In a secluded stretch of the endless forest, shadowed by the looming spires of the Crimson Castle, the earth groaned under the weight of an unrelenting struggle. Zeno and Kilo were locked in a dance of death.
Fueled by a lurking demon and clad in top-grade plate, Kilo had become a nightmare made manifest. He slammed a fist against his chest, activating the enchantments within his armor. Dark light hummed along the metal as his strength and speed surged. With a roar, he lunged toward the Son of Leonidas, a blur of heavy steel. As he closed the gap, he fired two dark energy balls in rapid-fire succession.
Zeno was no stranger to these abyssal projectiles. Utilizing his Blood Step, he flickered through the air, his silhouette blurring as he evaded the first blast. He gritted his teeth as the second sphere of dark energy whistled past his ear, close enough to singe his hair.
Shit, Zeno thought, his heart hammering against his ribs. If I take a direct hit from that, even my regeneration won't save me.
Behind him, the energy balls collided with the terrain. Two thunderous explosions ripped through the silence, carving jagged craters into the forest floor. Zeno didn't waste a heartbeat looking back. He pivoted, launching a counterattack as he entered striking distance. He spun, putting the full weight of his momentum into a lethal side-kick aimed squarely at the left side of Kilo's helmet.
Kilo's eyes, glowing with a predatory light, tracked the movement with ease. He snatched Zeno's ankle mid-air with his left hand, then clamped his right hand over the vampire's calf like a vice.
A mocking smile tugged at Kilo's lips. "You're getting slower, Zeno. Why not use that technique of yours from last time? You know, the one that had me bouncing about like a shuttlecock?"
Zeno's face contorted in a sneer. "Let go of my leg, you ugly cunt. You're not my type."
Kilo's smile died instantly, replaced by a grin that promised nothing but pain. "Be careful what you wish for."
He began to spin. Using Zeno's leg as a tether, he swung the vampire around with the raw, centrifugal power of a hammer-thrower. With a guttural grunt, he let go. Zeno's body became a projectile, hurtling through the air until he slammed through a cluster of boulders and snapped a massive tree trunk like a dry twig.
Dust and splinters settled. Zeno forced himself up, bracing one hand against the jagged remains of the trunk. Blood trickled down his temple, and his long, wet hair clung to his face, but his eyes remained cold and calculating as he stared at his opponent.
"Come, Zeno! Stop holding back!" Kilo shouted, the demon within his armor pulsing. "Show me your true power!"
Zeno glanced to his right. The terrain was a chaotic mess of ancient, thick-rooted trees and towering rock formations. A plan flickered in his eyes. Without a word, he turned and bolted into the thicket, disappearing into the shadows.
Startled, the mercenary watched the "Raven" flee. He wondered what kind of desperate scheme the vampire was cooking up now. Not willing to let his prey catch a second wind, Kilo gave chase, his heavy boots thumping against the forest floor.
As Zeno ran deeper into the forest, he felt the mud sticking to his boots, slowing him down a little. It would have been difficult for a regular human to run through this forest because the trees were not in a straight path. The trees, boulders, and rocks scattered around would have naturally slowed a regular person down. But Zeno was far from a regular person. His vampire body allowed him to move effortlessly without a single stumble.
The mercenary was no slouch either. He managed to run through the forest at a fast pace. Any boulder that blocked his path was instantly destroyed by his tentacle arm. "Come back here, Zeno, and fight me like a man!"
Once he was far enough from the castle, Zeno zig zagged up into a tree. He climbed multiple thick branches while hiding his presence from the mercenary.
By this point, Kilo had already lost sight of Zeno. But as the leader of the Storm Hornets, he had exceptional tracking skills. With the help of the demon inside, he was sure to find his enemy eventually. He crouched down at one of Zeno's footprints. Something told him that the vampire was already near him. "You are fighting like a coward, Zeno. Fight me like a man, you cunt!"
A fireball then launched through the tree branches from high above. It struck the mercenary on his right shoulder. The attack did not cause major damage because his top-grade armour gave him protection, but the impact shook his shoulder and damaged the metal.
Soon, a rain of fireballs fell on the mercenary from multiple directions above him. He managed to swipe away most of the fireballs with his tentacle arm, but the hell flames still damaged his skin. The demon inside him whispered.
Kilo smiled. He took off his armour until only his trousers remained. From high up in the tree, Zeno saw everything, furrowing his brow as he watched the mercenary's body start to morph. Kilo stood in the forest while heavy rain turned the ground to sucking mud. His bare legs gleamed dark. Because the ground was so wet, his feet dug deep into the mud as he took a steady breath.
