……no doubt about it, even in my current state, I am much faster than he is. His wings then spread open, and with a burst of speed, shot towards me through the air, significantly faster than before, but……still not fast enough to catch up to me.

  And that was when I felt it……I could use my magic again, my Mana flow no longer feeling blocked. I fired out concentrated blasts of wind to increase my speed further, evading as monsters began to appear from behind rocks and bushes, attacking me.

  I just need to hold on till I reach that transparenct yellow, non-physical nullification barrier, once I am past that, I will be able to use teleportation and invisibility again! Suddenly, a Wyvern came swooping down towards me with a vicious roar, with more Wyverns and Lesser Dragons rapidly approaching.

  My eyes and mind could barely keep up with my current level of speed, particularly because my head felt rather cloudy, so sharp evasions were not going to be easy……actually, as I found out two seconds later, that was putting it lightly.

  As the Wyvern closed in on me with its jaws open, I tried to zip out of the way, but ended up losing my balance, letting out a cry of alarm, before screaming in pain as an excruciating pain burst out from my left shoulder, as the monster snapped its jaws shut, crunching on my left arm and tearing it off.

  The agony was blinding and unimaginably intense, but I bit down on my lower lip to keep myself from getting overwhelmed and losing consciousness, before charging forward at an even greater speed than before, bumping into several rocks and branches, but ignoring the pain, right as the nullification barrier came into view.

  There were a lot of monsters around me, but they were too slow……I was moving so fast that everything around me was a blur, as I activated a healing spell on myself to keep from losing consciousness due to blood loss. There is a silver lining here……the pain is distracting me from the effects that were clouding my head, I could feel my focus sharpening a bit.

  There it is, the barrier! I gritted my teeth and let out a roar as I put on an additional burst of speed, my hip painfully hitting against a rock, but I refused to stop or even slow down……and then, it happened, I crossed the barrier.

  I stayed focused, knowing that it was still too early to celebrate, as I formulated a teleportation spell as fast as I could. Monsters closed in on me right as I finished formulating the spell, before activating it just in time……

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