Well, this is going to be a very annoying battlefield, I can already tell. Right now in front of me are three people. Sadly, these three are not going to be so easy to fight. This close to a blood sacrifice, the power of the blood sacrifice must be empowering whatever mana they have boosting them. Even more than the people that I had just fought. They are not going to be easy to fight.

  At least the demon is busy. Right now he is in the middle of summoning his master it looks like. That is the benefit of striking during a blood sacrifice. While a demon is not likely to kill his contracted cultivator, it is more than likely to kill everybody else in the room.

  The only way that a demon cultivator is able to keep his underlings safe is to summon the demon behind a barrier. Until the sacrifice is complete, the captain can be ignored safely. Breaking the barrier would have pretty disastrous consequences actually. Even the weakest of demons is not an enemy that I will be able to fight.

  I don't know how long I have though. Blood sacrifices can be both absurdly short and ridiculously long. Demons are creatures of chaos, you can't really tell with them. (Though knowing them it will be on the shorter side.) Well, I will need to get rid of these three before the captain manages to escape. Once he does, I will still be able to fight him.

  "Who are you, half transformed mutt?", speaks the man behind his barrier. "Soldiers attack him."

  As he speaks, I dodge backwards escaping from a blow from one of the soldiers. Let's call him grunt one. I ready my sword blocking another strike from grunt number two.

  Grunt number three is behind both of these soldiers, looking for a point to attack. Tipping my sword a bit forward I cause grunt number two to lose balance as he trips to the ground. Meanwhile grunt number one is going to be wasting time in turning around.

  using this time I charge towards grunt number three. He certainly wasn't expecting me to charge towards him. Normally people try to escape from an encirclement not actively go deeper into it. That is why he fumbles as he dodges my strike.

  My sword manages to pierce into his left shoulder, drawing metallic and tangy blood. A moment later the other parties vital mana enters into me.

  I am embarrased to admit it, but this stops me for a few moments. I don't know why, but there was something that is familiar with this vital mana. At the same time, I wasn't expecting so much vital mana from my victim. It is like a mighty raging river where I was expecting a thin stream.

  Grunt number three takes this time to scurry towards its ally. By the time that I manage to react to them the three are already attacking. Thankfully, reacting to situations like this is more instinct than thought.

  I block grunt number one, sidestepping grunt number three and kick grunt number two's face causing him to lose balance again. This time I don't try to orient myself as I press my attack. With my enhanced senses this is harder than I expected it to be.

  Grunt number one manages to react to my attack as he enters into a defensive stance. He blocks my attack before my sword is anywhere near his head. Seriously what magic is powering these bastards. This is quite a bit of boost.

  Before I manage to dodge, grunt number three manages to get a strike in. It is a gash, though it has already begun to fill in. The flood of life force that is being provided by the other party is enough for this wound to fix itself soon enough. I have never felt the bloody fang work with such strength or efficiency. The fusion spell is already showing its worth.

  Even as I am collecting myself, retreating in a defensive stance, I can see that the three men are preparing to attack. Grunt number three is not in a good situation, with his skin becoming pale. The way that he is moving though is an indication of his weakness. I don't think he himself realised how much damage he is actually facing.

  Whatever mana is empowering them makes them numb to pain it looks like. Useful magic to give to your grunt, which would make them able to ignore their life threatening wounds to come and give you one more strike (often that is enough to clench victory.). It is a favourite magic of anybody that makes use of dark magics, especially demons.

  It is an annoying magic to deal with. The only benefit is that they won't be lasting for long. I would give grunt number three another minute or so before he would die.

  This time I don't give them the chance to think as I charge into their midst. I focus on grunt number two as I finally manage to get a sword into his head. The cost of this is that the other party has managed to get a sword into my chest as well.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  I can feel the heat of wound, as I smell my own blood. It is already congealing and taking on a jelly like consistency. Well, this is going to be annoying. The burst of lifeforce that I get from grunt number two hits me like a rampaging bull, almost knocking me of my feet.

  I lose focus for a moment, which grunt number one makes use of to strike at my leg. I try to dodge it but the burst of life force is very disorienting. All my senses get ultra sensitive for a second. I can feel every inch of the sword as it plunges into me, causing a spike of pain that blacks out the world around me.

  Fuck, this is another problem with my transformation. My master has warned me more than once that I should learn to master these overloads or it is going to be the death of me. Normally I can do so, but the fusion spell is more efficient than I expected it to be.

