Chapter 12 Chapter Eleven Danica's Fall

Danica's right hook landed on the side of Rufo's jaw, knocking his head violently sideways.Slowly and ominously, the vampire turned to face the monk.Danica hit it again with another ferocious hook, and then a third, hitting the same place over and over again, with the same fist. Rufo laughed and turned his head slowly back to center, there wasn't a single blow or bruise on his pale cheek. "You can't hurt me," the vampire said quietly, in a nonchalant tone. Danica responded by raising her knee and kicking directly between Rufo's legs, the force of the blow lifting the vampire so that he could only stand on his toes.

Rufo just smiled. "I should have guessed you had nothing there to hurt," Danica said, calmly stabbing with words where the fist couldn't hurt. Rufo's face contorted, fury breaking through the calm appearance.A bestial growl burst through the mouth, and the arm shot forward, toward Danica's throat. Danica stabbed deep into Rufo's forearm with the tiger-shaped, golden-hilted dagger.Moving too fast for Rufo to react, the skilled monk slashed the short sword along its forearm, then drew it out and slashed at Rufo's face—hitting the same cheek she had punched with her fist.

Then she unleashed a flurry of frenzied attacks, and so did Rufo, Danica slicing left and right as Rufo's grasping hand tried in vain to keep up with the tangled dagger.Danica hit again and again, but not at the point, and then drove the magic dagger deep into Rufo's chest, aiming for its heart. She saw Rufo froze suddenly, his hands spread out to the sides, his expression stunned, and she thought she should hit the nail on the head.Without blinking, Danica looked straight at the vampire, showing no sign of fear, and twisted the dagger sharply and briefly. One corner of Rufo's mouth twisted, and Danica expected it to fall over.

They froze in this death position for a while, and Rufo let out a low growl.Danica wondered, why didn't it fall over?Why doesn't it just die? Rufo reached out and moved his hand slowly towards her wrist, and her confidence began to waver.Her hand jerked again, and the vampire's face scrunched up.She turned the short sword again, and while the pain was clearly visible on Rufo's pale face, its hand kept approaching. Suddenly, its strong fingers gripped Danica's wrist.The monk's left hand turned into a fuzzy shadow, striking the vampire's throat and face. Rufo didn't even blink, just stared at her, gradually forcing Danica to draw the dagger, her muscles tangled under the pressure but no match for the vampire's physical strength.Once the point of the dagger was clear of Rufo's chest, it threw Danica's arm high above her head.

"Stupid!" it said, spraying its foul breath in her face. Danica slammed her forehead against the bridge of its nose. Rufo jerked her back hard, and with a swift flick of the other hand, the short sword was knocked out of her hand, sending it spinning across the hall. "You can't hurt me!" Rufo shouted again, even though the wound was obviously quite painful. This time, though, neither magic weapon can be used, and Danica finds herself taking its word for it.She also believed that Rufo was going to tear herself in two. "Look at me!" a scream came from across the hall.Both Rufo and Danica turned their heads to see Histra kneeling in the doorway of the chapel, looking down at her hands raised in front of her.The flesh and blood had boiled and bubbled from the fingers all the way to the arms, hanging down one by one in shocking ways.Histra looked at her master imploringly, and even Rufo couldn't hide his disgust at the sight, because Histra, who had spent her whole life dressing up and applying makeup, was now a complete distortion of her previous image , a cruel joke on the sect of Eros Suni.Strips of scorched chin meat hang down under the chin, and although her eyeballs are still intact, there is no flesh and blood around them, and it seems that they are about to roll off her face.Her upper lip was gone, as was the flesh on one side of her nose.And the seductive hair that was as beautiful as silk, only a few short and uneven gray hairs remained.

