Far from the chaos near the city walls, Arlasan was holding his ground in the open field. His voice cut through the clamor of battle as he shouted orders, coordinating his group with sharp precision. The clang of weapons, the growl of beasts, and the screech of dying vampires echoed all around him.
On one flank, Briva was a blur of motion, her bow constantly drawn, her eyes never still. She moved between patches of broken stone and dead trees, covering the group from another angle. Her arrows whistled through the air, each one finding a target.
For the two of them, the fight was manageable. The lesser vampires and werewolves, though vicious, couldn't truly threaten fighters of their rank. But for the others, the situation was much more dangerous.
Two A-rank vampires had joined the battle, tall, pale figures with eyes glowing cold blue, their movements blindingly fast. The moment they appeared, Briva and Arlasan had no choice but to focus on them. Their presence shifted the entire fight, forcing the rest of the group to deal with more enemies without much support.
One of the younger fighters, Harrand, was struggling. A massive werewolf, fur dark as ash and eyes burning like amber, was pressing him hard. Each slash of the wolf's claws sent sparks flying from Harrand's daggers as he barely parried. The beast was laughing between its snarls, enjoying the desperation in its prey's face.
Harrand's boots slid back through the dirt until his heel caught a rock behind him. He stumbled and fell, his back hitting the ground hard. The werewolf grinned wide, fangs glinting, and leapt onto him with a roar.
Harrand barely had time to cross his daggers in front of him. The wolf's claws slammed down, pushing him deeper into the ground. The muscles in his arms trembled under the pressure, he could feel the sharp edges inching closer to his face.
Briva saw it from afar. She wanted to help, her bowstring tensed, her next arrow ready, but the A-rank vampire in front of her was relentless. He moved like mist, his own blood forming spears and blades that forced her to keep dodging.
Harrand's breath was ragged. The wolf's claws were almost breaking through his defense. Then, something shifted.
The shadows on the ground around him began to stir. They slithered toward him like black smoke, wrapping around his arms, his chest, his daggers, and then sank into him.
A surge of cold power rushed through his veins. His eyes widened as his strength multiplied. The daggers that had been pushed down… began to rise.
The werewolf's confident grin faltered.
With a roar, Harrand pushed upward with every ounce of his newfound strength. The impact sent the beast flying back several meters, its body crashing through a pile of rocks.
At that same moment, across the battlefield, Briva drew another arrow. She noticed something strange, a faint sheen of shadow had coated its surface. The energy pulsed, dark yet alive.
She didn't hesitate. She released.
The arrow whistled through the air and hit the vampire head-on. His blood-forged shield shattered like glass, and the arrow pierced straight through his chest. He staggered, looking down in disbelief before collapsing into dust.
Briva lowered her bow slightly, her gaze scanning the battlefield. She could feel it now, the strange energy threading through all of them.
A small smile touched her lips. "This must be Leo's doing," she whispered.
…
In the city.
The air trembled with power. Fragments of broken stone and burned dust floated midair, pulled by invisible streams of mana. Through that chaos, Edgarth's domain flickered in and out, doors opening and closing in rapid flashes of light. Each one warped space, allowing Elna and Luciana to slip through by fractions of a second, dodging the merciless attacks of the S-rank vampire before them.
But it couldn't last forever.
Every time a new portal opened, Edgarth's face grew paler. Sweat beaded on his forehead and his breathing was heavy. The weight of maintaining such a large domain, while constantly shifting its pathways, was crushing him.
Across the shattered courtyard, Lecia Dimont, the matriarch of the vampires, stood like a queen. Her aura alone distorted the air, her long silver hair whipping behind her from the sheer pressure of her released mana. A sphere of living blood swirled around her, turning and reshaping like a thousand crimson serpents. Every spell, every strike they threw at her, burned, shattered, or dissolved before it ever touched her skin.
None of Edgarth's attack potions worked. Every time he tried, her blood shield absorbed them like water into sand.
And worse, she was learning.
Lecia's gaze, those cold blue eyes, followed the rhythm of the fight. Every movement of the doors. Every breath before the next attack. Within seconds, she was already predicting their next steps, appearing almost as fast as they could teleport.
Elna burst from one of the shimmering doors, rolling as the vampire's claws tore through the air behind her. When she emerged from another door on the opposite side, Lecia was there, waiting.
Instinct took over. Elna twisted her body sideways, narrowly dodging the deadly strike. Even so, one of the claws grazed her chest. Pain burned across her skin, a deep slash forming through her armor.
Before Lecia could follow through, the shadows around them suddenly moved.
They rose like black smoke from every corner, curling, twisting, coiling around Elna, Luciana, and even Edgarth. The very light of the city dimmed as if the darkness itself had come alive.
Luciana felt the surge first. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears, her muscles tensing as raw power flooded through her veins. She had been moving fast before, but now, she was almost invisible.
A black blur cut through the air. Luciana appeared beneath the two combatants, bursting from a door that opened beneath them, and caught her mother's incoming claw in one hand.
