With every exchange, Gabriel felt like his movements were getting sharper and faster.
Not to mention, he had stopped losing in terms of power. Now, the fight felt truly fair and balanced.
"Say, how does it feel to forsake humanity?" Cornelius asked in the middle of his swing.
Once Gabriel blocked it and stepped back, he replied:
"Doesn't feel like much. How does it feel knowing you won't live past thirty?"
A cheap blow it may be, Cornelius reacted with a scoff.
"Once Teresa is done killing your vampire friend, you'll be faced with a fate worse than death."
"So you were just bullshitting when you said you'll purify me?" Gabriel questioned.
Though all that managed to do was piss Cornelius off and make him take this seriously.
A bead of sweat dropped from his forehead, and once it hit the ground, he launched himself forward.
Gabriel was used to his speed by now, but right as he was about to dodge, Cornelius stopped, pulled out a flask, and flicked its contents onto the puzzled Gabriel.
Feeling the innate danger of that liquid, Gabriel subconsciously willed it to turn to ice.
That action surprised Cornelius greatly.
"Bloodline abilities? Have you been a vampire for a while now? No… that's not the case, so how…?"
"Ahem."
Both Gabriel and Cornelius turned to the side at the interruption, spotting a flawless Rachel.
Cornelius was shocked, and Gabriel felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. Deep down, he felt like she might not be able to handle Teresa.
But she was just fine.
"Ice Manipulation is one of my house's perks, and yes, it's linked to our bloodline. But wanna know why it's so dangerous?" She smiled widely.
"It's because when we go up against Vampire Hunters, we can freeze their Holy Water, making it possible for us to use Blood Manipulation on them."
Rachel paused for a moment, then turned toward Cornelius.
"Teresa's heart was delicious, by the way."
"You! What did you do to her!" Cornelius screamed in denial, taking all his attention away from Gabriel.
"I killed her of course, and you'll die as well. Of course, at the rate this battle's going, I doubt I'll be the one to kill you."
The moment she said those words, Cornelius immediately remembered Gabriel.
Though by the time he finished turning his head, it was already too late as Gabriel pulled the trigger of Rachel's favorite sniper rifle.
BOOOOOM!
A point blank sniper shot.
No matter who it was, they wouldn't be able to dodge it.
And Cornelius was no exception, as the most he could do was raise his arms to try to block the bullet.
But all that did was cause the bullet to tear both of his arms to pieces, and leave bits and pieces of flesh dangling down.
His face was pale, yet he didn't scream. That didn't mean he hadn't realized what situation he was in now, since with so much of his blood scattered around, there was no escape.
"Nice shot." Rachel gave a thumbs up.
Gabriel chuckled. "Thanks. So what do we do with him now? Can I just fire the second bullet now?"
"Remember what I said about Ice Manipulation? How it can freeze Holy Water? Yeah…" She pointed at the wounded Cornelius. "I want you to try doing it now."
Gabriel paused for a second. "No offense, but I have no idea how I'm doing this. It's not a conscious decision."
Rachel smiled. "Remember that time you almost drowned in the frozen lake during your Vampire Hunter training?"
"Yeah?" Gabriel's brows twitched. "And how do you know that?"
"Don't sweat the small stuff." She brushed it off. "Just think of the coldness you felt when you were on the brink of death. Now try to manifest that coldness in the same way you control Blood Manipulation."
She quickly gave an example, manifesting some blood, then turning it into a short ice dagger.
Rachel hummed to herself and approached Cornelius. Giving him a smile, she suddenly whacked him on his cheek, breaking his jaw and even causing the fake tooth to fall out.
His eyes widened in despair, and in a last ditch effort, he tried to bite his own tongue off.
But sadly for Cornelius, Rachel suddenly stuck a piece of someone's skull into his mouth, shutting him up, and causing tears to slowly start to flow.
"Welp, that's that. Have at him," Rachel said, backing off.
Honestly… Gabriel was a little shaken by her cruelty. She did it so effortlessly, almost like it was second nature to her.
He felt like one day, he might become like that too. Seeing how his emotions were already starting to think of this as normal, Gabriel stopped trying to resist.
Instead, he took a deep breath and did as Rachel said.
He bit his finger, drew out some blood, and then recalled the trauma of how he almost drowned in that frozen lake.
The cold torrent broke both of his legs, and if not for the instructor's fast reactions, his legs would've been cut off.
And that was precisely why he remembered that day as clearly as if it was yesterday.
To Gabriel's genuine surprise, recalling that memory allowed him to will the coldness into existence, turning the blood he was controlling into pure ice.
He tried it again and again, being surprised each time by how easy this actually was.
"Now don't get too excited. Try freezing this bald guy's Holy Water," Rachel said.
With newfound confidence and determination, Gabriel didn't even go for a warmup, instead going all in.
And sadly, his hastiness was one of his worst qualities, as instead of freezing Cornelius's Holy Water, he froze his heart.
He tried to salvage it, but all that managed to do was shatter the heart, causing Cornelius to slump as the light left his eyes, marking the death of the second Van.
Gabriel just stared at Cornelius's body, realizing just how big of a fuck up he was.
Though…
"Phahahaha! Yeah, genius. If only I could nail everything on my first try." Rachel's hearty laughter resounded, making him ease up.
"Fucking hell…" Gabriel facepalmed. "I'm such an idiot."
"Hahaha! Well, at least you're my idiot. Now loosen up, okay? Sarah should've already prepared our lunch, so let's go eat!" Rachel patted his back enthusiastically.
He tilted his head. "What about the other Vampire Hunters? I blew up all their trucks, so they shouldn't have been able to go far."
"Ah? Oh, don't worry about them. As it so happens, the Vampire Hunter Association sent over some gifts in the form of thousands of gallons of blood, so we'll have plenty of seasoning for today's dish~"
Rachel stepped forward, and then twirled on her heel. Her beautiful smile and enchanting crimson eyes made his heart skip a beat.
"You're a Vampire Noble now, Gabriel. There's a whole other world the Vampire Hunter books haven't told you about."
A warm smile appeared on her face.
"But for starters, would you like to join this innocent lady for lunch?"