The fortress was attacked once more during Genji's concoction process. The hunters easily repelled the attackers this time because their wounds had been addressed, allowing them to unleash their full combat powers.
After this battle, the vampires understood that their harassment was futile and stopped trying. This led to a whole week of peace, enabling Genji to finish his production, but it was merely the calm before the storm.
As the week came to an end, a large army marched towards them. The vibrations of their footsteps resounded from the distance, alerting the hunters to their presence before they even came into view.
When the army finally appeared, all the hunters in the fortress wore grave expressions. The sheer size of the opposing force made it clear that they were outnumbered. Not even the reinforcements that had trickled in over the past week could help them.
Fortunately, Genji had completed his concoction and informed the hunters about it. A white mist blanketed the battlefield as the two armies closed in on each other. Weapons were drawn, and tension reached an all-time high.
Upon closing in, the front rows charged at each other, unleashing a storm of blood. Blades of metal cleaved through vampires and vampires tore through the hunters. It was supposed to be a bloodbath, but the vampires came out weaker than expected. That was because the mist hindered their blood arts so much that it was impossible to utilize.
When they tried, the mist would bind to the flowing blood and turn into a paste. In this form, the blood arts had lost the fluidity that made them so deadly and became a hindrance instead. In addition, this property of clotting blood also made it difficult to bleed the hunters dry. Every time they suffered a wound, the mist would react and instantly seal it.
It was the perfect weapon for a vampire hunter. So much so that the organization asked Genji for the brewing recipe in hopes of making it a standard. Genji gladly obliged, and the hunters sent out news of its materials. As long as they survived this battle, they would have another powerful weapon in their arsenal.
With the blood arts gone, the weaker hunters were able to support with a storm of crossbolts, easily thinning the crowd. Most of the cannon fodder cleared out, leaving the nobles with ugly expressions. Yet despite the death toll, they held themselves back.
With the mist, getting involved would only become a death sentence. Plus, they needed the elites to drain the hunters' stamina to maximize their chances. This was especially true considering their opponents were in peak condition with the improvement of medical treatments.
Genji observed this scene from the wall and directed the crossbow unit to fire in cycles. With his observation and guidance, the projectiles were always able to land in the densest part, making dodging very difficult.
Hours passed like this, and the battlefield intensified. Then a loud echoing of a horn reverberated off the stone walls, signaling the change on the battlefield. The remaining elites scattered at this sound and made room for the nobles to enter the field.
Streams of blood sluggishly flowed through the area, but these counts were only the next cannon fodder. Their blood control was so weakened that it was more efficient to augment their bodies and claw at their opponents. But what difference did this make from becoming glorified normal vampires? The answer was none, which was why they were cannon fodders.
There was little they could achieve, but the higher-ranked nobles continued to send more of them to soak up the mist. They were prepared to win at all costs, so what did this small casualty matter?
Once all the counts came out, the marquises followed. Yet the gold-ranked hunters easily held back these weakened foes, giving the silver hunters more time to chip away at the counts. Combined with Genji's occasional attacks, it wasn't long before they gained the upper hand.
The Dukes watched this with annoyance but realized their blood arts were returning. The mist was dissipating after coagulating so much blood, and things were about to take a turn for the worse.
The Dukes waited another 30 minutes for the hindrance to become negligible before taking the field. At that moment, the gold hunters felt three bloody presences surge from the rear, intensifying their grim expressions.
Then three large bats swooped down from the air, returning the massacre they had conducted. Countless bodies piled up around the exhausted hunters, and the marquises launched their own ferocious attacks.
The gold hunters were forced to abandon them while the dredges of the mist still affected the marquises to stabilize the situation. With this change, the hunters had to fight desperately to survive against their opponents.
Some surviving silver hunters understood their grave situation and chose to take drastic actions. Gleams of insanity, determination, and gloom formed on their faces as they walked toward the bodies of slain marquises. They reached down and yanked the limp heads aside, exposing their pale necks.
Then, in an uncharacteristic fashion, they chomped down and tore the flesh away. After spitting out the sweaty meat, they pressed their mouths against the wounds and greedily drank the blood!
With this consumption, a red sheen coated their eyes, and their canines elongated into sharp fangs. Their bodies paled further, and their wounds healed. This wasn't them transforming into vampires but taking on vampiric characteristics.
Unlike when hunters adapted to vampire blood and gradually took on these characteristics, this change was a forceful one. They still gained immense power, but they wouldn't live long. It was a last resort that lower-ranked hunters were privy to because they couldn't move during the process. If they tried, their weaker bodies would collapse before they could do anything.
