Matthew's eyes quickly scanned over the details of the quest screen as he impaled another thrall that had charged him.
His vision quickly shifted again to the armored vampire that had, nearly effortlessly, thrown the car across the street.
While it was faint, Matthew could feel the sickening aura emitting from the armored vampire; the immense amount of mana the magic beast put off nearly made Matthew feel like fleeing, but when faced with a dungeon break, fleeing when lives were at stack is never an option.
As if reading his subconscious commands, the two Warriors of Faith, who had previously been mindlessly slaying the dwindling number of wolves and thralls, suddenly turned their heads to the armored vampire. Just as quickly, their wings of light unfolded and they shot towards the new threat.
The warrior made it first and quickly swung its blade at the vampire's neck, however, the creature held up an arm and lowered its body. The silver blade collided with the arm guard of the armor and slid off.
The creature then bared one of its clawed hands and swung upwards.
The warrior quickly flapped its wings and leaped backward, the razor-sharp nails only grazing its helm, leaving a deep impression on the metal.
The second warrior flew behind the vampire and attacked its back. The blade swung but hit nothing but air as the vampire suddenly morphed into a bat, only to reform to face the other direction as soon as the blade had passed.
The vampire quickly threw a bunch into the helm of the warrior. The metal helm dented under the force as the warrior was sent hurtling down the street.
Suddenly, three bullets struck the back of its armor, the first leaving behind a streak of mist that began to emit from beneath the vampire's armor. Nonetheless, the other bullets simply deflected off of the armor, causing small sparks to fly from it.
Luke grits his teeth as he notices the lack of damage despite his sundering bullet.
[MP: 61/125 > 54/125]
The armored vampire turned to Luke. It began to take a step forward when suddenly the head of a spear shot forward and stuck into its armor.
The vampire stumbled back slightly from the force before glancing down at the spearhead with a confused look. A second later the spearhead busts into metal shards.
The vampire held its arm up to guard its face as the shards of metal flew into its arm guard, tearing off small bits of its armor.
As the vampire let down its arm to see its aggressor, all it saw was a warrior made of light with its sword raised above its head, followed by the bellow of a horn.
Suddenly, the warrior pulsed with light from head to toe as it swung its blade down.
The vampire leaped to the side to avoid the blow. The blade of the warrior carved deep into the pavement of the street, tearing up chunks of it and sending it scattering into the air.
Just as the vampire's feet hit the ground, he looked to see another figure approaching him, a spear brandished in their hand.
Matthew thrust his spear forward, towards the newly formed opening in the vampire's armor. However, the vampire quickly grabbed the spear before it struck him.
The creature raised a fist to strike Matthew but quickly leaped backward as another swing of the Warrior of Faith's blade came toward him.
Matthew and the angelic figure he'd summoned quickly reorganized themselves before launching another attack. The Warrior of Faith swung toward the vampire's neck, while Matthew thrust once more at the hole in its armor.
The vampire began to back away when it noticed the second warrior, its helm half-dented inward, dashing towards its back, ready to swing its blade.
It was then that Matthew noticed the veins underneath the vampire's veins begin to pulse and bulge out from its skin.
Time moved in slow motion as Matthew recalled the explosive spiral of sharp blood the fledgling had produced when he and Luke faced it. Matthew tried to stop himself from moving forward and back away. However his eyes widened when he noticed he was too slow; the veins began to swirl around the vampire before beginning to expand out, devastating anything that got close.
However, at the last moment, Matthew felt a hand grip the back of his coat and toss him backward with immense force.
Matthew saw one of his warriors turn towards him, their arm outstretched from having thrown Matthew before they were engulfed in the swirl of blood.
A pair of hands gripped Matthew to stop his momentum. Matthew straightened as he glanced behind him to see Luke rolling the cylinder of his revolver across his arm.
While it was slight, Matthew could notice a thin veil of light over both himself and Luke, although Luke seemed to have yet to notice. Instead, he was staring passed Matthew towards the large explosion of veins.
Matthew followed his gaze back to the vampire as the swirling veins sunk back into its skin. The area of the creature, from one side of the street to the other, was completely demolished. There were several deep cuts into the street and bits of concrete torn up from the ground. The remnants of totaled vehicles had been flipped aside and torn to shreds, now only lying against the surrounding buildings.
Matthew glanced up at the ticking timer on the edge of his periphery; the supposed time that backup would arrive.
