176 The Conference VI : The 8th Task

THE DANCING CAVES OF NOXIS NYX

LOCATION: THE BLUE DISTRICT

SUB-LOCATION: THE CITY

MAGELLAN DUSIVARU MEON

The yells and the scent of blood and death that rent the air was beginning to get unbearable for Magellan. His officers have been doing their best in withstanding the onslaught, but their enemies were spread all over the city. He had no idea how he would begin to corral them into one particular area, so all they could do now was run around like helpless chickens as they took them down.

The police force had already received help from the forces being trained under Asare, but as it stands their response time was a little too slow, and a significant amount of vampires had lost their lives.

This was something that they would have to tackle in the future, if they all survived this. Right now Magellan was on his own, he had split from the rest of his squad to cover more ground, and as it stands maybe that was not such a good idea. Magellan huffed as he jumped up, and perched on the roof of a two story building, and almost immediately, he heard a startled shriek coming from his left.

Magellan turned his head sharply, and took a sharp leap, splintering the brick tiles beneath his feet as he flew over two blocks of houses in a sharp arc. The wind swept his long black hair every which way and fluttered the long coat he was wearing. But even with his jump, the massive great sword in his hand did not tilt one bit, speaking volumes of the strength of a vampire as that sword looked like it weighed a few dozen pounds.

Magellan looked down just in time to see a mother clutching her baby with one arm, the other was a few feet away, nestled snugly in the jaws of a kobold. But as if that wasn't enough, the kobold was accompanied by four other members of its rabble, and they proceeded to fight over the dislodged arm like a pack of stray dogs.

His leap would have taken him way over the alley in which this atrocity was happening, but as a vampire Magellan had greater control over his body than most creatures. He shot down from the sky, falling like a meteor as he swung his great sword down, fury etched all over his pristine face.

BOOOOM!

The shockwave pushed the mother away, and a little too roughly as Magellan was not fully able to control the after effects of his strike. The kobold with her arm in his mouth was split in two, and his body deposited in a crater almost six meters in diameter. Cracks spread from the crater, stretching towards the walls on both sides of the alley. Dust and bricks fell, as the houses they enclosed seemed to be on their last legs after the strike of Magellan's broad sword.

The first kobold was actually the lucky one; seeing as he died in one strike and without much pain, but his companions were right at the epicenter of the strike. Their bodies were broken beyond recognition, looking as if a grenade had gone off right in front of them.

Pieces of rocks were lodged into their broken bodies, and their blood flowed increasingly with each second that passed. Unfortunately for them, Kobolds did not have the healing factor of a vampire, they would all be dead in a few minutes. Magellan rushed to raise the woman up, but while she was still alive and conscious, she was completely unresponsive to Magellan.

She held her child tighter and closer to her chest, as her eyes stared blankly forward. Out of curiosity, Magellan turned his head to see what she was looking at, only to fall back in shock as the badly eaten bodies of a man and his son was placed at the end of the alley.

This monsters had eaten both father and son alive, and made sure to let the mother watch while they did it. Magellan did not know what to say as his body shook in rage, wisps of shadows floated off his body as his golden eyes blazed like the flames of a forge.

He picked the woman and her now wailing baby up, carrying her in a princess carry, and not paying attention to the blood that soaked his clothes. His broad sword was already hung over his back, the hilt stretching over his head like a third arm. Then he took a deep breath and jumped into the open portal to the shadow realm, his destination being the palace.

He came out in front of Gus, startling the young vampire so much he actually fell back on his ass in shock. But seeing it was Magellan, Asha walked over as fast and as best her pregnant body, could allow her to. Magellan said nothing as he placed the woman on the polished granite floor, making sure she knew that her baby was still in her hands before he got up, looking more pissed that anyone has ever seen him be.

"Her husband and son were eaten by Kobolds. Whatever needs to be done, should be done. And tell Asare it should be done now! Kill everything and everyone that has a hand in this. And give the same message to Kuyait. The time for laying low is over, they'll understand exactly what I mean."

And then he jumped back into the shadow realm leaving his massive great sword behind, fully prepared to stalk, hunt, kill, and murder like the vampire he is. But leaving behind confused questions and faces as Asha and Gus wondered what he meant by Kuyait and Asare laying low.

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THE DANCING CAVES OF NOXIS NYX

LOCATION: THE MINE

SUB-LOCATION: THE HOLLOW BASIN

The sixth task was easy, the seventh ended much the same way as the sixth; a complete and total victory. According to the old rules, I should be eligible to be a coven leader, but the new rule now has me fighting eight Nosferatu and two Shadowers together. What could possibly go wrong.

My opponents now know that keeping their distance from me wouldn't work, so the only chance would be to attack me from close range. If we should base it on logic, every move I've made so far has enabled me to attack from a distance, and while that may be misleading for this guys, other people; well the unlucky ones who've fought me before, know that I work best when the fight is up close and personal. This would be fun.

