Korelia couldn't help but think that the situation was quite strange in several ways. First of all, the existence of what could be called true vampires was extremely odd.
After all, from what she knew, the sovereign race in the northern continent was a long and ancient dynasty known as the Virtas.
Although the information she received regarding the northern continent, and even the cult, was quite scarce; curiously, there wasn't much general reading or literature from outside the continent, not even entertainment literature.
Even though many of the technologies from her previous world could be replaced and substituted by the almost magical abilities of this world, there was no entertainment aside, of course, from ordinary art forms. In the southern continent, racing, theater, and sports in general were the most popular entertainment.
Meanwhile, in the eastern continent, the biggest entertainment was music, featuring disruptive figures of great poets and philosophers like Laveriel or Fulger—figures that curiously reminded her of modern musical movements with their satirical and highly philosophical lyrics.
Therefore, the existence of this blood race was quite interesting, although at this point, it wasn't important.
"So, where are we going, Decimus? I don't think this place is safe after what we went through," she asked Decimus doubtfully. He had been quite quiet during this last hour as they kept moving, though no one was chasing them despite the city's vibrancy and brightness.
There wasn't a single soul outside, as if the light were anathema to the inhabitants of this parallel Tesara.
"Wait, I hear footsteps," Decimus said suddenly.
And then they saw a figure emerge from the shadows. That figure was as tall as a tower, dressed entirely in white in an elegant, fine suit and fitted trousers. With metallic black hair tied in a ponytail, the figure presented himself before them with a polite smile.
"I finally found you; you truly are elusive." His words, spoken with a smile, sent a shiver through Korelia's mind as she unconsciously stepped back.
"Captain," Decimus said in surprise, alerting Korelia as well.
But before she could say anything, the captain spoke:
"Now I can finally kill you."
"Careful, he's not..." Korelia's words died when suddenly dozens of figures emerged from the darkness. These figures were identical to the previous energy vampire, but they seemed much more robust and carried weapons and swords.
Korelia recognized that, unlike the previous energy vampire, these vampires didn't use ranged or delaying tactics; instead, they directly engaged Decimus in hand-to-hand combat.
"First-generation vampires," Decimus grunted in surprise, as his spear transformed into a bow. "First Chakra, Dao of Thunder."
Thunder materialized in his hand and shot toward his opponents, shattering their flesh and skin in an instant, burning them completely.
"Captain, what are you doing? Why are you with...?" But before he could finish speaking, the man he had called captain simply frowned in annoyance as he muttered.
"It seems these mortals are stronger than I imagined. You take care of them; I don't intend to dirty my hands on a day like today," he growled.
Suddenly, the number of vampires emerging from all directions increased by the dozens. They swarmed around Decimus, who, gripping his bow, frowned as the arrows in his hand fired in clusters.
"This is going from bad to worse," Korelia muttered as she watched the combat. Even though Decimus's arrows were capable of tearing apart the vampires' bodies, they regenerated at an absurd speed as they rejoined the battle. They piled onto Decimus's gigantic body in an attempt to tear apart his armor with their weapons and claws, turning his surroundings into a small mound of corpses.
Meanwhile, Korelia herself hid in a corner, observing the battle from a safe distance.
"My lady, can you hear me?" Korelia's expression didn't change despite suddenly hearing Lunes's voice.
But she didn't lower her guard, mentally stating:
"Cogito."
The voice fell silent for a few moments, before replying in a rougher tone:
"Ergo sum."
"Good, I'm glad to hear you, Lunes. How were you able to transmit your voice to this place?" she asked curiously. The words being sent to her weren't directly a voice, but seemed to be mostly shared memories that were being repeated in her head, as if using the words from a previous conversation to converse.
"Master, I am not transmitting my voice, but rather linking our minds through an empathic bond, using shared memories with which I can simulate a real-time conversation," she said in a rather dry and humble tone, "since I cannot link my mind to yours due to the distance."
Putting aside how incredible and complicated what Lunes had done to communicate with her was, she decided to shift to a more important topic first:
"I'm in trouble, and where are you? How are you?" she asked, somewhat worried. After all, Lunes probably didn't have an ultra-strong escort like Decimus by her side.
"I am hidden, Master. I infiltrated the mind of one of the members of the Elektrum hunters; by replacing his sight with mine, I managed to link with him, sharing his vision. Although I haven't been able to gather much information, as it seems their minds have a high-grade protection that prevents me from reading their memories."
"It's not necessary; for now, just monitor the situation. It will probably be a problem if you try to get into his mind, and it's not worth the risk," she added with a warning tone. After all, she could already deduce that she had tried, and if she didn't warn her now, she might keep trying to the point where the Elektrum hunters detected her.
"Alright, Master," Lunes agreed. "I sent Sábado."
Sábado's Arrival and the Shadow of Ducanor
And as if the air had suddenly become crystal, the earth shook when, suddenly, both the surprised vampires and the combative Decimus retreated upon seeing a figure fall from the sky, impacting directly against the ground like a meteorite.
She was two point nine meters tall and had ink-black hair, a languid and ordinary face with a slightly large nose, and a body covered in scars—the most prominent being one that almost sank into the skin, cutting horizontally across her forehead.
"Bone-pick saw." Suddenly, the skin on her knuckles split open, revealing two pairs of curved black bone picks, like blades. They emerged as an extension of her knuckles as she aimed at her opponent.
And then she pierced through the chin of one of the vampires, destroying his brain, while at the same time, bone spikes shot from her fingers, piercing the eyes and mouths of several vampires, incapacitating them.
"Who are you?" growled the captain that Decimus had addressed earlier.
"I am your death," Sábado growled indifferently, while a dazed Decimus positioned himself behind her on guard, though also dispatching vampires.
"I am," the man replied with a wicked smile, "Ducanor."
And Ducanor no longer responded with words, but with actions. His body moved at an impossible speed for a human being; his feysier body swelled with strength while expelling such heat from the pores of his skin that it turned vermilion. He slashed directly, aiming for Sábado's head and waist.
An explosion of steam and heat, both cold and hot, flooded the area as the two figures clashed.
Ducanor was using a spear, and Sábado had materialized two bone blades from her hands.
Their bodies crashed against each other; he used the spear to block both bone blades.
"Is that all you've got, cold-blooded trash?" Sábado growled, but then Ducanor's heat-reddened body exploded once again.
Only this time, Sábado was forced to retreat backward as Ducanor disappeared, turning into a shadow trying to slip away from the combat.
"You won't!" Sábado shouted furiously as a black bone armor covered her body. Her skin and clothes tore apart to reveal an osseous armor, replacing her two blades with a single-edged onyx bone sword.
And at the exact moment Ducanor fled, Decimus's figure flickered in the air like lightning, surprising his elusive opponent and forcing him to dodge again.
"You're not leaving here until you tell me..." Decimus declared in an imposing tone, demanding: "Where did you get the name Ducanor?"