Ascendant Path of a Lustful Vampire

Chapter 415 415: Now grab me and run

A couple of things happened when Caius shifted and used his Noble Authority.

First, Alexia felt the change, as there was a greater concentration of the Shifted Vampire signature, but she wasn't paying close attention to tell who it belonged to. She stabbed her sword through the mouth of one Vampire, and the blade went out of the back of its head after which, she swung the sword and split the head in two.

She cast a spell to repel the two others she was battling and turned her curious eyes toward Caius but he looked as he always did; Beautiful purple eyes and a handsome face with a mouth open to show off perfect teeth that included no fangs.

Caius still had the spark of his lightning spell and the vampire he killed hit the ground and keeled over with a hole burned right through its head. With that vampire's death, the sudden flare of a Shifted-Vampire signature faded away.

Alexia maintained her puzzled expression as she wondered just what had caused that flare of vampiric energy that was more concentrated than any she had ever felt. She still had that expression even as she returned her full undivided attention to those she was battling.

'Whew,' Caius thought as he sensed Alexia's attention turn away from him, 'That was close.'

He didn't like any of this. He didn't like how serious this situation seemed and he certainly didn't like being so restricted. Sure he could have tried facing the vampire 'fair and square' own but what hope did he actually have to come out on top in that contest without using his Noble authority?

He could also have called out to Alexia and did not doubt that she'd come to his rescue. In fact, he was confident she would have eventually interfered if the fight had gone on any longer and his distress reached her senses.

But he preferred to end it quickly. He would have preferred to end it all quickly, which he could have done, but again, he was very restricted. Just this singular shift had caused Alexia to give him a look of scrutiny.

What would happen if he did that even one more time? It could be disastrous…

"My Lord!"

The call caused Caius's eyes to widen and he wondered if he heard wrong. But at that call, something tugged on his heart;

The Binding Vow that tied the Leopold Coven to him. That vow included not only the Leopolds themselves but also every Vampire they had ever created and would ever create.

With that, Caius finally knew who the other faction of vampires here was;

It was His!

This recognition was the other major thing that happened when Caius used his Noble Authority. Many of the Vampires of the Coven might not recognize their Lord because they had never actually seen his face.

But they could recognize his shifted form. Or at least the vow that bound them to him could recognize his shifted form and it alerted them. That alert had only gotten stronger at the use of his Noble Authority which was the very power he had used to 'force' the vow in the first place.

Alexia frowned at the mention of a Lord but because her mind didn't quite comprehend the idea that Vampires were addressing Caius with such fervent respect, she cast her senses wide which allowed Caius to shake his head at his Vampires, shutting down any more reverent call-outs to him.

That said, with them here, he felt a bit better. It meant his Coven wasn't ignoring the situation. They just weren't telling him about it and while that annoyed him, it was in a different way that could be dealt with later.

~'Draw your enemies over here.'~ he ordered his vampires in his head.

The authority he had over the Coven was meant to mimic that of a Vampire creator with their spawn except it was even more binding because it was due to Nyx's divine ordinance.

That said, Caius hadn't trained with the mental communications at all so he didn't know how to do it across great distances. The most he could do was read moods and such and he found that to be overwhelming enough because of how many Vampires there were he had contact with.

However, with only these few and with them so close, he was sure he could do it. And he had to because ordering them vocally would only rouse Alexia's suspicion and outright expose him.

To give the order, he reached out to the vow and focused on this immediate region which made things more manageable but even then, he didn't like having access to that many signature thoughts. It was very disconcerting and that was despite the fact that the Vampires were feeling similar emotions;

Drive, duty, and some worry that was melting away to make room for confidence.

The confidence was because of Caius. With him here, the Leopold Vampires believed they really had a chance to win this. Already he had gotten rid of one and his partner had gotten rid of the other. If they kept this pace going, they just might win.

'I'm really going to have to practice,' Caius thought in his head as he found himself getting swayed by thoughts and emotions that weren't his own and really had to focus to give the order.

~'Draw your enemies here. You need to be close to me if you plan to survive any of this.'~ he said.

The Leopold Vampires obeyed. Whether Caius used was shifted or not, whether he used his Noble Authority or not, he was to be obeyed. And since he seemed like a glimmer of hope in their slim chances anyway, they were all too ready to comply.

There were three of them. With that count, it was clear they had been very outnumbered by the opposing Coven who were a group of eight. And that was excluding the one Alexia had crashed into with her carriage when she first drove over here.

In other words, before Caius and Alexia's arrival, it had been one Leopold Vampire against at least two enemy Vampires. Caius had a feeling the City Guards, three of whom were too injured and weak to run much less fight, hadn't been much help.

If Caius were to guess, he'd say the City Guards had arrived first. Met more than they could handle and had been getting picked off. This was supported by the corpses of City Guards on the ground. The three that were left were only still alive because the Leopold Vampires arrived to interfere but the fight was still not in their favor.

But why only three? Caius wondered.

He knew how many vampires there were in his coven and it was certainly more than this so why even put themselves at a disadvantage when they could have marshaled far greater numbers?

He had a guess.

He guessed that the Leopolds were late to action and deliberately so. They were complacent and thought it was an issue the City Guards would handle and things would return to normal. However, once the commotion caused by the opposing Coven was getting too loud, they decided to send out an investigating group;

These Three.

A small group can move quickly and remain hidden which is important as the fact that the Leopolds had a festering coven in the Capital was meant to remain a secret.

Upon receiving Caius's order, the Three struck at their enemies and moved. Because it looked like they were running, their opponents followed.

~'Good. Now grab me and keep running.'~ Caius ordered.

The fact that it looked like the three were trying to run away didn't just dupe their opponents, it duped Alexia as well. By the time one of them snatched Caius up and made a super run for it, she could only yell out,

"Caius!"

"I'll be alright!" Caius yelled back, "Trust me!"

Well, at least he tried to yell back. The one carrying him was so fast that the wind carried away all words and dispersed them so Caius wasn't sure how much Alexia heard.

He was sure she was going to be on her way soon enough so this had to be quick.

The opposing Vampires shared looks but only ran harder to catch up. Like the group of Vampires Caius and Alexia had killed earlier that night, this group also saw him as a trophy they could seize from the enemy.

Caius saw the enemy getting closer but he waited until he was sure there was an appropriate distance from Alexia.

'God, so much work just to kill a bunch of idiots,' he groaned in his head.

And then, as Alexia wasn't close enough to hear his orders, he didn't rely on mental communications and just ordered his Coven out loud.

"Drop me. Stop here and face the enemy," Caius said and they obeyed just in time for him to shift and turn his Noble Authority on the approaching enemy.

"That's far enough," he said and the order spread all over them, locking their joints in place.

"Noble—" one enemy vampire choked out in recognition.

That didn't get a reaction from Caius because it was the second time it happened today. It didn't offer any new information.

So he ordered his trio of Vampires without a moment to lose.

"Kill them."