Under Faith's command, a swarm of vampires surged from the church like a black tide. The call had gone out across the borderlands, every coven, every night-bound creature in proximity to the Mexican hinterlands was converging on one location: the old cathedral.
Their purpose was singular, buy time. Time for Faith to complete the ritual. Time for him to ascend as the new Blood God.
Among the countless pale faces in the throng, one figure stood apart, a man in black leather, sword in hand.
Blade.
Even among his temporary allies, vampires gave him space. Old instincts screamed that he was death in motion.
They might share a target for now, but they knew what he really was. What he had done to their kind.
And yet… he stood with them.
The church doors creaked open, casting a sliver of light onto the blood-soaked stone. Two figures stepped inside, one radiant, the other cloaked in quiet storm.
Soren and Freyja.
The smell of fire and blood filled the air.
"The fighting stopped."
"With that fighter involved?" Freyja muttered, her golden sword pulsing softly. "Not a chance. Unless~"
They both saw him at the same time.
Blade stood amid the vampires, his expression empty, a long blade angled toward them, crimson light faintly pulsing through the veins of his neck.
"Damn. He's under her control."
"I tried to warn you." Freyja said quietly.
"Her charm magic, she twists a man's will with a whisper, breaks him with a touch."
"She got Blade fast…" Soren murmured, almost in awe.
"Soren." Freyja's gaze hardened. "Don't let her near you."
"No touch. No eye contact. And for the love of the gods, don't listen if she speaks."
Before Soren could reply, a piercing screech erupted, a war cry of the damned.
The vampires charged.
A flood of snarling, fanged nightmares swarmed toward them from all directions, claws and fangs glinting in the firelight.
And from the center of them all, Blade leapt forward, blade spinning, and aimed straight at Freyja.
"Freyja!" Soren shouted, flinging out his hand.
A burst of silver spheres poured from his wrist, humming with kinetic energy. In midair, they split apart, fragmenting into hundreds of razor-thin shards that shimmered like stars.
The vampires were nearly upon them.
"Scatter!" Freyja barked, spinning her sword and slamming it into the ground. A pulse of divine light erupted outward, briefly halting the first wave.
Soren didn't hesitate.
With a subtle magnetic flick of his wrist, the silver particles accelerated and detonated.
"PIYAPA-PAH!!"
The sound was deafening, like a hailstorm inside a bell tower. Vampires screamed as silver tore through them, puncturing hearts, shredding limbs, turning unholy flesh into dust and flame.
Fire spread rapidly, the burning corpses igniting one after another. In seconds, the entire front of the church was bathed in flickering orange light. The stench of scorched blood filled the air.
Soren's storm of silver tore through the vampire horde. In seconds, the shrieking mass of clawed monsters was reduced to silence, bodies riddled with silver, collapsing into ash and flame.
The ground steamed with burning ichor.
The few that survived froze, paralyzed by terror. Even the most ancient of them stared at Soren as if he were death incarnate.
Even Blade faltered.
Though Lorelai's charm bound his will, his mind was still his own, and it remembered. It remembered every vampire he had hunted, every nest he had burned.
Yet what he had done in years... this man had surpassed in seconds.
Soren's silver mass pulsed, shifting restlessly in his palm like liquid metal alive with hunger.
Blade's jaw tightened. The spell held, the command clear. Kill the Goddess of War.
With a roar, he leapt again, blade raised, aura burning, and came down like a falling star.
Freyja didn't retreat.
The Goddess of War met him head-on, her posture steady, eyes alight with divine fury.
Her sword shimmered with golden light.
CLANG!
Their blades collided mid-air with a thunderous shockwave, sparks bursting between them like flares.
Freyja didn't budge, though her knees dipped slightly from the force, her stance held.
Blade twisted away with practiced grace, landing in a crouch, preparing his next strike.
She gave a fierce smile. "You're stronger than the others. Finally… a warrior worth swinging at."
Blade said nothing. But his brow furrowed, the compliment struck something inside.
From the sidelines, Soren observed silently. His Perception tuned the world around him to whispers and tremors.
Every vampire still lurking in the shadows, he felt them all.
The others didn't dare move.
Let them watch.
Freyja and Blade clashed again, blades singing, boots scraping stone, movements so fast they blurred in the firelight.
If Blade could be saved, Freyja would know how. If not...
Soren glanced down at the restless silver in his hand. He'd end it cleanly.
Inside the church, the mood was shifting.
The vampire elders stared through shattered windows at the massacre. What they had thought was overwhelming force was now ash scattered on the wind.
"Impossible…" One elder whispered. "He annihilated them with a single technique…"
Another, watching the silver fluid shift in Soren's hand with dread. "That… metal… it obeys him."
Lorelai stood among them, silent. Her face, usually a mask of allure and calm, was now twisted with displeasure.
"This isn't what I planned." Eyes flicking between Freyja and Soren. "Freyja alone can handle Blade… but that man, Soren…"
She clenched her fist.
"He's a nightmare conjured to slaughter us."
One of the elders stepped forward. "Shall we release the sealed ones, my queen? Or use the remaining covens?"
"No." Lorelai said sharply. "We need more time."
She turned to the senior vampire beside her, a withered thing draped in black and gold.
"Whatever it takes." She commanded. "Hold them here. Delay them until Faith completes his transformation. Once the Blood God is born, they die."
"And you, my queen?" The elder asked.
Lorelai's eyes narrowed.
"I'll be gone before that man even senses me. Tell Faith to meet me in Syria once he awakens."
The elder nodded solemnly. "As you command. We shall welcome the rebirth of the Eternal One."
Lorelai gave Soren one last look, biting her lip thoughtfully.
"Such a shame…" She murmured.
"You would've made a lovely monster."