The Fallen Vampire

Taira had spent a lot of years practicing and cultivating not only his body, but his talent for magic as well.

And as always, he was a bit of a rebel in his practices.

His imagination and thoughtfulness could not be contained by what others had considered to be 'common sense'.

To grow in ways no one ever had before, he had to do things that they might have considered suicidal or impossible.

He did not shackle himself with reliance solely upon the three cocktails of beasts that made up his genetics.

He did not just want to be something unseen, he wanted to be a genuinely crafty and knowledgeable force that sought to not only better all others, but to outpace and outthink them.

And there was no greater fruit of his study and practices than the unification of his magical elements.

"Arcane Union : Judgment of Wind and Flame."

As quickly as it formed, the storm raging in the sky above split apart and made way for something new.

A large weapon was created in the sky from nothingness.

A sword, made from surrounding blistering green winds and burning with a great and nigh uncontrollable blue fire.

Almost as quickly as it formed, the sword fell out of the air on the path towards a dangerously roided out Vance.

However, he was not the slightest bit intimidated by this clearly magical anomaly in the atmosphere, and he lunged at the sword with his own held tightly in his grasp.

Vermeil appeared beside Taira in an instant, staring hard at the sleeping woman on her husband's back.

"..."

"...She's just a girl I saved."

"Are you fond of her by chance? It is very unlike you to let strangers touch you, even if they are beautiful. "

"...Please stop trying to analyze me and just cover us."

Vermeil smirked and put up a temporary barrier just as Vance made contact with Taira's attack.

And as a result, the very world around them trembled as if it were about to be broken.

The loud explosion caused by their clash caused the already ruined building to come crumbling down, and the dead grass to be completely eviscerated.

The watchtower that Vermeil and Taira stood upon was the only structure that remained upright afterwards, undoubtedly due to her own interference.

When the dust and ash cleared, Vermeil and Taira both sucked in their teeth at what they saw.

Vance's prized sword was broken, his pristine blue armor was melting like a candy bar left in the sun for too long, and his remaining arm was now missing, along with a scarily large chunk of his shoulder.

But even with all of that, he still wasn't dead.

"..."

"Hurt your pride a bit, my love?" Vermeil gloated just a bit.

"...Indeed." As evidence of his annoyance, Yasuke appeared in the air right next to him as if he was just waiting to be called upon.

"Easy now, husband." Vermeil placed a slender hand on her husband's chest to stop him before he could shrug the woman from his back.

"You had your turn, let me handle him."

"Actually, I did not. He was preoccupied with my illusion the whole time."

"You can still see through them and they share your thoughts and capabilities so I'm counting it!" Vermeil shrugged off her kimono and revealed her sleeveless dark blue bodysuit underneath.

Fastened behind her back were two pair of silver sai, a gift that she had received from her husband very long ago.

Perhaps because he was enamored with the sight of her large butt, Taira temporarily forgot about the battle she was robbing him of.

Once he was finished ogling her like this was the first day they were married, his brain started to spin into overdrive once again.

"Alright... But don't kill him."

"Come again?" Vermeil questioned.

As she looked behind her back, she found her husband with the same mischievous light she had come to know so well over the course of their 50 year marriage.

It usually meant he had some kind of prank planned or he was going to sneak around their home while erasing his presence until they could find him.

But for some reason... she doubted his intention for Vance would be so cute and playful.

"Alright then. Wish me luck in battle." Vermeil smiled as she flipped off the watchtower and onto the waiting battlefield.

Matching her smile, Taira wished her luck silently as she had asked; despite knowing she would not at all need it.

Out of everyone else in their family, who else was his equal in destruction?

-

As Vance's ruined body remained upright on his knees, he sent out another corrosive wave with himself being the return point.

When the energy of the world was brought back to him, it gave him just what he needed to stay alive.

Focusing briefly, he used the influx of energy to rejuvenate himself instead of invigorating.

His arms began to grow back along with the ruined parts of his torso.

This proved to be happening just in time, as a moment later a familiar figure landed in front of him with the grace of a juvenile faun.

With his mind fractured, he could not appreciate her beauty, but it was enough for him that he knew her identity.

"VERMEILLLL!!!"

"I wish I could make my husband scream out my name like that.... though with a little bit less murderous intent and more-"

*Taira from afar* " Stop trying to embarrass me and put him down!"

"But you're so cute when you're embarrassed!"

"VERMEIL!!!"

Vance piked up the broken hilt of his sword and gathered the nearby rainfall to form a complete blade.

With his weapon reformed, he lunged at Vermeil like a berserk madman.

Shaking her head pitifully, Vermeil unsheathed the silver sai she kept held in place behind her waist and gave them a time practiced twirl between her fingers.

"You were scummy before but I must admit to myself... you have somehow fallen to a level even lower than a rapist. You have earned every bit of the retribution that is to come to you."

BOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!!

Vance struck the ground where Vermeil once stood and was alarmed to find that her body was no longer in the place where it should have been.

A shadow passed over his head and he looked up to find her floating in the air with her back towards the sky.

The Sai in her hand began to glow with an intense golden light as they floated from her palms hypnotically.

Taking a page out of her husband's book, she used the special ability of her weapons to create multiple copies that circled all around her.

"Arcane Starlight : Myriad Rayet."

In a flash of light, Vermeil reappeared beside vance with all of her fabricated weapons alongside her.

Faster than what he could have hoped to react to, Vermeil plucked two of her weapons out of the air and got to work.

She stabbed Vance between the joints in his knees, leaving the weapons buried as he swung at her and missed wildly.

Plucking away two more from the air around her, Vermeil stabbed Vance in the torso, piercing both of his lungs and compromising his airflow.

This process would continue until all thirty of Vermeil's created Sai were buried deeply into Vance's body; unable to be removed through his own power.

As quickly as she came she retreated, and left her former instructor reeling from all of the weapons buried in his body.

The heat the daggers was indeed unbearable, and supercharged or not Vance would die if his opponent asked the daggers to detonate.

But because her husband had grander plots in mind, she had to alter her course just a bit.

From a safe enough distance, Vermeil started to perform the necessary handsigns needed to do what she had planned.

'Astel, give me strength.'

As she expected, the energy cost was tremendous even with everything that she had become, and she nearly passed out just as she was beginning to execute it.

"Advanced Sealing Technique : 10,000 Stars in the Night."

Above their heads, a spotlight shone down over Vance's head.

Using the buried sai as a beacons, an unknown force locked onto his location and kept him within it's sight.

Then, shooting stars began to race across the sky from every direction, all converging on the white spotlight designating Vance as the target.

Sensing something wrong, his dementia temporarily lifted as he looked at Vermeil with eyes filled with horror.

"Fall."

"NOO-"

At Vermeil's behest, the congealed mass of starlight plummeted onto their world like an enraged god descending from the heavens.

It collided with Vance's body at the speed of light, and temporarily blinded every being within eyesight who did not look away fast enough.

When Vermeil opened her eyes once again, she was lying on her back in a crater a mile wide, staring up into the face of her husband.

"So... how'd I do, coach?"

Taira smiled as he ran his hands through her perfect white hair, and called their prize into his palm.

An item that resembled a glowing piece of glass no different than a Christmas ornament, and as delicate as a fabergé egg.

"Do you even have to ask? You did wonderfully, my love." he said proudly.

"Darling...?"

"Yes?"

"I love you... but if you don't put that woman down I'm going to seal you away next."

"...Noted."

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