Chapter 142: The Vampires Attack(4): Attack on The Empire Pt. 4

Point-of-View: Presde Drelou

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This is so tiresome, and I was even more sleep-deprived than usual...well, at least my insomnia will prevent me from passing out mid-battle. Too bad healing spells don't cure insomnia. Ugh, this is the worst... 

"Damn it, are we truly fighting a human!? I have never seen a human weild such powerful magic!" Exclaimed one of the Vampires I was fighting, as I fired another barrage of boulders up at them. 

I had almost crushed them to death as soon as the fight began, but they managed to just about get away and since then, they had been staying in the air, giving them enough space to dodge anything I threw at them. Though, that also gave me plenty of space to see any of their attacks coming and block them with rocks and boulders. I had lured them close to the wall so that I could use the wall to create projectiles...after all, I made these walls in the first place, so manipulating it was easy. 

But this fight had been stuck in a stalemate ever since they flew up, they were probably trying to make me use up my Mana. I still had over eighty percent left, but this was getting annoyingly tedious. 

"Enough of this! Lunadust, I will use my Cross, so get ready to attack!" Exclaimed one of them, a look of impatience on his face. 

He had medium length dark gray hair parted in the middle with a row of red stripes on the right side and long, thick sideburns. He carried a large double-edged spear on his back. 

"Understood, Isdplaace, I shall prepare to strike," Agreed the other one with a nod. 

She had shortish white hair with a couple of red streaks at the back, which stopped halfway down her neck, and the front covered her forehead. She had two swords on her back, and wore a sleeveless pink top and a long black skirt. 

Looks like they were getting tired of this stalemate too. I wonder what a Cross is, probably some kind of special ability...I should be careful. The male Vampire flew down towards me at a rapid pace, pointing his spear down at me. I fired a barrage of sharp rocks up at him as he descended, he narrowly managed to evade them, closing the gap swiftly. 

One of my projectiles grazed his left side, leaving a deep gash, another slashing past his right shoulder. I'll be able to totally skewer him and probably kill him once he gets within five meters...to my surprise, he suddenly halted about ten meters above me, and rapidly flew back up after meeting my gaze. Huh? What was that about? He flew up to his partner with a triumphant look on his face, stopping as he reached the same height as her. 

"Checkmate, human! My Cross will now be the death of you!" He proclaimed with a smirk, before snapping his fingers, "Now, then...Switch!"

Wha-...? I was suddenly in mid-air, the female Vampire just a few feet away from me. 'Switch', huh...did he switch positions with me? Yeah, he was on the ground, standing in the spot where I'd been. 

"Now you die!" Exclaimed the female Vampire, flying towards me with her swords drawn. 

Crap-...no, wait, that's right, I can use... 

"Whew, close call," I sighed in relief, as her hands got shredded. 

"What-!? What did you-!?" 

"Think about it, since I've been flinging so many boulders and chunks of earth up at you guys, there's a ton of dust in the air...now, you die instead," I remarked, shredding her to pieces with compressed blades made of the heavy amount of dust particles in the air. 

She let out a scream, before gurgling as her throat and jaw got slashed, blood foaming in her mouth. She then went up in red flames, and then disappeared. Wow, I've never tried that before, it worked way better than I expected. Now for the landing... 

The other Vampire began firing a barrage of red energy blasts, but was warily keeping his distance. Fortunately, I was pretty close to the ground, so I was able to raise a defensive wall of earth to block his attacks, before forming a pool of soft sand below me to cushion my fall. I didn't break anything as I landed, but I still got the wind knocked out of me. 

I got up with a groan, raising another earth wall as the Vampire fired more blasts at me from a distance. Our lack of knowledge regarding the Vampires was definitely a huge disadvantage, but at the same time, they didn't seem to know anything about us either...if they knew what I'd been capable of beforehand, that female Vampire would have blasted me from a safe distance when the other one switched places with me, instead of charging in. Then again, even I didn't know that I could use dust so effectively till I actually tried.

Well, I'll think about that later, for now I need to take out the remaining Vampire...I could try to skewer him by raising spikes everywhere, but if he uses that Switch move again, I'll be screwed. This really sucks, I'm way too sleep-deprived for an annoying fight like this one. Screw it, if I play it safe, this'll just drag on even longer. In which case... 

