Chapter 16: Battle Wits

The Elder Vampire, Razos, was not amused by this new development.

The power of a hero, and the power of the Demon Lords, both awakening before him. And yet, rather then clashing, their auras were synergizing.

Regardless of things like "friendship" or "hope", such a thing was impossible. No amount of friendship or fighting spirit could defy laws of reality. The two energies are like night and day, fire and water, cats and dogs. Natural enemies.

And the boy, who appeared to be a human, had become a Catkin.

Even with his magical perception, he sensed nothing. So either a powerful illusion capable of warping reality was cast, or there was a far greater power at work.

However, he could still see it. The fatal flaw. Unlike the white haired vampire boy who opposed him, the black haired boy was still naive. His foot posture and perception seemed good, for a beginner, and he had quite a bit of magical power, however...in terms of battle witt, he was weaker. He seemed unusually wary and paranoid, but he was definently inexperienced. Compared to him, who had thousands of years of experience, such a beginner would not fare well against him.

"XL Burst!"

Suddenly, the vampire boy launched forward with intense speed and power. It was fast, faster then expected. But not fast enough.

Several magic circles appeared in the air, and launched chains at him. He swung his sword around while in mid air to fight them off and also adjust his flight path, but Razos had already moved forward to strike at his heart and crush it.

"Death Grasp!"

However, the moment he cast his spell, he immediately put up several hexagon shaped barriers and deflected a large amount of ice shard attacks. The origin of which was Yuu, who had steadied his feet and glared at the vampire something fierce. His now red eyes boiled with a cold but deadly glare, as if Razos was already determined to die.

That look irritated him from such a brat.

However, he did not mind that the ice shard storm was just a distraction, as a large ice chunk fell from the sky, intending to crush him. Once again he blocked it with a thick, dome shaped barrier around him, and the chunk of ice broke up as the barrier bounced and then disappeared.

Yuu narrowed his eyes, as he launched a large ice lance, heavily compacted and reinforced. He used the motion of thrusting his palm out to trigger an acceleration on it, resulting in increased speed and piercing power. And yet, this time a singular hard barrier appeared in front of him, interccepting the attack. Despite the power and penetration, it broke against a multi-reinforced hard barrier.

Yuu narrowed his eyes in annoyance, as all his attacks were skillfully deflected easier then he thought.

The guy has three barrier types at least. The multi-hexagon barrier meant with dealing with multiple, rapid fire attacks. Each panel is like its own barrier, so unlike most barriers which would collapse against repeated attacks like that, it remains in tact and renders the attack useless. Similarly, if I use a piercing attack, he will use a Multi-Reinforced hard barrier, which is strong against piercing attacks. And if I use a large, overwhelming blunt attack that could shatter through both, he will use the rubber barrier that is good at absorbing shocks.

Yuu had planned to try and win instantly with an overwhelming attack, but that had failed. Had he not collected and charged multiple Managems, his mana would already be depleted. He didn't like using them, but he did save them for exactly emergencies like this.

"Lyo, Ro-te-na!"

Lyo nodded, and drew his bow fully back without placing any arrows in it. Instead, he created powerful magical arrows, and targeted the vampire. However, the vampire did not stand still, and immediately engaged Zak to wipe him out.

He had to, after all. If he attempted to pass the vanguard and attack the archer, the vanguard would have free range to attack him. Even if he was stronger, leaving such an opening could be fatal.

And thus, infused with heroic light, the golden arrows were let loose from the bow. Ripping through the air like a bolt of lightning, they seeked out the vampire. He deflected using the Multi-Hexa barrier, but then Yuu moved around the side and let loose another ice chunk from the other side.

However, the vampire perfectly deployed three types of barriers. The Multi-Hexa barrier, the Rubber Barrier, and the Hardpoint barrier against the ice lance that Yuu had remote cast from the other side. He blocked them all, while using a sword made of mana to deflect Zak's sword.

The Vampire Razos was easily deflecting all three of their attacks at once, and then returned fire with a few lightning bolts. Zak took one directly, but managed to endure. Lyo and Yuu both dodged, since they were farther away.

His ability to deploy multiple barriers at once made him a tough opponent. It wasn't that he was unkillable, but he had clearly trained heavily in defensive magic. He was able to instantly react to whatever magic they used and defend it, as well as attacks. He was even able to counter attack.

