“That’s Vishara?” Henry asked as he glared overtly at the naked woman that seemed to be exuding a huge amount of pressure from her presence alone. The woman was a beauty of her own calibre and her bare body was something men and women alike would be entranced by. However, Henry perceived none of those and merely felt oppressed by her aura.

“It can be no one else but her,” Nadea answered grimly. “We’re too late.”

“She feels stronger than me.”

“That’s because she’s hardened by numerous conflicts. On the bright side, her power and strength are barely a quarterly whole.”

“That’s not very comforting to know considering she’s already intimidating me with barely a quarter of her full power.”

“I’m saying you’re not completely hopeless against her. If you two fight, your defeat won’t be certain.”

“Do I have to fight?”

“Considering the grudge she bears before her demise, you may not have a choice.”

“What do you—”

“Well met, Dragon,” Vishara greeted with a grin. “I am Vishara, the true lord of vampires. It’s a pleasure to be in the presence of the last Dragon. Will you have a bout with me, Henry?”

“She knows me?”

“Vampires can obtain the memories of those who they fed on,” Nadea explained. “She must have fed on Rayne.”

Henry moved his gaze to the haggard-looking Rayne. “Serves her right but that’s enough for her.”

“What say you, Dragon? Or do you prefer Henry?”

“Why do you want to fight me? My quarrel isn’t with you.”

“My body is deficient and impaired by the lack of battles probably for over a thousand years. According to this girl’s memories, you are the most formidable foe I will find in Ulrum.”

“But I have no reason to fight you. My business is with Rayne.”

“What kind of business?”

“Personal. She’s too dangerous to be left alive and she had shown her lack of regard for collateral time and time again.”

Vishara glanced over to the despair-looking Rayne. “She sure has. But look at her now, isn’t she just pitiful now? You still wish to kill her?”

“If she lives, she will just plot another scheme in the future. I have people I care for. I can’t take that risk.”

Vishara sighed. “Look at what you have done, dear descendant of mine. How stupid of you to earn the ire of the last Dragon.”

“Cease…. your… yapping…” Rayne growled in between heavy breaths.

“I may not be fond of you, Rayne, but you are still my descendant. My kin is already sparse enough as they are, bordering extinction.”

“Are you saying that you won’t let me kill her?” Henry asked.

“Not exactly.” Vishara shrugged. “I have a proposal.”

“Proposal?”

“Spar with me. If you win, she’s all yours. If you lose, I’ll be taking her with me.”

“I accept your proposal,” Henry answered and unleashed his blazing roar on his next breath.

Vishara kicked Rayne to the edge of the clearing, out of the range of the flames as she stood her ground and confronted the flaming breath head-on. With an outstretched arm, she waved her hand and the stream of fire circumvented her like a bull being led on by a bullfighter.

“What the fuck!?” Henry exclaimed. “Nadea, how did she do that?!”

“That’s the degree of her mastery over Murux. Even with her barely a quarter of her full strength, she’s capable of this much. Truly the lord of vampires.”

“Do I even stand a chance?”

“If you fight smart, then perhaps.”

“I don’t want to admit it but I don’t see myself as intelligent, not against something like that.”

Nadea chuckled. “Well, good luck then.”

Henry clicked his tongue and folded his ethereal wings as they faded into nothing. He dropped to the ground with a tremor.

“How gracious of you to fight me on land instead of hovering in the air like a coward.”

“Hovering in the air won’t make me a coward, just a dolt.”

“You’re not wrong about that,” Vishara said and charged at Henry.

He swung his claws, sending Aura Blades her way.

She hopped over the deadly projectiles but when she landed, Henry was only a few feet in front of her. She slanted her body to avoid a swipe and she countered with an uppercut to his jaws. Henry went staggering backwards while Vishara groaned in pain, rubbing her knuckles.

“Idiot!” Vishara shouted, wincing. “How forgetful I am.”

Henry recovered from the uppercut in no time at all. “Hmm?” he mumbled in bafflement at Vishara’s mangled fingers. “You are frail.”

“A Dragon’s hide is just too hard, even if it’s not a fully-matured one. And I have been remiss. My body isn’t as tough as most vampires, so I have to coat my skin in Murux. As I used to have it permanently coated, it slipped my mind that that’s no longer the case.”

“Good to know.” Henry lunged with his jaws bared.

Vishara flipped out of harm’s way and landed beside Henry’s head. Before he could slam his head against Vishara, she kneed him first and sent him tumbling across the field.

“God!” Vishara cried, clutching her knee while she was kneeling on her other knee. “It still hurts a lot even if I have coated my body with Murux.”

Henry bounced to his feet, glaring deeply at Vishara. He groaned inwardly at the difference in their skills and prowess. Their speed and strength were on par with one another but Vishara was simply better in terms of skill and experience. She was a battle-hardened fighter who probably had hundreds of battles' worth of experience under her belt.

Time to play dirty.

Henry hardened his resolve and shot a Firebolt to the ground. The ensuing explosion raised clouds of smoke as they slowly shrouded the clearing in a thick veil of dust.

“If your plan is to go straight for Rayne, I will advise against it.”

“I’m not that low, Nadea. Not unless, I’m desperate,” Henry said and unleashed a Firebolt in the direction where he caught Vishara’s scent from. He saw an explosion through the thick smoke and he heard a loud grumble from beyond.

“How sly of you, Dragon,” Vishara’s voice resounded clearly through the smoke.

Henry did not respond. He moved slowly to another place and shot out another Firebolt. He repeated this process until he heard Vishara’s roar of indignation. The clouds of smoke were abruptly cleared away by Vishara’s punch to the ground which created a mighty shockwave. But as Vishara looked around, she couldn’t find Henry anywhere no matter where she looked.

Vishara snorted. “Crafty bastard, where are you?”