I stepped forward, walking towards him till there was about a twenty-five meter gap...this should be enough. He was watching me warily, but didn't step back, and his fingers were pressed together...good, looks like he was waiting for an opportunity to use it. So, he had to snap his fingers to activate his Cross thingy. I should help convince him, in case he has any doubts... 

"It's time to end this, Vampire! No matter how fast you are, my finishing move will skewer you where you stand!" I exclaimed, as I stomped on the ground. 

Acting takes way too much energy, and yelling hurts my throat...but if I was half-assed, he wouldn't buy it. And he wasn't flying away, which meant he was definitely going to use it. I didn't have a specific 'finishing move' or whatever, but this probably qualifies, I think... 

I began raising spikes all around him, angling them to pierce into him as they rose up diagonally inwards...and suddenly, I was surrounded by them, our positions switched, the spikes closing in on me...of course, I stopped raising them as soon as we switched, while simultaneously focusing my Earth Magic on the spot where I'd been standing before. 

I raised a rapid spike straight up at him, it pierced into and went through his crotch, drilling into his abdomen and chest, before branching out into his arms and tearing into his wrists and hands, immobilizing him and preventing him from snapping his fingers again. Whew, it worked...I had sort of crucified him, though the 'crucifix' was inside him, so I don't know if that counts...eh, who cares. He can't move anymore, and if he tries to heal himself, he'll just end up fusing himself tighter onto my rocky crucifix. 

I strolled over to him with a yawn, rubbing my eyes as a wave of lethargy hit me. I'm so fucking tired, too bad they don't have sleeping pills in this world...maybe I'll ask Sicario to make me a sleeping spell or something like that. Yeah, I think I'll do that...

"Damn you, you baited me...how...how can a human be so powerful?" He asked with a defeated look on his face, blood flowing out of his mouth. 

"I mean, there are a few people who can beat me, so I don't think I'm all that strong...you and your partner could have defeated me too, I just lucked out is all," I replied with a shrug, before making the earth inside him further branch out into sharp spikes, piercing out through every inch of his body, until he finally went up in flames and disappeared. 

Finally, it's over. I let out a sigh of relief as I used my healing spell...hm, I wonder how the others are doing? Maybe I'll go check on one of 'em...

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Point-of-View: Kuua Quels

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These things are strong...fuck, yeah! I missed out on the fight against that Kuro dude, so I needed this! 

"Come on, stop running away, fight me!" I exclaimed with a grin, firing electric water blasts at them as they flew around me, evading my attacks. 

"This human is insane, Xenica!" Complained one of them, as I almost hit her with a water blast. 

"I agree, Zidoa, we must kill her immediately," Replied the other one warily. 

Despite their distance in height, they weren't out of my range since I was compressing my attacks to increase their velocity, but I don't like fighting like this, it was boring. Come on, get down here so that I can tear you apart! 

Also, I didn't know Vampires had names. The first one, Zidoa, had waist-length wavy black hair with red spots all over it, as well as thick eyebrows. She wore a knee-length yellow sleeveless dress with black trousers underneath, and carried a metal pole on her back. The other one, Xenica, had short white hair that was combed up, with three red stripes in front. She wore a gray sweater and sweatpants, and wasn't carrying a weapon. I never really cared about fashion, even in my old life, but their outfits were really ugly. 

They flew up higher and got close, whispering something to each other. What, were they strategizing or something? Screw that noise, just come down here and fight me! Come on already! I grinned as Zidoa shot down towards me, her metal pole in her right hand while she fired red blasts at me from her left. 

As she began closing in, I formed a couple of black water whips coated with black lighting, whipping and swirling them up at her. She narrowly avoided them and swung her pole down at me as she neared me, I quickly ceased my water whips and sprang back, as her pole slammed into the ground with a stunning clang. Ahh, that kinda hurt my ears... 

I jumped off to the side as Xenica fired a barrage of red blasts down at me, scorching apart the ground. Those red energy blasts or beams or whatever they were, they seemed to burn whatever they hit, but different to fire. Weird, I wonder what it feels like to get hit by one, I had managed to dodge all the ones directed at me so far. I'd be totes fine with not finding out though... 

