The Red Hand

Chapter 167 – The Hero v. The Vampire (Part 2)

Hishya brought Sun Strike down, slamming it against Silfana's hastily risen blade.

{When did she get so fast?!?} Silfana didn't have much time to react and only barely managed to stop the dragon's blade before it reached her. However, Hishya wasn't done with her attack. She opened her mouth and channeled a massive amount of magical energy into it. Silfana knew exactly what was about to happen, but couldn't disengage due to Hishya's strike pinning her. A flame appeared in front of Hishya's lips before exploding outward, covering Silfana in a scorching hot fire even more powerful than what she'd fired at Akagi last fall.

Seeing what was about to happen, Akagi put on some sunglasses and turned Shima away so her eyes wouldn't be destroyed by the bright light of the dragon's fire.

"Oof. Looks like Silfana got scorched. I wonder if that counts as sunlight?" Akagi laughed. "Shoulda given the vampire some sunscreen, oh well. I wonder if Hishya will toast some marshmallows for me? I could go for smores."

{What kind of monsters are these girls to do things like this?!?} Shima caught a glimpse of what happened and became even more afraid. {And why is Rishia just sitting here and relaxing like everything is fine?!? Shouldn't you be out there helping your sister's girlfriend?!?}

Hishya's attack stretched far beyond where Silfana stood and acted as a beacon of light within the darkness around them. Once she'd finished her attack, she disengaged her blade and sent the flaming vampire flying with a kick, causing her to crash into the ground.

"Ack!" Silfana cried out in pain as she slowly got up. Her body was blackened and her hair was singed. Hishya's breath had done massive damage to her, but she was still alive.

"You actually survived?" Hishya laughed as she swung Sun Strike in a flourish. "I'm impressed, I expected a full power breath attack at point blank would turn you to ash. I guess I just need to try again."

*COUGH**COUGH*

Silfana coughed out some smoke as she glared at Hishya. While she hadn't forgotten about a dragon's breath attack, she was unaware that Hishya could use it in human form. Her lungs felt like they were on fire, and her entire body was covered in burns that made her skin tingle in pain.

{H-how is this even possible?!?} Silfana screamed in her head. {I am the Lord of Vampires! As powerful as a dragon is, one should not be capable of inflicting this much damage on me in a single blow! Even with its breath!} In all her years, she'd never suffered this much damage this quickly. It was a testament to Hishya's increased strength, as well as changes to World Bosses in the real world.

Both Hishya and Akagi quickly picked up on something important about Silfana after that attack. Simply put, she was much weaker than she was in-game, and both gamers came to the same conclusion.

{She's lost her damage resistance.} (Akagi x Hishya)

World Bosses were strong on their own, but FWO had a dirty trick up its sleeve to make them even harder to defeat. All World Bosses were provided with a flat damage resistance based on their difficulty, with Silfana typically nullifying somewhere between 40-50% of all incoming damage. It seems that since this was something provided by the game system rather than an innate characteristic, it did not carry over when Silfana entered the real world.

"I think this will be over even sooner than I expected." Akagi said, sipping from her drink. "I didn't anticipate Silfana's most important element being removed. I suppose that will make Serval much easier, since that monster nullified 90% of all incoming damage."

Hishya decided to jump on this opportunity and press home her advantage. Silfana was injured and couldn't easily move, so when Hishya came at her, she was forced to fight the dragon in direct combat. Ordinarily, this would have been to her benefit. However, Hishya's massively increased power, combined with her weakness, put the Vampire on the back foot.

*CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG*

The two exchanged blows at close range, their blades exploding with magical energy as they fought. Silfana might have been a skilled warrior, but her wounds and Hishya's speed made things difficult, and she could tell this was a losing battle.

{This stupid dragon! What's going on?!? This isn't possible.} She thought as she got pushed back. {That stupid Demon must be doing something with whatever this strange darkness around us is! There is no way Hishya could be this powerful!}

"I guess I don't have any choice!" Silfana exclaimed as she channeled energy into her blade and blew Hishya back a bit. "Night Blade! Take of my blood and convert it into supreme power!" She called out to her rapier, which extended whip-like thorns from its handle and wrapped around her hand.

"Fuck!" Hishya charged forward, knowing what this was, but it was too late. Silfana's sword had drunk her blood, and its blade glowed red as its special ability activated.

"Oh?" Akagi sat up, interested. She knew about Silfana's sword, but had never seen it in action.

