A blow with a blood sword struck Sylas's arm and dragged him several meters backward. The slash failed to completely pierce his skin thanks to the magic that had been placed on his body, but the force of the impact still made him lose his balance for a moment. As soon as he regained his posture, Sylas stepped on Vladimir's foot and, using the same leg, delivered a powerful kick against his body, making him retreat.
This time, he assumed a different stance. His left hand remained low, slightly above his waist, while his right remained higher, close to his chin, with his fist clenched.
'Come with me, Lunaris.'
The bat reacted immediately. Lunaris transformed into blood and wrapped around Sylas's fist, taking the form of a red glove with four spikes at the ends. The blood energy began to concentrate around his arm, while Vladimir regained his balance several meters ahead.
"Blood Impact!"
Vladimir widened his eyes and raised his sword at the last moment. Sylas's fist struck the blade with enough force to send him flying backward, sliding across the ground. Vladimir managed to prevent the blow from directly hitting his body, but when he looked at the sword, he realized that small cracks had appeared all over the blade.
"This can't..."
He immediately poured more magic into the weapon. The blood that formed the sword twisted and began to regenerate, closing the cracks little by little.
"Aaaahhh!"
A scream coming from a region below the two made them both turn around.
For a few seconds, neither of them said anything. Vladimir took a few steps backward and once again assumed a defensive stance, without taking his eyes off Sylas.
'I'd better kill him quickly before going down.'
Sylas also recognized the scream.
'Was that Nerezza's scream? Looks like those two didn't hold back.'
He knew Aoi and Rina well enough to know that they were kind people. However, when someone hurt someone they loved, that kindness simply disappeared. At that moment, the two were not only fighting against an enemy. They were fighting for someone they considered a sister.
'First I need to deal with this guy... He has the same problem as him.'
Since their first encounter, Sylas had been suspicious of Vladimir. The reason was simple: in the original story, Vladimir had never really appeared in the story as someone important, much less reached such a high level of power.
He was not even known to possess enough talent to reach the higher Circles, mainly because he had never truly trained. Even though some changes had occurred because of Enrico's actions, those changes should not have been enough to alter that vampire's fate so much.
Then there was another detail. Sylas looked at Vladimir's fingers.
His pinky finger was trembling slightly.
That small movement reminded Enrico of someone from his old world. It was a gesture that person made whenever they were nervous and tried to calm themselves without letting others notice.
The suspicion continued to grow.
Meanwhile, in one of the lower rooms of the house, Nyxaria was facing her former master. The confrontation had turned into a fierce fight, but there was something that hurt her more than the injuries caused by the attacks: Zarovich's look of contempt.
Nyxaria clenched her teeth as she dodged another attack.
"I know I've become your enemy, but that look isn't from today. Tell me, Master Zarovich... Why did you save me if you hate me so much?"
Zarovich did not answer. Instead, he raised one of his hands.
"Crimson Aurora Magic: Strings of Death."
A huge amount of blood emerged from Zarovich's body and rose above their heads. The energy began forming red auroras, which spread through the corridor like strips of living light. Nyxaria sensed the danger and jumped backward, avoiding the first set of attacks.
She knew she could not allow those auroras to touch her body. If they were able to reach her flesh, the effect would cause her body to slowly begin dying.
"You're not going to answer me?"
"A dog like you doesn't deserve answers. So just die."
A red light appeared above Nyxaria's head. At the same instant, several beams of hardened blood began descending toward her. Nyxaria moved between the attacks, narrowly dodging each one, but one of the beams grazed her shoulder.
The flesh at the spot was immediately burned.
"Blood Light, Second Phase."
The amount of red light increased, filling the corridor even more. Nyxaria raised her hand and began releasing her own magic. Ever since she had reached the Sixth Circle, something strange had happened to her blood. She could transform it into a black coloration and, for some reason, that change made her attacks even more powerful.
"Crimson Rain!"
Above the red lights, a rain of blood began to fall. Each drop transformed into small dark-red stars that pierced through the lights and advanced toward Zarovich. For the first time, he showed fear.
The feeling quickly transformed into anger.
"Why didn't you awaken this power before, you damn woman?! If you had done it before, I would have already ascended!"
Zarovich advanced toward her, covering his own body with a red cloak. The protection repelled the small stars that tried to hit him, allowing him to pass through the rain of blood and get closer and closer.
"Ascend? What do you mean?"
"JUST DIE!"
Zarovich completely lost control.
The red cloak transformed into a spear and was thrown at Nyxaria. She tried to move away, but the spear pierced her shoulder, making her scream. Before she could regain her balance, Zarovich was already on top of her again.
He grabbed her hand and brought a blood blade down against her arm.
At the same time, the red auroras advanced along Nyxaria's back.