A small tremor ran up from Kilo's heels. The skin on his lower legs tightened as thin chitin bands formed along his shins, strengthening the calves while leaving his movement free. Tendons shortened and his ankle shifted forward so the leg could coil like a spring. The feet changed last. His toes thinned and the nails curved into small hooks. The soles became thick pads covered with countless tiny hairs called setae, each one tipped with a sticky bead.
Next, his round human eyes widened and pushed forward. The skin around the sockets pulled tight as the sockets reshaped, swelling into bulbous forms that sat high on his face. Where a single flat pupil had been, each new eye split into many tiny facets. These were small, glinting lenses packed together across the rounded surface. His lids shrank and tightened into narrow slits that flicked open and shut in quick, precise movements. From the side, the eyes now bulged out past his cheekbones, giving him a far wider view without moving his head. From the front, they looked like glossy, multi paneled gems set into his dark skin.
With his new set of eyes, he scanned the surroundings, looking for the vampire hiding somewhere in the treetops. Fireballs rained from above, but the mercenary did not stand still. He started moving while scanning everything around him. Kilo hated this way of fighting. As he was running, he saw a faint shadow jumping from branch to branch. He instantly knew who it was. His eyes activated and he saw the vampire as clear as day. "There you are, you sly fox," he grinned.
He ran toward and up the trees where the vampire was hiding. His feet stuck to the tree trunks like glue. Zeno did not expect the mercenary to find him this quickly, as he was sure he had hidden his presence perfectly. With the top-grade armour gone, Kilo had lost extra strength and protection, but in turn he had gained more speed. In a flash, he appeared in front of the vampire. Wasting no time, he rotated his hips and shoulders, delivering a powerful cross punch to the face.
Zeno was punched right through the top part of the tree trunk. He fell through the air and hit the forest floor with a heavy thud. A loud crash followed as the broken piece of the tree slammed into the mud next to him. Kilo looked at his fist in shock. "My power is growing so fast," he whispered.
The vampire was stunned. This man had been a regular human only a few hours ago. "This is madness," Zeno thought. "There must be a price for gaining this much strength so quickly. What did he give up?"
Zeno's pale skin was now covered in mud. As he struggled to his feet, Kilo landed just a few steps away. "Kilo, tell me," Zeno said, wiping blood from his face. "Do you have anyone you love?"
"What does that have to do with this fight?" Kilo barked. "You don't need to know anything, leech. You are standing at death's door."
"If you won't talk, then listen to this," Zeno growled. "When I kill you, and I will definitely kill you, I will find every member of your mercenary group. I will send my men to hunt them all down. Any family you have left will be wiped off this planet. I don't care how long it takes. I have all the time in the world. No one attacks my family and gets away with it. If you have a son, a daughter, or a wife, they will die in the most painful way possible. I promise you that."
"You will do no such thing!" Kilo roared.
Deep inside Kilo's mind, he stood in a dark room. The walls were dripping with a thick black liquid. The eel like monster floated in front of him. There was no smell or sound in this place. Tiny, bright particles flew from the corners of the room like a rainbow, pulled toward the eel like a magnet. The light looked like glitter as it disappeared into the monster's body. "Do you need more power, Kilo?" the demon asked.
"How did you know?" Kilo asked.
"Why else would you be here?" the demon grinned from ear to ear. "It is because you cannot beat the vampire. But I must warn you. If I give you more power, your life will become shorter. Is this what you want?"
Kilo gritted his teeth. He thought about his wife and his daughter. His massive mercenary group was almost bankrupt, and he had no way to pay his men. When the vampire Carlos Decker came to him, he promised that defeating Leonidas would destroy the Crimson family. Kilo knew that if Leonidas died, the next big problem would be his wife, Anna Crimson. She used to be Anna Fulger, and she came from a very powerful and dangerous family. Killing her would make Kilo a target, but he was promised all the treasures of the Crimson clan. Kilo believed that if he got those riches, he would be set for life.
Kilo owed a certain group of people a lot of money. Because he had lent out so much money himself, he was not able to get it all back. His mercenary guild was on the brink of collapse. He and his personal assistant were the only ones who knew about these financial problems. Most of his men believed the mercenary group was doing well and that business was good. Kilo knew if he did not pay the money within the next two months, he and his family would be in great danger. He steeled himself, knowing the Crimsons were no ordinary vampire family. He did not trust Decker either since he was also a vampire, but they had both agreed to sign a powerful magical contract called an Absolute Death Vow. If either party broke the rules of the contract, they would die instantly, whether they were mortal or immortal. Decker was his only hope. This was supposed to be his last mission to make enough money to set his family up for life.
