This was a test.
Everything that happened was in line with Arthur's plans; in contrast to George's squad, whom he ambushed and swiftly dispatched, he planned to engage Kain's team in a direct confrontation.
Arthur wanted to test the limitations of his partially awakened Primordial Vampire Physique, thus he wouldn't employ his Devil powers in this encounter. He also set a time limit for himself, requiring him to subdue this group before sunrise. If he can't finish them before then, he'll just use his Devil powers to get the task done as quickly as possible.
He had one goal tonight, to test the limits of his powers and learn what aspect he needed to improve on.
Arthur would not risk exposing his Devil Origin Physique outside until he had reached the point where he could dismantle the Garden till it could no longer stand.
In the next few months as well as the future, he would heavily rely on his Vampiric powers. A chance like this was extremely rare, it was an excellent opportunity for him to put his Vampire abilities to the test.
…..
*Vroomm
The vehicle roared as it traversed through the terrain.
There was serenity, the moon was still brightly shining, illuminating the mountain. The massive canopies would sometimes obscure the light, enabling darkness to creep but there was peace.
Inside the truck, Hansel peaked through her rifle scope looking for signs of movement.
"What's your opinion on this situation, Darren? Because to be honest I'm quite nervous. I've never seen the Leader that tense."
Darren, a plain-looking man, glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and smiled softly before returning to his observation of the area around them.
"I've known the Leader for ten years and have accompanied him through battles countless times already. The only advice I can provide is to remain as vigilant as possible and try to survive. Because when Leader makes that facial expression, shit usually goes down hard."
Hansel shivered and was about to say 'that has to be an exaggeration, right?' to lessen her anxiousness-
But all of a sudden, a sharp dark blade cut through the thick leaves. Hansel noticed it, but it was already inches away from her neck. "!!!"
*Clangk!
Darren deflected the blade and screamed with all his might, "ENEMY ATTACK!"
"PREPARE FOR COMBAT!" Kain bellowed. Immediately the team's senses reached the peak.
"Hansel! 2 o'clock!" Darren urged seeing the blank look on her face.
"Ahhhhh!" Hansel roared to regain her composure back. Despite having a near death experience, she managed to quickly pick herself up. She then fired her weapon without looking, confident in the bullet's trajectory. After ten consecutive shots in ten seconds, Hansel noticed a problem. Her opponent is too fast and was hiding in the dark, sniper shots simply won't suffice.
She discarded her empty magazine and pulled out an ammo belt. She then cocked the gun once more, causing a little magical circle to emerge on its body. Her fingers moved quickly and precisely. She altered the setting, and instead of high burst, she switched to rapid fire. The muzzle of the rifle abruptly retracted, and two more appeared beside it, transforming into a machine gun!
A hail of bullets shot right towards Arthur in an instant, wanting to take his life!
Arthur who was leaping from branches to branches ducked and dived down to the ground barely dodging the lightning-fast bullets!
'Ho~ Not bad!' he surmised as he rolled on the ground before running and leaping once more on the branches. He was nimble like a panther.
Earlier Arthur probed them by throwing a dagger made of darkness. Seeing their reaction and teamwork, he was satisfied.
That dagger also served as the signal to start the hunt. He didn't throw the blade that hard, but he did aim for the moment Hansel had her guard down. It was only an instant of distraction, but it would have reaped her life that moment.
Arthur managed to quickly catch up to the truck and in no time, he was beside the roaring automobile. He was advancing atop the trees and the shadows still embraced his figure but his silhouette was now visible to the group.
Arthur and Kain looked at each other's eyes. Right then and there, Kain knew Arthur was a predator.
"What the fuck is this thing!" Kain wondered out loud, during their stare down, he felt the bloodlust that followed Arthur like a shadow. He shivered when he saw the underlying indifference in his piercing red eyes, apathetic to life with a hint of playfulness. He deemed that it was useless to fight this monster, their best course of action was to run away to survive! Once they got close to the Main Estate it would be easy to ask for reinforcement. He was a middle stage B-Rank Mage, with his experience and cunning mind he knew he could be included with the elites, nonetheless, he lacked confidence in confronting Arthur.