  Before grunt number three can get a strike into me, I manage to dodge him. As I retreat, my senses return to normal. Grunt number three has begun to slow down visibly.

  Grunt number one has begun to retreat slowly and steadily, trying to physically cover his fellow grunt. That is going to make this an easier fight. Well, it is time for me to focus. Get rid of them and then their master.

  (After about a couple of minutes.)

  Well, I have finally managed to kill both of these grunts. Grunt number one died after I hit him five times. He is a bit too hardy for somebody this weak.

  Grunt number two has died a bit more easily, with a sword in heart. Even as he died, the man couldn't get a strike in, though he did try his best. The mana powering them makes them quite durable.

  Well, as I am doing this, the remaining soldiers in the floor above me have also died. Right now the only two people in this building are me and Steve.

  "You half transformed mutt, which family has come to hit my lady.", he speaks as I turn towards him.

  The man speaks to me with half a focus. Right now he is still forming sigils, which he is cycling through quite quickly. His hands are dancing as they take on shapes that would have normally broken his hand.

  That is quite a complicated blood sacrifice over there, as the man is still doing it. (Demons are impatient bastards.) Well, there is something about what he just said that makes me feel weird. Whatever it is, is at the tip of my tongue, if I could just focus a bit more.

  Right now snaking throughout my body is a patchwork of pains and wounds. I have taken in a decent amount of wounds in this fight. I have taken worse, (nor my sword has ever given me so much blood mana) but the pain is never pleasant.

  "Would you stop calling me a half converted mutt. I am not a grunt.", I reply, as I begin to cycle my vital mana. I can literally feel my body stitch itself back. It is going to take a while.

  "Well, why would I make the mistake of calling you a grunt, you damn half converted mutt.", he replies. "My lady is already stepping through. Tell me the name of your master and I can promise you that you will get a pleasant ending."

  As he speaks, I finally figure out what is wrong here. The insults that the damn bastard is using is something that is used only by vampires. Ones that serve at the court at that. Even if the other party became a vampire by mistake, their would be no way that he would know these things without contact from somebody in the court.

  They really tend to look down on people like me. Every person that is turned into a vampire grunt take about a month or so to complete this transformation. During this period they are considered to be a half converted mutt. Whenever I activate my sword, I am in a similar situation.

  Wait, why the fuck am I sitting about explaining the fucking insult. The other party is a vampire. I return to focus at the man stuck in the barrier. Now that I know what I am looking for I can see the traces of it.

  The man is pale, with runes inscribed all over his face and hand. The runes of the formation that is acting as his barrier is also familiar to me. I have never studied them but I have seen them quite a few times. I think the barrier is meant to hold in blood mana. Now that I know what to look for, I can feel it. Seriously when is my mana sense going to return to its old strength. Being blind like this is not a nice feeling.

  The barrier is only meant to be used to facilitate a possession. Well, higher vampires in the court have the ability to forcefully possess the body of the lower vampires that they have created by using ritual magic like this. I have never seen one succeed until now.

  It is a fascinating process, the little that I can see. I can see the blood mana inside the barrier take the shape of runes that I have never seen in my life. I can't see these runes specifically as they are blurred by the barrier blocking out all outside mana. Still, it is fascinating to see blood mana being manipulated like that. I have never managed to pull of something like that.

  Wait what the fuck am I doing right now. As I am thinking this I can feel the surge of blood mana emanating through the barrier. The mana in there in strong enough that I can smell the mettalic scent of blood.

  Okay, I can't destroy the barrier now. I am too late for that. If it had been the first thing that I had done, it might have worked. Spells like possession requires a certain concentration of blood mana that can't be achieved by mere grunts without barriers like this. Everytime that we have faced a grunt with a barrier like this, the troop that I used to be in the legion with became serious. My troop used to become serious only for a few things.

  Whatever magic needed to be cast has already been cast, if the dropping concentration of mana is to be considered.

  Right now the only option that I have is to run away with my life. I am not sure if I can get away far enough with the time that I have. I have to try though as I run towards the door of this warehouse.

  It is locked from the outside. I cycle my mana fully to try and force the door open. I can feel the damn thing bend in my hands, but I just can't get the damn thing open.

  "A half converted mutt? Who dares to do such a thing I wonder.", the man behind me speaks. Something is off about how he speaks. There is a certain femininity in the way that he spoke.

  I can't think on this any further, as the world around me becomes black.