Aron was coated in a thick layer of Force energy. His power had grown twice. Knowing that these vampires would not stop until they are dead, he immediately went all out.
Another reason he didn't hesitate to use this was to protect his dear nephew.
The Force Energy that was imitating the Holy Knights used Force Energy instead of Magic. This technique was largely laughed at as Force could never replace Magic to add power to it. But the Steele family had taken such a laughable concept and managed to apply it in a powerful means.
The Job class of Holy Knights such as Paladins, Pure Blades, Holy Defenders was Knight Classes that not all noble groups could afford. Creating a single knight required great costs and investments as these Knights would have to invest in studying and harnessing their magic energy.
Barons and Viscounts couldn't even afford the cost of making one. But the Steele family was able to imitate the Holy Knights and create a poor copy of the strength that these knights have. Instead of Magic, the Steele family used Force. And while the effects and strength that these pseudo-Paladins had were weaker than the true power of real Paladins, it surpassed the power and ability among regular knight classes.
It was this skill that allowed Aron and Branze to have a power greater than their peers.
The sudden imitation of the Holy Light shocked the vampires. For creatures of darkness, a Holy Knight was their bane.
The Vampires all channeled the Death Energy in their bodies and attacked Aron.
Aron stabbed on the ground.
"Force Cross!" Aron shouted as he stabbed down.
BOOM!
Powerful energy exploded, creating a ripple at the shape of the cross.
The vampires used their powers to block it. The vampire at the front raised his right hand, and a strange dark power erupted from the bracelet he wore.
The Force energy collided with the Dark energy that shielded the group. Aron's attack couldn't even crack the dark shield.
"?" The vampires that used the strange bracelet felt that the energy that attacked him wasn't holy. He expended a lot of energy to block it and realized that they were shielding paper with steel.
"It's not holy! You!" The vampire roared.
"I never said it was! But be careful! The darkness behind you looks scary. And even hungry." Aron laughed.
"My men will deal with the darkness! I will feast on your blood! You made me use the Bracelet of Death! I will use your Force Energy to replenish it!" The Vampire leader drew out a strange sword.
"Behold! My Blood sword! I have feasted on hundreds of men to make this!" The vampire laughed as he held the dark red sword. It looked as if the blood was oozing down. But some strange force would suck it back in, not allowing any single drop to spill.
"Your blood will make a fine collection to my sword! You"
"Cool story, bro. Hey, Uncle. I've killed the rest. Shall we have fun with this one together?" Kyros asked.
"Who's there?!" The vampire turned around yet maintained his wary attention to Aron. But then he saw his men dead. One of his men was even being feasted on by the slaves.
"WHAT?!"
The vampire was shocked to see that everyone was dead.
"Where are you?!" The vampire roared.
"Right behind you! Die!" Kyros roared as a strange sound struck behind the vampire.
The vampire leaped back and blasted a strange ice-cold blast.
Aron took action and chased to attack the vampire.
The vampire raised his sword and slashed at Aron.
But something felt wrong. He could see his sword flying to the distance.
"Idiot. You believed that I was behind you?" Kyros sighed.
Using the Vermillion Sword, he slashed the arm of the vampire. The sound he heard behind him was Kyros's Shadow Familiar.
"BWAHAHAHA! Nice feint, Kyros! Die vampire scum!"
Aron slashed down and gave a deep cut at the vampire.
At the same time, Kyros stabbed from the back using the Sword of a Thousand Grudges. But almost immediately, Kyros sensed something and withdrew his sword.
"ARRRRGHHHHH!" The Vampire shouted as he felt the sword wreck his soul.
Aron took a noble stance before the vampire, as was the knight's code of conduct in slaying nobles.
"No! You can't kill me! I am a noble of the Blood Blade clan! If you kill me, then you will be hunted by the kingdom!"
"He's right, uncle. I noticed a Dark Bond in him. If we kill him, the alert will be sent to his family members." Kyros nodded.
"A Dark Bond? That Dark Magic that links the bonded to the Prime Bonder..." Aron recalled the dark methods that vampires used to create slaves and servants.
"Right. Most noble families create a contract that links them to another family member they call the Prime Bonder. If we kill him, the Prime Bonder could receive a vision of how he died. We don't want more powerful Blood Blade members here..."
