«Blood Manipulation: Scarlet Predators!»
From Jace's palm, a writhing mass of blood tentacles erupts, lunging at Iris like a swarm of serpents striking at their prey.
She flaps her massive wings and takes flight, but the tentacles chase her.
One stretches farther than the others, but Iris avoids it by veering to the right. Then a second one follows, but she dodges it again.
She extends her arm toward Jace, and a sphere of purple energy erupts from her hand. It hits the center of the swarm directly, making it explode in a spray of blood.
A second globe follows an instant later, aimed straight at Jace, but he deflects it with a sharp swing of his axe, dissolving it.
«You're pretty good, little girl. I'm not surprised you're one of the boss's targets too. Too bad for you, you can't beat me.»
«We'll see about that!» Iris snarls. «Just know that Ren wasn't the only one trained by Raelor! I may not have become as strong as my brother, but my power is more than enough to get rid of someone like you!»
Jace merely raises an eyebrow at her statement. But despite his apparent indifference, he is more surprised than he lets on.
"If she was trained by Raelor… does that mean she can master that magic too? If so, things could get really interesting. There's only one way to find out."
Now, Iris stretches both arms toward Jace, and a sphere much larger than the previous ones expands around her hands.
Her massive globe shoots toward Jace at great speed, but he avoids it with a leap several meters into the air.
But that attack was only a diversion.
Iris swoops down on him, fully exploiting the vampire's unstable balance while he is still midair from the jump.
BOOOM!
A brutal explosion of energy slams into Jace directly. The cloud of smoke and debris from the damaged buildings forms a curtain so thick that it completely blocks her view for a few seconds.
And when the smoke clears… Iris's eyes widen, incredulous and terrified.
"I… I hit him squarely — I'm sure of it! How is it possible that he came out without a scratch?!"
Jace is standing in front of her without any sign of damage — even his clothes are completely intact.
An instant before being hit, Jace had cast a Blood Manipulation called Armored Cocoon.
Using that magic, he created around himself a shell of solid blood so durable that he emerged unscathed from Iris's powerful attack.
«You know, I've always had a weakness for girls who show some fire. If I weren't already happily engaged, I might actually ask you out on a real date.»
«I wouldn't go out with you even if you were the last man left, bastard!»
With incredible skill, Iris takes advantage of his apparent moment of lowered guard to fire a beam of energy. The ray pierces Jace's abdomen clean through, and a restrained cry of pain bursts from his mouth.
Yet, Iris doesn't even have time to rejoice over landing the hit, because Jace's wound instantly heals before her incredulous eyes.
Iris isn't naive. She knows very well that vampires can heal quickly… but she has never heard of anyone capable of doing it so fast.
She immediately realizes that this vampire has something different from the others.
Blood far richer in Sanguis — the name of the vampires' magical energy contained in their red blood cells. That's why they are able to manipulate blood at will and regenerate the damage they suffer.
Jace runs his hand over the bare skin of his abdomen, now completely intact, through the hole in his clothes.
«Nice shot, I'll admit it. If it had been just twenty centimeters higher, I'd be dead. Well… if it had been, I certainly wouldn't have let myself get hit on purpose, of course. It seems that even though you were trained by Raelor too, you can't use Magic Paralysis, unlike your brother. With this, I'd say I've seen everything I was interested in seeing — there's no reason to keep this going any further now. I'll finish you with the next attack.»
Iris clenches her teeth, tenser than ever. Then a faint, defiant smile spreads across her face.
«Your regeneration is truly amazing… but it's useless against this!»
Her eyes flare with a dazzling purple light, and Jace's do the same an instant later.
Iris has just used the succubi's specialty: enchanting magic — an ability that allows her to take control of the minds of those who feel sensual attraction toward the caster.
And when it's used by an incredibly charming succubus like Iris, the effectiveness of that magic is almost guaranteed.
Almost…
«H-How is it possible…? Why can't I take control of you…? And yet, I can clearly feel that you're attracted to me. That doesn't make sense…»
Iris backs away slowly, shaken.
«My sweet Melania is a succubus far more beautiful and powerful than you. Let's just say that after four years of living under the same roof with a succubus, I've learned a few tricks to resist your charming powers. You're strong, truly, but I told you — you can't beat me. And now, the finishing blow.»
Jace bends his knees, and in the blink of an eye he is already right in front of her.
For an instant, as he launched himself forward, Iris thought she saw the vampire's skin redden and his muscles swell, growing much larger and stronger.
But she has no chance.
He doesn't even give her time to react, and his heavy axe slams down on her, striking her directly.