As soon as the physical contact was broken, Kamila snapped out of it and hid behind Lith so fast that she almost dropped her wine glass.
Count Xolver’s surprise intensified when he sent more and more waves of his willpower only for them to crash against Lith’s. The Mesmerize ability required both eye and physical contact with the target.
It could nudge their will, making them more receptive to “friendly advice”. It couldn’t force anyone to do something they weren’t willing to do, though. It could only manipulate someone’s feelings, not their nature.
In Lith’s case, it would have been easier to tilt Mogar’s axis than convince him to part from something, or someone, he deemed as his own.
‘This guy must be mad jealous to resist that easily. Well, if the easy way doesn’t work, the hard way will.’ Xolver thought while returning the grip.
“I don’t think you recognized me, dear friend. I’m Count Xolver and I’m a very powerful man. You don’t want to have me as your enemy.”
‘Watch out.’ Solus warned Lith. ‘The blood core expenditure is much larger than before. His life force is now even stronger than yours.’ For once Solus was happy to not have a body.
Otherwise she would have kicked the Count to the curb and blown their cover. Her hate for creeps was only surpassed by that for super powered creeps.
“Really?” Lith remained unfazed by activating earth and fire fusion to even the field. Both men could feel their fingers almost break under the pressure of their respective handshake.
“I think you should reconsider your actions.” Lith let pure mana flow into his left hand, making the runes Kalla had gifted him resurface on his palm. Despite their white glow, only Lith and the Count seemed capable of seeing them.
‘According to Kalla, they are an introduction letter. If Xolver is involved with the undead community, this should resolve the matter without him making a fuss.’ Lith thought.
‘If the one controlling the meat puppets is really a necromancer, I can’t risk exposing our plan.’
Sadly, the Count had no idea what they meant. His eyes flared red as a thin black fog formed a small dome around them which seemed to rob its surroundings of light and warmth. Those near to the scene unconsciously stepped away.
No one was able to see or hear what was happening inside the fog dome unless they focused really hard on its presence. Kamila had no idea what was happening but she was starting to get scared.
“I’ll ask you one last time. Let the lady come with me and I’ll make it worth her while.” At that point, the Count couldn’t care less about Kamila. It had become a matter of power. He couldn’t stand the idea of a lesser man disrespecting him.
Not now that he had finally obtained the invincible power he had always dreamt about. His killing intent filled the dome adding mental pressure to the physical one.
Lith was tired of playing nice. Instead of replying he activated Invigoration, which allowed him to detect that there were two different kinds of blood flowing inside Xolver’s veins. One was abundant, weak, and held less magical power than Lith’s dirty laundry.
The other was thin and of unknown origin, but it carried enough mana to make a mouse as dangerous as a tiger. Lith released small pulses of darkness magic that destroyed the undead blood coursing through his opponent’s veins.
Despite feeling weak, Xolver refused to budge. He continued pumping more and more power to not lose ground, until his blood core was on the verge of collapse.
“Peace, brother. Please, forgive my Vassal. He’s still unaware of the protocols among our kin.” Another man stepped forward, so fast that Lith didn’t even noticed his appearance until it was too late.
He was around sixty years old, barely 1.72 meters (5’8″) tall, with silver hair and goatee. His silver-rimmed monocle couldn’t hide the red glow from his eyes as he grabbed Lith’s wrist with enough strength to force him to let go of the Count.
He had a bright blood core empowered by centuries of experience and abundant feeding. The man had gentle features and a warm smile, but in his eyes, Lith saw a beast ready to attack.
“You can call me Kaelarn, I’m…” The newcomer only needed a second to understand that Lith was one of the living. Kaelarn’s pretense of kindness disappeared, replaced by a feral snarl as a second fog dome covered the scene.
“What’s a dog of the Dawn Court doing here? Who’s your master?” He asked while his iron grip turned into a vice. Kaelan released enough killing intent that Kamila almost forgot how to breathe.
Lith was stuck in place, his wrist kept cracking and healing almost at the same time thanks to light fusion. He felt an immense pressure coming from the small man in front of him, who was emitting a force that closely reminded him of Scarlett the Scorpicore.
Yet he refused to yield. He was stronger than four years ago and had learned many new tricks. He countered the killing intent by releasing his own while at the same time unleashing a strong pulse of darkness magic that forced the undead to release his grip.
The pain was so intense that Kaelan growled in pain, baring for a split second a pair of canine teeth too long to be human.
“I was enjoying my evening, like everybody else, until your Renfield here bothered me and my companion.” Lith had no idea what the Dawn Court was, nor what vampire protocols might require.
So he decided to bluff his way out by confusing his opponent as much as he was. Kaelarn was indeed confused. He had never heard the term “Renfield” but he was certain it had to be an insult.
“My name is Scourge.” He used his code word for help while activating his communication earpiece with spirit magic. “Kalla the Wight sent me here.”
As soon as she heard Lith’s safe word, Jirni tried to locate him and Kamila. The ballroom was reduced to a blur like she was looking through a distorting glass. Only her focus and training allowed her to see through the fog.
“If I don’t hear from you within a minute, I’ll send the reinforcements.” She said.
Kaelarn snarled again. His enhanced senses allowed him to hear Jirni’s voice, but once again he had no idea who she was or what she was talking about.
“I never heard of this ‘Kalla’.” He refused to back down to a human on his own turf, but Kaelarn hadn’t survived for so long by being stupid.
“Just like I’ve never heard of you.” Lith had noticed that the vampire had lost part of his edge right after Jirni’s message.
‘There’s too many people around us, I doubt he wants to fight at all costs. Time to raise the ante.’ Lith thought while powering up Kalla’s runes again.
“These are my reference. If you want to offend the Dawn Court for that lustful idiot, be my guest!”
The air around them started to deform and crackle. Kamila could almost see the two men emitting one stream of pure force each. The rivers clashed non stop, generating waves where the stronger current swallowed the weaker one.
Neither of them backed down, making each wave stronger than the previous. Kaelarn was amazed by the amount of killing intent Lith was releasing. Amazed and intrigued.
“Let’s go, Xolver. We’re done here.” He said when the minute was almost over and the fog dome became unable to hide the pressure they exerted.
“I don’t care who you are.” He said to Lith as parting words.
“Mess with the Night Court’s plans and I’ll make you pay.”
Then when he noticed Xolver’s idiotic grin, he added:
“Right after disposing of you for forcing my hand.” Xolver’s grin disappeared, and not even his make up could hide his pallor anymore.
