"Aeris Contendis!" Hekate shouted and suddenly gales of wind began to shoot out from all around him, meant to hit El but at the same time, cleansing the surroundings of any dust. It made me wonder why he didn't do this earlier, but I kept to myself and refrained from asking too many questions.
As the gales continued blasting all around us, the dust finally cleared out and we were able to see El.
Are you ready, Jason?
'Whenever you are.' I replied nonchalantly.
Hekate sped off with a sonic boom and everything around me seemed to warp. I didn't know what had happened in that split second, but we were right now in midair colliding with El. A voice suddenly brought me back to my senses.
Jason, now! This was my cue. And as soon as the voice sounded, I saw myself warped again to a front row seat of the fight with El, or rather, to being the opponent.
I found myself twisting to her right, allowing her force to cause her to push forward a little and then cause me to have my back towards her. This must have been Hekate's last motion before he gave me control, and I knew what to do with it.
I immediately summoned the Sword of The Nether using Storage and turned it so the hilt was facing my front and the blade was beside me and facing my back. I struck with as much force as I could muster and heard behind me; the sound of a blade going through flesh. This brightened my mood as I knew I was victorious.
We both fell to the ground in such posture as we had been a moment ago. Luckily, we weren't high up and my crazy stats. were good enough to prevent me from being hurt: I actually landed on my two feet, unlike someone who fell with both eyes closed.
I turned to face the sleeping beauty on the ground and smiled. This victory of mine was well earned and I deserved it, so to speak, though, it was mainly thanks to Hekate this time around. I moved in to draw my blade out of her when Hekate shouted at me.
Be careful, she's still alive!
But it was already too late. My hand had drawn out the blade, and with her tremendous speed, she quickly grabbed my hand and drew me to the ground right next to her. Upon falling, she pounced on me and bore her fangs into my neck.
"Aaargh!!" I screamed. Her bite was extremely painful. But that wasn't the worst part. I could feel my life draining fast with every gulp of my blood she drank, and the system screen which popped up immediately after only did so much as confirm my fears.
Your blood is being drunk. With it, your Vitality reduces.
-17 Vitality
-14 Vitality
-21 Vitality
-16 Vitality
-12 Vitality
I tried to pry her off, but it hurt even more, as though she was already stuck to my skin and prying hwr off would just get it to tear along with her jaws. Meanwhile, my Vitality was also reducing, so I resorted to looking around with the corner of my eyes. I spotted the Sword of The Nether a little ways away from me, just beyond the reach of my hand. I was only down to less than 20% of my health by now. Any more sips and she could very well take my life.
-17 Vitality
Vitality is now less than 10%
Activate skill Last Fortress?
Yes. No.
The system message popped up again, this time indicating that I had little to go on with and whether or not I still wanted to live by activating the only skill in my arsenal that could save my life at the moment.
'Asking me if I want to activate the skill? Are you nuts, system?! Of course I want to activate the skill!'
Confirmed.
Skill Last Fortress has been activated.
The pain suddenly went away as soon as the skill was activated, but then another system message popped up.
-15 Vitality
Vitality: 3/100 (Static for 29 seconds)
'Huh? I'm not dead? And my Vitality… It is stuck at 3? Ha ha. Thank goodness I have this skill. Thank you, system. I'll never doubt your usefulness ever again.' I sighed inwardly.
-19 Vitality
-17 Vitality
-14 Vitality
Warning! You have 20 seconds left to use your skill Last Fortress.
'Shit! Got to get moving.' I reached for the sword and finally got it in my grasp. I stuck the sword at her side and got it to go through her ribs.
"Mmm." She grunted through her teeth, apparently still unwilling to let go of my neck.
-12 Vitality
Warning! You have 10 seconds left to use your skill Last Fortress.
"Acting all tough, are we? Alright, let's see if you can take this…" I twisted the sword that was stuck in her side, causing the ribs there to forcefully break apart.
"Aaaaahhh!" She screamed, finally letting go of my neck. "Aaargh!" She peered at me with the look of a ferocious lion ready to pounce on it's prey. I quickly pushed her off me and drew the sword out of her side. She screamed out again in pain, holding the wound on her side delicately and giving me a death glare. I swear, if looks could kill, I would be dead a thousand times over by now.
I had no time to worry about that though. I had to finish her off before I ran out of time. I struck at her head and with a clean swipe took off her head. There was no resistance whatsoever, which actually got me thinking whether or not it was fake, after all, she could have dodged it.
'Hey, do you think she is dead now?' I asked the other person in my head.
What do you think happens when someone is beheaded?
'They die?'
Of course, they die! Why are you saying that as though you are not sure?
'Well, she can't be classified with normal standards anymore, right?'
All the same, she is dead. No need to fuss about it.
Just then, there was a confirmation of her death, along with a whole series of other messages.
You have successfully slain an Empusa.
+10,000 Exp
Your skill Last Fortress has ended. You will now continue to lose Vitality.
You have a wound on your neck. It festers and constantly drains your Vitality. You will lose 1 Vitality every 1 minute.
-1 Vitality
You have been bitten by an Empusa and are still alive. You will now evolve into a Vampire.
This process will take some time during which you will plunge into a deep slumber.
Evolution has begun…
Those were the last words I saw before I fell head first into the ground and lost consciousness.