Chương 24: (24) B1 C24: Ambush Part II

I looked down at the corpses below me, my eyes focused on the two puddles of blood painting the dirt in crimson. The smell was incredibly fragrant, almost bordering on becoming unbearable, and I found myself gathering saliva in my throat as my focus drifted from the fight ahead of us. Two corpses, both of which I couldn't feed on. Gods, it was unbearable.

"Lucia, why don't you move over that way," I said, pointing deeper into the forest. I tried to hide the hunger coursing through my mind, yet the task almost felt impossible. At the very least, I was glad that I couldn't feel my fangs showing, "After they discover the deaths of their friends, they might try a locating spell. It's best if we separate for when that happens."

"Separate? Won't it be easier to fight them together?"

"Just listen, please?" I pleaded. The thirst was tickling at my throat. Lucia blinked at me, confused, before slowly giving me a nod. To my relief, she moved away from the corpses and toward the opposite end of the campsite. I watched her go, all while keeping my lips pursed so I wouldn't expose the fangs I felt beginning to poke at my lips. The four remaining slavers huddled together, each of them gathering around Ismena as she concentrated on her spell.

Then, once I knew nobody was within sight, I tore my eyes back to the ground. Then, I dove. The first corpse to receive my desperation was the Rogue's. My fangs sank into his neck with ease, yet the viciousness of my thirst ripped apart his skin like the discarded remains of an envelope. I lifted his body up, so that I could reach him easier, and moaned in delight as I tasted his vitality flow into me. I really couldn't get enough of this.

He was drained dry soon enough, and afterwards I turned my attention to Malyn. She, like the rogue, was drained of all of her worth. The blood flowing from their necks was meager in comparison to what I felt swimming through my gut and decorating my chin. I smiled, only slightly satisfied as I wiped the blood away from my lips, before I finally turned my attention to the other slavers. Each of them were filled to the brim with my dinner, and I had every intention of dining well tonight.

As the green detection spell finally began to emerge from the foliage in front of me, I turned my attention to the notifications vying for my attention. +160 BP (Level 16 Human Witch) +230 BP (Level 15 Human Rogue) Because they were both nothing more than glass cannons, neither gave me the filling of BP I was hoping for. I closed the notifications, then turned to the spell inching closer to me.

"God, she's really inefficient with this thing," I mumbled to myself as I watched the spell's edge finally touch my skin. It passed through me as if I were nothing but air, which wasn't a surprise, before continuing on to the drained corpses behind me. Only once it passed over both of them did the spell finally disappear.

"Oh, by the gods," I heard Ismena whisper, her voice swimming with fear.

"What is it?" The other rogue pressed, his own voice reflecting the emotions in hers.

"They're dead. Both of them," She replied. Immediately, the other rogue dashed forward while screaming in rage and frustration. The shieldsman, Hamund, moved to intercept him and managed to hold the rogue back with a firm grasp around his midsection.

"No!" The rogue shouted in agony. Tears streamed down his face as his hands pushed against Hamund's bulky arms, but the shieldsman didn't move, "Malyn! Please!" This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it"Roley, stop," Ismena pleaded with an exasperated voice. She lifted her staff, her attention pointed at the treeline before her, "Now isn't the time to grieve. There's something out there."

"But my sister! Please, Ismena, you can't be right! There has to be something we can do!" The rogue, Roley, begged, "She was here only minutes ago!"

"I've already confirmed it, Roley. She's gone," Ismena sighed. She turned to Jonathan, who was staring at the forest in pure disbelief. His arms had gone limp at his sides and his expression had gone blank with shock. It was as if a part of his mind had shattered. Ismena stepped forward, her arm briefly pushing against his shoulder in a consoling way, "Jonathan?"

"She… she…" Jonathan began. He sighed, then looked down in defeat.

"We have to form up. We're under attack, and whatever killed them is still going to be around," Ismena ordered. She turned to Hamund, but before she could get an order out, she turned back to Jonathan in horror. The big man had charged forward, separating himself from the group with the fury of a volcanic eruption. His feet carved into the dirt below him as they carried him toward the treeline. As he ran, Jonathan lifted his wand from his belt, then swung it forward to summon a golden whip of energy.

It cracked against the air, sending a sharp echo of noise across the clearing as a spark of electricity tickled the earth below. With his other hand, he lifted the prayerbook on his hip, then swung it open to a page near the center. I turned my gaze to his destination, then swore in agitation as I recognized a familiar teenager failing to hide among the foliage surrounding her.

Lucia lifted her head, her eyes as wide as headlights, and I felt the breath within me hike up to my throat as I quickly moved to reach her. I already knew before I started moving that I wasn't going to reach her in time. I was moving too slow, which gave Jonathan the chance to reach her before I could. He swung his arm, attempting to strike Lucia down with a crack of his whip.