The mercenary group had been well prepared and caught the Crimsons off guard during the attack on the castle. Massive aircraft, hidden by cloaking and silent magic, carried them through the clouds. Their most powerful mages cast spells to hide the warriors as they rained down from the sky. The vampire knights did not know what hit them until it was too late. Even though the invaders killed many vampires, the elite warriors of the castle slowly turned the tide of the battle. Now Kilo was up against a famous vampire and the son of Leonidas. He had been defeated by Zeno once, but he chose to make a pact with a demon to become stronger and keep fighting. His plans had changed. He still wanted to kill the Crimsons, but knowing he would die soon, he wanted to leave something behind for his family. Now that his wife and daughter were being threatened, he was forced to borrow even more power to defeat this mighty foe.
The image of his wife and daughter flashed in his mind, and he made his choice. "Yes, give me more power."
On the outside, his body morphed again. This time he grew taller, and slowly, the bones inside his body disappeared. In their place, a dark armor grew over his chest, arms, and legs. This shell looked like polished black stone, smooth and strong. It was split into different parts that clicked together when he moved, like a suit of armor that was part of his body. Then, with a sharp snap, a single long blade made of heavy black bone tore through the armor of his right forearm. It was shaped into a lethal point, a dark blade that matched his shell perfectly. A pair of see through wings sprouted from his shoulder blades, thin like an insect. Dark veins covered the wings like tiny rivers, and the surface shined with greens and blues like oil on water. Though they looked delicate, the wings were attached to powerful muscles that tightened with every beat. Up close, the wings showed tiny hairs and a faint oily sheen.
A massive amount of power erupted from his body. Zeno was greatly startled. "I think I might have dug myself an early grave. Well, no need to complain. I just have to kill him quickly," he thought as he prepared himself.
Kilo's new wings shook with a faint, jittery vibration. They made a quick, sharp whirring sound with every movement. The mercenary got ready to strike the vampire with the new black blade growing from his arm.
"Blood Burst!"
With his upper body bare, Zeno's skin turned a light shade of red. He held out the index and middle fingers of his right hand. A concentrated spark of hellflame lit up at his fingertips and instantly mixed with his spirit force. With a swift sweep of his arm to the side, the intense heat stretched through the air like thick, sticky liquid. The fire grew long and then suddenly turned into a sharp blade made of crackling energy and roaring flames. Zeno snapped his hand shut and grabbed the base of the weapon, feeling the pillar of fire pulse with life in his grip.
They both dashed toward each other at incredible speed. Kilo thrust his dark blade forward, and Zeno raised his burning edge as the two warriors collided.
The moment the roaring hellflame met the pitch-black bone blade, the air exploded. A massive shockwave screamed out from the center of the hit and struck the falling rain with the force of a bomb. The heavy water drops were crushed outward into a glowing, round dome of water that grew with terrifying speed.
The sheer force of the impact was cataclysmic. The shockwave tore through the forest and instantly turned the nearby trees into millions of splinters. Massive boulders caught in the blast were shattered into fine dust, leaving a wasteland behind.
Inside the empty space of the water dome, their weapons reached their limit. The pressure was too much for them to hold together. With a loud crack, Kilo's dark blade snapped in half, sending the broken top section spinning into the night. A split second later, the core of Zeno's hellflame became unstable. The blade of fire exploded into a cloud of red sparks.
Left with empty hands and fueled by pure adrenaline, neither warrior backed down. They immediately lunged forward through the steam to engage in brutal, bone crushing hand to hand combat.
Zeno delivered two jabs that hit Kilo's face in quick succession. The mercenary could feel the sharp sting of the jabs as his head was knocked back.
Pop.
Pop.
His instincts told him to block high, but Zeno was waiting for this. The vampire followed up with a hook to the body, sending the mercenary flying through the air. Zeno immediately continued his assault to punch his enemy into the dirt, but Kilo used his new wings to stabilize himself in the sky.
The vampire was caught off guard and Kilo kicked him hard. Kilo then flew up at blinding speed, his wings making a loud buzzing sound through the rain. He reached his opponent and unleashed a powerful punch, sending the vampire crashing back to the earth. A huge thud was heard as mud and rocks flew everywhere when the vampire hit the ground.
Kilo took this chance to fly high into the sky. He dodged the thick branches of the trees above his head until he finally broke through into the clear air. He looked down as he rose higher and noticed the thick green canopy of the forest below. With his new eyes, he could see everything. He knew exactly where Zeno was hiding.
