Chapter 29: Unexpected Rescue

“Ahahaha! Die!”

Bang!

A blood-red arrow shot from the darkness, deflected by Serin’s sword. She felt a surge of frustration towards her unseen attacker.

Was there anything more annoying than a hidden enemy peppering you with ranged attacks?

At least she could block them without much difficulty.

“You’re too hesitant! If you’ve come to my home, then die!” the voice taunted.

Another arrow flew towards her. Serin deflected it easily, retorting, “Then hurry up and kill me. High expectations for someone who just keeps flinging arrows from afar.”

“Are you trying to provoke me? Kyahaha! Just like the hero’s party! So much composure even in this situation!” the voice mocked.

The battlefield was in the enemy’s favor. A vast, seemingly endless plaza shrouded in a thick gray mist, and an enemy whose position shifted constantly. It was a nightmare scenario for a knight facing a ranged opponent.

But that only applied to ordinary knights.

“If the environment is unfavorable…then this should be an easy fix,” Serin muttered.

Clang!

Rumble…

“Ugh…?”

Serin’s sword flashed with a blue light, a long streak of energy slicing through the mist and striking the fortress wall. A black-haired woman emerged from the impact, coughing up blood. The gray mist dissipated instantly.

‘The mist disappeared… so it was a spell cast by that demon,’ Serin realized.

This was good. She didn’t have to bother with the mist; she could focus solely on the demon.

Serin advanced, intending to finish the demon off, but the woman vanished.

Bang!

“You dare!!” Serin roared.

“Gah…!”

The woman reappeared below Serin, striking upwards. Her hand collided with Serin’s sword.

‘What strength…’ Serin thought, shocked.

She had a sword; the demon had only her fingernails. Yet the force of the blow made Serin’s sword tremble. She had never encountered a demon with such strength.

“You dare… injure the face of a fifth bloodline?!” the woman shrieked, her face contorted in rage. A small cut marred her cheek.

‘I need to rethink my strategy,’ Serin realized.

Aswell would have blocked that attack easily and counterattacked without hesitation. But Serin couldn’t.

She couldn’t treat this demon like the monsters and lesser demons she had faced before. She had to acknowledge the difference in strength and adapt.

“You won’t die peacefully. I’ll sever your limbs and drain every drop of blood from your body!” the demon screamed.

“Sorry, but that’s not really my style,” Serin replied calmly, channeling her energy into her sword.

The energy, also known as Sword Qi, varied in color and intensity depending on the user’s nature and focus. Serin’s was an icy blue.

‘If it’s just one…’ she thought, steeling herself.

“Yordi, what are you doing?” another demon appeared beside the woman.

“Gabor, don’t bother me,” Yordi snapped.

“Bother you? You think this is bothersome? I’m merely curious why a ranged specialist like yourself is engaging in close combat with a knight,” Gabor replied, his voice laced with disdain.

“…,” Yordi glared at him.

Serin raised her guard, wary of the newcomer.

‘He’s stronger than Yordi,’ she assessed.

“The first bloodline is focused on expanding the fortress. The second bloodline is dealing with the humans’ resilient walls. The third bloodline is engaged in battle. And you’re here…?” Gabor continued his reprimand, seemingly ignoring Serin.

Serin seized the opportunity, unleashing a wave of Sword Qi at both demons.

Boom!

Simultaneously, she activated the enchanted boots Rui had given her and dashed away.

‘I can’t win against that,’ she knew.

Some knights valued chivalry and scorned retreat and surprise attacks. Serin had once held similar beliefs, but training Aswell had changed her perspective.

Survival was paramount, and victory was the only path to survival. Moreover, their enemies were demons, creatures devoid of chivalry or even basic intelligence.

Clinging to such notions against demons was akin to wearing shackles.

‘I need to find Aswell…’ Serin thought as she retreated.

“See? This is why I have to clean up after you,” Gabor sighed.

“!!”

Serin felt something grab her ankles.

Blood.

‘No way!’

Gabor had used Yordi’s blood arrows to restrain her.

“This is why you’re a fourth bloodline and I’m not,” Gabor sneered.

“…You’ll regret this,” Yordi hissed.

“I sincerely hope so. Now, focus on killing that woman. Don’t get careless,” Gabor warned.

Serin severed the bloody restraints with her sword and turned to face her two opponents. They materialized their own blood-forged weapons: a bow for Yordi and a sword for Gabor.

Just as Yordi released an arrow…

“Serin, duck!” a voice shouted.

Serin instinctively dropped to the ground.

Clang!

Two arrows collided mid-air, erupting in a fiery explosion. The force of the blast pushed Serin back.

“Lady Serin, are you alright?!”

“Raphilia? Aria? How did you…?” Serin looked up in surprise.

Rui had said they wouldn’t be able to sense each other’s locations. How had they found her?

“We met up with Aswell, and he asked us to find you!” Raphilia explained.

“Aswell…? Where is he now…?” Serin asked, looking around but not seeing him.

“I thought you were with him…” Raphilia trailed off, also searching for Aswell.

There was no sign of the black-haired hero.

Where could he be?

“Haha! I haven’t seen a human last this long in a while.”

Clang!

Every swipe of Aled’s claws unleashed a wave of blood-forged energy. These attacks were far more potent than any ordinary sword strike.

