Steam began to rise around Xavier as he stood by the burnt grass, rain drops crashing against his burned arms. A stream of smoke could be seen flowing from his mouth as he leaned forward to launch the [Lightning Javelin] back.

Xavier’s eyes became brighter and brighter as he expressed pain. In an attempt to control his body, the [Berserk] State was eating away at his consciousness.

In trying to resist it but still keeping it active to reap the physical benefits, Xavier felt anger, heightened emotions, and bottomless hunger that made it even more difficult. Still, he persisted, keeping his cool.

Only logical thinking and thinking outside the box could beat them. He wasn’t going to succeed by attacking mindlessly like he did when going fully berserk.

The marquess’s all stared at him with widened eyes. They had just witnessed him eat all of the electricity out of the attack while stopping it.

And as if that wasn’t enough, he was winding up to launch it back-

*Chuckles*

“Looks like we’re in a bit of danger-“

*VBOOOM!!*

The sound of a thunderclap resounded, in an instant a flash of light zoomed towards them resembling a strike of lightning itself.

*SWOOOSH!*

All the marquess’s in the area, leapt away once they saw this. Although the young marquess was the youngest, his [Lightning Javelin] was not an ability to take lightly.

And just like that, the flash of light zoomed past all of them, fortunately striking neither one.

*VABAM!*

Another burnt trail had emerged across the field, creating even more stream and a slight cloud of smoke which made it progressively harder to see.

“Did that hit any of us?” The feminine braided haired Marquess asked inside of the smoke cloud.

“Hm? I never expected you to be the type to worry about others.” Responded Gale from within the smoke.

“He’s not worried. Didn’t you hear? He can draw the blood of a target he’s killed and use it to heal himself, that’s why the rest of the Vampires which came with us are on stand-by.” Said the young marquess with a smile.

“…”

The bandages marquess didn’t speak any words, based on everyone’s reaction it was clear that none of them were hit. But as he stared at Xavier’s pair of glowing red eyes through the cloud of smoke, he noticed that he was staring at something behind them.

The bandaged marquess turned back only the burnt corpse of another vampire with a long rod impaled through their heart.

“…Gale… Is that not… The lady… Who… Was with you…?” Asked the bandaged marquess.

Gale turned around with a confused expression only to narrow his eyes upon doing so.

“Fuck… That’s her alright. I’m fucked. It was my responsibility to keep her safe.”

The cloud of smoke had finally dissipated showing Xavier standing there motionlessly. Staring at something to his right, something which they couldn’t see.

[You Killed a Vampire Noble!]

[+310 XP!]

[XP: 1850/1800]

[LEVEL UP!]

[Level 9 -> 10]

[Congratulations! You have reached Level 10!]

[New Evolution Option Now Available!]

[Evolution Options:]

[Evolution Option One: Fully Fledged Vampire.]

[Evolution Option Two: Vampire Pureblood]

[Evolution Option Three: Chronos Pureblood]

[Evolution Option Four: Vampire & Chronos Hybrid]

“Option Four.” Xavier muttered without hesitation as he remained in his berserk state.

Gale pointed his drawn blade towards the distracted Xavier and so did the other Marquess’s as they drew their weapons.

The young marquess drew a short sword, whereas the bandaged marquess drew two double-edged daggers dipped in some sort of gooey poison while the feminine braided haired marquess pulled out a flute.

They all pressed down on the buttons in said weapons as spikes permeated out of their cross-guards before piercing them in their hands and drawing their blood.

The already all-powerful nobles had become even stronger and with that, they were ready.

“Looking away with the four of us standing before him? Let’s kill him.” Said Gale with a bright smile.

*FWOOSH!*

At that moment, all of the marquess’s figures seemingly vanished. Each appearing before Xavier swinging at his vulnerable spots.

Gale thrust at his heart, the bandaged marquess swung at his head neck from above, the young marquess, slashed at his liver whilst the braided haired feminine marquess with the flute appeared behind him ready to blow into it.

[Toxic Manipulation: Deadly Toxic Slash]

[Aqua Manipulation: Aquatic Thrust.]

[Lightning Manipulation: Lightning Bite]

[Vibration Manipulation: First Scale Impact Burst.]

