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“Where is this place?” Nivia asked as she scoured her surroundings of straw houses and wooden fences. The flowers, grasses, and trees had long lost their vibrant colours. It didn’t look any different than the other human villages she had seen but somehow, this one bore a different feel aside from the near-death florals. If she had to put the feeling into words, it would be something like “desolated” or “hollow”.

“A safe haven, of sorts,” Aedan answered in a dry manner. He didn’t even bother to offer the Elf a glance as he responded.

“There’s no one around,” Lilian said. “How curious. The housing formation… they’re too… neat, I suppose? And what happened to the people?”

“Dead,” Aedan answered as dry as his previous response. “If you could even call it that.”

“Their deaths weren’t proper or timely?”

“Something of that sort,” Aedan replied.

“Oh… what led to that?”

“Blind faith—” Aedan replied but his eyes were darting all over the vicinity. “—in things they’re not supposed to.”

“What of the houses’ formation?”

“Their culture.”

“You don’t like to recount the tale?”

“We have more pressing matters than recounting a tale. Our pursuers are still on our trail. We will make a stand here.”

“Why here?” Nivia asked with a scowl.

“Good for an ambush. You’re an archer and Lilian here is a caster. I’m the only striker in this misfit group of ours and I’m no vanguard. This is the only plan I can think of that would involve your demise. The other plans that I could think of are out of the window.”

“Oh? And why is that?”

“You’re a stubborn sod.”

Nivia lunged but Lilian quickly stepped in between them. “Right right right. We understand, Aedan. We will take up our positions.”

“But Lilian, he—”

“Now’s not the time for this, Nivia. We can talk about it later, alright?” Lilian said, all the while having a gentle smile.

Nivia sighed. “Fine, we’ll continue this after we take care of our pursuers. So, how do we go about this?”

“Find a place to hide and strike them from there. Make sure to use abilities that could encompass an area. Hopefully, we’ll finish them off in one fell swoop.”

“But why here? Why this place? We passed by places with a lot of nature. An ambush would have worked there too. Why come all the way here?”

“No prying eyes here.”

“You’re worried about witnesses?” Nivia asked with a brow raised.

“I do. Very much. I appreciate it if you don’t pry any further.”

“Fine by me,” Nivia huffed with her arms crossed. “It’s not like I’m interested in your story anyway.”

“Hmm, come to think of it, I don’t even sense animals of any sorts around here,” Lilian mused. “Allow me to venture a guess. Whatever happened here, it left a bad mark on nature. But what, that is the question.”

“Not your concern. Just focus on the enemy.”

Lilian chuckled. “I suppose you’re right.”

Looking exasperated, Nivia gave her cheeks a light slap. “Anyways, where do we hide?”

“The enemies will be coming through here. As long as it offers you a perfect view of this road.”

With that, the two Fae left and took their respective positions. There was minimal communication between them as all three of them had excellent hearing and they could always know where each of them was. Nivia took cover on the second floor of a straw house. Though the exterior was pure straw, the late owner had some senses to build the floors and support with wooden planks. But Nivia still wondered if the house would be able to withstand the slightest tremble. Though even if she complained, there was no better choice.

Lilian found her position behind a small hut that was used for storage. She was an adept magic caster and she could still cast her spells even if she didn’t have a line of sight of her enemies. This was the most perfect position she could find, launching spells without putting herself in danger.

As for Aedan, he was the only one who didn’t hide. He merely took a seat on his knees in the middle of the road and waited with his eyes closed. Nivia and Lilian were certainly bemused and baffled but knowing his prowess, they decided to trust his decision.

“I presume the two of you are ready?” Aedan asked in a whisper.

“I’m ready,” Nivia answered, also in a soft voice. She took out a small branch from one of her many pouches dangling by her waist. With a few words of incantation, the small branch transformed into a bow in glitters.

“I’m ready too,” Lilian chimed in cheerfully. “This is getting exciting.”

“Be serious about this, Lilian. These are not your typical bandits.”

“I know. I know. It’s just… It’s been so long since I could use the full extent of my magic.” Lilian giggled.

“They’re here,” Aedan said.

