Chapter 520: The Angel and the Vampire

Luke stood atop a building, watching Charlie surrounded by five knights clad in purple armor. Farther back, near where they had come from, he spotted Layla in the forest, loosing arrows at the soldiers outside the base. She and Franky were moving closer by climbing, the young wyvern fluttering up to Luke’s side.

His attention snapped back to Charlie and Angie. The five soldiers were speaking to them. Angie beat her wings and took to the air. One of the soldiers raised a staff and unleashed a torrent of earth. Charlie leapt, raising her spectral barrier just in time to shield Angie.

“Leave these to me, Angie. Go after the others,” Luke heard Charlie say.

Angie beat her wings again and flew off.

“When we found this place attacked a few days ago, we thought it was an attack from Lagras,” the leader said, casually swinging his sword, its blade wrapped in a yellow haze. “But they would have left a banner, a warning, or occupied the site. Maybe it was you instead?”

He advanced toward Charlie. Shield and sword raised, while the other soldiers hurled magic at her. The ground beneath Charlie turned white as frost spread rapidly, crawling up toward her legs.

Layla raised her bow, but Luke lifted a hand.

“No.”

He sat down.

“Why aren’t we helping?” Layla asked, tense.

“Because,” he replied calmly. “If I want to bring down stronger enemies, the two of them need to keep up with me.”

Layla kept her bow ready. “Your familiar can fly…” she murmured, watching Angie dive toward the archers and remaining soldiers scattered through the village.

Meanwhile, Charlie was fully engaged with the leader who called himself the Fourth Red Finger. One of the eight elites of the Red Baron. Steel clashed as their swords collided. The yellow haze around the man’s blade seemed to rot everything it touched, a kind of necrotic corrosion.

Luke saw notifications bloom across Charlie’s interface.

[Blood Orb activated]
[-10 Blood Energy]

[Blood Core: 72/100]

The corpses around Charlie began to wither as their blood was drained, flowing into the crimson sphere.

[Blood Orb: 50/50]

Fireballs slammed into her, launched by one of the soldiers, scorching everything around her position. Charlie stood her ground, armor glowing as it endured the heat and flame.

She surged toward a mage, but the leader stepped in front of him, shield raised. Charlie’s sword struck, and for a brief instant her body locked up. The knight followed with a brutal shield bash, sending her flying.

“I told you,” the knight said, laughing as he struck his shield with his sword, “if you were Rank D, I might have been afraid.”

A defensive skill?

Charlie had frozen the moment her blade hit the shield, even if only for an instant. She charged again, and the knight met her head-on. Their swords collided once more.

[Vampiric Strength I activated]
[-10 Blood Energy]

[Blood Core: 72/100]
[Blood Orb: 40/50]

Charlie threw a heavy punch, but the knight blocked it with his shield, pivoted, and drove his sword forward. The blade pierced her armor and struck deep. The attendants unleashed their spells at once. Magic detonated around her, pressure and explosions crashing in as she was surrounded. Charlie couldn’t take a single step without another impact slamming into her, blasts erupting on all sides.

The leader hurled his shield like a boomerang. It smashed into Charlie and sent her flying into a wall. He sprinted after her, sword leveled, ready to impale. The little bat, Lulie, watched in alarm. The knight closed in for the killing blow.

[Blood Teleport activated]

Charlie vanished at the last instant, reappearing high above beside Lulie. She dropped in a spinning descent and severed a soldier’s head in one clean motion.

[Charlotte Vespertilio has slain…]

She roared.

[Battle Roar activated]

[Berserker Ashen Flames I activated]

Charlie charged the remaining knights, her strikes relentless, each blow landing with brutal precision.

“How did she disappear?” the leader shouted as he rushed after her.

He met her blade head-on, trading sword strikes, but Charlie was faster now, merciless in her advance.

[Blood Teleport activated]

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

She appeared behind him and drove her sword into his back. The knight screamed and twisted, slamming his shield into her as he turned. Lulie darted away again.

[Blood Teleport activated]

Charlie reappeared mid-motion, smashing the man into the wall with a punch before charging straight through with her sword.

[Charlotte Vespertilio has slain…]

**The [Blood Death Knight] class of Charlotte Vespertilio has reached Level 72!**

The leader fell. Charlie turned toward the others. They raised their weapons in panic. She ran. Some tried to switch from staves to wands, but she was already there. One punch sent a man flying.

[Blood Teleport activated]

She dropped from above, sword-first, cutting down another, then another, until the resistance collapsed. When it was over, Charlie vanished into the alleys of the base, already hunting for anyone left alive.

[Vampiric Regeneration I activated]
[-50 Blood Energy]

[Blood Core: 72/100]
[Blood Orb: 0/50]

“See, Layla? I trust my team,” Luke said, standing up.

***

“When an unexpected enemy appears, Ardan teaches us it’s just like our experiments. We simply increase the dose of poison,” said a man in a robe.