The impact cracked the ground beneath her feet.
Edgarth, seeing the moment, reached into his satchel and pulled out a potion. "Elna! Drink this!" he shouted, hurling it through a door that appeared beside her.
Without hesitation, Elna grabbed it midair and drank. She expected healing… but instead, a surge of strength hit her so hard that her entire body trembled. Her heart raced, her vision sharpened, and mana roared through her veins like a storm. The shadow that had entered her moments before merged with that strength, multiplying it.
Her body felt lighter. Faster. Stronger.
In one motion, she flow back in front of Lecia and her heel slammed into the older vampire's stomach with explosive force.
The shockwave split the air like thunder.
Lecia was thrown backward, a blur of silver and crimson, smashing through a broken archway. Her hand that was clutched in Luciana's grasp, severed.
For a long second, nothing moved.
Then the sound of slow, deliberate footsteps echoed from within the smoke and debris. Lecia walked out, her expression unreadable, though surprise flickered in her eyes. From the torn edge of her wrist, new flesh and bone were already knitting themselves together.
She looked at the three of them, Luciana, Elna, and Edgarth, her gaze sharp, studying. Then, in a low voice, almost to herself, she whispered,
"The Goddess of Moon's power…"
…
Leo could barely believe the surge running through his body.
The power flowing within him wasn't just immense, it was alive. It roared through his veins like a storm of light and shadow interwoven, burning and freezing him at once. His skin shimmered faintly under the pressure of mana trying to burst free, the air around him vibrating.
This… this was far beyond the blessing he once received from Selvanna. Lilith's power was different, it was raw power itself.
And now, it wasn't just him who held it. He could feel the threads of energy connecting him to Arthur, to Ryan, to the others scattered across the battlefield. Their strength fed into one another through that same divine source.
For a fleeting second, he finally understood what Lilith had meant when she said she would have to fall into slumber after this. A power like this could not come without a price, it was too vast, too consuming.
His thoughts shattered when a violent force yanked him back to the moment.
Ed's massive claw had clamped down on Leo's sword, still embedded deep in the wolf's abdomen. The steel groaned under the pressure as Ed's growl rumbled through the air, a sound that made even the ground quiver. His muzzle emerged from the swirling dust, eyes glowing a menacing crimson-orange as he bared his teeth.
Leo tried to pull the blade free, but the claw didn't move. The grip was like iron.
Then, without warning, a beam of golden light tore down from above. Arthur's spear of light crashed into the wolf's skull with an explosion that lit up the shadowlands for miles.
The shockwave tore through the rubble, scattering stone and dirt into the air. For an instant, Ed's grip loosened. Leo seized the chance, he twisted the sword, wrenched it free, and leapt backward, landing several meters away as dust rolled around him in waves.
From within the haze, a deep, guttural chuckle echoed. Ed's silhouette grew clearer as he stood to his full towering height, brushing off flames from his fur.
"I have to admit," the wolf said, his voice half-growl, half-laughter, "you are powerful. But still not enough."
Then he threw back his head and howled.
The howl was pure destruction. Mana surged outward in concentric rings, tearing through the air like invisible blades. The very atmosphere cracked with thunder. Leo raised his arm to shield his eyes as the ground beneath them split apart in jagged lines.
Ed charged.
Arthur met him head-on.
Their clash was titanic, the blinding light of Arthur's blade striking the dark blur of Ed's claws. The impact unleashed a wave of pure force that obliterated the nearest stone structures and flattened everything within a hundred meters.
Arthur braced himself, gripping his sword with both hands as one of Ed's claws pressed down against it. Sparks of mana and steel screamed between them. The ground beneath Arthur's boots cratered under the weight of the blow.
Then the second claw came swinging in.
Before it could land, Leo appeared beside Arthur, intercepting the strike with his own blade. The collision sent out another shockwave, scattering sand and debris across the field.
For a heartbeat, it was a deadlock. One on one, they couldn't overpower an S-rank. But together they had a chance.
Ed snarled and reared his head back. Mana gathered in his jaws, glowing bright like molten light. The ground shook as he drew in more and more, preparing to unleash it all in one devastating blast.
"Not this time!" Ryan's voice echoed from behind.
From the darkness, massive branches, black as pitch and veined with faint light, burst out from the ground. They twisted around each other and lunged toward Ed like living serpents.
The wolf reacted instantly. He released the mana he'd gathered, blasting himself backward as the branches clawed at empty air. His landing was a thunderous crash that cracked the earth beneath him.
But the moment his claws touched the ground, the earth moved.
From beneath him, radiant spears of light shot upward in dozens, piercing the ground and rising in a circle. Before he could react, the earth formed a colossal hand of stone and mana that closed around him like a cage.
The spears detonated at once.
The explosion consumed everything in blinding light and deafening noise.
From inside that storm of energy, a single streak of motion tore through, Ed's claws slashing outward even while caught in the blast. Each slash cut through the explosion itself, arcs of pure mana slicing through the battlefield like storm winds.
