The black miasma surrounding the man suddenly flew forward, transforming into something that looked like a gigantic beast. It reminded Anthony of a lion’s head. The beast opened its jaws as though to swallow him whole, and Anthony found his body frozen as memories of Lilith’s battle against Cane filled his vision.
Before the black energy could take a chunk out of him, Brianna stepped forward and swung her blade. The glowing Geminius Sword sliced through the powerful energy. As the energy was separated into two halves, each half slammed into the walls behind Anthony and Brianna, eating right through them. However, they didn’t stop at just one wall. They flew through the corridor, devoured the wall leading into the next room, and continued on. When Anthony turned his head, he found that the powerful energy had eaten through every wall within the hospital and traveled out the other side.
Frederic narrowed his eyes and hissed. “I see that weapon of yours really is a Geminius Sword. I’d heard Custodes Daemonium had created a powerful new weapon that could sever space and time to slice through the molecular bonds of every conceivable material known to man, but I didn’t think they would give such a powerful weapon to a little girl like you.”
Brianna narrowed her eyes at the “little girl comment” and took a step forward, appearing seconds away from attacking this vampire, but Anthony held her back.
“Not here,” he said softly. “My brother is in this room. We can’t fight him here.”
Brianna bit her lip but nodded. Meanwhile, the vampire seemed to hear their conversation and smiled.
“That is right. This boy here is your younger brother, correct?” Frederic moved to stand beside the head of the bed. Dark energy coalesced around his left hand as he brought it to the glass case. He tapped on the case once. “This boy is quite important to you, I hear. Give yourself to me, or I will kill this child.”
Anthony clenched his hands into fists. He knew the moment he found out what Frederic wanted that this vampire was going to use his brother as a hostage, but knowing that didn’t make the situation any better. What should he do? If he gave himself up, Calvin might live, but there would be no one around to take care of him when he woke up… if he ever woke up.
While he was standing by in indecision, Brianna narrowed her eyes and, quick as lightning, she flung the Geminius Sword at the vampire. Frederic’s eyes widened as he jerked his hand away from Calvin. The sword became embedded into the wall just above the boy’s head where the vampire’s hand had been. If he’d been a second slower, his hand would have been sliced clean off.
Anthony might have been rusty from not training in over a year, but he was not one to let such an opportunity get past him. He raced forward, spun around on the balls of his feet, and slammed the sole of his right foot into Frederic’s chest.
Because Anthony did not have any bondmates, he was not very strong, even when using Physical Enhancement. However, that didn’t mean he was weak either. His strength was still many times that of an ordinary human. When his foot struck Frederic, the vampire slammed into the wall, breaking through it and stumbling into the other room.
Brianna grabbed her Geminius Sword as Anthony raced into the other room and tried to engage Frederic in hand to hand combat. The vampire snarled as he unleashed a terrifying and dark aura. Black energy surged toward Anthony, who felt alarm causing his heart rate to spike. He backed off, trying to gain some distance, but the energy followed him, transforming into a three-headed snake that snapped at him—at least, until Brianna cut each head off with her weapon. Then the snake dispersed.
“Thank you,” Anthony muttered.
Brianna didn’t say anything as she turned to Frederic and raced toward him, swinging the Geminius Sword in a series of graceful arcs.
Frederic hissed as he backed off. He seemed to understand how foolish it was to fight against a War Maiden wielding such a weapon in close-quarters combat. He sent a powerful burst of black energy at her. Brianna cut through it with ease, but she was forced to divert her attention, which allowed Frederic to turn around and race out the window.
Anthony ran over to the shattered glass window and looked out, watching as Frederic created a pair of black wings and flew off. A growl escaped his throat. If he let this man go now, there was no telling when he would try to take Calvin hostage again.
“Anthony! Wait!” Brianna shouted as Anthony leapt out of the building, but he did not wait. Landing on the ground, he pushed Physical Enhancement to the absolute limit and chased after Frederic. He could not let this vampire escape!
He didn’t know where the man was heading nor did he care. He followed the vampire by leaping onto the roof of a building and jumping across the buildings to keep the man in his sights. Frederic finally noticed him and sent that black energy at him again, but Anthony zigzagged across the rooftops to avoid each attack, which penetrated the buildings and ate through them as if devouring their very existence.
As the chase continued, Anthony wondered how he could bring this vampire down. He didn’t have much mana, and his reserves were dwindling fast, which meant he had to act now.
With a soft groan, he used a small portion of mana to create a thread of glowing blue energy, then sent the thread into the sky. It was such a small thread that Frederic didn’t notice it until it had latched around his leg. The vampire’s startled expression cheered Anthony up as he pushed more mana into his physical enhancement magic, dug his heels into the rooftop pavement, and yanked.
Frederic was pulled down. He struck the roof of the next building over, and Anthony didn’t hesitate to leap from his building to this one. The wind whistled around him before he landed on the other building. Frederic pushed himself back to his feet, turned around, and glared at Anthony.
“For such a weak creature, you’re awfully tenacious.”
“If I’m so weak, why do you want my blood?”
