Chương 107: Blood Lord Awakens
After Sofiya managed to settle down Flex, who wanted to almost get her out of this battlefield. She moved along the lines of the warriors like a graceful banshee while holding her rapier tightly, using her index finger to go through the Ricasso while her thumb being on the blade.
Sofiya saw some warriors painted on the face that moved in a group for one of her soldiers, and without wasting time, she hurried and got in time to rescue that soldier by stabbing those warriors in their backs and moving straight for the hearts.
They dropped down on the ground while screaming in agony for brief seconds, leaving the soldier be splashed with blood.
"Lady Sofiya, what are you doing here?" asked the soldier who stared at Sofiya, who was holding in her hand a basic rapier sword.
"Don't bother yourself with those small details, soldier. You will know more after this war is over."
As she replied, she moved to help other people who seemed to be in a bad spot while also looking to where Vlad was.
'Love, you better be safe. Don't do anything too dangerous and just end the fight without getting hurt.'
Then as she went to rescue someone else, a tall and muscular warrior from the priest's side came and maniacally slashed his sword at her.
She stopped and began taking some small steps while tightening her core to receive that strike with her rapier.
"HAHA, A WHORE IS ON THE SACRED BATTLEFIELD!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, WHITE-HAIRED SLUT, DON'T YOU KNOW THIS PLACE ISN'T FOR WHORES TO TARNISH THIS BATTLE?"
Sofiya, after blocking that strike and even hearing that comment from the warrior, just looked at him as if he was a dead person with her emerald green eyes that looked frosty.
Rapidly she remembered the moments she was trained and taught by Vlad.
- (𝙁𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠) -
Standing on a green hill overlooking the farms outside of Sagletius, I was standing on a rug while holding hands with Vlad as we talked about different things.
"Love, but what should I do if I were to be in a real battle?"
As I said that, I felt his hands caressing my own, and with a calm and warm tone that I have always known him to speak with when being with me, replied.
"Sofi, in a situation of war, when you are inside a real battlefield, where people's minds are deranged by the smell of blood and the screams of agony, you don't have to say anything. Not a single thing, especially to those who want to taunt you. It's a waste of time and energy that you could instead use it to end your opponent."
"Hmm, but what if I can't get used to that feeling of getting insulted?" I asked him while placing my head on his shoulder.
After I did that, Vlad kept his quiet a bit, as if he was thinking of the right answer.
"Why should you get offended? Does the opinion of your enemy matters in a fight where you could possibly risk losing your life? I think not. However, to make you feel better in case, you would encounter such idiots, know that you will always be the most beautiful woman I have encountered."
"That's why you are with me because I am beautiful?"
I asked him to hear more of his sweet words, fully knowing that he is shy with such words or how he says to me, "Why should I tell you those things every day? Don't act like a spoiled princess."
Meanwhile, I saw Vlad look at my face and especially at my eyes, which made me a bit embarrassed, then he kissed me on the lips before saying to me.
"If I would be together with you only this aspect, what man would I be? No, my lady, I like all that it's about you, your intelligence, compassion for others, ambition, and to your surprise, even your beliefs. However, my lady, let's not forget about those small defects of yours."
My big smile lasted as he talked about some of my traits, but then when he mentioned my defects, I put a slight pout on my lips.
Vlad just looked at me and took me in his embrace while saying.
"Everyone has defects. We just learn to live with them or correct them."
Then I quickly remembered another part that fitted well at this moment when I was training the sword. It was me having to choose between more types of swords that Vlad gathered from Uncle Johan.
After he explained the benefits of the swords, going to more details on the longswords that he loved using, I decided to go with the rapier, feeling it more stylish and elegant than the longsword.
It looked to me like a one-handed longsword that would match well with Vlad and also seem easier to control compared to the heavy longsword.
"Hmm, so you really went with the rapier. Fine, come to me, let me teach you how to hold it properly in your hand."
After picking the rapier in my hand with an uncomfortable grip, I went to Vlad, who took my hand holding the sword and began weirdly touching my fingers, positioning them on the handle of the sword.
"Yes, like this, that's the natural way to hold these swords. You place your index finger through here(the Ricasso), and also the thumb goes here, on the blade. Hold it properly, Sofi."
Letting go of my hand, I was now holding the rapier in my hand in a proper manner, as it felt natural to me. Does he even know how to use rapiers?
-
Moving more along my memories, while fighting the barbarian who insulted me, I could hear Vlad cheerfully laugh at me.
