Chapter 40- One down, two to go.

"The children can play at fighting over there while we finish what we started." Bellatrix flexed her bat like wings and cracked her neck.

"They ain't enough to kill Jessie now that the general has strengthened us."

He grinned while giving his two-handed sword a few experimental swings to test his new strength.

Bellatrix didn't much care if they could defeat her or not and simply smiled in response as she brushed off his comment.

Her lifespan had far exceeded that of any human and she had fought in more battles and wars than she could count.

Even if she had to fight both Jessica and Kane, she would come out on top in the end though not while having to protect others.

"Crushing cyclone" Kane went on the offensive first and swung his sword.

Like before, a cyclone made entirely of aura manifested and flew straight at Bellatrix. However, this time the cyclone was at lease five times larger.

Not only was it larger, the aura was much denser than before.

"Blood dome" A giant dome of blood covered half the basement turned battlefield, trapping both Bellatrix and Kane inside.

While casting her spell, she left herself open to be attacked but didn't seem overly concerned.

Whoosh

Bellatrix didn't have time to dodge or block the attack and it made a direct hit, sending her back a dozen meters.

Despite this, she only received a few small surface cuts no deeper than a fingernail.

"Hragh!" Kane followed up his attack with an overhead strike, coating his sword in aura.

Boom

Bellatrix narrowly avoided the attack by using the momentum from being flung across the battlefield to dodge, causing Kane's aura infused attack to gouge out a large chunk of the ground.

Pressing the attack, Kane charged towards her as he prepared another aura infused attack. However, instead of engaging, Bellatrix quickly put some distance between them.

"Is running away all you can do vampire? I expected more." Despite his taunts, she maintained her distance and didn't move to the offensive.

"Tough talk considering you've barely scratched me despite letting you attack me." She smiled, revealing her fangs while circulating mana and directing it to the soles of her feet.

Her reply only irritated him and Kane launched himself at her once again. This time, he redirected his aura to his feet.

Just as the tip of his sword was inches away from her neck, Bellatrix disappeared from her spot.

In less than a second, she reappeared behind him in his previous spot and watched as he came to a halt.

"Let's see you dodge this! Cyclone barrage!"

After swinging his sword, several cyclones made purely of aura began to fill the battlefield.

Bellatrix didn't even attempt to dodge the attack and grinned, provoking Kane.

"Impossible! How can you withstand that attack?" This was one of his specialties, am attack that could wipe out hundreds of enemies at a time.

For Bellatrix to simply tank the attack without difficulty was unthinkable, and seeing her grin only angered him further.

"It's a flashy attack, but you simply sacrificed the power of crushing cyclone to allow an area of effect spread. Not very impressive."

Bellatrix had once fought among the strongest of beings before being imprisoned and weakened, spotting the flaws of Kane's attacks were as simple as breathing.

His anger at being looked down at only angered him further.

Kane knew he wasn't the strongest in the Rennin Empire, but had always believed with the general's power, very few could defeat him.

A random vampire looking down at him was a serious hit to his pride.

This has been fun, but maybe it's time to bring this to an end... everything is just about ready anyway.

With each attack Kane threw at her, Bellatrix either took the attack or dodged and retreated back.

He had no choice but to keep chasing her around the battlefield. As a warrior, most of his martial arts were close ranged attacks and only a select few could be used at range.

"I'm bored now. If that's all you have to show me then time to wrap things up." Bellatrix cracked her neck and cracked her knuckles.

What little blood had been spilled began to glow. Not only that, but the dome of blood followed suit.

"You see, human, vampires are very different to other races. We grow stronger in bloodied environments.

Because of this, we master regeneration techniques at an early age. We also have a high innate regeneration ability unique to vampires."

She paused to let the information sink in before continuing.

"Each of your attacks were healed a second after landing, the only reason I let them hit me was to scatter some blood around.

Combined with the blood dome, I should be as strong as a peak sixth stage like you. Which means you won't be able to resist what's about to happen"

Her grin sent a shiver down Kane's spine as her eyes glowed red.

"Hypnosis. Illusion." With their level of strength finally at the same stage, Bellatrix could finally take the first step to reclaiming her clan.

Kane fell to her magic almost instantly, due to the amount of aura he expended he couldn't resist the overwhelming amount of mana behind the spells.

Bright white lights began to distort everything as he began to see an influx of monsters.

"Battle hungry fools always fall for the same trick, no matter what race they are." Bellatrix shook her head and casually approached.

Once she was behind him, she licked his neck before biting into his neck.

However, instead of draining his blood, a thick black and red liquid spilled from her fangs and into the vein on his neck.

The various shadows in Kane's sight, twisted and morphed until they all took the form of Bellatrix sitting on her throne.

He didn't even notice his eyes slowly turning the same shade of red as hers.

His thoughts began twisting as his skin took on a paler hue and his canines morphed into long fangs.

Once done, Bellatrix let him go and watched as he collapsed.

"One down, two to go."