"Are you guys ready for it? The bloodsucker should be coming back any minute now." A girl dressed in white priest robes said, her face somewhat uncertain despite trying to sound composed.
"Yes, Yue, he'll be coming back soon. If what Aura said is true, then those vampires should not be particularly strong nor should there be more than 2 of them. They probably are preparing for something big since they haven't acted much for the last 50 years..." A man wearing a strange black suit with two crossbows tied to the side.
"Still... These are vampires we're talking about... are you sure we can take them on? Yue asked, still not convinced. After all, killing a vampire is like slaying a dragon, a feat that worthy of being called a hero for.
"... Don't worry... Have a plan..." Another woman said. Her voice was low, and yet, it contained a lot of power. She stood out from the other two not due to her moderate beauty, but because of the cold and frosty aura that she emanated.
Nodding, the man began laughing. "I'm impressed by the way. Although it's not impossible to do, replicating a vampiric aura like that is really hard to do. Hell, as long as I can't see you, even I'd be fooled by it. Hehe, those bloodsuckers won't see it coming."
It was true after all. The woman was the famous Daughter of Ice, nicknamed this way due to her ice magic and icy attitude. Only she could replicate the cold and dark nature of a vampire well enough to fake her own aura enough to fool a vampire like this.
However, despite all of her coldness, she was still naive. The man snorted inside. The moment word got out of this and this woman got all the credit, there was simply no way that she would get out alive. Chances are, those old vampires living in seclusion would all come pouring out like a tide, destroying anything in their path to get their hands on her. Her fate would not be a good one.
Meanwhile, he would just enjoy the spoils of this hunt. Just by participating in this he would be able to ask the Witch Hunter Association to raise his rank by at least 2, maybe even 3. The benefits from raising in ranks would be huge.
As for the priestess? She was here only because apparently, the Daughter of Ice and her had some... deep relations. If it was a normal day, the man would instantly brand her a heretic and turn her into the association, but this was not a normal day.
He was about to say something when his senses caught onto the aura of a powerful vampire. Thankfully, there were only 3, and one, in particular, was much, much weaker than the others.
"A child... So that's what they've been doing..." The hunter whispered. This might be a problem, he thought.
It wasn't that the child would actually cause problems, but for a child to survive this long, it meant that he or she had good talent. Killing an adult would earn the fury of those old monsters who wanted to keep the vampire's pride high, but killing a child... oh man.
This would get you the ire of the entire vampire race. Forget the Daughter of Ice, even he would definitely get in trouble, and it would be very, very hard to get out alive. In fact, his experience as a witch hunter told him that if he did kill the child, death would be the happiest ending. The worst... He didn't want to think about it.
A good comparison is like this: If someone was to bomb a military camp, those behind it would be angry, but it would be expected. However, if someone was to bomb a civilian zone that was not armed and not involved in the conflict... This was a whole other issue.
However, right now, that was not important. The other two auras, whilst nowhere near as strong as those old monsters, still made him feel like running away immediately. Thankfully, the knowledge that the rank S adventurer, the Daughter of Ice was with him, made him feel much better.
The man and the priestess instantly hid in two opposite corners whilst the Daughter of Ice stood in the middle of the street. Her aura extremely similar to that of a vampire, however, the moment she would make eye contact with the real vampires, all of her disguises would become useless in an instant.
For that reason, she whipped out a book and began 'reading' it. It was not a very good way to hide her identity, but it would give them a couple extra seconds to sneak-attack and land at least one critical hit.
As he looked at the sky, he could not help but be startled despite already knowing how vampires looked.
3 figures, each with huge wings, slowly descended from the skies. Once they were far down enough to get a better look, the man couldn't help but agree with those nobles that would pay basically anything to obtain a living vampire.
There were two girls, one young looked around 13 and the other around 24. Both of them were extremely beautiful, and although the man had never seen an elf and only heard of their beauty in stories, he couldn't help but think that elves couldn't be as beautiful as vampires. Even the man was extremely handsome.
Once the three vampires landed, they all retracted their wings and walked up to the Daughter of Ice. The man flashed a half-confused and half-helpless expression. Once they were 10 meters away from the Daughter of Ice, he bowed down and spoke.
