The crimson red eyes of Xavier looked down the deep dark tunnel only to see three figures approaching with crimson glowing eyes.
"Why leave so soon? The fun's just getting started." The voice echoed down the tunnel.
The feeling of death, fear, and their instinct to run only intensified as the voice reached their ears.
However, their legs... They couldn't stop shaking.
When the red-haired girl turned her head over to where Xavier was standing, she found that he had disappeared.
'Where'd he go...?'
Having leapt up to the ceiling, he had hidden in a corner and watched events unfold from above.
*Step* *Step* *Step*
Three figures emerged from the tunnel below Xavier as he watched from above. When he got a good view of their faces and features, his heart started to pound from the adrenaline.
In the lead was a single male vampire followed by two female vampires.
The young man had short spiky purple hair and sharp crimson eyes. His uniform was night blue yet slightly modified in a way which made him stand out. There was also a strange red chest on his uniform.
The two behind him were also nothing to scoff at. Twins with ivory coloured hair. One had short hair and the other had long. Their faces resembled one another and so did their short curvy bodies.
Their uniform was the same as his, only one of the twins, the one with the short hair had long pants for her bottoms while the other wore a skirt.
The purple haired vampire leading them had his sword out on display, but their weapons were hidden.
"Four... Eight... Twelve... Twenty... Oh~ There's a lot of food here." Said the purple haired Vampire with a bright smile as he looked around.
After a few glances however, his expression became troubled.
"But I don't see any food keepers around to watch over it... Instead, I come to find traces of a recent fight having broken out and residue of elemental crystals just down there where I came from."
The Vampire approached the short brown-haired girl and her father, who were the closest to him.
The girl's father held onto his blade as he pointed it at the noble. It appeared as if even the slightest touch could knock the man's blades out of his grasp as his hands trembled.
The two female Vampires behind him watched with narrowed eyes as he stared right into the eyes of the girl's terrified father before looking around the remaining people.
All of them were terrified.
"Hm~ That's strange... You're the only one holding a weapon and yet you don't come off as someone capable of taking down the squad which called me over here..."
"One appears to be in hiding."
"We can smell it." Said the two girls behind him with blank expressions.
Xavier had thrown parts of his clothing all over the ceiling, so they were unable to pinpoint it.
In response, the Vampire patted their heads and said. "I'm sure you can.. Well done."
"So, with that being said, will the one that's hiding please come out?"
Xavier was furious. The moment they dropped their guard, he was poised to surprise attack them and slice his head off in a swing, but they weren't dropping it at all.
After looking over at the girl before him, the vampire ignored her father and asked her with a kind smile.
"Do you know where he is?"
She shook her head as tears swelled in her eyes.
"You know... I don't like kids that lie... Didn't anyone ever tell you what happens to kids that lie?"
The Vampire raised his arm upwards.
At that moment, the girl's father suddenly embraced her in his arms to shield her.
The purple haired Vampire got in the motion of swinging it down when all of the sudden- the edge of a blade approached him from behind.
Xavier had chosen the moment he had looked away to strike, leaping off from the top towards him.
Given the time frame the purple-haired Vampire shouldn't have been able to react to Xavier's fast movements.
And yet-
The Vampire's head suddenly swung in Xavier's direction at phenomenal speeds, with a wide grin present on his face.
'Shit-'
At that moment, Xavier felt it. He saw himself being sliced vertically in half in his mind.
Xavier instantaneously halted his swing and rotated his body to the side, only to feel a strong gust of wind pass right by him as the Vampire cut through the air with his sword.
It was just one swing, just one swing. As some of the ghouls in the ceiling and the ceiling itself were struck, the entire tunnel trembled.
'Just now... I almost died-'
*WHAM!*
Xavier's thought was interrupted as, in that fraction of a second, a fist landed on the side of his jaw, sending him hurtling down the tunnel tracks, rolling repeatedly before he came to a halt with his head dug into the ground.
