Things don't get much more surprising than a teenage Spirit-user easily defeating dozens of adult Vampires and getting away from them in the middle of a night. So, when something like this happens, anyone who knows about it would definitely want to learn more about this Spirit-user.
While that wasn't her only purpose, that was definitely a big reason as to why Angela Holystone had come to meet Sona Pectus.
Seeing the teenage girl she had come to meet approaching her with clear caution and very calculated expressions, Angela smirked.
Angela: "So kid, who the hell are you?"
She asked, right off the bat, stupendifying Sona.
Sona: "T-the heck?! Shouldn't you tell me who you are first?"
Angela: "Well, I'm not anyone particularly special. Okay well, that's a lie. I'm pretty special. But, we are here to talk about you."
Sona was at a loss for how to react as she listened to the woman ramble on.
Angela: "Anyway, do you steal for passion or is it like a job for you?"
Sona: "Slow down a bit, will you? What the hell are we even talking about here?"
With a big sigh, the woman looks at the kid with bored eyes as she is forced to leave the topic she is interested in.
Angela: "I seriously have to explain this shit? Hah! I guess it can't be helped."
Sona: "...?"
Angela: "I was, for a couple of weeks, spying on a particular hideout of the Vampire Kingdom. That is when you showed up out of nowhere and tried to steal something from them, did it successfully, beat them up and got away with it."
Sona's heart jumped with nervousness as she heard that and she prepared herself to summon a Spirit, thinking she might be attacked by the person in front of her.
Angela: "Relax, jeez! I am not gonna fight you in here with all these people around."
She pointed at the crowd all around the table she had been sitting on the entire time.
Angela: "Anyway, I saw it all. And I have to say, I am impressed. You are a really powerful kid, for a Spirit-user at least."
Sona: "I see."
Having finally understood who the woman is and how she knew Sona, she sighed.
Sona: "So, what do you want from me?"
The caution was still there but Angela could notice her dropping her fighting stance.
Angela: "Well, I just want to know if you will join up with me and do something bigger this time."
Sona: "... Like what?"
Angela: "Oh, you know, a hideout isn't that great of a feat. If you want to make a name for yourself, you have at least got to go destroy a battalion or two."
Angela's nonchalant tone made it seem that she was sure Sona wouldn't refuse the offer to join. However,
Sona: "Tsk! I am not a petty thief. I had a reason for stealing from them and I will not put myself in needless risk by doing it again just for self-gratification."
Angela: "Who said it'd be for self-gratification?"
Sona: "...?"
Sona looked at her with a questioning and intimidating glare but, Angela didn't quite care and nonchalantly answered.
Angela: "Vermillion could accept you as an ally if you show them how great of an asset you can be. It will surely help with whatever it is that you are trying to accomplish here."
Sona: "Uh ... uh ... but Vermillion is a-"
Taken aback by those words, wide-eyed and cautious, Sona struggled to form words to vocalise her worries.
Angela: "Psychic organization?"
Knowing what her worries are though, and also because she was getting impatient, Angela helped her out.
Angela: "So what? I never said they would accept you as a member, only as an ally. I mean, there's an Aural that completes missions for them when needed and gets huge amounts of payment in return. And~ I think she's your age too. You could totally be like her."
With no words to describe the confusion and confliction she was feeling, Sona just gawked at the woman in front of her for a good whole minute.
Angela: "So, wanna team up?"
Narrowing her eyes in suspicion, Sona tried to think of ways this woman could be deceiving her in. However, she couldn't come up with anything solid.
And so, seeing the woman's hand outstretched in front of her, Sona sighed.
Sona: "I guess, I could give it a try."
And like that, her plans of summoning the Spirit she would later name 'Death' got delayed just a little bit.
*******************************
When Barry and Reid had left and Darcy was about to, Bronzer asked her for her opinion on the Spirit-user who Barry was trying to help.
Surprisingly enough, Darcy was expecting that question and answered immediately.
Darcy: "I think she's clever, but also foolish. A person like her will self-destruct sooner or later, unless she has someone who she can completely trust and that person can make all the important decisions for her."
Bronzer merely smiled as he heard that.
Bronzer: "I see. I can't particularly disagree, not from a logical standpoint anyway."
Darcy felt curious and inclined to ask what he meant exactly but instead, as she saw his tired face, she just asked one question that was the crux of all her worries.
Darcy: "Do you intend to make use of that girl?"
Bronzer: "Hmm?"
Darcy: "Do you think she could be useful to us in any way?"
Bronzer smirked and rephrased her question,
Bronzer: "You are asking if she is worth turning into a pawn for us?"
