June 15th 2018.

  Finally getting another lead on his pursuers, this time Helo is starting to make gains on them. This is only because of his boosting skill. He can hear as the racially mixed group attempts to keep up. There are only two people left who are fast enough to keep up with him.

  One is the archer that shot Helo in the arm and made him lose his kukri. The other is surprisingly the earth mage. He is doing something with the ground to surf forward at a fast rate. Helo would love to ask him how he is doing that, but he is satisfied with the brief look he got of the mans face. The sweat pouring down and concentration shows that it must not be easy.

  Because of this Helo only really needs to dodge a random arrow. Finally finding the path that Helo and his party usually take to Mayor Eliana’s still unnamed settlement. Helo sticks to it and picks up speed. He isn’t sure if it is the right choice or not. The archer now has an easier line of sight and the mage has a path to follow. But Helo also knows that he only has about one minute left before his own skill kills him.

  Running as fast as he can, Helo pumps his arms and grits his teeth through the pain in… everything. Flinching left he can hear an arrow whistle past his ear. Behind him is the sound of a rolling avalanche as the mage uses some kind of powerful and channeled movement skill.

  Running and dodging for another thirty seconds Helo can finally see the clearing to the settlement. It only takes another few seconds before he breaks into the clearing and he can see a scene of unmistakable carnage in front of him. The fighting has been going on for over a day and the bodies are starting to pile up. All different types from multiple rifts. He can even see as the men on the wall start dropping corpses over the edge of the wall, presumably to make room inside the settlement.

  Helo keeps running forward, the gap between the tree line and the wall isn’t very large. With his high agility Helo can cross it in seconds. But he is on the right side of the settlement and needs to run all the way to the front gate. Which just so happens to have monsters swarming around it.

  Thankfully as the town comes in sight the people chasing him all slow down. They aren’t sure if they should follow or not. Finally thinking he is home free, Helo lets out a weak laugh as he runs forward. The laugh turns into a caugh and he can feel blood bubble up in his throat. Ignoring the blood he can feel the relief flood through him. Using the last of his mental energy, Helo coats himself in his bloodline’s dark aura and starts to weaving through the monsters. A massive snake is blocking his path, so instead of going around, Helo starts to run up its body. Getting to the head of the snake Helo leaps from the snake’s head toward the front of the gate.

  He can hear as someone notices him. “There is someone out there!” A woman yells.

  “Who?” “Where?” “Nahhhh she’s lying.” Other fighters start to yell. That is until Helo has to jump over a rampaging bear. By now he is only a few seconds to reaching the gate.

  “It’s Helo!” A familiar voice calls out. At the sound of the voice Helo truly feels relief flood his system. It was Alli. He can’t really appreciate how thankful he is that they are fighting right now and not resting.

  Taking another step, he is going to make it back safely. But as he is about to cross the threshold, he can hear another yell. This time it isn’t joy, concern, or even surprise. No, it is fear. “WHAT’S THAT!?” Someone yells.

  Looking over his shoulder Helo can see a red distortion in the air, and it is rapidly growing larger. Taking another step, he looks again and now he can clearly see a storm of blood spears heading right for him.

  “Shit.” Helo says as he dives forward and through the gate. In the air he is intercepted and tackled into the wall of the gate. Hitting the wall with a thud, Helo only has a moment to see the face of Rogar before he losses consciousness.

  Inside the city Helo’s friends are helpless to watch as Helo is rushing toward them. From the brief glances they say as he was weaving through the monsters, he has had a much worse night then they have. His clothes that should have repaired themselves were practically destroyed and his body was covered in blood and dirt.

  Rushing forward Hinata orders the entire defending force to rush forward as Helo reaches the gate. With the monster horde numbers lessoning over the course of the night they made a plan with the Mayor. They are going to take a majority of the monster cores and fuel the formation.

