The mana pressure released by both Marcus and Neptune was enough to cause gravity to intensify, instantly sending shivers down every soldier's spine as the battle between the two armies halted momentarily. The two became the focus of everyone's attention, as soldiers from both sides gulped in uneasy anticipation for their battle to restart.

The only ones continuing their duel were Erin and Michael against Karin and Mika, where all 4 were still exchanging swift relentless blows against each other. Neptune flashed a wide grin as he decided to make the first move, slashing his trident in a huge diagonal arc. The water that emerged from the tip of his trident immediately surged forward, forming a large water spout rushing towards Marcus.

Marcus instinctively cast his [Crimson Wall] spell before him, forming a defensive barrier of blood in front of him. The huge amount of water crashed against Marcus' shield, its water pressure formidable enough to make Marcus strain a little.

However, in the end, Marcus' [Crimson Wall] stood strong as the torrent of water gradually subsided. Marcus quickly dispelled his shield and realised Neptune was missing. He looked up, only to witness Neptune plummeting rapidly towards him, trident in tow.

Marcus barely had sufficient time to form a [Crimson Aegis] spell to defend himself from Neptune's overhead swing. The resultant collision was immense, generating a shockwave that blew across the entire expanse of the battlefield. Marcus could barely resist the weight of Neptune's attack, which was fuelled by the jet of water gushing upwards and out of the tip of [Poseidon].

Gritting his teeth and mustering all his strength, Marcus pushed his [Crimson Aegis] upwards, launching Neptune slightly into the air. Seizing this opportunity, Marcus immediately launched a [Crimson Spike] spell from the ground upwards. Neptune barely dodged this attack with a back-flip from his earlier momentum.

Before Neptune could land on the ground, Marcus shot a [Crimson Volley] spell at him using the blood spike formed earlier. Neptune laughed as he twirled his trident rapidly before him, blocking all the incoming shards of crystallised blood.

As Marcus' [Crimson Volley] slowly subsided, Neptune retaliated in a similar attack of his own, jabbing his trident incessantly as sharp jets of water shot forward. Marcus quickly formed 2 short blades of crystallised blood in both hands as he either dodged or slashed every water projectile using his superior senses.

Neptune decided to break the flow by suddenly launching a [Whirlpool Vortex] spell towards Marcus. Marcus displayed his swordsmanship by calmly slicing the spell in an X-like fashion, dispelling it.

To his surprise, Neptune had suddenly appeared in a flash in front of him, aiming a jab towards his heart. Marcus barely dodged it, suffering a graze on his left chest. They subsequently exchanged a series of intense blows, a demonstration of their mastery over their respective weapons.

Their exchange only halted when Neptune performed an upward diagonal swing of [Poseidon], conjuring a [Water Spout] spell that shot upwards and towards Marcus, who dodged with a back-flip.

As the water shot into the sky started raining back down to the surface, the 2 contenders had a brief stare-down. Marcus displayed a resolute, cold expression while Neptune had a slight smile, testament to his confidence. When it stopped raining, the two immediately jumped towards each other, eager to continue their death match.

Meanwhile, away from the intense battle of the two Sage tier individuals, the battle at the front gate was turning messy. After all, Beatrix's illusion was dispelled in no time when the two armies clashed. Though Nirvania had the support of the vampires, they were still badly outnumbered at a ratio of 1 to 3. It was only thanks to their discipline and good training that prevented the Miran Army from overwhelming them with their speed and sheer numbers.

Nevertheless, it was turning into a severe bloodbath quickly as no one from both sides showed mercy. Beatrix had attempted to rally the Nirvanians to unite and push through the fierce opposing army, in hope of linking up with the other two Nirvanian armies, increasing their chances of survival and victory.

However, her haemophobia had caused her undue stress which undermined her confidence in rallying and inspiring her fellow men, resulting in them remaining in stagnant deadlock with the enemy. In her state of panic, Beatrix could only focus on her own role as a support magician, shielding her men who were already unable to fight with the help of other magicians.

As Beatrix used telekinetic magic to send approaching enemies flying, she murmured incoherently to herself, "I can't do this…I'm scared. What shall I do? If only Mistress Janna was here, she would definitely pick the best course of action…"

Erin and Michael weren't faring too well on their end either. Even though they were among the best within the Crimson Sentinels, which earned them a place in Baron Marcus' personal squad, their opponents Karin and Mika weren't pushovers.

In fact, it was their synergy which was giving the vampire pair trouble, as they timed and placed their attacks almost perfectly. Individually, the 2 Miran ladies were strong too, each excelling in the way of the spear further strengthened by their elemental enhancements which were Fire and Lightning respectively.

On the other hand, Erin and Michael weren't familiar with each other even though they were partners for this war. After all, they had only been working together for about a month currently. This was exacerbated by the fact that the pair had completely different combat styles. Erin, as a convert, was one of the few vampire magicians while Michael was a pureblood knight.

Now, Mika thrusted the base of her spear into the ground, casting a [Lightning Current] spell which caused electricity to ripple across the ground towards the two vampires. Erin and Michael instinctively leaped to safety, but what awaited them were a few [Fireball] spells from Karin.