*BOOOOOOM!!!!!!*

A loud explosion resounded as a burst of air surged across the backyard. The air was filled with a green gas resulted from the [Toxic Manipulation] and deadly for any fragile being who’d dare inhale it.

The plants in the garden were all dying as they were exposed to the gas permeating through the air. While this happened, the figure of the four marquess’s could be seen with narrowed eyes staring at Xavier.

They were all looking at one spot… Or rather, one figure, stood a few meters ahead of them with his head hung down.

His hair had transitioned into a full silver and swayed against the wind as a strong breeze blew by, blowing away the green gas.

“Hey, hey… What the hell is this? He dodged that?” Asked Gale.

*Tick* *Tock* *Tick* *Tock*

“More importantly, what’s that sound?” Asked the young marquess

The sound of a clock ticking could be heard. It was quiet and faint, and would have gone unnoticed by a human’s ears, but their pointy ears could hear it clearly. For some reason, it was giving them all a bad feeling.

The air around Xavier had changed.

[Evolution Complete.]

[Evolution Bonus: All abilities have Levelled up!]

“Who cares? He doesn’t have a weapon. Let’s just finish him off and ask questions later.” Said Gale as he snapped his fingers before leaping towards Xavier.

[Aqua Manipulation: Giant Water Serpent.]

A stream of water created from all the rain, in the shape of a serpent, burst towards Xavier at high speeds from behind Gale.

Gale who was ahead of it and right before Xavier, swung his sword down at his motionless figure.

*Clang!*

Gale’s eyes widened as his very same swing, was parried by Xavier’s own swing. It had collided with a solidified red rod of lightning overflowing with electricity.

*BZZZT*

Gale was surprised once the two weapons collided as he hadn’t even seen where it’d come from. But as the two were knocked back by each other’s strength, the surprised expression changed into a grin as Xavier was knocked back towards the water serpent which had circled behind him.

Gale’s grin grew wider as he noticed the other nobles in Xavier’s blind spot with their attacks also in motion.

*Bite!*

*Splash!*

The moment the serpent bit into Xavier’s shoulder, all of the noble’s eyes widened as it quickly turned into a puddle of a water, splashing into the ground in that instant.

Xavier quickly lifted his head up, showing Gale his eyes. They had a crimson red glint but were different, they both had the frameworks of a clock, slowly moving backwards.

[Rewind Level 3: Revert.]

‘What the hell…?’ Gale questioned mid-air.

The other nobles who hadn’t seen it and were still in the motion of their attacks, all continued on with their swing, slashing off his arms and legs in an instant.

A dagger was impaled through his chest in the same instant, barely missing his heart.

‘I… Missed? No… Problem…’ Thought the bandaged marquess as he rotated his body mid-air, swinging his other dagger at Xavier’s neck.

The young marquess who’d cut off Xavier’s legs, watched as the blade made it’s way to Xavier’s neck mid-air.

‘Ah… He’s done for, he can’t block or defend from that angle-‘

*Tick* *Tock*

[Rewind Ability Chain Level 2 & 3: Retract & Revert.]

*SWOOSH!*

Xavier’s figure disappeared from view right before his neck was slashed off, appearing back down in the ground in the position he was in before getting knocked back by Gale.

The Vampire Nobles instantly recognised it as Xavier using his weird teleportation ability again, but they didn’t mind it for this time, they’d cut off his arms and legs, he was no longer a threat even if he did manage to avoid.

As they all turned him however, their eyes widened, as they found him standing perfectly still with his limbs back in place, holding onto the crimson rod in the position to throw it. It was as if he’d never been injured.

His target? It was the only one still in the air, the bandaged marquess who’d tried to decapitate him a second ago.

“How-“

*VBOOOM!*

The young marquess, gale and the braided haired marquess tried to stop him, but they were a second too late as Xavier launched the rod at the defenceless bandaged marquess, piercing right through his heart.

[You killed a high-ranking Vampire Noble!]

[+490 XP!]

The notifications rung inside of Xavier’s head as the remaining three marquess’s stepped in, striking at the opening of Xavier having disregarded his only weapon.

The young marquess was the fastest out of all of them, sending a burst of lightning across the grass as he took his step.

[Lightning Manipulation: Lightning Dash]

Electricity surged through his entire body, spiking up his pearl black berry coloured hair before blurring past Xavier, leaving behind a trace of electricity behind.