Patrick turns his blood into blade whips that tear apart the room and break the walls apart. One slash from these will be deadly. Chifuyu uses this chance to jump outside into the garden where the battle continues. The blood whips are fast to follow shredding the extravagantly well-kempt backyard. The garden is just as big as the front though, giving Chifuyu much more space to fight. However Patrick has brought out twice the amount of blood and is making the whips quicker than before. Even with all this space, Chifuyu can't help being overwhelmed by the sheer speed and amount of attacks coming at him. The vampire is truly going for the kill now. Not noticing it until after it happened, Chifuyu sees that his left hand has been severed. The second he was distracted looking at that was all the time needed for Patrick to cut his head off. He stepped back as fast as he could, but the blood cut across his neck. He'd avoided dying right there, but the front half of his throat was sliced. Chifuyu drops his blade and puts his hand on the wound trying to stop the immense bleeding, but it's no use.

  "It's over."

  Patrick starts slowly walking up, forming a blade. Chifuyu is breathing the hardest he's ever had to, he's taken a fatal wound. 30 minutes have passed since the others arrived, Shoyo and Dallas should've been in the mansion by now but they're still held up outside. No one is able to save Chifuyu right now.

  He looks up at Patrick who jolts in reaction to his look. Chifuyu has no intention of dying, there's desperation in his gaze. The vampire realizes he has to finish him this instant, but Chifuyu acts first. Like a zombie, he springs forward and bites into Patrick's neck. He gets stabbed a few times, but remains steadfast. He's biting deep, sucking out as much blood as possible.

  "Augh! Get off!"

  Chifuyu helped himself to 9 seconds of blood before he was yanked off. His vampiric features emerge as he wipes his mouth. Vampires cannot suck on each other's blood for sustenance; but with the intent to, they can suck out their stream of curse blood to make themselves stronger. Chifuyu did this unintentionally. He's a half-vampire, which gives him the capability of sucking vampire blood for sustenance. Meaning he killed two birds with one stone, he got the blood necessary to heal and made himself stronger. He picks his sword back up with a smirk on his face.

  "Looks like I'm not outta this fight yet. I gotta say though, your blood tastes like shit."

  Patrick is infuriated, however he doesn't let it show. He smiles confidently in response forming twin blades and healing his wound. "Our battle is only just beginning."

  ***

  In the southern area of District 5 where there's a thunderstorm, a squad of 10 1st rank Hunters accompanying Nailah are searching for the Spider.

  "Ugh.. It's freezing! I hate the rain."

  "Deal with it, Soru."

  The Hunter sighs with a fake tear coming out of his eye, "I miss the old times." When Nailah wasn't as cold as she is now. "A little praise would be nice. We were able to finally close in to the Spider in no time because of me."

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  "….."

  "Ignored…"

  After years, Nailah has a chance to slay the vampire who cursed her. She has no intention of letting this opportunity slip.

  "By the way, how's the half-vampire boy doing, I've been dying to meet him." Soru's been waiting to ask. Around 100 Hunters total currently know the current circumstances of the previously sealed Vampire Lord and half-vampire being among their ranks. This comprises of all the Special-Rank Hunters with the rest being 1st Rank. Other executives in the Hunter Agency are also aware.

  "He was captured."

  "Eh? Does Shoyo know?"

  "Of course. They should be rescuing him at this moment."

  "Oh. Well, I guess there's nothing to worry about."

  "Stay focused.—" Just as these words leave her mouth, dozens of vampires surround them. On the roof directly above them seems to be the one in charge of this group. She looks like a teenager but has the eyes of a killer. The young vampire activates her curse, causing the concrete around her to turn into ice with her cold breath visible.

  "I think it's safe to say we're on the right trail."

  "It appears so."

  ***

  Blood flies everywhere from Chifuyu and Patrick clashing blades. The Hunter continues to chip away at his opponent's blade, but they simply get reconstructed. The vampire kicks the boy away to gain some space, combining his two blades to form a spear and launching it as fast as possible. Chifuyu dodges it, but the moment it gets behind him, the spear disperses turning into several small shards and stabbing him in the back. Immediately after, Patrick is right in front of Chifuyu with a massive hammer. He took the attack right to his face, sending him flying and bursting through two statues. He lost consciousness for 2 seconds. As soon as he opens his eyes, he gets up as quickly as he can but is met with a blade thrown into his shoulder. Not even a second after he removes it and tosses it to the side, rolling away before it explodes into several dozen shards. He was able to avoid that due to his great awareness. Patrick charges at him with two blades once again. Chifuyu had dropped his blade when he got walloped by the hammer, but what neither of them knew was that he was right at an awakening.

  A decisive grin takes over Chifuyu's face as he forms a fist.

  "Let me see you grit those teeth!"

  Black veins emerge.

  Black fire wraps around his arm.

  Not being able to avoid it, a surprised Patrick receives a fiery punch to the gut that sends him crashing back into the mansion.

  Chifuyu looks at his hand, "This is… Ariel's curse."

  Over a year ago when Ariel saved Chifuyu, she had to give him her blood to compensate for how much he lost, which turned him into a half-vampire. What they didn't know was the fact that he survived the transformation in the first place guaranteed him having Ariel's curse. Only a few people are aware that the chances of a successful vampirification are nowhere near 100%.

  Patrick comes back out, seemingly unable to hide his frustration now. Preparing for a final attack, he brings out several tons of blood, sending them up into the air which wraps the sky in red.

  "AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

  A bloody rainfall begins. Chifuyu runs for his blade and charges for Patrick. The vampire is 47 feet away. Several hundred shards are cast down, and Chifuyu's only options are to evade them or cut them. It's impossible for him to come out of this unscathed, so he just has to do what he can. He's able to reach his foe, the cost was getting hit by over 20 shards and impaled by 4. Going purely off the flow he felt landing the previous punch, Chifuyu pours everything out and engulfs his blade in black flames, cutting Patrick down.

  The veins disappear, as he's exhausted his curse blood.

  Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. Patrick never fell. He stands there as if he's unscathed, but has taken a lot of damage.

  "Ha.. That still wasn't enough? Guess I can't beat you as I am right now."

  Not saying a word, Patrick gathers blood around him.

  Chifuyu is at his limit. However…

  "Until Ariel conquers that labyrinth, I will not fall."

  He takes his swordsman stance once more.

  The Augustus Mansion Raid is zeroing in on an explosive finale.

  Next Chapter: Ariel: The Dragon Empress