(Northern Region- Outskirts Of New Atlantic City)
(Castle Eden- Training Field)
Pain.
Mary staggered to her feet and barely managed to stand up as sharp burst of pain tore through her body.
The training field was now a complete mess.
There were large cracks in the floor, pieces of the ceiling had fallen down and the nearby walls had partially collapsed.
Honestly Mary was thankful that she was still alive since fortunately none of the rubble that had fallen down from the ceiling had landed on her body.
The young woman let out a small groan of pain as the sunlight energy in her body got to work and started to repair her injuries.
It was now midday which meant that the energy being absorbed into her body was at its strongest.
Mary stretched out her arms and nodded in approval. Good... her injuries had healed quicker than she anticipated.
Her every instinct had been screaming at her to rush off and save Camilla, but the rational part of her brain knew that she needed to recover first.
It would do more harm than good if she attempted to rescue her mistress from the unknown attackers in an injured state.
She grabbed a nearby longsword from the ground and immediately ran out of the room and towards the main bedroom.
Camilla was in danger!
The wards and protective spells laid around the castle had been broken.
The crimson red lines that made up the spells had been rewritten into strange patterns that Mary did not recognise.
Camilla had attempted to teach her some blood magic but as a human Mary was unable to cast any spells.
Still, she had enough knowledge to be able to follow the direction of the new spells towards the central source of magic.
For some reason it was leading towards the throne room. Mary frowned slightly since she was tempted to find the caster behind the magic spell.
No... Camilla's safety was her number one priority.
Mary raced through the castle so quickly that her body became a white blur. She didn't even have time to take off the armor from her body.
There was only one thought in her mind.
She needed to protect her mistress.
It took around five minutes for Mary to burst into the main bedroom and to her horror she discovered that it was completely empty.
Camilla was gone.
Mary panicked as a cold chill ran down her spine. She took in a few deep breaths to calm herself down and then began to look for clues.
There were no signs of a struggle or fighting. Mary investigated the bed and found that blankets were missing.
In addition, there was a strange rune burned into the mattress. Mary leaned in to get a closer look at the symbol.
"Fuck... what did that mean again? Trans... transfer... tele... teleportation..." Mary muttered quietly to herself.
"Wait... shit... SHIT!"
Mary froze in shock as she realised that she had made the wrong choice.
The source of magic coming from the throne room was probably where Camilla was being held.
Or at least it was where the mage who had casted the teleportation spell was located. Maybe her mistress had been taken to another place entirely...
Still... it was her only clue to Camilla's whereabouts.
She had wasted precious time by returning to the main bedroom.
The young woman scowled beneath the white helmet covering her face and the golden markings across her body started to glow.
Mary's piercing green eyes were now fully golden as she circulated all the available sunlight energy throughout her body.
She could not afford to make any more mistakes.
.
.
.
.
(Elsewhere in the castle)
Three humanoid figures were walking through the castle. They wore long black cloaks that covered most of their bodies.
Their faces were concealed by silvery grey masks that shone under the sunlight streaming in through the open windows.
"Stay on your guard," Lily whispered softly as she held a bow in her hand with an arrow already nocked on the string.
"I will protect you Lily," Ian replied with a confident smile as several paper talismans floated around his body.
"You? Oh please... I will protect you with my life," Finley boasted pridefully as he held a broadsword in his left hand.
Lily rolled her eyes and declined to give the two men any attention.
She had not been pleased to work together with Finley and Ian but objectively they were the best hunters in the Association.
The mission to kill Lady Camilla could only be done by an elite team since her blood magic was perfect for dealing with large crowds.
The plan was simple.
The vampires would engage with the vampire mage first and lure her into the throne room where a barrier would be placed to prevent her from escaping.
The human team would then enter the room and slaughter the female vampire who would be severely weakened under the sunlight.
Still as Lily wandered through the large halls and stairways of the castle, she could not help but wonder if it was all going a little too well.
"Is it just me or is this place too quiet?" Lily spoke with a serious expression on her face.
"Well... now that you mention it," Ian responded with a thoughtful gleam in his eyes.
He made a series of hand gestures and one of the talismans surrounding his body exploded in a gleam of light.
"I can't detect any undead lifeforms within four hundred metres... do you think that the vampire strike team managed to kill all members of Clan Volantis?" Ian asked curiously.
"Impossible... the attack has only just begun..." Finley scoffed but the confident look in his eyes had faded somewhat.
Lily felt a surge of nervousness as the trio continued to walk through the seemingly empty castle that was devoid of life.
No one knew how many clansmen were under the command of Lady Camilla, but it was impossible for that number to be zero.
Clan Volantis had taken an unusually low profile since the blood mage had woken up from her slumber.
Not much information was known about their numbers aside from a personal guard that was seen at a banquet two years ago.
"Okay so the throne room... should be..." Finley's voice trailed off and Lily turned to see what he was looking at.
Standing before them was a figure wearing a white armour.
A large helmet covered their face making it impossible to determine if they were a man or a woman.
Dark red runes covered parts of the armour that glowed with an eerie crimson light. The knight held a longsword in their right hand.
"A vampire!" Ian exclaimed as he pointed his index finger at the creature and one of his paper talismans shot forward.
Slash!
The knight raised up their longsword and neatly cut the piece of paper in half. Lily let go of the arrow on her bowstring and it shot forward towards the vampire.
The knight's figure blurred and then vanished from the spot. They narrowly avoided the arrow by just a hair's breadth.
Strangely enough the sunlight coming in through the open windows did not appear to have diminished the vampire's strength as they continued to move with supernatural quickness.
"I'll deal with them," Finley yelled loudly as he rushed forward with one of his eyes turning crimson.
His dhampir nature meant that he was more than a match for ordinary upper-level vampires so this should be an easy fight.
He was wrong.
Finley swung his sword at the vampire who blocked his attack with ease and then kicked his stomach using their foot.
Bang!
Finley flew across the room and slammed into a nearby wall with a sickening thud.
He struggled to breathe as four of his ribs immediately shattered when the foot connected with his ribcage.
"Where is she?" the knight growled darkly.
Their voice sounded oddly familiar to Lily, but she just could not place where she had heard it before.
Still, she could not afford to be distracted since the knight rushed forward to attack a second time.
But now Lily was ready with a counterattack.
Her piercing green eyes shone with a golden luster and the bow in her hand erupted in flames.
"That's my girl..." Ian whispered softly under his breath as he watched the pride of the Hunters Association unleash her full strength.
Lily drew back her bowstring and fired off several arrows each engulfed in golden flames that shone with a brilliant glow.
The vampire knight would die.
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