A sharp pain coursed through them, shaking the very essence of their beings. Their bodies tried to fight off the foreign invader, but their owners ignored the protest and continued gulping. With each mouthful, the pain intensified, but they persisted through sheer willpower.
They refused to stop, no, they couldn't. If they didn't do this, others would have to. By then, it would be too late. Only when their bodies reached their limit did these ferocious hunters stop and charge back into battle. This time, with a new barbarity and a will to drag as many vampires down as possible.
"Let us handle the situation," one vampiric hunter said to a tired friend.
"Josh, y-you!" His friend stuttered, looking at the bloodied face of his close friend.
"Go. This change won't last long before my body breaks down. Use this chance to recover for the following battle."
His friend clenched his teeth in indignation but obeyed the advice. He understood why his friend made this choice and wouldn't let the sacrifice be in vain.
With the addition of these sacrificial hunters, the situation stabilized again, and the other hunters retreated behind the walls to rest. Yet this was only a short moment of peace, as the gold-ranked hunters struggled with the Dukes, and the side effects caught up with the vampiric hunters.
Soon, these hunters disintegrated into a puddle of blood, and the main hunters rejoined the battle. This time, the situation only worsened as the last remnants of mist faded.
"Do I really have to use it?" Genji wondered to himself.
"If you have any other trump cards, don't hold back," the elder hunter who approved of this cooperation said.
"I'll warn you; this will kill everyone who enters the battle. Even if they survive, they won't live for long."
"You're speaking as if that isn't the case already."
"Don't say I didn't warn you."
With that, Genji took out another concoction he had made with the materials the hunters provided him. He donned a thick gas mask before throwing the large, ceramic jar into the battlefield. It sailed over the heads of their allies and smashed into the enemy crowd.
Upon shattering, a thick, viscous liquid splattered everywhere and evaporated at rapid speeds. Any vampire that touched this boiling liquid instantly had their flesh melted into goop. Bone-piercing screams deafened everyone as some vampires dissolved into mushes of blood from the initial breakage.
Within seconds, the area transformed into a zone of death that everyone sought to avoid. However, this didn't slow down the concoction's lethality. No, it was only the beginning.
Genji was very fond of poisonous gases and this was no exception. When the vampires inhaled the fumes, a burning sensation seared their bodies. Their windpipes burned in pain and they felt as if they had swallowed fire.
Their nostrils dissolved in their heads and overwhelmed them with unbearable pain. It was so bad they couldn't even form a thought to use their blood arts, achieving the same effect from before in acid fashion.
The hunters seized this vulnerability and eliminated as many vampires as possible. With each slash, they revealed the hollow interiors and melted flesh that their opponents suffered from.
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It was a gruesome sight, but these hunters had no time to be astounded. Every second was precious now, and they intended to make the most of it. Within minutes, all the elites in the battle had perished, leaving only scattered nobles and evening out the numbers for once. Even then, the nobles continued to fall, leaving the hunters in a state of temporary jubilation.
"We have a chance to win this!" they thought.
However, this jubilation was short-lived as many hunters suddenly became numb. Their bodies stopped moving as they intended, and they stumbled in their steps. Their muscles twitched in pain and their breathing hindered. Soon they couldn't stand anymore and their faces collided with the blood-soaked ground.
Complex emotions filled their eyes, but they understood their condition. This was the price they had paid to slaughter so many vampires. It was a heavy price, but they didn't regret it. At least they saw the hope of winning this battle in their sacrifice.
From the wall, Genji let out a deep, muffled sigh at the carnage.
"See what I mean? It's very dangerous." Genji asked the elder.
"But what choice do we have?" the elder answered, still appalled at the lethality of Genji's concoction.
Genji had crafted this poison using the entire HQ's reserves of silverbane and depleted the hunters' supplies for the next two years. Normal silverbane was already deadly to humans, so it wasn't hard to imagine the effects of a refined version.
Now, only the lucky few in the periphery and the gold hunters remained. But even then, the survivors struggled against their foes, having been weakened by the aftermath. Thankfully, silverbane affected vampires more than humans, pushing the three dukes to the brink of death.
Sensing their vulnerability, the gold-ranked hunters intensified their efforts to finish them off. Yet before they could do so, nine bloody presences rivaling the dukes appeared in their senses. A heavy force weighed down on them and cracked the ground around them.