Silfana's hair turned blood red, and her eyes changed to silver as she activated the Night Blade's special ability with her blood sacrifice. As soon as Hishya got in range, she blocked Sun Strike and deflected it off to the side, using her other hand to punch Hishya in the face.

*BANG*

The hit caused a massive shockwave as Hishya was sent flying.

"Glad to see this is still working properly!" Silfana smirked as a massive full moon appeared high in the air above her. She pointed Night Blade into the air, directing it towards the moon. "Queen of the Night Lords! Third Phase!" She exclaimed as the moon slowly turned phases going from full to half.

Hishya stood up and looked at the moon. "Not good!" She'd dealt with this ability in the game and was afraid of Silfana using it. Queen of the Night Lords was only able to be activated in conjunction with the Night Blade's ability. It shot Silfana's power up considerably, and gave her access to a set of abilities that varied depending on the moon phase. The Third phase would allow her to channel lunar light into an attack that rained down on the battlefield.

"Try and dodge all these!" Silfana swung the Night Blade down causing the moon to shine for a moment before a torrent of white blasts streamed down at Hishya.

Hishya quickly jumped to the side, acrobatically dodging the incoming blasts, though unfortunately, a few managed to hit home. "Ack!" Hishya yelled in pain. These blasts were piercing in nature and would bypass her heavy armor, not to mention they were powerful.

*WOOSH* *WOOSH* *WOOSH* *WOOSH* *WOOSH*

A torrent of blasts reigned down, leaving Hishya with practically no room to maneuver. Hits were starting to rack up and she couldn't get close to Silfana with this many blasts coming at her.

{This was what I wanted to avoid!} Hishya cursed her failure as two more blasts struck her dead on, causing blood to spill out her mouth. {I can't do this much longer! There must be a way to disrupt her concentration. Wait!} She thought of a dirty trick.

"AKAGI, DO IT NOW! SHE'S DISTRACTED!" Hishya yelled at the top of her lungs.

"What?!?" Silfana turned around looking towards the Demon who was still sitting on her chair. Akagi simply smiled and waved as she pointed towards Hishya while mouthing. You fucking idiot.

Realizing she'd been played, Silfana turned around to find Hishya charging at her again. Not wanting a repeat of last time, decided to charge at Hishya with full power. "Let's settle this dragon! Queen of the Night Lords! Fifth Phase!" She called out to the moon causing it to disappear, the new moon phase increased her physical prowess even more, but restricted her ranged attacks. The two began to clash at incredibly high speeds, bouncing around the darkness, each blow creating a shockwave and a flash in the night.

*CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG*

*ZOOM* *ZOOM* *ZOOM* *ZOOM* *ZOOM* *ZOOM*

This exchange was even faster than when Hishya fought Spellhauser in Nagoya, and it was truly a battle of speed. It got to the point that most other outsider observers, save for Akagi, wouldn't be able to see them as they bounced around. The two eventually backed off and prepared for one final clash, this blow would decide it.

"This will be the end of you, Hishya!" Silfana rocketed forward, prepared to end things.

"Not on your life vampire!" Hishya kicked off the ground. and the two each exchanged one single blow before flying past each other and slumping over slightly. It was a very iconic type of scene that was done in so many old movies.

{What is this? Some old samurai movie?} Akagi rolled her eyes at the stupid cliché.

For a few moments, nothing happened, until blood started pouring from both Hishya's shoulder and Silfana's chest.

"I see. Once again, you've beaten me..." Silfana fell forward onto her face. "Damn you..."

Hishya staggered but held herself upright thrusting Sun Strike into the air and letting off a massive roar. Her left arm was limp and covered in blood, but she'd won.

She turned to see Silfana who flipped onto her back, the vampire was bleeding out and wouldn't last much longer with the hole in her chest where Sun Strike pierced her. The dragon girl walked over, clutching her arm, and stood over her, grinning.

"You fought well Silfana. This was definitely a fun match." Hishya smiled. She hated Silfana for killing so many players in the game, but right now she respected her for her skill in combat.

"I-Indeed it was. Now end it. If I am to die a second time, at least it will be in battle with a worthy opponent." Silfana let out a smile of her own.

Hishya raised Sun Strike, flipping it over in her hand, and brought it down at Silfana's heart intending to crush it. However, just inches before it struck, Hishya's entire body froze. She couldn't move, and she had no idea what was happening.

"Now, hold on." Akagi walked up alongside her. "I can't very well let you do that now, can I?" She chuckled. "I've got plans for our little vampy and you killing her would cause me some trouble." It seemed that it was finally time for the Demon to make her move.