Chapter 16: Enemies of Man 16.0

“Bloood!!!”

“Feed, feed, feeed!!!”

“Give him to me!”

The vampires sunk their teeth into John, siphoning whatever fluids they could from him. His muscles that reacted to each thought of his moments ago were now rendered useless. The dark aura that he used earlier faded from his view as the vampires feasted on him.

The ‘demon magic’ that he so detested vanished as quickly as it came to him in his rage. It was as though the moment he healed Aurelius’ injuries, the dark aura subsided its powers.

I need to move. I have to move.

He tried. Yet, with each passing second, his body lost yet another portion of blood, to where he found it difficult to maintain his consciousness. His eyelids became heavy, his back relaxed, and soon enough, the world around him became a blur.

“What are the three raisons? Supposedly, it is the guiding philosophy that guides people to achieve their ideal self, master.”

“Bah, whatever, I don’t need anything to guide me. It can’t help me with this...thing I am born with...this curse.”

“That it may be. But my papa said that when one achieves complete mastery of the three raisons of virtue, all three aspects will fall in line and shape an individual to their ideal self.”

“No!!! This is no time for rest!”

John snapped and disregarded the memories that permeated his waning conscious.

His life was being drained by the second. If he indulged himself in anymore of the past, he would very well soon lose his future.

With what waning strength he had, he wailed his arms, retracted them from the vampires’ teeth.

“[Heal]!!!”

He summoned the only magic he knew to regain lost strength, hoping for the familiar blue aura to surround him and heal the wounds the vampires inflicted on him.

The black aura, however, had a different opinion.

The waning black wisps intensified on his body, converging on John once more, instantaneously healing his wounds as though it were the blue aura of [Heal].

For that moment, his strength returned to him.

John swung his left fist at one of the closest vampires in front of his face, tearing off the teeth that were sunken to his upper body as he maintained the [Heal] spell as he continuously fought off the vampires that pinned him down.

Then, with both of his hands, he gripped his sword and jumped to his feet, and swung his weapon.

A circular arc shone brilliantly at the arena as his blade found its way through the various flesh and wings of the vampires in a singular swoop.

“G-get...a-away...”

John declared to the vampires with a tired breath, his wounds were recovered with [Heal] but his blood loss was still significant.

In his weakened state, he planted his two feet on the ground, readying his sword as he watched the monsters encircle him, watchful of their prey who still had fight left in him.

“I won’t let you...monsters take my life...j-just like what you did to my f-family...hah...hah...hah…”

Before the vampires could flap their wings to take to the ceiling, a red shroud surrounded and bound them to where they stood, freezing their frantic movements.

Atop the elevated platform, Captain Rabugra laughed.

“Spoken like a veritable demon, Sarvod!!!”

The wisps of red condensed at the vampire captain’s command, forming strands that attached themselves to the vampires around John.

“Blood Arts: [Unison Compliance]!”

In unison, the vampires smirked as Captain Rabugra was, lept towards launching themselves simultaneously at John with their razor claws and fangs.

Rippp!!!

Claws pricked deep into John’s skin, tearing his flesh apart as the vampires swiftly attacked, and retreated one after the other at John, overwhelming him with their chaotic flurry of strikes before he could defend himself.

“G-get…off!!!”

He swung, and swung his sword at the vampires. Before his blade would hit its target, John would receive and speedy attack from the other vampires that disorientated his aim trajectory.

This level of assault…the vampires are acting like a hive mind. Rabugra must be controlling them!

The exact mechanical movements, the relentless claws that struck his body, the overwhelming speed of the vampires. Even with the dark aura that was on him, John was outmatched, outclassed, and outwitted.

“[Illuminate]!!!”

In a desperate attempt to defend against the vampires, John summoned an explosion of white light, blinding everyone in the arena for a moment.

…

…

...

Woosh!!!

John emerged behind one of the vampires with the blade of his weapon protruding from the monsters’ chest.

Thud!

All while Rabugra was still blinded from above, John, like a rugged old dancer, slashed his weapons one after another vampire before him, using the opportunity he created for himself to thin down his opponents as much as he could.

Thud, thud, thud!

The sound of vampire bodies dropping to the ground echoed in everyone’s ears as the waning brightness from [Illuminate] waned.