[4:40]
Matthew silently clicked his tongue. He didn't expect his warriors to die so quickly. At the very least he expected them to distract the vampire long enough for him to get a clean hit in, but even that hadn't happened.
"Are you alright?" Luke asked an apple appeared in his hand, which he promptly took a bite of.
[MP: 54/125 > 117/125]
"I'm fine," Matthew said, not taking his eyes from the armored vampire. "Any plans on how to break through its defenses?"
"Apart from my sunder shot? No. Even if I use the skill, my damn bullets can't penetrate its armor." Luke explained.
"Guess we'll just play evasively until time runs out. Keep your distance. Use that teleportation skill if he gets too close to you. I'll try to distract him for as long as" Matthew was cut off when he noticed the vampire beginning to dash towards them.
Matthew braced himself to defend against an attack, however, the vampire suddenly skidded to a halt nearly twenty feet away from the two hunters. It raised its hand as its arm began to pulse red.
The hair on the back of Matthew's neck began to rise as the vampire violently forced its clawed hand downward as if attempting to pull the air itself to the floor. From its claws, three streams of bloody slashes burst forward like razor blades.
Matthew quickly leaped to the side while Luke flickered into flames, only to appear on the opposite side of the street.
[MP: 117/125 > 107/125]
Matthew braced himself for his landing, however he quickly raised his spear when the vampire dashed towards him, jumping to meet his height, before rearing back a fist and slamming it into the pole of Matthew's spear as he raised it.
Matthew was sent hurling backward and straight through a window in the nearby building, shattering the glass over its interior.
[HP: 180/180 > 165/180]
Matthew spun as he flew to land on his feet and he tumbled into the building. He quickly accessed the new battlefield. He stood in an office building. The floor was littered with a maze of office desks and fluorescent lights. However, the light above the window now flickered due to several shards of glass stabbing into it.
Matthew readied himself as he glanced through the shattered window at the vampire as he stood within its frame, stepping into the building.
Matthew braced himself as the vampire began to step forward, its metal boots crunching against the glass.
Matthew prepared himself to attack when the vampire opened its mouth and did something Matthew never thought was possible. The magic beast spoke.
"You're weaker than I'd expected of you." The beast said. Its voice was far more human than Matthew expected. However, it sounded as if these were the first words the vampire had spoken in a long time. As if speaking took far more effort than it would for anyone else.
Matthew's expression shifted from focus to awe. His stance wavered slightly before he steadied it once again. "It.... spoke?" He mumbled to himself.
The vampire's expression changed slightly. Its red eye twitched as it took a step forward, causing Matthew to take a step back.
"It?" The vampire said before dashing forward and rearing back a punch. "Do I look like it to you?"
Matthew quickly sidestepped the first punch as it grazed his cheek, only to get hit by a second punch to the chest sending him hurdling back across and through several of the small office walls.
[HP: 165/180 > 120/180]
Matthew quickly tore himself from the ground just as the vampire approached him again. Both its fists were clenched. As it stepped forward it batted away a swivel-chair in its way, the seat crashing into a nearby computer.
"I am no it." The vampire assured. "I am a captain of blood." The vampire took another step forward just as Matthew dashed forward and swung upward with his spear.
The captain simply knocked the spear aside with the back of its armored hand. It took a step forward when suddenly three more spears made of white magic appeared around him.
In a single motion all the translucent spears thrust forward, causing the vampire to leap backward, one of the spears grazing across his chest plate as he did.
[MP: 90/90 > 60/90]
Matthew clicked his tongue again as the spears evaporated. He put a hand to his wounds as he took half a step back, putting more distance between him and the vampire.
[MP: 60/90 > 45/90]
[HP: 120/180 > 180/180]
The vampire inspected the large cut into its armor, before looking back to Matthew. However, where he once was was now space. "Where did-" the vampire growled just as he turned to see Matthew leap forward from behind one of the office walls and swing down with his spear.
Once again the vampire raised his arm to block the spear, however, Matthew quickly spun the spear backward before thrusting it forward, under the captain's guard.
The captain quickly used his arm guard to deflect the attack, however, 3 more translucent spears apparated around him and quickly shot forward.
[MP: 45/90 > 15/90]
The captain quickly jumped back, although this time one of the spears was delayed, just slightly, as it shot forward. The spear turned to keep aim with the magic beast as it shot forward.
The vampire ducked below the spear just as he noticed Matthew dash towards him and swung upwards near his skull.