The sounds of thundering footsteps clamoured closer and closer to them. They could easily surmise the numbers in more than a dozen. Along with shouting and curses, the band of thugs rushed straight into the derelict village without a notion of danger. Exhaustion was clear in their eyes due to the long distance they travelled. Unlike Aedan who had his overwhelming stats, these thugs were in the level of mid-twenties at best. However, they pressed on as if their lives depended on it.

“Now?” Nivia asked, nocking an arrow to her bow. Mana began to flow into the arrow from Nivia with the bow as an amplifying medium.

“No, let them come closer,” Aedan answered.

“Hmm, they don’t look keen in their endeavour,” Lilian remarked. “See that person with a cap? He looks about to die at any moment.”

“In a moment, they’ll all be dead.”

“There!” one of the thugs shouted. “He’s over there! We found him!”

Without thinking as to why Aedan was sitting on his knees in the middle of a road with a serene expression, they charged at him.

“And that moment is… now.”

At Aedan’s beckon, Nivia shot out an arrow enchanted with Wind Magic. The arrow flew over one of the thugs’ shoulders and hit the ground. Baffled, the thugs remained vigilant as their gaze lay fixed on the arrow. Perhaps they shouldn’t have. The arrow glowed and that was all the warning they received before the winds were drawn by an unseen force into the arrow along with the thugs. This was the advanced spell of Wind Magic, Vortex. It was normally impossible for Nivia’s current level to cast such a spell but it was made possible thanks to her magic bow enchanted by the elder mages in her homeland.

As for Lilian, she cast an Earth Magic that erupted spikes from the ground, impaling all that were in the way of the earth’s growth.

“Forgive me, Spirits, for the lives that I have taken,” Lilian muttered a prayer begging for forgiveness but she didn’t stop casting her spells. Though she felt remorse but remembering these were the people who enslaved her kin, she continued with a tranquil mind.

The thugs were immediately thrown into disarray as they realized they had been had. Whatever was holding them back from retreating had all left their mind. They no longer care about the consequences should they return empty-handed. Although, Aedan wasn’t about to just let them go. With a single jump, he landed in the escaping thugs’ path. Pulling a sickle out of his subspace storage, he lopped off the heads of the thugs in a single swing. The thugs’ screams got even louder as they witnessed Aedan’s inhumane prowess.

They could neither fight back as they couldn’t even tell where they were being attacked from. With all paths shut before them, some fell to their knees, pleading to be spared. Some held on to their weapons and charged at Aedan but they all met the same fate.

The tides of this battle were completely in the three’s favour but that was only until a curious presence cut across the air. Aedan’s attention was instantly caught by the peculiar scent.

“Lilian, behind you!” he shouted.

“Hmm?” Lilian, who was casting her spells continuously from her cover, turned to her back, just in time to see a hand reaching out for her. She tried to move away but the hand was fast. It caught by her neck and lifted her feet off the ground.

“And what do we have here? A Dryad? How curious,” said the man who crept up on Lilian. His hair was brown and long. His skin was as pale as chalk and his eyes were blood red. A glaring pair of fangs dangling out of his mouth.

“A-a vampire?” Lilian gasped.

“Correct,” the vampire answered and chuckled. “Now, you’ll do just nice as a bargaining chip. Your friend there is too much of a hassle to deal with. But with you in my hands, I can—” his sentence was left unfinished as a rock flew straight to his head, turning it into a splatter of guts and blood.

Released from the vampire’s grasp, Lilian kicked the headless vampire away and crawled far away from it. She took a few seconds of a relieved breather before looking to the origin of the rock that shot out of nowhere. All that she could find was a series of holes through the houses. It didn't take her long to figure out Aedan had thrown a rock that went straight through houses and into the vampire’s head.

From the sky, Aedan came landing in front of his feet. Cracks were formed beneath his feet but the person himself did not have the slightest notion of being fazed by the hard landing.

“Are you hurt?” Aedan asked.

Shaking herself out of a daze, Lilian chuckled. “Thanks to you, I am fine,” she answered. Red faintly dyed her cheeks as she gazed at the visage of Aedan.

“Lilian, are you hurt!?” asked Nivia who had glided to them with the use of her Wind Magic.

“I am fine, Nivia. What about you? Did you have a hard time?”