Rufo's disgust came with a long, low growl, and without thinking, he gripped his hand tighter, lowering his arm, forcing Danica to her knees.The monk tried to break free by taking advantage of Rufo's distraction, but even with her free hand she couldn't move one of Rufo's fingers.She tried twisting and wriggling, but Rufo, absent-minded, held her steady.Soon, Danica came to accept that no matter how hard she tried, she would just dislocate her elbow. "You're a vampire," Rufo said, trying to reassure Histra. "Your wounds will heal." Danica didn't hear much confidence in Rufo's voice, and she knew why.Vampires, like trolls, heal themselves, healing torn skin and regenerating lost blood.However, Histra's severe wounds were caused by fire, and they could not heal.

A glimmer of hope flitted across Histra's unrecognizable features. "Go look in the mirror!" Danica yelled suddenly. "Look at what your choices have made of you!" Rufo turned his head and glared down at her, and she could feel its grip tightening, reminding her that she was taking a dangerous move. "Immortality?" Danica asked boldly.Rufo secretly twisted her arm, twisting it sideways and above the elbow, making her groan. "Is that what it promised you?" the monk continued stubbornly. "Then you will be ugly forever!" Danica knew that those last words hurt Histra more than anything in the world.Rufo knew this too, and the way he stared at Danica assured her that it was going to kill her.Rufo Liberty swung Danica's face with such force that it nearly knocked her out.

She shook her head to let the shock pass, and Rufo hit her again, and she could feel warm blood running from her ears. "You're not going to heal!" Danica yelled through clenched teeth, trying to parry the incoming attacks with her free hand. Rufo opened his mouth wide open, his fangs approaching Danica's neck. "Those wounds are from the fire!" Danica yelled, and then screamed, thinking she was going to die. In a fit of rage, Histra slammed headfirst into Rufo, sending his back slamming against the wall. Danica shifts her legs, throwing all her weight to one side.She heard her elbow snap and dislocate, but she had to ignore the intense pain, had to break free.

She had succeeded when Rufo threw Histra back into the hall, the disfigured priestess slumped to the ground, her shoulders shaking with sobs. Danica straightened up, but Rufo was ready to wait there. "Where do you want to go?" the vampire asked nonchalantly.Danica looked again at the door leading to the outside of the library, but Rufo laughed at the thought. "You're mine." The vampire took a step forward, and Danica's foot slammed into its chest, knocking it backwards.Danica's body began to spin rapidly, her shadow kicked her feet away, and Rufo, who didn't understand the situation, just laughed and stayed behind, obviously out of the attack range.

As soon as her feet flew by, the vampire pounced, but Danica hit her target so well that she wasn't aiming for Zirkan Rufo in the first place.Her feet came up high, piercing the library's door to the outside, splintering the wood.Rufo walked right into a beam of sunlight streaming in. The vampire flinched, raising his arms to block the searing beam.Danica started to move towards the door, trying to split the hole wider and escape into the daylight, but Rufo's fist swung out and slammed into her shoulder, and though Danica was quick, she shifted slightly to block it. It hit hard, only to find myself spinning through the air.

