The robed figure finally thought he'd be able to escape. But now, he had twenty Vampires all walking like mindless zombies trying to grab at his limbs.
"You idiots!" he screamed. "Why are you following me?!"
"...hehehehe..."
Fudge remained in the shadows, with his Devilish Shadow Diva doing all the work.
Thanks to the new cape Michael gave him, his shadow Aubility wasn't just limited to one person. He could be a Malevolent Passenger to multiple targets at once!
"Kurgh!" the robed figure groaned. He raised his knife, with a dark, obsidian Owl Diva appearing above his head.
Just as a Vampire was about to grab onto his shoulders from behind, the robed man lunged his knife forwards.
Suddenly, his Mithril Relic knife disappeared in his hands, only to reappear behind him, lodged inside the Vampire's stomach.
Just like an owl, the robed figure's Aubility allowed him to turn all his attacks in a free 360 degree motion!
Each stab of his targeted a Vampire that clung closely to him from all sides.
One by one, they fell, leaving the robed figure free to escape. He was mere moments away from leaving out the top of the cave. Michael quickly turned his attention towards him.
If the robed figure left with the Kuno's blood relic, he wouldn't be able to explain the truth to Lilith and they would be embroiled in battle till the very end.
He turned around, ready to pull back the robed figure from escaping. "Where are you looking?" Lilith asked before swiping both her hands.
Thousands of blood droplets appeared in a straight line in front of her.
She grabbed the droplets, pulling it towards her and creating a whip made entirely of blood drops.
She raised the whip up and snapped it towards Michael.
As the force of her swing travelled through the whip, the individual blood drops that made the weapon suddenly exploded backwards, creating an accelerating force that further pushed the whip's end faster than possible.
No one in the Body Formation realm could ever hope to escape from the whip's grasp.
At least, that's what she thought.
Michael didn't even bother glancing back at Lilith before activating his batteries.
The very fabric of space and time warped around his wrists before he grabbed it and pulled him forward.
Just as the whip was about to wrap around Michael's body, he suddenly disappeared completely, leaving the whip to grasp at nothing but the air.
Lilith stood in shock, her face completely shocked.
What she saw was impossible.
Michael reappeared right in front of the robed figure, giving him a heart attack.
He struck his finger at the guy's chest before firing his [Unity Gun] point blank.
The robed figure fell backwards, his chest still smoking, before the red blood crystal rolled out of his hands and towards Micihael's feet.
He bent down and picked it up.
He then switched on his Unity Saber, intending to melt it.
Seeing this woke Lilith up from her stupor.
"What are you doing?!" she asked hurriedly.
But he didn't stop to answer her question. He pushed the Unity Saber
into the blood red crystal, piercing through it like butter.
The solidified blood started to smoke, before it started to perspire
and melt, dripping all over his hands.
It didn't take long before the whole thing turned into a puddle
underneath his feet.
"Do you realize what you've done?!" Lilith bellowed.
"I'm giving it back to the owner," he replied to her.
A large shadow shot forth from his feet, growing into the shape and
size of a human.
A second later, the shadow subsided, only to show a young blonde girl
standing meekly.
Kuno looked around, confused. "Michael? Where am I?"
Lilith looked at Kuno and felt her own Dao Heart beating wildly, pounding at her chest trying to tell her something.
Perhaps it was because the resemblance between them was uncanny. It was as if she was looking at a mirror from way back when she was
younger.
But there was something different about this girl. Looking at her activated a natural instinct within Lilith's DNA, within her very soul. Reverence, obedience, and gratefulness. Those were the three emotions boiling in Lilith's mind as she gazed at Kuno.
"Who... who is she?"
Michael looked back at her. "You already know who she is."
Lilith shook her head. "That's... not possible. She can't possibly be
the Original Vampire!"
Just then, the puddle of blood underneath Michael's feet started to
flow upstream towards Kuno.
As soon as the first drop made contact with her bare feet, a
tremendous surge of power exploded out of her body.
Michael and Lilith had to cover themselves from the gust.
The blood rushed towards Kuno, its speed getting faster and faster as
she absorbed more.
Her feet started levitating off the air, and the blood followed with her,
flying off the ground as droplets.
Kuno's eyes were slowly turning golden as she absorbed more.
And as the last bit of blood returned to her body, an invisible force flowed outwards and made contact with all the Vampires in the
vicinity.
Lilith, Guillermo, and the other Vampires felt an uncontrollable urge to kneel down in front of Kuno.
They knew in their heart of hearts that they were looking at a
legendary figure, the progenitor of their kind... the Original Vampire!
Finally, Kuno's body lost the golden glow around her, turning her eyes
back into its original black color.
Her blonde hair fell back neatly on her shoulders.
Her body seemed to have grown again, but this time, by only a
miniscule amount.
"I... I remember now," Kuno muttered. "This place used to be a church. Many people were worshipping someone here... I was worshipping
them..."
Then, she looked at Michael, embarrassed. "Sorry, Michael. I still don't
know who I am."
Suddenly, she heard a thud.
She turned around, only to see the Vampires kneeling towards her in
reverence.
"It is a miracle!" Lilith exclaimed. "Oh how long we have waited for
your arrival!"
All of them were welling up with emotions, Guillermo especially. He
felt extremely blessed to see not only a semblance of Gaia's figure
with the Iron Maiden, but also the reappearance of the Original
Vampire.
He felt ashamed that he didn't recognize her the first time he saw her. "Hm? Michael, what are they talking about?" Kuno asked.
Lilith grabbed her hands. "You are the Original Vampire, our
ancestor!"
Kuno recoiled from her touch. "Original Vampire? What, no! I don't
want to be that, I want to be a ninja!"
Lilith and the Vampires were frozen in place, as if they were affected
by the switch.
"...." Michael sighed. Fudge's influence yet again claims its victim.
"Ahem. She's lost her memory," he explained. "She doesn't remember her past."
Lilith bit her lips before determination flashed across her face. "I understand. Those blood crystals contain your very essence. And by returning it to your body, you will gain back what you have once lost.
Do not worry, progenitor. I-no, we will make it our life's mission to gather all blood crystals in the world and make you remember your true identity! You can swear it on Gaia!"