"It seems there's an intruder to the northwest," commented the white-robed mage to a dark elf woman standing behind him.

"He seems quite confident in his strength as well, that or he's merely an imbecile," replied the elven woman coldly.

She had a slender frame, with high cheekbones, and ears longer than that of a regular elf. Unlike the other elves, she wore a black tunic and had an equally black sword strapped to her waist, its scabbard decorated with multiple runes.

One of her long slender arms reached down for the obsidian sword, her hands gently caressing its hilt as she pondered on whether or not to go.

"Magus Sirfene, we request your help in taking down the enemy," reported an elven soldier, sweat dripping down his face as he tried to catch his breath.

"Is he really so powerful that you request the help of a Magus? After all, if I act merely because one person is attacking, then the other factions will take it as a sign of weakness among her majesty's troops," replied Sirfene with a bored expression on his face.

"He seems to be a magical swordsman of some sort. Both his blades are enchanted, and his speed increases by the minute. At this rate, the whole western column will fall if we don't act now," continued the guard, trying his best not to sound imposing.

"To think our elven troops only amount to this much," sighed Sirfene.

"He's merely human and you say you are unable to take him on?" he continued in a tired tone.

"A-About that. It seems he's a vampire, all his victims have been robbed of their blood, which may explain why he's becoming more powerful as time goes by," replied the soldier.

As he gave his report, the black blur of death seemed to be moving closer. The moist ground now had a thin layer of blood flowing atop it, like the beginnings of a mighty stream.

"I'll go," interrupted the dark elf flatly.

"Artemis, although her majesty allowed you to take part in this quest, need I remind you that you are still a child birthed by the late queen. If anything were to happen to your other sisters, you would have to ascend to the throne. As such I cannot allow you to battle an unknown enemy, especially one being suspected of being a vampire at t-"

Before the mage could finish his lecture, the dark elf disappeared from his side, turning into a black blur herself.

"Hmm? What's this?" smiled Gray as he noticed that one elf seemed to be moving faster than the others.

*Ting*

Sparks flew as their two blades met, the smaller dark elf being pushed back by the force of the collision.

"Strong," whispered the dark elf under her breath, before unleashing the blade from its scabbard.

"Oh, was your blade not drawn?" asked Gray excitedly as he chopped off the head of an oncoming elf, without so much as looking at him.

'Yes, this ought to be fun. She looks like a proud one, I wonder what face she'll make once I defeat her. Oh, to see her blood on my hands as she begs for mercy,' thought Gray, his blood rushing even faster as Artemis looked at him with defiant eyes.

However Gray's nonchalant attitude changed once her blade was fully unleashed.

An inky black cloud oozed from the blade, completely covering the elven woman's figure, making her hard to see even though it was mid-afternoon.

The scabbard which had been containing the sword turned into the same inky black substance, floating beside her as if it were a tentacle.

However, this sudden change wasn't what gained Gray's attention. What caused Gray's distress was the sudden flare of screams that echoed in his head.

It was as if the sleeping specters had been woken from their slumber. The blade in front of him seemed to anger them, causing them to lash out at Gray's consciousness.

'What the fuck! I fed them their souls, why are they angry?' asked Gray, looking to the demon for answers.

'It seems you have no luck lap dog. That's the『Cimmerian Shade』, the 9th blade that seals Amaymon,' replied the demon, audibly struggling to hold the specters at bay as well.

'You'd do well to flee. Although she doesn't seem to be a thrall, her blade still ranks higher than yours. If you fight against her now, there will be nothing left for me to take over,' warned the demon.

"F-Fuck" struggled Gray, the specters were weighing down on his ability to think, making it hard for him to even move.

"You don't seem to be a vampire," commented Artemis casually, her black cloud forming several tentacle-like limbs.

"However, for attacking our troops, you will have to pay in blood,"

After saying this, eight black limbs rushed towards him, each one having razor-sharp tips.

"S-Shatter!" shouted Gray as he stabbed his crimson sword into the ground.

"Get back!" warned the elven troops who were closing in on Gray as the ground beneath them opened wide, swallowing several soldiers.

Artemis seemed to predict what would happen and had already moved a suitable distance away. However even as she moved, her black limbs continued their advance on Gray, cutting and slicing away at his flesh, even through the black suit.

'M-Make them stop!' shouted Gray inwardly, fighting against her already seemed tricky enough as it was, however with the specters screaming in his head, it felt like an impossible task.

'Kuk, if I had a way of doing that don't you think it would've done it already?' asked the demon sarcastically, trying to shoulder its share of the burden.

"How boring," sighed Artemis.

Her earlier attacks were merely cantrips meant to probe Gray's abilities, however now she felt fairly certain that Gray was just a mindless brute who happened to stumble upon some power. With that in mind, she was ready to finish him off with the next move.

"Get rid of him," she ordered, and the black tentacles around her merged into one massive limb, its sharpened end pointing towards Gray's head like a missile ready to fire.

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[System Information]

『Cimmerian Shade』

On the brink of near extinction, The Arcanian King- Leonidas XVI- called for ten blades to be forged.

Using ancient- and long forgotten- forging techniques, the blades were crafted with demonic materials, some say that even human souls were incorporated as well.

These blades were used to seal the catastrophe that breathed down the neck of his kingdom, the high demon Amaymon.

Of these ten blades, 『Cimmerian Shade』is the 9th.

It has the ability to control a black corrosive mist, changing it to any form desired by the wielder. In terms of power it ranks 9th, it is said that the black mist is the very blood of the demon it seals.

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