Erin quickly cast a [Wind Wall] spell to defend against the incoming spells. However, before she could say anything, Michael rushed forward towards Karin when he landed, performing a series of consecutive swift slashes that pushed Karin back.

Just as it seemed that Michael had got Karin with a horizontal slash to the neck, Karin arched her back at the last minute, dodging the attack with a back-flip. Suddenly, Mika jumped over her partner, ready to perform an overhead slash aimed at the defenceless Michael with her electrified spear.

As the attack was about to connect, Mika was thrown back by an [Air Bullet] spell while in mid-air. Erin shouted, "Michael, get a grip on yourself! If we don't work together, we can never hope to beat these two!"

Michael drew a deep breath before apologising, "You're right, Erin. Sorry, I got consumed by my bloodlust. It's impossible for us to achieve their level of synergy in such a short time. However, this doesn't mean that we can't use teamwork to our advantage. Since you're the ranged specialist while I'm the close combat fighter, just instruct me from the rear. I'll fully comply with your battle tactics. Now, it's about time to get a little serious."

From the cross-guard of his sword, several vine-like tendrils emerged and wrapped around Michael's wrist. Erin could observe that Michael's blade turned red from base to tip as the tendrils appeared to suck his blood.

Michael explained, "This is a [Blutblade], a weapon that can be used solely by purebloods due to the physical toll this weapon puts on the wielder's body. In exchange for my blood, the sharpness and power of this weapon rises, considerably I should add. Would you two ladies like a try?" Michael disappeared in a flash and reappeared before his 2 foes in an instant.

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With one mighty swing of his blade, Michael created an air blade that nicked the wall of the city behind the 2 Miranians. With his relentless swings coupled with the increase in power, Michael was pushing back both opponents singlehandedly.

Erin thought, "I must wait for the perfect opportunity when both of them are caught off balance before I send a strong Master tier spell to hit both of them." The moment arrived sooner than expected, but the keen Erin seized it anyway.

Erin cried, "Michael, jump!" Michael obliged as he leapt high into the air, right before a [Tornado Vortex] spell slammed into both Karin and Mika. While in the air, Marcus performed a quick slit of his non-wielding palm, causing his [Blutblade] to light up with a crimson plume as it absorbed the blood from his wound.

Michael then swiftly swung his weapon in the direction of his adversaries, releasing the built-up power from the recently consumed blood in the form of a [Vermillion Blast], a special technique unique to [Blutblade] wielders. The blast impacted the same location as the [Tornado Vortex] spell earlier, giving rise to a huge dust cloud.

Michael landed softly, his weapon still raised in a defensive stance as he waited for the dust cloud to settle. Karin and Mika emerged from the dust cloud pretty battered, but their wounds were largely superficial. Karin said calmly, "To think that you guys would be able to push us to this extent. I think it's time to reveal our special technique, eh, Mika?"

Mika nodded in agreement as the duo adopted their combat stances while gathering mana around their bodies. Without warning, they both rushed forward, running in a haphazard, zigzag pattern as they intersected each other's running paths frequently.

Michael exclaimed, "Trying to confuse me? Not that easy!" as he rushed towards them, placing Erin's warning on deaf ears. When Michael thought he had seen through their movement pattern, he waited till the exact moment that they would cross each other's path. When that moment arrived, Michael jumped with his sword raised, ready to slash both ladies where they stood.

However, it was all a trap as both Miranians merely increased their speed slightly at the last minute, avoiding Michael's attack while arriving beside his unprotected flanks. They then mercilessly impaled his midsection from both sides with their elementally charged weapons, causing blood to gush out.

Karin exclaimed in jubilation, "How do you like our [Felsa Charge]? It's unavoidable because of its unpredictability. One down, one to go!" as both ladies turned towards Erin, leaving Michael to bleed to death in his pool of blood.

Erin gulped nervously. If Michael, an expert in close combat with extremely good reflexes fell so easily to such a technique, she definitely didn't stand a chance. Karin and Mika quickly initiated the run to their [Felsa Charge] technique, as they performed those hypnotic, mazy runs once more.

Erin silently reminded herself to stay focused and try to seek the solution to her current predicament. As her eyes got accustomed to her opponents' movement speed, a wave of inspiration came across her. Erin realised that her opponents actually intended to lure her mind to unconsciously read a pattern before suddenly changing it, catching their victims off guard.

Armed with this knowledge, Erin quickly formulated a counter measure. When they intersected each other's running paths once more and were within striking distance, Erin pretended to cast an [Air Bullet] spell against them.

As expected, the duo suddenly increased their pace and soon appeared at Erin's flanks instead. Before they could impale her, Erin swiftly spread her arms and cast 2 [Air Bullet] spells simultaneously, catching them by surprise as they had to defend against her spell instead.

After dispelling her incoming projectile, before the Miranians had any time to react, Erin quickly cast a [Rising Tornado] spell from under their feet, sending them spiralling into the air. At this moment, Michael managed to struggle onto his feet, his sword possessing a very bright red colouration as it absorbed the entire pool of lost blood.

