Not good!
They originally belonged to the room, but they’d been in different places before; now they were stacked together, which looked pretty strange, as if someone had been about to use them for something but given up at the last minute.
Why give up? Startled by the knock at the door? And did that mean the killer hadn’t left, but was hiding somewhere in the room? Similar questions flashed through Argos and Emlyn White’s minds at the same time, except one was suddenly suspicious and the other was trying to guess what the other would think.
Not good!
Both vampires reacted at the same time. Argos lunged to the side, dense black mist billowing behind him shaped like bat wings, while Emlyn White’s fingers quickly slid across the open «Leymano’s Travel Notes».
Suddenly, silver-white flashed, illuminating the whole room again.
The branching lightning bolt didn’t hit Argos; it struck the floor next to the bed and scattered into countless tiny electric snakes that jumped toward more conductive objects.
Among these, the wings Argos had made from thick black mist seemed especially attractive to lightning; the silver-white snakes chased them, crackled as they broke apart, and spread to his body.
Argos was paralyzed for a second, unable to leap up, and fell with a thud.
Emlyn quickly turned the pages of Leymano’s Travel Notes, sliding his finger across another «Lightning Strike» page.
Though he didn’t know why there were so many «Lightning Strike» pages—half of the yellow-brown parchment—right now he was extremely glad to keep using them.
A silver-white lightning bolt fell from nowhere, striking Argos directly. Just as he broke free of the paralysis and was about to leap away, black smoke erupted from his body, and he trembled uncontrollably.
Seizing the opportunity, Emlyn White bent his knees, pushed off the ground, and closed in on Argos at high speed, almost leaving afterimages. Then he wrapped his right arm around the other’s head, turned nimbly, and got behind him.
Crack!
Argos suddenly saw his own back.
His eyes turned bloodshot, the swollen, festering spots on his face burst open, and deep, illusory darkness gushed out.
Emlyn didn’t understand what had changed. He slipped back, instinctively retreated, and kept changing positions.
Argos didn’t pursue. His eyes seemed to have lost reason, leaving only pure malice, madness, and obvious confusion.
He raised his hands, pressed them against his head from both sides, and with a sharp crack, forcefully twisted it back to the correct orientation.
Around this artificial vampire, the darkness surged deeply, as if to devour everything.
Then Argos moved his wobbly neck side to side; his entire body was swollen and festering, oozing disgusting pus.
He had come to Gallis Kevin tonight because he was showing signs of losing control and needed to discuss a solution. He’d turned back halfway because it suddenly occurred to him that maybe the foul environment was affecting his supernatural sense of smell and sensitive organs, causing the signs of losing control.
And now, under the shadow of death, he had completely collapsed and truly lost control.
Emlyn White’s heart trembled as Argos’s gaze swept over him. He felt he was in trouble again and silently cursed those followers of the «Primordial Moon» who always turned themselves into monsters.
He didn’t immediately pray to «Mr. Fool». First, there was no time; the opponent was about to attack. Second, in a one-on-one situation, Emlyn thought dealing with an out-of-control Sequence 7 wasn’t too dangerous.
He hurriedly flipped through Leymano’s Travel Notes and stopped again at «Lightning Strike».
Crack!
A thick, twisted, clawed silver-white lightning bolt came down hard, hitting the mutated Argos.
At that instant, the lightning seemed to shatter the surging darkness, and at the same time seemed swallowed by the darkness; both disappeared, leaving only Argos, whose eyes were now locked on Emlyn.
The crazy artificial vampire truly left afterimages as he lunged at his target.
Emlyn dropped low and rolled on the ground, dodging the lethal strike.
At the same time, his right hand, not holding Leymano’s Travel Notes, reached into his pocket and took out a metal bottle.
Thump!
Argos turned rapidly and closed in instantly.
Smack! Emlyn didn’t have time to open the bottle; he squeezed with his fingers, cracking the metal bottle.
Then he threw the bottle forward, letting the pure, bright liquid splash onto the charging Argos.
This was «Sun Water» he had prepared from spiritual materials, extremely effective against vampires.
This was a preparation made in advance by the «
«Ah!» Argos let out a screeching scream on the spot. Black smoke rose from his body, and he lost all strength in midair.