“And who are you?” responded Denir, standing up.

  Vampires behind Hadar were ready to attack, but he stopped them. The undead had dark grey armour, a black battle axe, and leather boots. His hair was in the shade of rubies. He came closer to the butcher. And the man flinched, distancing himself. The general’s mana emissions were so big that standing in a radius of five metres made you overwhelmed by it.

  “What’s the matter?” the vampire mocked him, closing the distance.

  “Introduce yourself before I kill you,” he continued, taking out his battle axe.

  “My name is Denir Moodeen, the Vampire Butcher! And once again, who are you?!” the confectioner replied, pointing at him with his dagger.

  “I’m Hadar, the second in command after Upper Hand Sloth. How many of our kind have you killed so far?”

  The wind was growing faster.

  “Three hundred sixty-three. Most of them were killed tonight. Are you going to avenge those bastards?”

  “Hell yes, I am. Prepare yourself, feel the flames of wrath!”

  Hadar rushed at his foe, swinging his weapon. Denir avoided the attack by just a few centimetres.

  “Wheel of Fire!” the aggressor proclaimed.

  Fosh! The blade missed the left part of Mooden’s face, or so he thought. After a second or two, a circle made out of fire was summoned from thin air. His face was severely burned, and he screamed in agony. The man quickly took out a bottle, emptying its contents on the burn. The wound healed in a matter of seconds.

  “The Darkest Cloak invocare.”

  A light smell of burned wood appeared as he disappeared. The soldiers were astonished; they had only heard about his ability via word of mouth. Watching the real deal unfold was greatly different. Hadar tried to sense his opponent’s mana, but he was unable to. However, the vampire noticed the footsteps in the sand. They were getting closer to him. Suddenly, they stopped.

  “Fire Shield invocare!” the general said, extending his left hand.

  The Fire Shield was summoned on his hand. It had a radius of about twenty-five centimetres. Unlike most conventional ones, it was see-through, and it was burning in flames. The vampire awaited the attack. He felt the butcher’s mana emissions once again. The undead protected himself from the side where the last footsteps were taken. He was wrong. Denir jumped behind his opponent's back. Tshh! One of his daggers cut his exposed left forearm. The butcher rolled down on the sand and quickly stood up. The general extinguished his shield. He glanced at his wound. Hadar pointed the left index finger at the cut and summoned a flame, stopping the bleeding.

  “You’ve used poison, haven't you?”

  “...”

  “Sadly, I’m immune to most of them. Shall I start fighting for real now?” the vampire mocked, grinning.

  “Good grief… I thought I’d kill Sloth quickly. I guess I’ve got to finish you first,” responded Moodeen, taking out a chain from his armour.

  “VNA. Do you know what it stands for?” he continued, attaching it to his daggers.

  “Hell if I know. Virtuous Nautical Armour?”

  “You’re wrong. The acronym VNA stands for Vampire Neutralising Armour. You should feel honoured, you’re the first vampire that’ll feel its full power.”

  The chained weapon had a range of at least one metre. The blades were covered in sand, poison, and blood. Most smiths would be losing their minds over their current condition. The butcher attacked his foe, trying to slash his neck. The vampire blocked the strike with his axe. He caught the dagger and tried pulling it. Then, something strange occurred. The chain untied from the steel, leaving the weapon in his hands. Foosh! Denir swung his other blade, aiming at his face. Hadar let go of the blade and parried the strike.

  ‘He tied it so loosely on purpose. Still, I’ve got his second dagger. What’s he planning to do?’ he thought, watching him.

  The confectioner spun in another direction, aiming at the same spot. The metal, strangely enough, was coming faster at the undead. He had to protect his face, sacrificing something else. His skin was cut open throughout most of his right forearm. Moodeen quickly withdrew his weapon from the general’s range. The butcher held the chain in both of his hands. The left one was spinning the end with the attached dagger.

  ‘I have to limit my mana usage. At most, I’ve got around ten percent of it. Dammit. He’s stronger than I've anticipated. I’ve lost one of my blades, and now I don’t know what to do. There’s only one answer. I’ve got to run away like a coward I am,’ Vampire Butcher thought, observing his foe.

  Hadar closed his wounds with fire. The man started running away as fast as he could. The vampire ran after him. Denir picked a route consisting of narrow alleys. From time to time, he threw something at the aggressor. The items ranged from a pot with a flower to loose bricks. The chase lasted for a good while. Moodeen entered a house, and the general followed him. It was his house, the same house in which his father was murdered. The butcher went to the kitchen and threw a few knives at him, but every single one of them was parried. The undead came closer, slamming him against a kitchen cabinet. He put his right leg next to the confectioner, grinning.

  “What’s your plan now, huh?!”

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  “Go to hell!” Vampire Butcher responded, injecting him with a green substance.

  “Argh!”

  Denir freed himself from his foe, rushing to the living room. Hadar came a few seconds later. His eyes were irritated, pulsing with enlarged blood vessels. The vampire had had enough.

  “I don’t know what shit you have injected me with, but that’s your end!”

  The general raised his left hand, summoning fire. Vampire Butcher observed as the flame grew larger, coming closer to his face. Soon after, the summoning caught up to him. Denir screamed in agony. The pain he experienced was so intense that he started crying out blood. The body fluid evaporated instantaneously. A smell of charcoal and burned flesh filled the area. Then, his eyes started melting down. The white substance started pouring down his dry, pink cheeks. His face was covered in crimson and white strings. His eye sockets were hollow, just like a mummy’s. He resembled a dead man deprived of his soul. Hadar stopped summoning fire, bending down over the half-conscious flesh.