She grabbed her center of gravity, rolled to absorb the impact, and stood up a few yards from the door.Rufo had passed the ray of sunlight by then, and was standing in her way now. "Damn it," Danica said angrily, and if there was an appropriate expletive for this moment, it was it.She then turned and fled towards the stairs. ※※※ Benar had slept all day, a deep sleep full of dreams of power, bathed in the pleasure that Zirkan Rufo had promised it.It has turned its back on his god, throwing aside all the morals it has learned in life for personal gain. No guilt nor guilt disturbs its slumber.The real Benar has fallen. In the dream he came to a brothel in Calaton, the eve of its acceptance into the Moezhi Library.Those women are so beautiful!They smell so good! Bednar now pictured them as its queens, pale, sharing its life, bathed in the warmth of blood. warmth. Waves of hot air rushed over the sleeping vampire, and it excited him, imagining the heat as blood, a warm sea of ​​blood. The warmth became malevolent and began to touch Benar's side, causing a pang of pain.It opened its eyes suddenly, and was horrified to find itself wrapped in a thick gray cloud.Wisps of gray smoke rose from the charred lining of the coffin tucked under a bed on the second floor of the library, right above the chapel that Dorigen had burned with a fireball. Bernard's hair had turned into a ball of flame. The vampire screamed and punched upwards, powerful fists breaking the planks of the coffin, and the splintered, burning planks fell back on him. Benar scrambled frantically, kicking and twisting to tear the burning cage apart.Its robes glowed with searing orange flames, and the skin on one arm boiled and blistered.It wanted to turn itself into gas, as it had seen Rufo do when need be, but it hadn't yet penetrated the realm of undeath, hadn't mastered the art of vampirism to such an extent. Benar pushed the engulfed bed aside and staggered to his feet, freeing himself from the burning box.Its whole room was on fire, and the flames made it impossible to see the door.Several zombies, including Feist Langbo, stood calmly in the fire, not feeling the pain caused by the flames at all, although they were gradually being burned.Zombies are monsters that don't think, can't even comprehend that they must flee from the flames, feel neither fear nor pain. Bernard looked at Langbo and found himself envious of the zombies. Fiery ash swept into the vampire's eyes, stinging and blinding him, and as he ran desperately, hoping to find the door, he slammed into the impenetrable stone wall. The vampire fell again, writhing in agony, hungry flames attacking from every angle, like a seamlessly coordinated army.There is nowhere to escape, nowhere... By this time Benar's eyes were gone, burned out, but for the first time since succumbing to Zirkan Rufo's temptations, the fallen priest could see the truth. Where is Rufo's promise now?Where is the strength, the warmth of the blood? In the last few seconds of Bernard's existence, he understood his own stupidity.It wanted to call out to the god Denir, to beg forgiveness, but like every other motive for the man's actions while he was alive, the intention was purely personal.Benar didn't have any faith in his heart, so he also died in despair. Across the room, flames consumed all the zombies, including Feist Rumpeau's body.The spirit of Feist Rambo, which is the essence of his being, has no sense of pain, because he remains true in the face of adversity, transcends finite life, and follows faith. ※※※ Danica ran up the second-floor landing and ran straight into Headmaster Thobicus.It reached out and grabbed her upper arm, holding her firmly, and, for a moment, Danica thought she had found an ally, a priest who could stop Rufo the dreaded vampire. "Fire," she stammered. "And Rufo..." Danica stopped suddenly, collected herself, and looked carefully into Thobex's eyes.She opened her mouth silently and yelled "No" over and over again, shaking her head slowly. However, she couldn't deny the facts in front of her, and if even Dean Thobicus fell into darkness, then the library would be in trouble. Danica took a deep breath to steady herself and made no immediate move of resistance, but the vampire smiled evilly, baring its fangs inches from Danica's face. Danica's foot came lightning-fast in front of the face, smacking Thobex at the base of his nose, sending his head back violently.The monk swung his arms in a quick circle, fists crossed in front of her chest, and struck down, through the Dean's elbow.Despite the vampire's strong grip, Danica's leverage allowed her to break free.Her foot kicked up again, hitting the bottom of the monster's nose again, doing no real damage but giving Danica the time she needed to get away. She went back to the stairs and tried to go down, but Rufo was laughing and climbing up the stairs behind her. Danica went up, running to the third floor.A zombie stood silently on the stairs, but didn't resist when Danica punched it in the swollen face, and Danica lifted it and threw it behind him