"But if we let him live, he'll inform his family either way! If this is the case, then we have to inform the kingdom immediately! That way, they can take control of the temple and not send the Blood Blade clan members here! We cannot afford to give the temple to a vampire!"
"We could wait and see what happens if we bring him into the temple. If it could heal, maybe it could somehow create a shroud to disrupt the ability of the Bond to relay information! If it can't, we can imprison this vampire in the temple. That temple is a Light Temple. At the very least, if we put this guy in the Temple, the holy energy will continuously weaken this vampire, prohibiting it from recovering. He could die in a few days. We tie him up to see the ceiling of the temple and make sure he doesn't see any of us when he dies. That will buy us time and will make the cause of his death seem natural rather than murder." Kyros suggested.
"But a missing team involving a Vampire Noble will still create a commotion!"
"That's why we keep him in the temple and leave him there. Father should arrive tomorrow, right? We could wait for Father to go in here. We wear their gears and pretend to go out. Our Knights can do that, and they can join up with the rest of the Steele family. That way, their trip here will be even faster with someone guiding them, and at the same time, we leave a false trail for this vampire clan. At most, it can buy us a few more days."
"That makes sense. I guess I have to cut off its arms and legs..."
"Yeah."
SLASH!
"ARGH!" The vampire shouted as Aron chopped of its two legs.
SLASH!
Another slash took his remaining arms.
"Arggghhhh!" The pained cry of the vampire echoed out once more.
"Uncle. They have three Dhampir slaves. They are young, but they are quite strong. Why not we take them for our own? They could be servants for my mom and dad."
"Oh? They killed their master? How did that happen?"
"This sword seems to have destroyed the Slave Curse." Kyros brought up the sword.
"What an intriguing sword! It grew stronger! It seems that sword is equally as powerful as your Vermillion Sword."
"It is. Also, the sword of this vampire looks strong too. I am also a Dark Artificer. I think I can use his sword as a basis to improve your sword, uncle. I'll need his Anklet of Death, though... I'll save some for father as well."
Aron and the limbless vampire each wore a different expression when they heard Kyros's claim.
"You're a Dark Artificer?!" Aron shouted.
"Yeah. One of my family's benefactors is a strange man called Calamin- Calamidy. He was the one who taught us how to become blacksmiths that can wield Earth. But, he made me his apprentice and taught me theoretical knowledge for harnessing Dark energy. He even... bestowed me a great gift. He called it Dark Wielder."
"Dark Wielder!? Impossible! Only the purest of vampires has that!" The limbless vampire shouted.
"How dare you taint the bloodline of the Black! How dare you insult the dignity of Darkness! How dare you mock the disdain the ultimatum of the Undead!" The vampire roared relentlessly.
"Your mockery will be made known to all, and we shall kill you and your family for your wretchedness."
"Oh no! Anyway... see?" Kyros held the dark energy in his hands. It was one of the leaking darkness that came from this vampire.
The vampire was now closer to death. Although the undead does not suffer from stroke or heart attacks, he somehow managed in his great shock.
"Oh boy! He's dying. We have to hurry and bring him to the temple! If he dies now, we may have to pretend to be the vampire team instead!" Kyros shouted and carried the body of a limbless vampire and rushed towards the temple.
"Kyros! What about the slaves?"
Kyros realized it.
"Have them follow us. They're vampires, so they should have great stamina and strength. Have them carry the bodies of the other vampires. We might be able to harness experience from them."
"But... they won't follow me!" Aron argued.
"Erm... Bribe them with candy? I don't know. I have to hurry, Uncle. This vampire is dying!" Kyros rushed off and carried the torso of the vampire who was dying.
The three slaves looked at Aron.
Aron had a very pained expression and checked his pocket and found a sweet treat that he brought to supply him sugar and energy.
"Erm... He-Hey Kids... You want some candy?" He offered tasty treats.
The three dhampir slaves retreated as they suddenly felt a strange fear of the creepy uncle.
Kyros ran fast, and when he was some distance from Aron, he then decided to act.
He harnessed the dark energy of his Fallen Source.
"Five points of Fallen Source should be enough, right?"
"Make it one. We don't know how strong the Fallen soul of yours is." Calaminus instructed.
Kyros channeled one point of Fallen Source and sent it to the vampire's wrecked heart with the damaged soul.
"Good. It's stabilizing." Kyros sighed in great relief.
"If I leave this guy in the temple, he will soon die."