Chapter 109: Persecution
Behind them, Edward and Aurora were facing several powerful vampires, some even more powerful than the one they had fought before. Among them were beastmasters as well—traitors to the human race.
Up ahead, Harry drew a pair of daggers and demonstrated his mastery of them as he fought the vampire who had broken through the wooden door separating the sewers from the surface. Moreover, judging by the sound of footsteps, more people were coming that way.
They were surrounded on both sides, and escaping was a pipe dream—one of those you’d wish would come true.
Aurora knew they were in danger. She hadn’t expected those guys to be able to smell their blood. It had been her mistake.
The possibility that it was a betrayal and that Harry was actually working for them was also there, but it was still a possibility and not a certainty. They had to find a way to escape before they found out.
They made the obvious decision: they ran toward the door. Although vampires were coming, they weren’t as powerful as the ones behind them.
If one thing was certain, it was that they couldn’t let themselves be surrounded, because if "The Lord" arrived, they’d be finished. Fighting such a powerful True Vampire wasn’t an option for the strength they currently possessed.
Harry dodged the vampire’s attacks one after another. Immediately, his body began to bleed in several places. Though he attacked, he couldn’t land a blow, and though he tried to defend himself, he was fighting a vampire. The difference in strength between a vampire and a normal human was too great.
Although Harry had trained in the arts of assassination and was well-versed in them, he was no match for the true powerhouses.
At one point, he threw his body backward when he saw the swing of a "sword" flash before his eyes.
By a hair’s breadth, he managed to dodge a fatal blow, but his body tumbled to the ground. He got up immediately and touched his neck before looking at the vampire standing before him.
He wasn’t holding a sword. Those were his claws. And by a hair’s breadth, he’d nearly slit his throat.
Harry trembled.
"I should never have agreed to that..." he muttered, but he gripped his daggers tightly.
He’d come here solely because he thought that, since it was a spy mission and he was doing it alongside Aurora Ashford, there would be no danger. He’d pull off a great feat in front of the Ashfords and return home safe and sound.
It would raise the Smiths’ status in the eyes of the great Ashford family... but how wrong he was.
If everything went well, he might return alive... but in how many pieces? And if everything went wrong...
He swallowed hard. His body trembled.
Just then, he felt a sharp tug that jolted his head.
At the same time, a powerful attack struck the spot where he had been standing just moments before.
He realized that Edward had pulled him out of the way and saved him. "Don’t let your guard down. We can’t let them surround us," Edward said, frowning.
Even so, as he approached the shattered door and prepared to strike the vampire standing there, an attack coming from the other side of the door sent him reeling.
’!’ His mind reared back.
By a matter of inches, he managed to dodge a powerful attack that ended up striking the vampire and sent him flying to the other side of the sewers with a hole in his back.
Edward watched this in shock. The man on the other side of the door... was powerful.
They couldn’t get out that way.
He looked to his right and then to his left. He tried to find an alternative exit above and below... But were there any exits?
This world didn’t have a sewer system like the modern world. Therefore, people usually entered and exited through the same door.
He turned to look at Aurora, unable to make a decision on his own.
But Aurora had already made it for him. "Follow me; don’t waste any time on anything else." She spoke softly, but loud enough for Edward and Harry to hear her.
Using her wind, Aurora began running straight to the right, dashing down the long, seemingly endless hallway.
If it were a dead-end street, they would be trapped. But Edward trusted Aurora.
He quickly grabbed Harry by the legs and hoisted him onto his shoulder. Without a second thought, his Wind Butterfly activated its ability and began running at breakneck speed. His increased speed allowed him to catch up to Aurora in a matter of seconds.
At the same time, he set up several defenses. Using his Earth Butterfly, he cast several earth spells he had learned. Various walls rose from the ground and blocked the path toward them.
They were thick and possessed magical properties, so they were naturally resilient.
Harry stared at them in shock. "If you had something this good..." He suddenly let out a sigh of relief.
"Heh, don’t get too excited. Even if they look resilient, they’re barely E-Rank spells." Edward replied, mocking his own magic.