“Hmph. That is obviously because of your potential.” Frederic narrowed his eyes. “I do not know what possesses you not to build a harem of bondmates, but you are clearly an idiot. If you bound women to you, your powers could be infinite. You could even gain enough power to rival the Beast King of Russia, the Vampire Lords of the European Federation, the Succubus Queens, or even Hagaromo Gitsune of Japan. Such power is wasted on you, a man who refuses to seek more power, and so I’m going to take it from you.”
As he finished speaking, the shadows around him writhed like living creatures before black miasma burst from Frederic’s shadow and turned into a ferocious pack of wolves. The creatures raced forward and lunged at Anthony, who tried to backpedal and avoid them. Regardless of his potential, it was true that right now he was weak. A single bite from one of these creatures would probably drain all of his life from him.
Anthony backpedaled, then swerved to avoid a wolf that leapt at him from the left. He gritted his teeth as he dispelled the ethereal creature with a single punch. Yet even after killing that one, there were still many more that lunged toward him. One attempted to take a chunk out of his arm, another his left thigh, and one his right shoulder. There were so many attacking from so many different angles that he couldn’t possibly defeat all of them.
Just as it looked like he was about to be overwhelmed, Brianna descended from the sky.
“HAAAA!!”
She swung the Geminius Sword with incredible ferocity. Six flashes of light cut apart six of the wolves. Anthony used that opportunity to channel mana into his fist, which sparked with power as he slammed it into the face of another wolf, blasting the miasma-like energy being apart. Then he raised his foot, blue lightning-like mana racing along it as he kicked another wolf. This one was also blasted apart. Brianna finished the rest with her weapon.
“Ha… ha…”
“Anthony!”
After they finished off the wolf pack, Anthony stumbled forward and nearly fell to the ground. He caught himself at the last second. Even so, his vision was beginning to grow dark.
“It looks like you’re nearly out of mana.” F
rederic gave him a fanged grin. “This is what happens to creatures like you who refuse to seek power. You are weak—too weak to protect even yourself, and for that, you shall die this night. I shall drain your life, gain your powers, and become a supreme being that can rival even the Vampire Lord, Cane!”
“I won’t let that happen!”
Brianna stepped forward and brandished the Geminius Sword. Blue lines appeared on her battle outfit before she rushed forward faster than before—faster than when she had been fighting Anthony earlier that night. She was on Frederic in seconds.
The vampire sent a surge of black energy at her, but the redhead cut through it with ease, then stepped forward and swung her blade from the ground up in a powerful horizontal slice. Frederic ghosted backward to try and dodge the attack. He wasn’t fast enough, however, and Brianna’s blade cut straight through his shoulder.
“Ng! AHHH! AH! AHHHH!!!”
The man screamed as his left arm fell to the ground with a wet thud. Blood gushed from his stump as he stumbled back, his eyes wide in shock and pain. Yet even though he was clearly suffering from what must have been incredible agony, he still had the gumption to push it aside and glare at Brianna.
“You… bitch!” he screeched.
Brianna clicked her tongue and brandished her weapon. “That attack was supposed to cut you down the middle. I won’t miss next time.”
“There won’t be a next time!”
Removing his hand from his now armless shoulder, Frederic snarled as he gathered black energy into his single remaining hand. Swirling motes of power coalesced above his hand, turning into a tiny black orb that seemed innocuous—if you ignored the powerful spatial distortions creating ripples around it.
Brianna’s eyes widened. She seemed to realize what he was going to do and rushed forward to stop him.
She was too late.
Frederic slammed his hand onto the rooftop, which exploded with a detonation of dark energy so powerful she was sent flying backward. Her pained scream was drowned out by the roaring of numerous explosions. The dark power blasted through the roof. Then it blasted through the next floor, and then the next, and the one after that. At the same time, the roof collapsed underneath her and Anthony.
As he fell through the building, Anthony spotted Frederic flying off into the distance, but he didn’t have time to focus on the escaping vampire. The wind whistled around him as he looked at Brianna. She was unconscious. The dark power had seared her face and body. Some of her battle outfit had been destroyed, revealing several nasty burns on her chest that must have been from the backlash of Frederic’s dark mana.
Despite feeling his heart leap into his throat as he fell, Anthony had the sense to act. He used the last of his mana to create a thin thread. He attached it to Brianna, pulled her to him, and hugged her close as he flipped around so he was on the bottom. There was very little he could do now. Brianna had helped him protect Calvin, so if nothing else, he would at least use his own body to cushion her fall.
Brianna shifted against him as he hugged her tight. He smiled just a little as the hole in the roof became smaller and smaller. The wind howled around him. The floors of this building passed by him in a blur. Everything looked like mere streaks of color and shadow. It felt like this moment had slowed down, like he would fall forever, but then he struck the ground. Anthony felt a brief moment of indescribable agony.
Then his world went black.
Brianna opened her eyes with a startled gasp. A moment of panic swept through her, but she soon remembered her training and took several deep breaths, calming down and settling her rapidly beating heart. It took longer than she would have liked. Her mind was still locked on what happened to her, on the battle against the vampire called Frederic Bloodstone.
