The supposed red wound, which was actually purple, had now completely vanished from existence. The only remaining proof of its trace being the hole in the magnificent midnight blue dress.
What the hell is happening?
Wasn't I stabbed just now, with poison at that?
Could Longel have protected me?
Or maybe it was Him.
No, that's way out of character for Him.
Both Anastasia and the vampire had an expression of outright shock and disbelief. Anastasia from her discovered "ability", or so she presumed. While the vampire's expression worsened by the second, slowly understanding the change of condition in their combat.
The previously dominant and bloodlusted vampire now remained in awe in front of his prey, completely safe and sound despite the unmistakable stab he had executed on her thigh.
The man cursed under his breath and looked around, only being able to see the faces of nobles and servants, all without a clue of the current situation.
He thought for a bit, and so did Anastasia.
The vampiric figure came to a conclusion that Anastasia hadn't come up with yet; she had no conclusion.
The man rushed forward at insane speed towards the target.
The dagger in his hand made a perfect arc, like the moon in an incomplete phase.
It seemed like the wind itself was flowing with the blade; the sound it emitted was beautiful, without a doubt.
Such a hideous action having such a beautiful melody.
Anastasia quickly dodged the slash to her neck by stepping back, the dagger's blade being atoms away from her throat.
She managed to somehow push the dagger out of his hands, the blade falling to the ground and leaving him with no weapon in his hands.
The man smiled knowingly, his assumption being proven correct this time.
As soon as his foot stepped on the ground, his leg left itself towards her face, her eyes didn't have the time to notice the attack before it landed perfectly, like it did with the female servant whose head was now buried in the wall and covered in blood and other substances.
Anastasia took the kick without even defending it, propelling her meters away without control of her body.
Her body quickly approached the crowd of nobles before her mind regained possession of her body. Her body turned into a landing position that wouldn't cause irreparable damage.
"You're actually dumber than you look."
Anastasia's face had two question marks in its eyes.
"I would've thought you to be the quiet and intelligent type, calm and collected, but it seems you are nothing more than a girl with a tall body."
Her eyes squinted and had a ferocious look like that of a tiger.
The vampire took a look at his shoulder and retracted the kitchen knife from it, blood splurting out of the wound.
"Ha! Nothing, just as I thought." His eyes looked at Anastasia with utmost focus until he laughed.
Anastasia launched herself at the enemy without taking into account the environment.
"Yes! That's it! Come for me, little beast!" His smile was wide and full of madness, his two canines sticking out more than the other teeth.
Both Anastasia and the vampire traded blows relentlessly, the vampire being unable to take out another dagger, and the lady had no weapon nearby her position.
To the outsiders observing the fight from the sidelines, the duel was hideous and barbaric.
But for any martial artist...
It was beautiful.
Surely Kiril would have loved seeing this battle.
As they began to tire out, having fought for several minutes.
Both their pair of eyes made contact with each other, gold looking at red and red looking at gold.
Anastasia had the look of a beast, trying to kill. She only relied on her instincts and experience in hunting from commissions.
The vampire's look was calm and observing. His eyes moved precisely towards his target every time.
Both of their fighting style were vastly different.
Experience, formation, height, weight, nature.
Everything was different.
But the strongest difference when comparing them was their perception.
His red eyes perceived the world differently from Anastasia's, not because one was a vampire and the other was human, nor because of them being a man and a woman.
The key difference in their vision lay in their domain.
Anastasia had long understood that the man had powers just like hers, just much stronger.
It seemed like the man could both use acceleration and deceleration at will, on both himself and others.
His fighting skills were also nothing out of the ordinary. Yes, he still had decent knowledge and techniques, but Anastasia had seen peasants with better skills than him.
It seemed like the man, instead of relying on experience or instinct, relied on his vision to accurately aim and cut.
Taking those factors into account, Anastasia, full of murderous intent, understood the type of powers the vampire had.
"You can control time, can't you?"
"Bingo!"
Anastasia slowed to the speed of a snail while the vampire's speed augmented.
His dagger found its target right between her ribs, piercing a lung on its way.
The pain was unbearable to the white-haired girl. She wanted to vomit, and so she did, but only blood came out of her mouth.
Blood splattered on the ground like a waterfall.
Retracting the dagger, the man kicked her a bit lower than the wound he inflicted, sending her back several meters and into the wall between two windows.
Her back crashed violently against the white wall.
Her body was unmoving for a while before consciousness came back to her.
As she looked down at her body, she finally understood something.
Regeneration.
What kind of overpowered ability is that?
Well, I'm not complaining for now.
Her body had absolutely no trace of blood or wounds; her skin was perfectly clear with no impurities or traces of combat.
Only her costume had traces of cuts and stabs, some places having holes in them and others being covered in dirt from the violent kicks of the vampire.
Suddenly, a weird feeling rose in her chest.
Her blood was pumping harder.
Her nose breathed better.
Her senses were getting stronger.
It was bizarre to her that such a simple thing could make her body act like this.
Anastasia laughed.
"Hmm, what's so funny, beast?"
Her laugh came to a complete stop as she lifted her head and tried to stand up, looking directly in the vampire's red eyes.
"I'll kill you."
His eyes tendered, and his smile widened.
"What makes you so confident?"
Anastasia brushed a hand through her white hair in their now messy bob.
She smiled with confidence at the vampire.
"Just an intuition."