Verocia paused just beyond the threshold.
The air inside felt denser. Older. The mana here did not swirl randomly like the forest, it layered. Stratified. Ancient sediment of power pressed into stone.
Caius frowned faintly. "We should not be here."
Marek rolled his shoulders. "Legends are for elders who fear dust."
Lysa's gaze lingered on the dark corridors. "This place predates our line."
Verocia's crimson eyes narrowed. "We take the human. We leave."
Simple.
They ignored the unease.
Hunger overrode superstition.
They found his tracks within minutes.
Bootprints in dust. A faint smear of dried blood near a doorway. The subtle disruption of mana where spatial distortions had been used.
"He does not conceal well when rushed," Caius murmured.
They followed the trail into a vast statue hall, rows of stone effigies depicting armored figures and pale nobles frozen in expressions of cruel elegance.
At the center,
James crouched over a corpse.
Not human.
Vampire.
One of their own fallen scouts from weeks prior, half-decayed but still wearing a signet ring and carrying a high-grade mana core embedded in the sternum.
James extracted it calmly.
Then turned.
They stood at the far end of the hall, silhouettes framed by towering statues.
No words.
Just the silent understanding that this would end here.
Marek moved first.
He vanished from sight, reappearing in a blur of mana-enhanced speed aimed directly for James' neck.
James didn't block.
He stepped sideways.
And space split.
A vertical rift snapped open where Marek's legs had been.
There was no scream.
Just a wet severing sound as Marek's lower body disappeared into nothingness.
He collapsed forward, shock frozen on his face.
Dead before he hit the floor.
Caius' composure cracked.
Lysa hissed sharply.
James didn't hesitate.
He bent his knees,
Poured Strength and Agility into them,
And dashed.
The floor cracked under the force.
He cut straight through their formation.
They scattered instinctively, retreating to avoid another rift.
James pivoted mid-run and, with a sudden smirk, hurled his mace upward.
Mana coated it in violent blue.
It struck the ceiling arch.
Stone fractured.
A cascade of rubble thundered down.
Statues shattered.
Dust exploded outward.
Vision obscured.
In that single chaotic breath,
James blinked.
Dimensional Step activated instinctively at the edge of his current limits.
He appeared behind Lysa.
Her head left her shoulders before she understood he was there.
It rolled once across broken marble.
Her body collapsed soundlessly.
James didn't linger.
He sprinted for the spiral staircase descending deeper into the castle.
Caius snarled in rage.
Verocia's eyes burned not in panic but In realization.
He was accelerating.
Too quickly.
They pursued.
Below. The Regent Crypt
James burst into a circular chamber lined with seven ornate coffins.
Runes pulsed faintly across their surfaces.
The air was colder here.
He ducked behind the nearest coffin, steadying his breath.
Let them come.
Ambush the ambushers.
Footsteps echoed faintly above.
Four seconds passed.
Five.
Then—
A soft crack.
Stone shifted.
One of the coffins opened from within.
A tall, pale hand rested on its edge.
Then a man rose gracefully.
Tall. Impeccably composed. Eastern European features sharp and aristocratic. Hair dark as spilled ink. Eyes crimson but refined.
He stretched lazily, as if waking from a pleasant nap.
"Ooohhh," he breathed, voice rich and velvety. "A human… for me to snack on."
His gaze slid directly to James' hiding place.
Without hesitation.
Without searching.
James muttered under his breath, "Fuck this place."
He stepped out from behind the coffin just as Caius and Verocia descended the final steps.
They froze.
Not at James.
At the man.
Instinctive terror seized them.
They dropped to one knee without command.
"R-Regent…" Caius whispered.
The vampire regarded them with mild amusement.
Vampire Regent.. Status
Name: Regent Aleksandr Virelai
Level: 25
Health: 8,400 / 8,400
Mana: 7,200 / 7,200
Core Attributes
Strength: 140
Agility: 135
Vitality: 160
Intelligence: 185
Perception: 170
Unique Ability. Regent's Dominion
Absolute mental compulsion over undead and lesser vampires of lower level.
Can issue direct commands overriding free will.
Gains passive regeneration while subordinate undead are within range.
James moved before fear could paralyze him.
Rift Pull.
Two rapid compressions targeted at Caius' skull.
Bone imploded inward instantly.
Dead before he hit the ground.
James shifted,
But Verocia was already moving.
She had seen the subtle twitch of space.
She dove sideways.
The rift snapped closed inches from her temple.
James blinked forward, crouched by Caius' corpse.
Four seconds.
He tore out mana cores.
Stored them.
System inventory swallowed them seamlessly.
Aleksandr clapped slowly.
Elegant. Delighted.
"Marvelous," he purred. "Efficiency. I adore efficiency."
His gaze slid toward Verocia.
"You will entertain me."
His voice shifted tone.
A subtle hum beneath it.
Compulsion.
Verocia's body stiffened.
Her eyes widened briefly,
Then went glassy.
She rose slowly.
Blade forming in her hand.
Mana thicker. Darker.
Aleksandr smiled.
Regent Ability Activated: Dominion Compulsion
Verocia's stats flickered briefly under James' Perception.
Level 20.
Agility high.
Intelligence high.
Now overridden.
She attacked without hesitation.
Faster than before.
Cleaner.
No emotional hesitation now, just refined lethal precision amplified by Regent mana reinforcement.
James barely avoided the first strike.
Their blades clashed in a burst of sparks.
She was sharper.
Her footwork flawless.
Her mana coating denser than before.
Aleksandr leaned casually against his coffin, watching like an aristocrat observing a fencing match.
"Do try not to kill him too quickly," he called lazily. "I wish to savor the taste of fear."
Verocia feinted high.
Cut low.
James twisted and blinked sideways but she anticipated the angle, pivoting mid-spin and driving a mana-laced dagger toward his ribs.
He barely raised a rift barrier in time.
The impact sent him skidding across stone.
Mana dipped sharply.
She pressed instantly.
No wasted motion.
No words.
Her strikes aimed not just to wound but disable.
Hamstrings.
Eyes.
Neck seals.
He countered with a micro rift slash—
She twisted through it.
Barely grazed.
Blood beaded along her cheek.
She didn't react.
Compulsion removed hesitation.
This wasn't a duel.
It was execution refinement.
James' breathing deepened.
He could feel Aleksandr's presence amplifying her.
The air itself bent toward the Regent.
If he didn't end this quickly,
He would become the evening's delicacy.
And Aleksandr,
Was still smiling.