Furthermore...

"Shit!"

Yuu nearly had a close call as he dodged again. He didn't even sense the attack, despite his mana sense, but he saw Lyo instinctively dodge and did the same. The lightningbolts curved around and went for where they would dodge to!

This guy...the most annoying thing is his overwhelming experience. The plan was to have Zak engage in close combat while we attack at range and overwhelm him, but...he is overwhelming three opponents all on his own!

Of all the enemies they had to encounter, Yuu realized for a fact this was one that was superior to them. Even using Trump Cards such as Mana Gem Array and their new abilities, this vampire had them in the palm of his hand. His superior battle experience was obvious. There was no major difference in mana, or magical casting ability. He was simply more experienced in battle. And that made him a difficult opponent.

Even Zak seemed to have trouble against him, and he had the most battle experience of them all.

And Yuu realized it instantly. No matter what they did, it was impossible to defeat him at ranged. That meant there was one person, who appeared to be even stronger and more experienced then Zak somehow, who could beat him. But he was occupied with defeating all the others, and could not turn his back. As for Avo, he was also busy dealing with the mages and archers.

As a human, he was beat...but then, it hit him...

Kuro! Obey my will, and take the form I desire!

As Yuu thought that, he charged forward all of a sudden.

"Yuu?!"

Both Lyo and Zak looked shocked, but then Lyo took out his two small shortswords and charged in as well.

Ranged attacks were no good, so they had to face him up close.

Yuu had an idea he wanted to test out. He couldn't risk revealing it though, as he did not want the vampire to catch on. He even shielded his thoughts with magic just to be safe.

He didn't have a code to tell Lyo either, since he just came up with the idea.

Meanwhile, a black shadow appeared from his arms and coated his hands, creating long and sharp claws. This was a new ability he decided to use for this occasion, Cat's Claws, and since it was thrown so hastily together he didn't bother much with making the name.

Zak meanwhile launched an all out assault, using his sword's mysterious power. It was starting to sap the vampire of energy, which he realized, so he decided to go all out. And thus, he grew two extra arms, each one materializing a sword in them. One deflected Zak's attacks. One interceptiong Lyo's attacks. And then, he used the last one to block Yuu perfectly...

Except, right as Yuu crouched down, he tripped on his own foot and tumbled right under the sword, shocking the vampire. In the middle of his roll he used gravity magic to float up. He ended up in an upside down state, but he was right behind Razos with his palm extended, a mere foot away from the vampire.

"Blast Shotgun!"

Suddenly, a wind shotgun was fired forward right at the Razos. It was so close and unexpected, it actually hit him, doing serious damage and making him tumble across the ground.

As a battle veteran, he was used to fighting not just skilled people, but unskilled as well. However, perhaps because he was usually in hard to reach areas, they always had some level of skill usually. However, he had never faced someone who was so bad with weapons he should just never use them. And that was Yuu.

Yuu had turned his tendency to be utter trash with weapons to his advantage. He didn't actually know if it would work, so there was a gamble, but if the vampire could predict and defend against expected and normal actions, then an attack that came just after an abnormal one from point blank range should do something. He had turned his weakness, and the opponent's skill, into an advantage.

After all, who normally would plan an attack after making a fumble, especially since he did not know it would end in a fumble. Maybe he would just offset his weight badly, and go to one side awkwardly. Maybe he would trip and fall to the ground right in front of the vampire. Maybe he would actually end up hitting the sword with his own body, which would still make him close enough and be unexpected to see a counter attack from.

He could have also died, but the vampire was already trying to kill him so he couldn't walk away either. And now, he actually had a new idea for magic and mana manipulation. He quickly accelerated himself, and ran towards the vampire. The vampire himself recovered near instantly, getting up and attacking back with several shadow orbs.

Yuu however was skilled at dodging and sensing mana, although some of the attacks came back towards him without him sensing them. Some sort of concealment technique, but Lyo was covering his rear.

"Left right down!"

Yuu accelerated, instead of dodging to the sides or jumping up, as projectiles out of his field of vision came from the announced sides. Lyo also used code on occasion to mix things up.

And as Yuu got close, the now four armed vampire swung three swords at him while summoning a fireball in the fourth.

"Force Palm Technique: Obliteration Pulse!"

