Chapter 181 Dead End Final Battle - Part 1

I looked down at the Duke who was lying on the ground, without a will to fight.

"So, what are we going to do with him?" asked Elanor.

"I think we just kill him," stated Alicar.

I had a think about it. Killing him would completely remove him as a threat, providing us with some breathing room. However, there could see be some information we could claw out of him which would give us aid with the eventual fight with the Progenitor. He wasn't in a position to fight back, now or ever.

Although considering the personality of the vampire, he likely wasn't going to give any information, regardless of what we do. I've dealt with a lot of sarcastic, aloof people. If anything, the fact that they're so open with what they say is what makes it so hard to force them to do anything.

No matter what, it always seems as if they are in control, ever-so-slightly.

Taking my blade, I walked closer to the vampire.

"Are you going to tell us anything?" I asked the Duke.

"Eh? What is it that you want to know?"

"How do we kill your Progenitor."

"No idea."

"Do I need to torture you before you tell me?"

"No, I seriously don't know~ he's much stronger than me, I'd never even thought about how you'd be able to defeat him."

"Ugh."

"Anyways, I don't really want to live a life without limbs."

"What are you saying?"

"Kill me, please~"

There was nothing useful I was going to get from this vampire. Looking around at the others, I decided that I'd just kill him. I didn't have time to be worrying about him before my next battle.

In one swift strike, the vampire's head fell to the ground. His white hair spread across the ground as his body fell limp. Blood flowed out of his neck, adding to the already large puddle.

"Let's keep going," said Alicar.

We travelled further through the cave.

***

???

In front of me was a shocking sight.

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There were two vampires, who both looked as if they had sustained injuries from a fight. Beside them, Maia and Chloe appeared to be basically completely unharmed.

[Rank]: Duke; [Remaining Blood]: 9%

[Rank]: Progenitor (Second); [Remaining Blood]: 70%

What on earth was this...

Such powerful vampires but the two girls aren't hurt? This didn't make any sense. What was going on? Something must be out of the ordinary.

Suddenly, Maia shouted at us.

"Help Josh!"

Josh?

That boy that got turned into a vampire?

"Please! Help him!"

Just as she said that, the Progenitor turned around towards her. Chloe quickly raised her weapon and stood in between, bracing herself to fight.

I still didn't understand what was going on, but out priority was taking out the Progenitor.

Alicar raced over and began to engage the Progenitor. It seemed that the Progenitor was injured, slowly healing a large wound on the middle of its chest. It didn't look like a wound that Chloe or Maia could make... which meant that the only other thing that could've done that was the other vampire on the ground.

Nove l B(in).C OM

The vampire on the ground must be Josh.

He must have been protecting Maia.

It made sense all of a sudden.

The sounds of swords clashing against each other filled my ears. Alicar and the Progenitor were fighting at a speed which was almost impossible to see. Their movements were just a blur in the dark cave. However, it was clear that Alicar was constantly being pushed back by the rapid attacks of the Progenitor.

All of a sudden, the ground exploded.

The stone on the ground had been obliterated, shooting all through the cave, and smashing into the walls. Dust was starting to rain down as the debris began to settle. I noticed a small gash on the Progenitor, however, it seemed that Alicar had also been caught in the explosion. A flurry of arrows rained down as the Progenitor tried to block everything.

Seeing a slight opening, I raised [Mayuri-Luc-Ei].

Cut him down, Mayuri.

I launched a massive burst of wind from my blade. Unexpectedly, the Progenitor hopped to the side, dodging my attack. It ended up crashing into the two girls behind him.

Crap.

Did he know about my power?

He might have been informed by one of his offspring. If that was the case, it was going to be a problem to land an attack. The other vampire was still trying to pull himself up from the ground, it seemed that he was completely exhausted.

Alicar and Elanor were engaging the Progenitor so I decided to check on the other vampire.

"Are you Josh?" I asked.

"Y-yes, William... right?

"That's right. Are you injured?"

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"No... well... I don't have much blood."

I really needed this Duke on our side if we wanted to defeat teh Progenitor. It didn't take too much thought to figure out how to feed vampires blood.

"I'll give you some of mine."

"Really?"

I pulled up my sleeve and exposed my arm.

Slowly, I could feel some blood draining out of my wrist.

I pulled my arm out.

"Is that enough?"

He quickly got to his feet.

"It's enough for now."

[Rank]: Duke; [Remaining Blood]: 19%

Picking his red sword up from the ground, he began making his way toward the Progenitor. Alicar was currently desperately fighting, trying to keep the Progenitor in check as much as possible. However, it was all too clear that the Progenitor's strength was far greater than ours.

[Rank]: Progenitor (Second); [Remaining Blood]: 68%

This entire time, we'd only dealt 2% damage to it.

The Progenitor wasn't even trying, he seemed to have a somewhat relaxed posture, as if he was fighting a few weaklings. Even with our entire group, it was going to be incredibly hard to break through the Progenitor's swordplay. His speed and strength were a tier above ours.

As Josh and Alicar engaged the Progenitor from close range, I was still a little distance behind, trying to think of a way to defeat him.

I couldn't join in now... there was no chance I'd be able to land an attack.

What could I do?