15.3

“Get him!” yelled the vampire on John’s left.

“C-come on!!! I’ve placed two gold coins on you, don’t go dying on me, you bastard!!!” the vampire on John’s left complained as he watched one of the vampire’s beyond the metal gates received a critical hit.

Right now, there were only five, no—four vampires left in the arena. With the growing excitement from the two vampires that held John, he understood the brutal show of gore was nearing its climax and a winner would soon emerge.

John, who was silently observing the two smirked, it was not one out of confidence or competence, rather, his face involuntarily twitched from just how nervous his was.

Just a few moments more...

His heart thumped as he watched the vampires in the arena fought the other. He couldn't care less about the bloodbath was before him, but he had to keep his eyes peeled until—

“No!!!!” the vampire on John’s right screamed as one of the four vampires fell to the ground. “Come on, get up, get up!” like his friend, the vampire that held John by his arms was glued to the fight before them.

Then, a second vampire in the arena had his heart ripped out. Leaving only two combatants left in the arena, the remaining two vampires stood opposite of each other, moved sideways as they kept their vehement gazes at the other.

Only one of them would win the death royale. For them, this was a fight for survival, but for John…

The two vampire combatants leaped from where they stood and charged into the other. In a split second, the results of the match will be decided and—

Now!!!

John slid his arms away from the two vampires.

“Hey, the human—”

Before the vampire on his left could speak, John used his right fist and delivered an uppercut at the vampire’s chin, sending the vampire backwards.

Oof!!

Not letting a second to waste, John used his legs and bolted towards the second vampire, grabbing the vampire with all his strength, slamming the vampire against the nearest wall to disorient the monster.

Bam!

John and the vampire’s body shuddered against the impact, but it was not enough to stop John. He pressed on his assault, retracted his right fist, swinging it at the second vampire’s face, punching the vampire in repeated motions until he heard footsteps of the first vampire behind.

Instantly, he lowered his torso and charged at the vampire behind him, and once again, using his elbow as the impact point to crash against the vampire’s chin.

Ack!

I have to end him before the second one recovers.

Pressed for time, John jumped on the first vampire—in the literal sense—with his two legs. He hopped onto the fallen vampire’s torso before delivering straight forceful stomps with his full body weight of 72 kilograms at the first vampire’s head.

Spurt!!! Spurt!!! Spurt!!!

His shoes made noises as the life of the second vampire drained away as he continued his fervent stomps, all the while monitoring the second vampire that was still recovering from the daze John inflicted.

John stopped his stomps when the first vampire stopped breathing. Though these were lowly vampires, he was not about to take the chance like he did with Umer, the vampire.

John squatted to the broken head of the first vampire, looked at the bloodied head of his own doing. Then, without hesitation, he placed his two hands on the vampire’s head firmly before giving the vampire’s skull a firm 360 degrees rotation.

Krack!

The moment the distinct crack sounded, and blood drained from the first vampire’s eyes, John moved towards where he left the second vampire.

“S-stay...a-away!!!” the second vampire shuddered as John silently approached him. “Y-you abnormal...monster!!!” the vampire trembled as he tried to move backwards.

Unfortunately for the vampire, there was no where to escape.

John had no weapon, he had no idea where he was, he did not know where the vampires had kept Aurelius. To make things worse, he was out-numbered and out powered in sheer terms of ability.

From him neutralize one of the vampire’s without that pesky dark aura he was pressing his luck as much as he had. And now, he will make the best use of it.

Lowering his arms, John grabbed a hold of the vampire’s collar, applying pressure against the vampire’s neck, choking the vampire to further drive the vampire’s growing fear of him into the monster’s heart.

“Where am I?” he said in a low, powerful voice.

“Eek! W-we are...in the arena.”

Irritated by the vampire’s vague answer, John slammed the vampire’s head against the wall and went for a simpler question, “I know at least that much, you nitwit, where the fuck is the exit!?”

