For over half a year, Falvi hid on Rampiel, cultivating his strength to newer heights, while gathering all the humans he could find.
After fleeing from Cassiel many months ago, Falvi's mental state went into the ground. He became depressed, and he feared the thought of ever having to face Cassiel again.
.....
All throughout his life he was steps above any other warrior his age, and because of this, he had never faced an opponent stronger than himself in a serious manner.
He had occasional spars and training lessons with his father, and sometimes other royal heads, yet those taught him nothing of real life and death battles.
.....
During the first month after fleeing, Falvi hid in the same forest Albus had fought against ghouls in on his travel with Cassiel, The Dead Forest.
His only nourishment during this time was rain and roots, as there was nothing living in the forest for him to hunt to sustain himself.
That, however, was enough.
For someone at Falvi's strength, although food was still needed, it was far less of a necessity than for regular people, including vampires.
.....
Throughout the second and third months, Falvi regained his senses, where he began training himself extensively. He spent most of his time fighting hordes of ghouls for practice, doing physical exercise, and meditating to increase his mana flow.
He did this every day without fail, and progressively watched himself grow stronger through the harsh predicament he was in.
.....
During the final three months, Falvi left the forest, searching for any humans he could.
At first, he was lost and felt hopeless.
He wasn't able to find anyone, and he had no signs or any direction to even begin finding anyone.
However, with a huge stroke of luck, almost as if it was a true miracle, Falvi came across an encampment tucked away between two mountains.
It was a vampire training facility that had been left to abandon after the great siege on Seraphim that Cain led years ago that had been taken over by humans.
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After settling into the encampment during the fifth month, Falvi quickly rose up to lead the group of eighty as they all knew of him and his status, and it wasn't long before Barakiel had found his way there as well, bringing with him the remaining twenty or so soldiers.
During these last two months, the fifth and sixth, Falvi trained the soldiers during the midday, while sparring with Barakiel in the afternoon, bringing the both to unimaginable heights, which now brought them to rival Albus and Cassiel's strength unknowingly.
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On this grim, dark night, Albus and Cassiel would have only two options.
To hold out for reinforcements, or to die trying.
The two strongest vampires on Rampiel would have to fight against the two strongest humans inhabiting their land.
Yet despite that fact, despite being caught off guard, and despite being forced into this final fight for their continent, all four of them were ready to lay their lives down for this fight.
.....
Not wanting to give them time to prepare, Cassiel instantly launches down three separate sanguine spears, taking the lives of three soldiers.
Yelling in rage, Falvi orders his soldiers to follow him into battle as he charges forward.
Turning to run into the castle, Cassiel whispers a quick plan to Albus.
"When we get inside, hide above. I will force Barakiel and Falvi to chase me, and when they do, drop down and kill all of his soldiers. It is our only chance, Albus." Cassiel orders, his voice stern and calm.
Without contest, Albus nods his head, agreeing with Cassiel's plan as they bust through the entrance, closing the door behind them.
Quickly scaling the interior walls, Albus stays hidden above like a spider as Cassiel charges forward further into the castle, before stopping just in the midst of the room to begin summoning spears.
Only a few seconds pass before both Barakiel and Falvi bolt through the door, causing the entrance to collapse under the force of their combined speed.
As the dust was still settling, a multitude of spears were launched towards them, breaking through the barrier of dust, surprising Falvi and Barakiel.
Dodging them with ease, the two think nothing of it as they charge forward, only to see Cassiel there.
"Come, allow me to deal with the two of you once and for all, pests." Cassiel mocks, provoking them as he runs off down the corridor.
"COWARD!" Falvi yells, enraged to see Cassiel flee.
Chasing after him, Barakiel is forced to stick close, despite sensing something to be off.
.....
As Falvi's soldiers enter the castle a couple at a time, they grow a sense of confusion, wondering where to go, before Albus drops from the ceiling, killing one as he lands on them.
Giving them no time to collect themselves, Albus immediately slashes forward, cutting two soldiers in half.
"FORMATION X! FORMATION X!" One of them orders out, before his head is sliced in half horizontally, leaving it to spew out blood as his body falls to the ground.
Finally regaining their composure, the soldiers quickly fall into a circular formation, completely enclosing Albus as they point their weapons towards him.
Realizing there was left no room for error, Albus thinks about how secure, compact, and fool proof their formation was, causing him to be lost in thought to strategize as a spear is stabbed towards him from behind.
Rolling off the attack with ease, Albus cleaves the human's spear in half with a spin, finally realizing what he must do.
Waiting in anticipation, it isn't long before another stab is sent forward from behind, to which Albus rolls off again, cutting it in half.
This would go on for another minute before the humans would realize his plan, causing them to switch their strategy.
"TAKE FORMATION Y!" An order is called out, this time, however, by a different voice than the last time.
Immediately, Albus realizes they had no leader, as they hadn't needed one.
In just a matter of seconds, the humans would take up a box formation, enclosing Albus on every side as they now had readied their swords instead of spears.
Watching the humans as they prepared themselves, Albus hadn't a clue of what to do, not knowing what these men were capable of after being led by Falvi and Barakiel for so long.
However, the longer he watched, the more he was able to figure out.
The humans were nervous.
This gave him enough reason to suspect that they didn't have complete hope in their plan, which would be the downfall of their formation.
Using this information, Albus stepped forward, walking towards the human closest to hum with his sword drawn.
Watching as the man stared at Albus in fear, Albus grinned devilishly, almost as if he was Cassiel himself.
Slamming his sword straight down, Albus carves into the human, splitting him in two separate pieces as the other soldiers watch in horror, before snapping.
Completely ruining the formation, the soldiers close in, charging into Albus.
As their blades scrape and cut against his skin, Albus continues carving into the soldiers, knowing full well that they didn't have the strength needed to harm him greatly.
One by one, the human soldiers would fall, allowing Albus to trample over them to get to more soldiers, slowly killing all of them, diminishing their numbers a few at a time.
.....
.....
Running down the hall, Cassiel forces out his mana, slamming open each and every door, searching for a specific room.
Only ten meters away, both Falvi and Barakiel were giving chase, charging towards Cassiel with all their strength, just managing to keep in distance by a hair.
It wasn't until two minutes had passed, until they found themselves tracing Cassiel's mana through open doors.
Walking through them, Falvi and Barakiel would find themselves outside, their eyes glaring at Cassiel who stood only fifteen feet away, staring at them in a mocking manner.
"I'm glad you two could join me here tonight. Now, shall we finally sever our ill-fated relationship?"