Slash—!!
With a powerful descent, Lucas struck down his spear in a downward slash, slicing through the air with deadly speed.
Splurt—!!
The Vampire King tried blocking the incoming attack by raising her claws, but Lucas' spear easily sliced through her reinforced skin, severing her right hand with a fast blur.
Thud, Thud—!!
As the dismembered limb fell to the ground, Lucas landed before Reina, ready to deliver another fierce blow.
Wasting no time, he pulled his spear back with mana spiraling around it and thrust it forward at her face with all his might, intending to drill a hole through her skull.
[6-Movement Lance Style: Blossom Shattering Blast]
[First form: Meihua Zuan]
Swish—!!
But before Lucas' attack could connect, Reina swiftly ducked down, dodging the spear thrust with her remaining claw pulled back.
"For someone who talked so big, you were easy to kill!" she taunted, her voice filled with contempt as she lunged forward at the silver-haired boy with breakneck speed.
Lucas could only widen his eyes as the Vampire King closed the distance and straightened her claw into a sword-like manner before thrusting it into his unguarded gut, thinking that she had got him.
Clang—!!
But with a loud metal clashing sound, Reina's claw struck Lucas' armor, failing to even put a dent through it.
".....?!?"
Her eyes widened in disbelief and horror. Even in her weakened state, she had been confident that she could break through an enchanted armor.
Unless….
It wasn't an enchanted armor but a relic! A strong one at that!
'So his defense is strong,' she thought as the world around her slowed down to a standstill.
In truth, it wasn't the world that was slowing down, but her mind was just processing the information faster.
It's called the Accelerated Thoughts Process.
Unfortunately, in her weakened state, she could only think fast. Her body's reaction time was too slow to act on her thoughts.
Still, it was a useful weapon. With its help, she had now deduced that her opponent was using a strong relic in under a split second.
Now all that remained was to kill him!
If she can't break her armor, then she will hit him where his armor can't protect him!
"Fine then!" Reina snarled, her eyes blazing with fury as she spun on her front foot, pivoting her body to the side.
Clenching her claw and rising from her low position, she pulled her fist up, using the momentum to deliver a deadly uppercut to Lucas.
Thwack—!!
The blow landed under Lucas' chin with a sickening sound, sending him stumbling a few steps back.
However, in the very next second, Lucas stood up straight and looked the Vampire King dead in her eyes. "That's all?"
That's all?!
Reina felt a twinge of nervousness at those words. She had hit him with all her might, and yet he still stood before her, seemingly unscathed.
Again, even though she was considerably weakened, that last blow would've been enough to shatter boulders the size of trucks!
So how did it not even manage to put a scratch on him?! How did Lucas survive it?!
Unless… his armor provides some kind of attack negation power to him.
An armor that can negate the force behind a physical attack thrown at the wearer or render it to a fraction of its original strength!
'But an armor like that should at least be a Legendary or above-grade relic! How does a kid come to possess it?' Reina frowned in confusion, the look of horror fading from her face.
'It's fine,' she told herself. 'Even if his armor is a Legendary-grade relic, it is bound to have weaknesses or drawbacks. And aside from his defense, his attack prowess doesn't seem to be anything special. If I keep attacking, I'll win.'
Fwoosh—!!
With that thought in mind, Reina launched herself at the silver-haired boy once again. Lucas responded by charging forward himself with his spear pointed at her.
Cling—!!
Clang—!!
As they clashed, sparks flew, and shockwaves erupted. The ground cracked beneath their feet as they both tried to claim each other's lives.
Reina, in her pure vampiric form, was too quick on her feet. Lucas' attacks weren't connecting. However, as if to make up for it, his defense was nigh-impenetrable.
It was a total stalemate!
At least for now….
Mary, who looked at the unfolding scene from behind, thought about helping Reina somehow. But the intensity of the ongoing battle made her stop entertaining this idea before long.
She shook her head and rushed to one of her friends' side – a halfling sprawled flat on the ground, unable to get up from the weight of his clothes pinning him down.