He stretched out his palm and formed a ball of dark energy. "It is time I put an end to this battle, Zeno." Kilo chuckled and lifted his right arm, pouring even more demonic energy into his hand. The ball grew larger and larger. Suddenly, his concentration snapped. A huge pillar of fire erupted from the top of the mountain in the distance. Kilo used his sharp eyes to focus on the location. He realized it was Leonidas, and the power he felt was spiking. "How is this possible?" he thought in shock.
Zeno, still laying on the muddy ground, felt that energy from far away. He immediately knew it was his father. "Father, you have returned," he whispered with a small laugh. "I should probably put in a little more effort too. But why does his energy feel so weak?"
Zeno got up and looked toward the sky. He saw Kilo was still distracted by the fire pillar, but he also noticed the massive energy ball in the mercenary's hand. "You think that is enough to kill me?" Zeno muttered.
"Take this!" Zeno yelled. He fired a blast of fire at Kilo while the mercenary was looking away. Kilo noticed the incoming attack at the last second. His dark energy ball vanished as he dove out of the way. "You scoundrel!" Kilo screamed.
Zeno ran through the forest, firing a continuous stream of fireballs from his right hand. As he moved, his boots sank into the wet soil, but his strong legs pushed him forward. He ran in random directions to stay hidden. He had to keep turning his head to navigate because the trees were so thick, all while shooting at his opponent high above.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his chest. "Have I been using the Hellflame too much?" he wondered.
In the sky, Kilo was busy dodging the fireballs coming from below. He flew at high speeds, following the trail of the shots. He extended his right hand and began returning fire, launching his own dark energy balls at the running vampire.
The sound of explosions filled the forest every time a dark energy ball hit the ground. Zeno had to move in a zig zag pattern to make his movements hard to predict. "Shit, I cannot keep firing like this," Zeno thought. "I am going to reach my limit soon if this battle drags on. I need a way to defeat him quickly."
Kilo continued to follow the vampire from the air as they moved deeper into the woods. He was getting tired of the chase. "Tsk. Is he just trying to waste my time?"
Kilo's eyes swiftly followed the vampire's movements. Kilo stretched out his hand and conjured three dark balls next to each other. The dark balls obviously followed where the mercenary flew like a magnet. He would change direction constantly as Zeno changed the direction he was running while firing fireballs from his palm.
Kilo then thought of a plan. He infused his dark balls with more spirit force. "You have wasted enough of my time. I have to finish you as quickly as possible."
He flicked his hand and the dark energy balls descended. The three balls tracked their target like homing missiles. Kilo used his special eyes to track and predict where the vampire would go and ordered the dark balls to follow his command.
Three dark projectiles entered through the canopy, swiftly moving through the trees toward their target. Zeno sensed something was not right as he was moving through the forest. He looked back and noticed three dark balls moving toward him.
"Blood Burst!"
Sprinting through the forest with more speed, Zeno ran through the thick branches, jumping over boulders and deep ravines trying to escape the three dark balls.
The vampire, now out of ideas, thought of making both their attacks clash. He shot out a fireball from his palm aiming directly at the dark ball in front. Yet, to the vampire's surprise, just as his attack was about to clash with one of the dark balls, the three projectiles suddenly moved. All three of them avoided the fireball, then formed a straight line again, heading toward their target at greater speed. Zeno braced himself as he was thinking of eliminating the dark balls as they came closer, but then all three balls fused into each other, expanding significantly.
"I am screwed."
A large dark explosion could be seen from Kilo's point of view from high up in the sky. "Hahaha, my plan worked." He looked down and all the trees and vegetation were destroyed. It looked like a huge dome of the ground was wiped out.
"I defeated the mighty Zeno. Imagine if I had this power in my younger years."
Kilo was feeling joy while hovering in the air until multiple fireballs headed his way, but with his enhanced reflexes, he managed to dodge the attacks pretty easily.
"Why will you not die, Zeno!"
Zeno's left arm was gravely injured, but he was standing tall with his right arm extended. The vampire was bleeding, with deep gashes and slits all over his body. "You did good, mercenary. Thinking quick on your feet, that is why humans are sometimes so interesting. But I am afraid I will be borrowing your idea a little. I hope you do not mind."
The vampire grinned. He raised his hand in the heavy rain. A dense mass of crimson Hellflame ignited just inches above his open palm, immediately vaporizing the downpour before it could touch his skin. It was not a wild, uncontrollable fire. It was a concentrated singularity of immense, volatile power.
