Chapter 171: Vampires

"Now, how about you two tell me who sent you after me?" Magnus asked, his gaze shifting between the hooded figure on the ground and the one still standing a couple of meters away. The initial shock on their faces had faded, replaced by a guarded stance against him. Unlike his partner, the standing figure didn't rush in, opting for caution instead.

Amidst the sound of rain, Magnus noticed the ragged breathing of the hooded figure on the ground had ceased. His attention snapped back to her. She had braced herself on her hands and knees, her fingers digging into the muddy remains of the dirt road.

"I can't believe I have to use this on an Adept-level mage..." she muttered, turning her head up to meet his eyes. Magnus's expression shifted as he registered the irritation on her face—and more importantly, her eyes. The whites were pitch black, shimmering under the dim light peeking through the storm clouds above. Fiery orange irises glowed in the center, locked onto his. In that split second of eye contact, Magnus felt something ripple against the surface of his mind.

The woman let out a low gasp as she slowly rose to her feet, taking a couple of steps back from him.

"You used hypnosis on him?" The male hooded figure's voice cut through the rain, a blend of disbelief and relief.

"I had no choice. I don't know what kind of magic he used on himself, but it made him too fast. And that hit he landed... it hurt more than it should have." She spoke while brushing her hand over her stomach, still reeling from how a simple-looking strike could carry so much force.

"We shouldn't have underestimated someone who managed to catch Lady Austra off guard—and injure her, no less. Still, our hypnosis is stronger than any Adept-level mental magic. Hurry and kill him while he's immobile. Then we can bring his corpse back to-" The words died in his throat as both he and the woman saw Magnus move. He stood calmly, the mana-constructed umbrella still shielding him from the rain as his eyes remained fixed on them.

"I see. So, you two are vampires," Magnus noted.

"That explains how you could move as fast as an Adept-level knight despite clearly not being one. And I'm guessing this Lady Austra you keep mentioning was the woman I encountered during the raid." The hooded woman froze. She stumbled back, her cloak fluttering as her hood dropped.

She slid across the muddy ground, coming to a stop next to her partner, her unnaturally colored eyes wide. Just like Lady Austra, whom Magnus had faced while rescuing Celia, this woman's skin held that same eerie pallor—only a shade or two darker than that vampiric woman.

They moved, yet there was no hint of life within them. If not for the emotions in their voices and the expressions on their faces, they could easily be mistaken for dolls. The sight pulled Magnus into a moment of reflection.

Now that I can get a better look at them, they kind of look like how I do with my new body.

Magnus noted the similarity, though the only real difference seemed to be in efficiency. His own appearance leaned more artificial than dead—unlike the two vampires standing before him, who could easily be mistaken for walking corpses.

"Y-You! How are you moving!? How did you break free!? I didn't release you from my hypnosis!" The cloaked woman's voice wavered, disbelief clear in her tone.

Magnus unfolded his arms, his expression calm.

"Break free? I was never under your hypnosis. I felt something trying to poke around in my head, so I just played along. Still, I didn't expect that after one run-in, I'd end up with yet another person gunning for me." It was almost funny, in a twisted way. From what he'd gathered, these vampires—and the one they kept calling Lady Austra—were all part of the same syndicate Zeth was involved with. Which meant that two people fairly high up in the same organization wanted him dead.

"What a mess..." He muttered, rubbing the back of his head. His quiet complaint went unnoticed. The vampires were too busy grappling with the fact that the woman's hypnosis had failed. The hooded man's mind raced, his thoughts frantic.

This is impossible. Adept-level mages don't have many spells that protect their minds. Even if he did know one, he shouldn't have the mana reserves to keep it active for long. So either he cast it the moment he saw us—without us noticing—or... he's not an Adept-level mage at all!

Either way, the human in front of them was dangerous. Extremely dangerous. The woman seemed to reach the same conclusion. The two exchanged quick glances, subtle nods passing between them. Then, just like his partner, the man's fingernails elongated into sharp points as they both sank into low, ready stances.

Magnus's expression remained neutral, almost as if he were lost in thought rather than staring down a pair of vampires ready to pounce. The world around them was a tapestry of tension, filled only by the relentless rain and the distant rumble of thunder.