  It has been long enough where everyone who was in the surrounding area has entered the town already. That or they are already dead. With that and the fact they now have an abundance of cores, they will seal off the town completely. This will strengthen the barrier and make it so that only a tier 3 could break into the barrier in a short time frame.

  The mayor already made the decision to do things this way. But Alli made her promise not to seal off the town until Helo returned. Eliana wanted to argue, each extra minute is another minute her people are dying. It is also another minute where they have to drain their energy. But in the end, she acquiesced to Hinata’s demands.

  Now as everyone starts to give one final push an order goes out to call back all the resting fighters. “All hands, report!” The lead guard yells out. This is actually the second in command but the guard captain sacrificed himself to allow the hole made by the worm to be fixed. “THIS IS THE FINAL PUSH! Put it all on the line!”

  From the houses surrounding the gate fighters stream out and the number of defenders double in a short time. Everyone starts their push forward. They are burning their strongest skills and trying to push the monster horde out of the wall. Once the monsters are behind the barrier, and Helo is inside, they can finally seal it.

  Alli and Hinata, along with the last five tier 2 fighters standing are leading the charge. “HEEEEYAAHHHH!” “CRASH” Alli yells and then slams her construct formed hammer onto the side of an undead face. The surrounding monsters are all staggered back as a massive explosion of force is sent out.

  Stepping back Hinata takes her place. With a dizzying array of strikes and illusions she proceeds to tear apart the knocked back monsters. While she is fighting, Alli is conjuring a large wheel behind her. Using her slight ability to control the constructs she starts the wheel spinning. It is moving slowly but it is a large circle with spokes connecting the outer circle to the inner circle. Mana and power can be seen pulsing through the wheel and every time a new spoke reaches the top an attack is fired in a different element.

  This is an idea she has been working with for a while. Being able to form her runes onto a construct means that they don’t have to be used once and then resummoned. Now she can create a single construct and push power into it. The central circle creates bolts of mana and as it travels up the spoke to the top it takes on whatever affinity is in the runes on the spoke. Then it reaches the outer circle and is fired.

  With a small smile Hinata continues forward with unstoppable grace and power. Her ‘Mana Slash’ has turned into ‘Foxfire Strike’ and every blow is laced with mind numbing spiritual damage. Above her head, a constant stream of elemental bolts are exploding on any monster that is before her.

  To their side the different tier 2 fighters are all doing their part. Spread out from them, the rest of the defenders are all doing their best to push back the monster horde. Up ahead the girls can see Helo enter the gate. Alli lets out a “WHOOP!” and Hinata wants to cry in joy, but before they can truly celebrate, the unspeakable happens.

  A massive wave of red attacks is sent from behind the monsters. The arc through the air at an almost impossible pace, creating streaks of red in their wake. Before they can truly react to the new attack, a monster slaughters its way through the other monsters and tackles Helo.

  With wide eyes the girls stare as the monster, no, the man stands over Helo’s prone form. Everyone on the front line of the fight can see as Helo passes out. The golden glow of his veins and the dark haze that surrounds him disappear. At the same time wounds open up all over his body. Hinata can see clearly as Helo’s breathing is slow and extremely labored.

  “He’s dying!” She yells and rushes forward. It is moments like this that she wishes she listened to Helo and took a movement skill. Pushing forward and unleashing the largest illusion she has even made, she conjures a massive replica of her own sword. Slashing out with ‘Foxfire Strike’ she hears a “BING BING” in her ear. The massive sword slashes forward and strikes with the true strength of her own blade, as well as with the spiritual burn of Foxfire.

  Behind her Alli starts to pump her entire mana pool into her created wheel. Pushing with all her might she gets the wheel to spin faster than before. She doesn’t have any skill upgrades, but she can feel how her control over her constructs is much better than before.

  Combined the two girls rain down physical slashes, fire, ice, earth and a mix of different elements. Clearing away the monsters in front of them, most are blown back or left injured. At that the tier 2 fighters also use their most powerful skills. For most they activate their own boosting skills and starts finishing off all the injured monsters.