Luckily, she wasn't dumb enough to stay still, so she dodged backwards, easily clearing herself out of harm's way as Jonathan's whip narrowly passed in front of her abdomen. Then, before Jonathan could recover from his attack, I finally found myself upon him. I plunged my shoulder into his side, which threw both of us to the ground just as the momentum tossed me into the bushes behind him.

I crashed into the foliage with the finesse of a cinder block, but quickly turned my head back to the fight just in time to watch Ismena wave her staff in an arc before her. A blue bolt of energy barely half the size of a crossbow bolt danced through the air with the haste of a speeding baseball. I felt my eyes widen in fear as the missile flew directly at me. It was far too fast to dodge—not with my body positioned the way it was.

A figure ran up from behind me, and I saw a brief glimpse of reflected moonlight as Lucia swung her sword toward the speeding projectile. The impact from the spell must've been immense, as her entire body trembled when the spell slammed against her sword, but Lucia stayed firm. The blue bolt of energy veered off course toward the canopy above us, then crashed into the branches decorating the sight of the moons overhead.

I sighed in relief, but felt that relief die immediately as Jonathan's bulky shoulders came into view. He swung his arm, whip trailing just behind, toward Lucia's head. The teenager must've been able to see the attack coming, but she wasn't doing anything to defend against it. Was she winded from redirecting the Magic Missile? With gritted teeth, I brought myself up to meet him, my arm moving to intercept his.

Luckily, the two of us were barely a meter apart from each other, so reaching the man was easy once with my high mobility. I was upon him before he had the chance to finish his attack, both in the way I stopped his arm with my own, and in the way my fist slammed firmly upon his cheek. Jonathan staggered to the side, his attack abandoned as his eyes struggled to work through the brief daze I'd sent him into. Before I was able to capitalize on my attack, however, I caught the glint of silver on the edge of my vision.

I turned to the side and found a small dagger sailing toward me. I threw my body to the side, luckily dodging the speeding projectile in time, and turned my attention back up to watch the large shieldsman bulldozing his way toward me. As Hamund crossed the distance between us, the man lifted his broadsword high above his head, then attempted to slam it down upon my skull once he was within striking distance.

The constant attacks forced me to push myself backwards, which allowed me to dodge the attack, but only at the cost of throwing myself to the ground in the process. Before another of their group could follow up with an attack of their own, I watched Lucia charge forward, her sword already swinging through the air toward Hamund's shoulders. The brute lifted his sword arm to intercept the attack, which landed firmly upon his steel gauntlets.

Although it barely cut through his protection, the impact was enough for him to drop his weapon. Lucia ducked—just in time, too, as another of Ismena's bolts sailed past her and into the forest surrounding us. As I lifted myself back to my feet, Hamund dove for his weapon, but Lucia was ready and waiting for him. She charged toward the brute, easily pushing him to the ground with a shove of her shoulder, though she failed to strike him with another swing of her sword just afterwards.

Taking the opportunity presented to me, I threw myself upon Hamund. The large man was struggling to move in his heavy armor, so he wasn't able to defend himself as my fist slammed into his cheekbone. To my surprise, the impact from my attack bent his helmet, eliciting a yelp of shock from the man as a tiny flash of blue light pulsed from beneath his armor.

With his shield arm, Hamund immediately threw me away from him, though that only seemed to work in my favor, as the sudden movement allowed me to accidentally dodge another dagger-throw from Roley. Unfortunately, I couldn't do anything about Jonathan's golden whip as it struck the end of my shoulderblades. I felt and heard my blood barrier shatter as his attack cut through my skin, though the wave of pain traveling down my back was a much more grave concern.

As the holy energy coursed through my undead flesh, I shouted in pain and flinched away from the source of agony. Lucia charged forward, her sword swinging through the air as I fell to my knees. I didn't see where she'd managed to strike, but after hearing the frustrated grunt coming out of Jonathan, I smiled in grim satisfaction. My head was feeling light. I lifted my gaze, all while attempting to ignore the blurriness in my vision, and tried my best to return my attention to the fight happening around me.

I felt an ache travel across my spine as the wound cutting through my shoulder began to pour holy energy into my flesh. My head was starting to ache and I was beginning to feel a faint stinging pain near my lips. My gaze drifted back to the ground as a groan escaped me. Shit. I needed to focus. Lucia was fighting on her own right now, and she wouldn't be able to do that for long. I took a deep breath, then brought my attention back to the carnage before me.

What I didn't expect to find, however, was the blue bolt of magical energy that slammed into my skull.