Zidoa shot towards me and drove her pole at my midsection, I shifted my position with a shuffle of my feet to avoid it, when suddenly... 

"Have a look at my Cross, mad human! Now you die...Third Arm!" 

Her right shoulder became all lumpy before extending out into an arm in my direction, the hand reaching for my throat, the claws extending and pointing towards my neck. Before it could, I tilted my head down and caught her hand with my teeth, chomping down on it and ripping it off. She stumbled back with a look of pain, beginning to take off before I sprang up and grabbed onto her waist.

"Gotcha! And 'mad human' sounds dumb, I mean, really...oh, I know, call me 'crazy bitch'!" 

"Wha-!? L-let go of me, or I'll-...garhhhhhh!" She screamed, as I bit into the base of her tail and ripped it off before she could whip me with it. 

They may heal super fast, but they definitely feel pain just fine! I dug my nails into her skin as I climbed up her body, she desperately tried to keep herself airborne, but was having trouble balancing herself. 

"Let's tear these off next!" I declared giddily, grabbing the bases of her wings. 

"N-no, stop it- arghhhhh!!!!" She yelled excruciatingly, as I tore both wings off, and she began plummeting to the ground. 

Wow, her tail was almost halfway grown back already. Ooh, I wonder if I can fly by flapping the wings I tore off...yeah, I'm totally flying! Hehe, this is kinda tricky, but that's what makes it fun! I then stiffened as I heard something zipping through the air towards me...crap, I forgot about the other one!

I braced myself as she slammed her shoulder onto my back, sending me crashing down onto the ground, landing on my right side with a gasp as I got the wind knocked out of me, my head knocking against a rock...ow...I don't think I broke anything, but still, owww! Damn it, wish I hadn't forgotten to bring a healing spell. 

When Sicario asked everyone if they had one on them, the others all had theirs, and I felt too embarrassed to be the only one who had forgotten, so I nodded along with the rest of them. I stood up with a groan, my vision blurring for just a second...and in that second, I felt a sharp, stinging pain on my stomach, before being knocked off my feet and sent flying back. 

Huh...? Did Zidoa blast me? She must have recovered already. Damn, these things' healing speed was so not fair. I got back on my feet and regained my bearings just in time to see her charging at me with her pole pointing at my. Crap, gotta move-...too late, before I could spring away, she caught up and drove the pole towards me, going through my right palm and right shoulder as I brought my arms up defensively...holy damn, she pierced me with a blunt object? Also, fucking owwww!!!!

What do I-...oh, right, her weapon is made of metal. I splashed her with a glob of water, she sputtered in surprise, before kicking my shin and pushing me down onto my back, pressing the pole deeper into my shoulder. 

"What is the matter, mad human? Are you out of magic already? How pitiful," She laughed, though her expression showed more relief than triumph. 

"Nah, I've still got plenty of gas left in the tank...I just needed to get you all nice and wet, so that...," I replied with a grin, before grabbing the pole and running my lightning through it, "...so that I could fry the living fuck out of you! And I said call me 'crazy bitch'!" 

She let out a tortured cry of pain as she got electrocuted, unable to let go of the pole as I continued running my lightning through it, her hair and clothes were starting to get scorched, her eyes were bulging, blood running down like tears, and-...I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my left side as Zidoa flew at me and slammed a kick against my side, sending me skidding away along the ground. I let out a stifled hiss as the pole got yanked out of my shoulder and palm, before I crashed onto my right shoulder, my head hitting something again. 

"Do not get near her! Let us wear her down from a distance and then kill her after she is incapacitated!" Suggested Xenica, her partner nodding in agreement, before they both began firing barrages of red whatevers at me. 

I formed a couple of electric water cyclones in front of myself to block their attacks, I was kinda dazed, and I think my head was bleeding a bit, so dodging was gonna be tough right now, I was too disoriented. Fuck, it's hard to think straight, and I feel a little nauseous. It kinda felt like I was carsick or something, ugh... 

And to make matters worse, their attacks were wearing down my water defenses faster than I could put them up. I...can't...hold them off...any longer...! Their attacks vaporized the last of my water cyclones and blasted towards me. I sprang back and crossed my arms in front of myself, also wrapping my tail around me as their red beams blasted onto me, the pain overwhelming my senses in an instant and everything going numb. Wha-...? 

