Ascendant Path of a Lustful Vampire

Chapter 311: An afterthought

This was not the first time Caius had drunk the potion and let its power flow through him. But it was the first time he felt the combination of the ’borrowed’ power and his own adrenaline. The way they meld together, balanced one another out, was almost intoxicating.

It was so different from how it had felt to acquire a Wyvern’s Trait. Yes, the elemental affinity of the Wyvern—wind—was one that Caius also possessed—at High Affinity—but Dark Magic was just different.

As the power of the Umbral Fox flowed through Caius, he felt his body accept it more readily than it ever accepted the Wyvern’s energy.

But Caius didn’t let himself get lost in the feeling. He remained focused on his goal.

Despite keeping his eyes and focus on Belron, Caius could sense Aurelius in the air, almost to the very ceiling of the Sealing Cube as he prepared a powerful spell. But he did more than that.

You see, Aurelius had understood Belron a little better than Delia. Being called a ’godling’ had brought a memory to mind. One of those he had inherited from his past self—even if he didn’t really truly understand that yet—and he knew for certain that the term referred to him perfectly.

And so, it could not be denied that Belron was a creature from Hell, armed with Demonic energy.

And there was only one thing that could rationally take it down; Divine Energy.

Divine Energy that Aurelius knew he possessed.

He hardly ever reached out to it though. Mostly due to a lack of understanding of it as well as an almost contradicting understanding that it was not yet time.

Well, it was time now.

Harnessing the Divine Energy was difficult for Aurelius though. It didn’t come as easily as harnessing Mana to cast a spell. So he needed time to gather himself.

Hence why Caius and Delia were to be his Vanguards. They were to draw the attention of Belron and give Aurelius the time and peace he needed.

The alternative would be for Aurelius to get into the fight and get the ability to harness Divine Energy beaten out of him as had happened in the original story because his teammates (Doran and Baler) hadn’t been up to snuff. Or just not known how to handle the situation.

Belron pushed Caius back with such strength that he went flying. Or at least he went flying for a single foot before something black rose from his shadow.

It took one surprised blink for Delia to realize that the ’black thing’ was Caius’s shadow. It had taken form and stopped Caius from getting pushed too far.

Even more, Caius vanished into his shadow and it moved in a motion that was both creeping and fast to merge with the shadow cast by Belron until Caius was rising behind the Fiend, slashing his sword at its back.

Surprised, Belron was still very capable of turning and swinging an arm at Caius while his sword was mid-swing. Belron’s hand went right through Caius and he dispersed into nothing.

Belron’s eyes went wide as his surprise became shock.

Another ’Caius’ rose and again, Belron struck it and it was cut and turned to nothing.

Three more appeared after that and all were destroyed.

Two more after that.

And another three.

And then five.

That many clones successfully conditioned Belron to look in a certain direction and expect a certain weightless attack that would end in an unsatisfying ’win’ while Caius remained hidden. So when a solid sword made contact with its neck, Belron had sensed it coming and had still not known just how to react.

The Fiend was also shocked that the attack hit with enough force to send him flying at the nearest Cube wall with a *BANG!*. Even if it hadn’t cut its skin.

Caius’s actions had required a fairly precise sequence that took advantage of Belron’s arrogance. The Fiend had yet to actually take any of this seriously which is almost ridiculous considering how it had assessed Caius and the others as ’godlings’ when there should have only been one. Aurelius.

Caius knew why of course. Belron was assessing. Seeing how little of itself it needed to win this. How many bragging rights would it have on its return to the Hellish plane it called home?

It was arrogant.

It was foolish.

It was perfect for Caius and Delia to get a few hits in.

Speaking of Delia, she let herself be in awe of Caius and his shadow manipulation but was already moving. By the time Belron hit the Cube wall, she was already there, swinging her Warhammer at it, backed by a Stormy might.

*BANG!*

Her hit connected.

As did the next.

And the one after that.

By the time she relented—to gather herself and go again—Caius had arrived, rising out of shadow while creating tendrils of darkness from shadow to wrap around Belron. The shadow crept into the Fiend’s body, seeking the source of its magic to erode it as darkness always does to anything if given the chance.

That was the power of the Umbral Fox.

Like most Magical Beasts, the Umbral Fox’s Elemental Affinity didn’t grant it the ability to cast spells. It just granted it an innate ability that it could use at leisure. This time, it was Shadow Manipulation.

And of that, what Caius had acquired with his Trait Acquisition Potion were; Afterimages (Clones of Shadow), Shadow hold, and Shadow escape.

Of the three, the one that boggled Caius’s mind the most had to be Shadow Escape. It was an ability that allowed Caius to vanish into shadow, existing in some kind of limbo. That was power he could not possibly replicate with Fourth Circle Magic. Maybe not even with Fifth Circle Magic.

Needless to say, this made acquiring the Trait of the Umbral Fox such a vital part of his arsenal.

He and Delia went at Belron. They never let the Fiend step away from the Cube wall. Whenever it tried, they were at the ready, thrusting/slamming their weapons at it to send it right back.

Caius was still capable of casting spells while imbued with the Umbral Fox magic and that was exactly what he did. He cast water spells the most. Since Delia, even with Storm magic, seemed to default to Lightning, Water Magic complemented it best. Boosted it. So they packed a greater punch together.

This went on for a while.

’Hurry,’ Caius thought at one point, ’Please!’

His silent plea was of course to Aurelius because he knew Belron was hardly incapacitated. It was only a matter of time before the Fiend grew tired of being beaten.

And then Caius felt it.

The presence of a being beyond the realm of this mortal plane. A muted presence acting through a proxy but a presence all the same.

Caius acknowledged the moment with a wry smile that this was what he was missing. This was why his Divine Energy was nothing; It didn’t have the backing of a presence like that.

Delia felt it too. Her expression was one of awe.

Belron, of course, also felt it. But it wasn’t in awe on his face. It threw its head back and roared with laughter.

”Finally!” It cried with battle-hungry delight, ”I was starting to worry you lot would bore me.”

Caius felt it coming then.

”Delia get back!” He yelled but it was too late.

There was a single flare and then a blast of Demonic Energy that sent Delia flying. But she had barely gotten three feet away when Belron caught up to her and grabbed for her neck with a clawed hand.

Caius acted quickly. He cast his upgraded version of ~Galleon’s Gate~ and when it appeared in time, he almost breathed a breath of relief.

But he knew better.

Belron’s hand became coated with Demonic energy that tore through the Defensive spell like it was nothing and went on to wrap around Delia’s neck, raising her and then slamming her into the ground.

”Ack!” Delia cried out. She had been slammed so hard, she created a crater.

The shadow that contained Caius approached, ready to assault the Fiend but a wave of Demonic energy across the ground, disrupted the Shadow, and Caius was spat out. He was spat out so hard that he appeared in mid-air as they he had been shot out.

Belron was there in a flash, kicking his chest with one hoofed leg.

*CRACK!*

Caius felt his sternum shatter and the force sent him away with more than a mouthful of blood spurting out of his mouth as he did.

How far did he get?

Belron didn’t care.

Caius and Delia were basically an afterthought to the Fiend. Its sight was on Aurelius who was still trying to get a handle on his Divine Energy.