…

"Where is Lord h.e.l.l?" Marco asked Porter, accompanied by Nero, it was their turn yesterday and were rejected with Lord h.e.l.l not being present, they had already swallowed their pride to an extent and would swear allegiance, but their to-be Lord was not even here? This was preposterous.

"It seems our Lord has left for a business of his two days ago, only informing the butler who saw our Lord as he left the room." Porter respectfully replied. These people would soon be his seniors in strength, as soon as they swore their fealty.

"Well, when will he return? Aurus cannot keep taking us back and forth every day, you know?" complained Marco.

"We weren't told anything of the sort, as such, we can only dutifully wait," said Porter and returned to the training of Aurus and Furcas. Aurus always accompanied the Sons of Shadow and was one of the trainers, as it would take an immense amount of time, getting back on foot. Even if they managed to tame one of the larger creatures, it wouldn't make much of a difference, it could still take them at least a week.

"Do you think maybe he was killed outside by one of the dinosaurs?" Nero asked casually, the bags under his eyes ever-present.

"I doubt that is the case," Marco said. "According to Jack and Slinora, even with their boosted abilities, they could barely touch his copies. With his acceleration ability, there are very few people who could even touch him."

Nero shrugged and sat on the platform in the fighting grounds, watching the vampires.

"Do you think anyone other than us could take Porter?" Nero asked after a while. Porter's muscles were now taut and quite visible, his speed had also been improved to an extent, and it was apparent he was training his mana as well.

"Did you talk to any of the other knights?" Marco asked.

"Aside from Porter?" Nero asked. "I don't think so."

"I talked to Annette and Alfie."

"Alright, what did they say?"

"Porter rarely leaves here, is what I learned. He only stops when his muscles start breaking down. There were surely days we worked ourselves to our bones, but do you think you could do that for days to no end?" Marco said with a glint of respect in his eyes for Porter. "That's the cause of his rapid progress, and I doubt unless they kill him or knock him out, no one would be able to defeat him, that's what I believe.

"Let's try it out," Nero said and got up, walking toward Porter who looked focused and very resolute.

Porter only realised someone was next to him when Nero spoke: "Hey, I'm talking to you."

"Yes, Sir Nero!" Porter stood up as fast as he could, albeit falteringly. He was unable to sleep as h.e.l.l wasn't back yesterday, so he focused on working out until he did, Porter wanted to be useful to his Lord, that was his sole wish.

"How may I help you?" Porter said as some of the female vampires' gazes fell on his muscular body. He was very popular with ladies all along with his suave demeanour, but adding his current unwavering will to that as well as his position, Porter was considered to be the dream of many.

"Let's fight."

"Of course!" Porter replied quickly. He would never give up the chance to further his skills, and fighting an able opponent would be a quick way of doing that. He knew his Lord also wished the same for him, allowing him to spar one of his copies even. But the disparity was to such an extent that it wasn't even funny. Sons of Shadow, however, were different, although he believed there would still be a ma.s.sive difference between himself and them, at least it was a goal he could currently look up to and see. How nice would it be, Porter would think from time to time if he was strong enough to even protect Lord h.e.l.l.

"Good. Follow me," Nero said with a casual manner, looking around as he led Porter to an empty area. Even though Nero mostly adopted a carefree manner, walking around with his hands in his pockets, looking sleepy, the pressure he created on Porter was real. Porter was sure he could at least reach their strength under Lord h.e.l.l's guidance, but for now, he had to see the difference in skill for himself.

"Please don't go easy on me." Porter took a defensive stance.

"Don't worry, I won't." Nero seemed to have melted into the shadows. Nero himself was a prodigy in this skill, achieving a level only few had reached in history, he could almost instantly melt into shadows. Of course, as long as his location was found out, an attack to the shadow he was residing in would be transferred to himself with a larger magnitude with the potential to kill him, depending on the damage. Thus, vampires rarely used this technique in one-on-one fights.