"Noaptea este cu tine, fratele meu curat." Although the man couldn't understand, nor could the priestess or the Daughter of Ice, he still got the basic meaning behind it.
He had heard of it from his studies. It was a greeting between vampires, and only vampires could say it. There was no way a human could say this greeting nor really speak the vampiric language since they lacked the long canines, which were key in pronouncing it.
Hence, unless one could respond to this in less than 3 seconds, the vampire would instantly know that the Daughter of Ice was no real vampire, but an impostor!
The Daughter of Ice knew this, so she coughed a bit. This was the signal, and both the man and priestess sprang into action.
Before the vampires could react, the Daughter of Ice had already activated her famous spell: Glacier Bindings.
Chains of ice sprang from the ground and immediately caught the two adult vampires whilst smashing the younger one away, sending her crashing into a nearby house. Instantly, the man fired both of his crossbows, aiming at the two vampire's hearts.
"Witch hunter!" The vampiress cried out in shock whilst the vampire roared "Treachery! Despicable!"
Before they could break free, the priestess finally finished her chant and yelled: "Stop!"
The witch hunter's eyes widened a little before going back to normal. Although this was only a tier 3 spell, if used correctly, it's real might could even rival tier 7 spells due to one reason: The time attribute.
The time attribute is extremely rare, kind of like the space attribute. One cannot block time or space spells, so they are all way more powerful than what their tiers might suggest.
The two vampire's movement stopped for a split second before resuming. A flash of disbelief flashed through both of their faces as the two arrows impaled themselves on their chests.
In that moment, however, the full might of a vampire's counterattack arrived. The chains of ice instantly broke and the two fell to the ground. The disbelief was gone, and instead, their scleras turned as black as the void.
They both tore out the arrows from their chests, blood splattering everywhere. Then, the woman took out a number of red crystals from her bag and threw them at her companion, who caught them and swallowed them whilst the woman did the same with the remainder of them.
The moment they did so, their wounds instantly closed and their auras spiked in power, multiplying by at least fivefold for a second before going back to normal.
However, that aura didn't just disappear. No, it went into a spell.
"Dance of darkness: a thousand fallen wings.", "Moon's dark blessing" The two vampires each yelled. Thousands of blades appeared in the sky whilst a silvery color surrounded them before all of them fell down, bringing chaos with them.
The ground cracked under the might of the spell. The Daughter of Ice threw herself at the priestess and created an ice barrier to defend herself, however, it was not enough. Soon, hundreds of mana blades, each with the power of at least a rank 4 spell, fell upon the Daughter and the priestess.
The man himself was not fairing much better. His various anti-unholy artifacts all flashed, trying to protect him. However, all of them soon collided and he too was met with the rain of blades.
Immediately, he activated a martial art, Skin Fortress. His body turned as hard as steel as he withstood the impact. Nonetheless, he still got severely cut in multiple places.
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All of this happened in an instant. After the rain of moon-powered blades, every house in a radius of a hundred meters was cut apart, the people inside all dead. Screams erupted from the other houses, but the battle site was in silence.
The Daughter of Ice had severe cuts on her entire body. She had used her ice very well, defending herself and the priestess who would have surely died otherwise, however, she still was severely injured. The witch hunter faced the same situation, albeit a bit better off due to not having thrown himself into the carnage.
Meanwhile, the two vampire's faces were serious, but they did not look particularly tired or strained. However, a grim expression was hidden beneath that seriousness, and they themselves felt like a death star had raised over them.
Leon and Laura had arrived and greeted the fellow vampire as per the vampiric etiquette, and yet, their every belief was shattered the moment the Daughter of Ice revealed her true race. In their eyes, it was like an octopus turning into a tree. They simply could not understand.
However, they still retaliated. Luna had thankfully been knocked away by the first attack, and they both focused on not hitting her.
Despite the surprise attack, they were still 500+ years old vampires, so they immediately reacted. They did cause damage, however, the weird fake vampire was much stronger than what they expected, and the vampire hunter too survived. There was also the annoying priestess, but she seemed to have run out of mana already, so she was as good as dead.
Leon and Laura were not naive and this was not their first battle with witch hunters, however, it was the first time they had been hit by their arrows, and all vampires knew that if there is one thing other than the sun that can kill them, it is a witch hunter's arrow.
