SLAM—!!!
As I triumphantly finished delivering my cool dialogue, something came flying in my direction and slammed against me.
The force of the impact sent me tumbling to the ground, my limbs flailing wildly as I desperately tried to steady myself.
In the background, I heard a bone-chilling scream that sent shivers down my spine.
"NOOOOO!"
"Arghhh!" With a pained groan, I summoned the strength to rise to my feet and scanned the area for the object that had collided with me.
But then I heard panting and saw Nero. It turns out he was the one who slammed into me.
"Nero?" I frowned, still feeling the ache from the collision.
"S-Sorry," Nero gasped, stretching out his hand.
I took his hand and helped him stand up.
As we both regained our footing, we looked in the direction from which Nero had come flying.
Clad in a dark aura, a black-haired vampire in human guise stood there. His face was twisted in anger, and his eyes were widened in disbelief.
His gaze was fixed on the fallen body of the blonde vampire that I had killed.
Following his gaze, Nero also stole a glance at the fallen vampire's dead body. "You took her down?" he asked incredulously.
"It was a team effort," I replied, still catching my breath. "How strong is that one?" I asked Nero.
"Strong enough," he answered gravely.
As we conversed, the people who had been under Mercy's mind-control spell began to stir and slowly regain consciousness.
–"What happened?" one of them asked groggily, looking around in confusion. "I was running and then..."
–"My head hurts! Arghh!" another exclaimed, clutching their temples in pain.
–"Did I kill someone? I was blacked out... Why am I covered in blood?!" someone else cried out in puzzlement.
As the people gradually regained their senses, they began murmuring and panicking.
Those with weaker mental fortitude even screamed in agony, feeling as though their heads were about to burst open.
On the other hand, those who weren't mind-controlled by Mercy weren't in any better shape either.
It's understandable since, even though for a very short period of time, they had to take on several other cadets at once.
Chase was beaten and bruised. Aster was on her knees, catching her breath.
Amelia and Anastasia were both relatively fine but clearly exhausted nonetheless.
Grace and Elijah were both injured, albeit not gravely. Drake was still on the ground, unconscious from blood loss from his severed arm and agonizing pain.
Hugh, surprisingly, was still on his feet, full of stamina and completely unharmed. What was this guy made of?
Nero wasn't in any better shape either.
For the whole duration of our fight against Mercy, he had to fight against Magnus on his own. Cuts and shallow wounds were evidently visible on his body.
And I – Well, every fiber of my body was aching. I wasn't in the worst shape, but not in the best either.
It's pretty clear to me that we are in no condition to take on Magnus right now, especially with some cadets and civilians still under his mind-control spell.
"Everyone!" I shouted, trying to make myself heard over the chaos. "I know all this must be confusing, but you were all under a vampire's mind control! Now that the vampire who cast the spell has been taken care of, you're all back to normal! Run to the western exit and escape the banquet hall as fast as you can since there's still one more vampire left alive!"
My words jolted everyone into confusion, and they started whipping their heads around to take in the situation.
When their eyes fell on the black-haired vampire in human guise, enveloped in a dark aura, approaching them, panic set in, and they began running towards the western exit.
The ground shook under our feet as the panicked crowd rushed past us, and Nero turned his gaze back to the fallen carcass of the female vampire.
"Did that short spear have a light magic attribute?" he asked.
I nodded in affirmation. Of course, he was right. I had imbued that short spear with light magic using my Edit Pen last night.
The light element is the most effective against vampires, a race in which every individual seems to possess an affinity for the Dark element.
"Have you got any other tricks up your sleeve?" Nero probed further.
"Not at the moment," I replied, knowing full well that I still had my armor's special feature – Embrace Discard – but it wasn't an ace I was prepared to reveal just yet.
"Then we're screwed," Nero said, shaking his head as he kept his eyes fixed on Magnus, who was getting closer by the second.
"Why don't we just run like everyone else and get out of here?" I suggested, hoping to find some way out of this mess.
"Look at him," Nero countered, pointing his chin toward the approaching figure of the vampire. "He's seething with rage. He won't rest until he has taken revenge for his comrade's death."
"So?" I raised an eyebrow. "We could just run to the nearest Military Police station and let the authorities deal with it."
"Lucas," Nero looked at me skeptically. "If that thing gets out on the streets, it will cause countless deaths!"
As Nero spoke, I couldn't help but roll my eyes in exasperation.