Porter steadied his breathing and grew his claws, ready to strike at any movement around him. "I am not only the scout, but also the a.s.sa.s.sin of the group," Nero said from a moving shadow on the ground. It looked to be a dark patch moving in fast speed.

As soon as Porter heard his voice and located the dark patch, he used his claws to attack it without a second thought, Nero was definitely faster than him, but not fast enough that he wouldn't be able to react, at least that was his impression from the first few actions he was shown. He attacked the ground with all his might, and he was sure the moment he struck, the dark patch was still there, and he could almost feel the damage he did. But suddenly, claws were sticking out from his belly, stabbed from behind.

"Again," Nero said and retook form after melting into the shadows to travel on the ground, standing at the opposite side of Porter soon after who was in obvious pain. "Why didn't your attack work?"

"I don't know!" Porter uttered the words as he spat out some blood and lunged toward Nero this time as soon as the thought struck him.

"It's because I allowed my opponent to make the first move," he said as he attacked, barely missing as Nero melted back into the shadows just the same. Porter frantically attacked any possible patch of darkness he could see around; nonetheless, it did nothing but almost shattering his claws

"Wrong." The holes in his stomach were barely healed, but they were not punctured again, along with one of his lungs, again, from behind. Nero took his initial position once more before he added: "Guess again." Nero beckoned Porter, standing still this time, not using his Shadow Step ability.

Porter was expecting him to vanish again; thus he was alert, but Nero was simply standing there with his claws grown, ready to swing it in a moderate fas.h.i.+on. Porter felt insulted even, even he would be able to either dodge or deflect that attack with ease. He watched the claws slowly cut through the air as they slowly clawed toward his chest. Right before Porter blocked them, Nero uttered the following words:

"Even Lord h.e.l.l failed to dodge this attack."

Porter's eyes were wide-open since he had blocked Nero's claws, but there was suddenly nothing there, and his chest was sliced open, bleeding. Other vampires had transitioned onto training they could do while watching their fight.

"It's an illusion!" Porter guessed.

"That's not the point of this fight," Nero replied. "You are weak enough that I can take you on alone, without much of an effort. We are here because h.e.l.l is strong enough to take us all, along with Lord Virgil. You can sharpen your fangs and hope to be of use to Lord h.e.l.l, but it is never gonna happen."

Porter had a sullen look and could not answer to him. Were all his efforts in vain? Even if they were so, why would he crush his hopes like that?

"Lord Pseudo, one of Lord h.e.l.l's copies told me one thing," Porter said, loud and clear for everyone to hear: "All his knights will have the potential to surpa.s.s the Sons. It may not be today, but we will not waver!"

Porter took a step toward indicating he wanted to take on Nero again, feeling the hopes and ambitions of his brothers in arms. "Lord h.e.l.l said we would dominate this realm, so it will happen for sure!"

"Come," Nero beckoned Porter with a slight smile on his face, evidently also having taken to this man's spirit as well.

Porter kept his guard up as he walked up to Nero slower this time, a.n.a.lysing every movement he made that could indicate his next action. Nero was an a.s.sa.s.sin, but since he had a chance to spar with a vampire that was not completely weak neither too strong, he would take it, try to take him down without using neither Shadow Step nor Two-Instance-Fighting.

Nero was the one that made the first move and drew a vertical line in the air with his speed, trying to catch Porter off-guard. However, little did he know that Porter, feeling the eyes of his brothers and sisters behind his back, didn't feel he could afford to lose, so he took the attack head-on, simply to grab Nero's hand after his claws sank into him.

Nero was stupefied at Porter's decision, but he had already swung his claw and couldn't stop at that last moment. Since Porter wouldn't die while being gravely injured could also be a path for vampires to further their regeneration ability, he let the attack land on him as is and Porter's lungs were almost shredded apart. At that point Porter bore the brunt of the attack with his iron will and held his opponent's hand, cutting It off with his other claw with a broad smile on his face.

