555 Chapter 555: Vampire Prince (2/2)

…only for me to swing Bai Ri to block and cut through them.

”Uwoooooo!”

With a furious yell, I unleashed my mana at pointblank range. Even the venerable vampire prince wasn't able to endure the blast, his body freezing from the sheer volume of azure frost energy. Stumbling back, he slashed at me with his frozen spear, forcing me to deflect it with Hei Yue.

Unfortunately, I had also spent all of my mana in that last attack and was pretty winded. I staggered away, trying to catch my breath and recover. Behind, Green Dragon lumbered toward us to support me.

Not being able to deliver the killing blow proved to be a near fatal mistake.

”AAAAH!”

With a roar, Fan Le Lao's body exploded with blood-red mana. All the ice I had conjured was shattered in an instant, vaporizing into a thick fog.

”Not bad. I didn't think you would be able to push me this far.”

I didn't reply. Instead, I made use of the thick fog to conceal my movements. Relying on the sensors in my glasses, I waited for an opportunity to coordinate with Green Dragon, lashing out and swinging my sword toward Fan Le Lao's neck. At the same time, Green Dragon swung his paw down to pulverize the vampire prince.

To my utmost surprise, he effortlessly caught Hei Yue. Behind him, a wall of blood spears burst out of the ground, forcing Green Dragon back at the danger of being impaled. Blood dripped from Fan Le Lao's fingers despite my black blade sinking deeply into his flesh, but he didn't even flinch. I stabbed him with Bai Ri, but he caught the white blade with his other hand. Once again, blood trickled from his fingers but he showed no sign of pain.

Instead, Fan Le Lao turned toward me with a sinister smile.

I gulped.

”Did you think you would be safe in this mist?”

”Yeah. I thought I would be able to, uh, fog your vision.”

”Funny.” Fan Le Lao's lips curled. ”Then try hiding in this fog.”

I watched, horrified, when his blood mixed with the mist, turning it a dark red. Within seconds, the properties of my icy mist transformed and lashed out like a living, hungry entity. I fumbled away, but Fan Le Lao held onto my swords firmly, refusing to let go.

I should have abandoned my swords to save myself. Unfortunately, my possessiveness proved to be my undoing.

”Gaaaah!”

The unfolding miasma that Fan Le Lao created with his mana hit me full on the face, knocking my glasses askew and blinding me.

This time, Fan Le Lao released my swords, either because he had reached his limits or because he didn't want to lose too much blood. Suddenly finding myself free, I toppled over from my momentum and rolled on the ground, clutching my eyes.

The acid…! The damned thing felt like acid!

My eyes were glued shut, refusing to open. No, I didn't want to open them. They were burning and I knew my blindness was temporary. Unfortunately, that blindness would turn permanent if I forcibly opened them (until someone cast a healing spell on me), so I left them closed as I unsteadily rose to my feet.

Good thing I had my glasses on. My glasses had taken the full brunt of Fan Le Lao's acidic blood spell and absorbed most of the blow. If I hadn't been wearing glasses, I would have been blinded. No, worse. I would have not only lost my eyes, the acidic blood melting my face and sockets, but my life. Judging from how my glasses sizzled and melted into nothingness, there was enough of it to melt my whole head.

Imagine if I had listened to all those readers complaining about me wearing glasses and demanding that I undergo lasik or using healing magic to cure my myopia and get rid of my glasses. I would have died. Some readers always thought they were so clever, but they really were narrow-minded.

”!”

I was barely able to dodge a slash from Fan Le Lao's spear, ducking and rolling on the floor.

”Oh? You could still sense that attack?”

Fan Le Lao's voice came from somewhere left of me. Well…yeah, I could see, thanks to me sharing my senses with my Constellation spirits and Celestial Guardians. With my real eyes blinded momentarily, I was watching the whole scene play out from Green Dragon's and Black Tortoise's eyes. It was the same technique I used to connect my senses with Corvus every time I summoned them for reconnaissance.

Of course I wasn't going to tell him that. What idiot gave away his secrets and advantages? So I remained silent, dodging Fan Le Lao's next strike.

”…!”

Fan Le Lao was baffled when I managed to twist my body out of the way, but he pressed on with his attack. Picking up both Hei Yue and Bai Ri, I deflected his next blow before spinning away from a thrust. I countered with a riposte that he knocked away before ducking under his retaliation. He kicked at me, but having seen his movements from Green Dragon's eyes, I blocked his foot with my leg and shoved him back with a strike from Bai Ri. Fan Le Lao countered with his spear and knocked my white blade away, and I retracted Bai Ri before slashing at him with Hei Yue. The vampire prince met my attack with a swing of his spear, sparks flying as the two metals kissed.

Then Green Dragon launched a bunch of vines and wood spikes at him, forcing him to weave a network of blood spears to shred them.

”You can see…?”

Fan Le Lao threw me off with a forceful strike from his spear, shaking his head in disbelief. I stumbled back, but managed to right myself in time to block another slash from the furious vampire prince. He straightened himself before glaring at me.

”So what?” he sneered and slammed his spear down onto the ground. ”No matter what tricks you have, you will never be able to best me!”