The Fallen Vampire

Taira and the girls had watched the devastation of the Drifting Snowfall Sect with horrified gazes.

The sight of all of those women being massacred was atrocious to witness, and seeing the Abbess being impaled mere seconds after was even more terrifying.

Of course, Keran was the first to react when she saw the carnage that had unfolded.

"No!

Before Taira could stop her, his wife leapt from the comfort of his fur and leapt off the roof of the building they stood on.

Even before she hit the ground running, she was already half transformed and seeing red.

Taira immediately followed behind her, knowing that his wife would likely become sloppy and leave herself open to even greater danger.

The only possible chance they had to all come out of this with their lives was if she had some very good help.

"Enyo, with me!" Taira yelled.

"Yes!"

Lucia also stood up, determined to help her husband and sisters. "I-I can-"

"No, Lucia! I need you to stay behind and support Vermeil and Aveena!"

Lucia looked down at the two girls who were trembling from cold and fear and she nodded solely as she pulled them into her grasp.

"I-It's okay girls, I've got you. No one is going to hurt you."

"L-Luc, I.." Vermeil began.

"Shhh, it's okay. Just close your eyes and stay close to me, alright? This will all be over once you open them again."

While Lucia consoled Vermeil; Taira, Enyo, and Keran ran onto the bridge to approach the eerily cold human responsible for the massacre.

"You all seem upset... that's funny since I don't believe I've done anything to you. But if all of you are so intent on forfeiting your lives, I have no problem taking them."

Shifting his hold on the bleeding Abbess, 'Duncan' held out one of his hands and a wave of pure ice passed rippled outward like an expanding mountain.

Keran strategically leapt over the ice in her monstrous form, while Enyo and Taira suddenly changed into incorporeal spirits and passed through harmlessly.

"So you have some tricks... I'm certainly lacking in impression though."

"MURDERER!"

Keran brought her hands together overhead and brought them down to smash the human underneath her.

However, her enemy displayed an inhuman speed as he stepped back to avoid her onslaught.

"I'll kill you!"

"Insignificant taunts and fits of violence do not hold any sway over me."

Out of the corner of his eye, the man in Duncan's body saw something that he didn't quite know how to process.

He hadn't noticed at first, but the woman who was wearing a purple dress was sort of... melting into a shapeless mass of black sludge with multiple eyes.

And the fox beside her... it wasn't just any fox.

"A shoggoth and a member of the prestigious Divine No Mei Clan... What exactly is going on down he-"

BOOOOOMMMMMM!!

While the god was distracted, Keran reappeared in front of him and struck him hard across the jaw; sending him flying like a kite with it's strings cut.

Now no longer within his grasp, Setsuka dropped into the arms of the overgrown werewolf who was desperately trying to find a way to heal her.

"Abbess, can you hear me? Just hang on, do you have some healing pills back at home?? I'll get you to them and-"

Setsuka showed a soft smile as blood dribbled down her chin and she placed her hand over Keran's overgrown muzzle.

"Ah... I knew that you were a kind child. This old one's senses never lie to her, you know..?"

"Ma'am, please don't talk right now unless you're going to tell me how to keep you alive!"

"Ah... I appreciate the effort but there is little that can be done for a wound like this I'm afraid..."

As Keran peered down at the large hole within the old woman's chest, she knew that her words weren't a mere falsehood.

Even now, Setsuka was operating on borrowed time.

"I... won't be able to oversee her growth anymore so I ask you and your friends to look after Aveena in my place... she's a sweet girl but she's a bit slow and needs careful guidance sometimes... I imagine that will be even more true now that she's lost her cultivation.

And... I'll be entrusting something to you now. Don't let it fall into the hands of that man now, alright..? There are secrets about this that are best not shared..."

"I-I'm sorry, I don't-"

"Don't worry, it'll all make sense soon, dear."

Reaching up, Setsuka placed a hand on Keran's furry forehead using the last bit of her strength and imparted something within her soul.

Unprepared for the sudden influx, Keran's eyes rolled into the back of her head as her eyes glazed over; processing the sudden influx of information.

As Keran grappled with her surprise 'gift' from Setsuka, Enyo and Taira were engaging the recovered imposter in an unsure contest.

Taira was fully aware that in this conflict he was woefully underpowered, and as a result he was currently being relegated only to quick movement and long range support.

Changing back into his normal form, he hurled bolts of foxfire and purple lightning at the human before dashing away using his movement art.

As 'Duncan' took another lightning bolt to the back of his head, he began to growl in annoyance.

"Your antics are getting really bothersome, dog of No Mei.."

"I think he's rather helpful!"

BOOOOOM!

Out of nowhere, the shoggoth from before reappeared and punched the human wizard with an overgrown fist made entirely of the same black sludge that made up her body.

Half of Enyo's face twisted up as she realized that there was a problem.

Though the human had been pushed back by the calamitous force of her blow, he had still caught it somehow with a single icy palm.

To make matters worse, the gelatinous substance making up her visage was slowly being frozen, and ice was creeping all the way up her arm to the rest of his body.

Enyo gritted her teeth as she chopped off the freezing parts of her arm and hesitantly took a step back.

"You know... I have never taken the time to properly study something like you. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me as a researcher." 'Duncan' said thoughtfully.

No sooner had the words left his mouth did an angry roar erupt from the surrounding area.

The descended god looked above his head casually and saw a man with dark skin carrying an egregiously large scythe who looked to be frighteningly angry.

"You look the maddest yet... Was it something I said, perhaps?"

Once Taira came within striking distance, 'Duncan' carefully weaved out of the way of the enormous red blade before he grabbed the supposed divine fox by the neck and held him in the air.

"It's been a while since I've done any field work, but... Fenris' clan descendants sure have gotten weak, haven't they?"

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