Chapter 87: 86. Nightly Screams

The oversized moon hung silently in the starlit sky, casting its silver glow upon the mortal world. Nights were mostly peaceful in Blackthorn; with a lack of light, the peasants slept in their shabby homes and prayed that tomorrow would be better.

Tarlington hill loomed over Blackthorn and was usually silent; apart from an empty fortress, moonlit lake and a sparsely populated forest, there wasn't much else to note.

That's why Damien's ear-piercing scream was so out of place. 

Damien punched Richard's jaw with enough power to smash through Magisteel armour a hundred times over, yet Richard's head didn't even budge. Apart from a paper-thin cut that trickled a single drop of blood, there was no evidence of the carefully planned and executed attack. 

Richard slowly turned his head and eerily smiled at the screaming Vampire, "Damien, I must admit you are the fastest and most slippery Vampire I have ever had the pleasure of fighting-" Richard pointed a thumb at the tiny cut, "-But you hit like a little girl."

Damien grinned like a maniac as his broken arm wiggled around as it healed, "Same to you. I've seen old men move with more finesse and speed." 

Richard stood tall and proud; with a smirk, he opened his bear-like arms to invite Damien in, "Good! It seems we both lack something then. Now come!"

Damien sneered as he backed away into the darkness of the trees, his scarlet eyes burning with desire, "A tortoise is only as strong as its shell Richard."

Richard frowned and lowered his arms; mana ripped across his skin as he prepared for another attack. A sudden warmth across his cheek confused him; he raised his hand to his jaw, and it returned covered in blood. "So much blood from such a small cut... Oh, this is bad." 

Pressure built upon his face as tendrils of psychic mana practically dragged his blood out of the small cut. Richard tried to cover the wound, but the blood still gushed through his fingers.

Laughter echoed from the darkness.

Panic finally set in for Richard. Earth magic was powerful but basic; it lacked healing spells as its entire point was to prevent injuries in the first place. Such minor injuries were ignorable during ordinary battles. But against a Blood Mage? Such a small cut became potentially lethal.

It would still take a while to drain him, but his previous strategy of standing still had been compromised. Nevertheless, as a war veteran, he kept calm and analysed the situation.

'As a Vampire, he has inhuman speed, reaction times and strength. His spells are mostly movement spells, so an earthen dome or cage would usually suffice, but he also has spatial magic to pass through walls. Hmmm... Ground-based attacks are also useless since he can fly, and sneak attacks are pointless since he has some weird perception field. Truly if not for his lack of firepower, he would be impossible to fight.'

Richard started to panic as his white fur lining turned a shade of crimson, 'He is the perfect counter to me, how truly devious! Although I suppose this is the advantage of being a supernatural race and having access to such a varied repertoire of skills... How hateful!'

Richard calmed down and tried to justify his loss, 'To be fair, healers and mages of varying types usually work together to cover for each other's weaknesses; I suppose this leads to negligence. What an eye-opening experience!'

A shiver went down the veteran's spine as he saw two scarlet eyes watching him from the shadows. They moved towards him and exposed themselves-

"Oh, Miss Fay?"

The black-haired woman curtsied, "Marquess Cunningdal, forgive my intrusion. I heard Damien scream in this direction and came to investigate." She looked curiously at the destroyed rock and toppled trees, "Have you seen him?"

Richard lightly laughed, "Ah, he hurt himself punching me-"

Fay's eyes narrowed dangerously.

Richard felt this woman was rather overprotective and quickly clarified the misunderstanding, "Me and your husband..." Richard mulled over the word, "Wait, is he your husband?"

"Yes, he will be," Fay answered with utmost seriousness.

"Alright, well, your husband, being a total maniac, called me in the middle of the night for a duel." Richard then gestured at the destroyed landscape, "Which, as you can see, is in full swing."

A rustling from the foliage caught the pair's attention, and an elf that practically shone in the moonlight emerged. "How interesting..." 

"Princess." Richard bowed sightly, "What brings you here in the middle of the night?"

Emilia put her silver hair behind her pointed ear, "I'm a luna elf; the night is where I feel the most alive, and I also enjoy the peace and quiet of a lovely night walk. Wait- your bleeding!"

Emilia mumbled some runic words, and a soft silver glow enveloped her hand. She had to stand on her tiptoes, reaching Richard's cheek and healing the small cut. 

