10 Chapter 10: Exacting Revenge

Rel placed his hand on top of Ital's forehead. After a few short moments, he let out a sigh.

"Is he going to be alright Rel?" Piri asked.

Rel nodded.

"Yeah. He's just unconscious. His life isn't in danger."

Sly tried to get up, but immediately slumped back down due to the pain. Piri quickly took out a spare bottle of blood she had on her and fed some to him.

Upon drinking the blood, Sly's wounds began to clot at an increasing rate. He was still out of commission, but given some time he would be able to move again.

He let out a weak chuckle.

"I guess we owe Ital an apology. If it wasn't for that 'useless' monkey helping you guys break the spell on the door, we would be dead right now."

Kong lay on the ground next to the door. The dagger that Livac threw at him was still embedded deep within the side of his body. Floating above him, Piri's succubus was performing some kind of spell that seemed to be transferring some of its life force to him.

Because Ital was unconscious, the contract keeping the monkey summoned was starting to weaken. It began to glow and flicker, becoming more and more transparent as time went on.

Any wounds that were inflicted onto a summon carried over even after they were dismissed. If the damage was severe enough, there was even potential for the summoned creature to die without the user knowing until it was too late.

After quickly patching up the critical points of injury and removing the dagger, Kong faded away. Rel laid Ital's unconscious body next to Sly and turned towards Livac with Piri by his side.

"You're one of the Blood Clan vampires from before. Is your clan so shameless that you feel the need to pick on children?" Rel sternly said.

"This guy is from the Blood Clan... You know him too Rel?" Piri was shocked. She had heard of the sinister reputation of the Blood Clan, but she had never seen one of their clansmen in person before.

Livac clenched his teeth as he stared at his brother's murderer. His blood boiled and he seethed with anger.

His clan was one where might was right, even moreso in comparison to the other clans. Power was the judge, jury, and executioner for all members, including the reigning lord. From the clan's viewpoint, his brother could only blame himself for not being strong enough to defeat Rel. He was a loser and thus deserved to be forgotten.

Growing up with this philosophy beaten into his skull, Livac should theoretically not have cared at all that his brother was killed by Rel. In fact, he should have been praising Rel for having the skill to best his brother, and hold the latter in contempt for losing in the first place.

However, whenever he thought about the loss of his brother Daivak, rage and hatred would manifest. His desire for revenge intensified with every step he took and could not be contained. He was going to kill Rel, but not before making him suffer the maximum amount of pain possible, both emotionally and physically.

"You killed my brother. I'm simply here to even the score. Based on our intelligence, you do not have a brother. So I intended to kill every single person affiliated with you to make up for it. However, it seems like the plan has changed." He said while pointing his dagger towards Rel.

Rel stood unfazed with a serious look on his face.

"I'll have you know that your brother didn't last five minutes when we fought. So what makes you think you will be able to defeat me? I've already scouted the building before coming. All the humans have left, so don't think I'll hold back if we really do decide to fight."

Of course, this was all a bluff. Rel still had half of his powers sealed away. Therefore, he wasn't completely confident that he could take on Livac, even with Piri backing him up. He also had no idea if Livac brought any weapons or special tools from the Blood Clan. If he did, he would definitely be at a major disadvantage.

Saying that he had scouted the building ahead of time was also a lie. The History Building was large and connected to a few other department buildings as well. Even with his enhanced physical attributes, checking every floor would have taken at least twenty minutes. As soon as he saw the red flash from outside, he immediately took the fastest route to the source.

While the coast was clear on his way there, it didn't mean that there weren't still some straggling professors or students wandering the other floors.

Livac snorted.

"Hmph. We'll see about that!" Reaching into the folds of his cloak, he took out a tiny gourd not even the size of his palm.

Rel narrowed his eyes when he saw the gourd and moved Piri behind him. His worst fears had been realized, Livac was armed.

The blood that had been spewed during Sly and Ital's fight began to converge towards Livac. It flowed towards his palm and into the gourd. As it did, the gourd began to grow until it was the size of a normal gourd.

Lifting it to his lips, Livac took a large gulp. Immediately after, his muscles tensed and his eyes widened.

Rel and Piri looked at him with confused, but cautious expressions. They saw Livac drink from the gourd, but outwardly, nothing changed.

"Strange... I thought that gourd would be some kind of strength boosting item. Yet, he doesn't seem to have chang---" Before she could finish, Piri felt a strong force push her away.

"Piri duck!!"

As she fell, Piri saw a large dagger whistle past her and Rel with blinding speed. It pierced through the thick double doors of the exit and even cracked the wall behind it meters away.

Livac smiled as he admitted his handiwork.