The captain quickly knocked the spear aside, however, Matthew used the momentum to swing his spear in the opposite direction.
The vampire snarled, grabbed the spear, stepped forward, and sparta-kicked Matthew in the ribs.
Matthew heard a crack as the heavy metal boot impacted his chest, once again sending him hurtling back. His momentum ended when he collided with a pillar within the room, sending a web of cracks along it.
[HP: 180/180 > 110/180]
Matthew's body fell limp for a brief moment as he fell to the floor. He tightened the grip on his spear as he glanced at the ticking timer.
[3:56]
"Shit," Matthew mumbled as he got to his feet. He glanced forward to see the vampire stomping towards him once again. One of its gauntlets was covered in a crimson hue as if he were drawing mana into it.
Matthew prepared to dodge an attack when a burst of fire struck the vampire's back, followed by a gunshot.
The vampire quickly sidestepped the barrel of the gun before spinning and swinging his fist out in front of him, causing a spiral of razor-blood outward as his fist swung. However, he was met with nothing but another burst of flames that coated his front.
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Suddenly, another burst of flames erupted before Matthew, far enough away as to not burn him, but close enough for him to feel the heat of roaring fire before it subsided revealing Luke, his gun drawn at the vampire.
"Sorry I'm late, some thralls jumped me." He retorted.
[MP: 105/117 > 84/117]
The vampire turned back to the two hunters. Half of its face was coated in burn scares that quickly began to heal. A smirk crept across the creature's face, causing the dry skin at the edge of its lips to crack. "It seems the other hunter has arrived."
Luke's eyes widened at the sound of the vampire's voice. More accurately, at the fact it had a voice at all. "The hell-"
Matthew stepped forward, between the vampire and Luke. "Not sure why, but he can speak. Not only that," Matthew's eyes traveled to above the vampire's head, where the name tag of the magic beasts he killed was. "He doesn't seem to have a name."
Luke glanced above his head. "Huh..." was all that came from his mouth. "Maybe he's too strong; the name won't display. Have you ever been able to get a good hit on him?" Luke asked, keeping his aim on the vampire.
Matthew shook his head. "No, he's faster than he looks. My only offensive skill costs more mana than I have now."
"How much do you have?"
"Just 15."
Luke cursed. "So what's the plan here?"
Matthew shrugged slightly. "World's most deadly game of tag?"
A semi-nervous smirk spread over Luke's face. "Better keep the clock running."
Suddenly, the vampire raised his voice. "Are you done with your chattering?"
Luke looked at the vampire with a smirk. "Just a question."
The vampire raised a singed brow.
"Ya' ever played tag?" He said as he disappeared in a burst of flame, only for another explosion of flames right in front of the vampire. The armored undead quickly guarded his face from the torrent of flames as they washed over him. A moment later he ducked to the side as a gunshot fired where his head was.
He quickly reared back a crimson fist as he glared at the smiling hunter.
"You're it." Was all he said before the vampire thrust his hand forward just as Luke burst into flames once more.
[MP: 84/125 > 63/125]
As his fist passed through the flames, another spiral of bloody razors shot forward, turning a pillar within the large room to rubble.
The vampire quickly glanced around himself at the maze of partial walls and desks before him. However, his eyes lay on nothing but furniture, walls, and buzzing fluorescent lights.
Far across the room, a burst of flame erupted behind a pillar, out of view of the vampire. Luke leaned against the pillar smiling nervously at his close escape. He was sure he'd given Matthew enough time to duck behind several layers of wall within the maze of office desks.
In the silence of the large room, Luke could hear the heavy stomps of the armored undead as he began to search the room.
Luke glanced at the ticking clock on his periphery.
[3:10]
"Christ, this is taking forever," Luke mumbled under his breath.
Then he heard the raised voice of the undead as shouted into the expanse of office space. "Hiding? I expected ones such as yourself to fight like warriors," his hand pulsed crimson as he swiped his hand in front of him, sending out a wide slash of blood, cutting through several of the pillars before him. "Not cowards." He roared.
Luke covered his mouth and ducked as a streak of crimson cut through the pillar he was behind only a few inches above his head.
He heard more stomps and furniture and desks being tossed aside as the vampire continued its search.
Luke kept his eyes on the timer as it continuously ticked down. All they had to do was stall for 3 more minutes.
Another crimson slash of blood sent a wave of debris across the room, tossing up office desks and tearing them to pieces.
