When that overgrown Vampas charged at Adui, he knew that he was going to die tonight, there was no way in hell that he could ever defeat that monster, he knew. Still, there was one aim in his mind that he had to achieve, no matter what happened tonight, he had to pave the way for his friends to stay safe.

He owes Ben his life. While Clair was the love of his life, he wouldn't be able to ever forgive himself if he didnt give it his all to save them from that monstrosity. With a clear aim in his mind, he immediately started mentally preparing himself to fight off the monster as long as he could.

“Ignite” his right hand caught on fire, and with that he immediately threw the silvery-white piece of metallic strip in the air, before the monster could reach him, he raised his right hand. “BLAZE”

A ball of fire was shot from his hand and it went straight for the metal, immediately then he ducked and closed his eyes, and in milliseconds the metal caught on fire and started burning, its rays were so intense and so bright that it felt as if dawn was finally upon them, and sun had risen in the middle of the night.

SCREEEE

The monster started screaming in pain, and as its skin started burning from the light, it started rubbing its body on the ground, trying to extinguish the fire on its skin, but it didnt help, as it rolled around, more of its skin got exposed, causing more damage…

As he heard the noises of the monster’s struggling, immediately he took a peek, the world outside was still illuminated, without looking directly towards the burning metal which had fallen on the ground, he turned towards the creatures, it not too far away from him.

‘If I run away, I could get away. But this creature would soon follow after us, and it would surely track us down. What should I do?’

It was then he had an absurd idea, he took out a glass bottle, a weapon that he had prepared beforehand, the bottle was filled with dense dark green sticky liquid, and in between the liquid was the strip of metal suspended. This bottle was a Molotov which he made previously, he was no weapon maker, so he didnt have any idea about how he could Magnesium strip like a weapon, so he made this.

He had planned to use the green liquid to set the creature on fire, while the magnesium strip would burn a hole through the creature, he didnt make a lot of those things because he knew that this surely wouldn't work, but now it seemed that this was the perfect time to use this.

He started walking towards the struggling creature, the blinding light from the strip earlier was making his eyes burn, thus he scrunched his eyes as he got closer to the creature.

“IGNITE”

With the Molotov ignited, he waited for the opportune moment to throw the bottle, the monster was constantly screeching and struggling, and after patiently waiting for a few sec, he saw it, the monster’s mouth was wide open and he took his shot.

As the bottle broke, the monster’s mouth got lit by the fire, the intensity of the fire was enough to light up the magnesium strip as well, as the strip was inside the monster’s mouth, it started burning the creature from inside, it is then he turned around and started walking in opposite direction, away from the monster.

‘That Magnesium strip would burn for another minute or two. It would be enough to kill it.’

As he came to Ben and Clair who hiding behind a tree, the old man whistled at the show he had seen. “When you told me that thing would burn as bright as the sun, I thought you were fucking with me.”

“No time to chat, we need to get out of here.” He then walked past them, as fast as his leg could take him.

It is then Clair hurriedly asked. “Will that be enough to kill that thing?”

He nodded his head. “Yes. But its voice could attract other creatures, so we should get out of here.”

Then he took out another blue potion vial and drank a bit. ‘This potion worked wonders for Clair, then it should work for me as well.’

“Ben drink this.” He then passed the vial to the old man. “This? But you said that you weren't sure whether this would work or not.”

“Well, it worked for Clair and the girls. So it would should for us as well.” As the old man drank the potion, Clair finally asked the big question.

“By the way, what happened back there? Why did that monster charge at you?” He simply shook his head. “I dont know.”

Then Ben also chimed in, “Yeah, why was it that it charged at you? Your potion worked wonders for me. One of those things was just a foot away from me, and it just went past me like I was a fart in the wind.”

“I dont know. I dont care. Let's focus on getting far away from here.”

But he did care, he couldnt understand that was made that Vampas attacked him in the first place, and the mystery was killing him from inside. He needs to know.

‘Let's see, that particular one was very big, which meant that it had lived a long time. Might have been leader of the pack. But does that imply that he could tell that I am not one of them? But why me? Clair and Ben had the same potion, yet it still attacked me.’

