Shadows wrapped around him, continuing to press his arms together. The vampire gave out a half-laugh, half-hissing sound, thinking that it had won the fight already. When it saw that its prey was no longer resisting, it naturally assumed that it had given up.
Even the mace warrior had tired out and was no longer struggling against the shadows wrapping around him like a cocoon. His mouth and eyes were soon covered and the dark capsule that contained him began to shrink and compress his form. It seemed the capsule blocked sound, so nothing could be heard as he was slowly crushed to death by the vampire's strange ability.
Meanwhile, Lucius continued to look intensely at the ability, tracing it to its source. At first he thought it was a magical ability, but the skill seemed to not emit mana of any kind. This meant it was neither Magic nor Arts. There was only one other kind of power in the world, but how could a vampire use the strange source of energy that marks could use... was it even possible.
At no point in time during their battle did he witness a mark on the vampire's left hand, so it had to be something else. Lucius tuned into the sensation that powerful marks gave off and tried to hone it down to search for the source of these tendrils. By the time he figured it out, he was wrapped from his fingertips to his shoulders and from his feet up to his knees.
Following the source of power that empowered this strange ability, led Lucius's eyes to a ring on the vampire's still attached hand. It was a plain, silver ring with a black gemstone set into it. The power seemed to be coming from the gemstone itself.
'That's the one. You will want to take that.' Grimm whispered into his mind.
Chapter Continue:
'Why should I?' Lucius demanded.
'Ugh... such an impertinent child sometimes. I liked you better when you just listened to me... fine, take the ring and go to the spire in these ruins. If you do that... I'll give you a little bit of information.' Grimm grumbled before his presence vanished.
The twitching stopped instantly. A few moments later the body began to turn to ash. The ring clattered to the ground and began to 'call out' to Lucius. He felt himself drawn into the beautiful darkness of the gem. Once his fingers touched the piece of jewelry, it jumped onto his finger and began to absorb into his skin and vanish.
'Good job, boy, on retrieving a fragment of the abyss... tomorrow... visit the spire and I will share more.' Grimm whispered before disappearing again.
Once the ring disappeared, Lucius felt a sense of panic rise in his chest. Before it could get too bad, an almost forgotten sensation spread from the base of his skull. It was a chill that seemed to eat away at the anxiety in his heart, returning him to a state of apathy about the situation.
Glancing around, he saw the deceased bodies of the other warriors and torched them with a strike of lightning to prevent any more undead creatures. After he was satisfied with their level of destruction he returned to the research camp.
While he had been gone, they suffered a number of casualties from the waves of undead. Dozens of people were breathing heavily while a few others ran around and cast healing spells while constantly draining mana restoration potions. One of those doing healing was Rena.
He decided to leave her to her task and searched for the other party members. Desmond had a few cuts and scratches on him but was otherwise okay. Natali looked perfectly fine, though a bit tired. From what he overheard while asking around for her, she was able to cast multiple Ice Walls between waves to allow for frequent regrouping.
"Lucius, are you alright? I take it you found out what was the source of the problem?" Desmond asked.
"It was a vampire. The rest of the task group is dead. Tomorrow we are going to the spire," Lucius answered.
"There's no point. There is no way to enter the spire that we have been able to find. Why do you need to go there?" a portly researcher asked while raising his glasses.
"That is none of your concern. Desmond, Natali, Rena. Rest. Everyone else can split up the night's watch. We have earned our keep." Lucius stated plainly before disappearing into the small room that he and Rena shared.