The Second Battle with the Vampire

Salomon carefully observed the woman standing before him.

With his excellent eyesight, he could see that her eye sockets were faintly reddened, her densely veined eyelids a deep black like congealed blood. The hands folded over her lower abdomen bore black, pointed nails. Even the orange-red firelight could not tint her skin another color, and her pale cheeks made her red lips appear incomparably vivid.

The Ghost floating behind her not only had exactly the same face, but even wore identical clothing.

Even without having met her before, Salomon could roughly guess her identity. In Barnabas's story, many passages had mentioned her. This woman was Victoria, whom Angelique had killed before Barnabas turned her into a Vampire, while that Ghost had to be Josette.

Though both women were dead, their beauty had not diminished in the slightest—no wonder Barnabas had never forgotten Josette over two hundred years.

Victoria stared at Salomon with an utterly cold gaze. What hatred and fury filled those eyes! Her rage toward the killer, the resentment toward the living she usually suppressed, and her craving for warm blood were all directed at Salomon.

Draining all his blood would take only four seconds!

If Salomon had not been an Arcanist, that look alone would have made him tremble with fear. No ordinary person could stand before a creature capable of effortlessly breaking human bones without feeling afraid, especially one that drank blood.

Victoria's hatred was not without cause. When she saw Salomon punching Barnabas in the face again and again, her heart nearly broke. Josette at her side felt the same.

So, after using the ability she had discovered on her own to take Barnabas away, she appeared alone before Salomon.

She wanted revenge. So did Josette. Angelique Bouchard, who had cursed Barnabas into becoming a Vampire, was already dead!

Now, the boy before her had to die too!

No one could survive after hurting a member of the Collins family!

Flames crawled up the wool curtains to the ceiling, scorching the wooden panels. The corridor filled with the acrid stench of burnt protein and the rich fragrance of slightly carbonized teak.

But Victoria showed no sign of panic. She had no intention of talking either. Instead, she crouched down and picked up the cane Barnabas had left on the floor.

She gripped the tip firmly, holding it like a short staff, with its brass head angled toward the floor. Though she did not wish to speak, Salomon opened his mouth.

"I originally planned to find you after killing him," he said. "I will send him back to where he belongs, and your soul will enter the place of eternal silence to sleep. But I have discovered that there is one more target I need to send away."

Even as Salomon spoke, his hands did not stop moving.

He took out a small piece of cured leather and a tiny glass vial containing silver powder, then cast targeted protective spells upon himself.

Mage Armor could provide him with a layer of protection even while his muscles ached, while Protection from Evil and Good was meant to counter the Ghost's possession and fear magic.

So far, every spell Salomon had cast had been highly targeted.

With the blessing of the Holy Marks, as long as he could strike the Vampire and the Ghost, he could inflict enough damage on them. The magic wrapped around his fists came from the Vishanti, and Positive Energy was like poison and strong acid to all undead.

But Victoria did not want to talk at all.

Suddenly, she charged at Salomon. Her long dress with its whalebone hoop skirt did not hinder her movements in the slightest. The Ghost behind her followed close behind, baring its claws as it lunged at the Arcanist.

The Vampire and the Ghost moved extremely fast. If Salomon had not gained control over part of the Holy Marks, he would not have been able to see their movements at all—especially the constantly flickering Ghost.

This was a Ghost's trait: it could move freely between the Ether Plane and the Material Plane. Anyone lacking experience could be ambushed by a Ghost.

Salomon nimbly dodged the Ghost's seemingly harmless caress, and Victoria's cane strike followed immediately after. Salomon raised one hand, and the rapidly approaching brass cane head slammed into the protective sigil he had drawn in the air, producing the sound of shattering glass.

Another fierce blow followed, but it still could not break through the sigil's protection.

Victoria refused to give up. She raised the cane high, intending to bring it down with all her strength.

Salomon stepped his left leg half a pace forward, narrowly dodging Josette's claw strike. He crossed his wrists before him and blocked Victoria's arm. Then he turned his left hand, supporting that icy wrist with his thumb. His right foot swiftly stepped forward, his knee bent into a bow stance, his right arm curled, and driven by the motion of his body, his elbow shot upward from below and slammed fiercely into the Vampire's chest.

"Bang—!" The explosive impact instantly drowned out their creaking footsteps. Victoria flew like a cannonball, smashing at a speed nearly impossible to follow into the wall at the end of the corridor, three rooms away.

She shattered the wooden wall and crashed into the room. Salomon could even hear Victoria knocking over furniture.

Baji Quan, Top-Heart Elbow Strike. This move not only allowed Salomon to block the powerful cane strike, but also sent Victoria flying, keeping the Vampire's fangs from touching him. The brass cane vanished with Victoria into the dark room.

Salomon was not worried that Victoria could immediately come running back out. Even Vampires had to obey the limits of anatomy. Whether her spine or ribs had been injured, Victoria definitely could not move for the moment.

Suddenly, an incomparably terrifying face appeared before Salomon.

Its skin barely clung to rotting flesh, its teeth hung crooked and loose. Maggots writhed freely beneath the skin. Half-rotted eyeballs bulged from their sockets, leaking yellow pus. Sparse, dark hair could not conceal the damaged scalp and the blackened brain beneath.

One worm even happily crawled out of the brain, raised its head, and greeted Salomon.

But a force rising from within his mind forcibly soothed the fear in his heart. Salomon clenched his left hand into a fist as orange-red rings unfolded layer by layer. He twisted his body to the left and violently smashed the Ring of the Ragador into the Ghost's face.

Before Salomon and the Ghost could pull apart again, the hurried scurrying of rodents and the rapid beating of bat wings came once more from the other end of the corridor.

Standing where he was, he recited an incantation. A gust of wild wind rushed toward the other end of the corridor, blocking the rats and bats and blowing the small animals onto the ground.

While they squeaked chaotically, Salomon suddenly leaped backward and crashed into the space behind him, which resembled a shattered mirror.

Josette rushed in after him. Then the shattered mirror vanished from the corridor.

The fire gradually grew larger. Flames spread along the dry ceiling, and burning wooden panels fell to the floor, scattering a shower of red-hot sparks. Thick smoke poured through every crack and out through the gaps between the windows, rising into the dark sky with flickering firelight.

In the open garden before Collins Manor, a ring of sparks appeared from nothing. The sparks formed a circle, and Salomon stepped out of it.

He had left Josette in the Mirror Dimension. He intended to deal with that Ghost last. What he needed to do now was find Barnabas and kill him. Only that Vampire was his primary target.

Tonight, the hunt would continue.

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Good night.