Nero's sleepy eyes opened completely, he was definitely fully aware Porter wouldn't know of his intentions, but the pain in his right hand was something he hadn't experienced for years. He was an a.s.sa.s.sin, after all. Porter followed by drawing a straight arc to his chest and opening a large gash, finally satisfied, he threw Nero's hand back to him as he thanked for sparring.

The severed hand landed on his chest and fell on the floor, Nero was unresponsive for a few moments as Furcas was alarmed, so he got closer to the two in the case Nero lost himself in anger. He was someone that didn't like pain so much that he mastered the abilities to spare him the possibility of pain like few mastered before. Furcas drew his large rapier, ready to intervene.

Nero glared at Porter who was confused as to what was wrong and melted back into shadows, in moments, Porter was attacked from his side, countered the claws, hearing the sounds of clinking, but the same thing occurred, and his chest was punctured. Nero fully appeared in front of Porter and began raining attacks on him. Whenever Porter thought he could meet an attack from him, it seemed as if the attack never happened in the first place while he would be penetrated by claws once more.

Nero's face was full of anger, mutilating Porter and only missing his heart and anything that would leave permanent damage in his attacks. He was focusing on giving him pain with a myriad of small cuts with the majority of his attacks when suddenly his sides were punctured by two blades that appeared out of nowhere on each side, causing him to stop his offence as Nero looked for who dared hurting him.

"That's quite enough, don't you think?" Leila said. She would rush into the fighting grounds as much as she could when they sparred and observe them. She would be improving her attacks at least on theory, but didn't want to fight with anyone herself as there would be times opponents would even lose limbs, she felt she probably wouldn't have the stomach for it. She had used her "Shadow Reach" ability to create two shadow daggers, stabbing Nero from both sides after seeing how brutally Porter was being attacked. She didn't have much interaction with him, but she was present along with his older brother and h.e.l.l in some conversations held between them, she knew Porter was a righteous person, she felt he was more like a knight in s.h.i.+ning armour, complementing his t.i.tle in the base.

Furcas, who stood at the side without intervention as Nero was only teaching him a lesson without causing significant damage to the Knight Porter, interjected: "One shouldn't intervene in a battle between men." Furcas has always been a person who favoured duels, one of the only two who had any proper experience in one-on-one fighting among Sons of Shadow, the other being Marco.

"I guess I'm an insolent b.i.t.c.h, then," Leila coldly replied, "Nero wins, the fight is over."

Furcas didn't pursue the topic further, he was wise enough to not get on the bad side of any of h.e.l.l's friends. Nero, on the other hand, wasn't present in some critical discussions with h.e.l.l or Virgil, he was none the wiser and a proud man. "Will you take his place, then?" Nero challenged her, his bloodl.u.s.t still permeating in the air. He had realised this was not a smart decision on his part, but he felt like he couldn't back down, now. The feeling of defeat that was created after fighting someone so inferior had incensed him.

"Me?" Leila said for a moment, he didn't think Nero would be so volatile. But she accepted, it was hard for her to see Porter get chopped into pieces. She was Annette and Alfie were about to intervene if she didn't, but their fate would be the same.

"I accept-" Leila was about to say when her brother interjected this time. He had taken his time and was holding another exotic drink in his hands this time. Leon was also training his ability whenever he could, but using up the rations of this vampire base turned out to be his forte exactly. She cancelled the ability. She couldn't use the ability to deal multiple attacks like an invested spell unless she were to cast it again and again, but at least once it was cast, she could hold down an opponent with it for a while, not releasing her opponent.

"You like bullying people weaker than you, is that so?" Leon said with a stern voice, giving the drink to one of the vampires as he pa.s.sed them by, relaxing his muscles. "I'll fight you, then."

"Weaker?" Leila pouted and was about to give Leon an earful, but he immediately turned to her and said that of course that wasn't the case, it was only that there could be repercussions if Sons hurt her, that she could imagine why. She understood and let him be. She could always depend on her big brother, she was thinking.

