The vampire licked his lips slowly, savoring the copper tang in the air. "I guess I chose the right option, hmmm? Aren't you going to kill me, Princess?"
Lily remained silent, her jaw locked. She grunted as he tightened his grip, her gaze burning with a mixture of hatred and pure loathing.
"How about I kill all the villagers instead?" he whispered, his voice like sliding silk. "You will watch as I drink them dry, knowing you couldn't save a single soul." He yanked her head back, forcing her throat exposed.
"AAH!" Lily cried out, the sound echoing through the cold air.
"ANSWER ME!" he roared, his eyes flashing. "Or do you suggest I drink yours instead? I do love the taste of your magical energy."
He didn't wait for a response. He sank his fangs into the hollow of her neck, drinking with slow, agonizing deliberation. He groaned with pleasure as the raw power of her essence flooded into him—the unique, intoxicating hum of magic that only those with the Gift possessed. In that moment of his distraction, Lily moved. She thrust her rapier upward, aiming straight for his pale face. The blade glowed with a blinding white light, a sudden gale of wind swirling violently around the steel. The vampire moved with supernatural speed, catching the blade in his bare hand with a mocking ease.
"I was wondering where that toothpick went," he chuckled, his fingers bleeding but his expression bored. "A desperate attempt, if I must say."
He laughed, leaning back in to continue his feast. He ignored the blade held so close to his temple; he felt no fear. But then, the air shifted. A focused gust of wind, sharp as a diamond edge, erupted from the very tip of the rapier. It lanced forward, piercing the vampire's eye and driving deep into his skull.
The monster shrieked, finally releasing his hold on Lily as he recoiled in agony.
The vampire shrieked, a raw, guttural sound that tore through the air as he clutched his ruined eye. Lily didn't waste the opening. She scrambled back, putting distance between herself and the monster.
"TORNADO!" she commanded.
A violent gale spiraled around her rapier, the steel humming with the force of the spell. With a sharp horizontal slash, she unleashed the vortex. The "Tempest" became a localized cyclone, a roaring pillar of wind that swallowed the vampire whole. He was swept upward, his form lost within the churning debris and howling air. As the wind roared, Lily felt the oppressive weight in the air snap. The gravity that had been crushing the villagers suddenly returned to normal, releasing them from their invisible chains.
"GET AWAY FROM HERE!" Lily screamed, her voice cracking over the sound of the storm. As the villagers scrambled for safety, the tornado collapsed as quickly as it had formed. A shockwave of air blasted outward in all directions, but the vampire didn't fall to the ground. Instead, he tore through the settling dust, charging toward her with speed that defied the laws of physics. Lily's heart hammered against her ribs. She was caught off guard, her muscles locked in astonishment. The creature before her had changed. His body had turned a deep, obsidian black, a void in the shape of a man. Only his face remained pale, punctuated by eyes that now burned with a dark, glowing malice. She saw him coming, a blur of shadow and bloodlust, but her body refused to move. I can't react... he's too fast, she thought, the realization turning her blood to ice. He was upon her in an instant, a terrifying grin revealing his sharp, white fangs. The air around him pulsed with a horrific mixture of raw magical energy and a suffocating aura of death. So this is an A-Upper Class, Lily realized with a sinking dread. The vampire's fist was already swinging, a concentrated mass of gravity and force aimed directly at her chest. The vampire's fist blurred as it drew closer, gravity warping the air around his knuckles. "GRAVITY CANNON!" he bellowed.
Just as the blow was about to connect, a new voice cut through the chaos.
"AWAKEN..BARRIGAN. ..KING'S FORTRESS!"
Suddenly, a massive green castle materialized out of thin air, encasing Lily in a protective emerald glow. The structure was tall and imposing, its gates forged from a shimmering, reinforced metal. The vampire's fist slammed into the gates with a deafening BAM! The metal groaned and spider-webbed with cracks, but it held. Lily fell back, stunned, her breath hitching as she realized she was suddenly standing within a jade-colored fortress. Namizo rushed to her side, his teeth grit in concentration as he held up a glowing shield. He was trembling from the effort of maintaining the construct.
"Are you okay? You're bleeding..." he managed to say through his teeth.
"Yeah... did you do this?" Lily asked, her eyes wide.
"Yeah, but it won't last long," Namizo admitted. He looked at the cracked gate with mounting dread. "No one has ever been able to even make a dent in it. What the heck is he?"
BAM! Another thunderous strike shook the foundations. This time, the cracks raced across the entire castle like a breaking mirror.
"YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME!" the vampire roared from the other side.
With his arm fully coated in obsidian shadows and gravity concentrated into a single point, he struck the gate a third time. The metal shattered instantly. The green castle dissolved into fragments of light, and a violent shockwave of gravitational force exploded inward. Lily and Namizo were thrown backward like ragdolls, tumbling across the hard earth until they rolled to a stop. Gasping for air, Namizo was the first to scramble back to his feet, his shield flickering but still active as he braced for the next assault.
Namizo groaned, forcing himself back to his feet. He planted his weight, his shield arm trembling as a faint green light began to pulse in his eyes again. Beside him, Lily was on one knee, using her rapier as a crutch to keep from collapsing. Her breath came in ragged, shallow gasps.The vampire stood a few yards away, watching them with clinical amusement. "Well," he hummed, his voice vibrating with dark power. "Looks like another one joined the fun."
Lily's heart sank as she looked at his face. The eye she had pierced with her wind-blade was perfect—unscarred and clear. He had healed in seconds.
"It's like they say," the monster grinned, showing rows of needle-sharp fangs. "The more, the merrier."
To the vampire, the two of them looked like flickering candles in the dark. He could see their magical energy radiating off them like flames—Lily's a pure, brilliant white and Namizo's a steady, earthy green. Even after all he had drained from her, Lily's flame still burned surprisingly bright. He took a step forward, and the ground groaned. The gravitational pressure radiating from his body had intensified, turning his skin into a void of obsidian. His brass knuckles shone with a terrifying luster as his physical weight increased tenfold, cracking the stones beneath his boots and creating a shallow depression in the earth. Namizo didn't hesitate. He thrust his shield forward. "GREAT WALL!"
Massive slabs of emerald-colored stone erupted from the dirt. Instead of a castle, they formed a soaring, circular perimeter that cut through the air with a roar. The walls surged upward, thick and seemingly endless, sealing the vampire and Namizo inside a private arena. Lily threw herself at the barrier, slamming her fists against the cold, green light. "HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
There was no answer from the other side—only the muffled sound of a heavy impact and the distant, panicked screams of the villagers as they fled into the woods. Lily froze, her hands still pressed to the wall. The realization hit her like a physical blow. Namizo wasn't just fighting; he was isolating the threat. He was trapping the monster inside so it couldn't reach the innocents. He was sacrificing himself to buy them time.