I wake up with Rosie feeding me a healing potion, I then ask her feeling groggy.
"is he dead?"
she answers.
"not yet, the sun as left him weak enough for us to completely finish him off."
I stand up and see the solar eclipse is still in the sky, I the say to Rosie.
"give everyone a healing potion."
she nods and says.
"I also managed to get Gresnor some emergency healing, from some healers, and they said that he will live, but he won't be able to walk for the rest of his life."
I breathe a sigh of relief.
"at least he's alive, I don't think I'm ready to lose another friend."
"do you have a mana potion?"
she tosses one to me and says.
"be careful, even if he is weak, Vernon is still very much dangerous."
after drinking the mana potion, I chant.
"silver eyes."
I approach Lord Vernon who is laying on his back
groaning in pain.
"you'll come to regret this Collin Belfaust."
I reply skeptically.
"I don't think so."
I pick him up with one hand, and punch him in the face with my other, knocking him back to the ground, he spits out blood and says with a smug smile.
"so how do you intend to kill me, if the sun is still blocked."
as I grab on to his robes and rip it off effortlessly,
I then grin.
"without this robe, Ying's magic attack will completely wipe you from existence."
and for the first time, I see fear in Lord Vernon red glowing eyes, he stands up and tries to say something to me, but I prevent him by kicking back down to the ground, he squirms and coughs in pain.
"you don't want to do this."
I angrily punch him in the face multiple, and yell.
"you killed my best friend, and caused the deaths of many thousands and you have the gall to say that I shouldn't kill you!"
"hold on, let's see what he has to say."
I respond completely puzzled on why she wants to hear what he has to say.
"he's desperate, and is looking for anyway to get out of here alive."
he groans in pain, and says ominously.
"if I die, every vampire will disappear."
I reply.
"good that's what we want."
he grins and points at Rosie.
"including her."
"I change my mind, we can't kill him."
baffled with how quick I was to change my mind, she replies.
"what are you talking about, we need to end this, even if it, causes me to die."
I shake head.
"no there must be a way to save you."
I point at Lord Vernon and say.
"I'll bet you that he knows how to do it, and if he wants to live, he'll cooperate with us, so that we can save you."
Ying and the others join in our conversation, trying to find out what we are talking about, Selshruuk prepares to attack Vernon.
"we came here to kill him didn't we, so let's finish what he started."
"yeah, let me kill him right now and we can finally move on from this nightmare."
Celeste adds on.
"many have died so that we can kill him, there is no point in delaying it."
I respond.
"but if we kill him, Rosie will die."
Ying changes his view and agrees with me.
"we can't do that to her."
Rosie smiles.
"I appreciate you guys worrying about me, but I can't live with myself, if my survival causes the deaths of many more."
I turn my attention to Lord Vernon who still hasn't recovered from the effects of the sun and I ask.
"so tell me, why would your death affect the other vampires."
but before he got to respond, I glare at him and interrupt.
"you better give me an honest answer, or I swear to you, that I'll put you in so much pain."
he groans and replies.
"on our search for immortality, we genetically modified a virus, with a mix of biotechnology and
magic."
I reply impatiently.
"you better be going somewhere with this Vernon."
he snaps.
"I was just getting to that."
he continues on his tangent.
"since me and the other vampire lords are host carriers, we can maintain the life of many vampires, but the moment all of us die, the virus we carry seizes to function."
Ying asks.
"is there no way to reverse the process?"
Vernon grins and answers.
"yes, but only if my life is spared."
Celeste invades my mind.
"are you really believing what he is saying?"
I reply.
"no, but this is about trying to save Rosie."
she respond.
"listen, I was talking to her, before talking to you and she already accepted that she's going to die."
Rosie then speaks up.
"I've heard enough of this."
she turns to Ying and demands.
"he has zero intentions in reversing this thing, kill him."
Ying stammers baffled by what she is demanding of him.
"what?"
he looks at me, almost like he's asking what he should do, I then take a moment and think to myself.
"she's right, even if we let him live, there is no way he will work on reversing this virus thing."
I take a deep sigh and I say to Ying.
"we've worked hard and I think it's time to end this ordeal and return the world back to normal."
Rosie puts her hand on Ying's shoulder and says.
"it's okay, I've already made peace with my death."
Ying takes a deep breath and chants.
"particle explosion."
a small orb made out of small red particles, gets fired out of Ying's open palm, and flies directly to Lord Vernon, where it blows up upon impact, and causes his whole body to disappear, I then think to myself.
"and just like that, the vampire lords are no more."
I then hear everyone gasp, I turn around and see Rosie, slowly fading away from existence, I walk up to her and say with sadness in my voice.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't save you for a second time."
she smiles warmly.
"it's fine, I can finally rest peacefully."
she pauses and says one more thing before completely disappearing.
"enjoy the rest of your life with your family and cherish every moment with them."
as she vanishes into thin air, the black hooded robes she gifted me, disintegrates into nothing but dust, I then think to myself bummed out.
"the one thing she left behind for me, is now completely gone."
we stand around silently, as we look upon the aftermath that the vampire lords left behind.