"Hah. I must thank the young lord when I return. These battle items that only the elites have access to are amazing. Even though I took in the blood of lowly pups, my power has increased dramatically." Brimming with confidence, Livac did not even bother to draw more daggers and began to charge towards Rel and Piri with only his fists.

Rel rushed out to meet him to draw the fight away from Sly and Ital. Knowing that she would be useless in a face to face confrontation, Piri stayed behind and waited for an opportunity to assist from the side. In the meantime, she had her familiar watch over Sly and Ital.

Booms rang out as Livac and Rel exchanged blow after blow. While they seemed to be fairly even, the tide was slowly turning in Livac's favor. Spinning around, Livac sent out a strong kick that knocked Rel a couple meters away.

[This doesn't make sense. He is much weaker than I thought he would be. Even with this power boost, my strength is still a bit lacking compared to my brother. Daivak lost to him, yet I am currently winning? Could it be because he hasn't summoned anything yet?]

"Alright Sifr scum. I'll give you a chance. Summon the beast that killed my brother. Before I take your pathetic life, I want the head of the thing that actually dealt the killing blow."

Rel slowly rose to his feet. With Livac's power increase and only half of his strength, he was at a huge disadvantage. His hands were numb from the brief skirmish, but he refused to show any signs of weakness.

If he summoned Cerberus, he was confident that he could take down Livac even with his increased strength. However, at half power, he could not break the seal on Cerberus's true form. The only thing he could bring out were his lesser summons and none of them had the strength to compete with Livac.

Suddenly, Rel felt a rush of energy enter his body. He didn't need to turn around to notice that Piri was transferring her own power to him through her succubus.

"Thanks." He muttered.

Piri smiled in response. The energy she provided was not much and had a limited time span, but she hoped that it would be enough to allow Rel to knock Livac down long enough for them to escape.

Without a moment's hesitation, Rel immediately dashed forward and clashed with the Blood Clan vampire once more. He threw out a punch towards his opponent's face and Livac tried to grab it. However, the power behind it was much stronger than he had anticipated and his wrist cracked from the force.

"Argh! What?!" Livac groaned as he took a large step back.

Rel did not give him time to recover and went after him once more.

"You want to see my summon? You're overestimating yourself. My fists are more than enough to take care of you."

The power that Piri gave Rel should not have made him as strong as he currently was. The reason for his strength was because he had actually used the extra power to alleviate some of the effects of the curse. This provided far more benefits than directly absorbing her power and allowed him to close the gap between him and Livac.

As the two continued to fight, neither side seemed to be able to take the advantage. Livac began incorporating his knives into his attack sequences, but Rel countered by summoning a pair of reinforced gloves that could withstand the blades.

Five minutes passed and Piri felt her concentration slipping. Her energy levels were depleting fast. However, she stayed strong as she knew that if she fell, the tide would quickly change against them.

"Piri, take our energy too." Sly whispered.

Piri hesitated for a moment. Her succubus could only transfer her own energy to another individual. If she wanted to transfer Sly's energy into Rel, she would have to extract it out of him and incorporate it into her body first. To do this she needed to directly siphon the energy from his body, which could kill him due to his weakened state.

"Do it, I won't die."

Gritting her teeth, Piri nodded and called her succubus over. The succubus began chanting an incantation and red particles began to emerge from Sly's body. He winced in pain, but didn't cry out as more and more red particles started to leave his body. The particles merged with Piri and she felt a surge of power course through her.

This procedure did not escape Livac's eyes during his battle with Rel.

[What are those brats doing? Are they preparing some kind of spell to use against me? Fools, what kind of spell could a bunch of junior vampires cast that could harm me?]

As he came in with another punch, a smile appear on Rel's face.

"What are you smiling about!" Livac said with an irritated expression.

Just as his punch was about to collide with Rel's face, Livac felt a huge force smash into his abdomen.

"Gak!!" Livac pulled back his punch and clutched his stomach.

Rel followed up his kick with a hard punch to the jaw and final spin kick to the head. Livac stumbled backwards before crashing to the ground.

"He did it...!" Piri said wearily. She had used up alot of energy and was extremely pale.

Rel did not bother to check if Livac was really down or not. He ran back, picked up the three worn out freshmen, and went straight to the exit with as much speed as he could muster.

"His speed... increased... again...?" Livac was at a loss as he laid on the cold hard floor. With his combat experience he was certain that the prowess Rel was exhibiting was his best. He also felt that even if the three brats behind him were giving him their power, it shouldn't have made that much of a difference without a special battle item like his.

Creak~

Suddenly, the double doors opposite to the ones Rel and the others escaped through opened. A cloaked figure stood at the end of the hall.

"Tsk tsk tsk... How disappointing. Even with such an advantage, you couldn't even force out a single drop of blood from him."