Chapter 366 This... Is My Victory
Michelangelo's Domination Aura filled the whole place like a suffocating blanket as he stared blankly ahead.
Daphne was gone.
Just like that.
It wasn't as if they hadn't known a day like this would come. In fact, they'd trained for it. It wasn't grief he was feeling. He'd overcome that emotion a long time ago.
No. He was feeling… shock. This wasn't the way he'd expected this to go. But that was the thing about vampires. They usually had very little say in matters of their rebirth or death.
That was how it had always been and how it would always be.
As if in a dream, he looked down at his white suit, now stained with splatters of blood. His gaze shifted to Daphne's dead body. Then it came back up to land on Nicodemus himself. All this happened in the space of a second.
Then, he snapped out of his shock as Nicodemus lunged forward, shocked this time by the speed of the vampire.
Even with his face twisted in his madness, Michelangelo could still recognize it. Time could not erase the memory of Nicodemus' face from his brain even if he wanted to. The man had been one of the two sent to this city.
And now, here he was, alive.
Michelangelo sidestepped just in time, dodging the reaching claws of the former City Lord candidate. His body had moved on instinct. If not, he'd be dead just like Daphne.
He stomped and the ground writhed, serpents of stone emerging from the ground and reaching for Nicodemus. The crazed vampire roared, his claws slashing through the stone as if it was paper.
"Help m-" Michelangelo's voice trailed off as he looked at where Anya had been standing to see she had already ran off.
Well, it was no skin off his back. He could do this all by himself. His eyes narrowed as he turned back to Nicodemus. His swapping tattoo wouldn't help here. There was nothing good enough to swap here. Not yet. The only tattoos he had to use now were his earth and perception tattoos.
He activated his perception tattoo and… frowned.
Nicodemus surged towards him like an arrow moving unerringly towards its target. Michelangelo moved to the side but Nicodemus corrected his course, moving towards him like a beast.
His eyes widened in realization. His perception tattoo was not… working? Impossible. It worked even against seventh ringed vampires. And from what he could sense…
He almost stumbled in shock just as Nicodemus got close enough to slash towards him. He ducked under the slash, weaving away from the follow up slash, dug his hands into Nicodemus' stomach and ripped it off.
He could feel it inside Nicodemus. The signs of a vampire using the innermost parts of their soul as fuel. He should've anticipated this from the clues he'd been given by Genesis.
The raw, self-destructive power that came from the soul made Nicodemus just as, if not more dangerous than a sixth-ring vampire.
"You've turned yourself into a husk!" Michelangelo spat, batting away Nicodemus' fists. The man fought with no care for his body even as it regenerated. "Is this what you've become, Nicodemus? A shadow of your former self?"
Nicodemus snarled in response, moving like the crazy beast that he was. Michelangelo barely had time to dodge the swipe of claws aimed at his throat, countering with chains of vitality reinforced stone which slammed into Nicodemus and sent him staggering back.
Michelangelo took advantage of the loss of balance, rushing at Nicodemus.
He speared towards his throat but the beast pivoted with the movement, planting his hands on the floor and using it to throw himself forward.
Michelangelo stomped on the floor, walls of stone intercepting the beast. Nicodemus crashed into the walls, sending stone flying everywhere.
"You've lost control." Michelangelo said through gritted teeth. "But I haven't."
With a snarl of his own, Michelangelo unleashed his full Domination Aura.
The force came down on the hallway like the hand of God, cracking the ground beneath their feet. Nicodemus snarled as he fell on all fours, his claws digging into the ground as he struggled against the overwhelming force.
"This…," Michelangelo drawled as he stepped forward leisurely, "is my victory."
The fight was won and the beast was under his feet. There was no way it would escape from his Domination.
"Hmmm." He thought about all that had happened. Genesis had done all this to point to Nicodemus. "I see."
"Apologies frie-" Michelangelo looked down and his words were cut short as Nicodemus' claws sank into his chest. "H- How?"
He spat blood as the crazed beast stared into his eyes as if it was trying to tell him something.
How had it shaken off his Domination?
He had no time for a second thought as Nicodemus yanked his hand out of his chest.
**********
Up above in the hall, something else was going on.
James paced impatiently, his eyes flicking toward the door Michelangelo had disappeared through. This was the entrance hall of the house which meant the door they passed through could lead to virtually anywhere in the house,
He had no idea where they'd gone but something was telling him this wasn't the time to be relaxed.
His eyes went to the woman left behind to guard him. She casually wandered the hall, closer to the door, smirking as she examined the decorations on the walls.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
"I have to admit, you've got a really nice place. Cozy if I do say so myself." Lisa said and he couldn't tell if she was mocking him or complimenting him. "Though I have to say, the color scheme is a bit... ostentatious. Gold and red? Really? What are you? Gryffindor?"
James shot her a glare, his patience running out. He had no time for her nonsensical ramblings. "Where did the Attendant go?" He demanded.
Lisa's smirk widened and she wagged her finger at him like he was a particularly naughty child. "Oh, wouldn't you like to know?"
"Enough of this." James growled, turning away. "If he's not here, I have no reason to stand around waiting."
He began walking to the staircase that led towards his quarters when the door Michelangelo had gone through a few minutes ago banged open.
There was a blur of gold as Anya rushed out of the other door, faster than the human eye could see.
Both James and Lisa froze, their eyes meeting each other.
Then James' eyes widened in realization, his head snapped to the now open door and he whispered three words.
"The fucking basement!"