Arlott took his stance and moved.
**Silford Sword Craft: First Form — Flashstep Slash.**
Wind element burst through his legs; he closed the distance in an instant, the cut fast and precise.
Veth met it; the blood gauntlet caught the blade with a sharp metallic ring and he answered immediately, driving his armored fist straight at Arlott's chest.
Arlott stepped aside, redirected the momentum and came back with a horizontal slash.
Veth ducked under it.
They separated.
Both of them landing several feet apart; neither had given anything meaningful away.
Veth rolled his neck slowly.
"Let me show you the vampire's secret art," he said pleasantly. He raised one hand.
The blood rose.
Not his own; Arlott's eyes moved across the battlefield immediately and something in his chest tightened. The blood of the fallen monsters scattered across the entire field, hundreds of bodies worth, droplets peeling off the ground and lifting into the air like gravity had quietly changed its mind.
