Chapter 16: A bitter surprise

And so, me and Araknedis kept running for a while trough the city.

We could see a crowd running opposite of our direction.

There were a lot of people, Demi-humans, monsters running away from the city.

Lots of dead bodies were laying down on the streets , like ornaments.

Most of them were fully drained, others were mutilated or with some limbs missing.

I was used to see these horrific things.

This is a part of my work.

The tension was palpable as Araknedis and I raced towards the royal palace of Lungi.

Each step seemed to echo the urgency of the situation, the weight of responsibility heavy on our shoulders.

The city, once vibrant and alive, now lay in ruins, a testament to the havoc wreaked by the vampire threat.

Suddenly, a wolf girl stopped me and Araknedis , maybe she did that because she saw our outfit.

She clung to my arm desperately, with tears in her eyes.

"Please!!! Please!!! Save me!! My mother and father got killed by a vampire…" she said while sobbing.

My eyes widened when i heard the word vampire.

"Calm down…" I said with a reassuring tone.

The wolf girl calmed down a bit.

"How did the vampire look? Do you remember?" I asked.

"Yes!! He… he was a charming young man… he was dressed with a white smoking… his eyes were fully red and… and… he had short hair…!" She said.

"Did he tell you his name?" Araknedis asked.

"N-no… I'm sorry!!" The wolf girl started crying again.

She clung to me again , searching for some comfort.

I had no choice but to hug her to calm her feelings.

She then rested her head on my chest for some seconds and calmed down.

Her body was trembling and shaking from fear.

She then broke the hug and stood up.

"My parents died… I have nowhere to go. I know you're hunters… please take me with you!! I'm the daughter of Sase and Gali Nightred!!" She sounded really desperate.

My eyes widened.

"Nightred, you say?" Araknedis replied with a surprised voice.

The wolf girl nodded.

"Nightred…? You mean the tribe of werewolves?" I asked.

The wolf girl nodded again.

"Yes… I'm Meishi Nightred… one of the few survivors. My parents sacrificed their lives for me, to let me escape. They said to go to the vampire hunter corp. as last words…" she then cried again.

**The Nightred are a clan of werewolves and their name comes from an ancient legend about them. "During the coldest nights, the full moon shines to guide the bravest people, but if you're unlucky enough to meet a werewolf, the moon will paint of a painful red just like their bloodlust eyes."

It's to explain the fact that every people who came in contact with them is dead, cause if anyone meets a werewolf during a full moon, they will die since they can't control themselves.

And most of all, they are the arch-nemesis of the vampires.

They don't want to hurt any innocent people, that's why they live alone in the cold mountains of Midrock.***

"Calm down, Meishi. You'll come with us." I said with a smile.

The wolf girl's tail started wagging.

I took a better look at her.

She was probably around 18 years old, and her eyes were black just like carbon while her eyes were of a beautiful shade of orange.

And her body curves were perfect.

Then, Araknedis took out a small piece of cloth from his pocket.

"Meishi, can you smell this?" He asked.

The girl nodded while wiping her tears away, but she tilted her head on the side in confusion, not understanding what he wanted to do.

"Sniff this." Araknedis asked.

Meishi was still confused but she got closer to Araknedis and started sniffing the piece of cloth.

For some reason, i felt like this girl calmed down despite the loss of her parents.

*sniff sniff* after that, Meishi looked at us.

"It has… a very feminine scent on it." She said.

"Can you smell this scent from here? It's magic." He asked.

Meishi then started sniffing the air.

Suddenly, she stopped and looked at us again.

"Yes, i can feel this… it's coming from outside the city." She said.

"Good. This is the scent of my sister Hikari. Follow her scent and go to her and wait for us. Just tell her that you're with us. Just to be sure, tell her this number: 0234" Araknedis said with a reassuring tone.

"Why? Can't I stay with you?" She said with a disappointed and scared tone.

She wanted to be protected.

"It's too dangerous. We're going to the royal palace to see the king." I said.

"Follow the people and you'll be safe. We send off the other vampires." I added while patting her head.

She was happy to be petted.

Meishi then nodded.

"Okay… I'll go. Take care, please." She said, before standing on all fours and beginning to run.