  Looking up with fear in her gaze Hinata has a hard time seeing through the sweat and blood that is dripping down her face and into her eyes. Unconciously conjuring a illusional hand she wipes her face. Helo’s breathing is even worse than before and his slighting tanned skin has a white tint to it.

  She looks with some confusion as the man who was standing over him seems to be monologuing to Helo’s unconscious form. They are only ten feet away by this time but suddenly the man raises his hand and a spear of red liquid forms in it.

  Alli screams behind her and with some relief one of the tier 2 fighters uses a movement skill. Intercepting the falling blow the eskrima wielder deflects the strike into the ground near Helo’s unconscious form. The man then uses his momentum to spin in the air and kick the man in the chest.

  Flying back the man is unfortunately still within the barrier, he gets kicked back into the gate and hits the tough wood with a “CRACK”. Using the moment his own strike bought him the eskrima wielder, that Hinata doesn’t even know the name, enters a lower defensive stance. In the same movement he uses his second stick to flick Helo toward the dryad guard leader. “Heal him.” The man says with a calm tone without ever looking away from his foe.

  The dryad nods his head. Before turning back and starting the healing process, he unleashes a massive amount of mana. Around the man the air starts to tremble, then it is all funneled into the ground beneath his feet. The ground buckles and churns as an uncountable number of vines surge forth and toss out the monsters that are still within the town. With the last seconds of the attack, he uses the vines to create a barrier.

  Alli wants to turn and yell at the man that he should have done that right away. But looking toward the man, she can see how his posture is now slouched and his limbs are trembling. Instead of asking why he waited so long she asks something else. “You better still have the energy to heal him! Did you waste it all?”

  Looking up with tired eyes he says in a deep slow tone. “I have sufficient stores.” After that he turns and leaves while carrying Helo. The fighters all start cheering, the monsters are pushed out of the town and now they can finally rest. As the voices get raised a red haze sweeps out from the gate. Standing while holding his head is the man. The man that everyone can now see the fangs of. The sword master raises his sword just a little higher. “Vampire.” Almost spitting out the word, he doesn’t turn back but he does speak to the group. “Tell them to seal the barrier. NOW!”

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  Some people run off to listen to his commands. But everyone else is stuck in place as the red haze that swept out seems to halt their movements. Then they can hear a crazy laugh, followed by a low voice. “HEHEHEHkeh, fighting that boy was the best thing that has happened to me. Not only is he just… delicious.” The vampire hugs himself and shivers. “But I was able to unlock my aura. How does it feel? Blood Calling.”

  Alli and Hinata are standing side by side and holding one another up under the weight of the mid-tier 2 aura. They are used to being within auras, their families are filled with powerful individuals and that isn’t even considering Helo. But this feels… sickly. The aura isn’t quite entering their bodies, it more like it is calling out to their blood.

  The eskrima wielder ignores the monologuing vampire and dashing forward in a crackling haze. As he is moving, he lets out another command, “Everyone to the secondary wall. He can’t get through. Tier 2’s back me up.” Alli doesn’t recognize the man. He isn’t beast-kin or dryad. But she does recognize the lighting affinity.

  “I think I heard about someone like him…?” She says while slowly backing away. Their entire party was behind them, but as soon as the vampire was recognized all the defensive members stepped up to defend their charges. “Eleon? Raleon? Riden?” She starts mumbling to herself.

  “What are you saying?” Hinata asks as they are watching the fight between the two powerful individuals.

  “The eskrima? Who is he?” She has a pondering look on her face. “I feel like his name is on the tip of my tongue.”

  “That is Rain Raij. He is a unique individual. His family has a powerful affinity for lighting, and they all work at a nearby shrine that worship many different deities. His family specifically worship Raijin.” She says as the lighting lances through the air. It intercepts a wave of blood. The blood quickly starts to sizzle, then bubble, then evaporate away.