A blinding ring of solid light formed its core. It burned with such intensity that it cast heavy, fiery shadows across his hand and illuminated the falling water. Violent flames licked upward from the top of the burning mass and sent a flurry of glowing embers floating up through the storm. The sheer, pressurized heat warped the space around his fingers to create a hissing pocket of steam, but his hand remained perfectly steady.
Zeno then infused his hellflame fireball with spirit force, turning the fireball into a red orb. This time, the flames that were leaking out were now almost compressed, giving it the hot red orb look.
"Using the hellflame too much is going to give me a backlash. As long as this guy does not make it out alive. I should have killed him when I had the chance. But that is the weakness of the Crimsons that would probably be our downfall. We play too much with our enemies and hold back so the fight lasts longer. No matter, might as well try this new strategy."
The vampire then began sprinting again into the thick forest, firing multiple red orbs at his enemy in the sky.
"Are you stupid, Zeno?" Kilo said as he dodged the red fire orbs that were constantly fired from below. The orbs would fly straight past Kilo into the dark clouds. "You have a lousy aim, Zeno. Is it because you got injured?"
"I already got you figured out, it is just a matter of time until you die." He flew through the air, his eyes scanning the forest until he noticed a blur moving through the green trees.
This time Kilo had to put in more effort in the sky, as he was constantly forced to maneuver through the air to dodge the red orbs coming his way. For the mercenary, this was very annoying. He produced three dark energy balls from his palm. However, the mercenary now knew that this strategy worked, so he poured massive amounts of demonic energy into the dark balls. "This time I will wipe you from the face of this planet. With this plan, I have you in checkmate."
The three dark balls moved swiftly through the air, hunting their target like a pack of hungry dogs. The vampire was always looking up and firing red orbs toward his enemy who had the high ground. "You are a lousy shot, Zeno. Let me show you another trick."
Zeno started to sprint faster. "Kilo, come down and fight like a man!"
"Hahaha, weren't you the one who started running from me and now you are complaining?"
"I changed my mind!"
"Unfortunately, you do not make the rules."
The dark energy balls found and surrounded their target. The vampire gazed at the three projectiles that were around him, and he looked up at Kilo who floated high up in the sky. "You think these little balls are enough to kill me, Kilo!"
"Funny you just said that."
As the three dark balls closed in on Zeno, they suddenly expanded into enormous dark balls. "I hope I didn't disappoint, Zeno, hahaha!"
"Shit."
BOOM.
This time the explosion was even bigger than before. This time the crater was even larger. The mercenary's attack wiped out a large portion of the forest. The pressure of the attack pushed a dome of rainwater away. After the explosion, the rain started to fall again. Kilo was sure that he finished the job this time. He could feel a huge rush throughout his body. "This feels exhilarating. I think this ain't a bad way to die. Killing this infamous vampire will let my name stand the test of time."
Just as the smoke cleared, Zeno was standing in the middle of the crater, all bloodied. Kilo could not believe it. He had poured a massive amount of demonic energy into the three dark energy balls. How was the vampire still alive, he wondered. He did not know that Zeno had protected himself by creating a dense barrier around his body using spirit force. However, he did not come out of it completely unharmed.
The vampire raised his bloodied right arm. "Hahaha, that was excellent, human. You made great use of the power you got from the demon in such a short amount of time. But it is time to bring down the curtain."
Out of the dark clouds, massive amounts of red orbs descended like a spill of rubies poured from the sky. Huge amounts of steam followed as the rain touched the red hot orbs. The multiple red orbs were suspended in the air and surrounded Kilo.
The mercenary's heart started to race. "What the hell? Where did these orbs come from? How did he suddenly summon all these? It is impossible!"
He then thought back to all the red orbs that Zeno had attacked him with earlier. All of those attacks had missed him at the time, and he did not think much of it. But he now realized that it was all part of Zeno's plan. He looked around for a gap he could maybe fly through, but there was none. Also, the heat around him was starting to burn his skin. From below, it looked like a massive part of the sky was covered with small red lights and filled with steam.
Kilo knew that this was the end and that Zeno had put him in checkmate. All these red orbs were more than enough to destroy his hardened body. "My lord, please have mercy. Spare my family!"
Zeno grinned evilly as his hand slowly began to close. "Set your mind at ease, human. Your family will meet you soon in the afterlife."
"Noooo!"
Zeno clamped his hand shut. It was like Kilo became a magnet, and the orbs immediately slammed together with him at the center, creating a huge explosion. The mercenary's whole body was obliterated in the process.