After hours of battle, the roars of brave men charging towards the beast began to be replaced by the terrifying screams of desperate soldiers trying to flee.
"We cannot defeat that thing! It's too powerful!"
"Run! Run for your life!"
The captain noticed the desperation of his soldiers, and despite him screaming at the top of his lungs, telling them to stand their ground and fight, none of them heeded his words. He felt like he had lost his authority over his own men. Authority was everything for him, so losing it felt like he lost the very thing that made him proud of himself.
"I cannot let this be! If you cowards refuse to fight, then I will fight that beast on my own! Hyaa!!!" The captain leaped high into the air and grasped the sky. Dark clouds began to gather, filling the once bright and clear sky with darkness. Thunder struck into the captain's hand, flashing with an extremely powerful light that blinded the eyes.
After the light vanished, a man appeared in the center of the battlefield. All eyes were on him as if the world put him in the spotlight, his muscular frame commanding attention as he gripped a magnificent spear in his hand. The spear's shaft was made of gleaming silver metal, with intricate patterns etched into its surface, and it glimmered in the light. At its tip, a brilliant bolt of lightning crackled and sparked, hinting at the great power it held.
The man's clothing was simple, a mix of leather and fur, but it was clear that he was a warrior of great skill and strength. His eyes glinted with a fierce determination, and his face was set in a stern expression, as if he was ready for battle at any moment.
It was a completely different demeanor and aura than what Armaita saw from the captain earlier. But after he analyze him with her godly eyes, she found out the man was actually a determined and skille warrior before he became a captain.
The man changed after he didn't get the chance to be at the front of the battlefield and his fighting senses were dulled. But now he felt alive and free again.
He took a deep breath. As he held the spear aloft, the air around him seemed to crackle and hum with electricity. The power of the lightning coursing through the weapon was palpable, and it was clear that the man knew how to wield it with great skill.
The captain looked at his own hand and then clenched it. He felt great power rushing through his every veins. "Ahh… it's been a while since I have to fight directly. This power… I missed it."
Xer Xai roared, catching his attention.
Smiling, he lifted his spear and pointed it at the beast. "Thank you. Beast. Because of you I am now free. Now I will take your head and present it as a gift. I will lose my position as the captain, but presenting your head will give me a chance of salvation."
"Now… die for me."
With a mighty shout, the man lunged forward, the spear held out before him like a deadly extension of his arm. The lightning that coiled around the weapon seemed to intensify, the crackling energy building to a fever pitch as he drew closer to his opponent.
Xer Xai saw the magnificent show of strength but did not back down in fear. Instead, she roared and charged forward, and ferociously attacked with her claws.
"Nice try, beast. But your power is nothing for me!" The captain pushed the spear forward. The tip released a powerful lightning bolt that pierced through Xer Xai's claws, penetrating through and then blasted a huge wound on her shoulder.
She roared in pain and was about to counter attack. But the captain wouldn't let that happen.
"Too slow!" He swung the spear with all his might.
As the spear connected with its target, a blinding flash of light illuminated the battlefield. The lightning that had been coiled around the weapon surged forward, striking the man's opponent with a devastating blast of electricity. The man stood firm, his grip on the spear unyielding as he channeled the lightning's power into the strike.
As the captain landed on his two feet, a large head fell with a loud thud behind him. Blood then poured like a rain, dripping and showering all over his body. His eyes were locked towards the distance, staring at his true enemies with fierce intention of murder.
"He defeated Xer Xai," Tarrar commented. "What do we do now?"
Armaita glanced at him. "You think Xer Xai is stronger than me?"
"Hopefully not."
"You even forgot about my true power. It seems like you need to study the prowess of our organizations."
"That might be wise," Tarrar said. "So what do we do with him? He's slowly walking towards us right now."
"I am gonna handle him." Armaita snapped her fingers and Xer Xai vanished into the shadow. Xer Xai was an undead, so she essentially could not die. She could revive endless times unless the enemies used special powers to kill her. When they do that, it could take days or weeks to revive the undead.
Armaita leaped into the sky, her dress moving gracefully in the air before she slowly began to land.
"Are you going to fight me?" The captain pointed arrogantly. It was like he was thinking that Armaita was his inferior.
Armaita's eyes turned crimson red. Blood particles formed all around her. The way he pointed at her angered Armaita. How dare this man point at her that way!
The air around her popped and the air turned hot from the pressure. The aura from the captain also caused some disturbance to the region around them.
The grass nearby withered and then suddenly regained their health before withering again. This repeated hundreds of times as they stared at each other.
The captain frowned as he stared at her. After careful look, he began to come to a conclusion. "That red eyes. You are a vampire."
Armaita did not reply, but the captain kept looking at her, studying her.
The vampire was a striking figure, with porcelain skin and dark hair cascading down her back in waves. Her crimson eyes glowed with a fierce intensity, and her lips were full and lush, stained a deep red with fresh blood.
He could tell that she was an extremely powerful vampire, but the captain felt this powerful blood lust from her, stronger than anything he had seen before.
"You might look pleasing to the eyes, but you are a vile creature inside," the captain said.
"You are not pleasing to the eye," Armaita replied. "I will see who you truly are after I pull your organs out."
As she advanced on the spearman, her movements were sinuous and graceful, almost hypnotic. She held her hands out before her, and with a flick of her wrist, tendrils of blood coiled around them like serpents, pulsing with dark energy.
The captain was slightly surprised by her power. 'What is this magic? I have never seen something like this before.'
He had fought against dozens of vampires before, but her power was different than them. Her power was much darker and much… much terrifying.
The spearman braced himself, his own magic crackling around him in a protective shield, but the vampire was undeterred. She closed the distance between them in a blur of motion, her blood magic lashing out at him like a whip.
The spearman dodged and parried with expert skill, but the vampire was relentless, her attacks coming from all angles with blinding speed. The air was thick with the scent of blood, and the ground beneath them became puddle of blood.
For each attack he blocked, he felt an extreme pain in his arms and whole body. Each attack was like being slapped with the weight of an entire mountain. The pain wasn't too much for him to handle, but if he let this be, the situation would be to his disadvantage.
Armaita noticed the struggle and kept on pressuring him. She summoned a lot of dark blood tendrils and attacking from almost every directions. The dark tendrils sprouted from the ground, turning them from lush green to dark red, sucking in all the life force from the ground.
The tendrils came swinging towards the captain with incredible speed. When they came into contact with his armor, the tendrils released thousands of tiny needles that stabbed into his skin and injected poisons into his body.
His health points dropped rapidly and his stamina was constantly devoured.
The captain breathed in and out as he got weakened over time. "This is not normal poison… you don't just damage my body. You damage my soul."
Armaita ignored his words and closed in, slashing upward with her palm and suddenly blood formed a sharp blade around her palm.
The captain stepped back, the blade almost got his arms, but then the blade expanded and cut off his fingers.
"Ahh!" The captain looked at his left hand with no fingers. He looked at it with anger before the fingers regenerated back and he glared at Armaita.
"You will pay for that."
"Make me."
With a fierce cry, he rose to his feet and lifted his spear once more. With a powerful thrust, he drove it towards the vampire's heart. The vampire tried to dodge, but it was too late.
The captain laughed. "Hahaha! What an arrogant vampire. What can you do now that my spear is piercing through your heart."
Suddenly, the captain jolted as he noticed his chest turned cold. When he looked down, he saw a beautiful white hand with long nails, covered in blood, and the hand was holding his heart, beating.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The captain struggled to breathe. A breath of cold air crawled to his neck. Armaita grinned before crushing the heart.