Arthur turned, his eyes widening as he saw the slashes flying toward his back, straight toward where Briva and her group were fighting in the distance.
He didn't hesitate.
Arthur gripped his thirtieth sword tighter, stepped forward, and raised it high.
The air around him became golden fire as he brought the blade down with all his strength. The clash between the claw slashes and his sword shook the sky. The ground beneath him cracked open, light and shadow bursting outward like lightning.
For a moment, the clash held, then Arthur redirected the attack, sending the deadly energy spiraling up into the sky. The slashes vanished among the shadows with a distant roar.
He barely had time to exhale when he saw movement ahead.
Ed was already there, his colossal form appearing out of the dust, eyes gleaming with wild triumph.
But before the wolf could strike, his grin faltered. His instincts screamed, forcing him to twist his body.
Leo's blade flashed out of the darkness.
The swordsman and the beast met again, their movements a blur. Steel and claw collided in rapid succession, each strike shaking the very air. Every blow carved craters into the battlefield. The echo of their fight rolled through the shadowlands like thunder.
In the middle of their fight, Arthur appeared beside Leo, his aura of light blazing so bright that the air itself shimmered around him. Together, their combined force pressed down on the monstrous wolf. The battlefield became a maelstrom of gold and crimson light, each strike shaking the foundations of the nearby city.
"Arthur, give me an opening!" Leo's voice cut through the roar of battle.
Arthur didn't hesitate. His eyes blazed, and he lunged forward. His sword ignited with holy light as he channeled all the power he could. His swing came down like judgment itself, an enormous arc of radiant energy burst forth, the same devastating technique he'd once used to cleave through the Kraken.
Normally, this attack was reserved for the moment he reached his last sword or his forty-ninth sword, when his domain and body were at their limit.
But now, with Goddess of the Moon's energy surging through him, Arthur was beyond his limits.
The arc of light roared forward, illuminating the battlefield for miles. It struck Ed's claws with a sound like a collapsing mountain. The wolf braced himself, his muscles bulging, veins glowing faintly with mana as he caught the attack mid-air. Dust and debris spiraled around him in furious waves. His claws sliced through the light in an explosion that shook the very sky, but for a moment, he was off balance.
And that moment was all Leo needed. High above, Leo hovered in the air, surrounded by a vortex of shadows. His blade gleamed red, its surface alive with flowing veins of blood magic. He gathered his strength, his aura flaring with both the Goddess's power and his own domain.
He whispered the words through clenched teeth "Blood Slash."
The air split open.
A crimson arc shot forward, blindingly fast, its edges traced with lightning-red energy and shadow-dark mist. It wasn't just an attack; it was a storm of blood and divine wrath bound together. The impact struck Ed square in the chest with a detonation that ripped through the landscape.
The wolf roared in pain as he was thrown backward, smashing through stone and earth until his massive body slammed into a colossal tree, one that Ryan prepared with Shifting Realities.
The tree groaned as its enormous branches came alive, twisting and snapping around Ed's body. They coiled tighter, constricting, wrapping the beast in a prison of roots reinforced with Ryan's mana. The impact alone would have crushed a lesser being, but Ed was no ordinary creature. He snarled, muscles bulging as he struggled against the branches, the cracks of breaking wood echoing through the night.
Leo, panting, saw his chance. He raised his sword again, crimson light spilling from its edge as his grip tightened.
"This time," he muttered, "I won't miss."
He dived.
Blood and shadow streamed behind him, the ground splitting beneath the pressure of his descending aura. His sword was aimed directly for Ed's heart, a killing blow.
But just as he was about to strike, everything shattered.
Leo blinked, and suddenly he was somewhere else.
He stood in a vast building, stone walls towering around him, no roof above, only a blood-red sky. A crimson moon hung overhead, huge and close, its eerie light flooding everything in shades of red and black. There were no shadows here, none at all. Leo's breath caught in his throat.
Then a calm, mocking voice echoed through the emptiness. "Welcome, Leo Mantine."
Leo turned sharply. His heart froze.
A tall figure stood ahead, draped in black and silver suite, his posture relaxed, his expression disturbingly calm. His eyes glowed faintly blue.
Lucius.
The leader of the vampires smiled as though greeting an old friend. "And goodbye."
He vanished.
A heartbeat later, he reappeared in front of Leo. The motion was so fast it barely registered, just a blur of darkness cutting through air. Lucius's hand sliced upward in a perfect line, sharp as a blade.
Pain exploded through Leo's chest.
He didn't even see the strike, only the result. A deep, clean wound split across his torso. Blood gushed out, dark and steaming under the crimson light. The force of the blow lifted him off his feet and threw him backward. He hit the ground hard, the breath knocked from his lungs.
He gasped, his vision blurring, red dripping from his mouth.
Even with the Goddess's blessing, he hadn't seen it. Not a flicker of motion. Not even a hint of intent.