540 Chapter 540: The necessity of Teamwork (1/2)

Fortunately, I didn't need to.

”Argh!”

”What the hell is this?!”

Before either of them reached me, a bunch of Canis Minor pounced on them, latching onto their bodies with fangs and claws, biting and slashing them mercilessly. The duo desperately battled the offending hounds away, but they weren't able to do much before they were drowned under a sea of brown.

Several of my Canis Minor tried to attack the stronger vampire, but he kicked them away before slashing them to shreds with his blood claws. I winced at the psychostigmatic feedback that hit me whenever one of my Constellation spirits was destroyed, but it had never been much of a detriment even until now, so I suppressed the sting in my mind and charged at him for vengeance. He turned around just in time to catch my swords with his claws.

”Heh,” he sneered. ”Relying on summoned Soul Beasts to make up for your lack of strength? How despicable.”

”I don't want to hear that from someone who sucks other people's blood to make up for his lack of strength,” I retorted.

Then I increased my icy mana and blasted him with a freezing attack that sent him staggering. However, he simply cleaved through the ice with his claws to stab me. I barely managed to deflect his claws away with both of my swords, but his kick caught me by the side of my head and sent me spnnning.

Whoa, this guy was strong. Even though he was just a few years older than I was, he was clearly on a different level. I needed to pull myself together and get my Constellation spirits to help myself. But my Canis Major was currently defending Yue Jian's mother while my Taurus was guarding Yue Jian. I wouldn't be able to call upon them unless I was willing to sacrifice the two women to the vampires who were relentlessly assaulting them.

They really seemed desperate to bring Yue Jian back to the Crimson Blood Demonic Night clan's headquarters.

Fortunately, I had a lot more Constellation spirits and Celestial Guardians that I could summon.

”…!”

The vampire suddenly sprang back when a fireball exploded against the ground where he was standing on. Snarling, he turned to glare at the source, readying his blood claws. Vermillion Phoenix was soaring high into the air, and with a flap of his wings, he incinerated a larg swathe of vampires on the ground before they could evade.

This was the reason why I had spent most of the time fighting with just swords and ice magic instead of summoning more Constellation spirits. I was saving up my mana and putting aside casting time for summoning one of my big guns. Even better, vampires were weak to fire spells, so no matter how strong my opponent was, he couldn't simply shrug off a fireball from Vermilion Phoenix. Realizing that, he retreated.

”Despicable bastard!” he snapped. ”Where is your honor? Two against one?”

The vampire spat and lunged at me, weaving and dodging the numerous fire spells that Vermilion Phoenix flung at him. But his movements were clearly hindered and I had more than enough time to react with the swordsmanship that Dad taught me. Parrying his strike, I responded with a riposte that would have pierced his gut if he hadn't twisted his body aside.

Cursing, he kicked me away. I managed to block his foot with my crossed swords, but I was still sent staggering from the sheer force. He spun around for another kick, only to abort his attack and pull away when Vermillion Phoenix hurled a volley of fiery feathers at his position. Frustrated, he widened the distance between us before charging again. Thanks to Vermillion Phoenix's intervention, I was able to fend off his next slash and kick.

But even with Vermillion Phoenix's aid, I found myself locked in a stalemate, unable to glean any sort of advantage over my opponent. Particularly because my Celestial Guardian was half-distracted with unleashing the majority of his fiery feathers at the other vampires in the distance. Damn it. If I was having trouble with an enemy of such caliber, how was I going to fight Xu Wu Cheng and Fan Le Lao later?

”Huff…huff…”

I wiped the perspiration from my brow before exchanging a few blows with the vampire. His claws snaked out, creating sparks as they clashed against my Hei Yue and Bai Ri. Even though my frosty mana managed to freeze his hands, he would shatter the ice with a surge of his bloody mana. After a few minutes spent futilely railing against me, the vampire realized that he was uselessly expending excessive mana against an inferior opponent.

Feeling a bit tired, he withdrew and whistled. Fresh reinforcements who were tangling with my pack of Canis Minor abandoned their task and jumped to him. At his signal, they regrouped before launching a coordinated attack on my position.

”That can't be good.”