As Leonidas levitated within the fading heat of his power, his eyes scanned the scorched rooftop, searching for his grandson. It did not take him long to locate the young vampire. Leonidas gritted his teeth, his jaw tightening at the sight of the boy's horrific condition. He glided downward until his boots touched the cracked concrete; the moment he made contact, the towering pillar of fire dissipated into a swirl of embers.
"You really are the apex among monsters," Decker called out, his voice a mix of awe and malice. "How did you manage to overcome the venom of a Werewolf Lord?"
Leonidas didn't even turn to look at him. "Why should a Lord answer a peasant? Besides, what difference would it make? A dead man has no use for secrets."
Decker's face slowly contorted, his ego bruising at the dismissal. "Then why don't we see who goes to the afterlife first!"
Decker lunged, rushing toward the Crimson Lord with predatory speed. But Leonidas simply vanished, leaving nothing but a heat haze behind. He reappeared instantly beside John.
"Boy," Leonidas said, his voice low. "Are you alright?"
John let out a pained grunt, his breathing labored. "What the hell took you so long? I got my ass kicked while you were taking your beauty sleep."
Leonidas's heart ached at the sight of John's broken state, but he kept his expression a mask of calm. "Let's get you to safety first."
The moment Leonidas touched the boy's shoulder, a ring of flames engulfed them both. In a flash of heat, they teleported to a far corner of the roof, away from the immediate reach of the enemy.
"You stay here," Leonidas commanded, his eyes finally locking onto Decker with a murderous glow. "I'm going to deal with him."
Just as Leonidas turned to stand, John reached out and grabbed his arm. Leonidas looked back at the boy, pausing.
"I almost forgot," John rasped, his voice strained. "Take it."
John reached behind him, pulling a leather sheath from the small of his back. He handed the dagger to his grandfather. Leonidas's eyes softened momentarily as he recognized the weapon.
"The Dancing Flame... but it's yours, John."
"Use it to take him down," John insisted, his gaze unwavering.
Leonidas didn't argue further. He took the blade and tucked the sheath into his belt. "Will do."
Flames engulfed the Lord once more as he teleported back to his original position. He stood tall, facing Decker as the two rivals locked eyes. "So, what's it going to be? Are you going to wait for me to strike first?"
Decker remained still for a moment before a suffocating dark aura erupted from his body. "I have become much stronger since the last time we fought, Leonidas. My cloning ability is on a level you cannot comprehend."
"I don't care," Leonidas replied, his voice cold as the grave. "You are going to die for what you have done to my family."
Decker threw his head back and laughed, a harsh, mocking sound. "And what about the thousands of families you killed over the years of your pathetic life? Do they mean nothing? Do their lives have no meaning to you?"
"No," Leonidas said flatly.
"That is why I'm here!" Decker roared, levitating high into the air as dark energy swirled around him like a storm. "I am here to exact revenge for those innocent lives you plucked like feathers!"
Leonidas stood motionless, watching the vampire ascend. Suddenly, a hundred dark shadow clones burst from Decker's body, filling the sky like a plague of locusts. "This is what true power looks like, Leonidas!"
"You brag about power that does not belong to you," Leonidas countered.
"Who cares? If I can eliminate my enemy, that is all that matters!"
Leonidas chuckled, though there was no humor in it. "You're right. My apologies for judging you. Let us find out today who is truly stronger."
Decker pointed a finger toward the Crimson Lord. "Destroy him!"
Leonidas launched from the ground at incredible speed, leaving spiderweb cracks in the concrete as he soared into the air. He met the first intercepting clone with a single, devastating punch that caused its head to explode. The strike was fueled by Leonidas's raw, pent-up anger from being helpless while his family suffered.
He soared through the swarm, knocking clones aside like insects, but the numbers were overwhelming. They swarmed him, a sphere of bodies dogpiling the Vampire Lord in mid-air. Nearly fifty clones clung to him, clawing and biting, trying to drag him back to the earth.
"Blazing Tornado!"
While hurtling through the air, Leonidas began to spin his body with violent velocity. The clones held on like leeches until his Hellflame ignited the air. A massive tornado of fire spiraled into the sky, a majestic and terrifying pillar of heat. The falling rain turned instantly to steam, creating a white shroud around the rotating flames. The clones were incinerated in seconds, their shrieks lost in the roar of the fire as the intense heat forced the survivors to scatter, and those who survived the initial heat let go, unable to withstand the intense temperature radiating from the Vampire Lord.
The massive flame tornado dissipated as Leonidas finally shook off the last of the clinging shadow figures. Still levitating, he scanned the perimeter only to find he was completely encircled by a swarm of remaining clones.
"You really are like cockroaches," Leonidas spat, his voice carrying through the rain.
The clones surrounding the Vampire Lord simultaneously held out their palms. Orbs of swirling dark energy began to condense in the center of their hands.
"Hahaha! Leonidas, you are surrounded!" Decker taunted from the periphery. He gave the order like a commander to his troops, swinging his arm down. "Fire!"
On command, the shadow humanoids unleashed a barrage of dark energy balls. A cacophony of explosions tore through the sky, the sheer force of the blasts blowing the rain droplets away in a localized shockwave. From his position on the roof, John could only watch in horror as the sky ignited in shadow. "No! Old man!"
Decker caught the sound of John's voice and looked toward the boy in the distance, a wicked grin spreading across his face.
The clones maintained their concentrated fire for a full minute, relentless in their assault. "That is enough," Decker called out. The clones instantly halted. A massive, choking cloud of black smoke hovered in the air where Leonidas had been. Debris from the blast—matter reduced instantly to fine, black ash—drifted downward like soot.
Decker laughed, pressing his right hand against his forehead in a fit of manic joy. "Did I kill him? Is he finally gone?"
