Entry 06: The Gala (Final)

The woman screamed in anger as she waved her bloodied arm in a frenzy. Her powers went in several directions. Kouga slashed the invisible force with his katana, which caused another explosion.

"Wind magic." was his only reply. He looked at us with a stern look on his face. "This woman here uses wind magic. You can't see her attacks because she made it invincible." He slashed his palm with his katana, blood dripping on the floor. It seems he's going to use his vampire arts. "You two, go find an opening to kill her while I handle her attacks."

"Got it." Yuri and I made our stance as Kouga summoned another batch of petals to block her attack, which collided and exploded. As the smoke began to subside, I charged at her, ready to cleave her in two.

"Haahhh!"

She leaped backward before the sword hit her, and instead, it hit the ground. Yuri shoots several arrows in her direction. She was able to dodge the incoming arrows and waved her hand again, this time at me.

"Shit! "As I was to dodge the incoming attack, the petals shielded me before it reached its intended target and caused another explosion.

As the smoke subsided, I charged at her again, and this time, my sword was able to hit her. She hissed in pain as the sword cut through her flesh as she backed away.

I never expected her to wave her hand again to cast wind blades again, but I raised my sword horizontally to block her attacks. I could feel myself being pushed back as the blades were pushing towards me.

"Don't underestimate us SECTA agents!" I screamed as I swung my blade in full force and bounced the blades back towards her.

"Shit! "was her only reaction before the blades hit her, and an explosion occurred afterward. 

"Are you okay?" Kouga asked as he walked towards me.

I nodded in response.

"Give up now," Kouga said to the vampire. The smoke subsided, and we saw the vampire grit her teeth angrily while struggling to stand up.

"I give you the credit, SECTA agent," she said in between breaths." You may hit me with my attack, but!" She raised her hand until it reached her mouth.

By the looks of it, she has something on her sleeve.

"It seems like I have no choice but to do this!"

She bit her hand so hard that I could see blood oozing out. Some of it dripped on the floor. Kouga, upon seeing it, grabbed me by the arm and ran far away from her.

"Fall back, Anna!" he shouted in a panicking voice. "She's using her vampire arts! "

"What!?"

Before I realized it, I saw her bitten hand yank harshly from her mouth, blood splayed out on the bloodied hand.

"Vampire Arts! "A strong gust of wind suddenly appeared and swept both of us to nearly flying, causing Kouga to accidentally let me go. He was able to keep his footing to prevent him from falling while avoiding being swept by the strong wind meanwhile Yuri was behind one of the intact tables to take cover.

I ended up lying down on the floor, as the wind didn't die down. I tried to stand up; but I felt a sharp pain below as my ankle was injured by the gust earlier.

I looked around, and to my horror, the gust surrounded the vampire; some of the corpses were levitating in front of her, then she drained their blood from their deep injuries until they looked like dried-up raisins. The blood from the corpses combined with the gust of wind she summoned until it was formed into a visible blood blade as the corpses fell to the ground.

"Bloody dance!"

The blood blade dances toward our direction. Kouga summoned another batch of petals to intercept the incoming blades, while Yuri shot another batch of arrows to do the same.

I looked frantically for my sword, and I cursed in frustration as I saw it lying on the floor five meters away from me. I tried to crawl toward where my sword was while hissing in pain as another explosion could be heard in the background.

"Anna, watch out!"

I turned around, and to my horror, I saw the blood blades coming towards me. I could see Kouga trying to rush toward me while dodging the oncoming attack, and Yuri was cursing under his breath as he couldn't summon another arrow to shoot at the blades.

Is this the end of me? Is this my final battle? I want to do more.

I want to be stronger.

I closed my eyes as I prepared myself for the blades to touch my skin and end my twenty-two years of life here in this living world.

*

"Poor little child."