  Aiko speaks up from her place, “A lot of people speculate that his ancestor was actually blessed by Raijin himself and that is where their affinity is from. Nobody knows the truth, the Raij family keeps their secrets close. They have a good relationship with the Kashiwagi family.”

  Alli nods and now remembers where she heard about them from. Her father had told her about a friend he had and he used lighting just like Rain. Looking forward the party watches the battle between the powerful individuals. Both the vampire and Rain are people that could take on their entire team and still end up victorious.

  In the field there are now four tier 2 people fighting. The vampire is fresh and has his aura. While his opponents have been defending the town for over a day and need rest. In the lead is Rain Raij wielding eskrima sticks.

  Ducking low Rain spins under a blood bolt and then sweeps out with a lighting attack. The lighting travels through his body and into the eskrima stick. It swirls around the metal stick like it is a tesla coil and builds power. When his weapon is in line with the vampire, he launches the lightning bolt. The bolt is easily deflected by using blood as a conduit and the vampire is attacked by a second fighter using a staff.

  Blocking the blow with a gauntlet made from condensed blood the vampire lashes out with a front kick and the staff user gets set flying. Twenty feet later he hits the ground and rolls until hitting a monster’s corpse.

  The vampire is forced to dodge another strike, but he is able to lash out with a ‘Blood Claw’. The skill is filled with all sorts of toxins and debuffs. Profusely bleeding the man falls back while holding a hand over his bleeding side.

  Throughout all of this Rogar is keeping Rain away by using the other fighters. When Rain is at a distance, he is easy for the vampire to fight, all he needs to do is keep some blood between himself and the lighting warrior.

  Rain waits for the right moment. Constantly throwing out bolts of lightning he is waiting for the vampire to be in a good place to strike. As the staff user comes back into the fight the vampire is forced to duck low and spin. Taking that moment to attack Rain uses a movement skill that surrounds his body in lighting. Moving forward faster than before Rain is able to land a clean blow along the vampires back. The strike is empowered with lighting and forces his body to convulse.

  The other two fighters that are not injured back away to give Rain some room. One of them has fought with Rain and the other knows what the Raij family is like. Erupting with lighting Rain fries everything around him. Most of the blow is focused on the vampire. As Rain is about to finish his combo, the staff wielder comes in for a strike.

  Rain doesn’t know if the man is stupid, glory seeking, or just doesn’t know. But as the man comes into his periphery he is forced to use a considerable amount of his focus and will to halt the lighting that was gathering in his body and the air around them. Rain’s skill wasn’t a simple attack; it was a combo of stacking blasts that charge the area and lead into a massive finishing strike.

  Having to stop the combo is like interrupting a mage from casting a spell. The backlash isn’t small as Rain stumbles back and holds in the massive charge that was about to explode.

  The two fighters that backed off can be heard yelling at the staff fighter to stop but he isn’t listening. The vampire, sensing a moment of miscommunication activates his most powerful skill. This is a skill that his class is focused around. Speaking a giddy tone he says, “Blood Reign.”

  Red power sweeps out and mixes with the red haze that was starting to weaken. While the vampire was getting beaten his aura started to weaken. But getting the chance he needed he is able to use his most powerful skill. All around the area droplets of blood form from the air, then they collect into needles and start to fall from the sky. The skill takes the word ‘Reign’ and plays with how it sounds in English. Not only does it give him control over blood like ‘Reign’ it creates blood needles that fall like ‘Rain’.

  As the needles start to fall everyone on the wall ducks low and takes cover. Many create shields, while others enter into the houses around the area. The fighters are forced to either take the damage or create their own shields. The needles are incredibly powerful, and they are numerous and constant.

  Laughing the vampire stands up and holds out his hands. Each the needles slow to a stop and start collecting into large balls. “Hehehehhaahhk, welcome to my domain!” The vampire shouts while on a power trip. His own aura calls to blood, making it easier to control. So, mixing his most powerful skill, and this aura, he feels unstoppable.