The vampire defended as he expected Yuu to use the same move as before, but that was when he felt something strange. He instinctively tried to raise a barrier behind him, but the white haired boy appeared from behind and swung the sword back at him. He deployed another barrier, but the sword seemed to drain energy from it and brought it to a weakened state, letting him break through. Yes, Yuu had been the distraction this time.

However, while wounded, the vampire flew into the sky and began a magical barrage. Yuu chased after him, while Lyo began to fire arrows again. The vampire deployed the appropriate barrier, showing that despite his wounds he can still defend against such attacks.

Zak also ran up into the sky, seemingly walking on air. However, the vampire summoned a swarm of bats to attack him.

Since his method of flight required creating footholds of invisible air and running across them, the distraction and obstruction of his vision by the mass of bats caused him to fall back to the ground.

"Like this, you cannot defeat me!" the vampire sneered, saying soemthing almost horrendously cliche. However, he did seem quite upset.

"Windstorm Hurricane!"

Yuu released a storm of windblades, throwing everything he had at the vampire. The vampire used barriers to deflect it all, and then launched several lightning bolts, hailstones, and fire lances at Yuu. Yuu manipulated the wind to blow out the fires, but the rest he dodged or blocked with his own barriers. The two flew around the storm, as Yuu had ice spears fly at Razos from the cover of clouds. Still, nohting escaped him, and he blocked easily.

"Blood Domination!"

Suddenly, Yuu could feel his body fighting him again. He endured it and kept going, but the pain was unimaginable.

Meanwhile, the fact that Yuu kept moving surprised him, enough that a wind blade got through his defenses and severely cut his arm. Normally, that amount of pain would cripple someone. To be able to mentally endure it, even if it was just to a degree, meant one had suffered greatly, and was familiar with pain.

"You annoying brat!"

The vampire suddenly had spears of blood appear around him, and launched them at Yuu. They were faster, stronger, and more dangerous then any of the previous attacks, which meant the vampire was taking him seriously. That was only natural of course. He was now wounded, and weakening. He was fighting three on one, so even if he had the upper hand and dominated the fight at the start, one can never know how battles could be turned around. His experience told him that fighting further would be deadly, and he did not want to die.

Yuu however released a violent twister of what appeared to be black, visible wind right at Razos. He also dodged the blood, as pillars of ice were added to the storm, floating around. The lightning flashed, filling his eyes with light before it became dark again and shadows moved around. Yuu had used that instant, the instant when one's vision was not fully recovered after it became bright and then dark again, to attack.

But the vampire anticipated he might try this strategy, and his barriers were already up. The attacks crashed into all of them...when a bird flew out from one of them and nearly cut his neck off with its wing! Had he not dodged at the last second, he would have been decapitated.

"Now Kuro, keep it up!"

The vampire sensed the familiar power of a Demon within that one. It was likely a follower of the Demon King, although its eyes was filled with a dead look and a scared look at the same time. So Yuu likely subjugated it and made it his own.

It nearly caught him off guard. He had to admit, the amount of trump cards Yuu had on hand was impressive.

Yuu didn't trust people after all. Maybe he was starting to communicate with them, but he didn't trust them.

But because of that, he prepared a near idiotically high number of trump cards. Experimental potions, reserve mana gems, explosives that require no magic or mana at all, and more. And now, a pet demon trump card.

Yuu was a very clever, very distrustful, very cold hearted person who did not shy away from experimenting on humans. As such, because of those experiments, he was able to make discoveries and progress in fields people normally would not have so easily due to things like "ethics" and "morales".

Yuu was not delusional though. He never claimed he was a good person, someone like Lyo with a pure heart. But since they were bandits, Yuu didn't think it was such a big deal.

The vampire had no morales himself, but because Yuu had also done those experiments, and developed those trump cards, he did not expect Yuu to be this skilled.

He lamented on not killing them instantly when he had the chance. One on one, Yuu would have no chance against him. But, after fighting three on one, being weakened and injured, it was possible for Yuu to kill him.

Razos did not like that. Even if the enemy only had a few percent chance to kill him, he prefered to keep it at a good and safe zero percent.

He summoned several black cubes, and had them attack Kuro and Yuu alike. But Yuu had his own defensive magic, and deployed a number of mini tornadoes to attack the vampire. He then flew in closer, and prepared another strike at close range to bypass the barriers.

