Chapter 62

Almer was in excruciating pain as he felt his blood exit his body, coursing unnaturally through the fangs buried in his wrist. The agony overwhelmed him, unlike any pain he had ever experienced. He gasped for air, desperately attempting to strike Lennix in the head with his revolver, although it had no impact on the vampire. In response, Lennix, in addition to feeding on Almer's blood, began to do something more unsettling: he drew upon Almer's life essence and soul.

As Almer's life force and essence were gradually drained, he lost the ability to resist. He couldn't fight back against the consuming darkness. His life seemed to replay before his eyes, recalling his parents, his upbringing, and how he had ended up in this moment, and how-

"And done!" Lennix exclaimed, abruptly ceasing his feeding as he withdrew his fangs from Almer's wrist, adding, "Don't start a flashback revealing your tragic backstory or anything, because I'm not killing you." With that, he punched Almer in the face, rendering him unconscious.

Lennix wiped his mouth, a satisfied grin crossing his face as his eyes scanned his now unblemished form as he noted the absence of any trace of the silver bullets or their fragments. His rapid regeneration had done its work, leaving no visible marks.

With a quick scan of the ongoing battles, Lennix sized up the situation. Zee and Karin were locked in a duel, and Ercale was fighting against the eye. However, his attention was abruptly drawn to the impending clash between his sister and his emotionless maid. His immediate reaction was a exclaimed curse, "Shit!"

Without hesitation, Lennix spun around, forcefully disarming Almer and seizing the revolver loaded with silver bullets. Checking the cylinder, he counted four bullets left in its chambers before reinserting the cylinder back into the revolver. After doing so, he went to help Clarissa fight.

Clarissa launched two knives at Eirisse simultaneously. The knives arced towards Eirisse from opposing directions, their deadly trajectories converging on their target. Eirisse, however, charged forward with confidence. But Clarissa, anticipating Eirisse's movements, unleashed another knife directly at her opponent's head. Eirisse smirked, nonchalantly tilting her head to let the knife harmlessly pass by.

Eirisse continued her advance towards Clarissa, poised to strike once more. Yet, just as she prepared to land a blow, a thought crossed her mind, *Another trick.* In that moment, the distinct sound of metal striking metal resonated behind her. The third knife, thrown by Clarissa, had struck the first two, propelling them back toward Eirisse. Recognizing the danger, Eirisse instinctively attempted to dodge the approaching knives.

Before she could evade them entirely, a powerful punch was directed towards her face. Eirisse reacted swiftly, catching the punch in mid-air while the knives found their mark in her shoulders.

Maintaining her composure, Eirisse addressed her brother, her tone nonchalant but laced with an underlying hint of amusement.

"Dear brother, it isn't nice to cut in on a duel," Eirisse quipped. Lennix withdrew his arm from Eirisse's grasp, acknowledging her with a smirk of his own.

Lennix, brimming with self-assuredness, responded to his sister's jest with confidence. "Well, sister, the duel wasn't exactly even, so I had to cut in."

Clarissa, her tone unfazed, joined in, addressing Lennix. "So you wish to make it harder for me to win, Master Lennix?"

Lennix, perplexed by Clarissa's comment, faltered in his stance, seeking clarification. "What do you mean by that, Clarissa?" he asked.

Eirisse, ever the provocateur, chimed in to elucidate Clarissa's point, casually removing the knives embedded in her shoulders. "What she means, little brother, is that by joining this fight, you've actually diminished her chances of winning. It's a result of your, shall we say, incompetence, wouldn't you agree, maid?" Eirisse's tone held a touch of amusement as she tossed the extracted knives to the ground.

Clarissa, unflinchingly emotionless, poised herself with throwing knives in hand. "You're absolutely correct, Mistress Eirisse, but it is what it is," she replied.

Lennix, no longer sure of himself, tried to make light of the situation. "Are you two collaborating to insult me or something? Because, good goddess, what you said just hurts," he lamented, his fighting stance somewhat lacking in conviction.

Eirisse, ignoring Lennix's question, swiftly repositioned herself, then launched herself at Lennix, who prepared to evade or block her impending attack. Clarissa, meanwhile, hesitated to throw a knife, unsure if it would be effective against Eirisse's acrobatic maneuver.

In a spectacular display of agility, Eirisse executed a 540-degree spin in the air before delivering a powerful kick aimed at Lennix's head. Lennix, recognizing the impending threat, raised his arms to block the strike. Despite the successful block, the force of Eirisse's kick sent him tumbling sideways, his body bouncing off the ground before he collided with a nearby wall.

As Eirisse landed on the ground after her acrobatic kick, Clarissa seized the opportunity and swiftly threw another knife towards Eirisse's feet. In a surprising twist, Eirisse chose not to evade the incoming attack and allowed the knife to pierce her left foot.

With a amused expression, Eirisse charged directly at Clarissa, who, rather unexpectedly, matched her aggression by closing in with two throwing knives gripped tightly in her hands. Eirisse couldn't help but smirk as she anticipated the upcoming clash.

Clarissa initiated the confrontation with a swift horizontal swipe of her knives, a move that Eirisse easily ducked under. In one fluid motion, Eirisse executed a sweeping kick with her left leg to try to knock Clarissa off balance. However, Clarissa had foreseen this tactic, and with remarkable speed, she raised her right leg and stomped down forcefully on the knife embedded in Eirisse's left foot.

The impact drove the knife almost completely through Eirisse's foot and into the ground, trapping her in place. Eirisse couldn't suppress a hiss of pain as her movement was severely restricted.

Undeterred, Clarissa brought down her knives with precision, stabbing them into Eirisse's throat. Eirisse gasped, her eyes widening in surprise. In response to the threat Clarissa posed, Eirisse attempted to retaliate with a rising uppercut. Clarissa, realizing the impending danger, tried to block the attack, but the sheer force behind Eirisse's strike proved overwhelming.

Clarissa was launched into the ceiling with considerable force, leaving a small crater in her wake before she crashed back to the ground. Eirisse's retaliation came at a price, though, as she ripped her own foot off, unable to free it from the knife that was deeply embedded in the ground.

Eirisse huffed in annoyance, her patience wearing thin. She uttered, "That's it, enough fun was had. I'm killing you now," directing her words at Clarissa, who lay on the ground, struggling to move her battered body.

Clarissa's injuries from the previous devastating blow left her practically immobilized, unable to respond effectively. With a limp in her step due to her missing foot, Eirisse slowly made her way towards the defenseless maid, an intent to deliver a lethal blow etched on her face.

Lennix, holding his head in pain, turned his attention to the perilous situation unfolding between his sister and Clarissa. Witnessing Clarissa's condition, he hastily retrieved the revolver and aimed it towards Eirisse. The reason he hadn't used it earlier was because he knew Eirisse could easily evade it, but with her missing foot, maybe now he'll be able to hit her.

Just as Lennix steadied his aim, and Eirisse raised her fist for a final, deadly strike on Clarissa, an unexpected explosion rocked the surface above, its shockwaves reaching deep into the underground chamber. The violent blast caused the ground to tremble, forcing a momentary pause in the ongoing battles below. Eirisse, Clarissa, Zee, Karin, Ercale, and Lennix all shifted their attention upwards, their expressions filled with confusion, as they wondered what had just happened above ground.