Chapter 15: Another attack

Araknedis was still incredulous, and I even more so.

A vampire had attacked us in broad daylight in Lungi, the safest city in the world.

And it had easily wiped out the royal guards as well.

"That's why we need to get out of here, Alex," said Araknedis, as he brushed the dirt off his body and deactivated his Absolute Zero form.

I nodded, and at that moment, my thoughts shifted to Lucy and Hikari.

"Araknedis, do you happen to know where Hikari and Lucy are? Can you sense their presence?" I asked.

Araknedis also had a telepathic power with his sister.

He knew perfectly well her presence at any time of the day.

I believe it was the result of his tough training since he was a child.

The Icelords had always been very strict about their training.

"Yes, I can sense my sister and-" In an instant, Araknedis's eyes widened, and his body began to tremble.

He then clenched his fists and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Alex, we need to run, follow me," he said with a determined tone. In that moment, Araknedis darted forward like lightning and disappeared from my sight.

"And so it is... Someone is in danger," I sighed, lowering my gaze.

I took a deep breath to regain my energy and activated a spell to boost my energy.

At that moment, I felt warmth coming from my chest.

For some strange reason, a voice then echoed in my head.

"Alex... Alex... I will lend you my power... Kill those monsters..." It was a very warm female voice present in my mind.

It was Maria's voice.

She was watching me from afar and, seeing my flow of magic, decided to speak to me.

I was still wearing her necklace; I believe that was the reason.

"Yes, Maria," I unconsciously replied.

At that moment, I felt my body flooded with a strange sensation.

 It was as if a wave of heat was burning me from the inside, not hurting me, but empowering me.

I felt incredibly strong.

My body, my arms, my legs, felt as light as a feather.

I opened and closed my hands, trying to gauge how strong I had become.

I threw a punch into the air, and it was so powerful it broke the sound barrier.

"W-Wow..." I said. I had never experienced anything like this before.

"HELP!" This time, I heard a scream coming from my right, the same direction Araknedis had dashed.

Without hesitation, I followed suit. Like lightning, I rushed towards the origin of that voice and, in an instant, found myself on Lungi's main street.

It was the same street Lucy and I had walked down on that sunny day when I bought her that gift.

The only difference was that everything was completely destroyed.

There were mutilated and dried bodies everywhere.

All the walls were stained red. It's ugly to say, but I was used to seeing scenes like this.

The strangest thing was that it had all happened in broad daylight. It was the work of some vampire general, for sure.

My senses were much more alert and attentive than usual.

I still held my Xanderyl in my hands, while my other sword was still in its sheath.

In an instant, I analyzed the entire scenario.

There was no sign of life, I couldn't sense any living beings... except Araknedis.

My only concern at the moment was Lucy.

I didn't know what I would do if something had happened to her.

Then, my hearing caught the sound of two swords clashing. 

It came from ahead of me.

I dashed towards the source of the sound and found myself in front of a partially destroyed inn.

In front of me were Araknedis, Hikari, and Lucy.

All three of them were alive, but in front of them was another monster.

Hikari's eyes were glowing blood red, fueled by the anger and adrenaline coursing through her veins.

Her armor was partially destroyed, evidence of a fight, but fortunately, there were no signs of wounds.

Lucy, on the other hand, was hiding behind Araknedis and Hikari.

She was unharmed, her clothes were still intact, and there were no signs of injuries.

Upon my arrival, they all turned towards me. "ALEX!!" exclaimed Lucy, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm scared, Alex! Please, save me!" she said, crying and sobbing.

She was truly frightened.

Despite confessing to being a mage, Lucy was never cut out for combat.

Her body was very fragile.

There's still much I have to discover about her.

"I'm here, I'll fix everything now," I replied, trying to give her a reassuring smile.

Lucy's expression turned into a happy and hopeful smile.

Then my eyes shifted to the vampire.

It was dressed in simple leather clothes, like a regular peasant.

It had the appearance of a girl, and its hair was dark blue tied in a ponytail.

It had a very athletic body and a big chest but what attracted me the most were its eyes.

They were of a different color from the usual vampires, which is red.

Its eyes shone with a beautiful crimson, like a sunset.

It was all perfectly contrasting with the pale and white color of its skin.

It didn't look like an aggressive vampire at all; in fact, you could easily mistake it for a normal person, which would explain how it could have caused all this damage...

But it was too much for a single vampire.

Lungi had suffered a real attack, a targeted assault.

"Alex, don't take your eyes off that monster," said Hikari in a very determined tone.

"It's totally different from the ones we've encountered so far. It knows all our moves and knows perfectly well how to avoid them," she added, still on guard with her sword.

Araknedis, on the other hand, was breathing heavily and was in his Absolute Zero form.

"Don't worry, Hikari.

This time, I have an ace up my sleeve," I said with a wicked smile.

After my statement, the vampire looked me straight in the eyes.

"You... It's your fault..." it whispered before disappearing from my sight.

"W-Where is it?!?" exclaimed Hikari, looking around.

I closed my eyes and began to concentrate.

I took a deep breath, calming and amplifying my senses, just as I had been taught in training.

"FROM ABOVE!" My inner voice told me.

In the blink of an eye, I blocked the vampire's attack with my Xanderyl.

It had attacked me with a double-bladed weapon forged from its blood. It was harder than nanite metal, but it was nothing compared to my sword.

Our blows clashed, and as our weapons touched, the vampire looked me straight in the eyes, tears streaming down its face.

"Where... is my ring?" it asked.

But I didn't dwell on it. Its words were like the wind.

