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Two Blood Knights had appeared, most likely Vampires serving Blednica, the Countess of this nameless town that has been tormenting the people for a good while now.
I’m not sure if they used to be townspeople she turned to or if they’re separate families but judging by their refined way of speaking and pride, they must be from a separate family that was already not related to the people of the town.
So I should be able to just kill them without feeling guilty, alright?
“Despite her appearance, she defeated a lot of Blood Thralls, be careful.”
“I know I am not so foolish as to judge a book by its cover.”
The two Blood Knights shared some words; it seemed they wouldn’t underestimate me because I looked like a “weak little girl," although if you looked below my clothes, I had quite the hard muscles already and some nice, hard-as-steel abs.
“Hey, you guys, how about you finish your banter and come and get me?” I taunted them, as they seemed quite proud to take the bait.
“You damn Celestial!”
“Wait, don’t charge ahead so carefreely!”
One of them easily took the bait, flashing towards me like a blur of crimson light.
FLASH!
His huge red sword was swung vertically, descending like a guillotine, ready to slice my whole body in two halves. It was a similar technique to the Death Knights! Were those skeletons Blood Knights or something?
CLASH!
Naturally, I intercepted and parried his blow with Gram, as a flash of bright light emerged from his blade the moment his red sword hit him.
“Ungh?!”
The Blood Knight, as a Vampire, was very weak to holy light; merely gazing at its brilliant gleam made him lose his composure and weaken his guard, opening the way for my dagger to pierce his chest.
BAAAM!!!
However, a huge crimson spread descended from above my head, impacting the floor where I was seconds ago. I swiftly evaded using the still-active buffs of my accessories as I glanced at the second Blood Knight, who had conjured magic to fight.
I see one of them as a Magic Knight, the other as a Heavy Knight, and their armor does look quite different. I can guess their strategy already: use the bulky guy to distract me and tank the hits while the magician knight blasts me with magic from afar.
A good strategy that could have worked quite well against most foes... But not against me.
Spiritual Winds gathered around my body, emerging from the Sylph’s Tear, which I further manipulated and boosted in power through my own Mana, as I flashed in a mere second right next to the Magician Knight, Gram overflowing with the power of {Sunshine}.
“Eh?!”
The Blood Knight was surprised—too surprised, to say the least. I could hear his teeth gritting tightly as my blade reached his armor, striking him not once but twice at the same time.
“{Twin Slashing Sunlight Blade}!”
SLASH! SLASH!
The impact of both blows provoked by the Twin Cutter’s Skill special effect of turning one cutting attack into two exploded at once, the impact shattering his red armor with ease and revealing his exposed vitals.
Vampires can regenerate really well against mostly anything except light and fire, and if you strike their hearts, they'll usually die instantly if they aren’t higher-ranking Vampires such as Counts or Dukes.
Tightly gripping my Blazing Dragon Tooth and Frost Wolf Fang Daggers, I pierced the Magician Knight’s chest and then imbued Mana into the daggers.
BOOOM!
His chest blew up into pieces as I quickly summoned the Bastion Shield to shield myself from the incoming rain of Crimson Spears and the piercing Sword Attack coming from behind by the other knight!
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
I swiftly jumped away the moment the attacks hit my armor and shield, evading more of them as I saw the Heavy Blood Knight rushing towards me with eyes glowing bright red.
“You tricky bastard!”
I noticed the Magician Knight had yet to die, so I guess they are indeed special; the heart was blown up and most of the ribcage was slowly regenerated. His Magic helped him recover even more quickly as blood started covering the wounds.
Tch, I guess I have to go a bit further than that. However, he was already very weak and focused on healing himself; I could behead him while he did this.
The problem is that this beefy guy is getting in the way.
“RAAAAH!{Blood Blade}!”
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His Greatsword suddenly absorbed his Blood Energy, as it grew three times its original size, and then he swung it horizontally against me, the slash alone unleashing a potent wave of powerful crimson demonic energy.
“{Sunlit Arc}!”
I set my foothold firmly into the ground as I spun like a ballerina and unleashed a circle-shaped attack that blocked the wave of blood energy at once, unleashing an explosion of light at the same time.
SLASH!
“URGH…! That blasted light again!”
The Heavy Knight lost his composure as I immediately divided a Light Illusion of myself, leaving it there as I rushed towards the regenerating Magician Knight, pointing Gram into his still-open chest.
“S-Shit!”
The Magician Knight panicked, quickly touching the ground, to suddenly activate a magical array he had set up while I wasn’t watching.
“A magic array?”
“Hahaha! Did you think I was so defenseless?! {Blood Prison}!”
Before I could react against his magic, a sea of blood engulfed my entire body and tightly wrapped itself around me, quickly shaping into powerful crimson chains.
They seemed to weakly restrain my Mana Conductivity and weaken my stats temporarily—an interesting Spell.
“NOW!”
The Magician Knight slowly stood up as his partner appeared behind me, grinning maliciously as his red sword overcharged with his energy and then flew down towards my body, attempting to impale me.
That was a pretty good strategy, and I am quite impressed.
However.
“{Sunshine}”
FLASH!
A blinding light erupted from my body, reacting with my own Physique as I temporarily became the embodiment of the sun. The chains melted in an instant as the piercing light burned the knight's skin and made them retreat while hissing agonizingly.
