Although the sun blared down on the path with a blazing light the trees were unable to cover, the clashing of blades never once stopped.
Five minutes had passed since Nykos and Cassiel had started their fight.
Since then, Kislev and Elysia both ran past the two, heading towards the other thirteen that were behind them.
As the two were the only uninjured, they decided it was best they took on the mass of the group, leaving the injured to protect themselves from the six that were still hiding.
.....
With Nathan's blade breaking in the first ten seconds, he immediately switched to using martial arts, attacking Cassiel with a flurry of punches and kicks.
Being who he is, Cassiel never drew his blade, even going as far as canceling his Blood Shield magic.
"You fight like a toddler." Cassiel mocks, deflecting Nathan's attacks with the flick of his wrists.
Despite his constant belittling, Nathan continued to stay calm, having Cassiel a bit taken aback.
Teleporting behind Cassiel multiple times, Nathan was doing his best to disorientate Cassiel using his family's dark magic techniques that were exclusive to his family alone.
.....
Making quick work of the other warriors, Kislev and Elysia turn around, ready to head back towards their injured group, before realizing they were fine as Albus was panting with the bodies of six vampires on the ground near him.
Quickly changing their target to Nathan, they prepare themselves to join the fight, before Cassiel speaks up.
"Do not interfere with this fight, that is an order." Cassiel would say in a cold tone.
Unwilling to disobey an order from their king, Kislev, Elysia, and Albus all put their swords back in their sheathes, standing nearby in case of an emergency.
.....
As the fight continues along further, Cassiel begins to get bored.
Nathan was using the same move multiple times despite the fact it wasn't working.
Growing angry, Cassiel smashes his fist into the ground, before blowing up his mana, shooting up clouds of rocks and dirt.
With his vision blurred, Nathan looks around frantically, before launching into a tree after Cassiel sends a devastating kick to his side.
Coughing out blood for the first time in his entire life, Nathan looks up at Cassiel.
His eyes were filled with fear and despair.
He looked at Cassiel as prey does a predator.
"You're not so strong when you can't rely on your magic, are you, little Nykos?" Cassiel mocks, taking step after step towards Nathan.
Standing up as his legs tremble, Nathan continues to stare at Cassiel.
"Y-You... You best be prepared for a long walk..."
Without another moment being wasted, Nathan disappears in a dissipating black smoke.
Letting out a loud sigh of frustration, Cassiel turns to face his companions.
"I hope you're all ready, this is going to be a lot longer of a walk than I anticipated."
.....
.....
After two days passed, Nathan Nykos would show up again.
However, this time he was alone.
It was the middle of the night, minutes before they were about to set up for rest.
All of the vampires under Cassiel were completely healed from all previous wounds, making this a fight Nathan would never win in the first place.
.....
"Albus, I want you to fight him." Cassiel orders.
Looking at Cassiel confused, Albus doesn't hesitate for another moment as he walks past Cassiel and towards Nathan, drawing his sword as he gets closer.
Glaring at Albus as he walks up, Nathan quickly grows angry.
'He's sending a damn commoner to deal with me..? The nerve of this bastard.' He thinks to himself, his anger only growing stronger as he pulls his own blade out.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Nathan appears in front of Albus.
Out of instinct, Albus swings a left hook at Nathan's face as he hadn't readied himself with his sword prior.
Phasing through the attack, Nathan counters by sending a knee into Albus' guts, sending him back a couple feet.
"What a weird magic..." Albus mumbles.
"Cassiel, am I free to kill him?" Albus questions, confused.
Laughing, Cassiel nods, daring him to if he can.
Focusing himself back on Nathan, it's not long before he has disappeared again.
Closing his eyes and using his senses, Albus puts his guard above his head, parrying Nathan's sneak attack from above.
Pushing forward, Albus launches Nathan's sword into the ground.
In shock, the second Nathan touches the ground, he rushes over to grab his sword, still in pure disbelief a commoner sensed him coming.
Almost as if to mock him, Cassiel laughs again.
Embarrassed, this begins to weigh down on his mind.
If a commoner in their group is this strong, how strong would the others be?
As he gets in his own head panicking, he doesn't realize until the last moment that Albus' blade is inches from his neck.
Cutting through smoothly, Albus takes a moment to realize there was no blood on the blade of his sword, and Nathan was again, nowhere to be seen.
Clapping, Cassiel congratulates Albus on his victory against a member of a royal family.
.....
Three days would pass this time before Nathan Nykos would appear once more.
It was about mid day, and he came with three others.
They were all dressed in black just as they were before.
.....
"He doesn't plan on giving up, does he?" Kislev questions, baffled by the determination.
"I believe what he's attempting is to buy Anvilius more time to prepare..." Cassiel responds, frustrated.
"An hour won't change much" Thern snickers.
Kislev, Elysia, and Ophelia do their best to hide their smiles from his remark.
"Who would like to deal with this one?" Cassiel asks, interested in who would respond.
Unexpectedly, Thern, Ophelia, and Elysia step forward.
"A three versus four? Go on then" Cassiel orders, smiling.
As the three step forward, the other three that had came with Nathan step forward as well, while Nathan stands back.
Confused, Elysia and the others look at each other, before stopping as they stare at the three in front of them.
With all four of their faces being covered, it was hard to tell what Nathan and the three warriors he brought with him were thinking, however, it wasn't long before the warriors advanced.
In a moment's notice, the groups clash blades and a loud ringing noise is blasted through the forest path.
As Elysia's side quickly takes the offensive, it isn't long before they realize something is wrong.
Other than the initial clash, the warriors under Nathan haven't taken a singular offensive swing.
They were solely fighting defensively.
Doing their best to overpower them quickly, it isn't long before Thern makes the first mistake.
Going for a huge swing, Thern slashes down vertically at the warrior he's fighting, only for the vampire to turn into a black mist.
Moments later, Nathan appears in front of Thern, stabbing his sword straight through the middle of his chest.
"You fools, you can't even beat clones of myself." Nathan mocks, kicking Thern off his blade as he switches places with the clone attacking Ophelia.
Catching her off guard, Nathan slashes forward, scraping skin off Ophelia's shin as she barely manages to dodge.
Watching all of this happen in the blink of an eye, Albus steps forward, before being stopped by Cassiel.
"Don't intervene, that's an order." Cassiel demands, his eyes never leaving the battle.
Elysia, noticing what's happened behind her, finishes off her fight swiftly before dashing towards Nathan.
Keeping pressure on Ophelia, Nathan doesn't notice Elysia before it's too late.
With a flying kick straight into his back, Nathan is launched into the ground.
As his mist form is solely reflex reliant, he hadn't had the chance to use it to dodge Elysia's attack, not knowing it was coming.
Without wasting a second, Elysia dashes forward again, slashing Nathan's head off, only for him to disappear in black smoke once again.
Cursing under her breath, Elysia quickly runs over to make sure Ophelia is ok while Cassiel walks over to Thern.
"I don't believe we've had the time to speak to each other, have we, Thern?" Cassiel says, his voice soft.
"I'm sorry my-" Coughing out blood, Thern is unable to complete his sentence.
"You're one of my warriors, allow me to help." Cassiel continues, slicing open his finger to draw blood for Thern.
.....
.....
As the day had quickly turned to night, and back into day, the group were completely rejuvenated, with the sole exception being Thern who was still healing.
After another five hours of traveling along the path, they had finally come to face the great wall that surrounded the city of Anvilius, the wall that was remarked to be the strongest and sturdiest wall in all of Rampiel.
A wall that was masked head to toe in vampires wielding a mass of strange weapons that had never been seen before.