After that, me and Araknedis looked into each other's eyes and nodded.

We then started to run towards the royal palace.

The people were still running.

The only sounds we heard were the screams and cries of the people.

While running, me and Araknedis spotted some figures jumping around the buildings.

They were dressed all black and we had a suspect.

We looked each other again and nodded at each other, like we wanted to say "we'll meet directly into the palace".

Then, like a thunder, i jumped up to the nearest building on my left, while Araknedis jumped on his right.

I saw the figure jumping right in front of me.

It was running away.

I started following the figure while still having my sword in my hands.

"Stop !" I screamed, but the person in front of me didn't want to listen.

So all i could do was actually increasing my speed in order to catch the person.

"Stop!!" I screamed again, but with no answer.

Instead, the figure kept going faster.

We were jumping and running trough the big buildings of Lungi, while seeing all the people from below running away.

"Enchantement: Agility!" I casted my agility spell using the tricks that Michael told me.

In an instant , my body became much lighter and i felt like i was flying.

I was still holding my Xanderyl.

"Let's see if this stops him…" i said.

I charged my sword and prepared myself for a sword dash.

I took a deep breath to control my inner side.

"HERE IT COMES!" I whispered with a sadistic smile.

I dashed at the figure in front of me like a thunder.

But he dodged my strike by jumping more in the air.

Well, it's okay since it wasn't my intention to hit him.

Then, he jumped way higher by doing a somersault in the air.

He was right on top of me.

I didn't feel the bloodlust of a vampire.

"Alex…" whispered while being in mid air.

I couldn't see his face since he was hooded but his voice sounded very familiar.

Then, he landed on a building near me.

He looked at me.

I stopped too, with my sword in my hands.

My grip on it tightened even more.

"Ah… you didn't recognize me." He said while removing his cloak.

A mysterious , dark figure, was replaced by the sight of a very old friend from the corps.

His hair were short and both black/white.

His eyes were cold just like the ice but green like the sea.

He was also wearing his family earrings and had four katanas on his back.

He was Zepitos, one of the strongest hunters in circulation.

One of the few ancestors

"Zepitos!??" I said in surprise, while my eyes widened.

"Yes. It's my name." He said with a cold voice.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Legion's army infiltrated here. They are searching for an ancient relic coming directly from the original vampire." He said.

"The original vampire ? Who is it?" I asked in curiosity.

He was probably speaking about Maria but she said that nobody knows her existence in this era.

I pretended to be ignorant on the topic in order to don't raise any suspect.

"We'll talk later about it. We must stop Legion." He said before disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"Oh, the cool Zepitos. The thunder-blade dancer veteran." I sighed.

His presence meant that the enemy was very strong.

I dashed too towards the Royal Palace of Lungi.

After some minutes, i managed to arrive.

I was at the entrance and the scenario was similiar to the city.

There were dismembered bodies of the Royal Guards laying on the ground.

The loud noise of the crowd screaming was replaced by a scary silence echoing trough the depths of my soul.

A big sense of disgust and anger was present in my heart.

"Alex..." A female voice called for me.

It was her, the Queen.

"There's a very strong enemy... i'll lend you some of my power later..." Maria said with a lovingly tone of voice. 

Her necklace was still around my neck.

"Thank you, Maria" I replied back with telepathy.

Meanwhile, i heard the sound of someone landing next to me and, in the blink of an eye, i saw my comrades.

"Yo, Alex." Said Araknedis.

Behind him there was Lyra.

"Hey, big bro!!" She said with a warm smile.

And there was also Zepitos, who didn't say a single word.

My Xanderyl was still in my hands.

"Let's go, guys." I said, before entering the palace with them.

Then , we walked inside.

The grandeur of the royal palace loomed before us, its majestic architecture now marred by the scars of battle.

Yet, amidst the destruction, there was an eerie silence that seemed to hang in the air like a heavy fog.

Araknedis and I exchanged a glance, our senses on high alert as we cautiously entered the palace grounds.

The corridors echoed with the faintest whispers of our footsteps, the only sound in an otherwise desolate space.

As we ventured deeper into the heart of the palace, the oppressive atmosphere weighed heavily upon us.

Each room we passed held memories of better times, now tainted by the specter of death and destruction.

