The alarms blared loudly throughout the halls of Zandar's military complex, a cacophony of danger that set the soldiers' nerves on the edge with the sound being a piercing reminder of the urgency and danger that they currently found themselves in.
Panic was not just etched but deeply carved on the faces of the younger soldiers as they rushed to find their superiors, with their boots thudding heavily, almost in a frantic rhythm against the cold metal floors.
In the midst of this disarray, amidst hurried strides and sharp turns, a group of soldiers found their commanding officer. His voice was cutting through the chaos, firm and authoritative, his experienced orders sending a clear message: " Seek out Lord Max Rajput of Dombivli, and do it swiftly. The king's fate, and possibly that of Zandar itself, hinges on this plea for aid."
With their hearts hammering in their chests like drums of war, the soldiers were racing towards the teleportation centre, the urgency of their mission fueling their speed. They were a blur of motion, a spectacle of desperation and hope intertwined, propelled by the dire need to reach Lord Max before calamity struck their beloved king..
***
Regus's retreat from the asteroid belt had left the expanse of space open and vast around them, yet this void did nothing to hinder Dracula's pursuit.
He was relentless like a predator in his element with the eternal darkness complementing his dominion over blood. His form was a fleeting shadow against the stars, striking from unexpected angles with a terrifying precision.
Regus, with the loss of his arm a constant thorn in his side, found his resilience tested. The Surya-Astra's light was a solitary beacon in the void and was the only thing that held the encroaching darkness at bay.
His blade, charged with the essence of the sun, arced through space, each slash a bright line etched against the black canvas around them.
The battle was a clash of polar opposites, a vivid contrast of night and day. Dracula, exploiting the boundless arena, launched a barrage of blood bullets towards Regus with each projectile seeking to drain the very life from his foe.
Regus, responding with the ferocity of a cornered beast, unleashed a flurry of solar strikes, each one casting a net of deadly rays.
With the sun's power in his grasp, he wove patterns of radiant energy in the air, creating a defensive web that turned incoming assaults to steam before they could find their mark.
Despite the absence of asteroids to manoeuvre around, Dracula's assault was relentless. He summoned the blood mist, aiming to envelop Regus in a shroud of suffocating darkness. But Regus, with a defiant roar, countered with a nova burst, a spherical explosion of solar energy that pushed back the blood mist and forced Dracula to momentarily recoil.
Their battle, now stripped of any cover or constraint, was a true testament to their abilities. Regus's disadvantage was clear, yet his determination never wavered. With cunning and grit, he matched Dracula's blood-fueled ferocity with the pure, searing might of sunlight.
However, while he could still match Dracula's attack output because of Surya-Astra's aid, the same could not be said for defence.
No longer having his left arm, the balance of his body had shifted and hence he could no longer dodge as nimbly as he was used to without losing balance.
His posture and defensive manoeuvres were hence much more rigid which meant that he had to defend against almost all of Dracula's attacks while Dracula dodged a few of his and only countered those that were necessary to be countered.
Needless to say, Dracula felt a twinge of irritation at the resilience of his adversary as despite his lost arm Regus fought extremely well.
Dracula had expected the loss of an arm to weaken Regus, to introduce hesitation. But the warrior before him was undeterred, his every move an embodiment of his unyielding spirit.
Despite the slow pushback, slowly but steadily, Dracula did manage to wear out Regus as after blocking several thousand attacks his pace started to slow down and his movement became more and more sluggish
Sensing his impending doom Regus's strategic mind raced for a solution, a way to turn his disadvantage into an opportunity and in that moment of brilliant desperation, he gambled it all on a single, blinding pulse of the Surya-Astra, hoping to catch Dracula off-guard and shift the balance of their epic confrontation.
***
( Meanwhile On Dombivli )
When the soldiers of Zandar arrived at Dombivli, they showed complete disregard for the guards and rushed madly towards the palace in a desperate attempt to find Max.
The local Dombivli guards tried to stop them and give them a chase, however, the Zandar men stopped for no-one, shouting insults and telling that it was a gravest emergency as they continued their journey towards the Dombivli palace.
Max, was alone in his office gazing into the distance and thinking about how he was going to break the news about marrying Mira to his two other wives, when a palace guard announced the arrival of envoys from Zandar.
With an eyebrow raised, Max glanced at the panting soldiers who spoke with visible desperation in their voices.
" Please Lord Max, save King Regus, he's fighting Dracula all by himself outside Zandar " one of the soldiers said as immediately Max disappeared from the spot where he was standing and bolted towards the Dombivli teleportation hall.
The plea in the soldier's eyes spoke of a fear that was visceral, the fate of Regus's very life seemed to be teetering in the balance and despite his personal hatred for the man, Max did not wish for the vampire society to lose their king to their greatest adversary and hence he immediately rushed to his aid.
Whether or not he could reach Zandar was a question in itself, however, if Regus managed to hold on until he arrived, Max felt confident in having the necessary skill to save him, just like his brother had during the Dimensional War.
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/// A/N - Bonus chapter for hitting the Power Stones target, good job everyone! ///