Chapter 66 Starfall (3)

Sirius Moonreaver. The Lord of the Moonreaver House. A thousand-year-old Vampire. The inheritor of the Sirius name and the owner of the Stardevourer, a weapon that records every one of its previous users’ abilities.

That monster was now my opponent and one that I had to defeat. Even though I only needed to land a single hit on the man, it was easier said than done.

No matter how much I’ve trained and how incredible my power was, it still pales in comparison to the centuries of experience and overall fighting prowess that Sirius had accumulated. And so, for me to have any chance of winning, I had to set the initiative.

Bzzzztttt!!!

I raised my hand and channelled magic power to the ring of creation. Coils of lightning wreathed around my finger as they turned into an infinite white snake of electricity. I pointed my hand to the sky and sent the electric power flying. The clouds changed at my sudden movement, turning the moonlit night into one of pure darkness.

“What are you trying to do?”

Oddly enough, Sirius didn’t move from his starting position at all. His vale eyes brightened up as his eyebrows were lifted. It was as if he was interested to see what kind of gimmicks I had invented to deal with him.

That was fortunate…

The more Sirius underestimates me, the higher my chances were. And so, I didn’t bother to answer his question and heightened my magic power to eleven.

“STRIKE!!!”

The numerous lightning coils congregated into one spot, turning into one singular furious bolt. The lightning bolt grew larger and larger until, eventually, the sky couldn’t hold up its immense power. And like Zeus who struck from Mount Olympus, I slammed my hand down, causing the lightning bolt to strike at top speed. No matter how fast one person was, it was nearly impossible to evade a lightning bolt.

BOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!

The ground shook, and the calm lake of Starfall rippled out of control. As if a natural disaster had been welcomed to the land, the whole place suffered from the aftermath of my first attack. The trees were burnt, and wind speeds forced many off their feet. It was similar to the scene from the first scene of the apocalypse.

Alas…

“…”

Sirius walked out from the epicentre of the attack with a head full of hair and his clothes in pristine condition. No, there wasn’t even a single blemish on his flawless body. It was as if nothing had ever happened, causing me to doubt my eyes for a second. However, after a little bit of inspection, I could clearly deduce what had happened.

‘There’s a thin layer protecting him… Was that how he defended against my attack?’

Like a cell membrane, there was an invisible layer of magic power coated all over the man’s body. It looked similar to how one’s aura would look, just that it held a certain degree of invincibility at a single glance.

Damn, I was really hoping to catch him off guard with that one. And that invisible protection will prove to be annoying… Well, no matter. I still had many more plans to burn through.

I willed my clones forward, allowing each one of them to surround the Moonreaver Lord. Since they only possessed half of my combat capabilities, I could only use them to provide utility. One of them created a heavy mist that no one could peer through. Another generated earthen spikes from beneath the man. And finally, the last one summoned out multiple lightning beasts, each one of them thirsty for a little Vampire blood.

The cherry on top? I created yet another lightning bolt, one just as electrifying as the previous strike.

If a thunderbolt wasn’t enough to strike him down, siege him on all sides. That was my master plan. After all, all I needed to do was just injure him once. As long as I do that, I win. No matter how powerful the man is, no matter how much more experience he had and no matter how tough his protection was… All I needed was one hit to connect.

“GO!!!”

The clones unleashed the earthen spikes and lightning beasts, all while my thunderbolt roared from the heavens above. All at once, the attacks slammed down in unison, decorating the thick white mist with an endless amount of destructive energy. Once again, it felt like a natural disaster had struck the land, causing shockwaves to reverberate for kilometres on end.

No mere mortal could possibly survive that attack, especially with the thick mist blinding his vision. Alas…

“Intriguing… Your raw power is quite astonishing.”

Rather than turn into a pile of ash, Sirius stood comfortably within the wreckage as if it was just another day in the office. His hair was completely unruffled, his clothes were as pristine as can be, and finally, there wasn’t even a scratch on his perfect body.

“I can see how you defeated Talon if you are capable of such power. It’s hard to believe that you’re a newly awakened Vampire.”

“…”

Fuck, this guy is getting on my nerves. Just how strong was his layer of protection? Just based on pure destructive power alone, that lightning bolt was one of my most potent spells. It looks like I had to switch plans.

And someone seemed to share my sentiment.

“I applaud your innovation and bravery. Perhaps if you trained for a hundred years, you might be able to pose more of a challenge. But playtime is over…”

Sirius swung the Stardevourer in his hands as magical pressure exploded from his body. At that moment, it felt like the heavens had opened up, and a magical deity had unleashed his presence. Against such majesty, most mortals had to kneel and kowtow, let alone pure magical beings such as Vampires.

I gritted my teeth and instantly initiated my backup plan. Magic power filled my veins as the two rings on my hand lit up, one with an azure hue and the other mimicking the colours of the rainbow. Creation and Space bound together, and my awareness was spiked to the highest degree. Because…

I knew what was coming.

“Goodbye.”

