The forest had grown quiet around us, the usual evening chorus of birds and insects falling silent as if nature itself sensed the danger that had materialized from the shadows. I kept myself positioned between Valerie and this newcomer—Elmenhilde Karnstein—my muscles coiled and ready to spring into action at the first sign of hostility.
"Who is this queen you speak of?" I asked, my voice steady despite the tension crackling in the air like electricity before a storm.
Elmenhilde's lips curved into a condescending smile that made my jaw clench. "You don't need to know about such matters," she replied, her tone dripping with aristocratic disdain. "A lowly being like yourself has no right to inquire about royalty. It is not your place."
The casual dismissal in her voice ignited something hot and dangerous in my chest. I'd had enough of supernatural beings treating humans like insects to be crushed underfoot. My fists clenched at my sides, but I forced myself to remain calm. Information first, violence second—if necessary.
Elmenhilde turned her attention back to Valerie, her glowing eyes softening slightly but losing none of their intensity. "Come along peacefully, Valerie Tepes. If you refuse, I may be forced to eliminate this... obstacle." Her gaze flicked to me with the same regard one might show a particularly annoying fly.
Valerie stepped forward, Chastiefol materializing in her hands in its spear form. The weapon's presence seemed to surprise Elmenhilde, whose eyebrows rose a fraction. Good—let her be caught off-guard.
"Why does your queen want me?" Valerie demanded, her voice stronger than I'd ever heard it. "We're from rival factions. This makes no sense."
I filed away this information carefully. Rival factions meant politics, and politics in the supernatural world usually meant blood and betrayal. Elmenhilde's smile widened, revealing pristine white teeth that seemed too sharp in the dying light.
"Soon enough, the Tepes faction will lose this war," she said with casual certainty that sent chills down my spine. "The recent massacre of high-ranking members has crippled your faction's leadership. My queen is... generous enough to offer you sanctuary. A place where you could be safe and live in peace."
My blood ran cold. The massacre she was referring to—that was my doing. The vampire nobles I'd eliminated to save Valerie, the bodies I'd left in my wake during her rescue. Only Valerie and I knew the truth of what had happened that night, but apparently, the consequences were still rippling outward like stones thrown into a dark pond.
Valerie's grip tightened on her spear. "This is about my Longinus, isn't it? The Sephiroth Graal?"
Elmenhilde's mask of diplomatic courtesy finally slipped, revealing the predatory hunger beneath. "So what if it is? There's no such thing as an offer without benefits to both sides. You get protection and a new home. My queen gets... access to your abilities when needed."
The euphemism made my stomach turn. I'd seen enough of the supernatural world to know that "access to your abilities" meant enslavement dressed up in pretty words. Valerie would become nothing more than a living weapon, her Sacred Gear exploited until there was nothing left of the gentle girl I'd grown to care about.
Valerie opened her mouth to refuse—I could see it in the set of her shoulders, the defiant tilt of her chin—but I stepped forward before she could speak.
"Valerie belongs to me," I declared, my voice cutting through the evening air like a blade. "Neither your queen nor the Tepes faction will have her. I've had enough of this political bullshit."
The words surprised even me with their intensity, but I meant every syllable. Valerie's eyes went wide, her lips parting in shock, but Elmenhilde's reaction was far more dramatic. Her elegant composure cracked like thin ice, revealing the rage simmering beneath.
"And I don't care what stupid reasons both factions are fighting for," I continued, taking another step forward. "I won't let her fall into that hellhole again. Not while I'm still breathing."
Elmenhilde's umbrella hit the forest floor with a soft thud as she dropped it, her movements suddenly predatory. Her eyes blazed red in the gathering darkness, and razor-sharp claws extended from her fingertips with an audible *snick*. When she smiled now, her fangs were fully visible—weapons as much as teeth.
"How dare you, insignificant human," she hissed, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "You speak of claiming what belongs to vampire nobility? I'll tear your throat out and drain you dry."
But instead of the fear she expected to see, I felt that familiar surge of power coursing through my veins. The leopard stirred within me, responding to the threat with predatory eagerness. My body began to change, muscles expanding, skin taking on the distinctive spotted pattern as I shifted into my hybrid form.
