Unnoticed by anyone, the human's intrusion went ignored until the moment the door swung open, shattering the Mystic Integrity of the building. The cacophony of breaking glass echoed through the space. The Solar Magick Ions, pervasive and potent, flooded the structure, setting off an immediate reaction within the three Vampires. Even those resilient to the sun's might felt their skin sear, with the middle-aged man enduring the worst of the fiery onslaught.
Colan responded swiftly, unleashing a burst of crimson Magick that erupted into a protective shield behind him. Meanwhile, Novak's bloody Magick summoned a swarm of red bats, a stark contrast to their black counterparts. Positioned strategically at the front and back, the defensive barrier they hastily conjured was imperfect yet the best defense they could muster, affording Galeward a precious two seconds to decide his next move.
In pain, Galeward's cry pierced the air, "Shadow Walk!" Despite the agony, he felt his shadow elongate rapidly, a haunting echo of the first and only time he had tested this Ability under the unforgiving sun. The brightness obscured his view of the Lycanders and Taura, yet as he moved beneath them, the floor quivered under the weight of three peak First Metamorphoses. Furthermore, the absence of the building's Mystic Integrity provided an unparalleled sense of freedom, surpassing even the feeling of receiving an invitation.
The urgency of the situation raced through Galeward's mind as he closed in on the apartment door. 'No time for caution!' flashed through his thoughts. Besides, any additional traps David might have set would have been revealed during the inspection of the Moon Seal Rune. But such considerations seemed trivial now. Reaching the door, he smoothly passed through beneath the door frame and the floor. Keeping the door closed served another purpose – preventing the spread of Solar Magick Ions within.
Inside the Mir family's apartment, Galeward reconstituted himself, still ablaze, bleeding, and appearing malnourished. His veins pulsed with boiling blood, and his Pool of Magick Ions was nearly depleted. Lingering particles of Solar Magick Ions from the clash with David persisted in his body, overridden by the excessive use of Blood Health Potions, now reinvigorated by those in the hallway. His condition was at its direst, yet surrender wasn't an option as long as the bounty remained alive.
"Where are you?!" he roared in a hoarse voice, tuning into the hungry screeches of the Thrall, still unfed. Despite his severe injuries, Galeward charged swiftly within the apartment, determination overriding the pain.
MK, her body battered, slammed against the bedroom door, slumping on the floor, then stood up, moved several steps back, and repeatedly slammed the door again and again.
"Scram!" Galeward disregarded Colan's earlier suggestion to use MK for the bounty – such considerations were irrelevant now.
MK collided with the wall, the impact so forceful that both the wall and her bones shattered, sending her hurtling out of the tenth floor.
Turning to the bedroom door, it oozed with Magick. Galeward's Magick was nearly depleted, rendering him incapable of mustering Abilities. Brute force became the sole solution to breach it. Against the pulsating strain, he transformed, growing in size and adopting a gruesome appearance. With power far surpassing MK's, Galeward clawed at the door, every strike carving out more of the dimly glowing light green shapes that protected it. The frenzied assault lasted less than five seconds, partly due to the absence of the building's Mystic Integrity. With a final roar, Galeward sent the door flying after MK.
…
The bombardment on the door suddenly intensified, triggering alarms in Michael's mind. 'It's… not MK,' he speculated. 'Did David fail?' Holding the revolver steady, his right finger poised on the trigger, Michael held his breath, prepared to shoot. As he aimed, he observed the dismembered tiny reptilian corpse shattering bit by bit. He realized that the crucial moment to fire would be when it finally broke, not when the door opened.
'Focus…' Michael hoped that, as depicted in movies, comics, novels, and as claimed in real life, the gravity of the moment would stretch time for him. This would enable him to capture the precise instant the corpse shattered, just before the door swung open. Perhaps that slowing of time was already occurring. Although the corpse rapidly disintegrated, and within a second or two would crumble completely, there was an eerie silence from his parents, his brother, and Chris, as if they were not responding to the exaggerated blows on the door.
Keeping a vigilant eye on the corpse from the corner of his vision, Michael waited for it to break apart, turn to sand, and for the green embers to extinguish – the signal that the room had lost its protection. Eventually, it took nothing more than a minuscule flicker in the movement of the green flames and a sudden, decisive change in its prior procrastination.
Pulling the trigger once, twice – the door was torn off its hinges. For the third and fourth shots – an inhuman figure with disproportionately large and elongated features emerged at the entrance, emanating fury.
The fifth and sixth cartridges fired reflexively and with more precision than the preceding shots, aimed at the head and the spot where Michael prayed the Vampiric monster's heart was located. Galeward was thrown backward, about to collide with the floor. If pain had dominated before, now he completely lost sensation in the majority of his body.