  “It’s over. You’re just a coward after all…”

  Hadar took a swing, but he didn’t finish it. Moodeen was prepared for such a case. He had intentionally destroyed most of the foundations, making the building quite unstable. Just a mere shake would cause it to collapse. The butcher ignited a fuse hidden underneath the carpet. Boom! Dynamite hidden in the basement destroyed the foundations. The building collapsed in seconds. Dust spread in the air like ignited cotton. The scent of gunpowder, sand, and burned wood left the ruins. Both of them were covered in debris. Denir lost consciousness…

  In another part of the city, Laudis and Solisia were patrolling the streets. Yet, not a single vampire they found was alive. They walked past many corpses, every single one of them had been killed by a cut throat.

  “It was Vampire Butcher,” said Laudis, recalling the scene in the sewers.

  “Why do you think so?” replied intrigued Solisia.

  “He’s intelligent, but he doesn’t seem strong. It’s likely that the man we met in the cafe, the one who impersonated a healer, was the Vampire Butcher. I can’t remember it clearly, but he somehow disappeared from the hotel room. As if he could become invisible.”

  “Invisible, ha! Have you ever seen someone become invisible?”

  Suddenly, they heard a loud explosion. The Crusaders flinched a little.

  “What was that?” the Earth sorceress wondered, looking in that direction.

  “I don’t know, but it’d be better to distance ourselves from it.”

  “Yeah…”

  They turned away, heading West.

  “Continuing my previous statement. The invisibility can be possible. They were killed by haemorrhage caused by cut arteries. He inspected many devils; he knows their anatomy to the bone. He’s likely the Vampire Butcher.”

  “I don’t think so, but whatever makes you content,” the girl replied, waving her hand.

  After a short walk, they ended up not so far away from the presidential palace. Suddenly, they felt huge mana emissions coming their way. They hid in a nearby alley. Footsteps grew louder and louder with every second. Shadows of armoured creatures appeared in front of them. Then, they stopped in an instant.

  “Nice to meet you, Laudis,” said Sloth, appearing in front of them.

  “Who are you?” replied Laudis, standing in front of Solisia.

  “I am Sloth, seventh Upper Hand, and ninth in command. I’ve got a question. Would you rather watch the girl die first or yourself?”

  “Go to hell, bastard!”

  “Then, you’ll accompany me!”

  The general took his Whip of Sands, swinging it at the girl. She glanced at the weapon with great fear. It was her first time that the vampire attacked her from such a short distance.

  “Sword Technique No.2: Cage of Sword!” shouted Laudis.

  The Sun Sword parried the whip. Even though the strike seemed weak, in reality, it was so powerful that it was a miracle that the youth didn’t fall. Solisia made distance, supporting him from a distance.

  “Sword Techniques, a relic of the past. It should have remained in it,” the Upper Hand mocked him.

  “Earth Ramp invocare,” the Earth Sorceress whispered.

  A construction made from hardened earth appeared over the general. Both of them ran over him, escaping to the open area. Sloth showed them an ironic smirk; perhaps he found their tactic amusing. His troop stood frozen, observing the fight.

  “They aren’t going to attack us?” Crimson Eye asked, raising his sword.

  “No, unless I tell them to do so. Now, I’ll show you the power of true ice.”

  The undead raised his left hand. Suddenly, a block of ice appeared centimetres from Laudis. Despite the distance, he felt as if he was truly submerged in it. The boy tried to hide it, but his body was shaking uncontrollably. Despite facing death many times, it was his first time actually to see it. The youth tilted his head slightly to the left and quickly returned to the neutral position.

  “Sword Technique No.0: Heart’s Arson,” he muttered, looking at the vampire.

  Crimson Eye rushed straight at the undead, inviting him to attack. Sloth accepted the invitation. He summoned Ice Spikes above him and prepared himself to use his Whip of Sands. The youth was still running at him, so his opponent threw the summonings at him. Then, he swiftly turned to the left.

  “Earth Wall invocare.”

  Laudis ran to the Earth Wall and jumped off it, dodging both strikes. The Upper Hand was impressed, to say the least. His expression told them he was rather annoyed.

  “Sword Technique No.1: Void Creation!”

  Fwoosh! The aggressor was sucked closer to him. The youth, aiming at his face, swung his blade. It was too late for him to create a good defence; thus, he had to improvise. The vampire summoned a thin layer of ice on his forearms and covered his face. The steel cut them, but the wounds were rather shallow. The blood slowly wept down, staining the sand. Laudis rapidly made distance.

  ‘Dammit! I’ve used at least fifty percent of my total mana, and he’s slightly wounded?! I can’t keep up with that bastard. Solisia isn’t going to help me, she's a rather long-distance sorceress… I have to evolve, or I’ll die. I have to surpass my limits. Huh? Why’s my hand glowing?’ thought Laudis, watching the Mark of Knowledge.

  “I’m kind of pissed off. Honestly, I thought I’d kill you in seconds. I saved it to use on a worthy opponent. Still, I’d rather conquer Zachiria than kill a random man,” stated Sloth, taking off his purple shirt.

  “Do you see this chain? It’s a limiter, prohibiting me from killing. I had it for about three years. During that time, I couldn’t kill a single human. I faked being a coward. I was running and using my whip like a bitch. I'm despised by the rest of Upper Hands. They are unaware of the truth. When I kill both of you and take over Zachiria, my pride will be restored.”

  Tshh! He broke the chains with a single strike of his hand. When the steel fell down, the Crusaders flinched a bit. A white light came from the limiter and merged with him. His mana emissions grew even larger, surprising not only the Crusaders, but his army also. The undead walked slowly in their direction, swinging his Whip of Sands. Slightly frightened, Laudis put his right hand on his chest, trying to calm down. Suddenly, he felt as if his chest was on fire. He quickly drew it back, but then he got an idea. Once again, the youth placed his hand on that area.

  “Mark of Knowledge, trade my hearing for strength.”