[Alice LvL. 20]
[Experience: 28/1075]
[HP: 156/195]
[Stamina: 80/190]
[Mana: 20/50]
[Class: Swordswoman]
[Strength: 30]
[Defense: 30]
[Stamina: 29]
[Speed: 15]
[Intelligence: 1]
[Magic: 1]
[Luck: 1]
<…>
[Sophie LvL. 16]
[HP: 130/170]
[Stamina: 50/50]
[Mana: 170/245]
[Class: Archer]
[Strength: 1]
[Defense: 19]
[Stamina: 1]
[Speed: 19]
[Intelligence: 6]
[Magic: 40]
[Luck: 1]
<…>
*Tap… Tap… Tap…*
Alice and Sophie circle Beatrix, who is also circling them. The players walk in circles, just waiting for one of them to make the first move.
*Tap… Tap… Tap…*
The two maintain a serious expression, eyes fixed on Bea. Meanwhile, the vampire licks her lips nonchalantly.
*Tap… Tap… Tap…*
Suddenly, she looks up, "Oh, it seems your friend has come to join the party." Alice and Sophie look up, likely thinking she was referring to Solol, but there was nothing there. After a few seconds of silence, they realize they've been tricked, but it's already too late.
Laughing genuinely at their naivety, Bea delivers a roundhouse kick to Sophie. With the elf away from her ally, the vampire overwhelms Alice with a barrage of attacks—clearly superior to Jayden in every aspect, to the point that Alice doesn't have the agility to make a [Perfect Block].
[Sophie's HP: 120/170]
Taking advantage of a brief opening, Bea grabs Alice's arm—the one holding the sword—and immediately shouts, "**IT WAS NICE KNOWING YOU! NOW GOODBYEEEEEEEEE!!!**", the swordswoman, unable to cover both ears, falls to her knees before the ultrasonic voice.
Getting up with a throbbing pain, the elf witnesses her friend in trouble and immediately shoots an arrow at Bea. However, with superhuman reflexes, she spins and throws Alice towards the arrow, which hits her in the stomach.
[Alice's HP: 147/195]
"Too bad this game has friendly fire, right? FUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Sophie runs to her friend, "A-Alice…?! My god, I'm so sorry!"
"*Cough* It's okay!", she pulls out the arrow, feeling a sharp, quick pain, and stands up normally, "My HP is still pretty high!"
"Oh really? Let's fix this then!", with a sharp nail, she cuts the palm of her hand, "Blood Magic: Sadistic Fire", the gushing blood ignites into scarlet flames. Firmly planting her foot on the ground, Beatrix spins three times before hurling the fireball at the two like a cannonball.
[Perfect Block]
[Alice's stamina: 70/190]
Despite being surprised by the speed, Alice manages to block the projectile, sending it back towards Beatrix, who simply sidesteps. The fireball continues to the wall of the pit, causing an explosion equivalent to three of Sophie's [Fiery Arrows: Explosion].
She watches in shock, "Perfect Block? Damn, I should've chosen that!"
Seeing the vampire so calm, even after making her hurt her friend, makes Sophie's blood boil. She pulls and fires an arrow at the vampire—who again dodges with a sidestep, but as the arrow passes near her head, Sophie snaps her fingers.
[Wind Arrow: Wind Mine]
[Sophie's Mana: 155/245]
The projectile explodes with a shockwave, throwing Bea back—without any damage. Seconds after taking the skill, the vampire is surprised by Alice charging at her with [Limit Extender: Speed], preparing a diagonal slash. She easily anticipates it and raises her arms to block the blow.
[Alice's speed: 25 (+10)]
[Alice's stamina: 60/190]
"Unequip!", the sword disappears from Alice's hands, and she crouches before Bea, "Equip!", recovering the weapon, she immediately stabs the blade into Bea's torso.
"Hah! You know that I—"
She's interrupted by Alice's [Web Swing], "Shut Up!", the web covers her eyes. The swordswoman pulls her sword back and retreats, launching two [Wind Scrapper]. Bea is hit squarely by the first slash, breaking her guard, and with the impact of the second, she's thrown against the wall.
[Alice's stamina: 30/190]
The exhausted player sighs to Sophie, "I forgot how braindead Vampires are…"
"Still, as long as she doesn't consume any more blood, she can't keep regenerating."
"But we need to survive until then…", she scans the surroundings and notices a detail that was overlooked in the heat of battle, she sees what appears to be a sword stuck in the center of the pit. "The sword…!"
Using [Sonic Boom], "**ROAAAAAR!!!**", she disperses the dust raised by her collision. She sees her arms with cut scars regenerating, but she notices a certain slowness in her healing. "I gotta fill up the tank once I'm done here…"
"I need to get the sword! Cover me!", shouts the player as she runs.
