Using my system, I called more of my Combat Minions toward me. They were hanging around in the forest, but they weren't very close by. It would be a few minutes before they could arrive. I just needed to hold on until they arrived. I order my archer and mage Minions to open fire upon the vampire, keeping him back for as long as possible.
Ah, I was still bleeding.
I couldn't feel the pain that much, I guess it was all the adrenaline.
I wanted to wrap the bandage from the mummies around my chest. However, I didn't have an opportunity to do so. With [Mayuri-Luc-Ei] in my hand, I tried my best to deflect all of the vampire's attacks. I just needed to hold out until some more of my Minions arrived for backup.
Swing after swing, our weapons clashed. Every once in a while, another wound would appear on my body. The wounds were small but just substantial enough to be noticeable. My clothes were now quite visibly stained by all of the blood that was dripping from the cuts.
I continued to focus on his attacks, trying to block all that I could. In the short breaks between bursts, my Minions fired upon the vampire, slowly wearing him down. However, at this rate, I was going to fall first.
[Rank]: Earl; [Remaining Blood]: 45%
The sounds of the blade hitting blade filled my ears. Everything else had been blocked out, my senses were only focusing on this battle. My eyes were watching every small movement he was making, from the slight adjustments in his posture to the slight movements of his elbows. I needed to predict his attacks so I could deflect them.
Our swords clashed with each other. My arms were tiring, I wasn't going to be able to keep this up much longer.
[Rank]: Earl; [Remaining Blood]: 44%
Suddenly, the vampire was forced to retreat. He frantically swung his sword, deflecting the various blades which were aimed toward him. From around the corner, several of my Minions appeared. A few of my Warrior Minions attacked it. They had levelled up quite a bit in the last few days, drastically increasing in strength.
With this overwhelming advantage in numbers, I charged at the vampire again with all of my combat Minions. Despite trying his best, the vampire was not able to block all of the attacks. They came from every angle, slashing away at his body.
My Elite Minions had also arrived, Bishop and Rook led the attack, cutting away at the vampire's strength.
[Rank]: Earl; [Remaining Blood]: 36%
All of a sudden, the tables had turned. The vampire was now struggling to stay alive, constantly fighting off blades which were being swung from every angle. The swords cut into his flesh, cleaving away at his body. Slowly, the vampire was getting slain.
[Rank]: Earl; [Remaining Blood]: 34%
He frantically fought for his life.
[Rank]: Earl; [Remaining Blood]: 33%
We were now overwhelming the vampire.
[Rank]: Earl; [Remaining Blood]: 31%
p His life was rapidly being drained away.
[Rank]: Earl; [Remaining Blood]: 28%
It was quite clear that the battle was won.
[Rank]: Earl; [Remaining Blood]: 25%
Like a wild animal, the vampire swung his sword erratically in the air. Several of my Minions were being caught in his attacks, however, at this point, the attacks themselves weren't strong enough to kill my combat Minions.
[Rank]: Earl; [Remaining Blood]: 19%
Eventually, the vampire fell to the ground.
"Disgusting... livestock... how dare you..."
I looked down at the dying creature.
[Rank]: Earl; [Remaining Blood]: 14%
"We're livestock are we?"
"Filthy... get away from me."
"You're pretty loud for someone who's on death's door."
"Piss off, kill me..."
"As you wish."
In one finishing blow, I killed the vampire.
[You have defeated a rank [Earl] vampire]
[You have been given a [Small Mystery Box] as a reward]
Ah, I almost forgot about the nice rewards that came with the kill.
***
Back on the safe side of the wall, I sat on a wooden bench. The bandage I had was slowly healing my injuries as I rested. I was thinking about what the vampire said, calling us livestock. I wasn't sure if it was just a final insult, or if it meant that the vampires were really holding humans as livestock.
Considering that we were their food source, it was completely possible that the vampires had captured humans, keeping them as livestock wherever they lived.
After a little while, my wounds disappeared, being quickly repaired by my special healing bandage. I decided to get up and make my way back home. It had been a few hours and I wanted to check my rewards.
-
[Small Mystery Box]
- [x5101] experience
- [Random ability unlock]
~
Ah, as I expected. It seemed that I didn't get any grenades this time for some reason. It didn't really matter that much though, I was mostly looking forward to the ability and the experience, they were the most important of the rewards anyways.
-
[Random Ability Unlock]
Light Regeneration
(Uncommon)
-
Oh, just uncommon this time? It was a little bit underwhelming.
[Light regeneration increases the speed of your body's healing speed. It is always active, no matter how tired or how injured you are.]
Well, it was nothing major but anything helped. It was just a nice useful ability to have on the side. Other than that, I decided to unlock some more rewards in my Shadow Hunter System. My Minions should be returning from their expedition soon, although I might get fewer resources than the previous days. I had used quite a few Minions during my battle against the vampires so quite a few of them weren't collecting resources.
I sat down on my couch and waited for my Minions to come back. I wanted to collect all of the rewards at the same time so I had a short break. Looking out the window, I contemplated the future of everything.
I still wanted to understand this mysterious voice inside my head.
It sounded like Mayuri, but something felt different.
It had to be someone else.
Someone I knew much better than Mayuri.