Like a mighty being that was about to step on a bunch of ants, Sirius decided on my defeat and instantly launched himself into action. My three clones started to cast various spells, hoping to slow him down, but it was too little too late.

With a swing from the Stardevourer, the dimensions folded, and the space around him contorted. It was as if the man had created his own world, and everything within it was a part of his playground. Unable to resist his influence, my clones broke apart and turned into magical particles.

And now that he’d dealt with my clones, Sirius turned his attention to the man of the hour.

Me.

Whooooooshhhh!!!

Sirius’ body disappeared from my view, and the hairs on my arm instantly stood up. I had experienced this once before when I was fighting against Talon Bloodborne and his superspeed. Logically speaking, I should improve my reaction speed or overall speed in general if I wished to counter Sirius, but I was hard-pressed on time. Therefore, I came up with a better idea.

BOOM!!! BOOM!!! BOOM!!!

Before I knew it, explosions detonated all around me, primarily from my back. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Sirius a dozen metres away with a perplexed look on his face. I squinted and instantly used my control over space to teleport far away, creating a buffer distance between the two of us.

“… What was that?”

“…”

Sirius thought out loud, but I didn’t bother to explain. After all, they were all part of my master plan to go against the man. Before the duel started, I had littered the place with mines underground and in the air. Most of the mines were invisible to the eye and magical sense, something I can thank Lilith for teaching me.

Those mines were a natural counter for someone moving at supersonic speeds. No matter how fast you moved, even a certain blue hedgehog would be forced to slow down as long as those mines detonated.

Taking advantage of Sirius’ confusion, I launched my next attack. Creation magic shot free from my thumb, and yet another white mist rose from the lake. I had to blind Sirius if I wanted any chance of winning.

Once I was out of his view, I could focus on launching the next deadly attack. I reached my hand out to the heavens and called upon the stars with my magic power. The clouds that covered the celestial night were dispersed, revealing the surprise I’d hidden amongst the stars.

“… What?”

I saw Sirius in a fully flabbergasted state for the first time since appearing. The calm poise that seemed like he was in control of everything had finally shattered, and the familiar deathly pale expression showed.

And his shock was for good reason.

“Does he want to destroy Starfall?”

At the side, I could hear Capella and Lisa gasp in horror. Everyone’s eyes were plastered on the sky, their faces gaunt and filled with fear. Not for their own safety, but on whether their Holy Grounds would survive my next attack. And what was that said attack?

Dozens of meteorites bolted down from the heavens, turning the darkness of the night into a bright-lit day. True to its name, I sent flying pieces of rock from the stars falling down upon the Moonreaver Holy Grounds. None of the falling stars was large enough to destroy the planet, and they weren’t powerful enough to deal significant damage to Sirius or any other ancient Vampire. But, if nothing was done, the Moonreaver sacred land was sure to be damaged.

It was truly an attack that Sirius couldn’t ignore.

“Fucking!”

A curse word escaped from his mouth as his body floated up to the sky, untethered by gravity. The Stardevourer in his hand vibrated slightly as a vast amount of magic power was channelled through. Like an immortal facing his ascension tribulation, Sirius roared towards the sky, probably cursing me violently within his mind.

And with a swing of his glaive, the man sent out the most devastating attack I’d ever seen.

Space tore apart… No, a more apt description would be the dimension was ripped by that single slash. I could see the fabric of Spacetime distort and with a mysterious magical property. The comets I’d summoned could not handle the mysterious power that Sirius had sent, and they all withered away. All of their immense energy had been dispersed, and the rocks had been reduced to nothing but particles.

Woah… My most destructive spell was countered just like that? Lilith wasn’t kidding when she said that Sirius was on a whole other level. The collective knowledge of every elite Vampire that held the name of Sirius was something I just couldn’t compare to right now.

That casual slash from the Stardevourer was probably as devastating as a dozen nuclear bombs detonating all at once.

“…”

Sirius stared down at me like a God surveying his people. There wasn’t any peace in his vale eyes, and neither was his demeanour as casual as before. If he wasn’t pissed in the beginning, he sure was now.

Once more, Sirius swung his glaive to the side and instantly warped the dimension around him. Evidently, he wasn’t going to give me a chance to launch any more attacks. This time, however, he wasn’t blindly charging in. He had become wise to the mines I’d set up.

Moving at an ungodly speed, Sirius sent numerous dimensional slashes, piercing through what little mines I had left. And when he’d confirmed that everything was clear… Sirius went in for the kill.

The Stardevourer was now heading towards my neck at blinding speeds. Even though I was trained as a fighter, there was no way that I could match Sirius’ top speed.

Tch… I guess I have no other choice.

I closed my eyes and focused all of my attention on the ring on my thumb. Magic power intensified by the nanosecond, and my soul felt invigorated by the overflowing energy that was being channelled. Blood flowed to my eyes, turning those blue suckers red instantly.

And right before Sirius’ glaive could meet my white skin, my mouth moved without me thinking.

“Genesis.”