  Alli and Hinata can feel as the pressure surrounding the vampire surges in strength as the skill is actives. They both have seen a lot in their 16 years. They know how most skills function. Calling out to the fighters Hinata draws attention. “His energy is draining fast. Don’t let him bite you!”

  Rain doesn’t turn to look, but he does nod his head. The spear fighter that was blasted back again as ‘Blood Reign’ was used turns to look at Hinata. The other two fighters and the vampire do as well. One of the fighters is still clutching his sides as his blood continues to fall. When the skill actived it is started to be swept up into the air and be used to create the red rain.

  The vampire is still in his power trip, but hearing someone yell out his weakness is enough to draw his attention and his ire. “Shup up! Little girl!” Holding out a hand, one of the red orbs that was being collected under his hands forms into a spear and is launched right at her.

  Alli lets out an “Eeep!” of fright and uses her construct to create a flat wall that is filled with defensive runes. She isn’t making anything complex so forming it is easy and relatively quick. At the same time Hinata uses her own defensive ‘Illuison’s Parry’ skill. Infront of her is a semi-physical illusional construct appears.

  Rain tries to stop it, but the blood spear is sent out too fast. Empowered by his active skill and his aura the attack reaches out with high power and speed. It turns into a streak of red and slams against the construct with an explosion of wind and red droplets. The construct flares brightly while all the runes flare blue. One by one the runes are burnt away as a sound like high pitch crackling can be heard.

  It only takes a few seconds for the runes to all be empty and the construct to crack apart. The red spear lost a lot of its strength, but it still is enough to kill almost any tier 1 individual. Hinata’s parry is next, the red spear strikes the illusional katana and crashes through it like it wasn’t even there. Everything seems to stand still for a second as everyone in the area thinks their heiress is about to die.

  What only the most perceptive of people can see is that her parry skill actually worked. It didn’t block the skill; it wasn’t designed to do so. It diverted the skill a little to the left. The blood spear rips through Hinata’s arm and sends her crashing to the ground.

  The debuffs and toxins that the tier 2 fighter got from the ‘Blood Claw’ seem to be a constant of the vampire’s attacks because Hinata is on the ground and can feel as her blood starts to burn in her veins. Crying out she is grabbed by Alli.

  “Healer! Every healer with mana!” Alli yells out. She has tears streaming down her face as she holds Hinata’s head. Hinata is unconsciously curling into a ball and crying out in pain.

  For a second the entire area around the gate is filled with silence. Then with Alli’s shouting all hell breaks loose. The vampire is laughing because he knows just how deadly his blood attacks are. All the healers that are still standing rush to assist Aiko in healing Hinata and every single fighter starts bombarding the vampire attacks.

  Yelling out in anger they all use the last of their mana and then some to try and be the one to kill the vampire. As the attacks come in the tier 2 fighters have to back off. There are only two left. One is healing Helo, one is succumbed to his wounds, and the spear fighter is to injured to continue. This leave Rain and one other. This is a kitsune woman that has a strong wind affinity. With the affinity she choose to use a bow. The two of them back off as the attacks come in.

  In the middle the laughing vampire waves his hands. All the blood in the area, including the rain, swirls with his movements. Then all the blood rushes in and creates a large dome. Moments later all the attacks fall upon the dome and completely obstruct vision.

  Rain turns to the woman. This is the one fighter that has fought with Rain before. “Miss Emi. It is a pleasure to stand by your side again.” Rain gives her a small smile and a nod. “Like last time. Shoot when it hurts, otherwise cover me.”

  Emi nods and smiles back. “After this fight will you be taking me out to dinner?” She says back with a flirty smile, her gaze turns sultry, then quickly has mock saddness. Fake sniffling she hides her face, “L.. last time you ran a.. away so quickly.” She fake cries and looks up with a sultry look to meet his gaze.

  Cheeks turning red Rain turns his head. Coughing into his hand he says, “Ah, maybe. I mean. Sure.” His awkward response makes Emi smile. Before she can tease him any more the dust clears.