I opened my eyes as someone spoke to me. I was not in the museum where the battle took place. Instead, I was in a dark place, with a field of red roses being its only color. I could feel a gentle wind caressing my face, rose petals dancing along with the rhythm of the wind. I looked around at the surroundings, and I saw a man in front of me. He was in between his late thirties and early forties, with floor-length, wavy ebony hair, a sharp face, and weary, crimson eyes. He was wearing a black robe with red and gold accents. Adorn in his head is a golden crown with designs like roses; its center is a deep crimson gem that is like the color of blood.

I admit, this guy likes darker colors.

But this isn't the time for me to criticize his fashion sense. "Where am I?"

"You are in my own dimensional world," he said in arrogance. "Although I'm the only one here in this world, the fact that you ended up here proves that you need my help."

"Well, I was about to die when the blade hit me—wait? Did you say, 'I need your help?'"

He chuckled in response.

"Hey! Answer my question!" I'm offended, mister!

He stopped laughing. "You just like her from a thousand years ago." He slowly approached me until he stopped, looking at me closer; his eyes became melancholic as he looked at me like he reminds me of someone he knew. "Like a rose covered in flames—ones that are beautiful and deadly."

He paused and closed his eyes before opening them again a few seconds later. "Very well, let's make a deal. I will let you borrow my powers."

I was taken aback by his offer. "Wait, I never said that I wanted power. Why did you offer yours to me in the first place?"

"You wished for yourself to be stronger before coming here," he replied.

True, I wished for that before I ended up here in this place.

"Do you want it or not?"

I think for a while. The offer is tempting, true, because I could use it for future battles, but for a scenario like this, I know that there is an exchange for this kind of offer. "Okay, I'll take your offer. What's the catch?"

"Catch?"

"An exchange of sorts." I waved my hand carelessly. "So, what would I give to you in return?"

He thought for a while before he answered. "I will think this through when you come back here again."

He reached out his hand, and it pressed on my chest. I could feel the warmth as a soft glow illuminated between his hand and my chest. Minutes later, the light diminished as he let go of his hand.

"The deed is done," he said. "Now, close your eyes again, and feel the power flow in you."

I wanted to thank him in return, but my mouth couldn't come out with any words. I felt that I was under his control as my eyes closed against my will.

"What..? "I tried not to close my eyes, but to no avail. Before I closed my eyes, I could see him smiling, pearls of fanged teeth showing in between.

Don't tell me that I've been dealing with...

*

"Go and survive, my dear poor little child."

*

-Kouga-

"Anna, watch out!"

I began to rush towards her while I swung my katana to deflect the incoming attacks from that woman. I could hear the remaining ESEH agent (Yuri, was it? I heard Anna call him) cursing under his breath that he was running out of mana to summon another light-coated arrow.

Shoot, I couldn't make it in time as the blades were coming closer towards Anna. I saw her closing her eyes, resigning herself to her fate.

When was the last time I failed to protect a human? I remember it being three centuries ago when the bloody garden of the battlefield bloomed with the corpses of innocent humans that became its nutrition. I remember when I held the dead human girl in my arms; she was a member of the earlier SECTA agents who fought alongside us in the first vampire war against the rebels.

We have won the war, but the casualties are too great. It was so great that His Majesty mourned for them for a year before imprisoning his adopted nephew for a crime that he didn't commit.

I vowed to myself that day that I must protect humans, regardless of how they have treated us.

Monster or saint, I don't care. As long as they are alive and free from vampire attacks, I'm satisfied.

As the blade was one inch closer to Anna, I saw a single rose petal clash with the blade, which was replaced with a fire, consuming the blades until they were nowhere to be seen.

"Wha…"

I looked at Anna and was shocked by what I saw: her body was wholly consumed by the flames, but she was not burned to a crisp. Flickers of it formed into small pieces, similar to a rose petal. She reached out her hand, and the flames surrounding her body began to disperse, gathering in her hand to form a flaming ball. She opened her eyes, and I could see none of her brown eyes; instead, it was crimson-like blood.