I felt a sudden coldness behind me, and knew that one of the Shadowers have made their move. It was a good tactic, using the shadow realm to attack me from behind. But I had something to counter that. I've had to use this skill a few times when I've fought in seals, but never out in the real world. Let's see how powerful it is. [Lion's Mane]

CLANG!

The crisp ringing sound of metal greeting metal, and the inevitable snap that followed as the spear that was stabbed at my back broke in half from it's tip. My hair had grown so long that it stretched all the way to my ankles, and they waved and moved as if it was alive or being rustled by a gentle breeze. Bangs covered my face and made my glowing blue eyes all the more eerie to look at from behind the curtain of hair. I smiled and then I shot towards the eight Nosferatu vampires.

But I let my guard down for a second and couldn't react on time to defend myself as one of the Shadower appeared and kicked me to the next zone...…, which was practically dumping me on a field of burning hot coals.

Which begs the question, where the heck did the vampires get coal from. And why was it so damn hot. Even though I could heal just fine, it would be incredible stupid to fight on coals. I was about to run back to the sand zone, when two of the Nosferatu vampires came at me, both swinging an axe.

I bent my body backwards, all the way down to an angle that would have snapped the back of a human being. Then I stretched my hand upwards and grabbed both their hands. I used them to pull myself upwards, but twisting my body and using the both of them to bat their incoming companions out of the air.

I swung them around like ragdolls, using my minor teleportation to appear behind every single one of their fellow Nosferatu choosing to ignore the Shadowers who helplessly chased me around, and even if they got close, my [Lion's Mane] was enough to deter any attack from them, as all I had to do was turn my hair in their direction.

I looked around, and couldn't find anymore Nosferatu standing upright, the ones who I've been using as baseball bat were already unconscious, with their arms hanging at an awkward angle. Their faces and bodies were battered, and way past the point of being bruised. This was a little too bloody and unnerving than I expected, maybe I should tone it down a little.

Besides using skills from the power crest, especially the minor teleportation skill, left me feeling a little bit drained. I had different sources of energy, but they were not Infinite, and the fight that really mattered hadn't happened yet.

I turned around and swung my fist, smashing it straight into the face of the Shadower that appearedbehind me. Before he could get his faculties under control, I pulled his right hand and placed it over my shoulder as I implemented a judo throw. Before he could hit the ground, I threw my feet out, and smashed it right at the middle of his spine, ignoring his pained screams as he fell to the ground completely paralyzed.

I turned just in time to receive another hit on my jaw, this one picked me, and threw me right back onto the coal zone, making bounce around like a rag doll as fire and stone burnt holes into my clothes and skin.

I was stronger than your average a BloodChild, at least not one that has just advanced to that rank like me. A Nosferatu was still stronger, and a Shadower was even stronger. It was just my luck that the punch didn't snap my neck or just out rightly take me head off my shoulders.

But what it did do, was to peel a significant amount of my flesh off my jaw, exposing my teeth and gums in a way you would only ever seen on an x-ray, or from a skeleton. My jaw was hanging in a messy angle, completely shattered as pieces of blood and bone fell to smoldering coal beneath my burning feet. I was in pain, but I was also livid and angry. I coated my hands in soul energy and etched the soul rune [Heal] over my chest. That was also painful, but seeing as etching runes on normal skin, without a prepared ink and rune circle was nothing short of mutilation, I guess I had to deal with it.

Adein was lucky I weaved directly on his bones rather than his skin. He wouldn't have appreciated the tattoo. There was a flash of light, and everything was back to normal, and just in time too, as my assailant just jumped out of the shadow realm, a spear pointed at the top of my head. But I was ready for him though.

I used minor teleportation one more time, ignoring the headache that seemed to appear, and appeared behind him. I could see he was surprised I disappeared, and even more so when I smashed the soles of my burnt boots into his back, and sent him crashing down face first into the coal zone. I heard his screams, it was satisfactory. I ground my heels on the back of his head, making sure his entire face was buried in it.

Vampires had high tolerance for pain, but like every other race, it takes a special kind of individual to transcend pain and act. It's obvious none of these guys have that mettle. I stepped off him, and grabbed him by his legs, and then I proceeded to smash him over the burning coals. Over, and over, and over, and over.....well many, many times before I flung him to the next zone, ignoring the splash of water as I turned to face the elders.

"You guys are fucking with me. With the power I have, Iwould have killed everyone you sent against me a million times over, even with the handicap you've conveniently decided to place on me. I've grown tired of your games, so Maze, get your ass down here and let's have the finale ahead of schedule. Because I promise you, if you send anyone else here again, I'm going to kill them, and then I'm going to kill the three of you, consequences be damned! So Maze, put on your big boy pants and come down here. Let's. Dance!"