The moment the young man in black armor, who called himself Chrono, drew a long, formidable axe from his own shadow, a chill ran down Rudra’s spine–
(Wonderful, I never imagined I would witness such a master.)
At the same time, he felt a sense of joy.
The axe in Chrono’s hand had a jet-black blade with a sinister crimson line glowing like a vein, and the weapon was constantly surrounded by a red-black eerie aura.
Even a captured village girl would say, “It’s a cursed weapon” upon seeing this.
It concealed a powerful grudge so intense that anyone who looked at it would immediately realize it was “cursed,” which undoubtedly indicated that it ranked high among the many cursed weapons.
(And yet, he completely masters the curse.)
Chrono quietly held his great axe, his black and red dual eyes filled with the light of reason directed straight at Rudra.
Rudra had faced madmen wielding cursed weapons before, but never had he encountered someone who could wield such a powerful cursed weapon while remaining sane.
How much blood had this blade absorbed? It was clear that the number would not be limited to a mere ten or twenty.
Because he himself had experienced something similar.
(My beloved sword “Vampire Princess ‘Crimson Dye’” has also drunk an equal amount of blood.)
Holding back a smile, Rudra thought,
(Do not let it end with just one strike.)
Silently, he unsheathed his sword.
“Crimson Slash.”
In that instant, the shining white blade released from its sheath– no, it was a blood-stained blade dyed crimson.
“What!?”
A look of astonishment appeared on Chrono’s face.
It was understandable; there were still several meters between them, and given the length of the sword at Rudra’s waist, it was evident that it could not reach him in that position.
However, the blade indeed closed the distance to zero, extending towards Chrono.
(Blood turned into a blade, nullifying distance with this single strike, now Chrono, how will you counter it!)
Those confident in speed would evade, those confident in strength would defend, while those lacking in power would inevitably be cleaved in two.
Chrono’s response was,
“Red Calm.”
The color of the blade swung from the axe was the same red.
And the technique bearing the same name met Rudra’s attack with a blade built from gulped blood.
Crimson sword flashes crossed each other.
The metallic sound, which seemed impossible for something made of blood, echoed as both blurred into red mist and vanished into the darkness of the night.
“I never thought there would be someone who uses the same technique.”
(The reason you’re surprised is that, huh, interesting, this man is–)
Seeing Chrono genuinely impressed, Rudra was assured that he was meeting his expectations, if not exceeding them,
(It feels worthwhile to cut for real!)
In these past few years, he had only exerted his full power against high-rank monsters, but now he decided to unleash it against this young man wielding a cursed weapon.
This also implied exposing his true form to his opponent.
“Chrono, I’ll say this first so you don’t misunderstand.”
In an instant, Rudra’s senses exploded outward.
His previously limited vision, only several meters ahead, now reflected the surroundings with a brightness akin to dazzling midday sunlight.
His ears, which had only picked up the sounds of blood blades shattering, could now feel even Chrono’s heartbeat with great sensitivity.
His sense of smell discerned the faint fragrance of grass and earth, his touch allowed him to feel the flow of air distinctly, and his sixth sense detected murderous intent, magical power, and various presences invisible to the eye.
His senses were expanding as if the very world was stretching, but from Chrono’s perspective, he could only perceive the changes occurring outside rather than those within.
Chrono’s blue eyes were bloodshot, the whites stained red, and part of his teeth had transformed into fangs akin to a beastman’s.
In Pandora, which housed diverse races, Rudra’s transformation might seem minor relative to that of a human, but precisely because of that, those subtle differences stood out sharply to humans.
Seeing Rudra in his true form, Chrono surely realized what he was.
“My class is that of a swordsman, no, since I wield a sword, perhaps I should say ‘samurai.’ Therefore, all my attacks come from this sword; I will not use magic–”
Why say such a thing?
It was akin to a declaration that an elf skilled in magic would fight only with a sword.
Rudra’s race was widely known to be as powerful in magical abilities as elves.
“—In other words, I will use all of a vampire’s magical power in my martial arts.”
“A vampire…”
Having seen various races until now, this was his first encounter with a vampire.
With bloodshot red eyes and two fangs peeking out from his mouth, it was indeed a form that couldn’t be denied as that of a vampire.
However, what mattered more than that was the fact that the vampire race possessed considerable physical abilities.
Despite that sickly-looking body, they boasted strength far exceeding that of humans, and, due to their vampiric traits, their most outstanding statistic was magical power.
Vampires generally possess high levels of magical power, on par with elves, which is one reason many vampires are said to be mages, but combined with their inherent strength, they could be considered more troublesome than elven mages overall.
