"Surprised?"
As Chad Norma taunted them, Ailer and Blade drew their weapons and prepared to retreat. Chad Norma naturally wouldn't let them succeed so easily, so he released three thorny whips to stop them.
The whips were incredibly fast, their tips covered in hardened bone, capable of easily piercing steel plates and rocks, and even shaving off parts of buildings.
But Ailer and Blade were no slouches either; with a swing of the Zombie Destroyer and the silver longsword, they severed the thorny whips.
Ailer and Blade each retreated about ten meters from Chad Norma. They hadn't figured out his attack range, so they adopted a more conservative fighting method.
Blade looked at the black-armored knight before him, his eyes filled with solemnity. He had never seen a Vampire with such vigorous vitality. Even an Elder who had lived for five hundred years and consumed an untold amount of blood would be instantly killed by this monster in front of him.
The opponent's vitality was as vigorous as a volcano, and the murderous intent, so tyrannical it seemed capable of destroying everything, was undisguised.
"He actually has seven hearts…"
Ailer had already heard Chad Norma's booming heart. The heart they had just pierced had already regenerated. Now, Ailer could hear the sound of seven hearts beating simultaneously.
It seemed that to kill this mutated species, they would have to destroy all seven hearts at once, which was much harder than killing a regular Vampire.
A challenge lay before Ailer. He could already feel his heart rate accelerating and his body temperature slowly rising—a sign of his excitement.
Sensing the immense power of the enemy before him, Ailer decided to unleash some real skill.
"Blade, help me hold him off," Ailer shouted to Blade.
"Looks like you're going to bring out a stronger item, huh!" Blade immediately guessed what Ailer was preparing to do upon hearing this, so he charged towards Chad Norma with his sword raised.
Ailer then pulled out a golden buckle from his dimensional pocket. It was adorned with a cross-star, had a joystick on the side, and most strikingly, a '???' reel.
This buckle was called the 'Fever Buckle', which could randomly use any of Ailer's existing buckles.
Ailer pushed the joystick, and the reel on the Fever Buckle spun rapidly, finally stopping on the word 'Zombie'. This meant Ailer had drawn the other half of the zombie buckle.
"Hit · Fever Zombie!"
"Hmph, my luck's pretty good today," Ailer chuckled softly at the sight.
The lower half of the Zombie armor covered Ailer's legs, and a second Zombie Destroyer appeared in his hand.
Feeling his entire body's power coordinating, Ailer spread his arms, then said to Chad Norma:
"Next, it's round two."
As soon as his words fell, Ailer shot out like an arrow. His two Zombie Destroyers began to spin at high speed, with an aura that threatened to dismember Chad Norma.
At the same time, Chad Norma had just repelled Blade with his thorny whips when he felt a sharp pain at the tip of his whip. He turned his head and saw Ailer charging towards him with two chainsaws.
"Faster than before?" A hint of curiosity appeared in Chad Norma's eyes. He immediately swung his arms, transforming both into thorny whips. Counting the four that extended from his back, a total of six thorny whips stabbed towards Ailer.
"Do you think this can kill me? You're too naive!" Ailer roared arrogantly. He clashed the two Zombie Destroyers in his hands, simultaneously sliding the handles of both.
"Toxin Fill · Tactical Destruction!"
Purple energy, imbued with toxins, spread across the chainsaws of the Zombie Destroyers. The two chainsaws cut through all the thorny whips like a hot knife through butter, and their wielder arrived in front of Chad Norma.
"Kill!" Ailer let out a roar, and the two chainsaws swung towards Chad Norma.
The next moment, the sound of chainsaws cutting through flesh rang out.
In an instant, flesh and blood flew everywhere, and Ailer could even see Chad Norma's bones.
The Zombie Destroyers cut through Chad Norma's flesh, heading straight for his two hearts.
"Don't forget about me."
Just then, Blade appeared behind Chad Norma like a ghost. He first fired over a dozen shots at point-blank range, then drove several silver stakes into Chad Norma's back.
Facing Ailer's reckless fighting style and the assistance of the strongest Vampire hunter, Chad Norma surprisingly found himself at a disadvantage. If this continued, he would surely have the locations of his seven hearts discovered and then be slain by them.
"No, I won't allow it! Power, come forth!" Chad Norma, facing a life-or-death crisis, unleashed a tremendous burst of power. The bones in his body began to harden, then changed form, finally transforming into bone spikes harder than steel, striking out at the two.
'Pfft'
Blade was pierced straight through by a bone spike. Ailer, protected by his armor, had most of the Impact absorbed, but he was still sent flying by a bone spike.
After retreating four or five steps, Ailer steadied himself. Just as he was about to charge forward again, another 360° blood-red Impact wave came at him.
Seeing this, Ailer plunged both Zombie Destroyers into the ground, which allowed him to steady his body.
But Blade wasn't so lucky. With several holes poked in his body, he was sent flying backward, only stopping several meters later by plunging his longsword into the ground.
Drops of fresh blood flowed from his wounds. Blade stood up, leaning on his weapon. His breathing quickened slightly, but he still had the ability to fight.
"Again!"
As a 'Daywalker', Blade's recovery ability was also incredibly strong. Even if his heart was pierced, he would be fine. As long as his head wasn't cut off, his injuries could recover.
His injuries didn't deter Blade; instead, they pushed him into the same state of excitement as Ailer.
"You two lunatics, why would you go to such lengths! You're just two worthless lives!" Chad Norma, whose mind had been warped by his father, couldn't understand the fighting spirit emanating from the two.
In Chad Norma's eyes, life was not something 'valuable'. He could kill anyone he wanted, whenever he wanted.
"Yes, my life is cheap, but when I think that I can use my life to take yours, I feel it's absolutely worth it!" Ailer's handsome face beneath his mask began to contort. "I'm really high right now!"
Looking at the purple-armored knight who seemed more like a demon than himself, Chad Norma felt fear. He retracted all his bone spikes and thorny whips, instead creating a pair of gigantic wings and began to flap them.
"Don't you dare leave, you coward!"
Seeing that the opponent wanted to run, Ailer directly threw the Zombie Destroyers in his hands. The two chainsaws pierced through the opponent's body, but they weren't fatal.
"Let's kill him next time," Blade said, sheathing his sword and coming to Ailer's side.
"Hoo, hoo… Okay." Ailer took two deep breaths to calm his body, then deactivated his transformation.
As Ailer deactivated his transformation, the Zombie Destroyers embedded in Chad Norma's body also disappeared.
This battle was not without gains. Blade took out a container from his pocket. He took a portion of Chad Norma's broken thorny whip and put it into the container, while destroying the remaining fragments.
"A professional can tell us what this is."