It almost seemed like it didn't want to attack me and that it was forced to do so, but I didn't care.

I wasn't fooled by those crocodile tears, and the moment I loosened my grip, I grabbed the vampire by the neck and threw it to the ground.

Its weapon disappeared into thin air.

I was much stronger than usual, and I was much stronger than that vampire, both in strength and speed, thanks to the power Maria had lent me.

"AHHH!" The vampire screamed in pain as it tried to free itself from my grasp.

The grip of my hand on its neck tightened, so much so that it strangled it.

"N-No..can't... breathe..." it said, gasping.

"P-please... d-don't... kill me...". The vampire was begging for mercy.

After killing all those poor people, it was begging to be spared. Its plea only fueled my anger.

"Kill her... Alex..." This was Maria's voice. "I gave you my power to kill her... Now do it..." she added.

At that moment, the energy in my body increased greatly.

It felt like I could jump to the moon in a single leap.

"Mmmhghs...!" The vampire tried to say.

"Al-ex" it tried to say.

It even knew my name.

It was the third monster that knew me.

My mind couldn't understand anything anymore.

It was only filled with hatred towards these monsters, and my sadistic side had taken over.

Its expression of pain as it begged for mercy... brought me joy.

Perhaps the same thing had happened to her... killing a human who begged for mercy.

"You... please... don't listen... to Maria... she's... evil..." it then said.

At that moment, my eyes widened.

It knew Maria, it even knew that I had met her.

"Don't you dare speak of what you don't know, monster," I said with a sadistic tone and an angry look.

"Mmmhhpps Ahhh...." My hand tightened even more.

As it choked, the vampire was crying desperately. I could see the fear in its eyes.

What a beautiful sensation.

Its eyes were about to pop out of its sockets.

But then, that monster said something that made me shiver.

"T-T-Two... hunters... one... heart..." it tried to say.

My eyes widened again. "No... no... HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT PHRASE?" I shouted as I lifted the vampire in the air, still holding it by the neck.

Araknedis and Hikari behind me were covering my back, while Lucy was behind them.

The vampire kept crying, but it didn't tell me anything.

*That was Scarlet's phrase. The first girl I ever loved in my life. The one who died to save me... in a truly gruesome way. I saw her die in front of my eyes as a monster pierced her heart. For a moment, I thought that the vampire in front of me was Scarlet, but such a thing could never happen. Scarlet was part of a long generation of ninja-assassins who deeply cared about honor and fighting against vampires. In their funeral rites, they even bathed the deceased's body with a magical oil so that vampires couldn't approach. I witnessed this scene personally.*

"Kill her... Alex..." Maria kept telling me telepathically.

My eyes were blinded by my emotions. I was totally conflicted.

A part of me wanted to kill her, while the other wanted answers.

I felt Maria's power corrupting me, as if it was enslaving me.

"Al-ex... w-we... a-aren't... th-the... b-bad... ones..." the vampire stammered.

"KILL HER NOW, ALEX! SAVE YOUR FRIENDS!" Maria exclaimed inside my head.

"AAAAH!" I screamed.

As I did, I threw the vampire against a wall with devastating force.

So strong that the wall almost broke.

The monster spat out a lot of blood and gasped for air, before falling to the ground and breathing heavily.

Then, it gave me one last look, crying, and vanished into thin air like dust.

"Alex, what's happening?!?" exclaimed Lucy.

"LUCY! DON'T COME NEAR!" I exclaimed.

Lucy was stopped by Araknedis and Hikari.

Maria's power was taking over me, and my whole body was starting to hurt.

My eyes had turned as red as blood. It was as if millions of needles were entering my body. I

fell to the ground and began to writhe in pain, screaming.

"ALEX!" Lucy shouted. "GET OUT OF THE WAY! I CAN HEAL HIM!".

Hikari and Araknedis approached me along with Lucy.

"Hold on, Alex," she said.

After these words, Lucy uttered incomprehensible words, and her body was surrounded by a green aura.

Araknedis and Hikari stepped back, worried, not knowing what kind of magic it was.

"EXCLISI SHURA SUBAMI KRI!" Lucy shouted, pointing her hands towards me.

From them, a green wave emerged, which seemed to be made of pure magic.

There was no element, it was nothing.

As soon as that wave touched me, the pain disappeared in an instant.

"L-Lucy...? What did you do?" I asked amazed.

I got up from the ground and watched Lucy use that magic to heal me.

After a few minutes, that spell ended.

That girl looked at me with teary eyes and a loving smile, like that of a mother.

"Thank goodness... you're okay..."

she whispered as a tear fell from her face.

I hugged her tightly. Araknedis watched the scene and said, "Alex.

We need to run to the royal palace of Lungi.

The situation here is tragic.

The city is under attack." Lucy broke the hug.

"You're right, but I want Lucy to be safe and sound," I replied.

"Don't worry, I'll stand guard over her. I'll escort her out of the city where the other hunters are waiting for us.

I've already sent an alarm," Hikari said. "The city is surrounded by hunters; vampires can't escape."

"Thank you, Hikari. I entrust Lucy to you," I said with a tone of gratitude as I got up.

Then, Lucy got up too.

"Let's go, Araknedis," I said with a cold and determined tone. "Of course, brother," he replied.

"Don't leave me, Alex. I'll wait for you outside," said Lucy, giving me a small kiss on the cheek.

Hikari gave a somewhat... strange look and pouted a little.

After that gesture of affection, Araknedis and I began to run towards the royal palace of Lungi... where we knew a very strong beast was waiting for us...