The Fallen Vampire

Chapter 97: The Monster vs. The God

With the massive greatsword in her hand, Ayame hurled it like a boomerang at the human lingering dangerously close to her daughter.

But of course, someone of this enemy's level wasn't frightened by a simple sword being thrown, and he easily caught the weapon with only two fingers and stopped it.

However, he grimaced internally when he realized that his arm was ringing like a church bell.

'No wonder that worm had such an inferiority complex. Even with arcane to strengthen the body he was way too weak!'

Annoyed, he let the sword drop to the ground as he looked for the woman responsible for throwing it.

Much to his dismay, he found that she was already long gone.

That is, until she appeared directly in front of him with movement that was too fast for him to properly anticipate.

BANG!

A gauntlet covered fist sailed directly into his nose and sent him sailing through the air as he bled profusely from the nose.

Ayame wasted no time in destroying the ice that was keeping her daughter frozen in place and securing Enyo and Taira's bodies in the meantime.

"Mother... I-"

"Hush for now, Keran. Your mother has a bit of business to attend to first."

Ayame pushed a small dark brown pill into the lips of her daughter and placed two entirely different ones into her palms.

"These are boiling blood pills. They're usually used for refinement of blood and tissue but they should do well in reheating the bodies of your friends."

"...They are my family." Keran corrected.

Ayame smiled wryly before dashing it away before her daughter could see it. "Yes, well... all the same."

BOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!

A pillar of cold white energy pierced the cavern ceiling above and prompted a hail of debris to rain down on the bridge below.

Velreth was now fully alert and back on his feet and wiping away blood from his ruined nose.

How long had it been since he'd been hurt?

Who in the upper realm had actually dared to strike him in his exhalted face?

It was as morbidly funny as it was inexcusable.

But this woman... she was different from the old hag from earlier.

Though they were both in the same realm, their demeanor and attitudes towards the field of cultivation were entirely opposite.

Abbess Setsuka Takashi was a scholar, and a woman who cultivated for its profundity.

But Queen Ayame Garou was a warrior, and one who viewed cultivation as a means to forcibly suppress those beneath you and establish hierarchy.

While neither were particularly wrong; it was glaringly obvious which one would be the worst matchup for him.

He could already tell that things were going to be tighter than before since he didn't have all of his power, but there were methods to ensure his victory all the same.

"True Arcane Ice : Wings of Winter!"

A fierce blizzard suddenly whipped up and engulfed the entire domain in a white snowstorm.

The storm was so thick and powerful one would be lucky to even be able to see fifteen feet in front of them.

Ayame smirked from the foreboding sense of danger as she treaded deeper into the ensuing storm.

She felt the hand intrude deeper until it methodically wrapped around her spine.

"Quite a showing, hound. You are almost as talented as a human."

Looking over her shoulder, Ayame found her opponent wearing a small smirk as if he had won.

"You may die knowing that you have been granted a meaningful death by myself; Velreth."

Ayame could feel a very oppressive cold energy trying to seep into her body and literally freeze her from the inside out.

But it was truly too bad... things like that were the wrong way to deal with someone as unfortunate as her.

Velreth's brows suddenly furrowed as he realized that Ayame's insides didn't feel quite right.

They were hot... significantly hotter than they should have been.

"What a shame. A self proclaimed great god of ice amounts to only this much..?" She muttered.

"W-What did you say?!"

"When I compare you to that other ape who took my eye, I find you significantly lacking. I guess that's because I'm used to dealing with monsters."

Velreth felt a small headache in his brain, and he once again saw the silhouette of a tall burly man in great red armor and carrying a katana that seemed long enough to cut the whole world in half.

"So... you've crossed paths with him."

"I have indeed. He took my husband, my eye, and almost my virtue. He was considerate enough to leave me something behind though."

A line of red blood spilled from between Ayame's lips and she wiped it away casually before examining it.

As always, it was boiling hot and causing a parade of steam to billow up into the cold air.

"That sword art of his... Just being cut by it imbued by body with it's terrible heat. I haven't known a day without pain in over two hundred years. So much so that I barely feel anything else at all."

There was a sharp sound like a blade cutting through wind, and Velreth lost all feeling in his left hand.

Looking down, he realized that it had been cut off so fine and precise that his body hadn't even processed the need to start bleeding yet.

"T-This..! You fucking dog!"

Velreth hurriedly leapt away to recover as Ayame reached behind her and plucked his hand out of her back.

Parting her full lips and tossing a pill inside, she sighed as she felt her back healing with ease.

'A pity indeed... another scar.'

Ayame turned around and looked towards the trembling god who was currently clutching his stump of an arm.

"Though I guess there was some merit in running into a being like that. After surviving against him, I fear little else. I suppose monsters rub off on you like that. But do you know something..?"

Holding out her hands, she smiled crazily as she made some odd symbols with her fingers.

"You hurt my daughter, my last precious thing in this entire world. So that means I get to show you how monstrous I can be..!"

Recognizing the gestures Ayame was making with her fingers, Velreth nearly felt his jaw fall open from shock.

"It's not possible... WE TOOK ALL OF THOSE BACK TO THE UPPER REALM!!"

"Oh? The fact that you know what this is means you may very well be who you say you are. But in an isolated place like this... what good is an identity?"

"You sow! How dare you use-"

"Primeval Technique : Malevolent Dharma."