Chapter 32 - Close As Siblings

With Katz using rejuvenation potions it was as if the vampires were fighting a fresh warrior each time. The only reason they were still alive was because they were both at the level of a low rank tier 5 mage and it was night time, the period they were supposed to be in their element. Although Katz was just a medium rank fire mage two steps away from achieving tier 5 she also had the blessings bestowed to her by the church so it seemed as if the vampires were facing against a medium rank tier 5 mage with weapons specially designed for hunting down their kind.

Each time the pair tried casting dark spells to restrict Katz' movements she simply cut away at the darkness with her divine imbued sword. With every skirmish the vampires would grow weaker due to lack of sustenance in the form of blood while Katz would come back with a renewed flame after using a rejuvenation potion. The vampires didn't hope to win this battle, for even if they somehow defeated Katz which at this point was highly unlikely they still had to deal with the rest of the inquisition forces. They would've tried using darkness magic to teleport away but the inquisition suppression division had set up an array which prevented anyone from entering or leaving Draquerth.

As Katz used the tier 7 fire spell minor phoenix a bird made of flames rushed at the pair leaving behind a blazing trail. The pair created a wall of darkness combining their powers to strengthen its effects, the wall was further strengthened by the darkness of the night allowing it to easily snuff out the flame bird. However from the smoky remains of the flame bird a new one rose and hit the wall of darkness again. Each time the bird was snuffed out it would come back to attack the wall damaging it bit by bit each time. The spell worked by leaving a small spark of flame each time the phoenix died and using the casters life force as fuel it combines with the air causing the flame to go alight and create a new phoenix.

However the effects of the rejuvenation potion were starting to take a toll on Katz. Although the rejuvenation potion could recover both mana and stamina the same couldn't be said for life force, if anything it reduced ones life force as it actually worked by converting life force into mana and stamina. The reason why Bishops and higher tier mages didn't use rejuvenation potions was because in a battle between tier 5 mages most spells made use of life force as a base so it was more advantageous to have life force available than to have ones mana and stamina replenished. A battle could end quickly because of a well timed spell, but having more stamina and mana than your opponent meant nothing if your fighting abilities were nearly on par and you didn't have the life force to create powerful spells.

"That should buy me some time to regain some of my life force." thought Katz as she knelt down in a praying position trying to inhale world essence from the surroundings, this breathing technique was called god's embrace. There were many different techniques in Merrum but the best techniques were those refined and passed down for centuries and god's embrace has been passed down since the start of the Celestial Church. The first pope created it and taught it to all its members. God's embrace used the help of the divine beings to greatly increase the efficiency of mana and life force absorption from the world's essence and also increase the amount of divine essence in one's body to prepare them for the use of divine magic.

However even with the efficiency of god's embrace keeping minor phoenix active reduced the amount of life force she was actually retaining from the breathing technique. And to make matters worse the two vampires were shooting dark magic cantrips at Katz to disrupt her concentration so she wasn't able to use the breathing cultivation for long periods of time.

"Not trying to rush you, but if you die Amana will kill us just saying so you better wrap this up quickly. Plus vampires aren't that fun anyways, their pain receptors don't work as well as a living beings so there isn't much pleasure in torturing them." said Fiona with a sad look on her face.

"Don't you dare interfere Fiona!" shouted Katz as sweat dripped down her face. She had used to many rejuvenation potions and her life force was dwindling even more die to minor phoenix so she stopped the spell. And stood up with her sword in front of her ready for battle once more.

"The human girl seems to be running out of life force, if we play this right one of us might survive." said Sebastian to Lillith. Lillith understood what Sebastian was hinting at and since Sebastian was a slightly higher ranked vampire than her in the courts he had the right to survive. Vampires weren't cowards quite the contrary they were very prideful beings especially those who were part of the courts and above all else they respected hierarchy. So Lillith charged at the red haired woman ready to die for her senior. Lillith and Sebastian had been together for 2 centuries so their relationship was akin to siblings.

Vampires didn't feel pain but they still had emotions, the memories of their 200 years together replayed in Lillith's mind as she prepared to implode her undead mana core to create a distraction for Sebastian to escape. *Boom* A huge explosion sent shockwaves through the air, knocking back all the near by inquisition forces. The mana released by the explosion was so strong that it temporarily disrupted the array that blocked anyone from exiting or entering Draqueth.

"Drat one of them escaped." said Katz in an annoyed tone. "Amana won't be too pleased when I report this to her. Maybe you might be sent for disciplining and who knows I might get to watch." said Fiona as she signalled for the array to be dropped and other inquisition members opened portals back to Ecclesia. "That's odd where are the arch-bishops and their retainers, it's not like Amana to just leave her unit like this. Oh well I'd like to see Amana being put into disciplinary action as well. So much fun." said Fiona as she walked through the portal smiling from ear to ear.

On that day Draquerth was wiped off the face of the Merrum. Not a single citizen survived, all that was left was a dead city fertilised by the bodies of those who once inhabited it. A few metres out of Draquerth there was a fast moving streak of black heading towards the north. "Sebastian, I'll never forget what you did for me.." said Lillith as the first tears she had shed in 200 years rolled down her rosy cheeks.