Chapter 207: Sanguine Flame Art

’He knows that Raphael is our only hope of escaping,’ Seraphina muttered inwardly, glaring at Daemoth. ’He will definitely try to eliminate him first. I can take advantage of his obsession with the theatrical performance by showing him something that will make him forget everything else.’

"I will be the one fighting him," she declared, her pupils compressing into vertical slits.

Her hair began swaying, its color changing to a pulsating red. Her nails elongated, turning into claws. Her canines lengthened, becoming sharp like daggers.

The temperature in the area rose dramatically. Vapors rose from the ground as the sheet of thick ice began melting.

’I’m sorry, Vlad,’ she murmured inwardly, glancing at Vlad’s unconscious figure. ’You did so much to help me keep my identity hidden. But there is nothing more important to me than your life right now. Not even keeping my identity hidden.’

She looked forward and saw Daemoth standing there with widened eyes and parted lips, shock palpable on his face.

She extended her wand forward and whispered,

"Sanguine Flame Art: Petal Rain!"

Out of nowhere, crimson rose petals began raining from the sky. There were too many of them to simply avoid.

By the time Daemoth recovered from his shock, the petals had already reached his face.

In desperation, he formed a series of hand signs, materializing a shield of bones above him and covering himself in bone armor.

The moment the petals touched the bone shield, they immediately set it ablaze in crimson fire. The core of the fire was black, while its outer flames were crimson, as if blood itself were burning.

It instantly melted the bone shield before reaching Daemoth.

He moved his arms to protect his face and descended into the ground, sinking into his own shadow.

Perhaps because he was now in the open, where shadows weren’t as dark, the speed of his descent was frustratingly slow.

Only his arms were left outside, covering his face when the petals finally reached him.

He reappeared on the terrain, ascending from its shadows, his arms burning with the bloody flames.

Only his bone armor had been burned, which fell to the ground after melting.

"It’s truly the Sanguine Flame Art," he laughed, staring at Seraphina with a completely new look in his eyes. He seemed like a hungry predator looking at its prey. "This is what I enjoy the most. A plot twist when the heroes are pushed to their edge. Show me what you’ve got."

"A-am I seeing this correctly?" Alisha murmured, her eyes widened in shock. "Lady Seraphina is a vampire."

Hugo and Raphael were equally shocked, unable to believe what they were seeing. Nevertheless, they had to keep their focus on what was important right now.

Raphael shifted his focus to drawing the array while Hugo and Alisha stood at his sides to protect him.

Daemoth’s arms were covered in bone armor again. From the shadows beneath him, a sword formed of bone ascended. It had a long hilt, and its edge was curved and sharp.

He bolted towards Seraphina with a wide grin. He was a mage, yet he was going for melee combat against her.

Seraphina moved her wand, the rose gem at its end glowing as she muttered,

"Sanguine Flame Art: Scarlet Needle!"

The tip of her wand glowed like a crimson star, accumulating her mana.

A piercingly sharp beam of crimson flame shot forward.

As it approached Daemoth, he moved his sword forward in defense.

A screeching sound followed the moment the needle struck the sword.

Several cracks spread across the bone sword before it shattered. The beam of bloody fire still didn’t stop. It carved its way through his armor at his shoulder and pierced straight through his skin, coming out from his back.

"Agh," he groaned, his jaw tightening in pain.

He seemed somehow weaker than he had been in the cave. Was it really because he was in a brighter place, or was there another reason?

Seraphina’s eyes widened as realization dawned on her. ’It’s because of all the undead he has summoned,’ she murmured inwardly.

Summoning those undead had drained a significant amount of his mana, making him slower than before. However, he was still strong enough to fight Seraphina head-on in her vampire form.

The moment the Scarlet Needle vanished, Seraphina formed a sign with her free hand.

An immediate reaction came from Daemoth, his brows furrowing. A few flames of Blood Fire that had been left inside his body through the wounds were rapidly burning his insides.