Harry saw his dreams shattered instantly.
As they ran at full speed through the seemingly endless tunnel, Edward felt his spells being destroyed. Although he had cast several in different areas, they were slowly being dismantled.
At one point, they could run no further. They were at a dead end.
"Just keep striking this place over and over. Hit it as hard as you can," Aurora said in a deep voice as she drew several of her secondary weapons.
On one hand, Edward unsheathed his sword to strike the "ceiling" of the place. On the other hand, he used his magic to hinder the vampires’ advance.
The attacks on the sewer ceiling shook the ground. Chunks of stone fell repeatedly on them, and dust quickly covered the area. Despite this, they didn’t stop.
The attacks grew stronger as time went on. Although, essentially, neither Harry nor Edward had any idea why Aurora was telling them this, if she was saying it, it must be for a reason.
It wasn’t as if they had any other choice, anyway.
"Cough." Suddenly, Edward was struck by a slight cough that brought up blood.
"Ed?"
"Don’t get distracted. It’s just the aftereffects of expending too much spiritual energy," he said, shaking his head.
"Stop holding them back—you’re putting too much strain on your body!" she suddenly shouted, looking up again. "Don’t worry. We’re still on schedule," she said firmly, though she didn’t specify what she meant.
Edward glanced at her and trusted her judgment. He withdrew his Earth Butterfly and put it to rest, while trying to take potions to slowly recover.
Once again, he focused his attention on striking.
Thanks to Edward’s powerful strength, they had created a hole large enough to believe they were about to reach the other side. If they could widen the hole there and jump... maybe it wouldn’t be the end, but they’d be close to escaping.
Edward put more force into his attacks.
BOOM!
Suddenly, an explosion from behind overwhelmed his senses. Edward lunged to the side when he sensed something and fell on top of Harry.
A jet of blood shot past his eyes and struck the wall at that very moment.
Harry looked at the stake and trembled. "T-t-thank you."
"Stay back and keep hitting," he said.
He didn’t want him to look behind them, because he didn’t know how they were going to get out of this. It would be a huge hindrance if he realized that... they were surrounded by vampires and powerful soldiers.
Several beasts were flying around them, glaring at them ferociously.
Edward looked at Aurora. "I’ll hold them off. Keep doing what you’re doing."
"Watch out!" she suddenly shouted, seeing something he didn’t.
One of the flying beasts from the other team, a Firefeather Tiger Hawk, had managed to fly close. Aurora panicked and tried to defend him, but she was too far away.
The hawk sent its sharp claws forward, blazing with fire. It aimed to strike Edward’s neck and kill him instantly.
Its power was immense, for it came from one of the Generals of the opposing side. It was not a force they could currently withstand.
"It’s just fire," Edward joked without looking at it. "I’m not afraid of fire."
Just fire? Aurora was perplexed... It was an attack from a general!
Suddenly, the Winged Fire Serpent appeared, floating around Edward, and shot straight up toward the hawk. Its eyes glowed. Its body was enveloped in a blaze of fire, and suddenly, all the fire from the hawk’s attack was absorbed by the serpent’s enormous mouth.
Its speed far exceeded what it had been when it was merely a Caterpillar. It was at least five times faster than before. Faced with an attack like that, the hawk lost all its momentum.
Especially since, right below him, a huge serpent’s mouth threatened to swallow him whole. Although falcons aren’t afraid of snakes... this one made him tremble.
The moment the Serpent swallowed the fire, the general called off the summoning. His heart was racing just as fast as the hawk’s nerves...
"How can you be afraid of a little snake?" One of the vampires complained about his actions. Did he attack, but didn’t follow through because of fear?
It wasn’t worth it.
"S-sir..."
"You have nothing to say. You failed at such a simple mission." The vampire cut him off.
The general trembled... He had messed up.
"So you’re the famous Lux, huh." The vampire quickened his pace to get ahead of the rest. "I’d been told you’d managed to find a way to evolve some of your caterpillars. Now that I see you, I can say that report was accurate." His red eyes gleamed with curiosity.