Ascendant Path of a Lustful Vampire

Chapter 418 418: The Hellsong

Brogan pointed his finger, and it glowed with malevolent magical light, conjuring a water bulb that fired like a bullet, colliding with Alexia's attack and pushing past it to strike towards her still.

"Ngh!" Alexia groaned as she hit the beam of water with her sword and tried to push it back. She couldn't, so she just shoved it aside, and it hit the ground…

*Bang!*

… where it created a deep crater in the earth and caused a tremor that shook the ground at Caius's feet while he looked on in awe.

Caius was witnessing Eighth Circle strength for the first time. Actually witnessing it rather than having just read it. It was quite spectacular. Even thoughAlthoughessing such strength, Caius couldn't help but be impressed.

But he was also very worried because from what he knew from having read the story, Eighth Circle Magic is actually capable of even more than this and if Alexia was already struggling, what were her chances of victory?

Caius clenched his fist.

He had a card to play.

You see, while Brogan Kraxia was a Vampire Noble, he wasn't a Count or anything greater. He was a Baron. A noble in his own right most definitely but not possessing as much noble authority as Caius.

That said, because they were both Nobles, Caius couldn't command Brogan as he could any non-noble Vampires. If they clashed, he definitely had his fair share of advantages, but lacking so much in magic circles compared to Brogan, that wasn't a fight he was likely to win.

However, this was a situation where he didn't even have to face Brogan himself. He just needed to interfere enough for Alexia to take advantage and claim the victory. But to do that was to risk revealing his nature to her and have that blade turned against him the second Brogan was dead.

Still, with how the fight was going, he really would have to do something.

Speaking of the fight…

After Alexia had pushed the bulb of water away, she continued her upward climb. However, right as she made to strike out another attack, multiple spell circles appeared around her, all primed with magical energy before firing malevolent bulbs of water at her.

Gritting her teeth, Alexia took on a stance as a blue-black aura spread from her form as her Von Helsing Arts shifted from the red bloody hue it had been thus far. This color felt more personal and seemed as though Alexia was shifting into a whole new gear of might.

~Von Helsing Arts— Ever-shifting Lotus Wind~

Blue-black slashes spilled out. More than enough to barrage each of the bulbs. But the slashes didn't cut the bulbs, but instead, they became infused into them, becoming a part of them and seizing control of the magic that conjured them.

The bulbs of water took the form of lotus flowers glowing a radiant blue-black color and carrying the chaotic flow of torrential winds that Alexia sent charging at Brogan with a swing of her sword.

Brogan frowned as he thrust his hand forward to cast a shielding spell that the lotus flowers struck and shattered before slamming into the vampire's body to send him sliding back in the air while he tried to keep from groaning in pain or spurting out blood.

This was an ability unique to Alexia that served as a reversal of spells. The magic within the spell still belonged to Brogan and it was why it could move as fast as it did and why it packed as much night as it did. It was still an Eighth Circle spell cast by Brogan, Alexia had just redirected it.

Brogan cast his red eyes at Alexia but she was gone from the spot where she had been a second ago. Caius who had kept his eyes on her had lost sight of her as well but his losing her was more understandable as she surpassed his circle far too much for him to be able to keep such an easy track of her. Especially not when he wasn't shifted.

Brogan sent his senses wide in search of Alexia and only picked up on her presence when she was within one foot of him with her sword an inch from making contact with the back of his neck.

Still, Brogan wheeled around and raised his arm just in time to intercept the attack. Brogan had water wrapped around his arm and it served as a protective gauntlet that didn't let the sword get close enough.

There was a chance Alexia's sword would be ineffective against his skin but Brogan wasn't taking any chances. He wasn't taking any chances with her anymore. She had surprised him too many times and the aches all over his body were the greatest evidence of it.

"Hunter Witchery," Brogan said with a sneer, "I've heard much of it. I've always been curious. I'm happy to not be disappointed. Do take pride in that for however much longer you get to live."

Alexia just frowned. She was putting every bit of strength she had into her sword and she wasn't making any progress against the water gauntlet.

"Silence?" Brogan asked with a smirk, "Good. Get used to it."

With that, the Vampire Baron drew his water-gauntlet-wrapped arm back and sidestepped, causing Alexia to slide past in the air to where she no longer had any footing.

Before Alexia could summon another wind foothold Brogan wrapped a hand around her neck and slammed her into the ground which she struck into hard.

*BANG!!!*

Before Alexia had even hit the ground, Brogan raised his hand and cast a spell circle that summoned a massive water hammer that struck Alexia even harder into the ground the very second she hit it.

"Arrgh!" Alexia groaned out in pain and Caius could hear the splatter of liquid as she spat out blood.

But Brogan was far from done and sent down another conjured hammer. This time, Alexia reacted quickly enough to cast a wind shielding spell.

It was mixed with the blue-black hue of her personal ability with the Von Helsing Arts, showing how fortified it was and yet, it was shattered in one hit and the hammer struck her still.

She groaned again and another wet splatter of blood sounded as she spat out more blood.

'Alright, that's it!' Caius said in his head, unable to stand and watch any longer. He shifted and Brogan's eyes instantly flicked over in his direction.

At first, Caius thought Brogan was so sensitive to any change that he noticed Vampiric shifting the moment it happened even 50 feet away from him but then he realized Brogan wasn't looking at him at all. He was looking somewhere in the air.

Brogan could hear and feel a buzzing in the air, carrying the detestable energy of the Von Helsing Arts. I.e carrying an aura that desired to rend the existence of monsters—vampires—from the world.

"What the—" Brogan began to say when there was a shimmer in the air and a box appeared— Well, actually not one. There were four of them and they had surrounded Brogan as their buzzing got so loud that Caius heard them.

It took a second before Caius realized they weren't actually sounds. They were something worse— something mystical that was targeting the very root of his vampiric experience. It was being done with a kind of sonic frequency but wasn't actually going through his ears but rather through every single pore on his body.

It took all Caius had not to crumble to the ground and cry out because he believed that would be damning to his secret. That said, he didn't know how long he could hold out which was insane since he wasn't even the target of those boxes.

That was why he understood when Brogan raised his hands to his ears and tried to block out the sound. And when that failed, his eyes bugged out of his head as he let out a scream.

"The Hellsong," Alexia said as she rose out of the crater. Her clothes were ripped in places and she looked slightly scuffed up but she was still very beautiful. And imposing as she took a deep breath.

Brogan let loose magical energy that formed a spherical shield around him.

"You can't shield from it," Alexia said, seeming quite relaxed.

The Von Helsings didn't only rely on their martial or magical strength for hunting. Every Von Helsing out on the hunt is expecting to meet a vampire more physically or magically competent than they were. The goal in such cases was to either get away or hold out long enough to set up a trap that could earn the win.

The Hellsong Boxes were a vital tool in vampire hunting and useful in setting up traps just as Alexia had done. When she vanished earlier, she had erased her presence just to let out the boxes and have them begin to prime their songs because once fully primed and allowed to sing, nigh a vampire could resist or shield against them.

Alexia kicked off the ground, launching herself with a conjured lotus. Her sword flashed, Brogan's shield tried to resist but failed, and in one powerful blue-black slash…

"ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!"

… The Vampire Baron's blood was spilled.