"You have forced my hand, little girl"
With this declaration, claws of blood formed on Albert's hand and he swiped at the floating Raphaniel. The blood shot out, forcing Raphaniel to hurriedly dodge to the side. Yet with a flick of his wrist, a second wave of blood shot forward before Raphaniel could readjust herself. Caught in a bad position, she was forced to dispel her levitation and drop to the ground to escape.
Albert shot forward once she touched the ground, a ball of strange reddish-black matter forming in his left hand as he drew near. Albert swiped with his blood claws, but it met resistance and was deflected before it could reach Raphaniel. In return, she swiftly lashed out his her right foot, kicking Albert square in the gut and sending him stumbling back several meters. While he was unbalanced, she made a finger gun and pointed it at him.
*BANG!!*
A bullet of compressed air hit Albert in his eye, popping it and causing blood to pour out. Yet after only a few seconds, the bleeding stopped and the leaking liquid began to crawl back into his destroyed socket. Unfazed by the blow, Albert manipulated the spilt blood to form spears that shot towards Raphaniel.
She dodged most of them, but a few managed to make contact. Like Albert's claws, they were deflected, but the force of the blow carried through the barrier of wind Raphaniel cast over herself and travelled through her body.
She grit her teeth and the pain, knowing that it was going to bruise later, but kept her focus on the fight. By now, Albert's eye had regrown and he was once again coming at her, except his left hand was now empty. 'Empty...' Raphaniel's eyes opened wide as she desperately tried to dodge away, but it was too late and Albert was too close. His claws bore down on her, and now she could see a strange red-black hue on them. When the claws reached her body, there was a loud screeching sound like two blades were pushing against each other.
Raphaniel's wind barrier broke apart and Albert's claws dug deep into her side, nearly piercing her lung. Raphaniel unleashed a burst of wind and blasted Albert back, though the damage was already done. As she struggled to breathe, Raphaniel glared at her opponent and swallowed back the blood that was bubbling up.
'Nether. Now there's no doubt about it, Albert has become a Noble Vampire. But when? The reports stated Albert made little to no contact with the another Noble Vampire that believes in Navruavati...Unless?'
Raphaniel smirked slightly as she thought of something. She straightened out and placed her hand on her wound, channelling Mana into it. Air lacked any recovery spells, but as an Epic Tier individual, just providing Mana to her wound was enough to kickstart her healing.
"Heh, I'll admit I was surprised by your sudden transformation Albert. But it has actually provided me the answer to something that's been bugging me for a while" Raphaniel smirked as she spoke.
Albert paused in his advance and furrowed his brows at her attitude. "If this is the part where you beg for your life, I recommend you give it up. A quick death is all I can afford you after the delay you have caused us" he warned impassively, his voice staying flat.
Raphaniel shook her head. "Surrender or beg? No no Albert, that wouldn't be fitting for a Magi like myself. No, I'm just speaking my mind. For one, I have been put off by you since the moment we met. I mean, you guys are followers of Navruavati right? Believers of the God of Blood, Destruction and Carnage. Yet you aren't really giving that impression."
Albert frowned slightly at her words, deciding that listening to her was pointless. He dashed forward, a sword of blood forming as he drew near. He swung it down, but a newly formed sword of air met it. The two weapons clashed and repelled each other and Raphaniel continued speaking.
"You see, there are certain traits that are basically expected of certain religions. Followers of Polydorus are proud and easily angered. Followers of Gaia are steadfast and full of repose. Followers of Nyx are serene and have slick attitudes. Meanwhile, followers of Navruavati are all blood-crazed, battle-obsessed maniacs that can't control themselves in front of prey. Yet, you and your men weren't like that."
Amidst rain, lightning strikes and clashing blades, Raphaniel made a long-winded point. Albert seemed to be ignoring her, completely focused on ending her life. He would shoot bullets of blood to try and disrupt her, but Raphaniel simply intercepted them with wind bullets. Both parties had exhausted quite a bit of Mana and strength while dealing with each other, leaving the two leaders in a not-so-great state.
"As a matter of fact, do you know how followers of Xerxes behave?"