There was only one possible answer Bronzer could give to that statement.
Bronzer: "Yes. Yes, indeed, I think she would be a fabulous pawn for us."
As if thinking about it re-energized him a little, Bronzer stood up with an excited smile.
Darcy: "Can I ask why you think that?"
Bronzer: "Well, there are various reasons. There's the fact that she is genuinely powerful and as you mentioned, if there's someone out there who is making her decisions for her, she could be an extremely valuable asset. There's also the fact that she's a victim of that asshole. But, more than anything else,"
He said with a dark glint in his eyes,
Bronzer: "Ethan doesn't know about her."
Darcy: "What? I mean, I guess that's true but how's that significant?"
Bronzer: "Oh, it's very significant, Darcy."
He turned to look at her as he explained,
Bronzer: "Ethan is trying to manipulate a lot of events and people in the world. But he can only manipulate those he knows of. He can't manipulate someone like this girl, who he doesn't know anything about."
And THAT, the fact that he doesn't know about someone who is deeply connected to Kais' past, is a huge thing in Bronzer's eyes.
Bronzer: "I don't consider him smarter or more creative than me by any stretch of imagination. However, he definitely is someone that I can't underestimate. Therefore, I would love to have some hidden cards to play against him when it does end up coming down to a showdown between us."
His lips curled up in a smile, he said so.
Darcy: "From the way you are talking, you seem pretty convinced that you and Ethan will have to face each other some time in the future."
Bronzer: "Well, he's not someone who'll join the Vampire Kingdom, and also not someone who'll join The Dragon Alliance either. Still, he will be majorly involved in the war. And, I would at least have enough faith in him to say that he won't be taken down by nobodies. There's a pretty good chance things would come down to me and him someday."
Darcy: "I ... see."
Bronzer: "Yes, and that is why that girl will be a very, very useful pawn."
And hence, just like how Ozyllus and Abyss tried to turn Kais and Ethan into their biggest players in the game, Bronzer chose his own secret weapon.
The meeting of the three chosen freaks on a legendary and dying island was still 5 years away at this point.
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Night had fallen. The lords of the night had grown stronger, as well as more vigilant. At a time like this, if someone's purpose was to attack a battalion of theirs, even the strongest of factions would make sure to have at least as many soldiers on their side as much as there are Vampires in the battalion.
But, even so, two people aimed to attack a battalion of the Vampire Kingdom by themselves.
"Is that a rabbit?"
It was truly a fool's courage that was there in both their wills.
"Yeah, it looks like one. But, isn't it giving off a different aura ... like it's a ... a ..."
And those fools did not know the meaning of caution of subtlety at all.
"It's a spiri-"
The speaker's leg was no longer where it was supposed to be, but it was there, lying, just a little away from his hand. And a thick red liquid was dripping down from a hole that had appeared in the leg's place. Actually, 'dripping' might not be the right term. A more accurate way to say it would be 'rushing out'.
"That damn rabbit!"
The second Vampire who had spotted the Rabbit-like Spirit looked at the bizarre sight in front of him, the sight of a pale human-like figure whose veins were becoming visible and eyes were growing the same color as that of the liquid coming from his leg.
Soon enough, that Vampire found himself in a similar state, with the only difference being that the misplaced part of his body was his hand, which he was planning to use to attack the Rabbit-like Spirit.
"T-that thing ..."
However, that obviously wasn't enough to kill two of the lords of the night.
"What!!!"
A hole through their chest that left a burning pain as if it was caused by a flying fireball, however, was enough to do the job, as half of their hearts had been dislodged with that hole.
The two fell down, knowing they won't survive for more than 10 seconds. But, in those 10 seconds,
"[AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCKKKK!!!]"
An ultrasound screech was sent by them to their allies some distance away.
The Rabbit-like Spirit, having heard that screech, turned its head back to look at his friend, to ask for what it should do, but the girl it was looking for wasn't there. So, whatever happened, the Spirit had to make its own decisions.
"What happened!?"
From a little distance away, a voice of a different Vampire came, but as he saw the scene just as soon as he asked that, he didn't need a reply to his question.
"We are under attack!!!"
The Rabbit-like Spirit did all in its power to dispatch the Vampire before he could yell out those words, but even it wasn't fast enough. That said, it did at least run through that Vampire's heart just as he finished yelling.
Now, with the message sent to them, the battalion turned to the side the screech and the shout came from. The Spirit was present on the battlefield all alone. It wouldn't have taken long for it to get overwhelmed like that.
So, the numbers had to be increased.
