Chapter 237: New Trick

Words : 1049 Updated : Oct 7th, 2025

Kaiden’s skin was coated in bruises that pulsed with every heartbeat. Blood trickled from his lip, dripped from his jaw, and matted the side of his neck. His ribs were certainly cracked. One eye was beginning to swell. But he wasn’t about to keel over and give up. Kaiden raised one bloodied hand. He used his universe-defying skill, [Silent Casting] (???-tier), to cast [Fiery Burst] without saying the words. A blast of condensed flame erupted from his palm and rocketed toward the vampire noble. The monster didn’t expect it one bit. Not only was his focus fully on Kaiden’s blade now that he was in Wrath Stance, waiting for a desperate melee clash, but the wordless casting caught him greatly off guard. *FWOOSH!* The fire sprinted through the air, but the vampire was still ancient and fast. Too fast. "[Bloodguard]!" A crimson shield of viscous, semi-solid blood rose in front of him. The flames hit it with a violent roar, sending steam flying in every direction. The smell of scorched blood spread through the chamber as the vampire winced, not from pain, but surprise. "You cast... without incanting?" he snarled. Kaiden didn’t answer. He was already there, swinging. *CLANG!* The Twilight Ripper slammed against the blood shield and shattered it. Kaiden kept going, forcing the noble back with sheer ferocity. The vampire parried with elongated claws, razor-sharp and empowered by corrupted mana. *Swipe. Slash. Kick.* Another flurry of brutal blows came. Kaiden parried one and retaliated with an uppercut from the pommel of his blade, which was followed by a sweeping strike across the noble’s chest. It didn’t pierce deeply, but it bit. The silver alloy hissed against undead skin. The vampire retaliated by slamming his palm into Kaiden’s chest, greatly hurting him despite the armor’s protective layers, sending him back a meter. Both were panting. Both were hurt, though Kaiden a lot more than the monster. Nevertheless, the vampire wasn’t happy with this outcome; he looked truly pissed. His jaw unhinged. A shrill, unnatural *SCREEEEEEEEECH* tore through the dungeon halls. Kaiden’s ears rang from the force of it, but worse than that, he saw it take effect. A couple of the vampire wives’ thralls, the ones who had been hammering Luna’s field, chasing Aria through moonlight, attempting to overwhelm Bastet’s oasis, suddenly paused. Their heads snapped toward the origin of the cry. Their bodies twisted. And then they all began running, galloping, lunging back toward their real master. As if reminded of the hierarchy. As if to show who the true alpha was in this pack. The vampire stood straight, even as his robes were torn and scorched. "You’re greatly hurt. Your mana is low, I can tell just from looking at you. So what will you do now that you have to defend your flank once again?" Dozens of thralls rushed at Kaiden, compelled by their bond to the vampire noble. It was hopeless. Or so they thought. Kaiden’s answer to the questions thrown at him was not a spiral into helplessness but a victorious smirk. As if this exact situation, one man against a group, was where he was most at home. "I was hoping you’d call for backup like the coward you are..." Kaiden muttered, spitting a wad of blood to the side. And then, he turned his back on the noble. Not out of mere disrespect. It was as if the vampire no longer mattered in the slightest. He faced the approaching wall of snarling thralls. The vampire blinked in disbelief. "... What are you doing? Have you lost too much blood?" No answer. Just slow, heavy breathing. Gritting teeth. A slight shift of Kaiden’s boots against the stone floor as he braced himself. "You suicidal mongrel!" The vampire’s fury exploded. He lunged with killing intent gleaming from every pore of his body. Crimson light flared to life around his claws as he cast [Blood Fang], a brutal short-range enchantment that added armor-piercing bleed to physical strikes... and worse, a lifesteal siphon that would heal the caster for a portion of the damage inflicted. He was upon Kaiden in an instant. *THWACK!* The claws struck true. Even the Dawnguard set shuddered from the sheer impact. A fresh laceration tore across Kaiden’s back, and blood sprayed in a wide arc. The enchanted armor resisted a full rupture, but the spell had done its cruel work. The noble’s body started to shine red as some of that stolen blood flowed back into him, knitting shut his earlier wounds. Kaiden spat more blood with his body jerking forward from the impact. But his eyes didn’t close. They burned orange now. ’Stance: Gluttony.’ A pulse of energy exploded outward as the stance shift took hold. His aura twisted. Where once it was elegant and arcane, then aggressive and combative, now it pulsed with a primal, greedy resonance. The thralls didn’t slow. They lunged, teeth-first, claws raised high. Kaiden gripped the Twilight Ripper with both hands. Fueled not by wrath or pride, but by need. A deep, gnawing hunger to survive. To feed. To win. A deep breath of air. A pivot of his feet. Then, he swung. ’[Devouring Strike]!’ A brutal cleave of his silver-edged greatsword carved straight through the line of oncoming thralls. Three bodies were bisected at once. But death wasn’t the only result. He used up all his [Harvest] stacks gained from previous victories in the crypt. Ribbons of dark orange mana lashed out from their falling corpses and burrowed into Kaiden’s body. A rush of stolen vitality flowed into his battered form. Torn muscle knit. Bleeding slowed. The burning agony in his cracked ribs dulled. [You’ve slain Starved Thrall (Level 22). You’ve gained 2,381 XP.] [You’ve slain Starved Thrall (Level 22). You’ve gained 2,395 XP.] [You’ve slain Starved Thrall (Level 22). You’ve gained 2,376 XP.] The orange light around Kaiden’s form flickered like a flame stoked by blood. He exhaled, long and hard, and slowly rotated his blade again. Behind him, the vampire noble halted, watching the minions drop, watching the wound he had just inflicted begin to fade. "What...?" "How does it feel to be predated upon, vampire?" Kaiden asked, but he wasn’t particularly interested in the answer, evidenced by the fact that he was already swinging.

Chapter 237: New Trick

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