For a moment, he felt as though his body was at its peak, despite knowing very well it was not. Adrenaline surged in him as his blade went through the necks of vampires, plunging his sword in their chests before pulling it out from the other.

Thud!

The dark aura had reappeared to him.

Thud!

This time, instead of rejecting the accursed magic that brought about his exile, he used whatever enhanced abilities it gave him to cut down the vampires.

Thud!

Blood splattered across the grounds he stepped foot on, smearing his face with more of the crimson liquid as John with the precision of a surgeon, struck down the torrent of vampires.

Thud!

Nine became seven, seven became five, five became three, three became one, and one, became none.

“Hah…h-hah… Haaah…”

His feet squished at the pool of blood he created, pulling out his sword from final vampire’s neck, pushing away the monster’s body away from it, allowing it to drop to the bloody ground.

Thud!

His breath was heavy, the dark aura around him acted as [Heal], restoring his body, but for someone as spent as John was, he could barely stop himself from—

“Gallant gesture of survival Sarvod. But foolish, nonetheless.”

Rabugra’s words echoed from all around him.

“Blood Arts: [Fibrin Impalement]!!!”

The pools of blood that were beneath John’s feet responded to Rabugra’s command, bubbling and solidified beneath his feet, locking John to where he stood.

!!!

Instinctively, John tried to remove his feet from his shoes.

Before he could, a flash of vermilion came rushing from beneath him, taking up forms of jagged pikes extended vertically in length as they entered his body impaling him, splitting each bone and sinew that contacted John.

“Fuc…k!!!”

John tensed his body as he felt the various blood pikes made their way into his body, he could feel the blood vessels in his abdomen explode, his ear punctured, his spine snapping, as the overwhelming sensation buzzed violently in his head.

“[H-h-heal].”

With his magic, John could negate a significant portion of the pain, just enough to keep himself from blacking out from the shock he experienced. Even with blood pikes having skewered each and every fiber in his body, he was yet to give up.

I can’t give up! Not now! If I fall now, Aurelius will be next!!! I need more from this accursed magic!!! A-Aurelius needs me!!!

“Well done, well done…” Captain Rabugra's appeared before John, his hands on his back as he nodded favorably at the sight before him. “I suppose something like that would not be enough to vanquish you. No wonder, that pesky spell of yours is so highly sought after.”

John glared at Rabugra casually remarked as he observed the blood pikes protruding from John’s body.

“Let…Aurelius…hah…go…h-haaah…”

“But who cares about how much those idiots are willing to pay!”

Ignoring John, Rabugra’s eyes began to spun in their sockets, his face contorted into a crooked expression of glee for having witness John’s defiance.

“As long I-I… c-can present your demon blood to Lord H-Hangrabo, it will immensely boost my ranking t-to…to the very top!!!” drool foamed on the vampire’s mouth, Rabugra twitched like a deprived animal who was on the verge of breaking.

“F-fuck…o-off…”

“And Lord Hangrabo will make you anew!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! GRAHAHAHAHA!!!” Rabugra then moved his trembling hand to John’s blood stained, cheeks, his eyes morphed from one of a madman into one who was suddenly enchanted by an unspeakable lust. “And you, my child, shall become the rightful toy to her—"

Boom!!!

As Rabugra moved his hands, the ceiling above them shattered.

A pillar of white lighting came striking exactly at where Rabugra stood, the surge of energy wrapped the vampire captain in deadly volts as it fried each and every cell in the monster’s body. Charring Rabugra so much so that the vampire’s body combusted into flames before he dropped to the ground.

The lighting subsided, and on top of Rabugra collapsed body, another man stood firmly with his boot stomped over the vampire captain’s body.

“Ah~ Guess that was quite the entrance huh, John?” the man turned his head towards John with an eerie smile. A smile so wicked that outshined the bloodthirsty vampires that John faced.

“F-fester Aquil…la.”

The hero that came before Scywell Shatterstep.

At the mere appearance of the hero brought about an overwhelmingly oppressive aura to the arena, bringing about a constricting pressure to whoever was caught in his magic range—even John.

“Unholy Tyrant!!!”

“T-the empire has c-c-come for us!!!”

“Runnn!!!!”