Without hesitation, Michael swung his [Blutblade] at the defenceless pair, as an enormous [Vermillion Blast] technique emerged and engulfed both of his targets. When Michael's attack faded into the horizon, all that was left was 2 smouldering corpses falling onto the ground with a resounding thud.

Michael's knees soon gave way as he collapsed onto the ground, severely weak from the blood loss from both his injuries and the use of his weapon. Erin rushed to him and asked worryingly, "Hey, hang in there! I'll get the medic right away!"

Michael grabbed her hand tightly and said, "No, just help me get those 2 bodies over there. They can still be useful to me." Erin quickly did as told, using Wind magic to shift the corpses of Karin and Mika towards Michael.

Without warning, Michael revealed his fangs and sank them onto Karin's corpse first, causing it to shrivel and eventually leaving solely bones. Michael licked off the blood from the sides of his lips as he said, "That was for all my blood loss earlier." before sinking his fangs into Mika's corpse, repeating the process.

"That was my monthly meal." Michael explained as he licked his lips in content. To Erin's befuddlement, the wounds on Michael's body had completely disappeared and he looked perfectly healthy. Erin gasped, "That's…amazing."

Michael replied nonchalantly, "Only vampire nobles can suck their victims' blood to this extent, it's a lot less messy this way, don't you think?" Erin returned an unconvinced expression as she replied, "Now, all there's left is Baron Marcus' fight."

Both Marcus and Neptune were panting heavily as they couldn't seem to get any advantage over each other. Neptune laughed, "You really live up to your name as a Saint. Nobody's survived this long against me before."

Marcus replied sarcastically with a smile, "I don't think time's on your side, Neptune. Look, your city's already falling to my men." as he pointed towards the billowing city behind Neptune. Neptune took a quick glance behind him before proudly declaring, "I'll just have to clear the entire city out again later. No problem. Once I get rid of you, that is."

Suddenly, Marcus could feel that Neptune was gathering mana so enormous in quantity which he had never encountered before. Neptune laughed maniacally, "In return for your good performance, I would take you out together with everyone else here! Eat my strongest spell, [Ultimate Tsunami]!!"

In a flash, before Neptune rose a water wall so huge that its width covered the entire battlefield and its height towered over that of the city walls. Marcus watched on in awe at the size of Neptune's technique, so large that it cast a shadow on the entire battlefield, halting battle momentarily.

One Miran troop shouted in panic, "That's the technique Lord Neptune used to clear the city a few days ago! However, we're still here! He's going to kill us as well! That bastard!" Beatrix was stunned as she struggled to absorb the reality of the situation before her. All she knew was that her death was imminent upon the collapse of that humongous water wall.

Just as everybody, friend and foe alike, were panicking, a commanding voice resounded through the battlefield. "Calm down! Leave this to me!" It was Baron Marcus, still standing tall and proud despite the gravity of the situation.

Marcus started gathering blood from all over towards him as he concentrated all his mana into a single point. His body. As the blood started entering his body rapidly, black marks started appearing like tattoos on his body. Within seconds, the areas on his body not covered by the black marks turned crimson red as a crystalline exoskeleton constructed out of blood emerged from within.

This was Marcus' [Crimson Skeleton] spell, the strongest at his disposal. It was a trump card only used at the last moment, since the concentration of mana within his body placed a very huge toll on his body. In return, in this state, he can freely control the blood in his exoskeleton, on top of receiving a near 1000% boost to all his physical attributes, including speed, reflexes and power.

Marcus leapt towards Neptune with such force that a huge crater emerged on the ground where he took off. Neptune laughed, "It's useless! My spell has both the strongest offense and defence! Time to die!"

Without replying, Marcus simply reformed the exoskeleton over his right hand into a drill as he thrusted it onto the water wall before him. The drill spun furiously as Marcus laboured to punch a hole through the dense water wall. Remembering all the lives he had under his charge, with a scream, Marcus mustered all his power into one point, finally breaking a hole through the wall as he rushed towards Neptune.

As he emerged from the other end of the wall, Neptune's eyes widened in disbelief but it was too late. Marcus ran his drill straight through Neptune, boring a large hole through his body. Marcus then quickly used his [Haemic Control] to drain off all the blood within Neptune's body, leaving only bones and his weapon, [Poseidon].

As Neptune's spell was interrupted, the humongous water wall simply evaporated into thin air, allowing light to shine onto the battlefield once again. Witnessing their crisis averted and their leader killed, the Miran troops no longer had any resolve to continue fighting and swiftly surrendered.

Marcus sank onto his knees, his [Crimson Skeleton] slowly dispelling as he remained immobilised. Beatrix rushed up to him and helped him move with the help of a few other vampires. She said, with tears glistening in her eyes, "You did it, sir. You saved us all and reclaimed our territory from Miran. It's our victory."

Marcus smiled weakly as he was put onto a stretcher, closing his eyes as he felt a sense of relief that his mission was complete.