"Where the hell did this guy come from?!? Why is he targeting us?" Harry was stress driving as he looked out the window and watched Arthur leap from branch to branch in the dark. "Focus on the road and drive faster! And why the hell do you even know it's a guy?" Shannon who was sitting beside him berated. She took out the gun on her hip and fired at Arthur through the window.
"Fuck! Be careful you're blocking my view! And isn't it fucking obvious?! Can you even see tits and ass on him? Obviously no! If you're flat front and back then you're no woman!"
'This fucking asshole!' For a moment Shannon wanted to shoot Harry instead. She was so pissed since Harry just described her. Although she's a bit lacking, she still has curves, okay?
*Pah! *Pah!
Bullets tore through the branches!
Shannon managed to slow Arthur down, and he fell behind a bit. This chance didn't escape Hansel, and made it rain toward Arthur.
*Clang! *Clang! With lightning fast reflexes Arthur deflected the bullets with his nails that have grown longer and sharper. Make no mistake, the bullets were especially imbued with Aera and could shred fortified tanks easily.
Arthur didn't take these bullets lightly and covered his nails with his own Aera. Yet despite this, cracks still appeared on his claw, a notion that Arthur kept in mind.
"Butch! Keep him occupied for a bit!" Hansel shouted from inside.
"HAHAHAH, you got it pipsqueak!" Butch the axe wielding giant, suddenly kept his weapons on his back and opened his vest showing a collection of grenades raging in different shapes and sizes.
"HAHAHAH explode for me you creepy fucker!" With immense strength he chucked grenade after grenade toward Arthur.
Because the grenades were much slower than the bullets, Arthur was able to destroy them before they reached him. He extended his palm to summon a magical circle, afterward numerous red needles were shot towards the explosives, some of which managed to propel toward Butch. These needles were a foot long and would undoubtedly destroy anything they touches, but Kain, who was standing next to Butch, skillfully parried them.
Hansel once more changed her weapons setting. 'I need to change tactic, this won't get us anywhere' She thought as the muzzles on her gun combined into a wider mouth. She replaced the ammo belt with a rectangular glass like maggazine, there was glowing blue liquid inside. She then cocked the rifle and then placed her hand on its body, a magic circle appeared, and she poured her own Aera into it.
Outside, Butch continued to launch grenades, which Arthur easily destroyed, resulting in a line of explosions as the two sides advanced.
"I've run out of toys!" Butch heartily informed.
Hansel took slightly longer than usual to charge, but once she did, a white streak with blueish outlines raged before a loud bang echoed! Arthur already noticed what she was doing earlier. He immediately dived down and used the trees to disappear from her sight as soon as he was done dealing with Butch.
Seeing his action, Hansel smiled widely showing her white teeth. Llike a laser cannon she swept her rifle through the trees, razing the place in a sea of fire. This was no ordinary laser, there were molecules of reactive particles in this death ray causing everything it hit to trigger an explosion! Arthur was caught off guard!
*Boom! *Boom! *Boom! Like a domino effect, chain explosions followed Arthur wherever he went.
... .
After her carnage, "Did that get him?" Hansel excitedly asked.
"Whew! What a sight! Won't we get in trouble for this?" Butch whistled and asked Kain who remained silent while watching the view in front. And sure enough, what he feared for came true.
Everyone's expression froze.
Smoke, dust and fire created a hellish scene where a silhouette strolled like the Monarch of Flames. Kain stared at this man, if he could even be called a man. His decision to run away was really the best action to take.
Everyone's heart trembled. They all knew the power of this attack, but it seemed like it did nothing to being in front of them.
Arthur casually strolled and patted his clothes, he coated himself with a 3-layer protective spell and even then, he was barely able to negate all the explosions! His black suit and his hair tied into a ponytail looked unkempt because of the chaos.
Kain's group now managed to get a good view of their opponent. He was thin, but that only accentuated his sunken red eyes!
Arthur looked forward and smiled abnormally wide, his fangs were like the icing on the cake that completed his monstrous visage! The truck had already created a lot of distance, but Kain and the others could still observe because of their inhuman abilities.
*Swoosh!