“R-report to headquarters!!! Captain R-Rabugra has fallen, I repeat, C-Captain Rabugra has fallen!!! Requesting b-backup—"

Zap!!!

Fester’s red hair crackled with electricity as he fired an energy bolt at the vampire using [Message] vaporizing the monster and leaving a pile of dust in his wake.

“I’ll leave the rest up to you, Scywell!!!” with a gleeful voice, Fester called towards the sky where five additional figures descending from the sky with magic.

It was the hero’s party, in full gear.

“From the endless blizzards of true north, heed my command, leave none to escape!!! [Frozen Tomb]!”

As soon as the words left Scywell’s mouth, the open celling where the heroes made sealed itself up with an even large large crystalline dome sealing any and all vampires that tried to flee.

The vampire den was enveloped in thick ice enchanted ice before John knew it, biting cold transmitted from the ground and the spikes that held him in place.

John felt his blood solidified as Scywell’s cryo magic chilled his body, his body heat significantly plummeted as he watched the dark aura around him disperse.

[Heal]...

And with the dark aura’s departure, so did his conscious.

“H-help…A-Aurelius…”

His eyes darkened as Scywell and the other four descended alongside the heroes of the Empire.

“Scywell, I think your buddy is taking a nap.” Fester spoke as all five of the hero’s party descended to the ground. “What a way to greet his saviors, am I right?”

Despite directly calling out to Scywell, Fester received no response nor attention from the hero.

Scywell was far too concerned with the sight of John with countless blood pikes protruding from his body. His hands moved towards John’s direction as he absorbed the cold that had washed over John.

[Frozen Tomb] he cast earlier had trapped all the vampires in this den, even if they had the ability to escape, the cryo magic would instantly freeze anyone who tried to break past [Frozen Tomb]’s barriers.

“John, John, John. Can you hear me!?” Angeline called with a shaky voice as she rummaged through her bag in search for something to help with the state that John was in.

“He’s still breathing, Angeline. Calm down.”

“How can I do that!!!???” Angeline retorted at Gobbert, who was inspecting John’s vitals with magic. “I-I… W-we watched him impaled by—”

“Helen, remove the blood pikes’ connection on John’s body. Don’t remove the pikes from his body yet, we need to keep his blood inside,” before Angeline could say anymore, Scywell interjected. “Angeline, once Helen is done, use your Scroll of Return to teleport him back to the academy facility here in Meastes for treatment. Randolph, Gobbert, go scout the other levels and subdue whatever vampires that have not frozen into slumber.”

As Scywell issued his commands to his team emotionlessly, a vein popped on his head.

Why have you allowed this to happen…

Though he trusted and understood that his team would not have their performance affected by the cruel magic done onto John. A cold blaze of anger became alit in his eyes as he watched the man with the blazing red hair before him.

…Fester Aquilla!!!???

After John’s outrage with Scywell and his party, the hero took the initiative and investigated into the massacre committed by the vampires in Parac Village. While it had been public knowledge that a massacre happened, had it not for Helen’s resourcefulness, not even Scywell knew who or what had attacked Parac Village.

At first, the headquarters in Registoria omitted any information regarding the massacre, claiming that it was the acts of a few rogue adventurers. Even when he had outright confronted them with the proof Helen had provided him, the Defense Department feigned ignorance.

Going nowhere with his investigations, Scywell used his hero position to request an audience with the Immortal Emperor to shed light on the matter of the vampires.

And when he did, the Emperor introduced this ‘hero’ that came before him to teach Scywell of the vampire’s arrival in the Empire, and the events that led them to attack Dezarith.

This ‘hero’, this Fester, whom Scywell had never heard of nor even knew the existence of, barely told Scywell anything relevant to the vampires that appeared in Dezarith Empire, scraping it all to an ‘unfortunate chain of events’ that lead to the deaths of ‘mere innocent villagers’.

After that basic rundown that Fester Aquilla gave him on the attack of Parac Village, Scywell was also ordered by the Immortal Emperor to take a step back from further involving himself in the matters of the vampires, in fear that Scywell would not be able to handle the Sovereign’s retaliation.

That was how he came to know of the Unholy Tyrant.

