So he sacrificed his screaming subordinates to the destructive fires of Vermillion Phoenix while he aimed for me.

"I'll take care of this pest and punish him for his insolence."

Alerted by the danger, I took a step back and drew Hei Yue and Bai Ri, holding them in a defensive stance. Rossetti took up position beside me, her chakrams already gripped in her hands. Flames danced around her.

"I won't let you hurt Richard!"

I nodded my thanks at her. In contrast, Xu Wu Cheng sneered at her.

"Since you want to die with him together so badly, I'll be more than happy to indulge you. The both of you can accompany each other in h.e.l.l!"

"Xu Wu Cheng. Do you remember what I said?"

The cold tone of Fan Le Lao caused Xu Wu Cheng to drop to his knees. Even I, who wasn't his target, felt chills at the thinly veiled rage in his voice.

"Forgive me, your highness! I forgot my place!"

Fan Le Lao glared at Xu Wu Cheng for a few more seconds before his gaze softened.

"It's all right. I know you're angry on my behalf. But don't forget what I said." He turned to me, Rossetti and Kufa. "If possible, leave those three alive."

"If possible…" Xu Wu Cheng repeated with a smirk. "But if it's not possible, then I'll be forced to kill them. Is that fine?"

Fan Le Lao thinned his lips. "Rough them up if you have to, but avoid killing any of them at all costs. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir." Xu Wu Cheng sounded almost disappointed, but he couldn't mistake the warning in his prince's voice. He knew better than anybody what the consequences of disobedience against his prince would be.

"Then I'll leave them to you."

"Wait…!"

I sprang forward when Fan Le Lao picked up Zhao Yan's body and got ready to leave, but his minions blocked my way. Rossetti was also forced to skid to a halt beside me, and she glared at the vampires barring our path, her grip tightening on her chakrams. Xu Wu Cheng stepped to the front in a gleeful manner, cracking his knuckles and lengthening his blood claws.

"Get them, guys. Teach these impudent fools a lesson for challenging his highness."

"Yes, sir!"

As one, the entourage of young vampires flew toward me upon a burst of blood-red mana under their feet, somehow managing to dodge Vermillion Phoenix's flames. A couple of them were immolated, screaming as their torched bodies cartwheeled helplessly and tumbled onto the gound, turning to ash. The rest of them continued hurtling onward, determined to finish me off before they were slaughtered by my Celestial Guardian.

"Richard!"

Rossetti moved forward to meet them in combat, executing her Heavenly Phoenix Kagura Dance. However, the vampires managed to combine their powers to form a blood barrier. While Rossetti succeeded in burning through their blood barrier in short order, they had bought themselves enough time to split up and attack from different directions.

Raising her chakrams, Rossetti executed a new dance.

"Divine Dragon Kagura Dance!"

This time, roses and Sakura petals drifted around us, obscuring the vampires' view and keeping them back. They sliced and cleaved through the myriad of petals that danced around them, trying to close in on us, but the amount of flowers and blossoms dazzled their senses and confounded them. Staggering as they clutched at watery eyes and noses, they flailed almost helplessly.

"Green Dragon."

Just like how Rossetti's Heavenly Phoenix Kagura Dance reduced the summoning time needed for my Vermillion Phoenix, her Divine Dragon Kagura Dance also accelerated the casting process of my Green Dragon. In a flash, I completed the supposedly only halfway finished summoning spell and called upon my Celestial Guardian.

His t.i.tanic figure materialized and he crushed a few unfortunate vampires underneath his claws, their senses still overloaded by pollen and scents emitted from Rossetti's flowers. Th.o.r.n.y vines whipped out and bound the rest of them while razor-sharp leaves cut the trapped vampires into shreds. Within a minute, the so-called elite vampires were decimated. Very few of them succeeded in tearing apart their restraints with blood magic and breaking free.

"Still think we're outnumbered and outmatched?" I asked the seething Xu Wu Cheng, who had less than a quarter of his original force remaining. Backed by my two Celestial Guardians, I approached his position. His surviving subordinates recoiled, taking a step backward in fear, but the red-haired vampire's anger brought them all back to line.

"So what if you're a summoner? That doesn't change the disparity between our strengths!"

