Chapter 250 - But Why?

We didn't let Staghead to come out of his shock. Or, mostly, JJ and Bob didn't. Both lunged at him at once, but separately—JJ under a simmering cloak of thick glamour, and Bob with just an angry battle cry.

Eve didn't wait for anyone to attack the two of us, too. She pulled a round stone out of her pocket, the seals on the inside of which were put so densely it was hard to separate one from another, and used it to create an invisible to the eye barrier of force around us.

It wouldn't stop us from doing magic, but at this point, there wasn't much magic for us to do. As always, we witches, were limited by our reaction speed, and everyone here besides us moved too fast for us to see well. Eve, too, didn't move to do anything else—just watched and waited in a tense silence.

Staghead's henchmen at our arrival had jumped up and rose to defend their leader. I saw they reacted not only to Bob, but to JJ as well, though it was clear that they had difficulties with hitting him. With the two dozens of these fey that were present, not counting those who were too weak to stand up, there was enough to cut away Bob.

I predicted he would come a victor eventually, though. Bob's fighting style was dirty, brutal, and awfully effective in throwing the fey around in a way that didn't let them get up later.

But JJ was still focused only on Staghead. They entered a fierce fencing match, complete with a clashing of metal on metal so loud that it was hurting my ears. I was sure that their swords would break sooner rather than later.

There was nothing to say that JJ won't end up like Cornellio… but Staghead was already weakened. His aura wasn't as corroded as Cornellio's, but it wasn't as vibrant as it was at the start.

Then, despite that, Staghead threw it out like a spear—no, more like a thick column—in JJ's direction. My vampire dodged, but the power left a hole in his cloak of glamour. It swiftly regrew, but I knew JJ had to expend his stamina for this.

But before the power could return to Staghead, I reacted and pulled at it. Removed from its host, it was the most vulnerable, and my well sucked on it with as much power as I could muster. Immediately, Staghead wrenched it back from me, but the distraction I created was enough for JJ to knock the sword out of Staghead's hand.

"Curses!" Staghead grabbed his fingers that, I could see, were badly bruised from the force JJ threw through the sword on them. He sent JJ a hateful, but a little unfocused, stare. "Let your feet rot for daring to place them on our sacred grounds! Don't think I can't kill you all without my sword and don't think you will leave unharmed if I don't!"

Not so far away, Bob smashed two foxy fey's heads together with a crack that made me cringe, and turned towards Staghead with a ferocious grin. "Keep running your mouth and see where this brings you. You lost!"

"And as a loser, you might as well answer some questions for us," Eve suddenly spoke. "Why did you search for the Seal of Absolute Knowledge in the first place, Staghead?"

He sneered at us and stood up straighter. "Your humiliating monikers mean nothing to me. And I won't answer, because you didn't win yet!"

"Yeah?" I frowned. I was very curious now, too. "I suppose then JJ would have to beat you up more."

"Something I would be immensely glad to do," he said with a cold smirk and red in his eyes.

Staghead pulled a dagger from his belt. "Just try."

But the truth was, when JJ had advantage in reach, besides his advantage of having magical concealment and being able to treat wound that would've killed a man like nothing more than a nuisance, Staghead could only defend himself. Even that didn't last for long.

In just a few seconds, the dagger was out of Staghead's hands too, and JJ's had a free hand gripped firmly around his throat. Nearby, Staghead's henchmen—those who could still stand or at least sit—froze in fear at the sight.

"Do you accept your loss now?" JJ asked. His eyes sparkled with a rush of battle—I'd say adrenaline if he was human, but did vampires have it?—and his half-smile showed a fang.

Staghead glared at him. "You might've defeated my body in battle, but my spirit will stand eternal, while yours is long gone, corpse."

JJ opened his mouth as if to speak, but Eve was faster. "You know, I have noticed that you treat drinking fey's blood by vampires like a great sacrilege. Vampires, on the other hand, often consider drinking blood of their opponents, including other vampires, to be a show of their victory and domination. It's clear why they would be eager to drink blood, since they need it to sustain their life, but what about you, fey?" The witch tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I know people who would be very curious to know."

Staghead's face lost all colours. "You are monsters. Earth should be wiped clean from humanity's dirty seed and all that it gave birth to."

"Why does it scare you so much, fey?" JJ asked nonchalantly and leaned a little closer. "Well, as curious as I am to find out the taste of fey blood—I heard it was something truly unique—I find a psychological torture like that distasteful and unnecessary in this particular case."

Eve narrowed her eyes. "Doesn't seem like much of a torture to me…"

I was inclined to disagree. The fear and outrage in Staghead's eyes… They were a pleasure to see, but there was a limit to what you should inflict on the other person. I wasn't going to enter any debates now, though.

Not when I had an idea about what JJ had in mind, and agreed with him.