Being bitten by a vampire is a very weird experience. At least it is for me since I am resistant to it to a certain degree. Normal people have the benefit of being under their charm when they get bitten. (Most people don't even remember being bitten.)

  People think that it must be a very painful thing. In a way, I think that it can be called painful. You can feel your vital mana leak from your body. You can feel your body steadily getting heavier. You can feel your body go into shock from this. You know that you are supposed to act. You know that you need to act. Still, you can't bring yourself to move your muscles.

  It feels like your body has been weighed down by rocks. Your neck tingles like somebody is passing a lightning bolt through it. There is a sense of calm in you that makes you feel like you can be here forever. All of this is happening while your life is being drained out of you.

  I know that I am supposed to be fighting the lady in front of me, but I can't just bring myself to do anything. If anything, I just want to take a nap. There is no way that I can do that, though. That would lead to death.

  The only thing that is allowing me to focus right now is my annoyance. Funnily enough, this annoyance is not with the lady herself. Right now, there is the sound of water dripping somewhere in this room. The sound just seems audible at the edge of my hearing.

  I am trying to ignore this sound, but it feels like it is drilling into my ears the more I try to ignore it. I begin to channel my mana into my sword. As I do this, I can feel all the sensations in the room magnify tenfold. This even applies to that irritating sound as well. It sounds like somebody is hammering something at the edge of my hearing now.

  It is with this irritation in my thoughts that I punch the lady right in her stomach. She seems just as lost as me in the process of feeding. She flies away from me due to the force of my punch. (I had not expected that. I did not put that much mana in my fists, or so I thought.)

  Both of us take a moment to reorient ourselves. I finally feel my head get clearer as blood mana begins to flow in my body. Right now, I am using my blood mana to expel her blood mana from my body. It is a slow process, but it is happening.

  This time, I have an advantage over her. She is making use of her claws to fight after all. She is standing in front of me, her nails as sharp as any dagger as she stares at me. My sword has a much greater reach than hers, but she can still strike me if she gets within range. (Especially if I were to get cocky.)

  "I had thought you would have wanted that sword of yours. I don't know how you sense that sword of yours." I reply to the lady. "I will tell you this, you will never find that sword of yours. Even if you do, you will never be able to use that sword in your life ever again."

  This is naturally a lie. I haven't managed to figure out half the runes on that sword. The lady in front of me doesn't know that. I touch my neck to see the extent of the damage that I am dealing with. The two holes in my throat have already stopped bleeding.

  "Well, if I had wanted to kill you, you would already be dead." The lady sneers. "Do you think that my superiors are fools. If I were not to fight you earnestly today, they will guess this little deal of ours."

  "Well, I don't accept this deal of yours." I reply, moving towards the left.

  The lady just stands there, though I know that she is calculating the best position to attack me right now.

  "You will accept it soon enough." She replies. "I am the only option that you have against my superiors. Unless you want to keep falling into their traps. They already know of all the feeble attempts you are making to find them."

  "Well, how sure are you of this? We have quite a few tricks, you know." I reply. "Maybe it will be your superiors who will fall for my tricks."

  As I say, I charge towards her with my sword aimed for her throat. She blocks my strike with her claws, as I kick her leg. Even as I retreat, she strikes my left arm. Even as the two of us retreat, I can feel the vital mana leak from my wounds. It is not fast enough for it to be an issue, though. She had barely laced those claws of hers with blood mana.

  My kick also affects the lady, as it seems to have cracked her bone. Even with a vampire's regeneration, she will be limping for a few days at least.

  "Well, what tricks do you have left. The blood beat." The lady replies. "Do you think that we don't know about it. You people have been using it against vampires for half a decade now. Even this place, you only managed to reach because it was meant to be a trap. I dare you to find our actual base using this method."

  "Well, you keep saying that this is a trap. I have to say that this is a pretty underwhelming trap." I reply.

  The lady's reply to this is to laugh.

  "It is cute to see that you think that this was the trap." The lady speaks. "This was me singling you out so that we could have this little chat. Haven't you wondered yet why your reinforcements have yet to come?"

