After dealing with hordes of vampire thugs, with their ashes now scattered to the wind, I hurried down the main building.
As I rushed downwards, through the Focus gadget, I realize that this ruin of a building was constructed from extremely ancient materials—its stones and bricks at least several centuries old.
Yet, despite its age, it had been continuously renovated over the years and somehow remained standing. I couldn't help but feel it was fortunate that this region had a low probability of earthquakes; otherwise, the entire structure would have easily collapsed.
Descending the stairs to the basement, I encounter numerous corpses, both human and vampire. I had long since lost track of how many vampires I had slain, though my NZT-powered brain could give me an accurate count at any moment.
My thoughts wander instead to the sheer scale of their numbers. If a small city like Balgrade harboured such a vast vampire population, how many more would a megacity like New York contain?
Pushing those spiralling questions aside, I reached a set of massive metal doors. Swinging them open, I was startled by the sight before me.
Both Elsa and Sable were on their knees, visibly struggling to rise. Blade was also present, similarly restrained, while there several others—they are not visible to the Focus, so I quickly realize they must be vampires—were oddly held captive, possibly as prisoners or hostages.
At the center of the room loomed a swirling dark aura, and before it floated a busty, hooded blonde woman holding a sinister-looking book.
I capture all of this in a single glance, my supercharged brain processing the information in less than a second. The dark aura surrounding the area is clearly the source of the red mana I have been seeing—undoubtedly the product of the ritual I had overheard about.
From what I know, Deacon Frost is likely inside that aura, undergoing some sort of transformation. This isn't new to me—something similar happened in the movies, so I am not entirely caught off guard. However, I know it is best to interrupt the process before he succeeds in whatever he is attempting.
There is one other 'bad' player here: the floating woman. The book she is holding, made from what looks like human skin, clearly marks her as a dark or black magician. She is likely the one responsible for the others being sprawled out on the floor. Given the ritualistic markings and grooves on the floor, it is possible she helped Deacon Frost complete this ritual—or worse, she might be the one orchestrating it entirely. I could logically piece this all together easily.
I had expected to see Racquel here, but sadly, she is nowhere in sight. Maybe she is still somewhere on the upper floors.
Barely a second had passed since I opened the door. I stepped inside the room cautiously, wanting to test the range of the spell affecting the others. When I felt no effect, I decided to head straight for my girls to see if I could resist whatever was binding them.
I was already actively making Chi flow through my body, so I was moving at a faster pace than usual. With a brisk stride, I easily reach my destination before the others can react. Ignoring everyone else, I head straight for Sable, who is the closest to me.
"Sable, you are hurt," I say, kneeling down and gently gripping her trembling shoulders. Blood trails down her forehead, the crimson lines stark against her pale skin. It dawns on me—she must have faced the witch, and the confrontation left her wounded.
Maybe it is a flaw in my thinking, but I am not consumed by rage seeing her like this. Despite her being my woman, the sight of her injury doesn't ignite the fiery anger I would expect. Is it because I know she can handle it? As a mercenary, she has endured far worse injuries; this is just another scar in her line of work. Or maybe it is because the one who hurt her is a woman. I know deep down that if another man had made her bleed, my fury would be boundless.
Right now, though, revenge takes a backseat to concern. All I want is to treat her wounds, to make sure she is okay.
When I try to lift her, however, I am met with resistance. It feels as though she is rooted to the ground—an invisible pressure still weighing her down, holding her in place.
"Careful... That witch is powerful," she says with difficulty, her voice strained, though she doesn't seem overly concerned about the blood.
In fact, I had already surmised that the 'witch' must be powerful, which is why I had kept a close eye on her even while checking up on Sable.
"Who are you?" The floating, hooded, busty blonde asks, her voice laced with surprise. From the moment I entered the room, she had been too stunned to speak until now.
I ignore her, focusing entirely on Sable for the moment. "Wait a second, I will fix you right up," I say with a reassuring smile, as I use my power Phoenix Magic to conjure a Phoenix Companion.
Blue flames ignite in my hands, molding and shaping themselves into a palm-sized bird.
KEEEE!
It screeches softly, its body composed entirely of red flames, with hints of blue dancing within. The Phoenix Companion resembles a robotic creature, obediently following my mental commands. It can utilize all of my Phoenix Magic techniques, from healing to combat, depending on how it's controlled.
"It will heal you up," I say to Sable, as the bird spreads its small wings and perches gently on her shoulder. The flames from its body begin to radiate towards her head, slowly starting to mend the wound.