“Walk b-back f-from...where we came from,” the vampire raised a thin trembling finger at the passage that they carried him from. “T-turn right...on...first exit. G-go straight until...you...you see a silver door…”

“Is that it?”

“Y-yes… P-please...don’t kill me…”

“Shut up, you dolt! You vampires captured a beastkin earlier, right?!”

“…”

“Well?”

“…” the vampire remained silent as he stared at John with fearful eyes.

“WELL!!!???”

“...”

“Fucking answer me!!!” losing his patience, John banged the vampire’s head against the wall. “SPEAK!!!”

“You s-said to...s-shut up…”

“Stop playing stupid games with me or I’ll baste your head into a goddamn paste like your stupid friend over there!!!”

The vampire moved his shaking hands to defend himself as he squeaked out his words, “I-I...don’t know, I am just here on o-orders… I-I…”

“Fuck!” ignoring the vampire’s complaints, John shoved the vampire against the wall, causing the monster to writhe and squeal like a hapless beast.

This is bad…

John had wagered his entire plan on the vampires knowing where Aurelius was.

If the beastkin was kept in yet another dungeon cell, John could rush down and bring the wolfkin out before anyone noticed. Or if Aurelius was nearby, he could find his friend and have the both of them escape unnoticed.

After all, he was the one who dragged Aurelius into all of this.

I have a duty to see him safe from harm. For a guy who is hung up on a sister who he’s never seen for years, he is far too nice to be caught up in all of this.

John clicked his tongue in annoyance, as he could not come up with a way to find Aurelius without involving drastic measures.

“You, vampire! Where did you keep my weapon?!”

Shing.

The sound of cold steel rang in the air when John turned to the vampire that was on the ground. Only to find that the vampire had a long protruding metal extended from his chest cavity as the vampire choked on blood.

“Gak…grk….brupp…”

“What—”

“Useless buffoon, don’t go giving information that would aid a prisoner’s escape,” at the other end of the long blade that pierced the vampire’s heart stood yet another vampire. “Not that you’ll live to take my advice, anyway.”

“You… you’re the one who attacked us!” John spat his words, almost jumping from where he stood.

In front of him was the exact vampire that took him and Aurelius down right after they left the dungeons.

The vampire flashed an emotionless smile before giving and grandiose bow.

“Lieutenant Naild, pleased to make your acquaintance, human.”

John swallowed his spit as Naild introduced himself. Though the violent expression Naild had when John last met with the vampire was now gone, he could sense the same proud confidence that was from their last encounter.

“Given how aggressive you were moments ago, I pinned you for a no-good meathead that would solve everything with violence. But there is more to you than your unusual…” Naild squinted his crimson eyes at John, then a small curve appeared on the edge of his cheeks. “...fighting style.”

“…”

John kept silent as he assessed the vampire, wary of what the monster would do next. He was certain that vampires of Naild’s caliber would not be as strong as the heroes of the empire, and would be twice of John’s own capabilities if he what he experienced was the definitive.

He had no doubts the proud, arrogant, vampires that had massacred the whole of Parac Village were any different.

“It saddens me to see you ignore my words. I could have sworn the angry human from earlier would have spat some nasty insults my way.” Naild opened his arms and shrugged dejectedly. “I wanted to strike a conversation with a fellow human like you. After all, it isn’t every day that you meet one unafraid of vampires and have the guts to threaten our kind.”

John resisted the urge to twitch his eye. Naild was spouting nonsense to him. Like a predator who had full control of its prey, Naild was toying with John.

Of course, he fully understood that the vampire was trying to provoke him.

Since a certain vampire named Captain Rabugra wanted John alive—for who knows what—he assumed Naild could not directly assault himself unless John was the one who initiated it.

Better let sleeping dogs lie, I have to stall for time—

“Or perhaps you are no mere human?”

“!!!”

“I see, I see… So you are a special boy, aren’t you? Tell me, how goes the Empress? Did she lose her mind as of late or are the rumors false? It’s rare for her to send someone like you to the front lines. We were expecting...more…developed atrocities and not…” Naild vaguely gestured at John with the blade he pierced the other vampire with, “…you.”