"Issac, are you okay?!" Mary asked, grabbing his hand and trying to get it over her shoulder to make him stand.
"Leave me, Mary!" but the kid named Issac jerked his hand to shake off her grip. "Don't waste your energy on me! Run!"
"We don't need to run, Issac! Look," Mary pointed at the ongoing fight between the silver-haired boy and the Vampire King. "Reina will soon defeat him and then–"
Before she could finish, Issac cut her off.
"Mary, please listen to me and run! I have a bad feeling about this! If things go south and Miss Reina falls here, at least you should survive. You are still a human, so you can easily blend into society! Please!"
Hearing the boy's pleas as he begged her to escape, Mary couldn't help but gulp in uneasiness.
As far as she could recall, Isaac's gut feeling has always turned out to be on point.
Even though Reina is severely weakened for now, the mere thought of her getting defeated in a battle sounds nonsensical to Mary.
After all, Mary had seen her fighting before.
She had seen her fighting other vampires when she saved her. She had seen her fighting against the mana beasts when they were crossing the border together. She had even seen her fighting some humans.
Mary knew Reina was strong. And right now, she was in her vampiric form! There was just no way she could be defeated.
But… What if…
What if Issac's intuitions end up being correct again and she does fall? What will happen to her? She's still a human so she was sure she wouldn't be killed… but the authorities would be suspicious of her.
They might put her in some kind of prison and put her under surveillance until their doubts are cleared.
No, she doesn't want that…
Maybe she should run…
No…
No! She can't leave Reina and all her friends behind. She would fight if she had to but she won't run!
With her newfound resolve, Mary quickly scanned the room, searching for anything that could use.
Then, her eyes fell on a gleaming dagger laying on the ground. Without any hesitation, she picked up the dagger and darted toward Lucas, who was busy blocking a blow from Reina.
"Huh?" but before Mary could sneak up on him, Lucas' gaze fell on her.
Swish—
He twirled his body to the left to dodge Reina's incoming claw and…
Thwack—!!
He then used the momentum to land a roundhouse kick on the incoming little orange-haired girl's belly, sending her flying a few meters back before her body violently crashed on the ground.
As Reina saw this, nerves bulged up on her forehead. She lunged at Lucas while swinging her claw at his neck in an src.
"You bastard!" she cursed. "She's only a child!"
Cling—!!
Lucas blocked her claw with his spear and gritted his teeth. "Self-defense! It was self-defense!"
"Arhhaaaaa!" letting out a furious battle cry, Reina pressed forward and smashed her head against Lucas', making him falter and take a step back.
Without rest, Reina raised her right leg and shot a front kick at him.
Lucas, who had already seen the attack coming, lifted his spear to block the kick with its shaft.
It was only then that he realized he had made a mistake.
"....What the?!"
Lucas widened his eyes as he saw Reina spinning on her heel and changing the trajectory of her front kick midway by twisting her leg up in an unnatural manner and bringing it down over his head. It was a question mark kick!
Thwack—!!
Her kick landed right on the mark, sending Lucas crashing down on his knees as a result of the force it carried.
He tried to get up but Reina wasn't done there.
Thwuck—!!
As he was in the middle of standing back, she quickly stepped in and slammed her right knee into Lucas' face with full force, disorienting him as he took some steps back.
"Umbra e-duath!"
Using this chance, the former Vampire King chanted a shadow magic spell.
Almost immediately, several spikes made of shadows emerged from beneath Lucas' feet and pierced him.
Or at least that would've been the case if he wasn't wearing his armor. Unable to break through his defense, the spike bent around him and only ended up restraining his movements.
"Arghh!" Lucas groaned in frustration as he tried to break free but before he could put any effort into it, he felt the air getting heavier by the second.
Siuuuu—
He looked in front and saw the former Vampire King standing there with her left arm stretched out and her palm facing him with particles of darkness coalescing into a glowing violet sphere before her.
"Vascornus Phalum!"
Fwooosh—!!!
After growing around the size of a football, the sphere of darkness launched forward at its target and hit Lucas in no time, creating a majestic violet explosion.
BOOOM—!!!