"Sofi, don't try to cut with that sword. It's a waste of time doing that. Your only focus is to master your core positioning, footsteps, and thrusting motion. If you simply master the thrusting aspect of that sword, you will probably even hold the advantage against me."
I could see me back then looking with big eyes at the rapier and later surprised at Vlad, who said that not expecting that from his arrogant self.
"But for that, you have a long way to go." ended him while waving his hand as if to calm my anger.
"So I just have to focus on thrusting?" I heard myself ask Vlad, who just looked at me with a wide smile.
"Indeed, just poke the hell out of your enemy, my love. Their faces, eyes, throat, chest, vital zones, everything goes. Look at your hand as it's in the extended position. Don't you think you hold the advantage if, for example, we clash now our swords?"
"Hmmm, indeed, I could easily reach you before you could cut me."
Moving back to the fight she had with this warrior, Sofiya deflected the strike that could prove fatal to her slender and delicate body, and using a strength that wouldn't look achievable for a girl her size, she did a deep thrust that passed by the body of that warrior.
'Tsk, I think I missed his liver with this thrust.'
She once again felt that she heard Vlad's voice in her mind.
"The position of your feet also matters. If you want complete efficiency to your attacks, that is the thrust, you have to have a stable leg stance like a small lunge that focuses on your core. Yes, Sofi, just like that. I knew you were a fast learner."
"If you land a successful strike, you could still be exposed if you are missing their vital organs, like the ones I taught you. To counter that problem, you use your footsteps and the drawing of the rapier to get in a safe range."
Those brief moments that felt like his whispering made Sofiya react even faster as once she pierced the warrior who by now was screaming in pain, she used her footsteps to get out of range along with drawing back her sword.
"ARGH, YOU SLUT!? YOU WILL REGRET THIS. I WILL CUT YOU INTO PIECES." roared the warrior who seemed to get even crazier while moving toward Sofiya, who was on the back step.
"It doesn't matter if you step back or move forward. Your sword would always be flying and piercing your enemy."
'Yes, my love. It doesn't matter if I'm on the back step or forward. I can pierce those brutes whenever I want.'
As she thought of that and seeing the champion warrior, who was like the one Flex or the other 2 officers fought, she followed with another piercing cut toward the warrior's chest.
"CURSE YOU AND YOUR LITTLE SWORD!?" roared the warrior who couldn't block Sofiya's attack.
As he roared, he also slowed down when Sofiya drew back the rapier, grimacing in pain as if he was suffering some nasty pain.
Meanwhile, Sofiya saw this, and after stabilizing her footing, using the forward steps quickly, she arrived and stabbed the warrior 3 more times in his chest, placing him on the ground, removing any life signs.
"Phew, I thought I messed up my footing a bit when doing the back steps."
From a distant part of the battlefield, Flex watched closely how Sofiya was fighting, and with shock on his face, while killing some warriors, he said to himself.
'To think that Her Grace would reach such an improved level in her swordplay. Well, it is no wonder since she can train with His Highness whenever she wants. Yet her improvement is really scary. I heard she only began training one year ago in the sword.'
Then suddenly, the ground shook again with the tremendous roar of the high priest who resounded in the area.
"YOU DAMNED BASTARD. YOU DARE LOOK DOWN ON ME AND EVEN USE SOME CHEAP WAYS TO WOUND ME!? YOU WILL REGRET IT. HMPH, I WILL KILL EVERYONE HERE AND SEE IF YOU WOULD REACT THE SAME."
"[STONE RAGNAROK]."
Suddenly looking at the slightly smaller stone giant who began sending stones flying in the sky while around them, stones began to rise from the ground and create something similar to an arena that encompassed everyone there.
-
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Back to Vlad, who managed to do a deep cut on the high priest using [Blood Slicer], still found himself being attacked by a first from the priest who pushed him down.
The [Blood Wings] on his back acted as a shield to protect him from the impact extending themselves on the front. Still, he found himself on the ground where Zeke was standing.
'You resilient old bastard. You still have the energy in you to use those abilities? Even after fighting this guy here?'
'Hehe, are you in trouble, master? Do you want my help?' asked the genderless voice as if sounding like wanting to help Vlad.
'Why bother asking me that?'
'Just for fun, since I like to see you in pain.'
Away from inside his talk with the dark entity, Vlad heard Zeke said to him a bit concerned while walking toward him.
"You seem like you need some help. Do you want me to act as a distraction?"
"No need, just stay there and protect yourself from the stones flying in the sky."
As Vlad said that, while more stones covered the sky, making the battlefield and the opened cage created by the High Priest seem like it was abandoned by the sun.