It is not because of the first impact, rather, it is because of the poison it carries. Although older and stronger vampires can resist it, these arrows carry a very potent venom capable of slowly weakening a vampire until the witch hunter can kill them. If left alone, it will flush away by itself in a matter of hours, however, during fights, it is extremely unfair to fight against.
Theoretically, if they really, really tried, Leon or Laura could escape, or at least one of them. However, there was only one problem: Luna.
As the two parties stared each other down, Luna got up whilst groaning. Her ears ringed and her every bone hurt. She knew what had happened, but she too was in disbelief.
However, her battle experience was far greater than her parents, so she instantly recovered. After she looked at her parents not running, realization dawned on her.
They weren't running not because they didn't fear death, but because they wanted her to escape. Knowing this, Luna's heart felt like a raging storm. She didn't know what to think, but she knew one thing, run.
She knew it was shameless, but she was powerless right now. Nonetheless, tears fell from her face as she ran away and opened her wings to fly away.
However, the moment she was in the sky, the witch hunter shouted at the Daughter of Ice, "Quick! Use your strange storm spell!"
Startled, she did as he said and used the spell. In that moment, a powerful storm swept the area. Leon and Laura braced themselves to resist it, however, the witch hunter shouted again "Bring the kid over to us!"
Although she hesitated, after being shouted at again, the Daughter of Ice did as he told her. In that moment, Luna had already soared around 10 feet in the air before a powerful wind suddenly caused her to lose her balance and she was thrown back.
"You dare?!" Leon and Laura both roared, but they were helpless. They realized what the bastard was trying to do, but if they tried to rescue their daughter, they would leave themselves far too open.
After the spell ended, Luna found herself under the heel of the witch hunter, who had taken out his crossbow and pointed it at her head. She could only grit her teeth as she staid still, not daring to move.
"Both of you, the moment you move, I will end this kid's life." The witch hunter hissed. Even the Daughter of Ice was startled. She did as he said because despite being rank S, she still was only 20 years old. She didn't really have much combat experience, and he seemed like a good person to listen to.
However, the results were just too ugly for her. However, she knew that speaking out now was a bad idea, so she kept silent.
She hated vampires. She had heard all the stories and what they did, but seeing them in action, it reminded her of her own parents and... she didn't want to think more. This was why she must get stronger, to avenge her parents.
She was determined to kill the two vampires, but the child? She looked far too young and weak, besides, it was a child! A child! what the witch hunter was doing was completely against her morals.
As for the priestess? Her little brain barely understood what was happening, and had it not been for her time attribute, she would be as useful as a random rock lying around: completely useless during a fight. She had huge breasts though, so it was okay.
Leon and Laura were completely furious. It was not possible for their scleras to get blacker than they were, but they didn't dare move. Despite all the coldness in vampires, they were still parents. Their kid had a great future, great looks, amazing talent that constantly shocked them and was a very proper vampire, so they had no reason not to love her.
Hence, they simply didn't know what to do. Moving meant that their child would die and then them, not moving meant they surely die but their child might just live.
Hence, Laura and Leon looked at each other. They could understand what the other was thinking with just a look.
Slowly getting on their knees, both of them raised their hands up without a word. The witch hunter's eyes brightened as he began laughing "Good! That's what I want to see? You love your daughter enough to give away your lives?"
As he shouted, his applied weight to his leg and the girl under him groaned in pain. "Now, I want you both to carve out your hearts, and if you do that, I swear on my name as a witch hunter I'll let your daughter go..."
Leon and Laura's eyes turned even grimmer. For a vampire to carve out their hearts, was basically suicide. They would die quickly, and they would also lose all their mana.
Just as they were undecided, the witch hunter suddenly stomped on Luna with great force, making her yell out in pain. "What's wrong? Didn't you love your daughter??" He shouted as he began to stomp time and time again.
The Daughter of Ice gasped whilst Luna cried out even more. Not only was her body still weak, but the witch hunter's boot was filled with tiny spikes on the bottom.
"Stop! Stop! We'll do it!" Laura cried out. The witch hunter stopped his stomping, his foot hovering right over Luna's bleeding and mangled back.
Despite being the Blood Monarch and carrying plenty of suffering already, Luna could not help but cry. In the silence of the night, her cry was like a bright light, so out of place and yet so fitting.