"Thanks..." Sable says with a smile as I stand up, turning my attention to Elsa, who is in much better shape, nearly on the verge of standing and pushing past the pressure.
"You okay, Elsa?" I ask, walking towards her. I am not that worried for her, as her Bloodgem easily heals most of the damage, so she won't need any healing from me.
"I'm dandy... although I wouldn't mind if you gave me a cute bird too," she says with a grin, causing me to chuckle.
Before I can reply, the darkness in the room trembles, as the blonde woman's voice ring out, sharper and more dangerous than before. "I asked you a question—who are you, and how are you unaffected by my strongest spell?" she demands, her tone laced with menace.
Still feeling no effect from whatever spell she has used, I guessed there must be an exception I satisfied—some loophole in its design. Ignoring her for the moment, I walked past the hostages, past a raven-haired beauty staring at me in shock, and stopped in front of Blade, who was still struggling, and now I am faced to face with the floating woman.
"Me? I am the one at the Apex!" I say with a mocking grin. "Your weak-ass spells won't even tickle me!"
She stares at me, visibly taken aback, before her expression twists into one of irritation.
"Hihihihi," she chuckles darkly. "It has been a long time since someone has spoken to me, the Voodoo Queen, with such insolence. My Sovereign Submission Spell works on both the living and the dead… so you must be a soulless demon masquerading as a human."
Her assumption about me being a demon was obviously incorrect, but her statement provided clarity. The spell didn't affect me because of my power, Undetermined Existence, leaving me neither truly alive nor dead.
"Why don't you shed your illusion and show your true colours, demon!" she sneers, swiping her hand towards me.
Before she even started speaking, I had already activated two of my powers. The first, Mana Sight, it allowed me to see a translucent claw rapidly extending from her hand, aiming straight for me.
Reacting instantly, I activate my second power. Dark aura engulfs my fist, and with a swift punch, I obliterate the claw the moment it makes contact, causing it to vanish in an instant.
"You should undo your own illusion first, Voodoo Queen," I say mockingly, noticing with Mana Sight that her entire body, even her face was covered in dark mana. I deduce that since 'Voodoo Queen' is a title and not a name, she is likely concealing her identity, just like me. A bigger clue, however, is that the person with this title looked very different in comics from her current appearance.
MY guess proves correct as she glares at me with irritated, narrowed eyes. "Dark Binding," she intones, and the book in her hand pulses with a dark glow.
Black shadows erupt from the ground around me, twisting into shadowy vines that rise taller than me. With a clenched fist, she commands the vines to lash out, attempting to swallow me whole.
The same Dark Aura that had surrounded my hand erupts from my entire body, forming a cloak of darkness around me. The black shadows, before they can touch my body, are met by an even darker force and are quickly consumed by my Dark Aura.
"What?!" she exclaims in disbelief.
I smirk inwardly, pleased that one of my first powers, Personal Anti-Magic, has just made its debut in battle!
I don't miss her lapse. With Chi already flowing through my body, I channel Electricity as well, boosting my speed even further. Having figured out a way to defeat her, I charge into action.
BOOM!
In the blink of an eye, I am in front of the blonde woman, Electricity trailing in my wake.
"Y-you!" she stammers, flustered.
Ignoring her reaction, my hand, now enveloped in a dark aura, reaches straight for the eerie-looking book clutched in her arms.
CRACK!
The sound of shattering glass rings out as my hand meets resistance—a barrier briefly obstructs me before it shatters under my Dark Anti-Magic Aura.
"Arrgh!" the woman cries, yanking the book away. My hand misses its mark and instead brushes against her arm.
Abruptly, she vanishes in a plume of dark smoke, reappearing across the hall. I look towards her, startled. Gone is the fair-skinned blonde—standing in her place is a dark-skinned, raven-haired woman.
"Hihihihi, you are a sneaky one, aren't you?" she says, her grin wide and her feet now firmly planted on the ground, no longer floating. Her breasts— surprisingly just as large as before—jiggle with her laughter.
"You don't smell like a demon," she continues, her voice taking on a playful tone. "But bypassing my Hex Shield and my illusion so easily… You must be a disciple of the Mystic Arts." she adds, taking a deep breath as she sizes me up with a wicked grin.
"My name is Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans. Remember it, as I have a hunch we will be seeing each other a lot more in the future." She licks her lips. "And my dear golden goose, I will come back for you someday… so don't die, hihihihi!"
She laughs eerily, winking at the struggling Blade. The Book in her arms begins to glow intensely, and in the blink of an eye, dark smoke surrounds her, causing her to vanish without a trace from the hall.