Yuu right now was attempting to overwhelm the weakened vampire with ranged attacks that he would have to block, and use whatever gap it made to strike at his heart. He was relentless. But the vampire was able to block them all perfectly, and raised his three swords at Yuu.

At least, that was the case until several arrows full of glowing light appeared from below, coming right at him! He had to cast even more barriers now, and protect his flanks as the other tornadoes hit. Barriers, barriers, and more barriers.

"Blast Shotgun!"

Yuu released his spell earlier then the vampire expected. The attack hit him, despite the swords being used in a defensive stance. That was because he did not understand the concept of the shotgun, which was to spray multiple pellets in a large area. He was wounded once more, as Yuu send a lightning charged kick right to the back of his head.

"Storm Magnet!"

Suddenly, the storm that had been growing around them seemed to start focusing all of its lightning on the vampire. He proceeded to create even more barriers, but the lightning from the storm just kept coming. Yuu was no longer using mana to control it, the storm was completely natural. Creating it had used a lot of magic gems though, and he felt like halfway through something else gave the spell magic, but he did not have time for that. He fled from melee range, as the vampire was too strong and skilled to risk a prolonged close range engagement.

Instead, he relaased wind blades, lightning bolts, and ice shards at the vampire. However, in distance, the vampire was able to deploy the perfect barrier for the perfect attack. Each lightning bolt was blocked by a hex barrier, and the other attacks were dealt with by a barrier perfect against them.

And yet, the one who was getting more frantic was the vampire.

Naturally, of course, because Yuu had decided to deploy one of the oldest and most reliable strategies in the history of forever. It did not matter if the enemy realized it immediately, because the moment it was enacted, it was already too late.

It resulted in the fall of leaders, the routing of forces, and the destruction of nations itself. ANd that was cutting off an enemy's supply and making them use their own until they were too exhausted to fight.

In this case, what was cut off was the escape route. But, the vampire was still just a person. And that meant he had limits, including mana limits.

Yes, his mana had to have a limit. Yuu was sure he had likely optimized those barriers, but they could not last forever. That was why he had to land his magnet spell, and turn the natural storm against his foe. If Yuu tried to sustain those attacks himself, he would be the one who was drained first. But if the storm attacked him naturally in addition to his own attacks, Razos' mana supply would deplete rapidly.

It was a strategy that even Razos with his superior battle witt could not defeat. Yuu didn't care if people did not consider it "honorable combat", he was willing to win by any means necessary.

He had thought about trying to blend in, but if this was what he might face, he would have to accelerate his plans. ANd that meant, he would have to topple those who opposed him, starting with the Lord himself. Take out the one who held the most power and influence, and it would be easier to deal with the others.

"Shadow Scepter!"

And yet, in an instant, the vampire disappeared from the middle of his own barriers, and appeared behind Yuu.

A teleportation trump card? Shit, he got me!

Yuu had dropped his guard the moment he thought his victory was guarenteed, and he had been played. The vampire's sword went right for his neck...when suddenly, the vampire was covered in chains. And floating there, with the two of them, was a mysterious woman with a devious smile, holding a chain that appeared to grow, expand, and do as she wished. And right now, the vampire was totally restrained.

And while floating there, that older woman with an outragously beautiful figure kissed Yuu right on the lips, before flying out of the storm with her quarry.

Yuu was not even sure waht to think at the moment, as he wiped his lips.

DId he just get kissed? Was that a pervert? What the hell?!

All of those perfectly valid thoughts went through his head and he floated back down slowly to the ground.

Meanwhile, the woman in question dragged the vampire into a seperate clearing. Thanks to the storm, the sun was not out and harming him, but without a doubt he was in a bad shape. Being dragged through the sky and forcibly dragged into the ground like a falling meteorite was not pleasant for anyone.

As for the woman, in her purple dress she floated down gracefully to the ground, doing a curtsy.

"Greetings, Elder Vampire Razos" she said his name, which stunned him. He never once declared his name, so how did she know it?

"Who..."

"Why, I am Lady Jessica Valmont, of the Royal Spys for this kingdom" she said, as chains shot from the ground and restricted his body. The few trees that were nearby had the chains wrap around them, stringing him up into the air.

He knew there were few reasons a Royal Spy would admit who they were, and even less when it involved an enemy. He struggled with all of his might, but he could not move.