Damien practically climbed out of Fay's shadow with a frown, "You dare to interrupt my hunt?"

Richard laughed, "Wouldn't it be more interesting if we fought you together? Perhaps Fay could join your side?"

A small rift opened, and Damien retrieved a measuring stone. He gently placed Fay's hand on it and read the status.

[Fay Karles(Nightshade [PENDING])]

[BLOOD QUEEN[90%] (HUMAN 10%)]

Schools of Magic:

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[Elemental Affinity (LOCKED)]

[Water Magic (C)]

Hydrokinesis [D+]

Water Cannon [C]

Fog Domain [D] (New) - Create an area of dense fog that reduces visibility, disrupts tracking spells, blocks Fire mana and enhances Water mana-based attacks.

[Fire Magic (F)]

Pyrokinesis [E]

[Earth Magic (F)]

Geokinesis [E]

[Wind Magic (F)]

Aerokinesis [E]

=Null Spells=

Clean [B]

Mana Control [C]

Damien read over the status and thought for a while.

'She hasn't reached full Blood Queen status yet, so she should be as strong as an average Vampire in strength and regeneration capabilities. Although she has improved since we last checked her status in the Mage Tower, the lack of mana in and around Blackthorn shows in her lack of progress. Perhaps some combat could be good for her, especially before we go to the Eldritch Valley...'

Damien patted Fay on the head and met her sparkling scarlet eyes, "You have made good progress, Fay, but Water magic alone is useless, especially at such a low grade. But fret not, for I have an idea."

'Earth magic is a waste of time for now as she has a strong body and regeneration. Air could be useful for mobility, but Emilia's luna spells are extremely fast, and Earth magic from Richard could easily trap her in a dome of some kind. Therefore the best option, for now, is Fire. Fog Domain reduces the effectiveness of Fire spells, but if her Water Cannon spell was combined with Flame Spiral, then she could send boiling hot water at high pressure...'

Without any more internal debate, Damien placed his hand on Fay's forehead. He could feel her warmth on his bare hand, which felt somewhat comforting. 

Using telepathy, he sent all he knew about Fire, not just in science but also in its various applications. Such as how quickly heating water would cause it to explode or how superheated water jets could be lethal and a great way to drive enemies away.

Damien then turned to Emilia and Richard, who awkwardly waited for his response, "Fay will join in the fight soon since she needs to comprehend my lesson. When she does, you cannot attack her, only confuse or displace her. Once she gets stronger in the near future, then we can go all out-"

Damien vanished into the shadows.

"I hate when he does that." Richard commented with a grin as his skin shone with a bronze light, "Defenses up, Princess, we have incoming."

Damien used his new favourite Shadow Walk skill and circled round, 'Emilia is the only real threat to me; my skills cancel out all of Richard's, but I can't harm Richard either due to his absurd defences. The same Hemokinesis trick won't work again as Emilia can heal him. Therefore Emilia should be my priority.'

As Damien emerged from her shadow and lashed towards her head, the air shuddered as immense pressure pushed him to the floor, 'Gravity Manipulation again, how troublesome.'

Since Emilia cast the spell in a hurry, the pressure was less than last time, so Damien easily slipped back into the darkness. 

With a second to breathe, Emilia quickly shrouded herself in luna armour and constructed moonlit blades. She then amped up the power of her armour, casting a silver glow on her surroundings. Her eyes glowed silver as if she were the moon goddess's reincarnation, "Come creature of the night and receive thy blade!" 

Richard gave her an odd look, 'She was a pampered Princess; the idea of a true fight like this must be rather exciting.' 

Finding her enthusiasm rather intoxicating, Damien could only grin; the feeling of hunting the strong made his blood boil. 'Perhaps this should become our new nightly routine...'

And so Tarlington hill became the site of a fearsome battle between a Vampire Prince, a Luna Elf Princess and a battle maniac human. The fight was one-sided, with the Marquess providing adequate defence against Damien's metal cards and other flying objects. At the same time, Emilia focused on crushing Damien with gravity and then trying to stab him with her moonlight blades.

However, everything went sideways once a fog obscured their vision and superheated water jets smashed into their faces. With this new threat provided by Fay, the battle finally favoured the Vampires.

The dense fog filled with cackling laughter would haunt Emilia in her dreams for many weeks to come.