It is then it came to him that maybe all of this was because of his identity as an awakened one, but then he dropped the idea because if that were the case then the monsters from the city would have attacked him as well.

‘Think Adui, think… The Vampas that attacked you was old, it had been through a lot, it would have better senses than the other ones…..’ He stopped thinking. He figured it out.

Immediately he looked up, and sure enough, it was clear sky, and that was all the information that he needed to understand what was going on here…

One of the most fascinating things about the Vampas was that they possess mana as well, it was not known whether they do it consciously or unconsciously, but they tend to release the mana in such a way that it makes the surroundings extremely cold.

When he first entered the Salvatore Manor months ago, he felt that the cold gates of hell itself had opened in the place, there was also the smell of blood in the air that day, now he understands that on that day there were some Vampas present in the manor at that time.

It made sense now, because the next time he entered, there was no smell of blood in the air, nor the cold breeze that he felt the first time. Vampas were moved from Salvatore Manor and probably reinstated in Rose Valley, which is why that valley had become the hub of the coldness in the kingdom.

As it gets colder, dark clouds cover the sky, making it so that the sunlight doesn't make it to land, making it an ideal place for Vampas to hunt or live. According to the journals of Franc, Vampas do not go beyond the covers of the clouds, their innate fear of sunlight compels them to stay under the shade of clouds.

But tonight these Vampas broke their scared rule, they came here, something brought them here. ‘The Soul Stone, that is it. I opened the box, that brought these creatures here. Maybe that big Vampas was able to smell the fragrance off my hands.’ This was the only theory that he had, that made sense to him at that moment…

“Adui.” He turned towards Clair. “What should we do now?”

He then turned towards Ben. “The carriage with supplies, what happened to it?”

The old man shrugged. “I dont know. As soon as I heard the screams, I turned around and ran straight here.”

He nodded his head. “Old man, do me a favor. Take Clair and the girls to the carriage. Stay there for a night. That carriage had enough sheets to keep you guys warm, after the sun rises we would proceed in our journey as planned.”

The old man nodded, but it is then Clair chimed in. “Wait, what about you?”

“I will join you guys shortly. I have some business to attend to.”

She looked worried. “Do you think it is a good idea to split up? What if something happens to you?”

He smiled. “Didnt you see the monster that I took down? I will be fine. Just go.”

Clair was reluctant to split up, but finally, she gave in as she saw that he was not backing out, nor was Ben.

‘Maybe those Vampas couldnt smell the Soul Stone. Maybe my theory is baseless as it comes. But even if there is a shred of doubt in my mind, I cannot let these two stay by my side. I made the right decision to make them go away.’

He then glanced at Ben and Clair who had turned around and had started heading in the direction of the carriage.

SCREEE

Everyone stopped in their tracks, he started looking around wearily took out another magnesium strip, and got ready for another attack. The old man and Clair soon joined him, the trio covered each other backs, made a circle, and started looking around the dark and dense forest with fear.

“Remember, there is a chance that this one would also leave us be. So do not attack as soon as you see it, play nice.” The old man and Clair mentally nodded.

It is then Clair saw it. “Adui, there.” They all turned toward where Clair had pointed, there was a single Vampas there, it was a lot smaller than the one they encountered before, but there was one. He looked around, and could not see any other Vampas out there.

‘Oh Lord Tibba, please let this one be alone as well… Wait, could this one smell the Soul Stone as well?’

He then glanced at his friends, every one of them was scared shitless, he could not endanger them. “Do not move.” He ordered sternly.

He then started moving back, and when the vampas saw him moving, it started following his movements. “What are you doing?” Ben asked in a hushed voice.

“Stay where you are.” He ordered.

As he got a few feet away from the rest of their group, the Vampas started closing in on him. His heart rate skyrocketed as he saw the creature slowly moving towards him, but it is then the creature abruptly stopped, it raised its head to its left and then ran away.

His head followed the Vampas as it ran away, and only when he was sure that the creature had run away, did he sigh with relief.

“LOOK OUT!” Someone pushed him aside with force, as he was falling to the ground, he glanced towards his back, only to see a rather large Vampas in his previous position, in its mouth was the person that pushed him aside.