After calming down, Brianna sat up and looked around the room she found herself in. It was a room far more extravagant than her own. More spacious than any bedroom she’d ever seen, this place featured several expensive furnishings and looked like something she’d expect to see in a vampire noble’s house. All of the furniture was made from varnished wood. The aesthetic also reminded her of the few times she’d visited a vampire noble from the European Federation with her instructor.
Once she’d taken stock of her surroundings, she looked down at herself, checking for injuries. At present, she was wearing a simple white robe and nothing else. The robe was light and very sheer. She could actually see her nipples poking against the fabric. She parted the front and looked at her chest, expecting to see a large black mark where the vampire’s miasmic power had struck her, but she became surprised when all she saw was smooth white skin and light pink nipples.
During the battle against Frederic, the man had created a powerful attack that exploded against the roof and struck her with its full force. She remembered the searing pain of the intense devouring force slamming into her. Brianna didn’t know what happened after that. She had been rendered unconscious. Thinking about it, she was actually shocked to find that she was still alive.
Just what happened?
It didn’t look like she had any injuries, which meant someone must have healed her, perhaps whoever owned this mansion. She was curious to know who that was. Whoever they were either had some really deep pockets or a lot of influential connections.
The moment this thought crossed through her mind, a soft clicking sound made her turn toward the door. Someone opened the door and entered the room. Brianna blinked in surprise when she saw a small woman who looked somewhat like a child. She couldn’t have been taller than 4’11”, had a head of long blonde hair styled into numerous ringlets, which framed a face Brianna could only call cute. Furthermore, she was dressed in an expensive pink and white lolita outfit.
“She looks just like a doll…”
The woman paused, eyes narrowing. “On account of the fact that you were seriously injured, I am going to pretend you didn’t say anything. However, I will warn you that if you say I look like a doll ever again, I am going to turn your time so far back it will be as if you were never born.”
It was only after the woman spoke that Brianna realized she had said those words out loud. Heat spread to her cheeks.
“I-I’m terribly sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.”
“Whatever.” The woman sighed before walking up to the bed. “I’m sure you are wondering where you are right now. This is my house. You were very injured when I found you, so I brought you here.”
“I… I see.” Brianna struggled for a moment before letting her curiosity get the better of her. “Thank you for saving me, but, um, who are you?”
“My name is Lucretia Incanscino,” the woman introduced herself.
“You’re the Time Witch!” Brianna gasped.
Lucretia sighed. “It seems my reputation precedes me.”
“Of course!” Brianna placed her hands on her lap and leaned forward, staring at the woman like she was an extravagant painting made by a famous artist. “Everyone has heard of the Time Witch. You are the first magician within the last five centuries to have completely mastered time magic. Custodes Daemonium has given you the same S-class ranking as the most powerful demons in the entire world. It’s said you are one of only five humans who are capable of fighting the greatest demons on even terms.”
It seemed even a woman of Lucretia’s reputation could not help but feel flattered at the high-praise, for her chest swelled ever so slightly after Brianna finished gushing.
“Well, you are not wrong. I am quite powerful,” she said.
Only after Brianna finished gushing did she understand how she’d been healed. “I see. So that is how you healed me. Time magic.”
“Correct. You are quite sharp.” Lecretia nodded. “I didn’t heal you so much as turn back your time to before the injury even took place. It’s a bit of a pain to use magic that powerful, but it is not beyond my capabilities.”
That did not surprise Brianna at all. Her instructor had spoken highly of Lucretia Incanscino,
a legendary figure who was currently hailed as the strongest magician in the entire world. She had heard that this woman was living on Academy Island. There was a report about it that she had read before leaving for her current mission. Even so, Brianna never expected to meet such a famous figure during her mission here.
Her mission…
Brianna’s eyes widened as she realized that if she was here, then there should have been someone else beside her.
“Anthony!”
A jolt raced through her system as small fragments of memory returned. She’d been semi-conscious after that blast struck her and she fell through the roof. Everything had been blurring in and out at the time, so she hadn’t been able to see much, but she still clearly remembered the feeling of Anthony hugging her close and using his own body as a cushion to soften her fall.
“I’m surprised it took you so long to remember he was with you.” Lucretia turned around and beckoned to Brianna. “Follow me.”
At the gesture, Brianna stood up, closed her robes further, tightened the belt around her waist, and followed the much shorter woman outside.
They entered a hallway and walked down it. Brianna glanced at the walls that several paintings hung from. They were all landscape oil paintings, and they looked like they cost more money than an office worker’s yearly salary.
“You are Sarah Noel’s student, aren’t you?” Lucretia suddenly asked.
Brianna was startled but nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”
“How is that old hag doing?”
Brianna almost got defensive at the insulting term Lucretia used to describe her instructor, but then she remembered the orders she’d been given before all this happened and her anger died.
“She is doing well,” Brianna muttered as they turned a corner.
“I imagine so. That woman is quite the tough old sack of bones.”
Incubus 1 Page 11