"Oh dear, those innocent boys, so young and childish. To not be able to defeat a monster such as you even with three on one...well, I suppose they have their own appeal. That youthful vigor. Those small, adorable bodies. Ahhh, boys are so cute and lovable!"

This woman was clearly a twisted pervert also, even for the immoral Razos.

"...what the hell is a Royal Spy....no, a Royal Assassin, doing here?"

"Threat examination, and elimination, of course. The new king needs to tour all the cities again, become acquainted with everything first hand. He and his family will be visiting soon, so I have been sent in advance. And, I cannot just allow an Elder Vampire like yourself go. Alas, I do not possess the strength to take on all of your forces, all of your power, by myself. You had strong minions as well, so I needed to make sure you had been properly pre-occupied so I could deal the final blow".

"...didn't that boy see you...unless..."

"My Enchanted Lips Spell. It will make him go absentminded and forget to mention me. He might even forget my enitre existence, but I think his mental strength is strong enough for that not to happen".

Suddenly the chains tightened, causing the vampire great pain.

"Dont think you can escape. These chains are made of a very special metal, one that even gods are not immune to" she said as they wrapped around him more and more. "And also, my power does not just involve these chains. Goodbye, Mr. Vampire. And good riddance".

Suddenly, a large metal coffin with spikes on the inside shot out of the ground, right behind the vampire. He was dragged into the coffin, but no matter how hard he struggled, he had no hope. The coffin, giving off a terrible feel, made a deathly noise as if it was breathing out. The doors then rammed shut, and soon after, blood poured out of the cracks.

"Now then, that is one threat down. I do apologize everyone, for using you like that, but I am loyal to my job".

And just like that, she left without even looking back, believing the others would be fine.

As Yuu finally floated to the ground, the others seemed to have finished up down here.

"Well, is the vampire dead?" Zak asked.

"Yeah..." Yuu said. From what he saw, he was being dragged away at several hundred miles per hour worth of force. And that woman did not look like his ally. He wasn't sure what to make of it though, so he decided to leave out those details for now.

"Seems like everything worked out" James mentioned, laughing.

"You shut up. You were held off by its minions".

"Wow, someone is more bitter then usual".

"I am not bitter!"

"You kinda are".

"You really are".

"You are definently bitter".

Lyo, Zak, and Avo all agreed with James that Yuu was bitter. His cheeks went red with annoyance.

"Also cute...and short".

"Definently short and cute".

"Most people my age are taller then me!"

And then, the critical blows continued. James however, mused to himself about his growth.

Yuu having a height complex is definently a good sign. It means he cares about being seen as short...which means, he cares about what other people think. It doesn't look like he himself has realized it yet though, but he is growing as a person, which is a good thing.

In addition, he was able to communicate with that woman from the Whiteblade party during the bath. James had actually been spying on them, hoping something like this would happen, but he did not expect such a juicy surprise.

Of course he didn't tell Yuu. If Yuu learned that James had been peeping on them while they bathed, he would absolutely seriously try to kill James. Again. And this time, he might succeed.

The power of the Demon Lord though....Yuu was still so inexperienced and young. He fell for feints and half hearted attacks sometimes, despite his training. He sometimes missed the enemy's own trump cards. He needed real battle experience, though James did wonder if this was a bit too much for him.

Still, it would be a good lesson for him. And furthermore, although there were some parts James didn't understand, it seemed he and Zak were getting along.

"...alright thats it Zak! Kuro, sword form!"

In a hot headed moment after Zak repeatedly called him short and cute, he had Kuro form a sword in his hands and he charged at Zak. Zak however, just sidestepped as Yuu swung, and somehow Yuu was thrown off balance and fell to the ground on his face.

"...that is really impressive. That sword is pure magic, so its weightless right? That means you throw your own balance off just from the swinging action from your arms. I would...recommend never, ever picking up a weapon. You might hurt yourself".

.Thats provided Yuu does not kill Zak first. I forgot Zak could be like this sometimes...he doesnt even mean any malice...well, maybe a little? He isn't Lyo after all.

Yuu stood up, and proceeded to launch attacks at Zak. It seemed like they were on better terms though, because Yuu only used half hearted attacks.

And as the storm began to clear, they proceeded to return back to the center and gather the others, before heading home. After all, there was still so much more to do in the city.