Each blood-infused attack was laced with multiple supplementary spells, designed to bypass Rui’s defenses. He was analyzing her robe’s protective barrier and adjusting his attacks accordingly.

‘Definitely a demon,’ Rui thought.

No ordinary mage could fight like this.

But Rui wasn’t just standing around admiring his skills.

Bang!

“It’s useless,” Aled sneered as Rui’s attack bounced harmlessly off him.

“So it seems,” Rui agreed.

After several attempts with the Sky Piercer, she realized Aled was also protected by a blood-forged barrier.

‘It’s not a spell; it’s literally blood acting as a shield,’ Rui realized.

The liquid blood solidified upon impact, effectively functioning as a physical shield, not a magical barrier.

‘What if I infuse it with inscriptions?’ Rui wondered.

Rumble…

“A failure,” Aled observed as the attack dissipated.

“…Experimenting with attacks in this situation. You’re quite something,” he added, a hint of amusement in his voice.

They both retreated slightly. As long as they both had impenetrable defenses, this fight could go on forever.

But…

‘There’s no such thing as an impenetrable defense,’ Rui knew.

Everything had a weakness.

Aled seemed to be thinking the same thing, a predatory gleam in his red eyes.

“I thought you were just a human girl, but your magical insight and thinking are impressive. I’m almost tempted to take you under my wing,” he said.

“Thanks for the compliment. I can’t say the same,” Rui replied dryly.

“Ha,” Aled chuckled, ending the conversation.

Then, he froze.

“How arrogant,” Rui murmured.

Aled held a cane in his hand. A simple, black cane, like something a gentleman from Victorian England might carry.

But it was more than just a cane.

“I command,” he intoned.

The appearance of the cane and the incantation signaled a spell far more powerful than anything he had used so far.

“BloodRain,” he announced.

A unique spell.

A powerful magic wielded only by mages of a certain caliber.

A rain of blood began to fall from the ceiling.

Rumble…

It wasn’t the sound of the fortress moving.

Nor was it the sound of something collapsing.

It was the sound of blood raining down, impacting Rui’s protective barrier.

Each drop of blood carried the same force as Aled’s previous attacks.

‘This is bad,’ Rui realized.

Aled wasn’t in the original story. The novel only mentioned vampires up to the fourth bloodline before introducing the first bloodline directly. Rui had no information on this demon.

And his unique spell, BloodRain, perfectly exploited the weakness of her robe’s barrier. Unlike the first bloodline, whom she could likely handle, Aled was her natural counter.

Crackle… crackle…

Rui’s protective barrier was more vulnerable to sustained damage than single, powerful attacks. And these weren’t just any attacks; they were imbued with the power of a third bloodline vampire. Cracks began to appear in the barrier.

Subspace. Decomposition. Reconstruction. Reinforcement.

If the barrier broke, she would be in serious trouble. Rui frantically pulled materials from her subspace pocket, desperately trying to repair the damage.

‘This spell can’t last forever,’ she reasoned.

Powerful magic always had a shorter duration. Even for demons.

Rui opened her subspace, preparing for a counterattack.

“Let’s see how long that flimsy barrier can hold,” Aled sneered, his body swelling slightly.

‘A strengthening effect too?’ Rui noted.

A spell that simultaneously healed and empowered him while attacking his opponent. Interesting.

But he shouldn’t assume she hadn’t prepared for demons.

Ever since she arrived in this world, Rui had developed numerous countermeasures against demons, including vampires like Aled.

‘I haven’t had a chance to field test them yet. This is a good opportunity,’ she thought.

“Master Key, synchronize with all anti-demon magic tools in subspace,” she commanded.

The two rings on her staff spun rapidly, and the numerous magic tools within her subspace began to flash with a blue light.

“Resorting to tools because your magic is lacking. You’re becoming less interesting by the second,” Aled mocked.

“Then try this,” Rui challenged.

“What?”

“One of these is bound to hit you,” Rui said, tapping her Master Key on the ground.

Dozens of magic tools, ranging from weapon-like forms to intricate devices resembling office supplies, erupted from her subspace.

“Huh.”

Even Aled, in all his arrogance, couldn’t dodge them all. He shrouded himself in a protective barrier of blood and darted around the room.

With Aled’s BloodRain spell dispelled, Rui could finally relax her focus on maintaining her own barrier.

Aled continued to dodge and deflect the magic attacks, moving with incredible speed across the walls and ceiling.

‘Time for the next step…’ Rui thought, turning around.

“Just as I expected. Haha.”

Aled appeared beneath her, rising from the floor. Vampires were supposed to be limited to moving through puddles of blood.

‘…The fortress bricks,’ Rui realized.

The bricks were made of corpses and blood. Could Aled move through any source of blood?

She had made a mistake.

Her weakened barrier wouldn’t hold against a direct attack. It was too late to cast another defensive spell.

As Rui braced for the inevitable, an image flashed through her mind.

Bang!

Something intercepted Aled’s attack.

“…Why are you here? My underlings should have been dealing with you.”

Armor made of specially treated metal.

A sword radiating pure light.

Messy black hair.

A face filled with unwavering determination.

She had only pictured him in her mind.

“Rui, are you alright?”

Aswell stood before her.