I was planning to get in touch with the Major General and Luden when I got back to Arlcliff City. I need to see what they know about Zeth's organization before I make a move. When I saved Celia, I went into that raid blind—and it got people killed who didn't need to die. It also forced the Major General to launch raids before he and his men were fully ready. Who knows how many more casualties happened because of that? This time, I want to be prepared and handle it myself. If I can capture these two and find out who this 'lord' they mentioned is, how many vampires there are, and how strong they are, things will go a lot smoother.

The real question was how to capture them. If they were anything like Lady Austra, they could seemingly slip into shadows just as easily. Magnus wasn't sure he'd be able to track them—or stop them—if they tried to escape.

Before Magnus could dive deeper into the logistics of it all, the patience of the two vampires standing off against him snapped. His gaze sharpened as their bodies twitched beneath the dark, rain-soaked sky. At a speed that sent shockwaves rippling through the muddy ground and cut cleanly through the falling rain, their hands shot forward, claws poised to tear into him.

Magnus's body moved on instinct the moment [Combat Assistant] detected the threat. His right leg shot up, intercepting the hooded man's hand and knocking the strike upward. Balanced on a single leg, he spun, pivoting on his ankle as his hand shot out to grab the cloaked woman's wrist.

His body flowed through the counter seamlessly, yanking her forward and off balance as his raised foot returned to the ground. He stepped in, his free hand darting out to seize the hooded man by the head. In a blink, both vampires were caught.

Under the grip of [Self Body Puppetry], escape was impossible. With a swift raise of his left arm, Magnus hurled the cloaked woman skyward, temporarily removing her from the equation. His grip on the hooded man's skull tightened, prompting a frantic scramble for Magnus's arm.

But even without the direct influence of [Self Body Puppetry], the vampire found no give. Magnus's arm felt like a steel beam, unyielding and cold. The man's claw-like nails, sharp enough to deflect sword strikes, scratched against the exposed skin beneath Magnus's uniform, but they drew no blood.

Magnus's skin flexed and bent under the pressure. It wasn't pierced, nor did it bear a single mark. It felt more like an impossibly smooth, solid surface than human flesh.

"Y-Your body! Wha-What are you?" The hooded man yelled, but Magnus didn't respond. His body was already in motion, hand arcing down. He slammed the vampire's head into the ground, muddy water exploding around them as the impact shattered the stone beneath the road. The man's hood fell back, revealing his face as cracks spiderwebbed through the earth, splintering the path in every direction.

And still, Magnus's grip remained firm.

Not enough.

With [Combat Assistant] at the helm, Magnus felt like a pilot in a mech running on autopilot—watching, evaluating, but not directly controlling until it was time to use other abilities. A small, compressed flame began to form between his palm and the vampire's face. An instant later, a blanket of yellow heat exploded outward, hotter than any orange flame. Even through the downpour and the hiss of steam, the vampire's scream tore through the night as fire spread across the ground, engulfing his entire body.

There was no escape.

It was only when Magnus sensed danger from above—both through the BGM Glitch and the [Combat Assistant]'s rapid response—that he released his hold. The flames cut out as his body vaulted backward, flipping through the air. One hand shot down, catching the ground, and he balanced on it as he kicked directly upward, aiming at the empty space where he had stood moments before.

The cloaked woman, who had been thrown into the sky, descended with lethal intent. She'd hoped to use her momentum to catch Magnus off guard, but now, mid-air, her eyes widened in shock. She hadn't sensed any sensory magic, no mana condensation—nothing but that brief flash of fire.

He never even looked up. How did he know? It's like he has a knight's sixth sense.

Her thoughts cut off as Magnus's foot connected with her head. The impact was instant, forceful—more than she could have anticipated. Her neck twisted sharply, snapping a full one hundred and eighty degrees. Her vision spun, and suddenly, she was staring up at the dark gray sky instead of the muddy ground.

Magnus pushed off the ground with his hand, jumping back smoothly onto his feet.

Sticking his hand out from under his mana-construct umbrella, Magnus washed off the mud while keeping his eyes on the two vampires he had just fought. The cloaked woman lay motionless on the ground, seemingly dead, but then her body twitched. Slowly, she began to rise, a familiar dark mist—almost sentient—wrapping itself around her neck. It was like watching a marionette jerked upright by its strings.