She found herself trapped between two attacks. If she tried to dodge the blade, she would be hit by the auroras. If she retreated to escape the auroras, she would leave her arm exposed.
With no other choice, Nyxaria allowed the blade to cut her arm. As soon as she managed to create some distance, she regenerated the wound and faced her master again.
"Crimson Constellation."
Crimson lines began appearing in the air, forming designs similar to constellations. Nyxaria spread those lines throughout the corridor while Zarovich advanced again.
He did not realize the danger until he touched the first constellation. At the same instant, an explosion struck his shoulder and his arm fell to the ground.
"Aaaah! What's happening?! Why is it taking so long to regenerate?!"
Zarovich tried to recover the limb, but his regeneration was much slower than before. During those few seconds, he was completely at a disadvantage. Nyxaria noticed the opportunity and advanced, but Zarovich made a desperate decision.
He let himself fall to the ground, pretending to have lost consciousness.
She had become stronger than he expected. If he continued fighting that way, he would probably die. So he decided to use what he still had against her.
"Master..."
Nyxaria slowly walked toward him. Zarovich remained motionless.
She took a few more steps, but then stopped.
"Why are you lying to me? Am I really that stupid to you?"
Zarovich opened his eyes while Nyxaria looked at him sadly.
That expression made the vampire quickly stand up. He created a spear formed from red auroras and pointed it directly at her throat.
A tear ran down Nyxaria's face.
The next instant, her hand moved and the spear was broken in two.
Nyxaria grabbed Zarovich by the collar and threw him against the ground. Blood appeared over his back, pressing his body against the floor with such force that it seemed to want to sink him into the ground.
She closed her eyes for a moment.
Then she remembered that night. She remembered being attacked from behind. She remembered the desperation. And above all, she remembered Zarovich arriving to save her.
"Master, tell me the truth... then I'll save you."
She smiled.
There was still hope in her expression. Nyxaria truly believed that he would choose to live. After all, her master had always been a coward, someone who preferred to survive anything.
And she was right.
For a moment, Zarovich seemed about to surrender.
Then he stopped, and his eyes became completely black.
Nyxaria noticed the change and immediately became worried. She approached, trying to understand what was happening.
"Master..."
"I was the one who ordered them to attack you that night."
"What...?"
The worried expression on Nyxaria's face seemed to break.
She took a step backward.
For a few seconds, she thought he was lying. Perhaps someone was controlling his mind. Her eyes began searching through the corridors, trying to find some hidden enemy.
"I saved you because you are special to my mistress."
"Master, why are you saying..."
"You were supposed to be merely her vessel. But your uselessness made her give up."
Nyxaria's body began to tremble. The man before her still wore her master's face, but at that moment, she no longer knew if she could call him that.
"Who is...?"
"My true mistress is the one whom I truly follow. The evil goddess Nyx."
Nyxaria's mind seemed to begin breaking apart.
She had chosen to follow that man because he saved her. Throughout her entire life, she had always needed to follow someone. Her mother had taught her that this was how she should live, but later, she had been abandoned. Her three masters had also done the same in some way.
Was she really that useless?
Was there anyone in that damned world who would not abandon her?
Maybe it was a lie.
Maybe Zarovich really was being controlled.
Nyxaria looked at a broken mirror near the corridor and saw her own reflection. Her eyes were black.
That was when she understood.
That power affecting Zarovich belonged to her. And it had been activated the instant she demanded that her master tell the truth.
"Hahahaha... so that's it..."
Zarovich's eyes returned to normal. When he returned to normal, he immediately began begging.
"P-please, let me live! You need to remember that I was the one who saved you! I apologize for the words I said, alright? I truly regret it. I simply was..."
"Zarovich."
"Yes..."
Nyxaria's sword moved.
Zarovich's head was separated from his body before he could finish any sentence he could say. His last sight was Nyxaria's dull eyes.
Nyxaria remained motionless for a few seconds. Her mind was completely confused. She then leaned against the wall, staring into the void.
Who should she follow now?
Without a master, she was nothing. At least that was what her mother had taught her before abandoning her.
"Is this my destiny?"
Then, a memory emerged.
She still had a master.
Nyxaria had become the servant of the owner of that blood. He had not appeared personally yet, but just a small amount of his blood had been enough to make her evolve. If someone capable of granting such power had chosen to give it to her, perhaps that meant something.
A small smile appeared on her face.
"Master... That's right. I still have my new master. Besides, he chose me, didn't he? He gave me that precious blood... Yes. Maybe he's different."
Her eyes were still dull, but there was a small glimmer in them now.
It was a fragile, almost desperate hope, but enough to make her continue walking.
For the first time in a long time, Nyxaria wanted to believe that maybe, just maybe, she would not be abandoned again.