Luke waited several seconds for another wave of red to desecrate more furniture. However, it didn't come, instead something much more terrifying came.
"There you are, you piece of shit." The undead roared.
Quickly, Luke shot from behind his pillar and aimed his gun. He quickly noticed the vampire holding Matthew above the ground by the neck.
Luke quickly ran forward as he burst into flames once more.
[MP: 63/125 > 53/124]
As Matthew flailed he clutched his spear before ramming its head into the arm guard of the vampire before breaking the head off, letting it stick from the metal plate.
The vampire snarled and dropped Matthew before pulling out the head of the spear and tossing it to the side seconds before it burst into metal shards.
Just then, a burst of flame arose near the vampire, singeing part of its face.
Luke aimed his gun as he appeared from the fire, however, instead of trying to block the gun with his armor, the vampire reached out and grabbed Luke's arm before hurling him away, into and through a pillar.
The next moment, the creature looked down and picked up Matthew by the throat before hoisting him up once again, this time slamming his back against the wall.
Luke groaned as he rose from the floor and gasped for air. A screen appeared before him.
[HP: 180/180 > 90/180]
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~
[HP reduced to 50%]
['Escape Artist' activated]
[Agility increased by 20]
[Agility: 40 > 60]
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~
Luke quickly looked up to see Matthew being slammed repeatedly into a pillar, sending more and more cracks across it.
Luke opened his hand as a ripe red apple appeared in his hand. "Let's hope something good happens." He muttered as he took a bite.
Another screen appeared before him.
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~
['Ember Step' has been forcibly evolved temporarily]
['Ember Step' has evolved into 'Sinner's Leap']
...
[Sinner's Leap]
[Rank: A-]
[Type: Active]
[MP Cost: 50]
[Description: The user leaps into a burning fissure that opens in the ground directly beneath them, disappearing into a hellscape physically harmless to the user. Demonic figures attempt to drag any nearby enemies into the fissure alongside the user. Creatures dragged in are subject to extreme pain inflicted by demonic creatures and sulfurous flames, taking a large amount of damage. The enemy stays within the hellscape for 1 minute or until they are killed. If they are killed, the MP used for this skill is refunded]
~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~
Luke's eyes widened as he scanned over the mountain of text. He wiped away the screen as he dashed towards the vampire.
"Hey asshole," he shouted as he slammed into the side of the armored undead and clung to him. "How about a trip to Hell." He shouted as the floor beneath them quickly cracked and shattered, revealing a seemingly infinite expanse of fire and screams.
[MP: 53/125 > 3/125]
The vampire quickly let go of Matthew as he tried to pry Luke off of him and they both began to plummet into the hellscape below.
For a 'fiery hellscape' the flames weren't all that hot, not to Luke at least. For him, it simply felt like the sun on a summer evening. However, for the vampire, it seemed far worse.
As soon as they plunged into the hellscape both had become shrouded in flames. For Luke, it wasn't an issue, but as the flames washed over the vampire's skin, it began to smolder and slowly flake away.
As they swirled in the torrent of flames the armored vampire screeched and growled as it tried to tear Luke from him. While he couldn't carry the full force of a blow to Luke, he still relentlessly slammed his fist into his back in an attempt to knock him off.
[HP: 90/180 > 80/180]
"Release me you coward!" He shouted as he kept slamming his fist into the hunter's back.
However, as he reared back his fist he felt something grab hold of his arm. The vampire looked towards his outstretched arms to see a frail-looking humanoid beast outstretched through the whirling flames. It had hind legs like a cheetah, but arms like a human. Its fingers ended in a set of long sharp claws that dug into the vampire's armor. The creature's skin was a strange shade of red; where eyes would have been two curved horns jutted from its face.
The demon gave out an ear-splitting screech as it kept hold of the vampire's arm and began to tear away at his armor, bit by bit, tearing it to shreds.
The undead's fist began to glow crimson once again as a spiral of sharp blood exploded from his hand, turning the impish demon to pieces.
Suddenly, the vampire felt more clawed hands on his back, then his leg, then on his shoulder.
Luke was suddenly shunned by the vampire as several pairs of clawed hands pushed him away without causing so much as a scratch on him.
Luke began to slowly float away as he saw the vampire growl and begin to tear the demons from him, only for several more to appear from the flames.
Suddenly, Luke was lurched from the flames and into the ruined office building, just barely landing on his feet as the ground beneath him closed, all but for a small crack that still sputtered with the intensity of flames.