“Not even the slightest. Never expect them to be a bunch of simpletons who don’t even have scouts.”

“It’s obvious they’re doing this because they fear their employer. You two must have caused a great deal of damage for them to come after you in a rush and without any preparations.”

“It wasn’t much,” Lilian said with a shrug. “Just a few slave houses here and there. A dozen or so, maybe?”

“Two underground auction houses,” Nivia added.

Aedan sighed as he buried his face in his palm. “If you weren’t acquainted with Erin, I would have just handed your ass over to them.”

Nivia and Lilian blinked at Aedan’s words.

“I don’t understand what you have just said but I feel like I have just been insulted,” Nivia said.

“It’s not a feeling. I did insult you, kinda.”

“You—” as soon as the word left her lips, Nivia fell silent and turned to the spot where the dead vampire lay, or she assumed he was dead.

“Just what are you?” the vampire asked. His head, which was turned into a splatter, was now whole and back on his neck.

“Didn’t you turn his head into a splatter?” Lilian asked.

“He’s a vampire but not just any vampire. Only a pureblood can regenerate a whole head from nothing.”

“A pureblood vampire?” Nivia gasped. “They still exist?”

“Apparently so,” Aedan said. “But what is most curious is that this pureblood vampire seems to be working for Marduk. Vampires are a proud race. They don’t bend their knees that easily.”

“I do not work for Marduk!” the vampire shouted, nails turning into claws. “I work with Marduk.”

“Is that how he convinced you to work for him?” Aedan jibed.

“Silence!” the vampire snarled and threw a javelin made out of blood at Aedan.

While the two Fae quickly dove out of the way of the javelin, Aedan stood his ground and received the javelin directly. The result was as expected. The blood javelin found its mark but the mark in question was unhurt.

The vampire stared in disbelief. Whatever words he was trying to convey, they all gagged on his shock.

“I can never get used to this,” Aedan mused. “The utter despair and shock when they realized how futile their abilities are. And how absolutely fucked they are.”

“This is not possible!” uttering his denial, the vampire charged at Aedan and swiped his claws at the Dragon-kin’s face. “Wh-what…. Just what in hell’s name are you?!”

Of course, not even a scratch was found on Aedan’s face.

“Not possible! This cannot be! How are you unhurt!? Answer me! What are you!?” the vampire kept shouting at the futility of his attempts but before he could make more noises, he was stopped—

—with a hand around his neck.

As easy as it looked, Aedan lifted the vampire off the ground by his neck. “To think a member of a proud race would be reduced to a brat who throws tantrums in the face of difficulty. How disappointing.”

The vampire could offer no retort as Aedan’s grasp was pressing on his throat, voiding him of his voice.

“Lilian, Essence Flare, if you would be so kind.”

When asked, only then did Lilian reel herself back to reality from the spectacle that Aedan had just shown them. “E-Essence Flare? For what?”

The vampire began to flail around as if he had heard the most terrifying thing in the world. But his flailing was to no avail.

“Cleansing. It’s the only way to get rid of vampires after all, aside from White Silver.”

“But my Essence Flare wouldn’t be that strong to burn an entire being.”

“You let me worry about that. Just a spark will do.”

“A-alright,” Lilian said and produced a small spark of cyan flame.

Aedan caught the spark with his free hand and in his palm, the spark turned into a giant ball of flames.

“How did you do that?” it was Nivia who asked.

Aedan ignored her question and stayed his gaze on the paled vampire who had given up struggling.

“If Marduk finds out what happened, you will all—”

“He won’t find out what happened. For his sake, I hope he won’t ever find out because I might just have to take some drastic measures.”

The vampire could tell Aedan wasn’t bluffing. “Just what are you…?”

Aedan grinned. “Well, since you’re so adamant, I entertain this last moment of yours. What am I you asked?” Aedan made the Essence Flare in his hand grew even larger, as large as the vampire. “I’m a Dragon-kin,” he answered.

““What?”” Nivia and Lilian gave the same response.

Aedan did not wait for his answer to reach the vampire’s reality and proceeded to drown the vampire in the cyan flames. Screams of agony echoed throughout the forest but aside from the three, the vampire’s scream went unheard.