Return to Jorgaldur Volume IV: Reunion

Counterattack

Gjaki Sacrificed her blood to summon Blood Rain. She thus gathered the blood of some of the deceased vampires and Engenak's agents. The spell condensed it into drops cloaked in Darkness which were thrown against her enemies.

She also activated Blood Overload, the effect of which was far greater than usual. She jumped between the vampires from a rock, while they were trying to deal with the Rain surprise attack.

While falling, she pushed one of them with the Telekinesis she had been preparing, which caused him to crash into another. With dizzying speed, she pounced toward them and plunged her daggers with Burning Touch into one eye of each of them. The attack obliterated their defenses.

At the same time, four other Gjakis appeared among the vampires. They were Mirror Clones of the vampiress.

"How!?" many vampires were surprised.

Gjaki twisted the daggers, which help her drive them deep enough to reach their brains. Their cries of pain and resistance only lasted a few instants.

Immediately, she bolted and hid behind a rock.

"This's my limit," she told herself.

Gjaki deactivated Blood Overload and Sacrifice. If she consumed any more of her own blood, she would only get weaker.

"It's impossible! How can she have so much power!?" the vampiress with short gray hair was incredulous.

Suddenly, the shouts of one of her companions made her turn her eyes to the opposite direction. There, a feline engulfed in flames had attacked another vampire by surprise. He had only been able to scream.

As soon as she finished him off, the lynx launched a Fireball at the others, and did the same as the vampiress. She Jumped to take cover behind one of the rocks, thus avoiding several attacks on her.

Gjaki had attacked from the right and the lynx from the left. In the front, the vampires had turned towards the two directions, so Eldi could jump on the front line with Earthquake. The hammer skill knocked them out and threw to the sides.

Ready, Nilgha swung her sword at one of them, and caught him just after hitting the ground. She stabbed his throat, retrieved the sword and leaped for the next one. Before that vampiress could recover, she was finished off in the same way.

Nilgha may have been infiltrated, but that didn't mean her abilities weren't real. With her body bolstered by her skills and Eldi's blessings, with the Final Thrust skill and the poison-coated sword, it had been child's play for her to finish off the stunned and helpless vampires.

Eldi, for his part, had put the hammer away and drawn a spear. He pierced another of the knocked out vampires with Javelin, while closing in on another with the axe.

Taking advantage of his enemy being still in a daze, he relied on Slicing against his neck. Given the difference in level and the protection he was wearing, a second try was needed to decapitate him.

Nilgha had also had to deal with the defenses, but the piercing power of the sword and the smaller area to traverse made it easier. Furthermore, her level was a bit higher, and she only needed one wound. The poison would do the rest.

It is true that poison is a double-edged sword, as it is dangerous for oneself to use it on one's own weapons during combat. However, that hadn't been combat but executions.

The battle mage then summoned a Burning Golem, and sent it into the bulk of the vampires. He wanted it to wreak havoc, as he went to finish off the vampiress with a leg impaled by his spear.

She tried to defend against him despite the pain, and barely managed to block the axe attack. She wouldn't have been able to resist if another vampire hadn't fired a Dark Bolt at Eldi, which he was forced to Block with the axe handle.

More attacks followed the first, so the high human was forced to fall back. He did it little by little, by taking out a huge shield and casting Great Guardian. That way, he not only was increasing his shield affinity, but also reduced the damage taken. He could have gotten away with Feline Response, but, this way, his enemies were focused on him.

He threw a couple of grenades, which bounced off the enemy vampiress. She looked at them between disbelief and terror, but her leg was nailed to the ground. The explosion didn't kill her, but it did leave her badly injured and scorched.

It was then that Eldi heard a faint shriek in the sky. Without thinking twice, he put two plugs in his ears. Nilgha and Gjaki did the same, they had been warned.

The lynx pressed her head against the ground, while trying to cover her ears with her paws. She hated that part of the plan.

That shriek was a warning. The goshawk had crossed the barrier, and after that first warning, she emitted a shrill cry through Screech.

That affected the entire battlefield. The attacks on Eldi stopped, while the dying Golem was able to advance a bit more.

The high human put away his shield, took a couple of steps forward and finished off the dying vampiress. He grabbed the spear and stored it. He hoped he could repair it. It had been burned a bit.

He then followed Nilgha, who was rushing forward, ready to seize the opportunity. The lynx and Gjaki did the same.

The surviving vampires managed to finish off the Golem, while their ears were still ringing and they felt dazed. They had no choice but to try to overcome it. They began casting area spells to try to stop their attackers while recovering.

Gjaki jumped to climb onto a rock, thus stepping over the attacks, and then landed on her enemies. The lynx simply Jumped onto another rock, and then onto them, engulfed in fire. Meanwhile, her winged sister Collided against a vampire and Grew.

With her new size, her powerful beak had no problem ripping off the head of the one she had knocked out. Nonetheless, she immediately returned to her usual size. It was fine for a quick attack, but she was too easy a target at that size, and Eldi's wards wouldn't last long.

Eldi and Nilgha arrived soon after. He had once again relied on the shield and Great Guardian to fend off attacks, while she had taken refuge behind him.

An Abyss surged in front of him, which pulled several vampires into the cut in the space created by the axe. Gjaki and Nilgha took advantage of it to attack the unbalanced vampires, while Eldi headed the other way to support the lynx.

It was then that the vampiress felt she was released, how her blood suppression was lifted.

As soon as the goshawk had crossed, Goldmi had released the arrows that she had Held. She had needed several to get through the next barrier, the one that protected the vampire with the artifact. As soon as she had done so, three arrows had entered and formed a Light Trap. It had surprised, blinded, and wounded the vampire. The next few arrows had finished him off and rendered the artifact useless.

As soon as she sensed it, Gjaki activated Blood Overload. To her surprise, she sensed that something wasn't right.

"What have you done to me!?" she raged.