Nero stood his ground and beckoned Leon to himself after reattaching his hand. It was, fortunately, a clean cut, the hand was functioning in mere moments as the fibres and tendons all connected.

"Do you know what my ability is?" Leon asked.

"It doesn't matter," Nero said with a disdainful tone as he began disappearing into the shadows when something unexpected happened. He couldn't move at all. Not risking it, Leon had used considerable mana to hold him as his dagger, named Dagger of Elmain, started hovering around him.

"Oh, but it does," Leon replied. "Aren't you here to accept h.e.l.l also as your Lord? Let me tell you that, as far as he told us about it, it won't work unless you wholeheartedly decide to follow him, we didn't get that whatever bonus either, even though we think of him as a really good friend.

"What is this?" Nero raised his voice in denial.

"Do you hate Porter? Or maybe you hate this base in general?" Leon asked.

"That wasn't my intention!" Nero yelped, completely trapped. He also felt betrayed, he knew no one liked him here now when he only had good intentions at first.

"What was it then?" Leon said, keeping the dagger at bay. He was thoroughly enjoying this fight, it was finally one where he could be the dominant power. Since they kept fighting unfairly powerful creatures all this while, even though he used up most of his mana, he barely got any spotlight. Of course, he stepped in because he didn't want his sister to get hurt, but it was also a chance for him to display his strength. He believed in one-on-one fights, he was the second strongest after h.e.l.l. Only casters could be a problem for himself as he had no way of stopping spells with his Telekinesis. Not yet, at least.

"Leon, let's not have this escalate any further and harm the relations.h.i.+p between our respective bases," Furcas said, feeling that it was already embarra.s.sing enough for Nero to be trapped entirely like a fly.

"It was to show his strength, wasn't it?"

"No! It was-"Nero meant to interject when the dagger flew at the defenceless Nero in high speed, causing blood to leak out from both his chest and the sides of his mouth. It seemed it wasn't only Aurus who had a problem with bowing to someone else, even if it wasn't as strong a feeling.

Leon turned to the vampires behind himself and asked: "The Sons of Shadow are our allies and I believe they will stay our friends in the future! But we should have them face opponents accordingly if they wish to boast their strength here, in our home! Do you not agree?"

"We agree!"

"Show them!"

"They mutilated a Knight!" were the voices that arose from the crowd of vampires. Leon was also indecisive in his heart, perhaps he was stirring trouble for no reason here, but he went ahead. He took h.e.l.l's advice, it was better to go headfirst into problems and deal with the aftermath when one was indecisive.

"Furcas, I respect your positions, but we need to show our strength as well. Both of you, fight me at the same time."

"You are underestimating us," Furcas replied in a solemn tone. Everything was out of control, and there was no proper authority intervening here, he looked at Aurus who could perhaps talk in the name of Lord Virgil and dissolve the situation, but Aurus seemed to be enjoying the view while Marco seemed to be in an awkward disposition, staying quiet for things to not escalate any further than this.

"You are not undead." Nero sn.i.g.g.e.red. "One hit, and you may die."

"Certainly, I am human, not a vampire," Leon said and cut his wrist with the sword, trusting in the ability h.e.l.l said he gave him, the basic vampire regeneration ability. And although he squealed, not realising how painful being cut could be, he mostly held his disposition, and it worked, the bleeding stopped soon after, healing the area. He had acquired their ability without turning into a vampire. Of course, this meant that the ability couldn't evolve or progress in any way, but this ability that almost all vampires intrinsically had suggested that only way to kill Leon now would be ripping his heart out. After the takeover of this base, it was one of the first things h.e.l.l did, giving him this ability, to ensure his safety.

"Fine." Furcas drew his rapier once more, standing beside Nero and whispering him something as Leon released them, drawing another sword he found in the armoury, also making it hover around him. He had almost mastered using two swords, but three was still out of his reach. It required intense concentration on his part, but as he used the ability as such more and more, he was getting used to it.