I was on my back...I couldn't feel a thing...no, wait...god-fucking-dammit, my arms hurt!!! Ahh, my forearms were in excruciating pain, my scales and skin had been completely scorched off, my tail was also in bad shape, and I had multiple deep burnt spots all over me...holy crap, this is pure agony...ow...

I heard footsteps approaching me, getting closer and closer... 

"Is she dead?" 

"Perhaps, she is not moving at all."

Oh? Hehe, Imma gonna play dead... 

"She does not appear to be breathing either. Good, now is our chance to-." 

The footsteps were right on top of my position...now! I quickly shot up, wincing as waves of pain emanated throughout my body, I bit the inside of my cheek to distract myself, before grabbing both their throats and running continuous electric currents straight down their spines, paralysing them. 

"Heh...hehehe...I gotcha now! Now, this crazy bitch is gonna tear both of you apart, you've done some serious damage to me, after all, so no hard feelings, amiright?" I smirked with a triumphant laugh, digging my nails into their necks as I intensified the currents. 

Seriously, though, I was kinda at my limit here, my forearms were absolutely throbbing with pain right now. Gotta finish this fast, I'll rip them apart chunk by chunk until I find their cores, and-...what the...? My body...felt...so heavy... 

I collapsed onto my hands and knees, inadvertently letting go of their throats as I did. The fuck just happened, damn it...?

"This is...the power of...my Cross, Tenfold Stagnation. Your body should feel ten times heavier than it usually does," Remarked Xenica hoarsely, struggling to catch her breath. 

Before I could react or do anything, I felt a sharp burning pain hit my face, knocking my head back like whiplash, as I fell onto my back, barely able to maintain my consciousness. I'm...getting tired of being blindsided, it's so annoying... 

"Let us kill her...forget about her life force, the safest option we can take is to finish her here and now," Declared Zidoa, pointed her hand at me as she charged up another blast. 

"I agree," Nodded Xenica, following suit, "It looks like she is unconscious, she will not be able to get up again, especially with the effect of my Cross active."

Crap, they're really charging up those blasts, I think I'll get completely vaporized if those hit me...but I can't move, my body felt so heavy...

Hold on a second, let's think about this...she said my body should feel ten times heavier...but that doesn't mean that I had literally become than much heavier...no, it was all in my head...otherwise, the ground under me would have cracked or something...come on, move...if this is just some trick, I can't let it pin me down...move, damn it...move!

"Now, fire- gahhh!" Zidoa began to exclaim, the two of them firing their blasts right as I broke free of the spell and shot towards them, their blasts narrowly zipping past my head, one of them searing the tip of my right ear. 

I can't see anything out of my right eye...damn it, I think that blast that hit my face blinded it... 

They began to step back, but they weren't getting away from me! I drove my hands forward with all my strength, bursting into their chests and digging in deeper, until I reach their spines and grabbed on tight, before running viciously powerful electric currents down their spines, paralysing them. 

"Heh...hehehe...this time I've really gotcha! Just try and get away, I fuckin' dare ya!" I yelled while laughing maniacally, I was running purely on adrenaline right now, and I could barely even feel any of my pain anymore. 

"Im...i-impossible...," Muttered Xenica with an agonized and fearful expression. 

"H-how...how are you even still able to move...?" Stuttered Zidoa. 

"Heh, who knows? But, really...who cares? You two definitely shouldn't, considering the fact that I'm about to shred you into tiny little pieces!" I laughed gleefully, before biting off her shoulder, her arm falling to the ground as she let out a scream. 

Hm, no core there. Ooh, I know in addition to chomping bits off of them, I'll burst out water blades inside their bodies! While streaming lightning into their spines, I began swirling out a barrage of sharp and narrow blade whips into their bodies, shredding their insides into mincemeat, their tortured screams ringing out as blood began bursting out and splattering everywhere. 

And suddenly, they went up in red flames, their screams fading as they turned to ash. Huh, that's it? They're dead? 

"Oh, come on...is that all you've got-...huh...?" I began, before trailing off as I felt myself falling forward, my vision starting to fade. 

Am I...passing out? No, not yet, I haven't had enough fun yet. Damn it, it's no good...I can't stay awake or think anymore, I collapsed onto the ground as my vision began to fade... 

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