With the vampire elders banished, Marcus suddenly found himself alone.
Even Motherboard was no longer around. She had been killed by one of the archdemon lord's stray spells. She wore an Amulet of Rebirth, though. She returned to life but at Vacharest's resurrection ground instead of her registered place. This was because the capital was still on lockdown. She was now in hiding, prepared to leave once the lockdown was lifted.
Marcus was unable to believe the situation. His eyes followed the Chalice of Blood that was heading toward Arlcard. He lunged forward to get the chalice back but his vision was suddenly covered by red smoke.
Without the vampire elders pinning him down, Cain was free to move. He pounced at his nemesis. His red smoke form swirled around Marcus and battered the vampire emperor with destructive energies.
Marcus fought back. He cast a spell that conjured a ball that pulsed with bright light every second. Each time the ball pulsed, Cain was as if set on fire. His red smoke form became smaller. Part of the smoke evaporated as the pulsing ball burned through it.
Arlcard threw the chalice in his hand to Jack. He then rushed forward with his rapier while casting a spell.
Jack caught the chalice out of reflex.
*
Chalice of Blood (Legendary Artifact)
Bound a native with blood pact. The bound native will follow the chalice's owner's every command.
Bound native's life force deteriorates with time. How long the native stays alive depends on his level/grade.
Chalice has to stay immobile once activated. Moving it will cancel its effect and unbind all the bound natives.
Bound natives cannot travel farther than 25 kilometers away from the chalice.
*
'Such an evil artifact,' Jack thought. He stored it in his inventory to make sure no one used it again.
"No! That's mine!" Marcus bellowed when he saw Jack storing the Chalice of Blood.
Despite his pulsing light ball hurting Cain more than Cain's red smoke hurting him, he couldn't move away because Cain's red smoke was locking him down. Arlcard's spell came then. The huge dark lord's sword pierced his body as Arlcard zipped around with fast movements, slashing him from every direction.
"Raaghhh…!! You impudent wretch!" Marcus had his one hand sustaining the pulsing light ball while his other hand formed a spell that created a huge hand made of light.
This hand of light was fast. It caught Arlcard despite his speedy movement. Arlcard found himself unable to move as his whole body was grabbed.
The giant hand of light lifted Arlcard and slammed him into the floor, taking a chunk of his HP. It was about to do it for the second time when Marcus was hit by a sharp energy wave. Marcus turned to his attacker. It was Therras who used its Oppressive Wave to attack from range. Therras was now coming at high speed using its Tyrannical Charge.
Therras wasn't the only one coming. Leavemealone had arrived first. His fiery fists performed the infinite lightning punches that pounded Marcus' body.
"You are f*cked, asshole!" Jack exclaimed. He also approached from another side and sent Marcus uncountable slashes. "This is for Alonzo and his brothers, and all the soldiers who lost their lives in the civil war because of your scheme with Themos!"
With all those attacks, Marcus couldn't maintain his spells. The pulsing ball and the hand of light that were locking Cain and Arlcard were gone.
Free again, Cain's red smoke locked Marcus' body. Arlcard did the same. He turned into a shadow and slipped behind Marcus before biting his neck and sucking the emperor's blood.
Alone, Marcus couldn't do much. The five continued to gang up on the emperor. When Marcus lost the chalice, the table had been turned.
"No! No! Get away from me…!!" He yelled. A sudden bright light exploded from his body, pushing everyone away.
He turned into a swarm of bats and tried to flee through the large hole that was created by the archdemon lord earlier.
Jack wasn't going to let Marcus go. He cast Lightning Pursuit. He marked five areas just before the hole in the wall. Thick Lightning appeared magically from the ceiling and hit the bats that flew into the marked areas. The lightning was very fast, the bats couldn't escape it.
Arlcard had also turned into a bat swarm and chased Marcus closely. He turned back into human form when Marcus's bat form was assailed by Jack's lightning. He then cast Darkness Net. The net rounded up the surviving bats and forced them to the ground.
Cain arrived then. His red smoke form turned into a solid ball and slammed into the bats on the floor. The bats merged back into Marcus. He lost another huge chunk of HP since lots of the bats in his swarm had died.
"I… I don't want to die… Please… Spare me…" He pleaded.
The red smoke above him formed a giant face, Cain's face. "You should know this day will come."
The red smoke locked Marcus' body again. Marcus was too wounded and too hopeless to fight back. The red smoke poured into him. It entered Marcus through his mouth and nose.
Marcus's body shook heavily as the red smoke ravaged him. His HP continued to drop rapidly. Arlcard just stood by the side and watched.
Jack also stayed back. He watched Marcus' HP bar fall to near depletion. He wondered if he should steal the kill. Arlcard was under him but he was not so sure about Cain. Even if the world system didn't consider Cain as under him, he should still receive exp and loots since he participated in a great portion of the fight, but a killing strike would net him more.
But from what he had seen, he knew Cain and Marcus had a strong history. He didn't think Cain would be pleased if he landed the killing blow. So, he restrained himself and stood by the side, but he still summoned his Runestone of Luck when he saw Marcus' HP was about to hit zero.
Which happened soon. As it did, Marcus' chest exploded violently and Cain's red smoke poured out of the open chest. Loots dropped beside the dead emperor and Jack received notification that he received exp points from the kill.
