540 Chapter 540: The necessity of Teamwork (2/2)
Even with Vermillion Phoenix frantically bombarding the massed ranks of vampires with torrents of superheated flames, and my pack of Canis Minor desperately hurling themselves at the incoming vampires, they weaved and evaded almost gracefully, using their blood magic and superhuman reflexes to speed toward their objective. I frowned, surprised by their sudden increase in speed. Honestly, this was supposed to be advantageous for me, yet they were skillfully dodging the area of effect spells that my Vermillion Phoenix was launching.
Not bad. Not bad at all.
I couldn't help but be impressed, but I had a solution. Standing my ground, I sheathed my swords and recalled my Constellation spirits, who complied without question. Summoning Sagittarius, I prepared to fire a flaming arrow at the vampires, not caring that it would be too close for comfort. I didn't care that I might accidentally blow myself up with them. As long as I could take them all out in one fell swoop, it was totally worth it.
I would be able to take out a few of those flunkies, but it was possible that I wouldn't be able to take out the strong guy in the center. He would survive, retreat and attack again. How could I deal with him?
Swallowing, I readied my mana while feeling frustrated. This guy's ability was lower than even Xu Wu Cheng. If I couldn't defeat him in direct combat, how was I going to face that guy and then even the ultimate final boss, Fan Le Lao? Right now I wouldn't be able to fight an opponent that even Nan Gong Zhao Yan couldn't defeat.
Damn it…was my only option to ask Rossetti and Kufa for help? The only reason I was able to overwhelm Xu Wu Cheng so easily last night was because I was cooperating with Rossetti, working in tandem with her to destroy our enemies. Surprisingly, when Rossetti and I fought together, we exceeded the sum of our combined power and were able to take down enemies several times our number, or enemies stronger and more skilled than either of us.
Only stupid protagonists who thought themselves godlike (or deluded themselves into believing they were on god more) and had plot armor would engage in solo leveling. If I survived this, I was going to have to apologize to Rossetti and Kufa, and then grovel to them for help. Not that I needed to – they already agreed to help me. We all agreed to volunteer to help the Midnight Order hunt the vampires together.
How could I forget that?
Anyway, for now, my priority was to survive this. It was unfortunate, but neither Rossetti nor Kufa was here to help me. Fortunately, Nan Gong Jiao Shou was here to assist me. I could see him racing toward me, suddenly bereft of opponents when they all regrouped earlier to gang up on me. But he wasn't going to make it in time.
My fingers slowly loosened the arrow. But I never got to fire it.
Just before the vampires reached me, blinding white lights pierced through them, puncturing their bodies with holes. Several of my Canis Minor were perforated as collateral damage, their battered bodies dissipating and disappearing after they were hit. Bloody hell! Who dared to attack my Constellation spirits?
I lowered my bow just a fraction and glanced around at the fallen vampire bodies. The strong guy had just managed to avoid a few stray shots to his vitals, but he was surprisingly still alive. He hissed and lunged at me in one final display of defiance. Bloody mana circulated around him and dozens of blood spears congregated around him, forming a formidable barrage that sought to pierce me. With nothing to lose, the guy was casting his ultimate spell.
Only now did I release Alnasl.
The flaming arrow streaked toward the vampire, faster than any fiery feather or torrent of inferno that Vermillion Phoenix could unleash. The bloody spears were incinerated almost immediately, the red fluids vaporizing even before they came into contact with the flaming projectile – such was the intense heat emanating from my arrow, which possessed the power of a burning star. The vampire tried to dive to the side, but Alnasl slammed into his midriff and engulfed him in flames before sending a huge explosion across the clearing that rocked the car and elicited a scream of fright from Yue Jian's mother. Even Yue Jian flopped down, covered by Taurus, who steadfastly imposed his armored bulk between his charge and the shockwaves that buffeted the road. The surviving vampires were flung across the air, but alone Nan Gong Jiao Shou remained standing, completely unaffected by the blast. He had skidded to a stop when he saw me fire my arrow and instead chose to use the chance to chop the back of the neck of a vampire that sailed past him, bringing the poor fella back down to earth.
As the explosion cleared, the fallen vampires were pierced by more white lights. As much as I wanted to see the source, I found myself on my knees, heaving from the exertion. A few of the vampire's blood lances had survived the conflagration and grazed me, causing blood to drip down my temple and shoulder.
Swaying in front of me, the vampire growled, half his body incinerated by the attack. He glared at me defiantly through the remaining half of his face, the other half charred black by my spell. Then he flopped down. Despite clearly being dead, he was still targeted for some reason. One of the white lights swerved round and pierced through his immolated head, shuddering his half-blackened corpse. A pool of blood slowly expanded underneath his immobile body.
”Huh?”
Yue Jian, who was cowering under my Taurus earlier, raised her head to watch dumbly as the vampires around her were being razed. Not that there were many of them left, especially after my Vermillion Phoenix's rampage.
”All down.”
As the last of the vampires were mowed down and slain, a couple of mages flipped themselves into the vicinity and surveyed the area. One was a blue-haired bishounen armed with a spear and the other was a tomboyish girl with short, golden hair who wielded twin swords similar to mine.
For a moment, I stared at them blankly. And then I opened my mouth to ask a single question.
”…who?”