I used this opportunity to my advantage, rushing towards the Magician Knight, who somehow instinctively sensed my presence and attempted to fend me off by firing a dozen Crimson Spears my way.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
However, I swung Gram horizontally and vertically while running, generating a barrier made out of my own slashing attacks that constantly exuded bright light. The magician knight suddenly lost his foothold the moment the light hit his red eyes, as I pointed Gram’s tip and pierced his neck, moving the blade vertically in that very instant.
SLAAASH!
“GRAAARKKHH…!”
With a dry scream of agony, his head rolled over the floor, a trail of blood covering the entire ground as the light started setting his entire body ablaze. He was surely dead now, and I received an EXP notification.
[You have slain [Magician Blood Knight: Aren (A+ Rank)] x1!]
[You earned 250.000 EXP.]
[Level up!]
“YOU!!!”
The other Blood Knight came running towards me from behind, his blindness having already recovered as his body was overflowing with blood-red energy.
“{Bloody Revenge}!”
His eyes flashed with bright crimson light as he activated a Blood Art I had heard about. Channeling the magic power of a fallen ally, his blade unleashed a tremendous vertical attack, resembling a wave of crimson light that could easily devastate a whole town.
SLASH!
The power was too much, as I quickly summoned the Shield once more and tanked the hit to the best of my capabilities!
BOOOM!
The impact was tremendous; it felt like a whole bomb there; it pushed me back several dozens of meters; and the Blood Knight didn’t waste this opportunity to leap over me and point his sword towards my neck.
“DIE!!!”
With a furious roar, he descended with tremendous might, only for him to end up hitting one of my Light Illusion Clones, as I was right at his left side, my hands gathering Celestial Energy, Mana, and Ki.
“{Demon-Sealing Celestial Chains}!”
FLASH!
“W-What?!”
In a split second, half his body was wrapped in chains made of light, a spell I had crafted right at that moment using my Great Sorceress Skill’s Ability to create Spells.
[You have used the {Demon-Sealing Celestial Chains} on your foe! As a Demon, he will be restrained for a small amount of time!]
[Additionally, all his stats have dropped by -20%!]
“W-What are these chains?! You wench! You copied my partner’s spell- GRAAARGH!”
Before he could continue speaking, Gram pierced his neck and then moved vertically, slicing his head off before he could finish his words, vomiting blood.
His head fell to the floor with a loud thud, slowly rolling away.
[You have slain [Heavy Blood Knight: Heres (A+ Rank)] x1!]
[You earned 250.000 EXP.]
[Level up!]
[You have Gathered [Blood Knight’s Corpse (A Rank)] x2]
[You have Gathered [Blood Knight’s Full Armor (B Rank)] x2]
[You have Gathered [Blood Knight’s Blood Swords (B Rank)] x2]
[You have Gathered [Pure Blood Heart Core (A Rank)] x2]
[Amazing! All Gathered Items Quality has increased by one Rank!]
"Oh, they had some good loot, their armor is usable, and their swords were alright... Though they might only work better for Vampires.” I rubbed my chin. “But what is this? Pure Blood Heart Core?”
I glanced at a small, heart-shaped crystallization of a Vampire’s Blood Energy, the source of their power. It contains a lot of power, and I could use it to grow stronger, perhaps. It might help me refine my normal Blood and attain some Bloodline, though the Vampire Bloodline is not within my plans.
[“Aren’t you ashamed in the slightest about looting the corpses of some knights? Even if they were your enemies…”]
“Nah, they tried to kill me and would have done the same, I bet.”
As I shrugged, I quickly decided to run as fast as I could back to the village. I had the slight feeling that if they had come here, they might have already gotten there too.
I don’t know how long the Seal I left behind lasted against their attacks, but I hope it can last a couple more seconds!
.
.
.
A group of six Blood Knights had gathered inside the town by now, having destroyed the sealed entrance, and were now wandering around the ruins, looking for “livestock” to feed their Countess's undying desire for sacrificial blood and souls.
“We’ve been looking for ten minutes; where the hell are these insects hiding?”
“The last time we came for livestock, there were over a hundred of them; there’s no way that many have hidden so well; they must be here.”
“If they had tried to escape, surely the Blood Thralls would have eaten them already, or our Countess senses would have sensed them escaping too…”
“Strange… Huh? Wait a minute.”
One of the Blood Knights stopped walking and stood still. He closed his red eyes and remained still for a few seconds, expanding his senses through the [Mana Sense] Skill, a basic Skill all Vampires possessed innately from birth.
FLASH!
His Mana Senses expanded continuously until they reached something—several lifeforms, hiding over a hundred meters deep underground... A malicious smile quickly surged on his lips, which went from ear to ear.
“They’re hiding underground, probably in the sewers…” He laughed. “Let’s go; there should be an entrance around here... Follow me.”
The Blood Knight quickly used his senses to continue searching for an entrance to the underground, as simply brute forcing their way down might make the entire floor collapse and kill all their sacrifices instantly, which is not something they would want.
“Here, I found something.”
One of the Blood Knights pointed at a ruined house covered in rubble. They started moving the stones, finally revealing a secret stone door. All the Vampires smiled, their eyes glowing bright red.
“Hey, you said they were over a hundred, right?”
“Then… Can we have some fun with a few?”
“Of course, with moderation.”
“Heh, as long as you do it with moderation…” The General smirked.
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