Whilst Scywell undertook the academy’s aptitude test, still debating on what happened with the Immortal Emperor, his party encountered Team Rectiser who informed him that John and Aurelius were trapped inside a vampire hideout and were in grave mortal danger.

With the rest of his party, he came to this vampire den to intervene and rescue John and Aurelius.

Unbeknownst to him, he found Fester lying in wait with the direct orders from the Immortal Emperor himself to capture all the vampires that were in this hideout.

Fester Aquilla had guided Scywell and his team to the very top of the dome where the arena was, where they would observe the vampires from above with Angeline’s magic, claiming that they have to strike at an opportune time.

The moment Angeline’s observation magic activated, they were greeted with John who was engaged in a battle with the swarm of vampires on the battlegrounds.

Scywell’s immediate instincts were to jump in and save John from the predicament. Seeing how John’s family, the Harvests, were murdered by the hands of the same monsters, he felt that some way, he had to make it up for John to save him from such dangers.

It was all he could do at this point.

But Fester stopped Scywell from engaging and ordered him and his team to wait under Fester’s position as Scywell’s elder. Mentioning something that Fester wanted to confirm with his own eyes.

Before John was defeated by the vampires controlled by the vampire captain, John did the unthinkable, out of nowhere a bright light flashed. The next thing Scywell saw was that John was gallantly pacing himself as he cut through the various vampires that he was losing to moments ago.

Like the rest of his team, wave of relief when John overcame the monsters. However, that reassurance only lasted until all of them noticed the faint black aura that pulsated at John’s body, enhancing and guiding his powerful attacks.

That very moment, Scywell understood why Fester Aquilla had ordered them to observe.

It was so that everyone in the hero’s party would have full comprehension that John Sarvod, indeed, have ties to the unholy beings known as demons.

Fester Aquilla’s intentions were made clear to him.

In Dezarith Empire, to be a demon or even dabble the powers of a demon is akin to have committed a crime far worse than murder.

As for their punishment...even Scywell who had fought hand to hand with demons was unsure of what awaits.

Some said the Immortal Emperor and Immortal Empress would be the charge of dealing with said person, while others said the demons would be chained and be released as live war weapons in times of need. It truly has been a long time since he last fought a demon, even Scywell himself had vague memories of such monsters.

Before he could confront Fester, the previous hero had burst the dome and leapt down to John’s rescue.

“How long have you been observing the vampires?” Scywell asked Fester who had a devious smile on his face, his voice, as cold as the ice he created.

“Can’t really say, Scywell… Maybe since the moment you little buddy activated his powers? I have to admit, if it weren’t for him, I would not have discovered their hideout. John sure is useful, isn’t he? I’ve heard that he played a vital role in Kershent Village.”

Scywell clenched his fists, “You—”

But before his ice magic could flow, Fester appeared behind Scywell with a crackle of lighting and spoke in a voice low enough for them both to hear.

“The ‘human’ John Sarvod was enlisted to Moxnet for observation. I know only that much. This seems to be the reason why.”

“You are trying to convict him of a crime, crime that is based on assumptions—”

“For a myriad of unknown reasons, such data was lost. I was certain, this Sarvod child was to be groomed to be— Ahhh!!! Shit!!!” Fester jolted his body as he placed his hand on his head, his teeth gritted in agony, but the smile on his face remained.

“…”

“O-our archives were erased, not even the higher ups or I remembered why was he enlisted to the academy. Every time we try to recall what was taken from us, we can’t…”

“Higher ups? The council? The Emperor!? The Empress!? What do you mean, Fester!!!?”

Fester backed away from Scywell with his two arms raised in the air as to show that he meant no harm.

“Personally, I have nothing to do with what I saw earlier. I know for sure that your party will keep their mouths shut about him. I can very well pretend to have saw nothing and do the same as your party.”

“…”

“But you see Scywell, I am a meddlesome person. Aside from my heroic duties. I, for one, have an obligation towards our great empire. Aberrations like him and the vampires…” Fester turned his gaze towards John, “...are to be notified to the officials.”

Zap!

Fester Aquilla disappeared from Scywell’s line of sight with a flashing bolt of lightning, leaving Scywell in the frozen den as Fester went to Registoria retrieve help for the vampires, and most importantly…John.