This question made Albert frown, since it seemed to be pointed at something he couldn't guess. Taking his silence as an admission, Raphaniel took a half-step forward and thrust her sword at his throat. "Followers of the God of War, Battle and Conflict have a hard time keeping their weapons sheathed and often lose themselves in battle and are battle fanatics. Now that I say it out loud, don't you think Navruavati and Xerxes are quite similar?"
A sideswipe followed by a double thrust, then a blast of wind. Raphaniel had stepped up the tempo of the fight, pushing Albert back. He grit his teeth as the first sign of frustration appeared on his face. The chatter of his opponent was annoyingly worming into his ears and distracting him, and his gut was telling him that it would be dangerous to let their fight drag on any longer.
"You know, I consider myself quite knowledgeable about the Gods. For instance, I know Navruavati only came in to existence in the Third Era and forcefully assumed command over the Vampires. And that before "Him", there was a different God of the Vampires-"
A rapid downward wipe from Albert cut off Raphaniel's next words. The blade was glowing red-black and thoroughly cleaved through her sword of air, carrying down and digging into her shoulder. Yet as she took the blow, Raphaniel clenched her right fist and covered it in a haze of turquoise. She then swung an uppercut, hitting Albert right in the chin and sending his head snapping back with an unsettling crunch.
The force of the uppercut caused Albert to drop his blood sword, which broke apart and flowed back towards him. Despite her new wound however, Raphaniel as faster. She closed the distance and formed a second sword, impaling the stunned Albert right through the gut. She then forced air upwards through the point of the sword and into Albert's body, making him scream loudly and copious amounts of blood to burst out of his mouth and nose.
With a move almost copied from Raphaniel, Albert released a blast of Nether that sent her flying through the air and into the ground. Groaning, Raphaniel stood up on shaky legs and Albert lost strength in his and lay crouched on the ground. He glared at Raphaniel with the first emotion she had seen yet: disdain.
'I guess the pride of the Noble Vampires wasn't just a myth. Instead of rage at being impaled through the gut, he seems more annoyed I wounded him at all' Raphaniel mused as she watched Albert slowly stand back up. The hole in his stomach was trying to heal, but the remnant wind Mana was making that difficult.
'Thank God Albert seems to be out of Nether, or at least close to it. Otherwise, purging my wind Mana wouldn't be hard at all. Actually, how is Albert so low on Nether? Did he engage in a fight recently?'
Raphaniel knew that a Noble Vampire like Albert should have a reasonably large amount Nether reserve, but he seemed to have already been low when Raphaniel and her men attacked him. She frowned, but forced her thoughts to the back of her mind. Right now, she had to finish Albert before he resorted to desperate measures or escaped.
As Albert steadied himself and summoned another blood weapon-an axe this time-Raphaniel smiled and resumed where she left off. "Back in the Second Era, the Vampires followed Blood Queen Volanna instead. However, "She" perished near the end of that Era, believed to have been finished off by Elf King Syntharae."
Albert's eyes hardened as he realised where Raphaniel was going with this. He tried to interrupt her by attacking, but he was slower than before and Raphaniel was less pressured. "When Navruavati came to power, "He" began to purge those that remained loyal to "His" predecessor. Those that still believed in Volanna were hunted down and disgraced, there entire culture abolished and swept under foot."
Albert clenched his jaw at her words and released a flurry of blows, mixing in slivers of Nether to try and chip away at her sword's durability. His disposition gradually changed from disdain to anger however, as Raphaniel continued with her talk.
"The Vampires that believed in Volanna were forced to convert, and were treated as trash by their peers that followed the Lord of Blood. The once proud and great Noble Vampires, tarnished an beaten down to fangless mutts...Oh how I pity them."
"ENOUGH!" Albert shouted, his eyes now blazing with fury. Raphaniel only smirked wider at the sight, her voice taunting him still.
"You are probably a recent enough convert to the old guard of the Vampires, but your faith seems to have solidified quite a bit. I guess hearing about the death of your Goddess and fall from grace of your Clan upset you?" she asked sarcastically.
Albert responded by releasing a large burst of blood, seemingly trying to drown Raphaniel in it. At the same time, Albert began to rant loudly.
"A mere mortal like you could never grasp the might of a Noble Vampire like ourselves. We are the superior variant to those traitorous wretches that bowed down to Navruavati! We still carry the pride of our our ancestor, the nobility "She" bestowed upon us! One day, our Lady will return and judgement will befall all those that turned away from "Her" grace!"