“What is he talking about?” John mumbled to himself.

The Empress? What Empress? Did he mean the Immortal Emperor’s spouse? How the hell would I know her?

Seeing John’s scrunched brows and difficult face, Naild returned to his emotionless demeanor and donned a more serious attitude as he lifted his sword at John.

“There’s no need to hide it. The moment I showed up, there’s this faint darkness surrounding you. I was not aware of it when we fought earlier...but now I understand why Captain Rabugra said to not execute you. You are a demon, aren’t you?”

“…”

“Keeping your silence again, aren’t we? Very well. You’ll do well to admit it in front of the audience.”

Immediately, Naild placed two of his fingers against his ear and used [Message].

“Open the gates. The Captain’s show shall continue.”

Creak, went the metal bars in front of them.

As if synchronized with the rising movements of the gates, the roars of the audience from beyond them intensified.

“Move.”

Naild’s cold voice barked at John, pointing the tip of the rapier at the nape of his neck.

John wanted to retaliate, but with how many vampires were in the audience seats before him and the vicious one behind him, he could not disobey.

Reluctantly, he stepped out of the shadows and entered the arena with Naild like a sheep to the slaughter.

“A human!!!” a vampire squealed in excitement.

“I haven’t drunk human blood for so looongggg!!!” another drooled.

“If you win, boy, I’ll be purchasing you!!!” declared one. “This vampire needs a good slave!!!”

“Why does he look so unusual? Aren’t humans from the empire supposed to be taller?”

“Humans… Hmm, I haven’t got one yet in my collection.”

“I hate him. Spill his guts now!!!”

The overly zealous comments from the vampire audience reached John’s ears. Horrible expressions painted the countless vampires, creases filled their crooked faces as their yellow fangs snapped at the air at the sight of John passing them by.

And John, was at the very center of their den.

Thang!!!

The loud clang of the metal doors he came from shut itself as soon he Naild moved away from it, sealing his only known exit from the vampire’s den.

John gritted his teeth.

To his back, to his front, to his sides, and even from above him were all vampires.

Those that were above the celling were vampires that bore ridiculously long fangs, bat-like wings sprout from their backs as they flapped in the ceiling above him, they bore no smiles as John paced himself beneath them, instead their bloodshot eyes followed John with each step he take.

Opposite where he was at, atop an elevated platform where a handful of vampires with lavish clothing sat, no doubt, guests of honor from the looks of it.

And at the very center of the elevated platform, existed a throne of stone.

A throne where a lone vampire sat with various other female vampires attending to his every need. He was very well indeed, the ruler of this godforsaken den and the higher up of Lieutenant Naild.

Captain Rabugra.

The vampire that wanted John alive for his sickening purposes of entertaining his guests.

It was not until they reach ten meters away from where Captain Rabugra sat did the rapier on John’s nape retracted.

“Captain,” Naild spoke as he placed his arm across his chest. “I’ve brought the human here as instructed. Had I arrived a second later, he would have escaped.”

Rabugra grunted at Naild’s comments, dismissed Naild with a nudge of his chin. The lieutenant gave a bow before moving a good distance away from John, sheathing his rapier before he stood aside.

“Now, now, human, I have heard—"

“Rabugra!!! What is the meaning of this!? I was promised four humans, two males and two females!!! This is just a short, meager looking lad!”

A vampire lady from the seat behind Rabugra’s throne screeched loud enough for even John to hear.

Rabugra immediately turned behind and snapped with a powerful voice, “You are here as my guest, Ursela! Shut the fuck up! BEFORE I MAKE YOU MYSELF!!!”

Captain Rabugra then turned his attention towards John.

“Besides, this is no mere human. He is far more than that. Only blind fools like you can’t see what he is hiding behind that stone face of his.”

“…”

“Isn’t that right, John Sarvod? Wielder of the remarkable [Heal]?” Rabugra raised a devilish grin as he looked at John in the eye.

