“I’m sorry, but you will have to wait for your turn. They are mine.” A cold voice came from the trees.

Aleen and the others turned towards the direction of the voice in surprise. They then saw a blue-skinned man walking towards them calmly while the trees around him were cut into pieces.

The man was wearing a black cape that covered all his body. He was very tall, a bit taller than two meters, and his face was filled with vigor. He looked briefly towards Aleen and the others before fixing his gaze on the strange gentleman.

“… A vampire?” He asked in doubt.

“Hou. You are pretty knowledgeable. How did I give my identity away?”

The blue-skinned did not answer. He observed carefully the vampire's clothes and noticed that he could not see any weapon. It made the blue-skinned man frown. He could not identify the enemy’s style of battle from his clothes.

“Are you not going to answer me?” Leo, the vampire, playfully asked before shaking his head. “Well, it doesn’t matter. Are you here for them too?”

“I just want the girl. The others did not matter.”

“Oh? It looks like you know why she is so special. It makes me curious.” Leo’s eyes shined with a strange light.

The dran’s expression turned dangerous and he moved his hand towards his cape. “I don’t want to kill you, vampire. So, you better don’t interfere in my affairs. I’ll take the girl and leave. You can do as you like with the others.”

“Is it so? You look awfully confident of your victory… I don’t like it.”

Instantly, the suffocating pressure from before returned.

Only, it was directed at the dran this time.

The dran, however, remained unfazed. He stood there calmly and confronted the pressure with a deadpan expression. “I will repeat my words one last time. Get lost, or die!”

“… I think that your words are different than before.”

“It looks like you are not planning to leave. Then die!”

Without a warning, the blue-skinned man attacked.

Tens of blades surged from below his clothes and flew towards the vampire.

The vampire jumped backward and waved his hand. Instantly, all the trees in the surroundings attacked, filling the place with spear-like branches.

However, the blades were better than the branches. They cut easily through the branches and continued advancing at great speed in the direction of the vampire.

But although the branches did not stop the blades, they slowed them down long enough for the vampire to ready his counterattack. The vampire took advantage of that brief moment to complete an incantation, he then waved his hand towards the trees, and the trees answered.

Hundreds of branches joined together and formed a gigantic spear. The spear then began to rotate at great speed and pierced towards the blue-skinned man.

But before the spear could reach near the dran, it was intercepted by the flying blades under his control. They moved seamlessly and cut the spear into pieces.

“A mage?” The blue-skinned man asked in surprise.

“Why? Are you scared now?”

“Hmph!” The blue-skinned man snorted in disdain and waved his hand again. In the next second, all the blades under his control were filled with a sharp glow. Aleen could felt a slight sting in his body despite the distance between him and the blades.

But the vampire simply smiled and snapped his fingers. With it as the signal, hundreds of wood spears, like the one before, were created in an instant.

Then, the two men waved their hands.

In the next instant, the two groups of weapons clashed against each other.

The blades cut the branches, and the branches tried to entwine the blades. In a second, tens of clashes happened at the same time.

Both the swords and the spears moved at incredible speed. Aleen hardly could follow them with his eyes and had to use ‘Dynamic Sight’ to follow the weapons' movements.

The two men tried to overpower each other’s moves, but their control over the skill and spell was on the same level. None of them was able to gain an advantage over the other in the clash.

But at that moment, Aleen made his move.

“Now!” He shouted.

Aleen knew that he had to escape from here if he wanted to protect Claire. It was obvious that both the vampire and the blue-skinned man had bad intentions, and no matter who wins, the situation will be equally dire for them.

So, he decided to take advantage of the moment when the two level-three were fighting to escape.

When the fight was in his most intense point, they charged away without hesitation.

Aleen knew that he could not escape easily, but he had to try. Staying here would mean death.

“Do you think you can escape?” The vampire laughed mockingly and waved his hand. The gesture activated the branches around them and they extended to chase after Aleen and Aya.

The vampire did not send the branches to kill them, instead, he wanted to stop them long enough and afterward, trap them so they can’t escape.

Aleen knew that they could not afford to be delayed, even for a second. Fortunately, the branches were weak. Aleen was sure that he could cut them with a slash.

The point was, he had to cut them fast enough.

Nevertheless, speed was Aleen’s strong point.

Holding his sword tightly, he looked at the branches rushing towards them and activated his derivate skill.

'Dynamic Sight'!

In the next instant, the branches slowed before Aleen’s eyes.

Aleen filled his right arm with mana and strengthened it so it can move as fast as possible, and then, he attacked.

Dark Night drew a beautiful arc in the air and created a line that connected the branches. Aleen felt his arm straining due to the excessive speed of his movement, but he ignored the pain and rushed forward.

When the surroundings’ speed returned to normal, the branches were cut into pieces.

Then, Aleen and Aya continued running.