Raising on his feet, he empowered his blood wings on his back and took off once again, but he didn't go for the high priest this time. Instead, he appeared beside the trapped soldiers and Sofiya in the sky.
Looking at the stones that were like sharp thorns accumulating in the sky, like it was certain death for the rest of the people, Vlad just extended his hand. Suddenly, the atmosphere around the soldiers, warriors, and Sofiya turned colder.
'Hahaha, finally. Finally, you are using me the right way, as it should be. Come little red one, it's time for us to shine.' laughed the dark entity maniacally from the red and dark world, without disturbing Vlad's concentration while around the high throne was circling a red ball.
On the outside, Vlad's body began spewing out dark smoke and also have the blood on the battlefield raise uncontrollably, moving toward his raised hand, accumulating in the shape of a red ball.
Sofiya and the 3 officers looked at Vlad, who was floating in the sky, and the blood that began rising from the ground. The blood started moving in the air toward his extended hand.
"WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH ONLY SOME BLOOD, YOU FOOL!? YOUR ATTEMPT AT RESISTING ME IS FUTILE. ACCEPT YOUR DEATH!?" said the high priest while finally showering the people on the ground with his sharp stones regardless that they were his men or enemy.
"[STONE RAGNAROK]."
The stones began descending from the sky fast, but Vlad remained on the sky, floating like a tall mountain for his soldiers.
Seeing the big number of stones descending and hearing the old man's comment, he said something as if talking to himself rhetorically.
"Hmph, and you think stone can be of any help to you?"
'[Blood Vortex]'
Then when the stones were about to hit him, a huge blood vortex exited from Vlad's hand and, with a fast speed, swallowed most of the stones that were going for him and the soldiers on the ground.
The rest of the stones that descended targeted the high priest warriors, which decimated them until they reached 200.
"WHAT IS THIS? WHY THE STONES ARE ONLY TARGETING US!?" roared the warriors while looking at the sky.
Meanwhile, some quick-thinking soldiers took out their rifles and began shooting at the undefended warriors, killing in this way even more of those enemy warriors.
-
Vlad, who destroyed the stones dropping around the area of his attack, took to the skies, and with this longsword, in his hand that got covered in the black protecting layer, he arrived at the stone giant who looked surprised at him.
"You are still alive!?"
However, Vlad responded with an attack that sliced one of the arms of the stone giant using the [Blood Slicer] that looked to contain even more blood than when he first used to wound Kuljub.
The high priest released a cry of pain that shook the ground, and using the remaining arm that was covered in Armament Haki, he delivered a solid punch to Vlad in quick succession.
'[Blood Aegis]'
As he thought of that skill name, before the punch could make contact with him, a shield that looked to be the entire height of his body appeared beside him.
'[Armament]'
Following that thought, the shield turned black, which looked lighter than his dark energy. After that, he also pushed some dark energy on the shield that made it release some dark smoke.
'No, you bastard. Don't make me get entangled with that annoying thing.'
'SHUT UP. I DON'T HAVE TIME TO LISTEN TO YOUR WHINING VOICE.'
Then, managing in time to use a defensive ability, he blocked the upcoming attack. Still, as it made contact, both old man and Vlad had some fresh blood exit their mouth, following rather quickly with the shattering of the Aegis and the giant's fist.
'Ahh, my time using [Blood Wings] has run out. Damn it, I can only use it for 5 minutes. My aerial advantage has gone down in the rain. This old man's defense is solid.'
The same process could be said for Kuljub, who gnashed his bloody teeth and held the pain he suffered from getting a nasty cut on his arm after his giant stone arm was severed.
'Using the [Stone Titan] form isn't helpful. I have to scale it down, otherwise this boy will be a pain in the ass since he has the aerial advantage. Hah, hah, I need to end this soon, or I will run out of energy to even lift a finger or bat an eye.'
Kuljub began scaling down with that in mind, turning back to his normal size but keeping his stone protecting layer while Vlad was still hovering in the air.
Seeing the high priest scale down, Vlad summoned more blood swords around himself that floated behind him, appearing like protecting celestial bodies.
Finally, after summoning 6 blood swords like it was nothing for him, he took on the descending flight while the swords followed along, not getting out of his range at all.
Kuljub could see Vlad descend while looking coldly at him, holding his slender longsword that was cored in the Power of Ancestors. He did a thrusting strike from his descend as if targeting his throat or chest.