Despite boasting such overwhelming abilities, vampires are exceedingly rare, a fact of natural order perhaps, which is why they aren’t commonly seen even in towns.
He couldn’t believe he would encounter one here; perhaps it was bad luck to say the least.
“I’m coming.”
However, whether his opponent was a vampire or not, he had no intention of fleeing, nor would the other allow it.
Rudra was already preparing his red-bladed sword, held in both hands, charging straight at him.
“Black Calm!”
His advancement was swift, surpassing even that mad Johto.
Rather than retaliating with a magic bullet or magical sword, it was faster to strike directly with his axe, or rather, that was his only available response.
“Crimson Flash.”
Rudra’s sword, enveloped in a scarlet aura reminiscent of blood mist, appeared anything but ordinary.
It might be a cursed weapon; if that were the case, there would be no absolute performance difference between their weapons.
The outcome would depend solely on their respective abilities—
Clang!
The high-pitched sound echoed as the black and red blades sparked and repelled each other.
“Kuh.”
It was not just strong; it was heavy.
The strike unleashed from the slender blade had the power to rival that of a buster sword’s axe.
Yet, the speed of the sword matched that of a Japanese katana, exceeding it in both swiftness and sharpness.
In a pure swordsmanship contest, he would lose; thus, the only point where he might win was power.
The vampire’s strength exceeded that of humans, but it was the same for him; his body had already transcended humanity.
“Hah!”
Though they had just exchanged techniques, neither had lost their stance, leading directly into close-quarters slashing.
“Swift!”
The black and red sword flashes traced multiple trajectories in an instant, occasionally clashing and scattering sparks and magical energy.
Though it felt like it could last an eternity, in reality, not even ten seconds passed; what he felt in the midst of such offense and defense was that he could not win solely with swords.
His slashes could be evaded, which was fine, but when he managed to catch the opponent’s body, the opponent always deftly parried his attacks with their blade.
He lacked the strength to overcome such techniques.
Perhaps, in pure arm strength, he was slightly superior, but Rudra’s swordsmanship easily surpassed that minor gap.
Above all, the blade had already grazed his body several times dangerously close.
If he had been wearing his usual apprentice robe, it might not have been fatal, but he would have bled significantly; thanks to equipping full-body armor against Greedg, he was somehow still uninjured.
Indeed, even as a vampire, the dedication to swordsmanship was unparalleled. If they continued the duel like this, it wouldn’t be long before a strike capable of cutting through armor lands.
But this wasn’t merely a swordsmanship match; the outcome was not determined solely by sword skills.
“Shadow Tentacle.”
While gripping the hilt with both hands, another cursed weapon encircled his own hands—no, it could be called a defensive tool—the “Black Hair Curse ‘Coffin’.” Thin wires like black hair emerged from the back of the hand and were manipulated to entangle Rudra.
In this high-speed offensive-defense exchange, he would have been unable to split his focus and utilize magic while swinging the axe, without the effect of his powerful glove to assist.
“Mu!?”
Rudra’s reaction was quick, whether from pure reflex or sixth sense, or perhaps both, he stepped back just before the black hair’s curse struck.
Moreover, it didn’t end with simply escaping; to prevent Rudra’s next action, he swung his sword to the side,
“Crimson Slash!”
Launching a technique to cleave from outside of their reach.
“Black Shield!”
However, the fibers of magical power that would serve as the shield material were already before him, and in the minimal time required to prepare the technique, it was enough to defend even without swinging the axe again.
A black shield about two meters across appeared, woven together with the black hair wires. Just as the blood blade he had seen before reached him.
The crimson blade slashed through the hard magical fibers but could not completely sever it, stopping halfway.
As the technique concluded and the red blade scattered, the black shield likewise rapidly disappeared from the cut surface.
“I should also introduce myself as my own class.”
However, merely stopping that single strike was sufficient; he was already prepared for a counterattack.
That was something Rudra would have been able to see as the shield that had temporarily concealed his figure vanished.
“I am not a swordsman—”
The “Grudge Demon Blade ‘Neck Sever'” was already not in his hand; instead, he wielded “Raspun’s Right Arm” in his left hand and a loaded “Gun” in his right.
Additionally, countless bullets surrounded his body in a belt, and ten blackened swords floated behind him like wings.
“—I am a Black Mage.”
Now, vampire samurai, brace yourself for my full barrage.
Chrono’s level of teenage angst is quite something, yet our very own Rudra is not to be outdone!