Ascendant Path of a Lustful Vampire

Chapter 413 413: I was lucky

There were three of them. Two males and one female with glowing Vampire Red eyes. Their fangs glinted with sharpness, but there was caution in their steps.

"He's with the other one," one male said to the others.

"Look at that carriage," said the second male, "They're definitely nobles."

"They could make for better trophies than the last couple City Guards, don't you think?" said the female as she eyed Caius and licked her lips.

Caius frowned.

"Huh," he said and turned his eyes toward where Alexia and the other vampires had vanished to.

"Forget about your partner, hottie," said the female, "Focus on us— No, focus on me."

She reached out and grabbed Caius's chin, stroking him with her claws as lightly as possible so as not to scar him.

And then all three vampires froze. Caius hadn't shifted, so his senses weren't at their sharpest, and he didn't hear what they could, but he still smiled because he knew what it was. Or more accurately, he knew 'who' it was.

"Ngh—" the female Vampire groaned and pushed Caius away while moving back. Alas, she was far too slow. A magical slash sliced cleanly through her arm, causing her to open her mouth wide and yell,

"ARGGHHHH!"

Alexia had returned and in what should have been her sword-free hand was the head of the Vampire she had been battling. She held it by the hair while swinging her sword to unleash more slashes.

This time, the female vampire was ready and thrust her hand forward to summon a defensive spell that blocked some of the slashes while others broke through and cut her up all over, causing her to cry out even more.

The two male vampires looked at the decapitated head in Alexia's hand with surprise and then their expressions became serious.

They unleashed the full extent of their magical might, but, even at the Sixth circle, they weren't at all that confident.

The one Alexia had made short work of while looking unharmed and spotless )there wasn't even any blood splatter on her clothes) had been at the Sixth Circle. Same as them, so what was the guarantee that they wouldn't suffer the same fate?

Caius smirked. Of course, Alexia had returned. He had expected it because there was no way her senses hadn't picked up on this three. That said, he was very impressed with how quickly and with how much ease she had defeated the sixth Circle Vampire.

The admiration, however, left his eyes as he sensed danger. He retrieved his sword from his storage ring just in time to hold it out in defense against a dagger swing at his face.

"Ngh!" He groaned as the attack forced him to take two steps back.

'Heavy!' He said in his head while gritting his teeth at the effort it took to stop that blade from cutting him.

With a heaving effort, the Vampire swung his arm and sent Caius flying many feet away where he only just managed to land on his feet before another attack came at his face.

Alexia frowned at Caius being targeted so she shifted her foot and vanished. The very next second, she appeared in front of the female vampire whose arm she had already sliced off.

"Fool!" The female vampire cried and harnessed the limit of her magic to thrust it at the ground where a spell circle appeared. She insulted Alexia because this particular spell worked best in close quarters.

It essentially turned the region where the spell circle appeared into a domain where the vampire was very aware of even the tiniest movement. She was so aware in fact that she could predict attacks and summon defensive and attacking measures to protect and counter respectively. All through that single spell circle.

Alexia was unbothered. She didn't even understand the Vampire's attack and she didn't care to. She just swung her sword.

"Ha!" The female vampire laughed and side-stepped while moving the one arm she had left. Whatever she planned to do with it though, she couldn't because a bloody line appeared on her neck then and her head slid off and hit the ground with a thud.

The female vampire had indeed predicted Alexia's attack but it was far too wide and far too powerful to avoid. At least not within the small radius of the spell circle.

Without paying her victim any mind, Alexia stepped toward the other male and waved her hand to summon a spell circle that charged a focused wave of wind to slam into him and smack him so hard against the wall that his bones snapped in various places.

Alexia didn't look at him though. She seemed to have slammed him into the wall so he didn't block her sight so she could see Caius where he was contesting with the dagger-wielding Vampire.

Speaking of which, the Vampire kept using the clash of weapons between his sword and Caius's sword to push Caius away, a couple of feet at a time.

Caius could tell this was deliberate. The enemy hadn't gone for a definite attack once so far and seemed more interested in separating him from Alexia while so clearly hoping that his colleagues were keeping Alexia busy.

'He wants to capture me,' Caius thought and the thought process was supported by what they said before Alexia returned about him being a better trophy than the City Guards they had already captured.

Anyway, Caius had no issues with being pushed away from Alexia. He needed space from her anyway if he didn't want to become another one of the vampires she was hunting tonight.

'This should be far enough,' Caius said as his sword clashed with the Vampire's dagger again.

Before he could be pushed away, Caius shifted. His eyes turning red, his canines becoming fangs.

"Freeze," he said to the Vampire, his words backed by Vampiric Noble Authority.

Gripped by the order, the Vampire froze in place with widened eyes.

"A Noble— Here?" He choked in shock.

'He knows Vampiric Nobility," Caius said in amazement.

Just like with the Leopolds before they met him, the average Vampire knows nothing about Vampire Nobles even though those were the upper echelon of the Vampiric society and technically governed their way of life. The reason was that Vampiric nobility, including how the title could be acquired and what it entailed, were secrets to be kept.

In other words, if a Vampire knows of Vampiric Nobility, then they must serve a Noble or at least have proximity with one.

The motives of this coven had already seemed shady because they don't attack to feed. But now, the thought that a Noble might be involved made things far more troublesome.

With a deep frown, Caius drew his sword back from the clash with the dagger and thrust it into the Vampire's chest. Because it was a Four-Star weapon, the sword was far weaker than the Sixth Circle vampire and ordinarily, it might have glanced off the enemy's skin because of how difficult it would be to pierce through the difference in Circles.

But since this Vampire was under Caius's order to freeze, it couldn't resist the sword thrust. It took a lot of effort, enough to make Caius's arm start to shake, but the sword made it through and pierced the vampire's heart, stopping its beating.

Caius's vampire claws would have had an easier time breaking through the skin as they superseded any difference in circles. However, that would leave a strange wound to explain to Alexia. Hell, it was because of her that he was even killing the Vampire rather than attempting to question it on its involvement with a Noble.

Alexia was going to come over soon and Caius didn't want to be caught in his shifted form or in the presence of a Vampire who could reveal his secret the moment the noble authority holding it had been lifted.

"Ack!" The vampire let out and choked even more when Caius twisted the sword on his way to pulling it free.

The vampire keeled over and hit the ground with a thud and Caius bent low to search and pull a Moonstone Ring from its finger. Ensuring that, by daytime, the sun would burn away the remains.

"You killed him," Alexia said, looking over Caius's shoulder, "I hoped you would."

"I was lucky," Caius said as he picked up the Vampire's dagger, "He was careless."

"He underestimated you," Alexia amended, "His mistake. And you got yourself a trophy. Not bad for a first Hunt, huh?"

Caius observed the dagger. It lacked the reach of a sword but as a Six-Star weapon, it was a massive improvement. Despite the dagger's small size, it was heavy because it was past Caius's current physical threshold. It was bound to be an unwieldy weapon but Caius was sure he could still make use of it.

"Yeah," he said with a smile, "Not bad."

He turned around and saw that Alexia was dragging the third Vampire by his cloak. He was bloodied and limp.

Alexia noticed Caius staring at her captive and she shrugged.

"I have questions," she said,

"He'd better have answers."