Ascendant Path of a Lustful Vampire

Chapter 537: Physical Powerhouse

Caius froze at the question, and the Robed Vampire looked at him like he had noticed the reaction.

“It was you who said her name, wasn’t it?” The Robed Vampire asked.

Caius remembered how saying Athenodora’s name had created an unsettling vibe, and things were starting to become clearer. Still, he said nothing and just stared back at the Robed Vampire, trying to get a read on him.

Formations come in varying levels of strength. And although inscribing Formations onto scrolls for ready-made preparations and also for portability has clear advantages, the Formations are also weaker than they would be if they were directly etched onto the surface they needed to be activated on.

The process of inscribing and keeping a Formation inactive on a scroll and then transferring it onto a surface when needed causes it to lose some of its strength. Still, a Formation was a Formation regardless. It draws Mana from the atmosphere as people themselves can’t readily do.

To destroy it, one has to outstrip the Formation’s strength by a few notches, or possess a fine control and understanding of the target Formation to detect its center and focus their attack on that point. Breaking a Formation is easier said than done, but the Robed Vampire had managed it with sheer brute magical force. Despite the energy coming off his body being at the Eighth Circle, the same as Roxanne’s.

‘He could be limiting himself. Trying not to show yet what he’s fully capable of,” Caius assessed but wasn’t sure.

From the manner of entry and the wildness in those red eyes, Caius just couldn’t fully believe that the Robed vampire was capable of subtlety or restraint.

“Answer me!” The Robed Vampire yelled, as though to prove Caius right on how he lacked restraint.

The Vampire’s yell covered up the sound of Roxanne’s spell casting, so all that was seen was the emergence of a light blue spell circle that summoned tiny drops of water, all with solidity that surpassed that of a bullet and with stupendous speed and penetrative force.

The barrage went flying not just at the Robed Vampire but also at all of his minions who were now in the room and numbered just over a dozen. The minions were ready with defensive spells, but the barrage of water droplets shattered many shields, striking bodies and drawing blood while knocking a few into the wall and some right through the hole and out of the room.

“You pester me,” the Robed Vampire sneered. He had cast a water spell himself to create a thin layer that looked like a bubble.

Thin as the layer was, it didn’t break under the barrage. In fact, it absorbed the droplets, cutting off their connection to Roxanne so they were infused with the Robed Vampire’s magic instead, and then they went flying back at her.

She was ready, and an earthen wall appeared in front of her and Caius, blocking the droplets successfully despite the ominous sounds of cracks that showed that the earthen wall had already been pushed to its limit by the ricocheted attacks.

The Robed Vampire moved his hand in a wavy motion, and the thin layer of water that had caught and ricocheted the water droplets began to twist and morph until it became an arrowhead that was just as thin as a bubble and even reflected light in a sort of rainbow.

With a flick of his finger, the Robed Vampire sent the arrow into Roxanne’s earthen wall, and it was shattered.

At the same time, the door into the room, bearing the claw marks of the activities from hours ago, blasted so violently off its hinges that it broke the wall around the door and created a hole almost as large as the one the Robed Vampire and his minions had come through.

And there, just behind the newly made hole, stood Meline, Kyre, Hugo, and Nadine Leopold. All dressed up, complete with masks to protect their identity and all the exuding the full might of their Magic Circles.

They looked from Caius and Roxanne to the Robed Vampire and his minions and instantly knew what to do. With a split-second appearance of a purple spell circle, Darkness coated Meline’s body, and she vanished, taking advantage of the few dark areas in the room to empower her stealth until she was stabbing her dagger at the back of a minion.

Kyre and Nadine drew swords, casting only movement spells as they charged into the room. The minions took action as well and made to intercept Kyre and Nadine, and they were quickly locked into combat.

Hugo went after the Robed Vampire. Tall and hulking, Hugo looked like a physical menace, and he truly was. The size of one’s body often has no bearing on one’s strength, which is actually largely determined by one’s Magic Circles and a little by one’s training regimen.

But Hugo Leopold was different. Even as a human, he had lacked the disposition for the finer acts of casting magic. This wasn’t new, of course, and is, in fact, why Mage-Knights exist, but Hugo went farther than many Mage-Knights care to go by turning any bit of Magic he did succeed at inward into his own body.

When he was human, this was downright unwise and cut his lifespan short, but that was not a bother since he knew vampirism was in his future. And sure enough, when he was turned by Kerwin, all the risks practically melted away. Sure, if he pushed himself too far, he could die, but as long as he didn’t go too far, all damage would be healed with a nice drink of blood and ample rest.

And so, for centuries after he was turned, Hugo perfected his crazed path. He grew larger, taller; his body became imbued intimately with every bit of magic he had ever produced, so when he went at the Robed Vampire and another water arrow was sent at him, Hugo didn’t bother to cast a defensive spell, which he couldn’t do anyway, and just let the spell strike his chest.

The force of the attack pushed Hugo a step back, but he shook it off and kept running, as the most damage that had been done was to his shirt, while the skin underneath was as unblemished as ever.

Eyes wide with intrigue, the Robed Vampire fired more spells in quick succession, but Hugo didn’t even allow them to hit him. His body sped up as it would if he cast a movement spell— only the spell—or at least the magic needed for the spell—was imbued in his very being.

Moving so fast that no eyes in the room could follow, Hugo avoided every spell so they hit the wall behind him, and then, with the barest of groans of effort, he pulled his hand back and threw out a punch.

Lightning sparked at the Robed Vampire’s feet, that was covered up by his robes, and he moved out of range of the punch. As he flicked away, so fast that he seemed to vanish and reappear at least ten feet away, the Robed Vampire looked convinced the attack had missed him.

But then, Hugo was in front of him. The punch was still in the process of being thrown. Before another movement spell could get the enemy away, Hugo’s punch landed.

*BAM!!!*

The sound was so powerful that it created a shockwave that shook the walls of the room. Hugo had caught the Robed Vampire with an uppercut that sent him flying into the ceiling, and breaking through into the room above, and then, even higher into the room above that.

Neither Roxanne, Kyre, Meline, nor Nadine looked surprised at any of this. They just kept at their efforts to do away with the minions who were proving very resilient.

Caius, however, couldn’t help the look of surprise.

Yes, he had known Hugo was a physical powerhouse. He had seen it even during the battle against Brogan and his vampires. But the success Hugo just had against an enemy that had destroyed Roxanne’s formation was certainly worth some surprise.

A bit of thinking showed why Hugo had been so successful, though. By mutating his body into such a hulking and impregnable housing of magic as he had done, he had become the bane of spellcasters. After all, if their magic fails, what next?

As long as they didn’t outstrip him in Magic Circles, Hugo had nothing to fear from an opponent’s Magic, and being such a physical powerhouse, he would even welcome their attempts to settle things in a physical bout.

But how long will it prove useful here? Caius wondered.

He would love it if that punch had finished the enemy, but he knew better.

Sure enough, before Hugo could even relax his stance, before the debris from above finished dropping, and before the others could do away with the minions, there was an updraft of wind that, rather than repel, seemed to cushion the Robed Vampire’s descent.

Caius noticed the enemy was barefoot because the Robed vampire didn’t just land hard and fast; he floated just a few feet from the damaged ceiling, his red eyes glowing with hate.