"Try it," I growled, my voice deeper now, more animalistic. "Let's see how noble you are when you're bleeding in the dirt."
Elmenhilde moved first, her vampire speed carrying her across the clearing in a blur of motion. Her claws whistled through the air where my head had been a heartbeat before, but my enhanced reflexes allowed me to duck and roll away. The bark of the tree behind me exploded in a shower of splinters where her attack had landed.
I retaliated immediately, my clawed hand shooting forward to grab her wrist. The moment my palm made contact, I activated my Born to Blow ability, leaving a golden handprint on her pale skin and snapped my fingers. She jerked back with a hiss of pain and surprise, not understanding what had just happened.
"Valerie, now!" I shouted, diving to the side as Elmenhilde's other hand swept through the space I'd occupied.
Chastiefol sang through the air, its spear point aimed at Elmenhilde's heart. The vampire twisted away at the last second, but not quickly enough—the blade opened a thin line across her ribs, drawing the first blood of the battle. She snarled in fury and pain, her aristocratic mask finally crumbling completely.
"You dare—both of you!" she shrieked, her movements becoming wild and aggressive. "I am Elmenhilde Karnstein! I am nobility!"
"Nobility?" I laughed harshly, water beginning to swirl around my hands. "All I see is another bloodsucker who thinks her name gives her the right to treat people like property."
I launched a barrage of water bullets at her, each one compressed to bullet-like density. Elmenhilde dodged frantically, her vampire agility keeping her just ahead of the projectiles that shattered trees and carved gouges in the earth behind her. But she was being driven backward, pushed toward the spot I wanted her.
Valerie had adapted to working with Chastiefol remarkably quickly. The spear shifted forms in her hands—now a traditional weapon, now expanding into its pillow form to block Elmenhilde's desperate counterattacks, now splitting into multiple smaller projectiles that forced the vampire to keep moving.
"Stand still, you insects!" Elmenhilde screamed, her composure completely shattered now. She was bleeding from half a dozen small wounds, her expensive clothing torn and stained.
I marked two more trees with my explosive handprints as I maneuvered around the battlefield, herding Elmenhilde like a predator driving prey toward a trap. She was fast, faster than anything human, but she was also angry and desperate now. That made her predictable.
When she finally positioned herself exactly where I wanted her—between the two marked trees and with her back to a thick oak trunk—I snapped the fingers of my right hand.
The explosion was deafening. Golden light blazed through the forest as the marked trees detonated simultaneously, sending splinters and debris flying in all directions. The shockwave knocked Elmenhilde off her feet and into the oak behind her with bone-jarring force.
Before she could recover, Valerie was there, Chastiefol's point pressed against the vampire's throat. I approached more slowly, my hybrid form making me tower over the fallen noble. Elmenhilde's red eyes darted between us, no longer glowing with arrogant confidence but wide with something I recognized—fear.
"Well, well," I said softly, crouching down until I was at eye level with her. "Not feeling so noble now, are we?"
Elmenhilde's chest rose and fell rapidly, her breathing harsh and ragged. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, and her once-perfect hair was disheveled and filled with forest debris. But even cornered and beaten, her pride refused to let her beg.
"What are you waiting for?" she spat, though her voice trembled slightly. "Kill me already. It won't change anything. The Carmilla faction knows your location now. They'll keep coming for her."
Valerie's grip on her spear tightened, and I could see the worry creeping into her expression. More blood would be spilled. More enemies would come. I could practically hear her thoughts—this was all because of her, because of what she was, because of the power she carried.
But as I stared down at Elmenhilde's defiant, terrified face, a different kind of smile began to spread across my features. Not the warm expression Valerie was used to seeing, but something darker, more calculating. Something that made both girls take an unconscious step backward.
"Kill you?" I said softly, my voice carrying a sinister edge that made the shadows seem to press closer around us. "Oh, I have a much better idea for dealing with you."
Elmenhilde's eyes widened even further, and I could see her aristocratic composure finally crumbling into creeping fear. Even Valerie was staring at me with concern and confusion.
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