to thwart the pursuers. Then she came freely to the corridor on the third floor, but where should she go?She looked south to the right, then to the left, and then found herself running north, toward Cadderly's room. Rufo slid across the ground, making no sound under his feet, but Danica heard its mocking laugh behind him.She slid into Cadderly's room, slammed the door shut in front of the vampire, and slammed the bar down to bar it.She found another zombie in the room, standing passively, but she destroyed it in seconds with a series of ferocious punches and kicks.When it fell to the ground, her chest exploded, and Danica felt waves of nausea wash over her. Then those feelings were suddenly replaced by fear as Rufo's heavy fist knocked on the door. "Where are you running, sweet Danica?" the vampire snapped.The second blow shook the crossbar, nearly shaking the door from its frame.Danica pressed her full weight against the door purely on instinct, resisting with all her considerable strength. The banging stopped, but Danica didn't relax. Then she saw the green vapor of Rufo's transformation coming in from under the door, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.She staggered across the room, bewildered by the vampire's transformation, thinking she was doomed. The excited squeak of a squirrel cleared her mind.Cadderly's room was one of the few in the library with sizable windows, and the priest used to climb out and sit on the roof, feeding Percival kakashas. Danica jumps over the bed. "Where are you going?" the vampire asked again, returning to his physical form.Rufo's answer was a stinging sun as Danica cracked and tore open the boards covering the window. "Presumptuous!" Rufo roared.Danica responded with a snarl, continuing to tear the other board off the backing.Then she saw Percival through the glass, jumping round and round the roof—my dear Percival, he had saved her life. The sunlight falling on Rufo was indirect, because the windows faced east, towards the Shining Plains, and the sun was setting towards the western horizon.Still, the vampire didn't move forward, afraid to chase Danica into the sunlight outside. "I'll come back to you, Rufo," Danica swore firmly, remembering Dorigen. "I'll be back with Cadderly." She picked up a board and threw it out, shattering the window panes. Rufo growled and took a step towards her, but was pushed back by the sunlight.It tore the crossbar off its brackets and yanked the door open with such force that Danica thought it was trying to escape. Headmaster Thobicus stood in the corridor.As soon as the door opened and the faint light hit it, he raised his hands defensively. "Grab her!" Rufo screamed at his opponent. Thobicus took a step forward, though the mind was protesting.Now it is a creature of darkness and cannot enter the sunlight!It looked at Rufo beggingly, but there was no compromise in the master vampire's expression. "Get her!" Rufo growled again. Thobicus felt himself moving forward in pain, despite the protests of his own mind.Rufo forced it to submit, just as Cadderly had forced it.But it has thrown itself into darkness, unable to deny Rufo's will! So Thobicus knew in his heart that he was a miserable fellow.Once dominated by Cadderly in life, now Rufo controls him in death.It got to the conclusion that they were both the same.Both are the same. It wasn't until Dean Thobicus approached the window that he realized the truth.Cadderly was guided by his sense of morality, and Cadderly would not force him to jump out of a window.Cadderly, the god Denir, is the light. But Thobix chose darkness, and its master, Rufo, was not guided by any sense of morality, only his own desires drove Rufo. "Get her!" the vampire's voice, and will, ordered. Danica hadn't broken enough glass to get her through safely, so she spun quickly and slammed the plank on the head of the approaching vampire. Thobix snarled at her, not at all pleased with his apparent odds, for he had known then that he was a victim, not a winner. Danica jabbed the fragment of the cracked board into Thobex's chest, trying to pierce the makeshift stake through its heart.However, it raised a hand and missed the blow, sinking the jagged wood deep into its stomach. Thobicus looked at the monk almost in astonishment.For a long moment, they stared at each other, and it seemed to Danica that the Headmaster seemed sad and contrite. Rufo's will pierced Thobex's mind again, and its thoughts were no longer his own. Danica and Thobex moved simultaneously, both rushing toward the window.They pinched each other as they passed, the glass slicing through Danica's exposed arms. They roll on the roof.Thobix had a tight grip on Danica, and Danica didn't dare break the charge, knowing that if they stopped moving, she would be caught and dragged back to face Rufo.They rolled around and around, Thobix trying to bite Danica, who blocked him with an arm around its face.For the two of them, the world became a whirling blur of images. Percival's squeak turned into a scream as Danica and Thobix both fell from the roof.