She was humiliated. She felt powerless. Her parents were in danger for her, and she couldn't do anything about it. She wanted to yell out 'Just run!', but she was scared. Scared of dying again and not getting another chance. Scared of failing her parents. Scared of failing herself.
"We'll do it, but you have to promise that you will let her go and not inform anyone of her and not follow her either. You will also have to give our corpses to her and make it so your friends don't do anything to her either, otherwise, we will self-destruct, and you will not survive no matter how bastardly you are..." Leon said, his eyes shining a dark light.
The witch hunter shivered and quickly agreed. A vampire's self-destruction would basically level a country if done by old monsters. Whilst not quite as strong, these two's self-destruct could still destroy at least half the country and surely kill him.
After he swore on his name, a promise no witch hunter can back out of even if they want to, the two vampires finally relaxed. With a quick motion, both tore out their hearts.
"FATHEEEEER! MOTHER! NO!" Luna roared, her eyes filled with red tears. Even the ice-cold Daughter of Ice couldn't help but pale and puke at the sight. After all, it's a thing hurting someone, it is disgusting to an extent, but seeing someone inflict self-harm is far, far more disgusting.
Sighing, the witch hunter moved his foot away from Luna and began panting. Taking those oaths was not lime making a normal promise, it took a lot out of him.
Stiffly, Luna slowly crawled to where her parents laid. Their eyes were still open, however, the light in them was quickly fading.
After she arrived next to her parents, Luna broke down into tears once more as she hugged them and pulled them close, "No... no... please... don't leave me..."
Just as the light in their eyes was about to fade, two hands reached out and grabbed Luna's head. One from each parent, they brought her even closer to them as Laura, the weaker of the pair, finally died.
However, before he too died, Leon let out a small whisper, "We love you sweety... Don't... Don't forget us..."
"Father! Please no, please no, please!" Luna screamed. Pride? What even was pride.
That very saying she always held close. You don't understand how valuable something is until you lose it. She suddenly felt like she was just playing with it before. Only now did she truly understand it's meaning.
Screaming into the sky, Luna's roar resounded out into the city. No guards came to check, nor did anyone even come near. The witch hunter had already prepared for this fight and had ordered several of his underlings to keep any who wanted to intrude out...
Turning, her gaze turned feral as she locked eyes with the witch hunter "You..." She hissed as she attempted to attack him, however, he barely slapped her, sending her reeling to the ground.
Without even looking at her, he said "I swore to let you go, so just grab your parents and go. The sun is going to come out in around 4 hours, so you should be able to return to your hideout. Don't get me in trouble because you kill yourself..."
Just as he was about to walk away, a hand stopped him from below. Luna had grabbed his legs and was furiously punching him with a gaze that seemed to contain all the hatred in the world.
Frowning, he stomped down on her hands. Luna screamed but did not stop. Now furious, the witch hunter began stomping on Luna again.
However, he was soon stopped and dragged away by cold hands. Turning, he found the Daughter of Ice staring at him with cold eyes.
Snorting, he laughed "Forgive me, mighty rank S adventurer. You, the most powerful being in the city, felled two evil vampires! Congratulations..."
Meanwhile, Luna had been forced to realize that she was in no position to retaliate. She pitifully got up, her body mangled and her flesh broken in several spots from the nail-like sole of the witch hunter.
Grabbing her parent's bodies, Luna attempted to fly away, however, her speed was much slower than what it normally would have been. As she flew back home, she would constantly either start crying or stare back with a hateful gaze.
The cold feeling of hatred... that very feeling that she had slowly extinguished... reignited.
However, she tried her best to suppress it. She tried. Really tried. In the end, she succeeded, however, it was only compressed upon a single person: That witch hunter.
His face burned into her memories, her sobbing gradually stopped. Only for a moment though, as she soon broke down again. She simply could not help but cry.
After reaching their old home just minutes before the sun came out, she laid her parents over their bed and spent an entire night just hugging their corpses, pitifully and uselessly calling their names as though they would come back.
Only after 4 days of this did she finally stop. However, her heart was now cold. The love they had showed her had warmed her up, however, to survive now, a thick layer of ice once again grew. If she didn't, her heart would have simply been broken, never to recover.
Now, with her mind finally stabilized, she bit into her father's corpse...