"Heh, you little shit, you think I'm done? NO!? I'm Kuljub, High Priest of Tamuin. How could I be defeated by the likes of you?"
The stone layer on his body began shifting along with the ground around himself, which started to turn into a shell, enveloping himself out of harm's way.
'You have no way to break my defense with that meager power of yours.'
Yet, his face turned pale once the impact of Nemesis with the stone shell made contact, the shockwave was strong enough to make him gush blood, but that wasn't all. The blade of the sword began moving for his body in a menacing way, that in the end, managed to stab him in the side of his stomach.
"DAMN YOU!? How can you have such power that you even break my stone shell and body protection!? What ancestral power do you possess?" screamed Kuljub from his shell in an angry tone.
Amid his screams, the old man felt another tremor on his shell as more attacks continued to flow in a relentless manner that began shattering his stone-protecting skill.
'Hah, so it came to this? To think I would feel the effects of age on my body.' thought Kuljub while spewing some blood.
With an angry and cold face, he placed his hands on the floor, and Vlad suddenly jumped away from the shell he was attacking. He could see 20 pillars rising from the ground that quickly morphed in the shape of the old priest while the stone shell began shattering, revealing the old man who no longer had his stone protecting layer but instead staying in his basic form.
"Brat, tell me your name. Since you are a worthy opponent, it will not feel bad knowing who I will kill."
Vlad stared at the old man and the stone puppets, which looked like the old man when being covered in his stone layer, and while laughing coldly, he responded with.
"You can call me Blood. As for who will kills who, that remains to be seen. However, before that, since I see that you are finally prepared to give your last breath, I will present you with a small test of death."
When Vlad heard Vlad's cold and calm voice, which sounded even a bit chilling, the first the high priest had was to laugh and moke Vlad, but he refrained from those and only said while creating a stone staff.
"Kid, you're still young. How can you even know how dead smells to even say such big words. The kids these days become more arrogant as the time flies."
However, when he said that, he felt the hairs on his body raise up along with a chilling sensation on his spine. Looking forward at the young man who began getting covered in a blood cocoon that released dark smoke and also pulsed like it contained a sinister being inside.
'What is that? That kid, how can he still release such power?'
Meanwhile, Sofiya suddenly felt a jolt and a sharp pain in her heart, but luckily for her, she wasn't fighting anyone. She quickly looked panicked for Vlad and saw a crimson cocoon that was releasing dark smoke and also containing dark veins, along with a thunderous pulsing as it was the drum of a god being beaten.
"My love, what is going on? You haven't told me that the power you've talked would turn you like this."
Flex, Levon, and Yetty gulped their saliva hard when seeing that crimson cocoon and even felt a bit of coldness run around them.
Then the pulsing of what could be said to be a heartbeat increased even more that it resonated with everyone's hearts, making them stop even fighting, staring like something drew them to look.
Finally, after 45 seconds, a slender snowy white hand made its way out from the crimson-black cocoon. Following that, more of Vlad's body began to be revealed, until slowly the cocoon got swallowed back by his body.
Kuljub felt a small tremor when he looked at the young man's new appearance.
The adversary he had now in his face looked even taller than the original, being now 2 meters, while the short white hair grew longer until it flowed to his back. His arms turned even whiter and delicate, while on his body was now a skin-tight dark-crimson armor that had a weird mark on its chest along with a long crimson-dark cape.
Taking the slender longsword that was stabbed on the ground, Vlad finally opened his mouth and said to the high priest in an apologetic tone that was calm and cold.
"Sorry for the small delay, but even if you forced your hand and attacked me while I was the cocoon, you wouldn't be able to harm me."
Ending saying that he suddenly disappeared from his vision and seconds later appeared right in his face while swinging his longsword, bypassing even his stone puppets with his incredible speed.
...
𝘼/𝙉: 𝘼𝙒𝘼𝙆𝙀 𝙈𝙔 𝙇𝙊𝙍𝘿, 𝘼𝙒𝘼𝙆𝙀!? 𝙋𝘼𝙄𝙉𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝙒𝙊𝙍𝙇𝘿 𝙄𝙉 𝘽𝙇𝙊𝙊𝘿. 𝙇𝙀𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙈 𝙎𝙀𝙀 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝙂𝙇𝙊𝙍𝙔!?
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Right, did we just saw Vlad's new Blood Transformation? Hmm, also Sofiya seems to be decent with her rapier.
What do you think guys, of this chapter?
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Don't forget to vote and comment if you enjoyed my story. (Bonus chapters if meeting certain targets, but so far I don't see you guys achieving them, so I leave it like that)
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