The bullets were still rotating where they struck, some buried in his body, particularly the crucial ones targeting the heart and head. One managed to penetrate, reaching his nearly empty Pool of Magick Ions. Fortunately, the backlash was manageable for his kind, even if the heart held the same importance for them as it did for humans. The second bullet lodged in his skull, pressing against his brain, inflicting the headache of his century and a half-long existence. As for his emotional state, as survival instincts kicked in, it regressed to an absolute ravenous state.
His right arm gracefully arched backward, halting the descent just centimeters from the unforgiving floor. With a deft and controlled push, he effortlessly regained an upright position.
Desperation etched across his face, Michael muttered, "It didn't work!" The inclination to retreat tugged at him, though there was no escape route except through the bedroom's window. For a fleeting moment, he contemplated the daring leap, a notion dismissed only because of the presence of his parents, brother, and Chris.
'Is that what a real Vampire looks like?' The thought involuntarily crossed his mind, offering an unusual perspective to confront the predicament. It puzzled him why, instead of resorting to thoughts of combat, this particular image emerged. Yet, he knew deep down that it mirrored the same disarray that had gripped String when David had confronted them – an adversary too formidable, both in strength and speed.
Galeward swiftly closed the distance to Michael, seizing his shoulders with a grip that sent shivers down his spine. As he transformed into his Vampiric state, his elongated fangs protruded more menacingly than the rest of his features. The room harbored four vulnerable humans, any one of whom could be the coveted bounty. Michael, being the closest and most irksome, was perhaps deemed the prize simply for the inconvenience he posed. Galeward paid little attention to the nuances; the only certainty was that this time, Colan's restraining presence was absent, leaving him unhindered. Even if the Lord himself were present, Galeward doubted anyone could deter him from indulging in the irresistible urge to drink.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
…
There it unfolded before them, devoid of any dazzling light show, hypnotic excuses, or drug-induced illusions. An actual monster, emanating a sinister red, bloody aura, sank its fangs into Michael, a horrifying spectacle that left Peter, Mary, Dan, and Chris petrified.
They helplessly watched as their son and brother underwent the brutal ordeal of being drained of his blood, his once vibrant skin now contracting and paling. Despite Michael's feeble struggle, attempting to wrest free by grasping the creature's arms, it proved to be a brief and futile resistance against the relentless assault.
The monstrous creature, camouflaged in human guise, emitted a guttural groan of satisfaction as it reveled in the consumption of blood. Finally satiated, its fangs disengaged from the shriveled, motionless form of Michael. With lips stained crimson, a semblance of vitality seemed to surge through it, accompanied by a triumphant roar.
"M-M-Michael..." Mary's voice trembled in a whisper.
An explosion echoed from outside the room, originating from either the entrance to the house or the living room. The sudden blast caught the creature's attention, its imposing "presence" still terrifying the onlookers. However, within its eyes, a flicker of sanity seemed to rekindle.
Its elongated, long-fingered hands cradled Michael's head, lifting his lifeless body. Placing a sharp ear against Michael's chest, it listened intently.
"Still alive," it declared with measured certainty, withdrawing its ear and pressing a hand against Michael's head. "The bounty's reward belongs to the House of Dobroutes." Just as it began to conclude its declaration, its voice caught in its throat, and its eyes widened like saucers. Its grip faltered, and Michael's limp form descended to the floor with a resounding thud.
…
He, a Vampire, a master of blood, unparalleled among creatures of the night when it came to sensing the life force coursing through veins, especially when it was his own.
'There's something in my body!' Galeward exclaimed, clutching his head as he released his grip on Michael. Whatever had infiltrated him during the feeding session now slithered into his brain, penetrating the deepest recesses of his mind, consuming from within – Soul and Blood, the core elements of every Vampire, as revealed by a Condition Rune.
"NOOOOO!" Galeward bolted out of the room, heading towards the apartment entrance. Utilizing the Magick generated by drinking Michael's blood, he attempted to eliminate the invader in his brain, but his efforts proved futile. He came to a sudden halt just meters from the exit.
Wounded yet resilient, Ramon and Sierra, still in their Werewolf forms, entered the apartment. Behind them, Taura, Colan, and Novak provided mutual support. The five of them regarded Galeward with varied expressions until they discerned something unsettling in his demeanor.
"Help-" Galeward began, and then his head exploded. Ramon and Sierra, maintaining their Werewolf forms, hastily recoiled, unwilling to let even a drop of blood mar their fur. Colan, Novak, and Taura stood dumbfounded, rendered speechless by the unfolding events.