Luke glanced around to see Matthew, on the ground, looking between the crack in the ground and Luke. An expression somewhere between awe and confusion matted his face.
"What the fuck was that?" He shouted, gesturing a hand to the pulsing crack in the floor.
"Apple."
"What?"
Luke opened up his evolved skill and shifted the screen to Matthew. "One of the abilities of the apple is to evolve a random skill for 5 minutes. It's its version of you summoning those angels with your horn; I can only do it once a day."
Matthew's expression shifted to nervous laughter. "Damn, if that's what A-ranked skills are like, how strong are S ranks. Not to mention this one seems to be on the low end of A rank."
Matthew looked back to the pulsing crack in the ground. "Is it dead?"
Luke shook his head. "Not before I was shunted out. Although with demons constantly swarming him for a minute straight, who knows."
Luke took a step back from the crack. "We have a minute until the vamp. shows up again." Luke glanced at the timer.
[2:00]
"When he does he'll more than likely be weakened. Then all we have to do is survive for a minute until 'help arrives'. Think you're up for it? After doing that," Luke pointed to the crack in the floor. "I'm down to only 3 MP, so you're gonna have to do the heavy lifting in that regard."
Matthew got to his feet. "That should be fine." He said as he approached Luke.
Luke took half a step back. "No, don't use it on me. You're gonna be the one in close combat. You're gonna need to take more than a few hits. Plus, I only got 8 bullets in the chamber after the minute's up due to my MP regeneration."
Matthew looked at his glowing hand before it dimmed. "Yeah, you're right. If I'm correct, I only regenerate 3 MP for the minute. I'll use my healing at full force just before he comes through that portal."
Matthew glanced up at his HP bar.
[HP: 100/180]
Just before Luke had appeared and locked the vampire within the hellscape, the vampire had been choking him, but not only that, it had sucked a small amount of life from him as well. He'd only done it for a second, but it still managed to sap away 10 or his HP.
"I don't think we've seen everything the vampire can do yet." He mumbled.
Luke raised a brow. "How so? I mean, we've already seen it do way more than that fledgling we've fought. Back then it could hardly muster enough mana to do that... blood explosion thing that the armored one used to wipe out your warriors. And he's been using smaller-scale ones on us this whole fight. How many more tricks does he even have? He has to be running low on mana by now, right?"
Matthew shook his head. "I'm not sure about the mana part, but a moment ago, just before you opened that portal," he gestured to the crack in the ground. "The vampire had begun sucking my HP away, assumedly to heal himself. Although it might regenerate his mana as well. However, it seems that he can't do it a lot, otherwise, he would've been doing it the whole time."
Luke nodded. "I see. But what's the plan once he does come out?" Luke glanced at the timer. "In twenty seconds."
Matthew quickly shot up. "Game of tag, like last time."
***
As time went on, Luke and Matthew took their places on opposite ends of the room.
Matthew had healed himself up to 172 of his 180 HP just after he'd hid.
Both hunters kept their eyes on the timer, and sure enough, as the timer ticked to [1:00] the crack in the floor burst open as the steaming body of the vampire was thrust upward, landing on the ground with a thud as the crack in the floor shrunk into nothingness.
The vampire rose to his feet. Nearly all his armor was torn away except for his leggings and a single-arm guard. Several deep claw marks had been gauged into his torso. Each one emitted searing heat like he had been slashed with a white-hot blade.
The vampire heaved as he looked around frantically for his enemies. He snared with every breath like a wild beast, baring his vampiric fangs.
Seeing no enemies the vampire roared again as both his hands began to glow crimson. It roared as it began to swipe the air, sending wave after wave of sharp blood in every direction.
The walls of the office were now torn to splinters as Matthew weaved through a set of oncoming crimson blades. He shouted as he dashed forward, catching the vampire's attention.
A second later a bullet pierced the vampire's back, causing him to snarl and turn again.
[MP: 8/125 > 7/125]
Matthew swung his spear upwards towards the vampire's chest, but quickly ducked and swiped to the side to deflect a crimson-fueled punch from the vampire.
Another bullet went to the back of the vampire's knee, causing him to stumble as he took a step forward towards Matthew.
[MP: 7/125 > 6/125]
Matthew quickly jumped to the side as the vampire swung at the ground, causing a large crack to form on the floor.
Matthew took the opportunity to spin his spear and swung downward onto the vampire's exposed neck.