However, with barely any trees or vines nearby, Jin, the mole-like spirit specializing in controlling vegetation would be useless. The most capable warrior then, would definitely be Sagzear, the spirit of a Vampire child.
But, instead of him, the Spirit-user had left the rabbit a different card to play, something that would only work once, but for that particular situation, could be even better than having Sagzear there.
"W-what the hell is that!?"
Darkness oozed from the ground where three Vampire corpses were just put to rest a few moments ago.
Just sensing, just sensing the maliciousness in that aura, and just seeing what that darkness came from, the Vampires froze in their tracks.
"This ... this is inhumane!"
One of them said. How ironic it was for humanity's natural predators to talk about humanity, no one was there to comment on it.
So, with no words said in welcome but only given frozen faces full of astonishment, the three Corpses rose up, as if nothing had ever happened to them in the first place. But, there was one thing different about them. And to anyone who really understood what it was, they would say,
"What a bothersome ability!"
With a borderline bored expression, a Vampire standing a little ahead of others said so.
The Rabbit-like Spirit turned its head in that direction and started running straight for that Vampire, prepared to attack him.
"Hah! What a bother indeed!"
Said the Vampire about to be attacked, and then, the Rabbit-like Spirit stopped in its tracks and jumped away, landing back on the ground, then jumping away again and repeating those steps until it was far away from that Vampire.
In just a single moment, it had sensed what it was up against and made the decision to retreat.
"Ha! I don't know who you people are but you picked the wrong day to attack this battalion."
Said the man who looked to be leader of the battalion, and he said so with a confident smile. Seeing that, the previously frozen Vampires also calmed down, revealing that they were only taken by surprise and not by fear.
There was no need to fear, none at all. After all, one of the four Great Generals was there with them.
Achlyz, the Vampire General of Silence, was with them.
Achlyz: "Well, I don't really feel like this is as big of a problem as it should be for me to need to get involved. You guys deal with it."
Said the Vampire General of Silence.
And, as the most skilled of all of the Vampires present there appraised the problem as not being anything big, they were rejuvenated even more, knowing that if something did go wrong, Achlyz could easily take care of it.
However,
"That sure is a haughty attitude!"
Came the voice of a woman from among their ranks, and as soon as it did, half a dozen Vampires attacked Achlyz.
Achlyz, quickly stepping away from them, realized what was going on.
Achlyz: "Mind control, huh? I thought we were only against a Spirit-user, but it seems a Psychic is also involved."
"Glad you noticed."
Saying so, the woman who had disguised herself and gotten in the middle of the Vampires' ranks teleported away.
Confused as to what she intends to do, Achlyz checked his surroundings. But, as his gaze fell backwards and he saw two Vampires who should have been corpses standing there with lifeless eyes, he realized he had fallen into her trap already.
Achlyz: "That darkness from earlier, it was coming from them, wasn't it?"
"Indeed. It seems the Spirit-users can temporarily force contracts too if they have a certain skill level. Surely, you would have heard of it, the ability called Necromancy."
Out of nowhere, the answer came in a voice that was ringing all around.
Achlyz: "Tsk!"
While he had already realized that Necromancy was in effect, this was still the first time in decades that he had seen this skill, and the first time in his life that this skill was able to take control of something as potent as a Vampire.
Clicking his tongue, the Vampire General jumped away to escape from whatever kind of attack was coming his way, but as is the case with all things in their purest form, the spirits of the Vampires were way faster than the Vampires were, and Achlyz couldn't escape so easily.
He was caught in mid-air by one while the other delivered a blow to his stomach, making Achlyz realize just how much more powerful these Spirits were, even with only a temporarily and forced contract binding them.
As the other Vampires see that all happen in front of them, merely within half a minute or so, they all prepare themselves for fighting the two Vampire corpses binding Achlyz as well as the one standing next to the Rabbit-like Spirit, awaiting orders.
"Group up on them!"
Said the battalion leader. Obviously, with their numbers, a simple strategy like grouping up should work just fine. It's not like these Vampires were THAT powerful or anything, they were just an enhanced, or rather, purer version of who they were when living.
But,
Achlyz: "Don't!"
The order was denied by the only one in a higher position than the one who gave that order.
Achlyz: "Go after that Psychic woman!"
He shouted.
"Oh! Is that how you are going to play this?"
She said in an amused tone, and giggled as she saw the Great General struggle to break free of the zombified Vampire's grips.
The Vampires, including the battalion leader, decided to do as their superior told them to and hunt down the 'Psychic woman', Angela Holystone. The only problem was that none of them knew where she was.
*******************************
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And if you like this story, you can support it by voting with power stones, grading the chapters and/or giving a review.
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