201. Vampire

A scythe and a Guandao clashed in a burst of sparks. The two stayed entangled for a few seconds before Rakna grunted and was pushed back by a much more relaxed Fang.

The werewolf flapped his wings to retreat while Pronos shot a large stream of misty poison at the crime leader while also boosting his master’s speed with Infinity Magic.

“I will be honest,” Fang uttered and whirled his scythe. “You are a lot stronger than I thought you to be,” he said and a black shroud emerged from his spinning weapon and swallowed the poison.

Rakna listened to his words but didn’t stop attacking, with his fur completely white, and his body releasing cold mist like steam, he conjured dozens of weapons with Star Hearth and launched them at his opponent.

“You’re not even at your First Ascent, are you?” Fang continued calmly and deflected the swords and projectiles thrown at him. Half of them imploded far away from him while the remaining half was somehow destroyed by the black mist following the scythe.

“[Call of Hounds,]” Rakna intoned, seemingly uncaring of his words, and a pack of Lv. 90 wolves appeared around them. Due to the snow, they had appeared as ice wolves and they all collectively started casting Ice Spike at Fang.

“A King? No… an Emperor,” Fang grinned and spread his arms. “[Murfosa,]” he chanted and jaws of black miasma were summoned around him. They swallowed the ice spikes and the wolves along with them. “Considering your talent… you must be a Host from the last batch. And that snake, plus that scarf and your tails, you’re that infamous guy, huh? Rakna Xiorra.”

Rakna ignored him again and glanced at Pronos who wordlessly received the order and jumped down, taking his distance from the two fighters. The werewolf then raised his hand and twelve stars appeared.

Fang finally reacted somewhat gravely to this one. “Whoa, buddy. That’s a bit too much, don’t you think?” He jested and his scythe’s blade started glowing red. He then channeled a skill similar to flash-step but within that timeframe, less than a second, Rakna muttered something else.

“[Reflect My Core, Antanasia.]”

When Fang’s movement skill ended, he froze in shock when the only thing he saw was a spinning mirror exuding cold air. ‘What is this timing?’ He thought. ‘How high is his reaction time to be able to cast a teleportation spell like this? Or… is it truly teleportation?’

“[Pierce the Heavens.]”

The crime leader turned around in haste and spotted a revolving star aimed at him, ready to be launched through a spring. “This energy signature…” His eyes widened. “It’s the Nine-Tailed’s-“

“[Mystic Natcattiram Cataract,]” Rakna intoned and the spell rocketed toward its target. Before it detonated, he wrapped himself with his wings and activated the defense perks of Allegro while retreating with Flash Step.

Right after, the star imploded but released the energy outward. It exploded once, destroying the already excavated underground even more, then a second time, erecting a pillar of cold energy that reached the sky and cleared the clouds of the storm for a moment and causing hail to fall.

When the burst of energies and the inverted shockwave died down, Rakna groaned and stood up a few tens of meters away from the epicenter. He flexed his frigid wings and sighed.

Thankfully, his magic gave him near immunity to all cold-related attacks; his own was not an exception. But like everything in the world, compensation of forces still exists. Cataract wouldn’t kill him but it could seriously injure him if he didn’t take precautions.

Rakna looked at the empty crater in front of him and snarled. With a thought of his, Sonata became a Kusarigama and blocked a scythe coming from behind him with the chain. He instantly turned around and grasped the twin scythes entangled with Fang’s. He grabbed the handles and through the chain, hurled the crime leader away together.

The silver-haired man spun midair and landed on his two feet. He straightened himself amidst the barren and chilly area with a scowl on his face. He didn’t look any worse for wear but Cataract seemed to have left its traces on him considering how stiff he was.

“It’s fucking cold. Even for me,” he complained and a red-black aura shrouded him to keep away the temperature. “Star magic, huh? One more thing that is freaky about you. And those senses of yours; how high is your stat? It feels impossible to take you by surprise. The worst is that you have no presence at all. You’re a mystery. It’s been what? Three weeks since you joined the System? You really won’t reconsider working me?”

Rakna stood immobile without saying anything.

“What? Cat got your tongue? Where did all your energy from before go? You didn’t use all of your mana for that spell, did you?” Fang taunted and rested his scythe on his shoulders. “I admit it was quite powerful but you’re going to need more than that to get past my-”

“Corrosion Magic.”

Fang shut his mouth with a surprised expression. He blinked before laughing. “Of course, you have an analyze spell capable of bypassing the level difference. Then, you should know, I can shave off any sort of energetic blow with my magic and…” He trailed and smirked. “If I stab you once with my blade, it’s over. I prick your arm? You can only cut it off. I scratch your neck? You are dead.”

“That’s yet to be seen.”

“Oh, believe me, you’ll see it very soon. I’m done playing around. I’ve let you have your fun without retaliating but now it’s time,” Fang said and his demeanor became darker. “Our fight has probably caused a lot of noise up there. Enforcers will soon be here if they don’t slack off, and I have more important stuff to do than humoring you.”

