Chapter 16

My sword was mid swing with no time to return it to protect myself, I had also just activated a Martial Art, and my cooldown period wasn't yet over, I had no time to muster any defenses.

Within an instant I could feel nails digging into the flesh on my chest, the pain hadn't had time to register, before the vampire disappeared from my vision, the fingers dragging across my torso, cutting through it.

"Light Healing!" I cast the spell as fast as I could, life essence flowing down from my lips. The tear on me knitted back together.

Quickly composing myself, I heard a hellish scream echo out through the entire cavern, turning towards the source, I saw the warrior dressed in silver running his blade through the monster.

Though, surprisingly it didn't have the outward appearance of one. Bright blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders, skin gray as a corpse, red eyes like the typical vampire, and wearing a torn down luxurious dress.

His sword punctured her stomach, as she screamed in pain, swiping her claws at him as he blocked it with his bracers, screeching steel crying out, he tore his blade upward as it started to lit itself ablaze.

She halted it with her hand, blood dripping along his weapon, she pushed herself back, kicking him as they both were blasted backwards.

The second they separated, bolts flew towards the undead woman, her lifeless eyes barely had time to widen when half a dozen of them inserted themselves into her body.

She spasmed in pain, before moving towards us, creating a crater where she once stood, from the sheer impact of her movement.

I dashed forward to meet her, Dalawraith alongside me. I had my Martial Arts activated from the beginning of the fight, and I was pushing it, my body might fall apart before the battle concludes.

The world around me blurred as we moved, the vampire's claws extending, painted pure black, arrows still stuck in her body.

As we were about to clash, I could feel a rush of additional power overcome me igniting my entire being in a violent inferno. Verica casting a spell, likely a buff spell of elemental origin.

Our opponent flinched away from the fire surrounding us, flames being the natural weakness of nearly all undead, but that single instance was enough.

"Fourfold Slash of Light!" Four crimson blades of light encircled the vampire, as I used my own art, chanting within my mind, Dragon Fang Lance, holding my blade with the tip pointed forward to pierce her on this weapon of mine.

As our attacks inched closer, victory seemed to be within our grasp, yet as our target burst into black mist, our blades phasing through her, it seemed to still elude us.

We were caught off guard, but I didn't let that deter me, instantly trying to pinpoint its location. The fog flew through the air at high speeds, ignoring the arrows piercing through it, even though they were enchanted with magic.

It was going straight for our backline, for Faeduire and Verica, it was approaching them rapidly, and as the world slowed to a crawl due to the activation of Flow Acceleration, as I tried to think of anything I could do that could destroy this monster, one thing came to mind.

It all comes down to this once more, not my hard work, not my skill or ingenuity, it all comes back to me, to -

My Talent.

It recharged, it must have been over twenty four hours since my escape, so it was ready for my use once more. My gift.

I put a hand into my Bag of Holding, my arm slipping into its expansive space, and I gripped what I was searching for.

Steel.

Cold lonely steel.

I whipped my limb from the container, dragging with it, a simple pike, a pole of black so pure, it could make the abyss look like the sun.

It had a spell attached to it, a mere fourth tier spell, called Devastate Wound, its effect to deal damage to a previously injured enemy, is in essence making the wound worse. However, what I was looking for wasn't that part of the spell, no, it was the side effect. 

A side effect of instant Death, the chances of triggering were infinitesimal, and only worked on being around your level, additionally any creature with a modicum of death resistance wouldn't be affected at all.

That's where my Talent comes in once more. 

The Goal of All LIfe is Death.

The previous user's trump card, who was the very pinnacle of undead skeletons, an Overlord. One that had a class that represented death in its finest form, only creatures akin to gods may wield this power, only those with a combined level of one hundred.

The Eclipse.

That is the class which grants this skill. An ability which guarantees all Instant Death attacks, that bypasses all resistances.

Even the undead who are immune to instantaneous Death, won't even put up a fight against this all consuming power.

But, there was a problem, it had a cast time of twelve seconds.

And at this moment, I didn't have twelve, I had one.

'I suppose I won't be saving you, I'll just have to avenge you, don't worry I'll wipe this stain off this planet.'

But before I could even activate the skill, Verica cast a spell, and vanished.

She appeared behind me in a flash of blue light, holding with her, our esteemed client.

Teleport.

A fifth tier spell, allowing for instantaneous movement. To bend space itself to your will.

It would seem that I have vastly underestimated them once again.

Yet, as the mist reformed into the shape of what was once a beautiful woman, we all knew, this battle was far from over.