There was no retort or any sort of response.

“Invisibility or camouflage? It has to be either of those two,” she mused. “Whichever it is, I’ll expose you. You can’t hide forever, Dragon.”

A low growl came from behind. Vishara turned and saw Henry in its perceptible form. His jaws were opened wide and a red glow was growing within.

“You mad—” Vishara couldn’t finish her words before a bolt of condensed flames streaked out of Henry’s mouth and flew towards Vishara at point blank. Vishara caught the Firebolt in her hands and she dispersed the projectile into nothing after whirling her hands around. Her attempt at dispelling the attack had left herself vulnerable.

Henry spun and swung his tail into Vishara.

The vampire leapt to the air and flipped over his tail at the last second but she still wasn’t in the clear. Henry’s Fire Breath was waiting for her. She used the same trick again to negate Henry’s attack but immediately after nullifying the flames, Henry lunged with his head lowered, intending to ram her with his horns. Vishara flailed her mangled hand around, splattering her blood. The blood in the air morphed into a thin red filament that impeded Henry’s charge, allowing Vishara to manoeuvre herself to safety.

“You’re even more vexing to deal with than Rayne,” Henry growled.

“Of course. I’m more seasoned than her.”

“You mean older.”

Vishara’s smile vanished. “Unfortunately, I can’t deny that but that doesn’t mean you can let your tongue loose without any heed!” She flailed her mangled hand, and the scattered blood turned into spears, streaking towards Henry.

Henry shielded his face with his forelimbs. The blood spears failed to penetrate his hide but he still felt the pain behind those spell projectiles.

“If only I’m stronger, not even your precious hide will be able to withstand those spears of mine.”

“You lost, Vishara.”

“Says who?”

“Your spells can’t hurt me and neither could your physical attacks. You have hurt your hand and your knee from attacking me. You can’t win.”

“That doesn’t equate to a loss.”

“It does for this fight. I need only to instil a single hit on your and you're done for. Now, will you surrender or do you wish to keep fighting until I manage to mortally wound you?”

“That would be unpleasant and a shame. I have only just been resurrected.”

“Then, admit your loss.”

Vishara sighed and slumped to the ground. “Fine, it’s my loss.”

Rayne stared at Vishara with her eyes widened to their limits. Her face was trembling with anger and disbelief. “You’re giving up!?”

“I’m outmatched and outnumbered. Of course, I am.”

“Outnumbered? What do you mean by—”

“Are we too late, Lord Henry?” asked Vira as she appeared from the trees with a small battalion of fighters right behind her.

“Well, you’re not early but you’re not late either,” Henry answered.

“Good.” Vira nodded and proceeded to appraise the situation. “You two, you’re Zevas, are you not?”

“The one lying on the ground is Rayne and the one sitting is Vishara.”

“Rayne? The daughter of Roven, the leader of the Zevas?”

“That would be her.”

“What’s someone like her doing in the eastern region?”

“Oh, they didn’t tell you?”

“We received no news about the Zevas, neither did we receive any letters from them.”

“She has been exiled.”

The Kivus behind Vira gasped and they began to gossip.

“Exiled? For what crimes?”

“Many, I wagered, but the one unforgiving crime is the enthrallment of me.”

“She dares to enthral the saviour of Princess Rinea?!” Vira roared and drew her sword. The others followed her action.

Rayne looked stupefied. “The saviour of the Kivu Princess?”

“That’s a serious offence, Lady Rayne. And your clan dares to keep silent about your exile. Seize her. She will be standing trial before the Queen and the Princess.”

The Kivus moved into action. They surrounded Rayne and cast some kind of spell on her that made her unable to move or speak.

“Can’t we just kill her?” Henry asked.

Vira shook her head. “Despite her offence, she’s still Roven’s daughter, exile or not. I understand your wrath, Lord Henry, but she must stand trial.”

“I’m not angry, Vira. I’m worried. She’s cunning and willful. She’s dangerous.”

“We are aware of the kind of person she is but please, this is for the sake of Ulrum’s peace.”

Henry clicked his tongue. “Fucking politics,” he cursed under his breath but he prevented it from becoming a shout. “Fine. Take her away but if she manages to escape captivity, I will not be so tolerant again.”

“That will not happen. She has been imbued by a spell that we imbued on all of our prisoners. We will always know where they are and their movements will be severely limited. Most important of all, they will be unable to leave the eastern lands with the spell imbued in them.”

“If you say so,” Henry grumbled and watched vigilantly as the Kivu soldiers took Rayne away in ropes that were made of magic. Rayne’s gaze was not as strong as before due to the circumstances she was in but nevertheless, there were still sparks in those eyes of hers.

“What about this person? Who is she?” Vira asked, pointing at Vishara.

“That’s Vishara. She’s—”

“No one you need to concern yourself with,” Vishara interjected.

“I’m afraid I disagree, lady. You are trespassing,” Vira retorted.

“Then all the more reason that I take my leave now.”

“You are coming with us.”

“No, I’m not,” she said with a smirk and a torrent of blood erupted from the ground abruptly and swallowed her. She was gone when the torrent of blood dissipated.

Henry frowned at a realisation. A circle of inscriptions was left in her wake, most likely something she had drawn with her own blood while everyone’s focus was on Rayne.

“She’s gone…” Vira muttered grimly. “Lord Henry, just who is she?”

“It’s a long story but in short, she’s a ghost from the past. She’s the true lord of vampires, Vishara. Are you aware that the Zevas are descendants of vampires?”

“I am now… Lord Henry, will you join me for lunch as you explain all that you can about the circumstances between Rayne and this… Vishara individual?”

“Depends on the dish I will be offered.”

“It’s something called smoked salmon. It’s—”

“I know what smoked salmon is. I accept your invitation, Vira.”