"Well, they had their chance. Isn't it time to conclude this?" A voice from behind interrupted the stunned silence, belonging to none other than David, who appeared surprisingly hale and hearty despite his recent ordeal.
The five turned to see David, his wounds healing rapidly with a silvery aura enveloping him. His attention, however, was not focused on them but on an empty space in the hallway. Intrigued, they followed his gaze, and a crack in the Material Dimension revealed a figure emerging from The Gray.
The newcomer was a black-skinned blond man, adorned with two pairs of similarly blond wings and holding a golden staff. He wore linen fabric to cover his lower body, while his muscular upper body remained bare – unmistakably an Angel.
His presence, except for David, struck the onlookers with awe, projecting an impression beyond what regular humans could comprehend. However, instead of evoking the rightful fear one should feel in the presence of an entity capable of erasing their existence, an overwhelming sense of apprehension gripped them as they recognized the figure – the Adjudicator.
"You forced my hand, human," the Adjudicator spoke expressionlessly to David, casting an eerie tension in the air.
"I admit to that," David nonchalantly brushed off the dust and blood, each stroke of his hand restoring the sparkle to his trench coat and pants. "But I merely set the stage and planned to remove the Runes once the bounty expired. It was their decision to demolish the Mythic Integrity of the building. So, Mr. Adjudicator, I am innocent."
Unfazed by David's provocations, the Adjudicator shifted his focus from David to the five individuals and then beyond them to Galeward's headless body.
"It would have been preferable if you had successfully eliminated the bounty. I've violated regulations for nothing..." He struck the floor with his staff, unleashing a radiant golden light.
Colan, Novak, and Taura winced as they felt the Mythic Integrity of the building reconstructing. Sierra and Ramon, in pain, nearly struggled to exit the apartment as permission was once again required.
The golden light aided the middle-aged man in recovering, although he remained feeble. It also dispelled the remnants of Solar Magick Ions in the building and everyone within it.
Colan and Novak experienced immediate relief from their torment, although they were still significantly wounded with a low concentration of Blood Health Potion in their bodies.
As for the wife of the middle-aged man, a diminutive figure who hurried to her ailing husband, she caught an incredible glimpse of the unfolding events in the hallway. Like all regular humans in the building, she found herself fixed in place; there were no instances of objects dropping, as the positions of everything and everyone were frozen in both space and time.
'Splendid,' a single word, a fleeting thought that vanished almost instantly, passed through David's mind. Without betraying the slightest indication, he took note of the staff – the Median Staff.
"For violating a Cardinal Rule of the Material Dimension, causing harm to the Mythic Integrity of a residential structure, I hereby declare the unofficial termination of the hunt. While it is not within my authority to prematurely cancel the bounty, from this moment forward, the Divine Dimension possesses the legitimacy to impose sanctions against the Demonic Dimension and all those heeding its call in the case of Michael Mir's bounty in the Material Dimension."
Raising the Median Staff, the Adjudicator paid no heed to the despondent faces of all present, except for David's.
'All because Galeward failed...' Colan comprehended why he succumbed to David. Right from the start, he had strategized to lure the Adjudicator into the conflict. However, anticipating that alone would not ensure victory, considering the vehement opposition to Demonic Presence by those who assume the role of "Adjudicator".
'But the Thrall would have triggered all available traps before Galeward entered the apartment, and just before his demise, Galeward seemed more invigorated. That's only possible if he had fed. Knowing his time was running short, to achieve two objectives – to eliminate the bounty and quench his thirst – Galeward must have drained the bounty completely, right...?' Colan gritted his teeth, sensing there was something eluding him, a detail he couldn't quite pinpoint.
"It's a First Metamorphosis tier bounty – child's play for the feeblest First Metamorphosis, isn't that what's running through your mind?" David chuckled, provoking Colan and instigating a shared sentiment among the onlookers. "Alright, since you've essentially helped me conclude the hunt for the bounty, I'll enlighten you. Frankly, dear Colan, mongrels and bloodsuckers, including you, decrepit lizard, are not as challenging for me to deal with as the influx of First Metamorphoses arriving between now and the official expiration date of the bounty."
Turning to the silent Adjudicator, David continued, "I'll be relying on you for the next twenty-four hours, I presume." Despite the insult, none among the group retaliated with curses.
"One," David pointed at himself. "None of you can ever outsmart me, but that's too obvious. Removing myself from the equation, Two," he raised a second finger. "Is the true variable responsible for this embarrassing defeat."
Lowering his hand, David let the atmosphere gradually intensify, unyielding even in the face of the Adjudicator's presence. When he spoke again, it was once more with a demeanor that exuded regality, authority, and overbearing confidence.
"You pilchards coveted that which belongs to a Leviathan."