Raphaniel sneered at Albert as she ducked and weaved around his sporadic swings and blood waves. "Is that what you lot were planning here? Trying to sacrifice some peasants to revive your dead God? Well sorry to inform you, but Volanna is long gone and no amount of farmer blood is going to bring her back!"
Albert howled as Raphaniel took notice of a gap in his defence and carved out his left eye, the one that had also been smashed by the air bullet. Practically losing all reason, Albert discarded his sword and attacked with with blood claws. However, he seemed to be out of Nether so they were unable to get the upper hand against Raphaniel's mastery of wind.
Sensing his impending death, Albert regained a sliver of his clarity and decided to do what Raphaniel feared: he took a drastic action. Abruptly disengaging from Raphaniel, he turned his own claws towards himself...and dug out his heart.
Raphaniel watched ins hock as Albert dug his heart out of his chest and clenched it within his palm. He glared at Raphaniel with pure, unbridled hate from his one remaining eye as he began to chant words that made her hair stand on end.
[ᚨᚾᚲᛖᛊᛏᛟᚱ ᛟᚠ ᛒᛚᛟᛟᛞ, ᚺᛖᛖᛞ ᛗᛁ ᛈᚱᚨᛁᛖᚱ!]
[ᛒᛖᛊᛏᛟᚹ ᛊᛏᚱᛖᛜᚦ ᛏᛟ ᚦᛁᛊ ᚢᚨᛊᛊᚨᛚ ᛊᛟ ᛁ ᛗᚨᛁ ᛞᛖᛊᛏᚱᛟᛁ ᛁᛟᚢᚱ ᛖᚾᛖᛗᛁᛖᛊ!]
[ᛗᚨᛁ ᛁᛟᚢᚱ ᚷᚱᚨᚲᛖ ᛊᚹᚨᛚᛚᛟᚹ ᚦᛖ ᛗᛟᛟᚾ!]
Raphaniel tried to fire a wind blade at the heart in Albert's hand, but she was too slow. A pulse of scarlet light glowed from the heart as it slowly began beating before picking up speed. Within five seconds, it was thumping as loud as a drum and emitting an aura of power and the stench of iron. Albert laughed maniacally at the sight as he leered at Raphaniel.
"Now you will pay for your transgressions here today. You claimed our Lady is dead and gone? Witness the severity of your folly for yourself!" he shouted, before placing the beating heart back within his chest. All of Albert's wounds rapidly closed up, and his sickly appearance was erased. His body bulged and grew muscles, his eyes turning the deepest shade of red Raphaniel had ever seen.
Albert's size had also increased, as he was now two heads taller than her. He looked down at her and growled, the noise reverberating deeply within his throat. All signs of humanity had vanished from the Vampire, now more akin to a beast than the noble existence he claimed to be. Sensing a serious threat to her life, Raphaniel closed her eyes as she was forced to come to a decision.
Yet the choice was made for her when Albert abruptly lunged at her, mouth agape as four fangs eagerly sought her jugular. His claws had expanded like the rest of him, now large enough to cleave her body in two with a single swipe. Facing such a beast, Raphaniel decided it was time she too revealed her trump card.
As Albert was inches away from Raphaniel, who had her eyes close, a sense of triumph grew within him. Albert had retained more rationality than his form implied, as while he was unable to speak, his thoughts were mostly unmuddied. He was already imagining how the blood of an Epic Magi would taste, At the same time, he figured he might as well enjoy the rest of her body too. Pinning her down as he drank her blood and violated her...Albert began salivating at the thought.
Yet his twisted fantasies were doomed to remain as that when a blaze suddenly exploded out of Raphaniel's and hit Albert square in the face. The scorching heat swallowed the Vampire as he screamed a guttural howl of pain at the sensation. The flames forced him back, charring him badly and dizzying him with the sudden sensation of pain.
Raphaniel opened her purple eyes, her flaming red hair now quite literally aflame. The air around her began to heat up and as she stepped forward, the ground began to smoke. She took in the charred skin of the Vampire, his red patches of skin and confused eyes at what had happened. Revealing a cold and slightly crazed smile, Raphaniel decided to end the fight here.