Their knees buckled, giving the heavily wounded dukes time to widen the distance between them. Then nine more bats swooped down next to their fellow dukes, forming hopelessness in the hunters' hearts. They had struggled to barely match 3 dukes and now there were 9 more of them?
How were they supposed to win this war? Was it even possible? What's the point of fighting anymore? Should they just surrender and save themselves from the pain?
The hunters quickly suppressed these depressing thoughts and steeled their will. Eyes full of determination and sacrifice appeared in the dukes' view.
The hunters exchanged glances, confirming that their colleagues' thoughts matched their own. Then one hunter rushed at an injured duke, launching a suicidal attack at the vampires that tried to stop him. The other hunters followed and swung with utter disregard for their lives. Surprise flashed through the Dukes' eyes, but they welcomed it, easily killing the attackers. Since they are so willing to die, they will help them.
This joy, however, didn't last long when they sensed the fading presence of two dukes. Turning around, they saw twenty hunter bodies surrounding the two dead dukes.
The hunters had sacrificed around 30 gold hunters to complete these kills. This amounted to half their numbers, leading the other Dukes to believe they had given up.
'So they wanted to bring down at least two of us before dying. But do they really think that would change their deaths? No matter how they try, all of them will still die.'
The dukes shot looks of mockery at them, but the hunters paid no heed to it. Instead, they tore chunks of flesh from the bodies, opting to swallow it to obtain the blood inside it. It was a barbaric act, but the dukes soon understood why the hunters paid such a heavy price to kill them.
A sanguine glow flushed their flesh and augmented them with newfound strength. Everything they had spent since the battle started was replenished and they took on vampiric characteristics like the silver hunters before them.
Then another wave of suicidal attackers was dealt, ending with five hunters trading their lives for the last injured duke.
'They're becoming desperate. How foolish of them. Do they really think they can use our strength against us?'
The Dukes endured the painful burns from the air and formed a defensive formation. All they needed to do was stall, and the bodies of the hunters would eventually break down. It wouldn't be long—20 minutes at most, mainly due to the silverbane in the air suppressing the vampire blood inside them.
If it was any other circumstance, the hunters would have instantly perished upon ingesting their blood. It was like swallowing a weapon the dukes could use from the inside. After all, the blood control of dukes was no joke.
Sadly, this was impossible due to that fucking silverbane. How the hell did these weaklings make this thing?
Despite their annoyance, the Dukes easily fended off the hunters' desperate attacks, grinning maniacally as they crushed the hopes of their opponents.
Seeing their futile attacks, Zepher stepped back and prepared to unleash his trump card. His grip tightened around his weapon handle, but he didn't have a choice right now. Delaying this would only end with everyone's death so he had to use it even if it would severely weaken him.
A violent energy surged through his organs, filling him with immense pressure. The air around him rippled forcibly and red energy oozed from his body. This energy was unlike the blood energy utilized by the vampires; it was an energy of violence and destruction, distinct from the foulness that came with vampires.
This was Martial Energy, an energy specifically designed for frontal battles and one of the options in Genji's talent awakening. Since he had declined it, the option had been offered to another champion.
However, before the energy could fully enter a berserk state, Zepher reined it in and slowly reversed the transformation. This wasn't because he didn't want to use it but because he didn't need to.
In the vampires' distraction, a large shadow flame had charged up and slashed down on them. It was subtle and faint, like a stalker in the night. By the time the Dukes noticed it, they were doused in this flickering darkness and suffered countless cuts. The entire formation was covered, leaving the gold hunters in awe at this area of destruction.
Feeling the pain, the dukes rushed for the closest exit, separating in the process. With their escape, Genji absorbed the remaining flames and unleashed his fastest speed, reinforced with Solid Core. Appearing before a duke who was frantically trying to extinguish the flames, Genji hacked down.
The gleam of darkness shimmered in his eyes, overwhelming him with intense brightness and power. But despite this grand scene, the Duke felt nothing from the attack. No pain, no blood, no cuts. Nothing. It felt weak and nonexistent, making him scoff at the intense lighting.
'Hphm, how weak. I thought the attack was dangerous after sensing how much energy was used, but it seemed like he was only bluffing. What a showoff.'
Yet these were the Duke's last thoughts as his view split apart, with one half falling downward and the other half remaining still. It was very disorienting, but the Duke never registered it.
As his body fell backward, it shredded into speckles of blood, before fading with the remaining shadow flames.
"Thanks for distracting them," Genji said as he landed next to Zepher.
"As explosive as always," Zepher commented and looked upon the fallen vampires.
