Chapter 383 - 383: Dovahkiin

Hauteville's Gran'place, located in Beauclair's Upper Town, was home to the largest marketplace in Toussaint. During the day, the square overflowed with colorful stalls and merchants from every corner of the world.

People often said that if something couldn't be found in Beauclair's market, then it couldn't be found anywhere in the world. Apart from wines of every label and vintage, one could also buy slate from Ardaiso, wool from Toussaint merinos raised at Basane Farm, and olive oil from the groves of Dun Tynne.

But tonight, during the Night of Long Fangs...

The bright green lawns surrounding the Gran'place's flowerbeds were strewn with countless mangled body parts, many too mutilated to identify. The cream-colored cobblestone paths were smeared with bloody tracks left by wagon wheels, footprints, and heavy objects dragged across the ground.

Some people hid trembling in cellars. Others raised torches and prepared to fight. Some fled aimlessly in blind panic, while others gathered in courtyards to pray, begging the goddess Melitele or the Prophet Lebioda for salvation.

The frenzied feast of slaughter and the surrounding chaos continued unabated. Fires caused by overturned braziers raged throughout the city, flames and smoke billowing into the sky until even the clouds glowed orange-red. Every so often, terrified horses burst from burning stables and galloped wildly through the streets.

Within this hellscape, Captain Damien de la Tour of the Ducal Guard was leading what remained of his men in a desperate defense of their final refuge, Cianfanelli Bank.

The sturdy building possessed thick stone walls. Like other dwarven banks, it was reliable, secure, and expensive.

Inside the white-marble hall, a carved wooden plaque framed with decorative ornamentation hung on the wall:

"This building employs the Leitenbach Security System. Cianfanelli Bank is protected by Bruno Leitenbach's patented security technology.

"Through the use of anti-magic metal amplifiers, suppression fields, and other mysterious mechanisms, protection is guaranteed against all forms of magical assault, including hypnosis, mind control, sonic attacks, witcher Signs, and even spells.

"Trust the Bruno Leitenbach Company, with us protecting you, no one will ever catch your bank by surprise!"

...

Peering through a makeshift barricade built from tables and chairs to survey the square outside, Damien de la Tour repeatedly rubbed his bald head.

Half his face was drenched in blood and badly disfigured.

Worried about Duchess Anna Henrietta's safety, he was consumed by anxiety and uncertainty.

Leaving the bank was practically suicide. Several dangerous monsters were blocking the entrance.

Three huge creatures were visible from where he stood. They had broad mouths packed with teeth, flat and repulsive faces, and hairless bodies covered in warts.

One of them was hunched over a corpse, devouring it voraciously.

The dead man's body had been torn limb from limb. What remained of his nose was little more than a blood-clogged nostril. One eye socket had been chewed beyond recognition. His jaw had been ripped away as well, exposing pale brain matter.

The sight of that meal was enough to haunt even the bravest warrior's nightmares.

Damien clenched his fist in hatred.

If those three brutes had been the only enemies, his men might have been able to form ranks and fight them.

Unfortunately, two invisible monsters were also prowling around the square, revealing themselves only when they attacked.

One was an enormous batlike creature nearly as large as the brutes outside. Its claws and fangs could easily punch through plate armor.

The other was a naked, gloomy-looking woman with bloodless pale skin and dark hair. She appeared beautiful, but was even more dangerous than the others of her kind, capable of unleashing a shriek that left victims dizzy and their ears ringing.

During the battle an hour earlier, it had been the sudden attack of those two invisible monsters that shattered their formation and caused the entire defense to collapse.

Damien sighed and looked back at his men scattered throughout the hall.

Almost every one of them was wounded, and their morale had sunk to rock bottom.

Breaking out seemed impossible.

All they could do was wait for reinforcements.

But...

Where were those reinforcements?

Everything happening tonight was far beyond anything Damien had experienced in decades of fighting.

Left with no other choice, he clasped his thick hands together and devoutly prayed to every god he knew...

At that moment, one of the hulking monsters suddenly roared furiously and sprang toward the opposite side of the street.

Then came a strange explosive boom.

Boom!

The creature rebounded backward as though it had slammed into an invisible wall.

...

Years later, people would tell the story like this:

"On the Night of Long Fangs, he came from the east, passing through Dulevant Gate.

"A keen silver sword in his hand, strong armor upon his body.

"He became the light that drove back the darkness, the knight who guarded the duchy.

"He was the Dovahkiin.

"He was the Dawn Sword!"

...

"Only three fleders... These ugly, crude vampires are unbelievably stupid. They can't even tolerate sunlight, and all they know how to do is use their tremendous strength to rip victims limb from limb. Aside from that, they don't have any special abilities.

"No... not just them. The way my School of the Wolf medallion is vibrating means there's definitely something invisible nearby.

"A katakan or an alp!?

"Hopefully a katakan... A giant bat might have sharp claws and fangs, but with an alp, I need to watch out for that scream."

Muttering to himself while fighting, the witcher moved lightly as he danced Frost's Lament through the air. Silver flashes flickered around him, drawing all three fleders into the sword's killing range.

He curled his thumb and little finger inward.

"Quen!"

Better safe than sorry, he raised a protective shield first.

Then he spread all five fingers wide and slammed his palm against the ground.

"Yrden!"

After witnessing the countless bloody casualties along the way, Victor had entered his blazing red-eyed state. Without hesitation, he spread a slowing field with a radius of twelve meters.

With two Signs established, he had first ensured a position from which he could hardly lose.

His silver sword, thoroughly coated in Vampire Oil, swept upward at tremendous speed.

Like a hot knife passing through butter, it sliced straight through the nearest fleder and disemboweled it.

Victor spun aside from another attack coming at his back, then severed the second fleder's head from behind.

Sensing danger, he blasted the third fleder away with Aard from his left palm while his right hand reversed its grip and slashed downward, cutting into the knee of an invisible monster.

"A katakan!?"

The moment its distinctive giant-bat form appeared, Victor relaxed considerably.

Still, to be safe, he immediately pulled a Moon Dust bomb from the Endless Herbal Satchel and hurled it.

Moon Dust was a bomb containing silver filings. Once the powder clung to a monster, it prevented the creature from turning invisible. It was particularly effective against katakans, alps, and bruxae, and could even interfere with the mist-form transformation of higher vampires.

Silver dust exploded through the air.

Bang!

Victor was struck heavily from behind and sent flying.

His Quen shield shattered instantly, its backlash forcing the attacker away and preventing it from pursuing him.

Victor rolled upon landing and immediately rose to his feet.

He swept his gaze across the three monsters before him.

One was an unbelievably stupid fleder that knew nothing except brute force.

Another was a katakan covered in silver dust, unable to turn invisible, with half its knee cut through.

And the last was an alp that appeared completely unharmed but was likewise coated in silver dust and unable to vanish.

"Quen!"

Victor raised his shield once more.

With his sword tip pointed toward the ground and one palm extended forward, he made a taunting gesture toward the three monsters that had retreated beyond the slowing field.

As expected, the katakan and alp, both possessing at least some intelligence, refused to take the bait.

Only the fleder immediately fell for it and lunged straight at him.

Victor remained perfectly calm.

At the last possible moment, he dropped into a slide and passed directly beneath the monster, dragging his silver sword across its belly as he went.

Its stomach split open, spilling its entrails across the ground.

By the time the witcher finished cutting the injured, crippled katakan into pieces, the alp had already fled without a trace.

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