Chapter 184: Two Predators

Chapter 184: Chapter 184: Two Predators

Clara pressed the advantage.

Her lunar ice spear thrust toward Vasilev’s chest — a blinding strike powered by Gravity Manipulation and vampiric strength. Vasilev raised her remaining hand. A blast of flame erupted from her palm. FWOOOOM! The fire struck Clara’s spear and spread outward in a concentrated wave.

Clara crossed her arms. Lunar energy condensed around her body — a shell of silver frost that absorbed the flame. HSSSSS. Steam erupted where fire met frost. The heat pushed her back three meters, her boots skidding across the cracked ground.

Vasilev used the breather. She pressed her severed wrist against her thigh. Fire mana concentrated at the stump as the wound cauterized and the bleeding stopped. The flesh sealed with a hiss and the smell of burned meat.

She picked up her S-Rank spear with her left hand.

Clara attacked again. Her spear moved in rapid thrusts, each one aimed at Vasilev’s vitals. Vasilev parried with her off-hand. CLANG-CLANG-CLANG. The exchanges were sharp, fast, brutal. But the advantage had shifted. Vasilev’s reactions were slower. Her blocks were a fraction of a second late. Her footwork was compromised.

Clara pressed harder.

The library wall exploded outward.

CRAAAASH!

Rashid emerged from the rubble. His clothes were burned. His skin was blackened where the necromantic explosions had detonated against his face and chest. But the burns were already fading — vampire regeneration knitting the damaged tissue back together layer by layer. His violet eyes blazed with fury.

"You damn necromancer bitch."

Lemora raised her hand. Her remaining Mid Grand Core corpse puppet charged Rashid from the front. The three Peak C-Rank beast corpses flanked.

Rashid dissolved into blood mist. The corpse puppet’s fist passed through empty air. The wolf’s jaws snapped on nothing. The bear’s claws raked through vapor.

He reformed behind the bear. His dagger drove through its skull. SHLIKT. The beast corpse convulsed and collapsed. He ripped the dagger free and spun — cutting the serpent’s head off in a single arc. SHK. Two down.

The wolf lunged. Rashid caught its jaws with his free hand — vampire strength holding the reanimated beast’s mouth open. He drove his dagger through its brain. The wolf went limp.

Three Peak C-Rank corpses destroyed in four seconds.

Lucian moved. Aethon coated in Light Blade and Sword Intent. He closed the distance with Light Steps, appearing at Rashid’s flank. He swung.

"Crescent Moon Slash!"

The arc of sword intent screamed toward Rashid’s torso. Rashid parried with one dagger — TING — and counterattacked with the second. The dagger slash caught Lucian’s shoulder. SHLK. Blood welled.

Lucian fired a Light Blast point-blank. FWEEESH. The concentrated beam struck Rashid’s chest and launched him backward. BOOM. He crashed through a garden wall.

Lucian kept Primordial Sight active despite the strain. The mana drain was significant, but without it, Rashid’s blood mist made him nearly impossible to track. He needed every edge.

Rashid pulled himself from the rubble. His regeneration closed the burn on his chest. He charged again — daggers flashing.

The Mid Grand Core corpse puppet intercepted. Its fist connected with Rashid’s jaw. CRACK. Rashid stumbled — but grabbed the puppet’s arm and ripped it off at the shoulder. CRAAACK. Dark energy sprayed from the severed joint. The puppet staggered but kept fighting — its remaining arm swinging.

Another corpse puppet — Lemora’s last human corpse — appeared behind Rashid. Its fist connected with his face. BOOM. Rashid flew sideways, crashing through a bench and a lamppost. CRAAASH.

He stood up from the rubble. His jaw was broken — hanging at an angle before regeneration snapped it back into place. His violet eyes became enraged.

"You think your little toys can match me?"

His aura exploded. His fangs elongated past his lips, curving downward like ivory sabers. His eyes shifted from violet to full crimson. His muscles swelled. His dark hair lengthened. His nails extended into curved claws. A dark red haze radiated from his body.

True Vampiric Form.

Rashid smirked. "You think you’re the only one with tricks, prophecy child?"

