…..

The castle was located between two mountains and surrounded by a large forest and a single road that led out of the forest and into the nearest city.

Currently atop one of those two mountains, a man had a camp set up with a bonfire as he sat on a chair sipping tea. There was an earpiece on his left ear.

He took a glance down the mountain and saw his hunters rapidly descend the mountain Heading straight for the forest below.

[So Pops what's the deal with this place? Are we here to raid a den of vampires or are we here to eliminate a specific monster?]

[Are you serious Jay? The debriefing wasn't even that long]

Two voices came from Mr. Ruckfil’s earpiece; The first one was masculine, while the second one was feminine; it was the masculine voice which caused him to heave a sigh before speaking.

“Were you not listening to the debriefing, Johnny? We're here to eliminate a specific Vampire. You already know the face of this vampire.”

He informed, and Johnny laughed before apologising for his forgetfulness.

Ruckfil sighed as he shook his head; this request given to him by Alcina prompted him to bring out the hunters he thought were best qualified to handle the vampire with himself as a backup should they not be able to handle it.

“Don't lose focus, Johny; that goes for the two of you, too, Annabelle and Lucy.”

All three answered with a clear “yes sir” reassuring him.

“The reward for this will benefit the family greatly”

He received another round of “Yessir” to affirm his words.

As he watched he couldn't help but think about the chances of success this team had.

The team was made of three A-rank hunters; Johnny was a swordsman who specialised in a variety of styles but primarily used dual-wielding. He was a double-certified hunter, and that meant he had survived encounters with Level 5 supernatural creatures and not only survived but walked away without losing a limb.

“Johnny, did you hear that? Don't fuck this up by being reckless”

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Annabelle spoke; she was the second member of the team, an A+ rank hunter. She specialised mostly in hand-to-hand combat, and she liked to use brute force; she was also a certified hunter, although despite being stronger than Johnny, she hadn't had as many encounters with Level 5 creatures.

“Oh please, when have I ever been reckless?”

“You punched the guild master last week because he wouldn't let you ascend rank”

Lucy answered, her voice calm and collected. She was the third member of the team, another A+ rank hunter; however, unlike the other two, she wasn’t certified, but she was no less strong. She specialised more in stealth, speed and projectile weapons, Which was evident by her slender frame; she was like an assassin.

By all accounts, they should have at least a 90 percent chance of success, plus with Ruckfil himself as back up those chances go up to 95%, of course, in the event the information Alcina gave him is outdated then he'd need to retreat and chances of retreat are dependent on how much damage they can do in a short period.

The team entered the forest, and they immediately took their position; Lucy was quick to jump into the trees and blended in with the darkness of the night. Annabelle decreased her speed while Johnny took the lead.

However, they were forced to immediately stop as the door to the mansion opened, and a tall figure came out and stepped onto the front lawn; both Annabelle and Johnny quickly used the trees to hide themselves.

Their unspoken plan was an ambush, with Johnny going in first drawing focus and allowing the other two to assess the enemy, depending on the success or failure of his ambush. However, the enemy getting out right as they arrived made it clear they were expecting an attack, meaning Johnny and his team needed to change tactics.

“There's no need to hide, show yourself”

Vlad demanded as he felt the cool breeze of the night brush against his face; at present, he wore a white button-up shirt with black slacks and leather shoes. His short ear-length hair flowed in the wind, and his red eyes seemed to glow an ethereal glow.

Footsteps sounded from within the forest as a lone figure came out, it was a tall and lanky man with blonde hair cut into a clean taper fade. There were two swords strapped to the right side of his waist.

“Humph, at least you're brave enough to show yourself, kudos to you.”

Vlad praised as his eyes appraised the man, observing his gait, gaze and as well as his clothes.

“When a man calls you out, it's only right to respond; otherwise, are you really a man?”

Johnny said with a smirk on his face, his hand resting on his swords, and his sky blue eyes glowed, a telltale sign that his blessed contract was active.

“If those are the rules you choose to live by, then I suppose you are correct; while I appreciate honesty and bravery to a degree, I don’t believe there's anything erroneous with being a coward and a deceiver.”

Vlad informed. One can be honest and courageous all they wanted; however, cowards survived, and liars got what they wanted. It was honestly quite absurd how the things that were discouraged were the ones that were beneficial the most to the individual.

‘I suppose that's the twisted nature God chose to create this world’

Vlad thought to himself while also being reminded that he needed to visit the church; 200 years without praying is certainly treading into heretical territory.

“We'll have to disagree on that Mr Vampire, cowards betray and liars manipulate, and I can't accept people with deceit in their hearts”

Johnny said as he found it unsurprising that a vampire would have no problem with lies and deceit.

“Amusing, quite amusing but I'd much rather you do the thing you came here to do, philosophical debates do get boring after all”

“You sure you wouldn't rather hear yourself talk? Your kind is quite self-absorbed.”

Vlad let out a chuckle as he heard the human's words; he was quite the daring one, definitely his favourite type. They've always had such refreshing blood.

“If you were speaking to my wife, then I'm sure she would have chewed your ear off. She does love her voice, but then again, it is quite a lovely voice, so I personally don't mind.”

Vlad said with a smile on his face; Elizabeth had the most pleasing voice amongst his wives; it's a pity she didn't follow a career as a songstress.

Johnny frowned.

“Are you flexing the fact that you're married? Don't look down on me just because you get to fuck some bitch–”

Johnny’s personal hang-ups about being single spewed out; however, he was unable to finish that sentence as he was forced to parry back the hand that threatened to pierce through his chest.

*tink*

Like steel against steel, Johnny uses his short sword to parry Vlad's hand to the side before quickly jumping back, avoiding another attack by Vlad's left hand that threatened to bisect him to pieces.

“Struck a nerve? I suppose you aren’t a heartless beast after all”

He mocked with a grin on his face.

.....

A/N: Fight scene Incoming.