He acted quickly. His finger, covered in purple mana, stabbed into his own shoulder. A splatter of blood followed, but he managed to stop the Blood Fire from spreading further.

"Haha, that was close," Daemoth laughed. "If you had more mastery over your Blood Flames, I might not have been able to stop them with just my Necro mana alone."

Seraphina ignored his words. She tightened her grip on the wand and released several more Scarlet Needles at him.

Now that the element of surprise was gone, he dodged most of them. Only a few managed to cut through his armor, but none managed to reach his skin.

He kept talking to her in between the fights, and Seraphina entertained his every word. She just needed to stall for time, after all.

Her breathing was slowly becoming ragged. The toll of using Celestial Grade Mana at her age was clearly beginning to show its effects.

Seraphina glanced at Raphael. He was almost done with the spell. She had to hold on for just a minute more.

Suddenly, a hand appeared before her, its sharp nails laced in purple mana just a few inches away from her face.

"You can’t get distracted during a battle," Daemoth said in an amused tone.

She tilted her head sideways, barely dodging the strike. Still, it managed to cut her cheek, leaving an ugly purple wound.

The moment her blood emerged, it burned away the poisonous Necro mana from her skin.

At the same time, she activated her own spell, one meant for close-range combat.

"Sanguine Flame Art: Blood Fire Ignition!"

Her skin turned crimson, flames dancing across her sharp nails as if her entire body had been set ablaze.

She thrust her hand forward towards his abdomen.

"Khwak!" Daemoth gasped as her hand bulged out from the other side.

Seraphina took in a deep breath, relaxing herself. She had finally managed to injure him. It might not be enough to kill him, but it would definitely slow him down.

’Oh no!’ Her eyes widened. ’I didn’t feel that I pierced anything.’

She was about to move back when Daemoth grabbed her by the throat.

"Too late," he whispered, his face carrying a wide grin.

Similar to what had happened with the lance when she threw it at him, her hand only appeared to pierce his abdomen. In truth, he had opened his shadow realm just before the skin of his stomach and created a similar opening behind his back, from where her hand emerged, giving her the illusion that she had truly struck him.

Seraphina waved her other hand, the one carrying the wand, to cast a spell, but his grip only tightened around her throat, forcing her to stop.

’H-he is too strong,’ she muttered inwardly.

Her eyes shifted towards the squad. Raphael was at the final step of the array. She gave them a warm smile, causing the trio to look at her with moistened eyes. They understood what she meant without exchanging a single word.

Leave without her.

’T-the time is almost up. At least Vlad will be safe now,’ Seraphina thought inwardly.

"Why are you smiling?" Daemoth asked, tilting his head. "Is it because your little escape plan is about to succeed?"

The smirk on his face widened. "Then let me clear your delusion."

The moment he said those words, a dallahan suddenly emerged from the forest, descending straight towards the party.

The sudden attack caught the party off guard. Hugo hurled himself at it, activating the Aura on his saber, but the dallahan moved past him, completely ignoring him.

Alisha moved in front of Raphael, casting a Light Mirror Shield to protect him.

However, the dallahan’s target wasn’t him either.

Its Aura-laced sword struck straight into the ground where Raphael had drawn the spell, destroying it completely.

The other undead monsters also arrived, surrounding the squad from every direction.

"I-it’s over," Seraphina murmured, a tear trickling down from the corner of her eye as Daemoth’s grip continued tightening around her throat.

The wand slipped from her hand and fell to the ground as all hope seemed lost.

"I have many different undead creatures in my army," Daemoth whispered, leaning closer to Seraphina’s ear. "But I never had a vampire in my collection. You will be the first one."

"Oy, bastard!" A deep voice echoed from where the team stood.

Daemoth’s head snapped towards the source.

Vlad stood there, his sclera black and his eyes bright crimson. Dark veins spread from his neck towards his face, cracking his skin. The sword in his hand danced with wild, violent flames of dark mana.

"Keep your fucking hands off her."