Modern World Warlock

Right after Laurent stabbed Udras' chest with his bare hands, the warlock-turned-Death Knight produced a shadowy energy from his body that pushed the vampire away from him.

A small piece of Udras' bandages came off, allowing Laurent to see his opponent's chin and mouth for a brief second before it got shrouded by the shadows around him like a mask.

'Was that…?' Laurent thought after getting a peek at Udras' face, noticing that his lips had been sewn close.

The vampire lord knew that his stitched mouth must have had some sort of meaning, but he couldn't think of any reason for a Death Knight to have them.

If Netherius didn't want Udras to speak his mind, he could've simply altered his memories like he had done with the others, making Laurent even more confused.

Still, he couldn't keep thinking about it for too long as the shadows that traveled around Udras began to cover his entire body, making his frame bigger and stronger.

When the pair of vampires glanced at the behemoth, they saw how its body started to turn to ash—and that ash turned into the shadows encasing the Death Knight's body.

'Is he fusing with the behemoth!?' Laurent thought, gritting his teeth and lunging himself forward with his claws prepared for another assault.

Udras extended his arms and let out a loud scream that sounded like a beast's roar, prompting the two vampires to cover their ears in pain.

As Laurent resisted the excruciatingly loud sound, he turned his head to look back at Udras, only to be met by a shadowy projectile that struck his chest, inflicting a curse of pain upon him.

The vampire lord felt how his bones contracted, and each little movement he made brought a wave of pain to his body that made him grit his teeth with his eyes widened in defiance.

Before Udras could continue attacking, Madeline interrupted him, getting a few centimeters away from him and unleashing a barrage of claws and kicks against the Death Knight.

Even though Madeline had powered up after drinking Maya's blood, Udras' power level had also increased after absorbing the body of the behemoth, so he managed to avoid the vampire sentinel's attacks.

After finding an opening in Madeline's stance, Udras' hand was coated in a thick mantle of shadows and waved it to the side, releasing another curse that washed over the vampire's body in an instant, causing her to suffer excruciating pain.

Udras stood before Madeline and raised his hand, ready to execute her on the spot. Laurent kept trying to move and resist the pain in his bones, but his sluggish movements wouldn't allow him to reach his sister in time.

Luckily, the vampires had another teammate who had been waiting for the perfect chance to engage, and before Udras could finish the job, a bullet came flying out of nowhere and struck the Death Knight's raised hand.

Maya couldn't use any magic, but she was still extremely experienced when it came to using weapons, primarily guns, as her aim was unmatched.

Knowing that most magical creatures could resist common bullets, she was using custom projectiles that were made for the Jade Dragons, which were reinforced with stronger alloys and gave them a much more destructive effect when hitting their target.

Thus, when Maya hit Udras' hand, the Death Knight was left with two fingers as the custom bullet blasted away the rest of his hand.

Maya expected her opponent to flinch from the attack at the very least, but Udras turned his head somewhat calmly and spotted Maya standing atop a building quite far away from them.

Coating his entire body with shadows and releasing eerie and cold energy from his body that flowed all over the area, Laurent, Madeline, and Maya prepared themselves for another powerful attack.

Suddenly, the three of them seemed to lose focus on Udras for a brief moment, not because the Death Knight had moved from his place but because they felt someone approaching the area.

"What's this?" The voice of a woman could be heard by all the combatants, her tone low and strangely elegant.

"Mother…" Madeline muttered, looking up at the sky and seeing the frame of Asphodel hovering above the destroyed street.

The Vampire Mother had her large bat wings fully extended, and she was wearing a black leather jacket and tight jeans that highlighted her figure.

With her arms crossed and her gaze sharpened, she scanned the area and saw Madeline kneeling on the ground, bleeding from her eye.

On the other side, Laurent was still trying to fight back the excruciating pain that was inflicted upon him, and atop a building two blocks away, she saw Maya and the two small fang marks on her neck.

The presence of Asphodel was enough to make Udras halt his attack on the others, as the Death Knight recognized her as the more significant threat.

"Hey, warlock… What were you about to do?" Asphodel asked with a slightly condescending tone, keeping her serious expression and locking her crimson eyes on the Death Knight.

Still, Udras couldn't talk, so he aimed his healthy palm at Asphodel and released a massive beam of shadows directed at her.

Maya widened her eyes, seeing that Asphodel wasn't moving from her spot as the powerful spell traveled towards her, and just as it made an impact, the entire beam of shadows was split into dozens of strands that flew away from the Vampire Mother's body.

The streaks of shadows hit the buildings around her, utterly destroying them as if the shadows were laced with bombs, and as the smoke slowly dissipated, Asphodel was still standing in her spot without a single scratch on her.

"I had thought about being merciful with you, Death Knights…" Asphodel casually commented, hovering down to the ground and taking a few steps forward with poise and grace.

"But, you dared lay a hand on my children…" she continued, almost whispering, but her voice could still be heard by everyone present.

Even Udras took a step back when he felt the overwhelming aggression that extruded from Asphodel's body. Still, he was a Death Knight, so fighting until death was his duty.