Lucian’s Primordial Sight analyzed the transformation. The form was identical to the one Khalil had used in New Geneva — a partial vampire release that boosted physical stats by approximately 30%. But the analysis revealed something else. The form drained blood energy and life force continuously. Prolonged use shortened the user’s lifespan significantly. It was a desperate measure — power borrowed from tomorrow, paid for in years.

Rashid moved.

His speed had doubled. He appeared beside Lucian before Lucian could react — daggers descending. Lucian raised Aethon. CLAAANG! The impact pushed him backward, his boots cracking the ground. The force behind Rashid’s strike had increased enormously.

Lemora fired a dark blast of death energy from behind. The beam screamed toward Rashid. He stepped back — dodging by centimeters — and redirected his attack toward Lemora. His dagger slash caught her raised arm. SHLK. Blood mist poisoned the wound. Lemora stumbled back, clutching her arm, dark veins spreading from the cut.

Lucian fired Light Bolts. FWEEESH-FWEEESH-FWEEESH. Rashid deflected two with his daggers. The third struck his thigh. He grunted but kept moving — closing the distance to Lucian with terrifying speed.

Another exchange occured as daggers clashed with Lucian’s Aethon. CLANG-CLANG-CLANG. But Rashid was faster now and stronger. His blood mist coated each dagger strike, leaving toxic residue on every wound. Lucian took a cut across his forearm. SHLK. The poison burned and his regeneration fought it — but the dual drain of healing damage and purging toxin was slowing him.

Lucian needed more. Peak Core against Late Grand Core. Even with Blood Eclipse Art, even with Primordial Sight, even with Lemora’s support — Rashid’s True Vampiric Form was closing the gap faster than they could exploit it.

He made the decision.

Meanwhile — Research Department.

Ryan and Rose arrived at the Research Department building at a sprint. The evacuation portal was active — a swirling blue gateway ten meters tall, maintained by three academy technicians who were pouring mana into the stabilization array. Students poured through in a steady stream. Some were crying. Some were carrying injured classmates. The portal led to a secure World Government facility.

Ryan grabbed Rose’s arm. "We need to go. Now."

Rose hesitated. She looked back toward the courtyard. "I’m not sure Lucian and Clara have arrived yet."

Ryan’s expression was grim. "If they’re still alive, they have the strength to reach here quickly. If we stay and the vampires break through, we die for nothing. The portal won’t hold forever." He paused. "For all we know, they might have gone already. They could have entered the portal."

Rose stared back toward the sounds of battle in the sky.

But Ryan was right.

She nodded.

They stepped through the portal. The blue light swallowed them. They were gone.

Back in the courtyard.

Lemora saw Rashid’s True Vampiric Form. She saw Lucian’s body beginning to transform.

She began her own transformation. Dark energy swirled around her. Her violet eyes shifted. Her fangs extended. Her muscles tensed.

Lucian grabbed her wrist. "Don’t."

Lemora glared at him. "He’ll kill us both if I don’t —"

"If all three of us are in our true vampire Form, we’ll all be drained and weakened at the same time. The fight could drag on. If we all collapse together, we die." His crimson eyes were calm despite the transformation racing through his body. "We need one person clear-headed."

Lemora hesitated. Then she cancelled the transformation. Her fangs retracted and her eyes returned to violet as the dark energy around her dissipated.

Predator Form.

His body started emitting a reddish energy. The crimson glow of his eyes intensified — deepening past crimson into something ancient. He stored Aethon into his Shadow Storage. His claws couldn’t grip the sword properly in this form anyway.

Lucian’s crimson eyes darkened to their deepest shade. His hair lengthened — flowing past his shoulders, the tips darkening to deep black. His fangs extended fully, pressing past his lower lip. His fingernails elongated with sharp organic sounds — schlikt, schlikt, schlikt — curving into obsidian claws. His muscles swelled. A crimson haze radiated outward from his body — thicker and more oppressive than Rashid’s.

The haze pressed outward. Rashid felt it — an instinctive, primal pressure that whispered danger in the ancient part of his brain. He pushed the feeling back immediately.

Lemora felt it too. A shiver ran down her spine. The aura radiating from him wasn’t just powerful. It was ancient. It was the presence of something that predates vampire clans, predates bloodlines, predates the very concept of predator and prey.

Lucian stood between Lemora and Rashid.

"We end this in ten minutes." He whispered to Lemora.