Arthur darted forward! Without any more cover he sprinted in the open like a wild animal and managed to shorten the distance in an instant.
"Hansel! Don't let him get close!" Kain roared. He thought he knew fear but seeing Arthur made him question life. Kain was born with a beast's instinct, his sense for danger was higher than most animals and this ability was what helped him survive countless battles. He was strong among his peers no doubt, but he was no fighter, he was a survivor! And this time his urge to survive was greater than ever.
"Fuck!" Hansel returned to rapid fire mode and shot Aera imbued ammunitions, but Arthur dodged and deflected them easily. After seeing that he already saw the capabilities of this sniper, Arthur deemed her unnecessary anymore. With a wave of his hand, shadow chains sprang forth in a flash and arrived toward Hansel!
*Clangk! *Clangk! Darren swat them away with his sword, some were even cut by him. These chains weren't strengthened with demonic power unlike the ones that attacked George's team at the manor that's why Darren managed to cut them.
The next wave of attacks quickly arrived, followed by more chains and this time, Darren was the target. As he was busy fending off the attack, one seemed to miss but in the next moment, it B-lined straight toward Hansel who was busy shooting Arthur. She was skewered on the abdomen from side to side!
"Hansel!" Darren was about to rescue her, but he was overwhelmed with more chains, keeping him occupied. They were like snakes coiling around him and striking when he least expects it.
Hansel was in excruciating pain trying her best to cut the chains with a small knife. She simply didn't have the strength. On one hand she had to hold Arthur in place, and on the other, she had to save herself.
Without further ado, Arthur dragged Hansel out toward him using the chain like a fish caught by the hook, however a hand reached out and grabbed Hansel. Jasmin who was trying to contact the Main Estate darted forward and cut the chains with a curved dagger!
Seeing his attack failed Arthur stayed calm and detonated his chains, there were no loud explosions, instead dark fog suddenly filled the inside of the truck. This blinded Darren, Jasmin and Hansel for a moment and this moment was enough for Arthur.
As it went forward, the truck appeared to be trailing a cloud of dark smoke.
Using his infrared vision, Arthur saw their body heat! Arteries, veins, it was all visible to him.
"Watch out!" Kain roared, injecting Aera into his greatsword. Blue light extended from its blade making it longer, he then deflected the black blades that Arthur threw. Unfortunately, he failed to deflect them all and some managed to pass through the dark smog.
Gradually the persistent smoke dissipated revealing the sorry state of the three inside. Darren was holding his left shoulder, there was an obsidian blade stuck on it. At the last moment he managed to turn his body, if he was a bit late, his heart would have been hit instead of his shoulder.
Jasmin was kneeling, there was a blade in her right thigh, she was trying to pull it off.
Hansel on the other hand-
"NO! HANSEL!" Darren lost his cool, he cradled her and gritted his teeth after feeling Hansel's unmoving body. There were four blades stuck deep on her chest, but upon closer look she was still alive, barely. These two were pretty close so he had only burning rage and hate toward Arthur right now!
The pursuit continued!
Guessing what happened, Kain clenched his fist! "Prepare to engage!" he commanded. Without Hansel keeping Arthur at bay the team of melee fighters had no choice but to brace themselves! The armored truck was fortified but it lacked firepower, it was built solely for transportation and defense. But how easy would it be for Arthur to flip it up. And just as he was thinking this, dark spikes raised from the ground, stabbing one of the back tires.
Arthur also thought he had gathered enough data in his pursuit capability, he pinpointed the tires that were hidden beneath the behemoth and made them explode!
*Boom!
There was chaos in the group's heart as they got tossed around.
The truck lost balance and swerved and skidded forward yet it still continued to advance, however it was a lot slower now. Dust was tossed upward creating a dust trail.
Arthur suddenly vanished, at first it seemed like he was left behind in the dust and couldn't keep up-
Kain momentarily lagged seeing his figure disappear, he never took his eyes off him-
Then a shadow suddenly appeared above! Kain looked up and saw the mad expression of the predator that was hunting them. Arthur's mouth was slightly open with his tongue hanging out, a wicked expression that could frighten the grim reaper greeted him.