Farolynch hesitated no longer. While it was still daylight, he hurried home to fetch Shire. When it came to sensing vampires, Shire was far more sensitive than Farolynch.
Shaken by the news of last night's battle, Shire hurried out with Farolynch. They soon returned to that stretch of river, though the water had already become clear again.
"I thought it would return to the mountains, but it's more cunning than I expected. It may already be hiding beneath this stretch of river. If so, we can destroy it while it's still daylight!"
Shire gazed at the distant river, frowning in thought.
"If that Fourth Tier vampire escaped from the Otherworld, its strength after mutating would be beyond anything we could imagine. Could sunlight really kill it quickly enough?"
Shire looked up at the sky. The sun in the clear summer sky was certainly fierce, but sunlight did not kill vampires instantly.
"Vampires can expend magic power without restraint to regenerate their bodily tissue. As long as they grow faster than they burn, they can hold out for a while. Their magic power will drain rapidly, but for something at the Fourth Tier or above, that would be enough time to kill both of us first. It might even have enough strength left to escape the sunlight."
Farolynch agreed, so he took out the sunstone again.
"But if we add this sunstone to the sunlight, we'll have a good chance of killing it outright."
"A sunstone?"
After a moment's thought, Shire spoke.
"Without special alchemical methods, a sunstone is only a lighting tool. We can't draw out the stable energy inside it. Never mind comparing our alchemy to Shire's-we probably wouldn't even qualify as assistants to students of the White Castle."
"What a coincidence. Shire taught me a way to use