In the commotion, the hunters managed to fall three other dukes, leaving only five in a wounded state.
The surviving dukes looked up from their positions and understood how everything led to this. It was because they were too arrogant and conceited in thinking that no one outside their battle was able to harm them. Because of this, they paid dearly, but the hunters weren't any better.
Many of them were out of breath and bleeding everywhere. In fact, only Genji and Zepher were in relatively good condition, but they were both exhausted. Zepher had been fighting since the start, relying on healing consumables to persist while Genji had drained his entire pool in that surprise attack.
Witnessing this sullen scene, the vampires exchanged knowing glances before focusing on the Duke in the middle of the five. After nodding, the other four vampires rushed toward him, channeling all their blood energy to carve through their obstacles.
Glimpsing their peculiar movements, the hunters sprung into action again, knowing full well the vampires were planning something. Zepher hammered an approaching vampire with his broadsword, destroying the ground beneath.
Genji dissipated the remaining stored energy and unleashed his top speed once more, severing the arm of a female vampire, who ignored his attack to continue charging.
A few hunters tried to attack the stationary person but were repelled by a storm of blood. The vampires were doing everything to gather and the hunters couldn't do anything about it. How could they when the vampires were willingly sustaining crippling injuries to protect the stationary one?
By the end of this dash, four mangled vampires had gathered around a single vampire. Many parts of their bodies were missing, but the one in the middle remained unharmed.
This stark contrast further augmented Genji's unease and made him retreat. Whatever they were planning, he didn't want to be within their range. The other hunters followed his example, but they soon realized their retreat was futile.
That was because as they distanced themselves, a whirlpool of blood enclosed everyone. This whirlpool rotated around the perimeter at rapid speeds, shredding anything that dared to cross through.
The source of this sudden barrier was the blood ritual conducted by the vampires when they looked away. Turning back, they gaped at the four Dukes holding their torn-out hearts above their heads.
"Oh esteemed one, we offer you this sacrifice to awaken you from slumber. May you accept our token of blood and extinguish our foes."
With that, they crushed their vital organs and allowed the blood to flow down their arms. Once the liquid touched the ground, it flowed under the guidance of a supernatural force, outlining a beautifully gruesome magic circle.
Then the Duke in the middle injected all the energy he had been gathering and powered it with everything he had. Literally. The Duke shriveled up and disintegrated into ash as he used his life to activate this spell.
Then a link formed between this magic circle and the altar in their base. The last Duke who was overseeing this location sensed this fluctuation and ordered everyone to gather the blood crystals. These bloodcrystals, which they had painstakingly crafted for this very purpose.
If Genji were here, he would have realized these were the same crystals that he had obtained when he attacked the violators.
Soon, piles of blood diamonds poured into the altar, dissolving and infusing it with their lifeblood. Yet the final duke was not happy with this activation.
"So close, but why did they have to sacrifice their lives for the final step? Just what did they encounter that we had to rush it like this?" He asked himself and poured his own blood onto the altar.
Back at the battlefield, the hunters solemnly watched an ancient, decrepit coffin emerge from the ground. With this coffin's appearance, the remaining dukes withered away, and the aged wood repaired itself. It was like the time of the dukes and the coffin had been swapped, leading to an early exhaustion of the vampire's lifespan.
From this coffin, Genji sensed a danger that surpassed the 12 Dukes they faced. No, it wasn't even on the same level, causing sweat to break out on his back.
With the dukes' deaths, the blood circle faded and the lid slowly slid aside. Then a young, handsome vampire crawled out and looked around in confusion. As his eyes wandered, they landed on the tense group. His head tilted slightly, and words of a foreign language greeted their ears.
They couldn't understand a single word, but they couldn't sense any signs of hostility from that innocent and naive face. If they didn't know better, they would have thought he was a normal adolescent.
But they do know better. They had witnessed the bloody ritual that summoned the eerie coffin that housed him. Knowing this standoff would only end in their disfavor, one hunter charged at the teenage vampire, ready to finish this battle.
But before he could get close, blades of blood expanded from all over his body, slicing him into ribbons. It was a miserable death that fully showcased the terrors of this being.
Although this vampire didn't possess the traits common in vampires, he was by no means weak. Quite the opposite, in fact, because with the absence of vampiric qualities, he also conquered the flaws of this race.
No longer would he be plagued by the personality warping of bloodlust or the dependence of blood. No longer would he be bound by mortal limitations or the confinements of the flesh. This was a perfect evolution that eclipsed all vampires before him. This was a Prince!