  As she speaks this, I realise that I had forgotten about them.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  "Right now, your soldiers are being attacked. I must say that they are not in a good situation." She replies, her voice taking on a teasing tone.

  Well, that bunch is pretty strong in terms of combat. They won't die quickly even if they are losing.

  "Well, how are you even able to tell how their fight is going on?" I ask the lady.

  As I am asking the question, I am trying to go through all the plans that I have at my disposal. I don't expect her to answer that question. That is why I almost miss her answer.

  "Good of you to finally ask that question. Can you not sense what is going on in this room? Looks like that sword of yours is not as powerful as we were worried about." The lady speaks while smirking at me.

  In all of this time, I have been very frugal with my blood mana usage. After all, my sword's reserves are still pretty low. (I mean, it is not as bad as before, but I still have to be careful.)

  That means my enhancements from the sword have been pretty minimal. (The stink in the place was another reason.) As I am recording, I have finally stimulated my sword fully.

  As I do so, I can feel a source of blood mana in one of the corners. It is a massive source of blood mana. It is massive enough that I swear that I should have felt it even without my enhancement.

  "What is that?" I find myself asking.

  "Well, I was waiting for you to ask that. What you are seeing in front of you is a blood bomb. It is going to explode in about ten minutes." She replies. "It is going to take the entire building with it in the process, along with your reinforcements."

  "Why in the hells are you here then?" I ask her.

  "Well, I plan to run away, but if I were to run away too early, then my fellows will begin to have doubts." She replies. "They would snitch on me the moment that they suspect something is happening here. That is why we are going to leave in a bit."

  As she says this, the lady swipes her claws at me. I don't even need to do much to block her.

  "Why did you activate this trap right now, though?" I ask, as I swing my sword at her neck. She dodges this.

  "Well, you have made quite the impact on my superiors, human." She replies. "My precise commands were to activate this trap the moment that you enter this building. The others in your troop are just collateral. Their loss is not as important as yours, it seems."

  "Well, I guess that we should conclude our business then." I reply, as I slowly begin to retreat.

  "Before you leave, though, you will have to strike me." The lady replies as she points to her stomach. "It would be odd for me to leave pristine in our fight. Unless I showed your pristine corpse to them, I guess."

  I don't reply to this as I charge towards her. My sword strikes her stomach. It is not a pretty sight as my sword cleaves into her stomach.

  The lady takes this pretty well as well. The lady is smiling at me right now, as she clutches her stomach. It is a predator's smile, one that has just begun to enjoy the hunt. (I am not embarrassed to admit that I can feel a chill crawl up my spine.)

  We don't get in each other's way after this as we each leave, though. She leaves by climbing the stairs to the floor above.

  Even as she leaves, I can feel her vital mana flow into my sword. It feels like a deluge in a drought-prone area. It leaves me disoriented for a moment before I reorient myself. (I need to get that under control.)

  I finally reached the door that I was supposed to reach at the beginning of this mess. As I open it, the sounds of battle wash over me. I can see the sentinels holding their own against a group of eight people.

  Five of them are being held by Lauren and Eric. Lauren holds a majority of these five behind her shield. By the time they reach a place where they can strike Lauren, Eric is ready for them. His crossbow flashes as an arrow strikes the enemy.

  While three of them are being held back by Emilia. She finally gets to fight properly as her dagger flashes between the three people. She would have found their throats soon enough if she had not needed to fight three of them.

  The two searchers are also holding back about six people. They are doing so by peppering them with many spells at a time. It is fascinating to look at the many spells that the six people have to deal with. It is about as grand as any fireworks.

  I guess that I should get involved in this as well, I think, as I jump into the fray. I realise that the best people to attack are the people attacking Emilia. If she is free, then she will make short work of the people.

  The three people are so focused on fighting Emilia that they don't even notice my approach. I don't even need to do much as I stab my sword into my victim's heart. They finally realise my presence as my victim dies quietly.

  The moment of shock is enough for Emilia. Her dagger finds another of the three in his throat. I can't move for a moment, though, as a wave of vital mana hits me. The third person is wiser as he retreats defensively. That is not going to buy him long as both of us begin to move in his direction.

  We will be winning this quickly. Let's hope that it is within ten minutes.