The Fallen Vampire

After being knocked onto his butt by Vance, Vincent's hand immediately went to his nose that was already beginning to leak twin bloody rivers.

"T-The hell?! What was that for you big bastard?!"

For some reason, those words only seemed to anger Vance even more and caused the veins in his forehead to bulge.

"Shut up, scumbag! I can't believe I ever had a friend like you!"

This time, it was an armor plated foot that sailed into the lightning hero's face, taking a number of teeth out with it and sending him skidding along the sand.

Frustrated from the pain but healing from the assault already, Vincent stood up and pulled out his weapon from his storage space.

It was similar to a katana, but it had a wavy blade similar to that of a kris sword.

Down the middle of the blade, there seemed to be a living lightning bolt that caused the weapon to charge with power far beyond what a normal weapon of this calibre should posses.

"Is this about that 'thing' Vance?? If it is, let's get out of here so that we can talk, buddy!" The lightning hero said warily.

Instead of de-escalating the situation, Vance drew his own weapon in response to the appearance of Vincent's.

Although the blade was broken, the Hero of Cleansing Rain was a high enough level cultivator to pull water out of thin air and used it to not only repair his weapon, but make it sharper than ever.

"Vance... Don't do this, buddy-"

"DIE!!"

With Vance charging at him so desperately, Vincent had no choice but to defend himself.

But because his fellow hero was the closest thing he had to a friend in this world, he had to find some way to subdue him without taking his life.

The two men brought their swords together in a clash of blows that displaced all of the sand scattered around them.

However, neither man was at such an insignificant level as to let something like that slow them down, and they continued to rain blow after blow on each other.

'Vance's body is certainly stronger, but his sword technique doesn't feel as dangerous as before... He's been using the art too much..!' Vincent noted grimly.

The gods had specifically warned them that using the Art of Swallowing Life would enhance their physical bodies overtime, but too much usage would make the side effects worse, and make them progress quicker.

He hadn't heard the reports that Vance had been engaging in battle lately, but it looked like he'd been pushing himself against one of the fallen leaders more than he was supposed to.

That... or he'd gotten addicted to the power that came from using a cursed art.

'No.. Van's not that kind of guy..!' Vincent thought disparagingly. 'Sorry buddy... this ain't gonna tickle!'

As the blades of the two men clashed once again, Vincent's eyes glowed yellow as his sword produced a low humming noise.

Before Vance knew what was happening, a current of dangerously strong lightning was passed between the two and gave the Hero of Cleansing Rain a devastating shock.

"Aaaaghhh!!!!"

Vance let out a pained roar as the element that was his natural antithesis washed over him.

However, contrary to what Vincent was hoping for, Vance did not go down, and even seemed to have grown more irritated from the sudden surge of pain.

No, he had definitely grown more irritated.

Vincent could see his friend's eyes starting to glow red like little nuclear lightbulbs, and his skin was becoming a more mottled grey color.

'..What..?'

Shocked, Vincent was completely unprepared for the moment where Vance suddenly gave him a headbutt with practically all the force he could muster.

Unsurprisingly, the lightning hero felt like he'd just gotten an enormous boulder bashed into the front of his skull.

The whole world temporarily went white, and Vincent forgot about any form of technique as he went stumbling backwards. stories

At that moment, he received a hard kick to the midsection that sent him flying back into the wall behind him.

The force was so great that the lightning hero actually ended up embedded in the wall, and he had to pry himself out of it with sheer will.

"DIE!!"

Vincent moved his head out of the way at precisely the right moment to avoid Vance's great sword piercing his temple.

By now, the situation was only becoming more and more apparent to Vincent, and he didn't like where this was going.

Vance wasn't responsive at all, he showed no signs of listening or even calming down.

It was far from desirable, but at this rate... he was going to have to kill his best friend here.

"Buddy... this is your last chance..! If you don't show me something that's worth saving, then I won't have any choice here!!"

Against all of Vincent's most sincere pleas, Vance still did not regain his sanity, and Vincent briefly closed his eyes to pay respects to the friend he once knew.

"You have no idea... just how sorry about this I am, babyface."

Suddenly, the method the lightning hero used to take in air changed dramatically, along with his usual aura.

Slipping out of the corner he'd gotten himself into, he tightened his grip on his weapon as he turned his gaze towards the ceiling.

"Wrath of Raijin Sword Art : Ten Thousand Thunderous Cuts."

Suddenly, Vincent's body seemed to become true living lightning as he leapt for the nearest wall.

Concentrating most of his power into his thighs and the soles of his feet, he landed on top of the sideways surface like a spider before leaping off of it with even greater speed than what was first displayed.

Before Vance even knew what had happened, he had a huge gash across his back.

And another across his arm.

Followed by four across his chest.

Vance found it impossible to defend himself in the slightest, much less follow the movement of Vincent himself.

By now, he was appearing as no more than strobes of light that bounced off the walls, ceiling, and floors like a kid on a sugar rush.

He was moving at such a dangerously fast speed that he had begun to super heat the air around him, and was even creating small sonic booms every time he took another leap.

Finally, Vincent reappeared back on the ground, with his body smoking and his back facing Vance.

A single, solitary tear fell from his eye as he brought out the scabbard to his sword and sheathed it slowly as if he were trying to prolong this as long as possible.

"My dearest friend here... rest quietly now."

As soon as his sword clicked into place, he heard a familiar sputtering noise that he knew to be the sound of blood flowing.

This sound was followed by chunks of body parts hitting the ground, and he knew that things were all over.

He sat in silence for a moment, wrestling with the weight of this loss that had come by his own hand.

But as his tears started to flow faster than before, he realized that something was not quite right.

None of his men had said anything as his great battle with his friend ensued.

In fact, now that he was looking at them, their eyes were all glazed over, as if they were locked in some kind of trance that was keeping them occupied.

"What-"

Unfortunately, Vincent lost all ability to concentrate when a curved, golden blade suddenly pierced his chest from behind, and cut his heart into two.