John was unfazed. The vampires behind Rabugra, however…

“The [Heal] spell!!!!???”

“N-no… That could mean a person like him is that—”

“ONE THOUSAND GOLD!!!”

“Rabugra, don’t give him the human boy!!! I’ll pay ten thousand—no, twenty thousand for him!!!”

What the hell?

John thought to himself as the guests of honor broke into a series of madness as they argued with each other for having the rights to purchase him. All the while, the other vampire audiences remained silent as they cast fearful looks at John.

W-What does [Heal] have to do with vampire society?

As the guests of honor bickered fervently with one another, Captain Rabugra returned his attention back to John.

“That’s what your little buddy, Branderson Starlent, told me...after I collected some of his finest blood from his bone marrow.”

Rabugra lifted a finger, and a bite sized crimson orb floated atop his finger, demonstrating the results of the torture he did to Bran.

“Sadly, he only knows that much… Between you and me, John Sarvod, we know your abilities are much more than just [Heal], isn’t it?”

John only cast a glance at the vampire captain.

“Have you learned to tame it? From the looks of it, your precious Empress has not yet to teach you how to use it from her going mad?”

Empress?

“No? Oh well, guess not. Though, I assure you, even if you are sold off to those idiots behind me, the Hangrabo family will have many uses for someone like you even if untrained.” Captain Rabugra dismissed the topic at hand with a wave. “Whether you are as good as your buddy, Bran said. You’ll just have to prove yourself in the arena like the vampires you saw earlier. That way, those idiots and everyone will truly know how much they should pay for you, gahaha!”

John rolled his eyes at Rabugra’s statement, becoming drunk on his own amusement at John.

“Bring out his weapon,” Rabugra said to one of the female attendants before she moved behind Rabugra’s seat and retrieved the sheathed arming sword that John had grown fond of using.

Grabbing the sword and scabbard from the female attendant, Rabugra tossed John’s mythril sword at the ground before John.

Thud.

“Go on, pick it up,” Rabugra ordered. “How else would I see you struggle your very best to survive?”

“And why would I do that?”

For the first time, John spoke in response to Captain Rabugra, causing the vampire to lose the confident grin from his chiseled face.

“If you would kill me, that so be it. Frankly, I don’t care what happens, but I sure as hell would not entertain you and your stupid guests for something I can’t do.”

If the last thing he would do before his life ended was to instill spite upon the vampires, then so shall it be.

…

“WHAT!!!???”

Captain Rabugra’s roar echoed throughout the arena, perhaps even the whole den that he was ruling over. Veins decorated his facial features as his hulking figure rose from the throne he had been sitting on.

The vampire captain’s eyes twitched as John announced his defiance and resignation to his fate.

And behind the enraged Captain Rabugra were complaints from the various guests of honor.

“Rabugra, that’s not what we were promised.”

“Does he even have the [Heal] spell? Or know the [Heal] spell?”

“Oh…”

“This sucks! Count me unsurprised Rabugra. I knew something was up when only one human showed up instead of four, I might as well send my backing to the Termezts. Least they don’t break their promises.”

John declared victory in his mind for having roused Rabugra’s audience to doubt his ability to use [Heal].

“Is that truly your desire, John Sarvod?” Rabugra growled with a lowered head, then stopped before taking a seat back into his throne. “I wanted to give you a choice, since you rather be a thorn up my ass…”

From beyond Rabugra’s black hair, John could sense a pair of glowing crimson gaze directed towards him, the pure rage invoked caused even muscular vampire to gripped at his throne using the cold collected in his seat to cool him down from leaping downwards at John.

“Captain, if I may.” Interrupting John, who was unconcerned with his pending death, Naild interrupted their interaction. “I know a way to get the human to display his abilities to ascertain they are genuine.”

Naild’s words calmed the agitated Captain Rabugra somewhat, as the crimson glow from the vampire captain’s lowered gaze weakened from Naild’s voice.

“Speak,” Rabugra barked.

