The beach is usually a place known for its fun and enjoyable atmosphere with various people wearing swimsuits walking about and having fun, kids playing beach games, and laughing happily.
The beach is usually such a place where there’s happiness and joy, a place humans come to when needing to relax, however today that wasn’t the case.
Black armoured vehicles blocked anyone from entering as men carrying heavy guns stood in guard, the beach itself was littered with men in armour some carrying swords and guns or any weapon of their choice, the entire beach area and buildings close to it had been cleared.
Among these men was a man wearing priestly robes reminiscent of the Catholic church. He held a cross on his hand and a glowing talisman on the other. He stood watching at the sea waiting, waiting for her to show up.
The talisman on his hand glowed brighter as the seconds went by until, from beneath the ocean, a shark appeared. It was quite large, closer to the size of a bus, and as it slowly approached the shore, the priest-like man signaled his men to be ready.
Once it was close enough, it opened its mouth, revealing the petite frame of a young maiden wrapped in talismans that were drenched in the shark’s saliva.
“Ugh! Disgusting, this will be counted as his fault too”.
Elizabeth spoke as she hopped off the beast, removing her fingers that had dug deep into its inner flesh and took a step into the shallow waters of the shore.
The brightness of the sun had blinded her for a moment, but she quickly was able to recover and see. She looked at the reception she was getting and smiled.
There were at least close to a hundred men all dressed in black military armored uniforms carrying heavy guns that she could guess were enhanced by magic. Despite seeing how outnumbered she was, she hardly felt threatened.
She was feeling a bit peckish right now, so a few strong and healthy men would do great as a breakfast meal, or would it be lunch considering the time.
“I am impressed by the warm welcome”
She expressed taking in the sights and feeling the air. The sunlight burned a bit, but she played it off. She spotted another man that stood out among the rest.
“a priest? And you brought a cross too. You know this isn’t an exorcism, right?”
She asked with mild condescension in her tone but held a small level of caution within her. She was weakened after all, so it is imperative that she remain vigilant, even if she believes herself superior in every aspect.
“Your ability to remain calm in such situations is commendable lady Bathory, but you are outnumbered.”
There she was, Elizabeth Bathory Tepes, one of the few supernatural entities with a threat level of 5.
This was his chance. If he manages to defeat her, his reputation and rank within the organisation will go up by tenfold, however the vampire before him was not ordinary vampire.
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The fact she was immune to sunlight despite being weakened spoke volumes about her strength and age; only the strongest and oldest of vampires can conquer the sun barring Daywalkers.
As a talisman master he was the one tasked with placing those talismans on her as such, it was deemed that it was his job to capture her again.
The talismans on her body were a precaution in order to make her weak enough that she wouldn’t be able to escape yet she did, granted the talismans on her were over ten years old it’s to be expected that they’d be less effective over time.
It also didn’t help that when he placed the talisman on her he did not know anything about her and only knew she was a vampire and thus could only make a talisman for that rather than one specific to her.
The man crossed his fingers on the hand that held the talisman and the talisman that were stuck to her body began to itch and burn, the slow sizzle of meat being burnt was heard as a bit of smoke began to emit from Elizabeth’s body only adding to the pain she felt from the sun.
Seeing that he had such control over the talisman on her body she figured he’s the one who either made them or controlled them, she did her best to not show any signs of pain and instead project a calm image.
“I have a very important meeting I need to get to, and I’d rather not be late, so if you don’t mind removing these, that would be helpful”.
A cute and innocent smile was plastered on her face, and an aura of innocence radiated from her, nearly making the soldiers feel intense guilt for inconveniencing her.
“Your charms will not work, Vampire!”
He said as such, but he was shocked to see that she could use her vampire charm ability, while everyone here was given items to resist any form of mind control, they could still feel her charm trying to bend their will.
She shouldn’t be able to use that type of power since the talismans are still on her. Was her charm so strong that she could still use it?
“Well obviously, your talisman is weakening me, so anyway, why haven’t you ordered them to fire yet?”
She asked, staring directly into his eyes, but of course, that trick wouldn’t work on him; however, she was curious about why he hasn’t ordered an attack yet.
She hasn’t drunk any blood in 10 years, and she’s being weakened by the talismans plus the sunlight that adds another weakening effect she couldn’t possibly dodge every single bullet being fired at her, her best bet would be a retreat.
Looking at her now, he could not help but reconsider his plan, the talisman was less effective than he had realised. Perhaps it was negligence on his part or the organisation.
They should have regularly changed and renewed the effect of the talisman, but then again, it’s dangerous to get close to any level 5 threat even if they’re imprisoned.
‘let’s test this out first, if she truly isn’t weakened, I’ll retreat.’
He thought.
“Oh, I see, so that’s how it is.”
“Now you get it”.
The man responded as he took a fighting stance, of course taking down a level 5 threat would raise his reputation to heights never seen, however that plan may have been a mistake considering what he just figured out but there was still a chance even if the talisman were less effective, she should still be somewhat weakened and that was what he wanted to test out.
She looked at the man, he looked to be middle-aged around 35 if not 40, he doesn’t seem to be the type to be overly ambitious judging by his speech.
He was religious, sure, but he has yet to call her a heretic for simply being a vampire, and he called her lady Bathory, meaning for some reason he wanted to be polite.
By all accounts he should be the type to not get over his own head, not unless he truly believes he can take her in a fight or perhaps a calculated risk or maybe he is going through a midlife crisis and needs an achievement under his name?
Elizabeth sighed; despite her assessment, she was never quite good at reading people, so the man’s reasons for doing this may differ from what she imagines nonetheless a meal was a meal.
“People tend to often act out of character when they believe that there’s already a forgone conclusion that works in their favor. may I know your name?”
She asked while simultaneously feeling seashells under the water with her feet, she had to be careful not to make it obvious so as not to alert them.
“it’s Homer Thedius”
“Very well, Homer, come at me”
However, despite her accepting his challenge and beckoning him to come closer, he stayed his distance. The only movement he made was a fighting stance.
Looking at his stance she could easily tell he was no martial artist, as he took the standard boxing stance with his fists closer to his face which was typical of people who don’t practise martial arts, or maybe he was a boxer, she wasn’t a good judge of people.
The idea to peel off her own skin to remove the talisman crossed her mind but she dismissed it, she hasn’t had blood in a long time as such her healing factor is slow, so she decided against that idea.
The two stared each other down in silence, Elizabeth could feel the sun’s heat burn her the more she stood directly under it, the pain was gradually increasing by the second, she had wanted to wait for him to make the move, but he seemed to expect her to do so.
She moved, suddenly squatting, and that single action was all he needed. He spurred into action and quickly tried to get close. He used his talisman to enhance his speed. However, he was too late.
Elizabeth grabbed a seashell from the water, flicking it with her thumb, it splashed out of the water with impeccable speed, and it hit the man on the forehead with a force equivalent to that of a hammer, cracking his skull and halting him on his tracks.
“Oh shit!! Open fire!!”
One of the men shouted, and gunshots resounded on the beach as the men relentlessly poured their bullets onto their target, riddling her with holes and turning her to swiss cheese
They did not even care about their superior who was in front of her. In fact, the force of the bullet pushed him into her hands, and both their bodies fell limp on the water as blood mixed into the ocean.
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