"Not bad," the bald vampire muttered, completing the acrobatic flip that saved him from being scorched by Hilda's flaming arrow.
"Have a taste of this!" he roared, flexing his right arm as dark red tattoos pulsed to life.
Swish!
A red whip of concentrated blood magic shot forth from his clenched fist like a lightning bolt, tearing through the air toward the Matriarch. Hilda stood unmoving, her expression calm and resolute.
"What a pain," she sighed.
In a blink, her wrinkled arm lashed out, catching the whip mid-strike. The vampire's eyes widened, his frown deepening. With another roar, fresh tattoos ignited on his left arm, birthing a second, more powerful whip.
"You should at least make this interesting," Hilda smirked, snapping her left fingers.
Crack!
Shards of earth erupted from the ground as a section of the Dwarvenstone wall exploded outward, revealing a fresh gash where the whip had struck. But before Davon could react, a flick of Hilda's right hand launched him — along with both whips — across the room, slamming him into the Dwarvenstone wall with enough force to dent it.
He rolled aside just in time, narrowly avoiding skewering by massive earthen spikes that embedded themselves deep into the stone.
"She's trying to stake me," Davon realized, forcing his breathing to slow, trying to steady his thoughts.
A crack rang out from his neck as he twisted it sharply. Then, with an inhuman leap, he soared into the air above Hilda.
She looked up, her expression unreadable.
"No matter," she whispered.
Her mouth moved faster than humanly possible, arcane syllables flowing from her lips like a river of power. Her hands blurred in complex gestures, the ivory wand in her grasp glowing with resonant energy. All of it happened within a second—too fast for Davon to fully comprehend.
"An opening?" he thought, suspicious. Centuries of experience told him to stay wary.
Red tattoos around his forearms transformed into wave-like patterns. More blood oozed from his skin, solidifying into twin crescent-shaped blades.
Pulch!
Something struck him.
Davon spat blood, halting his attack. He pivoted in midair, kicking off the wall and landing several feet away.
"What rank are you?" Hilda asked suddenly. Her glowing eyes narrowed with a hint of disappointment.
Davon stayed silent, catching his breath. "Poison?" he wondered, each breath coming harder. "If it was bloodbane, I'd be dead already…"
Hack—cough!
Another mouthful of blood. "Still, I can feel it... eating away at me."
"Could it be the—"
"Answer me, brat," Hilda snapped.
"You're no noble," she added, stepping forward with slow, measured steps.
Davon scoffed. "What makes you say that, hag?"
"If you were," she said, shaking her head, "you'd have figured out what I just did to you."
A silence fell.
Then—
Whoosh!
He vanished, reappearing above her once again. Crimson blades descended like a torrent of rain.
CRACK!
The ground split.
But no blood.
No pain.
Just a... clone.
Davon landed, breathing heavily. The stone figure he'd struck cracked, and slowly crumbled.
"Cloning magic?" he muttered. "No… not exactly."
His crimson eyes scanned the area. "Immortal-rank mages can't pull off this kind of spellwork... And even the speed is almost the level of a Supreme.
A gust of wind interrupted his thoughts.
SHIIING!
A translucent wind blade slammed into his guard. He raised both crimson blades to block—
And failed.
AAAAAAAH! he screamed.
Blood sprayed. His arms—both of them—were gone.
They hit the ground with a sickening thud.
Davon stumbled backward, dropping to his knees. Terror overtook his features as he just realized the true nature of his predicament.
"I… I should be regenerating," he whispered.
He stared ahead.
Golden eyes seemed to stare back.
"First Dianne was killed... now this," he mumbled. "What are these humans becoming?"
Hilda stepped into view;materializing out of thin air , the black heart cradled in her right palm.
"Now that I have your attention," she said, her voice like ice. "I ha e a few questions for you".
Davon spat at her.
The spit never landed. He on the other hand wasn't so lucky and could only stare at the shard of ice now protruding from his gut.
"You're only alive because I need answers," Hilda said, brushing imaginary dust from her robe. "Why else do you think this fight lasted so long?"
"I'd rather die than tell livestock like you anything," Davon hissed. But the pain in his gut told him he was already closer to death than he cared to admit.
"Livestock?" Hilda mused. "Haven't been called that in a while. Almost makes me feel nostalgic."
"Still not talking?" she asked. "Or do you need more convincing?"
Davon trembled. "You'll kill me anyway."
"You're right," Hilda said, resting a hand on his shoulder. "But only you get to choose whether it's easy... or hard."
AHHHHH! he screamed.
Blood streamed down like a river from both eye sockets.
He hadn't seen her move.
"And in case you're wondering," Hilda said, conjuring an icy chair and taking a seat, "what's happening to you now is an ancient technique. One devised by a being second only to one in pure evil and malevolence.
She paused. "one you would know, if you were as old as I originally thought."
"But your technique... your fighting style... lacks skill and most importantly experience."
She sighed. "Why send a weakling like you to retrieve something like this?"
"DON'T!" Davon shouted as she raised the black heart.
She squeezed.
He buckled.
"Ready to talk?" she asked.
"How did you do this?" he whispered, voice broken.
She stopped applying pressure.
"That?" she gestured to his body. "Mana poisoning. A technique I learned from the... annoying little witch resting in my palm."
She tossed the heart into her other hand with a flick, catching it with such nonchalance, it made Davon wish he could strangle her.
Davon stared and with a gulp let out the question looming in his mind.
"Are you… are you the Silver Reaper?" he asked, barely audible.
"I go by Matriarch now," Hilda said with a faint smile. "Now, let's begin."
She raised a finger. "First question."
And just like that, Davon began to speak — revealing everything he knew about the remaining vampires and the looming resurrection of the Queen of Blood: Blood Rose.
***********************************************
HI Readers, I'm really sorry about the slow update rate. My system had some issues in the past week.
It has been fixed, so get ready for more chapters.
Don't forget to vote and comment.