A Stalemate (1)

The Knights of the Crescent Moon, are an order sworn to serve and protect the vampire kingdom.

Aurora learned about this knightly order from Malik.

These knights were among the strongest in the vampire kingdom, where only the most skilled and powerful vampires could join. Vampires used a hierarchy that mainly relied on the purity of their bloodline, the purer their blood, the stronger they became, and the higher position they gained in the ranks of the Crescent Moon.

The vampires with thin and weak bloodlines, who oftentimes were humans transformed into vampires, were never allowed to join, with most of them being unable to reach the minimum requirement the kingdom had established to be recruited and trained.

With the sires of most newly turned vampires being those belonging to the lowest ranks in the noble hierarchy, their bloodlines were poor, if not average. However, this didn't mean the high-ranking vampires were not privy to turning humans. Some of the Elders, those with the purest bloodline below the king and Lethia, participated in such an action, with many of the turned progeny being able to join the lesser and middle ranks of the Crescent Moon with their bloodline being average and above-average among nobles.

Aurora watched as the numerous vampires walked towards them.

The man who walked at the forefront of the Crescent Moon Knights had the strongest aura of them all. From him, she could feel a suppressive air around him, pressing down on her and those around him. This aura was the one Aurora and Amia had initially felt. The aura was on a different level compared to the ones she now felt from the vampires behind him, yet it didn't surpass the aura she felt from Lethia at that time.

A noble vampire with pure blood did not gain their power at birth. Compared to a common vampire, they were stronger, with their strengths being above average. For them to grow, their bloodline had to awaken through stages, which were determined by their age and purity. The longer they lived and the purer their blood was at birth, the more stages they would overcome until they reached their limit.

This man must've lived for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, for him to reach this stage of awakening and have strength at this level. However, from his appearance, it was hard to believe that the man who was approaching them had lived for that many years.

The man looked as if he hadn't even passed the age of eighteen, with his body being more on the lean side than the bulky and muscular side. A young man with beautiful dark silver and red eyes.

However, those observant red eyes didn't carry the slightest hint of arrogance or immaturity that a vampire at that age would. Instead, a look of coldness and somberness was all she saw, as if he'd seen countless things in his life.

'I guess I'm not different.' Aurora admitted to herself.

Although she had experienced it for herself, with her appearance never aging past twenty, this was the first time she had seen it from another race. As demons, or Succubus in her case, vampires possessing a physical appearance that was different from their actual age wasn't anything special for those that were immortal and ageless.

It was only natural for a younger body to be better than an older body. Hence, when demons and vampires reach the point of adulthood, where their bodies have ceased aging, they will either keep the body they had or, through perfectly controlling their power, reconstruct their bodies into whatever fits their tastes and personalities.

"You're the two culprits." The man called out as his footsteps slowed to a halt, the vampires behind him following afterward. His words didn't sound like a question but sounded more as if he were stating a fact as if he knew his words were true.

The man's eyes went from Amia to Aurora without staring at either of them for too long. Aurora knew what he was looking for. Since he already knew their identities, she didn't try to hide her daggers.

"One at the intermediate tier, and the other at the beginner tier. Your strength isn't much; it's comparable to the weakest in the Crescent Moon. You two aren't enough to kill Princess Lethia." His eyes then traversed down and landed on the two daggers resting in Aurora's hands. Seeing the ominous dark mist shrouding the daggers' blades, an appalling expression unknowingly appeared on his face.

Subconsciously, his mind was telling him to run away, to destroy the daggers, and to kill the holder of them. For the first time in his long lifespan, he felt fear not from someone stronger than him but from someone weaker. Feeling this influx of thoughts, his expression distorted even further.

He didn't listen to the intrusive thoughts and stayed in place. His voice, now filled with dark energy, continued. "…Those daggers. They must be destroyed."

His words brought all those behind him back to reality, breaking the weakest of them out of their increasing fear and cowardice. The man had been able to resist it for the most part, as his blood was the purest and he was close to becoming an elder. On the other hand, the ones that stood behind him were more prone to its effects, with little or no resistance to them. If it wasn't for him infusing dark energy into his words, they would've fallen into a state of fear and ran.

"Surround them and attack. Don't let them have any room for escape or retreat. As long as we can kill them, we can destroy the daggers that hold the 'Bane of Existence'." His voice resounded out.

Hearing this, the vampires rushed toward Aurora and Amia as ordered, surrounding them. Their eyes didn't show the gloom they had before, shining with confidence. They didn't entertain the thought of running away from this fight, from the 'Bane of Existence.' They had a strong leader. They had their numbers and superior ranks. Their enemies were just two weaker zombies. As long as they exhausted their enemy's dark energy, they would win. There was no reason to fear.

The confidence they held in their strength—their leader—outweighed the fear they felt from the daggers and their potential deaths. Their determination to destroy a weapon that could kill them with ease boosted their confidence and allowed them to move without hesitation. As their confidence in them increased, they began their attack.

To Aurora, the attack was strange. They had encircled her, where there was no room for their escape, and they completely outnumbered them. But they didn't use their numbers to attack at once. Rather than that, a single vampire attacked, his sword swinging down on Aurora.

The attacker was at the same tier as Aurora, his level being a little higher than her own. Her eyes watched as the blood sword came down. The attack wasn't to fatally wound or kill her; it was aimed at her shoulder, wanting to sever it. Knowing the lethality the daggers held towards vampires, he had carried out the best move he could make in this exchange: to try to disarm her of her weapons.

She blocked the sword with her dagger, or at least she tried to. Before the sword met with hers, something strange occurred. The moment before the clash, the trajectory of the vampire's sword changed as it sped up.

Clang~

With her other dagger, she blocked the dagger at the last moment. She couldn't help but have a frown on her face, looking at the man with surprise. The way he moved his arm and sword last second was unnatural. It wasn't something anyone could do, especially with such speed.

Pouring a little dark energy into her eyes, she saw what had caused this phenomenon. 'This is interesting.'

Through her energy-enhanced vision, she was able to see hundreds of thin, transparent lines of dark energy connected to each one of the vampire's head, limbs, weapons, and torso. These lines all met up in one place: the place where the leader stood at the back.

Amidst her curiosity, the 'Bane of Existence' shrouding her dagger had already corroded most of the vampire's blood sword, forcing him to pull back and cancel it. Before long, another attack came: a vampire thrusting his blood spear forward.