Albert had just regained awareness when his instincts, honed though countless battles, cried out. Without thinking, Albert rolled to the right, his torched body crying out at the sudden exertion of movement. Yet he had no time to heed his body's desperate cry for rest as mere milliseconds later, a trail of fire struck where he just stood.
Raphaniel looked at Albert callously as she raised her arm and readied the same spell. Her target stared at her in shock, barely registering his imminent doom. "How?! How does a Blessed of Zephylte possess the Bloodline of Xerxes?! Those two Gods don't have any connection apart from belonging to the same Era!" he screamed in an almost unintelligible voice, his transformation making it very difficult to get his words across.
Raphaniel paused, trying to decipher what was just said, before she answered. "You really should brush up on your history Albert. Tell me, do you know the origins of House Atrazark? Or better yet do you know what God House Melvix believes in?"
At her question, Albert fell silent as he desperately wracked his brain for the answer. He managed to remember the second question she asked but not the first. "House Melvix believes in Xerxes, the God of War..."
Raphaniel smiled, before she suddenly released her fire lance without warning. Albert screamed again as it punctured his shoulder and nailed him to the ground. The lance sizzled as it cooked Albert's flesh, causing him to start continuously screaming in agony. Raphaniel watched impassively at the sight as she generated three more lances.
"House Melvix does indeed believe in Xerxes" she stated, as she shot the second lance into Albert's other shoulder, eliciting another round of screaming.
"You see, if you were to check the list of Nobles that supported Fernandez in the Great War, House Atrazark wouldn't be upon it. This was because House Atrazark didn't exist at the time, and only came into being once Augustus was crowned King."
The third lance rooted Albert's left knee to the ground, but the Vampire only gave a weak groan as his sense of pain was eroded. By now, the smell of overcooked meat was quite prominent, as the pungent scent made Raphaniel wrinkle her nose in disgust.
House Atrazark is the youngest Great House of the Gaia Continent, and are origins are slightly unusual. You see, the founder of my House was a young man called Atrazark Melvix. Yes, you heard me right, Atrazark Melvix. He was the youngest scion of House Melvix at the time, and held a different view from the rest of his family. Atrazark somehow came to believe in Zephylte and changed his religion from Xerxes to "Him". Then, Atrazark left home with some servants with the help of House Gregorio and Augustus, established his own Great House."
Raphaniel finished her story by sending the last fire lance through Albert's remaining limb. She then walked over to him him and looked down at the pinned and pitiful Vampire. "After converting, the descendants of Atrazark gradually lost the Xerxes Bloodline and developed Zephylte's instead. But with a little tinkering from Sol, who is a friend of Zephylte and also a God of Fire, House Atrazark managed to regain the Xerxes Bloodline. Or a version of it, anyway.
Albert looked up at her blankly as he awaited his execution. And it came soon, as Raphaniel created one last fire lance and positioned it right between his eyes. She then smiled at him and swiped her hand again, surrounding the lance with a wind barrier. Seeing the confusion in Albert's eyes, she sweetly explained what was going on.
"I have surrounded this fire lance with a wind barrier, thus keeping it immobilised. But do you know what happens to air when it gets hot? It begins to rise, and is replaced by the cold air beneath it. As time goes on, this air that makes up this barrier will be replaced, and the fire lance with slowly be lowered closely to you. Once it reached you, it will slowly burrow into her brain. By my estimations, it will take fifteen minutes for it to completely melt your head and kill you."
Albert looked at Raphaniel with horror with his sole remaining eye as he desperate shook his head and tried to beg, but his throat only produced grunts and groans. Raphaniel crouched down to look at her defeated foe as she whispered in his ear.
"This is as much a message to those behind you as it is a punishment for your sins. For while all that rape and human sacrifices you did was deserving of the death sentence, your ties with House Ornstein is what got you this ending" she revealed, as Albert's eyes went wide.
Turning her back, Raphaniel left the screaming and scrying Albert to his eventually death as he walked away. She stopped by the corpses of her fallen soldiers and cremated them, before turning the cultist bodies to ash in a much less respectful manner. Once everything was done, she started levitating once again and flew off back towards the nearest town.