Chapter 24: Revenge and Confrontation

I wasn't stupid enough to let him charge at me for free, so I responded by launching a barrage of icicles at him. However, Bradley swung his axe about and scythed down the incoming icicles, shattering them into fragments that bounced harmlessly off his armor.

With a roar, he braved through the storm of frost and smashed me with his axe. I was barely able to parry his brutal strike with his axe, my feet skidding across the ground as the momentum of my opponent's attack threw me back. I immediately retaliated with a riposte, but Bradley deflected my red sword before spinning his axe about and trying to decapitate me.

I ducked under the massive weapon and thrust my sword forward, but Bradley brought his axe downward and parried my blade with the thick shaft of his weapon. He then kicked at me, forcing me to spin away, and intercepted my counter with the two-headed axe.

Reversing his grip, Bradley then swung his axe from the opposite direction, causing me to withdraw. My hands trembled violently when I parried another blow and I gritted my teeth to clamp down on the pain. Another strike actually lifted me off the ground and sent me stumbling back. I raised my sword, my arms growing numb.

"Heh." Bradley guffawed as he turned to me and lumbered forward with his axe. "A mage pretending to be a swordsman?"

I let go of my sword with my left hand and cast another spell. Bradley's eyes narrowed, but instead of the icicle barrage he anticipated, he found himself entombed in ice. However, there was a slight glow and he broke out of his frozen tomb with brute strength. Bellowing, he charged at me again, his axe scything down lethally.

I swerved to the side to avoid getting cleaved in half and thrust my sword at what seemed to be his exposed side. Bradley shoved the shaft of his axe down to deflect my blade, and then twirled his axe about to take my head off.

"Your magic won't work against me!" he roared. "Don't underestimate me just because I can't cast any spells!"

He smashed his axe against the floor of his mansion, creating a fissure that almost split the backroom in half. I sprang away and rolled across the ground, escaping the ravine that had just opened up. Bradley grinned and lunged at me when he thought he saw an opening.

"I've killed my fair share of mages, you know? You'll just be the latest in a long list of victims! I'll cut your limbs off and toy with you!"

He laughed boisterously as he swung his axe wildly, obliterating the expensive, decorated interior of his own home. Evidently he cared little for the wasteful destruction that he was meting out to his own property. His wealth was merely a way for him to show off, and not something he actually treasured.

The guy cared more about appearances than anything else. If his home was destroyed, he would just rebuild it. That was why he so easily abandoned it in the face of the enemy. He was more concerned with surviving.

What a coward.

I evaded his axe and lashed out, conjuring a fresh of icicles, which he just battered aside effortlessly. His axe smashed through the hail and cleaved through a table that I sought cover behind. But as he smacked away the rain of splinters, he saw that I was no longer there.

From another direction, I whirled about to face him. My right hand still gripping my blood-red sword, my left hand reached for the black whip at my belt. In a single fluid motion, I lashed out with my whip.

If I could just land a hit, I would be able to cut through his body easily.

However, Bradley wasn't a warrior I could underestimate. He hadn't served in the strongest Hero's party and participated in the assassination of the previous Demonic Emperor for nothing. His skills were the real deal.

He caught the whip with his axe, my weapon wrapping around his. I tugged futilely, but Bradley had far superior strength. With a single jerk of his arms, he yanked the whip out of my grip. Flicking his axe almost casually, he sent my whip flying elsewhere.

"Damn." I clicked my tongue. Bradley chuckled and lunged at me, forcing me to parry his axe with my sword. I had to hold the Blood Angel with both hands to prevent his axe from biting into my chest. With a grunt, I forced him off and backed away.

Even after all these months of debauchery, it seemed that Bradley's skills hadn't dulled at all.

His execution was sublime. Bradley's attacks were ferocious and efficient, and also precise. If I wasn't so busily doing my best to evade, I would have noticed that he was aiming to disarm me. To hack off my limbs, rather than going for my head. Well, there were times when he aimed to deliver a killing blow out of reflex, but he was mainly toying with me.

"Too bad you don't have some fixed damage skill that would kill me instantly when you step within ten meters of me!" Bradley sneered. "Or some cheat ability that allows you to multiply your stats every time you die! Or an overpowered healing skill that allows you to kill me with a single touch!"

…here was another guy who had been reading way too many trashy revenge stories.

"Where is your power of darkness from a yandere goddess? Or your demon lord sidekick? Is this your second time at life? Where is your holy sword of revenge and previous abilities from your past life? Or a book-type walkthrough that lists the weaknesses of every enemy you meet? Are you a skill hunter who can steal abilities from the opponents you kill? Where's your gun then? Oh, maybe you have the ability to paralyze and poison your enemies, as well as to put them to sleep?"

…had this idiot gone insane or something? He was going full retard and rambling on about things I didn't understand. He was probably regurgitating every nonsensical cheat abilities that he had read from a myriad of trashy revenge stories.