Snarling, Xu Wu Cheng lunged forward. His companions accompanied him, but both Kufa and Rossetti met them in a ferocious clash, covering me. I was left to face Xu Wu Cheng by myself, and I reacted first by parrying his blood claws with Bai Ri. Diverting him away, I then deflected his other hand with Hei Yue, flinching when his blood claws flashed a few centimeters away from my face. Pivoting on one foot, I smashed a kick into his body that sent him hurtling across the gymnasium and slamming into one of the basketball basket stands. The whole structure creaked and snapped, falling atop Xu Wu Cheng's undignified form.

"Three points!" I cheered. Or whatever the point system was for basketball. It was unfortunate that I didn't play the sport (I only watched and played soccer) and thus had no idea how the rules worked.

Then I moved to cover Rossetti, hacking another vampire. The both of us almost danced in perfect synchronicity, our swords and chakrams transforming into a whirlwind of death and destruction, our styles complementing each other and turning into a relentless offense and impenetrable defense simultaneously. Behind us, Kufa and my two Celestial Guardians mopped up the survivors.

The vampires were pretty tenacious, though, so it would take a while for us to clean out the gymnasium.

"Where's Zhao Yan?" Rossetti asked, pausing between breaths while I covered her. Then, after she recovered, she took my place and hacked apart a vampire going for my back while it was my turn to inhale.

"Gone," I grumbled bitterly. My gla.s.ses whirred and clicked as the hi-tech sensors embedded in my lenses scanned the gymnasium and confirmed my suspicions.

It was unfortunate that Fan Le Lao and a bunch of vampires had already made their escape, carrying Zhao Yan with them. We were too late. We failed. I studied the broken window they exited from – they had clearly sought a different exit entirely because Kufa and my Celestial Guardians were blocking the main entrance.

Maybe we should have guarded the windows too, but whatever Constellation spirits I could summon at that time wouldn't be powerful enough to stop the vampire prince.

Rossetti and I continued to fight our way through the dwindling horde of vampires, leaving the beleaguered surviving vampires to Kufa and my Celestial Guardians. We tried to move toward the window, step at a time, leaving corpses in our wake.

"Whoa!"

A crimson streak of light almost blinded me. Rossetti yanked my arm and I pulled my head back just in time to evade Xu Wu Cheng's slas.h.i.+ng blood claws that would have ruptured my carotid artery or jugular vein if Rossetti hadn't help me dodge it. Staggering back, I blocked his next strike witth Bai Ri.

d.a.m.n it. I almost forgot about the instant regeneration that vampires had. Xu Wu Cheng must have already healed from the injuries he sustained from my earlier attack.

"Richard Huang and Rossetti Picket." Xu Wu Cheng was scowling furiously. "Your teamwork is much better than the combo of me and Ji Yan. At first I thought Ji Yan was just useless, but the two of you make a frightening duo. Your combination far surpa.s.ses the sum of your parts."

"That's because my skills are support type," Rossetti replied briskly, slas.h.i.+ng at his neck with one of her chakrams and forcing him to evade. "Of course I have the ability to enhance the techniques of others."

"Yes, but that's not what I meant."

Xu Wu Cheng shook his head and retaliated with his blood claws, but I blocked them with my Hei Yue this time, deflecting them to the side. Rossetti then made use of the opportunity to cut him deeply, and he retreated with a hiss.

"See? Your teamwork is perfect. I'm sure you realize it too – this is the first time you've fought so well beside someone, isn't it? Rossetti? I know your history – how you always end up hurting your teammates and causing trouble with your reckless attacks and determination to handle the battle yourself. It's also partly why your team lost at the national tournament…to Richard's team, of all people. And Richard, the reason why you didn't face Rossetti's team was because you mostly fought in the individual matches. This is the first time you've met an ideal partner, isn't it?"

"And? What's your point?"

I ducked under another slash and answered with a riposte. Now wise enough not to underestimate me, Xu Wu Cheng parried my blade with his blood claws and retaliated with a kick. I then ducked under his sweeping leg.

However, I didn't straighten up. Instead, I remained bowed. Reading my intent, Rossetti rolled over my back and kicked Xu Wu Cheng, sending him skidding back several paces. When he tried to counter with his blood claws, I had already straightened my back and blocked the hit for the recovering Rossetti.