“Is that so?” Rakna replied calmly and put a cigarette in his mouth. He lighted it while Fang stared at him with a perplexed frown.

“Why are you-” The silver-haired man stopped himself as he sensed something nearby. His head snapped to the right where a glowing rune had suddenly appeared in the air. “Wha…” It was only the first one as many others started popping up all around the place. “When did you-?!”

“Way before I found you. It was hidden inside the building that collapsed,” Rakna answered and his eyes glowed. The runes were connected together by countless lines and rapidly made a magic formation with Fang as its center. Pronos then surfaced from a corner and cast a large Infinity Circle above it.

Fang promptly invoked his magic to corrode the formation but the infinity spell was generating too much energy at once. “Do you really think I’ll just stand here without doing any… thing…” His voice dropped and he began to stagger. It was only then that he noticed the black mist coming out of the magic formation.

“That’s… not… mine…” He muttered and gritted his teeth. He poured even more mana into his corrosion and he slowly started regaining his normal state of mind. But he was still disoriented and nauseous.

“Don’t worry, it won’t last long,” Rakna said. “Sloth can only do so much. Anyone with a minimum of mental strength can pull themselves out, even boosted by Infinity. What you should worry about is this,” he declared and pointed his hand at the sky. An incredible amount of mana flowed out of his gloves and mana pool and formed a clean-cut five-pointed star.

He concentrated and opened his mouth, “[Crystals of Frost Abide the Star’s Wrath.]”

“[Ought Rime Rip Bones and Flesh.]”

“[In a Fireless Firmament, Shall the Star Blister and Flicker.]”

“A Cōl Lāli… asshole…” Fang mumbled as the waves of cold were becoming stronger. He took a look at the formation below him and pondered on what he should do. The formation didn’t take his strength away at all. It was merely making him so tired that he could barely stay awake. Doing anything felt like a deadly chore.

“[In a Lifeless Perdition, the Wolf Growls and Howls.]”

“[In Between The Heights and Depths.]”

“[Lies the Slumbering Mayhem of the Devourer.]”

‘Sloth has its limits, he said…’ He reiterated and thought of something. He contracted his muscles until his veins popped and then grabbed his scythe’s blade with one hand and squeezed. When the pain registered, his mind cleared up and he grinned. He clenched his weapon and gathered his mana to dash away from the formation.

“[Sonata – Skulk Life Down],” Rakna uttered and the scarf turned into a floating Greatsword. It flared with shapeless power and swung toward Fang who had barely recovered.

The crime leader sensed the attack in time but not enough so. He tilted to the side and the arm he was holding his scythe with was severed. “Shit!” He shouted and before he knew it, an arrow of poison struck his back and paralyzed him for a few seconds. “That fucking snake…!”

“[Bathing in Blood and Rattling Death.]”

“[Mocking Fairness and Gorging Hearts.]”

“[The One, They Offer Harvest.]”

Rakna finished his incantation and the star he was powering up shot off toward the sky where the clouds had yet to return from the previous explosion. The sky lit up grandly and a giant formation with two colliding stars depicted in its contents fazed into existence.

Fang struggled to look at it and when he got a glimpse of it, he heard the werewolf speak the words that completely invaded his vision with light.

“[From Above Cometh, Natcattira Vīḻcci.]”

As if the sky was falling; a phenomenon resembling the sun colliding with the planet; where the world ends; Star Fall. Miles across the city, Locals, Hosts, Wilden; all could see the foreign power attacking the ground.

It was terribly beautiful and frightening at the same time. It was as if the heavens were pouring an entire cascade of energy. It wasn’t even large, loud, or destructive. It was concentrated and very much so threatening, but for most people, it was as if they were witnessing a divine descent.

Rakna, who was airborne in front of the star fall, watched with his wings wide-open.

The spell was very contained, unlike Cataract. The pillar of cold energy was only around twenty meters large and there were essentially no repercussions outside of that perimeter. Not even a shockwave.

But the noise, however, from up close, was strident and you could hear everything right below it getting crushed mercilessly. The earth was very openly quaking from it. After a few minutes, the spell ended and a hole with no perceivable bottom was left, illuminated by the sun shining through the gap in the sky.

Rakna observed everything for a short moment and clicked his tongue, which confused Pronos who was resting on his shoulder after expending all of his mana maintaining the boosted Sloth that pinned Fang down.

“You…” A twisted voice echoed from the hole made by Vīḻcci. Slowly, a silhouette crept up from inside of it and the little snake cowered behind his master’s neck.

There was a red and black miasma enveloping Fang’s body and his skin had gone from a tan to something whiter than snow. His eyes were fully red, sclera and iris confounded. His hair was longer, and shimmering from the sunlight. He had a pair of bat wings on his back and his mouth bared his teeth; of which the fangs were unmistakably elongated.

“{A vampire,}” Fray whispered.

“You’re dead!” Fang yelled and a powerful aura drowned the area.