  The dome appears and it only has a few dents and scratches. Charging up his body Rain gets ready to attack. As he does the dome breaks apart like glass. Before the pieces can hit the floor, the sharp edges vanish and the blood splashes like water.

  “Heheheh, was that all? Oh, from all your gazes I assume you’re angry. Was she important?” The vampire smiles at the crowd on the secondary wall.

  Before he can speak any further a arrow that is wrapped in a hurricane shoots forth. This is what Rain was talking about. Emi is capable of shooting extremely powerful arrows. Rain would rather have her make one good shot, than twenty bad ones.

  Coming in from behind the arrow a bolt of lighting follows. Rogar grimaces as the blood he wanted to use to redirect the lighting is scattered in the winds of the arrow. Sidestepping he is still struck by a glancing blow. Stumbling under the electrical current Rogar lets out a vicious ‘Red Slash’. It is a blood arc attack that is similar to a sword slash skill.

  Emi is too far away for the slash to hit her, but Rain was following right behind the lighting. Sliding under the slash he strikes the ground with his eskrima stick. Using the momentum to prop himself up he jumps in the air and spins. By the time the vampire has recovered from the electricity, Rain’s foot lashes out and breaks his jaw.

  Groaning and holding his broken jaw the vampire jumps back, dodging an arrow in the process. Trying to speak he says, “Aragg rgguee uuucer.”

  Thinking of a good quip, Rain debates on speaking. But he isn’t one to trade verbal barbs in a fight. Ignoring the mans garbled words Rain brings both sticks back and sweeps them forward. With small bolts of electricity arcing out he magnetizes the ground around him and small pieces of stone, monster and metal start to float. Flicking his sticks forward he sends the charged mess toward Rogar.

  Rogar is dodging the mess but as he moves left Rain appears in front of him. Not noticing the small electrical current coming from the right stick, he only has a moment to react before the charge mass hits him on the back. Stumbling forward he takes a eskrima stick to the throat and an arrow to the chest.

  Falling to his knees and clutching his chest the vampire looks up at Rain. The red haze in the sky starts to vanish and the blood that is being formed from ‘Blood Reign’ stops. He is wheezing and his jaw is broken, but he deliberately tries to speak. “Ryy gaaauuue gggueee.”

  Pausing as his stick is about to descend he lets the man speak his final words. “What?” He asks the vampire to clarify.

  “Rryyy haauuueee you.” Rain is to confused to realize that the vampire was speaking clearly at the end. Underneath them the vampire fell onto all the blood that it had sucked in to make the dome. Now the vampire can’t heal from the blood it creates, but it can from the blood of all the people and monsters that were mixed in. “I hate you.”

  Emi is to slow in firing her arrow and Rain is too late to react as the vampire lunges up and sinks its fangs into his neck. Rapidly draining the blood Rogar stands up straight, while he moves up Rain weakens and falls. Now fully healed he tossed Rain aside. “Damn, you made me absorb stale blood.” The vampire says in disgust. “For that I hate you.”

  The surrounding people are shocked speechless. First Rain seems to have been tricked into losing. Then it turns out the vampires’ last words were because it had to drink blood from the ground and it blamed Rain for it.

  Swinging his arms and now moving around the vampire looks around. There are three bodies around him. The archer retreated to the wall, which isn’t really that far away. Everyone else is ontop of the wall and staring in shock.

  “I feel like some kind of animal.” The vampire says from his place at the gate. Behind him monsters are slamming their bodies against the now completed barrier. Walking around he goes to Rain before turning around. “No, your blood tasted unique, I want to harvest some.” Next, he goes to the spear fighter that was knocked out. Killing the man, he does the same to the other fighter that fell due to ‘Blood Claw’.

  Finally walking up to Rain, he looks down at the man, then at all the people that are effectively trapped inside a barrier with him. “MH this will be fun.”