As they continued to walk, less than an hour from the capitol and surrounded by crops and farms, he was just beginning to think that everything had gone too well when he spotted a group ahead of them on the dirt path. He frowned, making sure that everyone else saw them as well, before placing his hand on the hilt of his sword, expecting trouble.
As they got closer, it was clear to see that the group were all vampires, wearing masks or helmets with cloaks draped over their shoulders. He counted ten in all, and he began to get concerned when he saw that all of them but one wore a red cloak, the black sigil of the Nation of Blood easy to see, a pair of fangs with a blood drop falling from one of them. Only elite soldiers wore red cloaks, a clear indicator that they were of a higher rank, and nine elite vampires was a lot to deal with. He got a flashback of fighting his pupils; while they were young, all three were at the same level as an elite vampire, and he was lucky to escape with the little amount of wounds he did.
As they were less than a hundred feet away, it was the one vampire that was different that caught his eye, and his eyes grew wide as he recognized why they were different, realizing that they were in trouble. The vampire in the middle of the group wore a black cloak, but the color itself was darker than his was, seeming to absorb the light around it, and Jack would bet his sword that the vampire's chest plate had the sigil of a hand, showing that they was one of the five generals of the vampiric army. They stopped around ten feet from the group, Jack seeing Midnight and Drake tense up as they realized what they were up against.
The general moved their cloak aside, gesturing to them, and at their hip was a axe made of pure black metal, just as dark as their cloak, and Jack realized who it was; it was General Christina, also called rage incarnate. The vampett spoke, looking at him and his friends when she did, her voice low and dangerous as it always was.
"Jack Benson, Darlene Winters, Drake Henderson. This farce has gone on long enough, and our lord Zillion grows tired of your futile resistance. Surrender peacefully, and I will take you prisoner to be judged; you will at least get a little longer to live. Resist..."
She grabbed her axe, taking it off of her belt and pointing it at them, her bright crimson eyes glowing as she activated her ability. Jack instantly began to sweat, the air around them heating up quickly. Christina's ability can heat up the air around her, getting hotter as one gets closer to her. The ability made her immune to her own heat, but he had seen it literally melt the armor on her enemies, cooking them alive like a fish in a pot.
"...Resist, and I will strike you down without mercy or hesistation. The only one that needs to die here is the elf; the other two may leave with their lives...for now."
Jack responded by drawing his sword, the group doing the same, preparing for a brutal fight to the death. Jack already felt his armor growing hot, feeling the heat through his clothes, and he knew that he had to kill her quickly, before she cooked them to death. He admitted that things looked bleak, surrounded by vampires who's abilities were a mystery, all experienced and deadly.
"Sorry, general, but you should know that I never back down from a fight. As a Night Stalker, fighting vampires is nothing new to me."
General Christina nodded, the heat suddenly going up, her allies backing away from her as they drew their weapons as well.
"I expected no different; you are the reason I volunteered for this. Out of all the Night Stalkers in our army, you are the most well known, and any proper vampire would want to test their prowess against a vampire trained to kill his own kind."
She than began to laugh widely, finally dropping her facade as the air began to shimmer around her with the heat. While her armor and flesh were resistant to the heat, her cloak wasn't, and it caught on fire, burning up around her and making her look absolutely terrifying.
"If you will not surrender, THEN DIE!"
Just as she finished her sentence, the ground shook slightly as the sound of a horses hit the air, coming from behind the vampires. The general swung her head around, seeing a cavalry unit of human knights riding straight at them, long spears pointed down and aimed at the vampires.
He had no idea where the humans came from, but he did not waste the opportunity; the instant she turned her head, he charged at her, aiming for her armpit where there was a gap in her armor. He did not care for a honorable battle with the most insane general in the vampiric army; she was a threat, and needed to be eliminated as quickly as possible.
Just as his sword was about to hit her, the heat so strong his eyes watered and burned, suddenly the heat got less intense, Christina vanishing and being replaced by another of the elite vampires. He was going too fast to stop, and his sword hit the vampire in the chest, no armor to defend his vitals, and sunk all the way to the hilt, his momentum hitting the vampire and sending him flying off of the blade, his blood spraying into the air and showering down on all of them.
Jack slowed down, swinging his head and seeing Christina in a different location, looking puzzled; the vampire must have had an ability to switch places with someone else, and saved her at the last second. Everything erupted into chaos, Christina barking orders for the vampires to split up and attack both groups at once, now facing enemies on both sides. Midnight and Elaine stepped back, Midnight drawing her bow back while Elaine began to glow with her golden mana. Jerry was already halfway through his transformation, and both Drake and Noelle roared as they charged the vampires, her spear flashing out while Drake's giant blade swung down at the nearest vampire.
Jack turned just as the cavalry reached them, slamming into the vampires, screams from humans, vampires, and horses filling the air as the sound of clashing metal joined it. He swung towards Christina, who was rushing towards the humans, when another vampire attacked him, stabbing at him with a spear.
Jack evaded with skill and speed, turning his body and letting the blade of the spear skid off of his armor. He growled, teleporting behind the vampire and stabbing at the back of their head, aiming to kill them quickly. Just as his sword was about to hit, the blade suddenly grew heavier, dropping and hitting the vampire in the shoulder instead, sinking over a foot. He wasn't positive, but it seemed the vampire's ability had something to do with increasing the weight of his sword.
The vampire swung around, tearing Jack's sword from his grasp and stabbing again, faster than before. Jack teleported again, this time appearing at the vampires side and grabbing his arms and stopping the spear.
Suddenly his arms grew heavier, confirming his guess at the ability, but he held on with an iron grip, both of their arms slowly lowering. The vampire grunted, unable to break his grip, and Jack decided to finish the them, his black liquid shooting out of him and covering the vampire's face. The vampire released his ability, Jack's arms going back to normal as they clutched at their face, but Jack simply raised his hand and closed it into a fist, his ability turning solid and condensing, crushing the vampires head and killing them. The ability absorbed the sound of their skull cracking, and the vampire fell to the ground, dead before they landed.
Jack quickly kicked the vampire over, grabbing his sword and tearing it free before he could be interrupted again. Jerry had grabbed a vampire, trying to bite their throat, the vampire suddenly floating up into the air with the werewolf. Noelle was in a tense battle with another vampire, her spear flashing out but bouncing off of the vampire's cloak, which had gotten stiff as if it was made of metal. Elaine and Midnight both teamed up on another vampire, arrows and magic flying as the vampire phased through the ground, popping up under Midnight and grabbing her leg, pulling it into the ground and leaving her there, her leg stuck up to her hip in the dirt as Elaine tried to use her magic to force him to surface. Drake roared, swinging his large sword at a vampire that was dodging every attack, having no weapons and using his fist and feet to fight back.
Jack found Christina again, burning some humans while laughing like she was insane, and decided that he needed to face her himself. He activated his ability, his black liquid slowly rising from the ground and enveloping him, covering his armor and going solid while staying softer at his joints, so that he could still move. His ability would be more resistant to the heat than his armor, although it made him heavier, meaning he would move slower. He took a deep breath, steadying his nerves as he walked over to one of the most powerful vampires in the army.