The Fallen Vampire

The Abbess only needed to give her sect members a single command before they sprung into action.

Though half of them had never seen actual battle before, that mattered very little in the grand scheme of things.

This was what they had trained for here for several decades, and by now they were quite literally built for this conflict.

Instead of shying away from the strife, they sharpened their weapons with blood thirsty zeal, got dressed with only the utmost sense of purpose.

They didn't even bother to ask who the enemy was.

Because at the end of the day, it didn't matter.

Their abbess asked them to prepare, and so they prepared.

Thirty minutes later, this peaceful and beautiful sect had been transformed into a bewitching military base.

There were 149 members of the Drifting Snowfall Sect that had assembled on the two mile long stone bridge after exactly thirty minutes.

After coming together, the sect members took sitting lotus positions as they closed their eyes and waited without saying a word.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Setsuka walked along the stony bridge with her cane tapping off the ground as she came to stand in front of her assembled forces with a regal and cold demeanor.

She too closed her eyes as she stood like a statue silently, anticipating the inevitable conflict that was to come.

On the roof, Taira and the girls were still standing in the same area as before as they looked down at the entire scene that had unfolded before them.

By now... they were unsure of what they should do.

Setsuka had absolved them of all need to participate, dubbing this a 'family matter' that she believed should have been left up to them.

Meanwhile, they were entrusted to keep Aveena company, as she was rather despondent to see her entire sect going into battle without her among them.

"Do you know...That day was my first introduction into real combat and bloodshed..?"

Since Taira was the only one close to her at the moment, he assumed her to be talking to him.

"That day was...? I find that rather surprising, since you seemed like a warrior with ice in her veins when we first met."

"Hm? Perhaps that was because you aroused me more than frightened me."

*Annoyed grumbling.*

"Yes, yes, I mean no disrespect. It is just the way it is."

Aveena's eyes drifted towards a section of the sect where the training grounds could be seen.

"I was okay at sparring and combat training, even though I wasn't one of the best. The entire time I have been here, I have always felt as if there was something... lacking with my proficiency.

I searched for the answer time and time again but I always seemed to fall just short of finding it, until I read a book based around the outside world."

"I had not taken you for someone with an interest in literature."

"Yes, and I'm aware that you do as well. Does this similarity between us make me seem like a more compatible wife in your eyes?"

"I don't care that we're in your home, the next time you say something like that to me you're going to lose your eyes."

"You're such a cold man... But I do not dislike that trait of yours... I actually admire it a bit."

Taira normally would have offered a mean comment to the charming oni woman, but this time he sensed that her comment about his personality seemed to be born more of genuine admiration than lust.

As such, he felt no need to admonish her.

Although he did feel a little strange about hearing her suddenly admit to admiring him.

"This book of yours... What was it about?" he asked.

"A great soldier... one who was at first lacking in power worth notoriety and desire to improve. But one day... he went against an overwhelmingly insurmountable force.

Instead of dying needlessly and without accomplishment, he struggles endlessly out of a sense of desperation to cling to his life. And in doing so... he found that his proficiency excelled in a way that he never had before."

"Don't tell me... you came down into the outside world so that you could get the experience of fighting seriously and improving yourself through a near death experience?"

"..." Aveena turned her head and whistled nonchalantly.

"You're an idiot." Taira realized.

"I-I am not!"

Aveena leaned over the railing and unintentionally gave Taira a decent view of her round behind.

"I wanted to improve myself, even if it meant dangling my life in the balance just a bit. So I came down the mountain in search of an experience like that, but I found nothing.

...That is, until I did.

But in that moment when those men attacked me, robbed me, and stripped me bare... I received no surplus of willpower, and no enlightenment that helped me overcome my immovable force."

In the entire time that Taira had known Aveena, he had literally never heard her sound quite as fragile and vulnerable as he did now.

It almost made him wonder if she had swapped places with someone else while he was keeping his eyes away from her ass.

"And now... I wonder something. Since I could not become like that great warrior that I read about, am I unqualified for a life of battle? Was I never fated to be a strong person?

Does everything that I am lacking truly run so deeply, that I cannot fix myself even if I put my own life at risk..?"

Aveena suddenly turned around and showed Taira a smile that was as beautiful as it was heartbreaking.

"Perhaps... it is for the best that I can no longer participate in this fight. In a clash like this where there is so much meaning on the line, I believe that I would only have held my sisters back and failed to provide any noteworthy aid."

Taira didn't always think himself to be the best when it came to consoling others, but for the first time in his life he felt like he had to try.

Although... he did not have the slightest fucking idea of what he was possibly about to say to her.

"Aveena..."

As soon as Taira began to fumble for the words, a sharp chilling feeling erupted throughout the cavern.

Abess Setsuka opened her eyes after what felt like an eternity of patience, and a cold blue light shone purposefully.

'They're here...'

Time slowly ticked by with seconds turning into minutes as the snowy cavern became ever colder.

Eventually, Abbess Setsuka and her members all heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming closer.

A man appeared from the stairwell on the opposite side of the bridge.

With above average looks, pale skin, and bluish white hair, he could have been the grandson of Setsuka if one placed them next together.

"Ah... This is a real cozy place..! Even comes with a whole welcoming party."

More of Duncan's soldiers began to spill out onto the bridge, and they too seemed to be equally impressed by the chillingly beautiful scenery.

"All of you... I assume that you have all come here today to forfeit your lives and visit the lands of life after death." Setsuka said coldly.

Duncan suddenly scowled as he clenched his fists.

"Don't believe that's any way to greet visitors, ma'am. Everyone thinks sects are some paragons of wisdom and understanding in this world. Never expected them to be so rude as well."

"Hospitality is reserved only for those who approach this place with good intentions. You and your ilk fail to fall under that umbrella."

Because he was currently in a less than charitable mood today, Duncan's demeanor only became worse and worse.

"Look here... We came to discuss a...."

At that moment, Duncan's eyes darted over to the women who were still sitting silently behind Abbess Setsuka.

The sight of members of the races of light and the fallen ones sitting around as if they weren't natural enemies was so frustratingly nauseating that he didn't know what to do.

"I see... this isn't the kind of place we can reason with after all. All of you bloody damned heretics should just be frozen offerings for The Great God of Ice!"

"What a stupid human you are. There are no gods here."

Setsuka smiled as she tapped her cane on the ground twice.

In a stunning display of unity and discipline, all one hundred and forty nine members of the Drifting Snowfall Sect opened their eyes and leapt to their feet at the same moment.

Their auras flared, and revealed that even the weakest among them was sitting firmly in the beast realm.

Grateful that he no longer had to be polite, Duncan smiled aggressively as he started to channel an icy energy through his hands.

"Wonderful. This was just the kind of exercise I needed to take my mind off this shitty day! Let the bodies fall where they may, men!"

"YES!"

With Duncan at the head, the army of invaders ran forward with their weapons raised and their hearts filled only with sinister ambition.

However, Setsuka Takashi did not look worried in the slightest, and even had a smile on her wrinkly old face.

'Let the bodies fall indeed, human.'

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