“It is clear the human cares not about his survival from the way he speaks and acts. That being said, I happened to witness his brutality against our fellow vampire guards prior to subduing him.”

“Don’t mince your words, Naild. Tell me what you want.”

A small slit appeared on the edges of Naild’s face. The vampire immediately straightened himself before placing an arm across his chest and announced in a voice loud and clear for all the vampires in the arena to hear.

“I, Lieutenant Naild, shall offer myself to have a one-to-one deathmatch with John Sarvod. If I am to become the victor, I shall have all rights to the human’s measly life and can succumb him to whatever tortures or even assign his death at will.”

The crowd gasped at Naild’s words. The guests of honor blinked dumbfounded, many of them shouted at Naild for being unreasonable in the event John’s abilities were in fact, as stated by Captain Rabugra.

Rabugra, however, was the least amused. While it was his rage at John had subsided by Naild’s proclamation, John’s lack of motivation to display his abilities made his position as host quite difficult.

“Interesting proposition, Naild. Let’s say I allow you to duel with this human, if he would simply stand there as you plunge your weapon into him...I am afraid that would not be enough to justify your selfish reasons.”

“You are absolutely correct, captain. Which is why I, too, have a follow up proposition.”

“Hmm?”

In response to Rabugra’s raised brow, Naild placed two fingers to his ears in an attempt to use [Message].

“Bring the beast out.”

Creak. Creak. Creak.

Squeaking noise of rusted wheels echoed behind Captain Rabugra. Following that, were a couple of vampires servants dressed in full white suits as they rolled out an enormous contraption with a large red sheet draped over it.

“No…”

John’s jaw became frozen when he saw a familiar shape that was beyond the red cloth. A lump formed at the base of his throat as he watched the vampire servants carried the large contraption from the wheel cart and brought it to Captain Rabugra’s side.

“H-how can they...?”

Naild brimmed as he watched John’s hands curling into round fists. The vampire lieutenant then looked towards Captain Rabugra as the vampire servants pulled the drape and revealed the figure that was underneath.

“I present to you, Aurelius Velupus. The ally of John Sarvod.”

Bound to a cross with metal clasps all over his body, deep, ugly, swollen lacerations could be seen all over the beastkin’s body. What was once Aurelius’ bushy gray tail, was now stained with dried blood, the wolfkin sustained heavy bruising that stemmed from repeated whipping across his torso.

Nodding as he circled Aurelius, who was completely clasped to the metallic cross as though he were a rabid prisoner, Captain Rabugra smiled from ear to ear.

“I applaud your resourcefulness, lieutenant. Using the enemy’s weakness against them, no wonder Lord Hangrabo appointed you under me despite your…” keeping whatever he omitted to himself, Captain Rabugra continued, “This proposition of yours is approved!!!”

“I am honored to receive your praise, captain.” Naild gave a deep, sincere bow to Rabugra. “Then, captain, let us—”

“Not so fast, lieutenant. How are you intending to make the human here fight? Now that you’ve brought his little…beast friend here, there is no telling he won’t be demonstrating his powers at full capacity.”

“Of course I have my plans, sir. I have had my men beat the beastkin enough to render him immobile and speechless, not that the beastkin is anywhere near death. But, like all creatures, there must be a minimum amount of blood in their bodies...if one drains it fast enough, death would ensue.”

“And you suggest that I feast on this…” Rabugra looked at the metal cross that Aurelius was bound to with displeasing eyes.

“No, captain. I was thinking of granting his blood to the fellow servants to have their fill. After all, they’ve never feasted on anything outside of animal livestock. Presenting them a beastkin would be akin to granting them pure gold.”

Both the female vampire attendants and vampire servants by Rabugra’s side salivated upon hearing Naild’s proposal. Though they restrained themselves by planting their feet firmly to the ground, but their gaze became fixated on Aurelius’s body.

“Gahhhh!!!”

“Then as host and the Captain of the Hangrabo family, let the deathmatch between vampire and human commence.”