People's eyes widened with shock, especially the young girl who watched Xavier slowly rise after the impact.
Part of his jaw was torn off, his ears were ringing and head was aching. All of that was caused by just a single strike.
"Oh~ I was aiming to blow up his head but he managed to move it in the last second~"
"Let me borrow this for a second." Said the Vampire as he swiped the sword off the girl's fathers hands before throwing it at Xavier.
The sword zoomed through the air and penetrated Xavier right in his chest.
*PIERCE!*
It was an effortless swing that pierced Xavier precisely where he wanted. Straight to his heart, or so he thought.
'Hm? Is it just me or did I miss the heart?'
'Nah, that's impossible.'
While raising his blade into the air, the purple haired Vampire said with joy, "To finish things off...".
*Swing-*
*SWOOOSH!*
When he swung his sword down, his arm blurred, and a vertical slash mark appeared down the train tracks, then down the ceiling as everything in his path was cut. The ghouls in the ceiling are included as well.
Immediately after, a burst of wind created a smokescreen, blocking the view of what was on the other side.
Even so, the Vampire knew he didn't have to check. The moment Xavier's heart was pierced, he was already dead.
"Y-You idiot... You intend to keep us as food!? Look at all this noise you made!! We're all going to die to the ghouls!!" The girl's father yelled with rage.
Despite his expectations, nothing happened.
[Sound Manipulation: Mute.]
Throughout the tunnel, the Vampire deployed an anti-sound field that only affected the ghouls.
"Haha, do not worry, food."
"I've already muted all kinds of sounds from reaching the ghouls throughout this tunnel. No matter what happens to them, they will not awake from their slumber."
As the two female vampires praised the purple-haired Vampire for his good work, he sheathed his blades.
"As expected of young master Zaos, you dealt with the issue without breaking a sweat."
"Your father would surely be proud."
The purple haired Vampire let out a sigh.
"Proud over something like this? I didn't do anything worth mentioning. I just squashed a bug, that's all-"
He widened his eyes as he turned back toward the smokescreens.
"Young master Zaos?" One of the twins asked.
"Do you hear that?" He asked.
*Sling* *Swing!* *Slash!* *Sling!*
When they focused on their hearing, the sounds became apparent. It was the sound of flesh being cut repeatedly a blade.
"Get rid of the smoke screen."
"Right away." The twins nodded as they thrust their arms forward.
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew through the tunnel, blowing it all away.
Even the purple haired Vampire noble was confused by what they saw.
The darkness prevented humans from seeing clearly what was happening, but the vampires did.
While slaying as many ghouls as he could, Xavier leapt across the ceiling. Thanks to [Hyper-regeneration], his jaw injury had healed, and the sword that had barely missed his heart was being held tightly in his other hand.
While holding onto the swords, Xavier continued to kill the motionless ghouls one by one.
[You have killed 26 Ghouls!]
[Earned 260 XP!]
Only then did Xavier stop before turning to the purple-haired vampire.
Xavier began walking slowly in his direction.
"Devour." Xavier muttered with a shadow hanging over his face.
[Blood Orbs extraction begins.]
Xavier's head was illuminated by glowing purple spheres of ghoul blood forming in the ceiling above the underground tunnel.
A total of seven orbs appeared at once. The others had their activation delayed since they had a time limit of staying active.
[Blood Orbs extracted.]
[Warning: While it will temporarily provide healing, ghouls blood is poisonous to the User.]
[Irreversible permanent side effects can result.]
Ignoring the notifications which reached his head, Xavier pressed down on the buttons on both swords.
[You are dual wielding two Vampire blades.]
[Will you allow both blades to consume your blood in exchange for power?]
[Warning: Drains the blood at double the amount.]
He smirked as he hurried towards the purple-haired Vampire, his slow walking quickly turning into an all-out sprint.
"Consume it... " He muttered as he pressed down on the buttons in the grip.
"Don't you dare stop drinking until that fucker is dead."
*Pierce*
[The Vampire Blade's consume your blood.]