Nervous, yet confident in Alice, Sophie responds, "I hope you know what you are doing!"
[Alice's stamina: 20/190]
She advances to the center, even seeing Bea heading towards her, she doesn't stop—trusting Sophie's abilities.
"No one can escape me! Not at night!"
[Fiery Arrow: Cannon]
[Sophie's Mana: 140/245]
Suddenly, Bea feels something hitting her back, followed by unbearable pain. "AH! NOT MY CLOTHES!", she gets distracted trying to control the flames.
Alice reaches the sword—with a design different from all the swords she saw during the Beta Test, the hilt of Purgatory was made of two different materials, one golden and smooth, and the other reddish and rough like coal, these two materials intertwined in the hilt and ended on different sides of the sword's guard. The blade was silver, with a line of five holes running through its surface.
"Please, god of convenience, bless me once again…", the player murmurs. She firmly grips the hilt with both hands, takes a deep breath, and tries to pull it from the ground.
Alice receives a roundhouse kick to the head, "Nice try, cutie.", she sees the sword and her eyes shine. "Oh, this sword looks nice!"
[Alice's HP: 120/195]
"N-no!"
Bea tries to pull the sword…
['Trial of Purgatory' Dungeon]
[Would you like to enter?]
[Yes] [No]
"What?! Are you kidding me?!", she futilely tries to pull the sword, but it just makes the same message panel appear multiple times.
Alice runs with her sword in hand, Bea immediately reacts by punching her with all her strength.
[Perfect Block]
[Alice's stamina: 10/190]
The vampire is thrown away, but the swordswoman is exhausted due to low stamina. "…Sophie, I need to rest! 5 minutes, I swear…"
"Then I will give you 10!", she launches another arrow at Bea's leg. The arrow was imbued with [Icy Arrow: Icy Touch], starting to freeze her leg, which begins to spread.
Even with her leg gradually freezing, she gives a sarcastic smile. "Your freckled friend couldn't even tickle me, what can you do?" Bea mocked, forcing the ice to crack with a sharp movement, breaking part of the effect of Sophie's arrow.
"Guess." She fires a rapid sequence of arrows, calling out a random spell for each one, but only one was true: [Fiery Arrow: Cannon], [Electric Arrow: Thunderbolt], [Icy Arrow: Icy Touch]. Bea skillfully dodges them all—paying close attention to the spells she pronounces, but to her surprise, none of the arrows manifest a spell.
With her keen hearing, she hears Sophie murmuring worriedly, "Damn… I spent everything on that arrow…", she smiles maliciously.
The elf shoots another arrow, this time, Bea doesn't dodge but catches the projectile in midair. "Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Out of tricks, I see."
"Guess again.", she snaps her fingers.
[Electric Arrow: Thunderbolt]
[Sophie's Mana: 120/245]
The arrow releases a powerful electric discharge in Beatrix, momentarily paralyzing her muscles. Sophie doesn't stop and fires another barrage of arrows, this time with real spells.
Two [Icy Arrow: Icy Touch] to Bea's knee and shoulder. Another [Electric Arrow: Thunderbolt] to her head, further increasing her stun and shock intensity. And the last one, a [Fiery Arrow: Explosion] to her torso, finishing with a large fiery explosion.
[Sophie's Mana: 20/245]
*BOOOOOM!*
The explosion reverberates through the battlefield, lifting dust and ashes as Bea's body is engulfed in flames. Alice and Sophie, exhausted and breathless, watch the scene with relief, believing they have finally defeated the vampire.
"Is she…"
"There's still… A really small amount of mana on her."
As they discussed
, a faint, almost inaudible voice echoes in Bea's mind. "Are you ok, Bea?"
With what's left of her vocal cords, she murmurs. "*Cough Cough* What do you think?"
"It's ok, you did great. Let me help you."
Bea's eyes, previously dim, glow with a dark intensity. Her body begins to reconstruct, enveloped in black shadows emerging from the ground. Fragments of flesh and bone rebuild, now with a more sinister appearance, as if darkness itself had given form to her body.
Alice and Sophie stop, feeling the shift in the atmosphere. They turn slowly and are horrified to see Bea rising, her form now much more frightening and powerful.
"No… This isn't possible…" Sophie murmurs, almost breathless.
Bea opens her eyes, now completely black, with no traces of humanity. She smiles cruelly. "This was your plan C? This is why I love you."
She now wore a black armor with red lines, seeming to be made of dark smoke—something familiar to the two: it was a Whisper.
Bea runs a hand through her hair, stares at the two while licking her mouth, "Who wants to die first?"