Just like when I was fighting that woman. I ripped off her arms, and Grial stabbed her in the eye, but once that strange darkness appeared, it completely shrouded her injuries. Just a couple of seconds was all it took for her arms to reappear and for her eye to completely heal.

And now, that same feat was unfolding right in front of him. The cloaked woman's lifeless face, her eyes rolled back into her head, snapped back to normal as her neck cracked and realigned. In an instant, her head whipped around, and she fixed Magnus with a heavy, rasping breath.

"Hmm, so you're the kind of vampires that are not only undead but also immortal?" Magnus mused. It wasn't really a question—more like a verbal checkmark in his own thought process.

Being undead was one thing. It was a classification, a label for something caught in the space between life and death, neither fully one nor the other. These vampires, however, weren't like the Nullfang. They lacked source code abilities, meaning their form of undeath was fundamentally different. Still, if Magnus had to categorize the Nullfang's ability, it would be [True Immortality].

The Nullfang was an entity that couldn't be destroyed or killed under any circumstances—unless countered by a source code ability.

These vampires, on the other hand, while immortal, weren't at that level. They could be hurt, injured, even temporarily killed. But they would always come back, their wounds knitting themselves back together as if time itself had rewound.

The cloaked woman confirmed as much with the eerie calm in her stare as she spoke.

"That's right. Unlike you humans, we cannot die. No matter how many times we're killed or our bodies are completely destroyed."

The cloaked woman's voice carried a chilling certainty. "I don't know how you know so much about us, but it doesn't matter. No matter how strange your magic is or how powerful you seem, we'll never tire. Nothing you do will ever bring us down."

Endurance was a vampire's greatest strength. It didn't matter how powerful their opponent was; as long as enough of them remained, they could wear their enemy down. They would throw their immortal bodies, relentless patience, and raw ferocity at any wall until it crumbled.

Magnus's eyes shifted to the vampiric man. His clothes had been reduced to cinders, and his body was charred black the last time Magnus looked at him. But, just like the cloaked woman, his 'corpse' stirred. Thick black fog enveloped him as he rose from the ground. There was no sound, no visible sign of healing beyond that dark veil. Yet, when the fog dissipated, he stood there, fully healed. His skin had returned to that sickly pale hue, and his eyes burned with the same unsettling glow as before. The only difference now was that he was naked.

"She's right. This is a pointless battle for you, human." The man's gaze bore into Magnus, unyielding.

But Magnus wasn't fully listening. His mind churned with his own thoughts.

Hmm. In terms of regeneration, theirs is superior to mine. If they're truly as immortal as they claim, then killing them might actually be impossible. Of course, that's only if I believe them.

And the simple truth was—he didn't believe them. As magical as this world seemed, a lot of the things here mirrored the reality of his home. The strongest parallel he noticed was the concept of entropy. It was one of those topics that had caught his interest back in physics class because of how often it showed up in the sci-fi novels he used to read for fun.

In the end, everything is in a constant state of decline. Nothing ever gives more than it takes. Anything heated will always cool as the temperature spreads to its surroundings. Anything built will eventually crumble, becoming just another part of the world. Even something that spins will lose its energy and grind to a halt.

This world's magic followed the same rules. Without a steady flow of mana and mental control to stabilize it, magic would break down into raw mana thanks to the spirits. Even the mana artifice on his chest constantly absorbed mana from its surroundings, using runes to keep functioning.

That constant battle against entropy was exactly why mages focused so much on enhancing the complexity and lifespan of their magic. It was why Supreme Mages and the Ancient Magic they left behind were considered the pinnacle of magecraft—they could defy entropy.

So, to Magnus, the idea that the vampires before him could resurrect without limits seemed impossible. If they could endlessly recreate their bodies from nothing but that black fog, without losing anything or using up resources, wouldn't they have become Supreme Mages by now? If they were truly undying, every vampire would be invincible, and they would have taken over the world ages ago.

But they hadn't. Instead, they lingered in the shadows, working in criminal syndicates alongside humans like Zeth. To Magnus, that truth spoke louder than any claim of immortality.

They must have limits. I just need to push them hard enough to see where those limits lie.