"Vampire Arts," she spoke in a monotone, her eyes only clouded and focused on the enemy, as her body was now in a throwing stance.

Wait, did I mishear her earlier? Vampire Arts?

Impossible. Don't tell me.?

"Rose pillar." She threw the flaming ball like a baseball and flew toward the vampire, who was still in a daze, still processing what was happening in front of her in that rotten brain of hers. 

"What the fu?" It seemed like she snapped out of it and was about to create a barrier to protect herself, but the flaming ball was faster than her, and it consumed her entirely. I watched in shock as the pillar of flame swirled like a flaming tornado, with its wisp resembling rose petals dancing in the wind.

I was about to approach the flaming pillar to finish the vampire off when I felt an ominous force behind me. I turned around and saw Anna approaching the flames, her sword in her right hand, still in a clouded daze.

She was injured, but how can she stand up? I looked at her injured ankle, only to find that it was healed; the bruise remained.

But I can't forget the ominous aura that she emits. More flames were produced as she took every step towards the pillar.

"What on earth happened to her?!" I could hear Yuri shouting at me in the distance. He, too, was shocked at what he saw. "Anna isn't like that!"

Even from the short moment that I met her, I knew that Anna was a full-blooded human, and there was no way that she had powers like that.

This made me realize that the person in front of me was not Anna.

"Anna! Snap out of it!" I grabbed her arm to stop her.

She stopped her tracks and turned around to look at me. I was shocked that her crimson eyes were lifeless, and her emotionless face made me feel like she was going to commit complete genocide.

"This isn't you!" I shouted at her.

Suddenly, her eyes returned to their usual lively brown, and the flames in her feet began to disappear. But she closed her eyes as she drifted into unconsciousness. I was able to catch her before she fell, and I saw the pillar of flame in front of me dispersed.

It seems that the vampire is still alive, but her outfit is ruined and worse for wear.

"ARGGGGHHHH!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. But judging from the size of the burns on her skin, this will take a dozen of the human blood needed to be healed. "I won't forgive you! I won't forgive you! IWONTFORGIVEYOU!!!"

I could hear footsteps behind me and saw Lord Albert and the two other SECTA agents approaching us, with reinforcements behind them.

"We were able to clear up the area," Patrick said, but only stopped when he saw the condition of the entire area. "What the hell?" He sees the corpses of both guesses and ESEH agents alike. "It seems like we're too late."

"Is Annie okay?" Lena asked behind Patrick's back. I'm impressed that she could see Anna from far away.

Suddenly, a stoic male vampire wearing a full black qipao appeared before us and grabbed the vampire woman by the waist.

"Let go! I'm killing this bitch here!" She shouted as she was referring to Anna.

"Mission failed," he said in a cold tone. "But we have achieved our goal here."

"Where the hell is Jonathan, anyway?!" Just as I expected. There is a third vampire among the guests.

If my suspicion about the man who talked to Anna hours earlier before this disaster happened proved to be true,.

"He said he played his part. Let's retreat for now." Then he looked me in the eye. I know what that means. "So, you're Kouga Igarashi. The next time we meet will be your last," he declared as he and his companion retreated.

Some of the SECTA agents tried to follow them. "Stop," their chief ordered. He also arrived as well. "Don't follow them. Search the area for survivors!"

The agents did as they had been told. They checked on Yuri as a sign of respect between rival organizations. They checked on me and Anna as well, but I reassured them that I was alright and told them to tend to Anna first.

I looked at her as she slept quietly. As I processed the events earlier, I couldn't fathom where she got that power from.

Vampire Arts only awakened when a newly created vampire drank human blood for the first time, and as the name suggests, it's only reserved for vampires. Yet Anna has one, and she is a fully blooded human. 

Not unless she came from that vampire's bloodline. Impossible.

The Brown progenitor killed him a thousand years ago.

I must report this to His Majesty after this.