Just before Xu Wu Cheng could slash me again, my Green Dragon lumbered forward and smacked Xu Wu Cheng with one of his arms. The poor red-haired vampire disappeared in a blur before being buried in the side of the gymnasium, his neck almost broken.

"Thanks."

I glanced back at the other vampires. Between Vermillion Phoenix and Kufa, they had been annihilated. There wasn't any of them left. Rossetti and I made short work of the last three who desperately threw themselves to protect the fallen Xu Wu Cheng, and then I strolled over to Xu Wu Cheng's p.r.o.ne form.

His neck snapped and jerked as his regenerative power kicked in, and he glared at me hatefully. I pushed my gla.s.ses up and smiled in return, flanked by Rossetti and my Celestial Guardians.

"So who's being outmatched and outnumbered now?"

"f.u.c.k you!"

I shrugged. If he wanted to die so badly, I might as well kill him now. Then he wouldn't have the chance to torture Ji Yan and feed her to monsters or burn her in some magic lake. As much as she deserved it, the smug guy was too horrible for me to spare his life. Plus it would save me a lot of trouble later if I finished him off now.

So I wasted no more time talking and lunged at him, thrusting Hei Yue toward his heart.

"!!"

Unfortunately, my black sword never reached the f.u.c.ker.

The wall of the gymnasium collapsed and a bunch of adult vampires flooded in, one of them swatting me away as if I were no more than a fly. Rossetti managed to catch hold of me when I stumbled back, and my Celestial Guardians attacked.

However, the adult vampires conjured up powerful blood barriers that almost withstood Vermillion Phoenix's flames and Green Dragon's flowery barrage. Three of them fell, two charred by the powerful inferno, while one was cut apart by the deadly petals, but the rest managed to launch blood spears that forced my Celestial Guardians back.

Vermillion Phoenix incinerated a few of the blood spears and blocked several more with his wings while Green Dragon conjured a wall of wood in front of not just him but me and my friends as well, s.h.i.+elding us from the lethal bombardment.

Xu Wu Cheng barked out a laugh when the adult vampires grabbed hold of him.

"Hah! See? I'm the one who has tha last laugh."

I stood protectively in front of Rossetti, and to some extent, Kufa, grimly preparing for a last stand. Flames surrounded us as Rossetti prepared another dance, enhancing my Vermillion Phoenix further. Not only that, I summoned Taurus and Leo to aid us, the fire-type Constellation spirits boosted by her Heavenly Phoenix Kagura Dance.

These veteran vampires were going to find out that we were not easy prey, despite our youth and supposed inexperience. I was under no illusions that we could escape this unscathed. I knew our chances of victory were incredibly low.

Even so, my friends and I were ready to fight to the bitter end.

Fortunately, they didn't seem intent on killing us. The one who had roughly grabbed Xu Wu Cheng was manhandling him toward the hole that they created in the gymnasium wall.

"W…what are you doing? What about those brats?"

"His majesty is dead. Teresa Taylor killed him."

The lead adult's cold words caused Xu Wu Cheng to freeze. His jaw dropping, the red-haired vampire almost dropped to his knees.

"No way…impossible."

"We have to retreat." The acting chief, who was none other than You Shou, glanced outside anxiously. "The White Witch and her surviving teachers are converging upon our position. If we don't move now, we'll be wiped out. Where is his highness?"

"His highness has already left."

"Good." You Shou breathed a sigh of relief before he turned to the rest. "Let's go! Now!"

With gigantic leaps, they bound out of the gymnasium and propelled themselves high into the night before disappearing into the distance.

"What was that about?" Rossetti asked. Her question was answered when Teresa Taylor smashed through the gymnasium, demolis.h.i.+ng a wall and incinerating the rubble. A group of teachers descended behind her, wise enough to maintain her distance.

The elderly headmistress glanced at us, concerned, and then stared at the sea of blood behind us.

"Are you all right?"

"Y…yes," Rossetti stammered.

"We are, Headmistress," Kufa a.s.sured her.

"Good. Follow Teacher Einsberg and join up with the remaining students." Taylor studied us, and then sighed in relief. "Get your wounds healed and rest."

"Don't worry," I a.s.sured her. "Most of this isn't our blood."

"Oh?" Teresa Taylor raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," I replied with a nod. "It's just that we've been through a very b.l.o.o.d.y battle, madam."

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