The dark cloud hung in the air for three agonizing minutes. Decker waited with a predatory grin, eager to see the charred remains of his rival. But his satisfaction turned to shock as the smoke cleared. The Vampire Lord was still there, levitating calmly, sporting nothing more than minor cuts and bruises.
"Is that the best you've got, Decker?" Leonidas asked, his voice steady.
"How... how is this possible?" Decker stammered. "You should have been turned to ash!"
"Let's see how durable these shitty clones of yours really are," Leonidas countered. He opened his palms, conjuring spheres of concentrated hellfire.
"Take this!"
The Vampire Lord unleashed a rapid-fire barrage of fireballs. The night sky was painted a brilliant, violent crimson as the attacks exploded upon impact, incinerating shadows in bursts of heat. Some of the clones managed to weave through the fire, diving toward him. One shadow humanoid managed to sneak behind Leonidas, readying a lethal blow, but the Lord was already two steps ahead.
Without looking, Leonidas drove his elbow back into the clone's face, following the strike with a swift, brutal kick to the temple. The clone's head exploded from the impact. Before the headless body could fall, Leonidas placed a hand on its chest; the torso instantly erupted into a pyre of white-hot flame, consumed before it could even hit the ground.
Another shadow clone dived from above, but Leonidas was too fast. He lunged upward, his right hand snapping shut over the clone's mouth. As he held the creature, four more clones rushed him from different angles. In response, Leonidas conjured three spheres of hellfire that hovered menacingly above his head.
The approaching clones skidded to a halt, their featureless faces twisting in what looked like primal fear. They hovered for a heartbeat, looking at one another, before turning to retreat.
Leonidas, still holding the struggling clone by its mouth, whispered softly, "Go."
Like homing missiles, the fireballs chased their targets. They tore through the air at breakneck speed, dashing and twisting with sentient precision to hunt the fleeing shadows. It didn't take long. Three violent explosions rocked the sky as the flames found their marks and incinerated the targets.
A different clone lunged from the front, but Leonidas didn't flinch. With a burst of heat, he blew the head off the clone he was holding in his right hand. The blast didn't stop there; the beam of hellfire continued forward, catching the frontal attacker and vaporizing its head in the same motion.
Leonidas began to move with rhythmic brutality, alternating rapid-fire blasts from both hands. He unleashed a massive barrage of hellfire that filled the sky like a chaotic firework display. High above, Decker gritted his teeth as he watched his army being systematically dismantled. "This... this is not possible."
Once the final clone was reduced to ash, the Vampire Lord descended, his feet touching the roof of the castle. His breathing was slightly heavy, the exertion of the massive output finally showing. He looked up, his eyes burning.
"Decker. Come down and face me."
The dark-skinned vampire clapped his hands slowly as he descended. "I must say, you never seem to disappoint me."
"Enough games," Leonidas growled. "You and me. Let us end this."
As Decker's feet landed on the roof, a disturbing change came over him. His hair was thinning, clumps of it falling away from his scalp as if his very biology was failing.
"Let us not waste any more time," Decker hissed.
Both men dashed toward each other, their collision creating a shockwave that rippled across the rooftop. They rebounded instantly. Leonidas conjured three more fireballs above his head, launching them in a tight formation.
Decker didn't dodge. He released three fresh shadow clones, using them as living shields to absorb the impact. The consecutive explosions shook the very foundation of the castle, causing sections of the roof to collapse inward. Through the smoke and falling debris, Decker suddenly surged forward. He delivered a vicious punch directly to Leonidas's sternum.
The force was immense. Blood sprayed from Leonidas's mouth as he was sent tumbling backward across the stone.
"Did you think you could defeat me, Leonidas?" Decker mocked, stepping through the soot. "You are still very strong, but I have become something far greater."
Leonidas was already back on his feet, wiping the blood from his chin as he stared at his foe with a murderous glint. "Hehehe... I have faced foes that would step on you like an insect, Carlos. You are not my rival. After today, no one will remember you—or your dead daughter."
Decker let out a guttural scream of pure agony and rage. He charged Leonidas, his form a blur of shadows. Leonidas smirked; he had baited the trap perfectly. He ducked under a wild haymaker and countered with a thunderous punch to Decker's gut, sending the dark-skinned vampire hurtling backward across the roof.
Leonidas didn't let up. As Decker was still rolling, two shadow clones erupted from his body to intercept the Lord, but they were too slow. Leonidas sprinted toward them, positioning himself with strategic precision. With explosive speed, he extended both arms in a brutal double-clothesline. The impact was sickening; in a blinding flash of force, their heads were driven backward so violently they were practically torn from their shoulders.
Continuing his momentum, Leonidas reached Decker and delivered a crushing kick that launched the man high into the air. As Carlos ascended, Leonidas channeled his energy, unleashing a massive fireball aimed directly at the man's midsection.
Even mid-air, Decker was crafty. Two more clones exited his body in a desperate maneuver. The first clone took the brunt of the fireball, incinerating instantly to shield its master. The second clone grabbed Decker by the shoulders and hurled him downward with a violent shove.
Decker dived like a hawk, his heel leading the way. Leonidas, still recovering from the fireball's recoil, didn't have time to dodge. Decker's heel slammed into the top of Leonidas's head with a sickening crack. The impact was so great that a fissure split the concrete roof beneath Leonidas's feet.
Carlos retreated immediately, skidding back across the stone and breathing in heavy, ragged gasps. Leonidas remained standing in the center of the crater, though his knees trembled. Dark blood began to leak from his forehead, matting his hair and running down his face.
"That kick..." Leonidas muttered, his voice gravelly, "fucking hurt."
"That is just a taste, Leonidas," Decker hissed, his chest heaving as more of his hair drifted away in the wind. "There is much more to come."