However, the undead quickly turned and grabbed the spear before rising to his feet and grabbing Matthew's face.
Another gunshot rang out; another bullet pierced the vampire's arm that had grasped Matthew.
[MP: 6/125 > 5/125]
Matthew tried to stab his spear into the vampire as he flailed about, however, the creature simply grabbed the spear, and stuck it into the floor, all before raising his hand and slamming Matthew down with all his might.
Several crimson tendrils form as Matthew collides with the floor, cracking it once more, as the blood razors dig into his body.
[HP: 172/180 > 92/180]
Matthew continued his flailing as the vampire raised him again only for another bullet to pierce his side.
[MP: 5/125 > 4/125]
The vampire ignored the pain and slammed Matthew down again.
[HP: 92/180 > 12/180]
Matthew's flailing suddenly stopped as his eyes rolled into his head. His body suddenly fell limp and the vampire raised it again.
Another two gunshots sent bullets into the vampire's shoulder.
The vampire snarled. "Enough of the damned bullets?" He roared as he turned and threw the limp Matthew towards Luke.
Instinctively, Luke ducked below the limp hunter, instead sending him hurdling toward a pile of rubble.
[HP: 12/180 > 6/180]
As he aimed his gun at the vampire again he suddenly realized what he'd done. Luke quickly turned around to see the body of his limp friend sprawled among the rubble. Several large wounds matted his torso. With Luke's sense, he could feel the life force of Matthew, however, it was faint. Scarcely faint.
Suddenly, Luke heard heavy stomps as the vampire charged towards him. Luke quickly turned and fired his gun several times at the charging mass of partially cindered flesh. However, it did nothing to slow it down.
[MP: 4/125 > 0/125]
Luke dropped his gun as the vampire reared back a crimson fist. Luke raised his fists in a boxing stance, ready to fend off the beast as long as he could.
Luke quickly ducked below the fist and pushed the vampire's arm upward as a spiral of blood washed over the ceiling.
Luke could feel his body being far lighter than it had been before due to his drastic increase in agility thanks to his skill. It was just hardly enough to be able to keep pace with the vampire.
After the attack, Luke threw a punch into the creature's face. All the vampire did was stumble half a step back before throwing another punch.
Luke quickly sidestepped the attack and pushed away his arm again before slamming his fist into the undead's jaw.
Then the vampire threw yet another, normal punch, which Luke dodged, only to be met with another punch into his side, sending him tumbling to the ground.
[HP: 80/180 > 50/180]
Luke quickly rebounded and charged the vampire again, landing a clean blow on his stomach.
Then another swing from the vampire connected with Luke's face, causing him to stumble back several steps.
[HP: 50/180 > 30/180]
Luke began to raise his fist when another heavy blow struck his chest, sending him sprawling onto the floor.
[HP: 30/180 > 10/180]
Matthew gasped as he tried to heave air back into his lungs. But suddenly the vampire grabbed Luke by the neck and raised him above the ground.
Luke helplessly hit the vampire's muscular arm as he flailed. The vampire tightened his grip on Luke's windpipe.
Luke could feel his vision beginning to blur as he struggled to take a breath. However, just before his vision faded into darkness his gaze fell upon the timer.
[0:02]
[0:01]
[0:00]
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. The next moment a shotgun slug coated in mana shot through the vampire's arm that was holding Luke aloft, completely dismembering it from the vampire who quickly jumped backwards at the sudden attack.
Luke fell to his knees as he finally took a breath of air. His vision cleared as he saw a figure enter the room through one of the several broken windows.
The figure had slicked back, light blue, hair. A pair of dark blue sunglasses set neatly on their face. Coating his body was a mix of high-tech armor and mana crystals. His mechanized suit was made of several thick metal plates that seemed to move freely as he stepped forward. A large, deep blue, mana crystal was imbedded in its chest, giving power to the suit.
In the figure's hands was a sawed-off double-barrel shotgun made from the same metal as the suit.
"Well damn Luke, you've gotten pretty fucking roughed up huh?" The figure asked as two black shells appeared in their free hand, which they promptly loaded into the gun. "Normally you don't worry yourself with dungeon breaks."
The figure stepped between Luke and the vampire and raised his gun. "But don't worry, help has arrived."
Luke stared in awe at the hunter he'd seen so many times. But now, he was happier than he had ever been to see him.
Happier than he had ever been to see Blake Ultara, the S-ranked hunter.