Seraphine came again.
The air ruptured beneath her step.
**Boom.**
Her fist tore forward like a cannon shot.
Draven shifted his head aside just enough for it to pass, the pressure wave ripping past his cheek and blasting apart the wall behind him.
But the ringing—
It wouldn't stop.
Not because the injury remained.
Because it kept **reforming**.
His eardrums regenerated instantly each time the vibrations damaged them, restoring the structure only for the next wave of sound to tear through them again.
The cycle repeated endlessly.
Heal.
Rupture.
Heal.
Rupture.
For a vampire whose senses were far sharper than a human's—
It was torture.
Every vibration struck deeper.
The noise wasn't just loud.
It was **inside his skull**.
The ringing multiplied until it drowned out almost everything.
Seraphine's next kick detonated toward his ribs.
Draven twisted away—
But slower this time.
The edge of her strike clipped him.
The impact launched him across the street.
Stone shattered as he slid across the ground before forcing himself upright again.
Another boom.
She appeared above him.
Her heel descended like a falling blade.
Draven rolled aside at the last instant.
The ground collapsed beneath her strike, wind and sound erupting outward in a destructive pulse that blasted debris into the air.
Draven pushed himself back to his feet.
Blood still trickled faintly from his ears before vanishing again as his body repaired itself.
But the ringing remained.
A constant shrill vibration clawing through his thoughts.
*Damn it…*
Concentrating was becoming harder.
Every time he focused—
Another sonic shockwave tore through his senses.
Seraphine stepped out of the dust cloud calmly.
"You're slowing down."
She sounded almost amused.
"You were dodging much better earlier."
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she observed him.
"You're healing… but the sound is still affecting you."
Of course it was.
Even if the damage healed instantly—
The **vibrations** didn't disappear.
They were still reaching him.
Still hammering his hyper-sensitive hearing.
Draven wiped the blood from beneath his nose with the back of his hand.
The ringing screamed in his head like a swarm of insects.
But his eyes remained steady.
Seraphine tilted her head slightly.
"Most creatures would already be dead from internal rupture."
The air around her began humming again.
Wind spiraled tighter.
Sound compressed within it.
"But regeneration doesn't solve everything."
The ground beneath her feet cracked as she prepared to move again.
"You can't fight properly if you can't think."
She vanished.
The sonic boom came before the attack.
Draven moved—
Barely.
Her fist grazed his shoulder this time.
The shockwave blasted him backward again.
He landed hard, sliding several meters before stopping.
For a moment—
He didn't move.
The ringing screamed even louder.
But then—
Draven slowly exhaled.
"…Yeah."
His voice came out low.
Almost irritated.
"You're right."
He lifted his gaze back to her.
His eyes glowed faintly red in the dim evening light.
"I can't concentrate."
Seraphine smiled slightly.
Then Draven raised a hand—
And drove two fingers straight into his own ears.
Blood splashed as he **ripped his eardrums apart himself**.
The ringing stopped instantly.
Silence.
Total silence.
Draven slowly pulled his fingers free.
Blood dripped down the sides of his neck.
His wounds refused to regenerate—
Because he was actively keeping them damaged.
His gaze sharpened again.
Focused.
Cold.
He rolled his shoulders once.
Then looked back at Seraphine.
"Better."
Seraphine's smile faded slightly.
Because now—
The vampire wasn't reacting anymore.
He was **watching**.
Draven moved.
The moment the silence came, his body reacted faster.
He stepped in.
Not back.
Forward.
The ground cracked beneath his feet as he shot toward Seraphine, his cloak snapping behind him like a dark wing.
For the first time since the fight began—
He attacked.
His hand flashed out, grabbing her wrist just as her next strike descended.
With the same motion, his other hand drove forward, aiming straight for her throat.
Seraphine's eyes widened slightly.
Then wind exploded around her.
**BOOM!**
The sonic pressure erupted point-blank.
Draven's head jerked violently to the side—
And the ringing returned.
His body betrayed him.
The moment his ears regenerated again, the vibrations slammed into them once more. The piercing noise returned even louder than before, tearing through his skull like a drill.
His grip loosened for just a fraction of a second.
Seraphine didn't miss it.
Her knee slammed into his abdomen.
The impact folded his body and launched him backward like a projectile.
Draven crashed through the side of a building, stone and wood exploding outward as he tore through the structure and skidded across the floor inside.
Dust filled the air.
Outside—
Seraphine stepped through the ruined wall calmly.
"You can't keep them destroyed forever," she said, watching him rise through the dust.
Draven wiped blood from his mouth.
The ringing screamed again.
Louder.
Sharper.
Every pulse of sound from her rune hammered deeper into his sensitive hearing.
Seraphine lifted her hand.
Wind gathered again.
"You regenerate automatically."
Her fingers curled slowly.
"That's the weakness of a body like yours."
She disappeared.
Draven barely saw the motion.
The strike came like thunder.
Her fist slammed into his raised arm—
**CRACK**
The entire limb detonated.
Bone, flesh, and blood exploded outward in a violent spray.
Draven's right arm was blown completely apart from the elbow down.
Fragments of bone embedded themselves in the walls behind him.
For a split second—
The room went still.
Blood poured from the ruined stump.
Seraphine landed lightly several meters away.
"…And there it is," she said quietly.