I forgot what kind of clichè good guy protagonist Nero was – always ready to sacrifice himself for the others' good.
His unwavering commitment to protecting the innocent and weak, no matter the cost, was both admirable and frustrating. Mostly frustrating.
I knew he would never risk the safety of those innocent civilians on the streets, but I also couldn't leave him to face Magnus alone.
In contrast to the novel, Nero had to face Magnus alone for a prolonged period of time, leaving him in poor condition to continue the fight.
The other main characters were also in no better shape.
Additionally, in the novel, only Magnus used the mind-control spell, allowing half of the people present at the party to remain unscathed.
However, in this timeline, two vampires appeared at the party instead of one and they both used the mind-control spells at both exits of the hall.
As a result of that, almost everyone who came here fell under their control.
And because of that, our dear main characters had to deal with twice as many mind-controlled minions as they did in the novel.
I'm short; yeah, we really are screwed if Nero doesn't agree to run.
"So what do we do?" I asked, clearly out of options.
"I have already contacted the Military Police, so they should be arriving any moment now," Nero replied, raising his sword as Magnus came even closer. "We have to stall him until then."
"Lucas!" Right then, I heard a familiar voice from my right. I turned around to look at its source to find it was Kent.
"Kent!" I exclaimed. "Are you alright?!"
He was hurt. A stab wound was apparent on his right shoulder. He was one of the mind-controlled individuals. So perhaps someone had to hurt him to push him away during the fight with Mercy.
"I'm alright," Kent waved his good hand, pain clearly visible on his face. "I can fight too."
"No," I firmly replied before taking out a vial from the pocket storage of my smart bracelet. "It's a healing potion. Take it and get out of here. Get somewhere safe."
"What?" Kent frowned. "I won't abandon–"
Before he could argue, Nero interjected. "Kent, we are already in a conundrum here. We don't need people to drag us down."
"..." Kent stayed silent at those words. He knew Nero was right.
Seeing that, I placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, you're not abandoning your bro. This is a strategic retreat. And while you're at it, help that poor soul over there."
I pointed in Drake's direction. He was still out cold and losing a dangerous amount of blood. If he didn't get medical attention quickly, it was clear that he would die.
"...Ok," Kent hesitantly nodded his head and rushed to Drake's side before struggling to lift him to his feet and drag him out.
"That was harsh," I commented, summoning the yumi-styled bow from my smart bracelet.
"We have no time for arguments. He'll understand," Nero retorted. "While we are on that topic, can you fight?"
"Are you understanding me?" I raised an eyebrow, nocking an arrow on the bowstring. "Remember, I killed that blonde vampire."
"Fair," Nero cocked his head slightly. "But this will be more of a head-on fight. So, are you up for it?"
Glancing around, I noticed that the once-crowded banquet hall had now been emptied, with the majority of the nobles and cadets fleeing.
However, a few individuals remained beside the black-haired vampire.
Amelia and Anastasia gripped their bows tightly, their expressions filled with determination.
Hugh reloaded his twin handguns with a casual look on his face. Elijah lifted his massive battle hammer, ready to strike.
Aster pointed her dagger at the enemy with a timid look while Nero and I took our stances side by side, with me drawing back my bowstring and Nero preparing to engage in combat.
Surprisingly, Grace was also present and didn't flee. However, her decision to stay wasn't out of the sheer kindness of her heart.
The reason she decided to stay back was that Ella Bright, Grace's childhood friend whom she was currently on bad terms with, had also decided to stay and fight with us.
Perhaps Grace saw this as an opportunity to mend her friendship with Ella.
Regardless of her motives, having her on our side in this fight is definitely an advantage.
William Sinoath, the elven boy who fought with Alberto and sparked the Mock War, was also present. He summoned his spear and pointed its head at our enemy.
Almost all the main characters were gathered here to fight, along with one variable and one minor antagonist.
The only one missing was Chase, who was badly injured and had to be carried out of the hall.
With this many capable fighters on our side, our chances of losing have significantly decreased.
Step, Step, Step—!!
The sound of our footsteps echoing in the empty hall stopped ringing when Magnus stopped his approach, his piercing gaze fixed on us as he came to a halt only a few meters away from our group.
"Of course, I'm ready for it."
As soon as I said that, I infused mana into my arrow and released the bowstring to take the first shot.
Kwuiish—!!
The mana on my arrow split into ten darts, giving the illusion that the arrow itself was multiplied before the mana arrows rained down on my target.
Boom—!!
