It was another brand new day in the kingdom of Mystonia but whether it was going to be a happy new day for everyone in the kingdom was yet to be seen.
For Axel and Vesper, it had started on quite a hectic note.
With the sun still slowly rising from the east, the two were currently in the forest just outside the gates of the capital city of Mystonia.
They were in an area surrounded by very tall trees with their backs against each other.
However, trees weren't the only things surrounding them at the moment.
Hiding in those trees were seven vampires who had them surrounded from every direction making it impossible for them to escape.
"How many of them?" Vesper asked as she couldn't exactly sense all of them.
"Seven of them, six core level six's and one core level seven," Axel responded.
Those words might have come from Axel's mouth but the sharpness in that tone sounded more like Claire. It also didn't make sense that Axel would be able to tell something like that if Vesper couldn't.
"So, what's the plan?" Vesper inquired.
"Wait for them to reveal themselves."
It didn't look like that was going to take long as the vampires hiding in the trees soon began to jump down, surrounding them from every direction.
They were all in white cloaks with their faces and heads properly covered.
While the other vampires stood in their spot, their supposed leader, who was a core level seven vampire, took two steps toward the two before stopping.
"I'd appreciate it if you would step away from the fairy, your Highness; this has nothing to do with you." He uttered.
"And if I refuse?" Vesper retorted.
Getting that response, the vampire let out a sigh before shaking his head.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you but your refusal won't stop me from doing what I want to do." He said before raising his hand. "Capture both of them alive but make sure the princess doesn't get hurt."
With his hand still up, he signalled his subordinate vampires to attack, and without hesitation, they quickly charged toward the two.
"Your move, Vesper," Axel said just as they were about to make contact with them.
"Got it."
With a smile on her face, she stumped her right foot on the ground, releasing numerous red threads that latched onto the vampires by their waist and stopped them mid-air.
Being able to manipulate blood in the form of threads was a very difficult skill that Vesper had been trying to master for a while, and although she had yet to fully master it, it was safe to say that her mastery of the skill was at a decent level.
She had managed to stop the vampires for now, but the fact that they were all two levels above her meant that breaking out of the threads would take them just a few seconds.
However, everything was within their plan; those few seconds of them being trapped were all that was needed.
The vampires never got the chance to break out before they saw a large ball of golden light hanging above them.
The vampires didn't know what they were looking at, but their leader, who was at the back, seemed to be aware of what was about to happen as his eyes seemed to have widened in shock.
"No." He gasped.
"Light lasers," Axel said as he slowly closed his right hand. "Multiple shots."
"No!!" The vampire leader screamed as he dashed toward his subordinates.
Unfortunately, he wasn't able to reach them as a laser of light was released toward him.
He was fast enough to jump back allowing the laser to hit the ground, kicking up a lot of dust in the process.
Before he could regain his composure and do anything, his subordinates had already been hit by the light lasers multiple times.
The sounds of their screaming resounded through the area as a thick cloud of dust covered the area slightly masking the thick stench of blood.
The core level seven vampire found his eyes sinking in terror and shock as he stared at the cloud of dust, the screaming of his subordinates still playing in his mind even after everything had come to a halt.
It didn't take long for the cloud of dust to slowly clear away and when it did, the bodies of the six vampires could be seen lying around the two who were still standing in the middle.
There were multiple holes in their bodies which were soaked in their own puddles of blood. It was a horrific site.
Even Vesper, who had been in the middle of everything, couldn't believe her eyes.
"You did all of this?"
The expression on her face was one in between fear and actually being impressed.
"What do you think?" Axel responded.
"This isn't supposed to be possible." The vampire leader's voice seemed to be devoid of any of the energy he had initially as he dragged his legs toward the two. "We were told you were a core level two fairy who didn't even know how to use the light element."
"Your information is true but slightly outdated," Axel said before taking a step forward. "He can use the light element now."
"He?"
Right at that moment, some sort of energy was immediately pulled out of Axel as Claire suddenly appeared beside him.
"Hello." She said with a little wave.
"It's you!"
The vampire felt a shrill suddenly run down his spine at that moment as he staggered two steps backwards.
"Claire Minslof."
"Wow, you know my name."
'I have to get out of here and report to the duke.' The vampire thought.
Aware of what he was thinking, Claire didn't even give him the chance to make a move.
The vampire found himself suddenly lifted by the wind, and while he was still mid-air, he was slammed down by a force of wind in the shape of a fist.
The force from the hit was enough to slam him deep into the ground, creating a dent in the shape of his body the moment he landed.
"I'm sorry, but you leaving here alive is not something I can afford to allow," Claire remarked as she moved closer to him.
"I'm glad she's on our side." Vesper gulped.
Axel had no idea of what exactly was going so he could only nod.
Desperate to attempt to escape, he released two consecutive blood slashes toward Claire, and by the time she was done avoiding both of them, he had escaped deep into the forest with a shadow step.
"Foolish vampire." Claire sighed.
Vampires might be physically stronger than fairies on average which meant that they were also faster.
However, there was one thing that fairies could do that vampires could never do.
Vesper's eyes lit up in amazement as she watched two transparent and light wings slowly reveal themselves from Claire's black, a green vein running through them.
The wings slowly flapped twice before they began to flap rapidly creating a sound similar to that made by a swarm of a thousand bees passing through an area.
Without much hesitation, she thrust herself high into the sky.
Vesper expected her to go after the escaping vampire at full speed but just after reaching a particular point, she just closed her eyes.
It looked like she was doing nothing but what she was doing was using the resources available to her to find the vampire most efficiently.
That was using his wind ability and borrowing the senses of all the trees and animals in the forest to pinpoint his exact location. Yes, that was something fairies could do; that was the reason why it was ill-advised for a vampire to ever engage a fairy in combat in a forest.
Using all of that, it didn't take her long to find him, and the moment she did, she pointed toward the area with her hand in the shape of a pistol.
"Goodbye." She said before releasing a quick blast of light attack.
The vampire was still running through the forest when the light caught up to him from behind and pierced through his heart.
"Uhhh." The vampire groaned as he crashed down on the ground, clutching onto his chest, which was bleeding profusely now.
It didn't take long before his body was in a puddle of his own blood.
"This was a mistake." He grunted before finally losing consciousness.
Soon afterwards, thick tree roots burst out from the ground and carefully wrapped up his body before dragging it into the ground.
"For a core level seven vampire, he was unbelievably unremarkable," Claire commented. "Maybe because he was too focused on running away."
Right at that moment, Axel received a message.
[ You have successfully survived a possible demise ]
[ +50 exp received ]
[ 50/200 exp ]
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