Our senses were still on guard and each step that we were taking could be the last.

Zepitos's blades were dancing around him and the rustling sound of his electric powers was accompanying us.

Lyra's eyes were glowing with an intense blue, sign of her magic.

With every step that we took, our sense of alert was raising by a lot.

We all knew that a huge danger was awaiting us.

We stepped into the royal hall.

A loud silence was accompanying us.

Under our feet only a long trail of blood and the bodies of dead soldiers.

We were under a majestic staircase which lead into the King's thrones.

We saw no one.

Our bodies instantly stopped.

"Stop." Zepitos said with a direct tone.

His blades started moving around him in an elegant dance.

Lyra tilted her head on the side , confused about Zepitos' command.

Suddenly, we heard a manly voice.

"HELP ME!!!" That's what we heard.

We then raised our heads towards the source of the sound.

We saw the king of Lungi.

He was half naked, but with no wounds or anything on him.

The king himself. King Gardwerd II.

The most beloved king of this land.

Famous for its generosity and benevolence.

He helped all the poor people of Lungi and that's the reason of why everybody here lived in harmony.

The king had a terrified look on his face.

He was desperate and he ran towards us.

While running, he even fell off the stairs.

Then, the king looked at us and started begging on his knees.

He hurt himself while falling down.

He even grabbed my hand.

"PLEASE! HUNTERS!! SAVE ME!! THERE'S A MONSTER!! HE KILLED EVEN MY STRONGEST MAGES AND SOLDIERS! I PROMISE THAT I WILL REWARD YOU WITH ALL THE MONEY YOU WANT!!!" He said with tears in his eyes.

I remained silent.

"Your majesty, Please don't touch the hunter." Zepitos said.

The king then stood back and bowed his head on the floor.

"PLEASE SAVE ME!! I BEG YOU!! SAVE MY DAUGHTER!!!" He said.

After he said these words , we heard the sound of someone clapping his hands.

We raised our heads up and saw a sinister figure emerging from the shadows.

The figure then revealed himself.

It was a royal vampire.

A general.

My eyes widened.

It was a very familiar face.

"Oh… look at what we have here… the hunters…" he said, with a very superior tone.

He had a very malicious grin on his face.

He wasn't even scared of us.

His captivating appearance was masking his malefic nature.

His arrogant applause echoed off the walls, a sound of challenge that resonated in our hearts.

I couldn't recognize him, despite him having a very familiar face.

Then, i took a fast look at my comrades.

Zepitos was staring at him in such a cold way, like an predator watches his prey.

I could tell that he was burning with the desire of killing him.

Araknedis' body was trembling and his grip around his sword tightened a lot.

His pupils were smaller.

He was totally furious and angry.

You could literally see the murderous intent in his eyes.

Lyra, instead, was calm and cold.

"O…Oldrak…" Araknedis whispered.

Oldrak looked at us with piercing eyes, his malicious smile betraying his inner wickedness.

"We meet again at last, Araknedis," he said with a velvet voice, the sound of his words dripping with malice.

"And who are these guys? Your new allies?" he asked, turning his gaze towards me and the others with disdain.

I felt a fire burn within me, anger rising like a flood.

He was the one responsible for the destruction of Araknedis's people, the monster who had left behind a trail of death and desolation.

And now he stood before us, ready to challenge us with all his power.

The king immediately positioned himself behind me after hearing the vampire.

"Oldrak…" i whispered.

In the same moment, i felt Maria's power coming inside my veins.

I could feel that my eyes became of an intense red.

I gripped my Xanderyl tight.

"This is gonna be another… or my last fight." I said to myself.

"Be careful… Alex. Oldrak is… very strong. Much more than your last opponents…" Maria whispered in my mind.

"I'll give you 20% of my power. Be sure to kill him. And the most important thing… he's a good manipulator."

Zepitos' blades started to dance even more around him, like a beautiful rotation around him.

He was still being silent.

"I'm gonna end this now, Oldrak." Araknedis said while charging his Absolute Zero form.

"I'm not here to fight…" Oldrak said. "I'm here to show you the truth, Hunters." He added with a very serious expression.

"Truth…? What does he mean..?" I thought in my mind.

Something awful was going to happen.