But wow…he must really be looking down on me to waste his breath ranting about such nonsense while simultaneously trying to kill me. Well, he wasn't trying to kill me. True to his word, he was merely trying to hack off my limbs. He didn't want me to die so easily. No, he wanted to torture me to death.

What an idiot. Maybe I could use this.

Steeling myself, I deliberately let my guard down. The peerless warrior couldn't not seize the opportunity. He gleefully walked in, knowing that it was a feint but also confident that he would smash aside whatever ploy I had with his brute strength. His axe sailed downward to dismember my arm, but I surprised him by shifting my body.

Instead, his blade cleaved into my collarbone, biting deeply into my shoulder and sinking partway into my chest. I grunted, but reinforced my body with blood magic, hardening my blood into iron and stopping the axe from reaching any further.

If I was a human, that blow would have killed me. But I had inherited the blood magic of the lord of vampires, Vincent Lucard. A vampire powerful enough to survive getting his heart obliterated. I wasn't going to die from something like this, as long as I didn't lose my head.

"Ha ha ha! You're dead!" Bradley guffawed in victory, but I grabbed his right arm with my left hand and smirked.

"Did you really think I will die just because you killed me?"

"What?!" Bradley couldn't help but splutter in shock. His eyes widened when he finally realized my intent.

Blood stakes surged out from the blood dripping off my body and pierced him in all directions. He howled as he tried to stagger back, his body impaled, but I continued to grip his arm firmly. Swinging Blood Angel, I cut off his right arm.

Now Bradley could finally stagger back, howling in agony as blood poured out of his stump. He was unable to dislodge the axe from my body and could only fall onto his rump, staring at me in disbelief.

"You…you are insane!"

Then he stared at the blood stakes that continued to stick out of his body. He finally realized something was amiss – probably he mistook them for icicles earlier.

"B…blood? You are…you are a vampire?"

"Yeah, I guess."

I grabbed the axe and yanked it out before tossing it aside. The massive weapon spun rapidly before embedding itself into a wall on the far end, cracking the expensive marble. I grimaced in pain, but already my regenerative abilities were kicking in. To speed up the process, I raised my left hand and summoned the blood that Bradley had spilled, the red fluids rising to my hand before transforming into a vial. Seizing the crimson vial from the air, I drank Bradley's blood in a single gulp. The effect of ingesting his blood was miraculous. The grievous wound that Bradley dealt me began to close up, mend and heal. Within seconds, there wasn't even a scar left.

Bradley stared at me in horror, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly while he clutched at the stump that remained of his right arm.

"Not possible…not possible…how…? You turned into a demon?"

"Thanks to you guys. Did you forget that it was you and the others who abandoned me to a vampire?"

"How…how?"

"Simple. I defeated Vincent Lucard, but I was on the verge of death. In order to survive, I was forced to drink his blood and turn into a vampire." I smiled and wiped the blood from my mouth. "I probably should thank you guys for that. I never would have gotten these new powers otherwise."

Still in shock, Bradley began to scramble away, but blood stakes burst from the ground and impaled his remaining arm and both legs, pinning him in place. He shrieked in agony and writhed. He began weeping when he saw that I was slowly approaching him.

"Wait…wait!" he begged. "Please…!"

"I recall you saying that you intend to cut off all of my limbs?" I asked, cocking my head.

"That's…that's…"

"How about I give you a taste of your own medicine?"

With a single swing of my sword, I cut off his left leg. He screamed.

"No…please! M…mercy!"

I could see that he had wet himself, the crotch of his pants darkening in color, and the foul stink of piss filled the air.

"I…I swear, I was against it! I didn't…didn't want to kill you! Everything was Herman and Irene! They plotted the whole thing! Please! If I didn't agree, they would have killed me!"

"Do you really think I will believe that nonsense?" I sneered. "You made your choice. Now you have to live with it. Don't bother trying to convince me otherwise. The only fate for liars like you is to burn in hell."

I then swung my sword and cut off his other arm. He yelled before flopping down helplessly, almost like a fish. Wailing, he flailed about with his stumps.

"Don't worry, I won't let you die so easily," I assured him. Using my ice magic, I froze his stumps, stopping the bleeding. "And don't black out just yet. There's still one leg left, you know?"

"No, no…please…!"

A series of sounds drew our attention to the stairs. A couple of ladies were hastily stumbling down the steps. I recognized their white and blue robes, with golden buttons and embroidery. They were priestesses from the holy church.

Bradley saw them too, and his expression changed from that of fear and desperation to triumph.

"Selina! Karen!" he yelled. "Hurry up and heal me! Support me from the back! Restore my limbs! I'm going to kill this fucker!"

The two priestesses watched him in dread, their eyes also full of resentment. They bowed their heads meekly and reached the bottom of the stairs. Bradley turned to me, laughing triumphantly.

"It's too late for you now, Klein! You should have killed me when you have the chance! Now there's no way you'll be able to kill me, not when I have healing support from the best priestesses in the holy church, second only to Irene herself!"

He then swiveled his head toward the two nervous priestesses.

"Hurry up!"

Trembling nervously, the two priestesses raised their hands.