Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Meanwhile, Lucius continued to look intensely at the ability, tracing it to its source. At first he thought it was a magical ability, but the skill seemed to not emit mana of any kind. This meant it was neither Magic nor Arts. There was only one other kind of power in the world, but how could a vampire use the strange source of energy that marks could use… was it even possible.

At no point in time during their battle did he witness a mark on the vampire\'s left hand, so it had to be something else. Lucius tuned into the sensation that powerful marks gave off and tried to hone it down to search for the source of these tendrils. By the time he figured it out, he was wrapped from his fingertips to his shoulders and from his feet up to his knees.

Following the source of power that empowered this strange ability, led Lucius\'s eyes to a ring on the vampire\'s still attached hand. It was a plain, silver ring with a black gemstone set into it. The power seemed to be coming from the gemstone itself.

\'That\'s the one. You will want to take that.\' Grimm whispered into his mind.

Chapter Continue:

\'Why should I?\' Lucius demanded.

\'Ugh… such an impertinent child sometimes. I liked you better when you just listened to me… fine, take the ring and go to the spire in these ruins. If you do that… I\'ll give you a little bit of information.\' Grimm grumbled before his presence vanished.

"Well, that\'s enough of that," Lucius said with a sigh. "You seem to be used to using these things, but I\'m a little more experienced than you. [Abyss Break: Abyss Armor]"

The vampire\'s eyes opened wide in surprise as it felt the control of the ability granted to it by the strange ring be ripped away from it. The shadows rapidly covered Lucius\'s entire body before they slowly faded away from his hands, face, and neck. Everywhere else on his body became a shining set of metallic black armor that reflected the moonlight from above.

What was once a hint of dark power that pooled around the vampire, became a tidal wave of oppressive force that made even the creature of darkness tremble. Lucius slowly advanced and tried to get acclimated to his upgraded ability.

It had been a few years since he last used this specific ability and there were a few notable changes since then. For one, instead of looking like shadows covering or accenting his original armor, it instead generated a temporary set of its own design.

Additionally, instead of the one shadow tendril that assisted in watching over his blind spot, he now had a set of six that folded off of his back like a set of demonic wings.

"Alright, Grimm… the look is a little much, don\'t you think?" He asked aloud.

With a panicked roar, the vampire swung its blood whip furiously at Lucius only to have each strike effortlessly slapped away by the shadow tendrils protecting him. Blood splattered across the walls of the ruins with each impact, shortening the length of the whip with every strike.

Lightning once again crackled around Lucius\'s body before concentrating at his feet and fingertips. The vampire had no time to react as Lucius\'s hand slammed into its face and a massive bolt of energy shot down its throat. Its eyes boiled from the inside out while its body twitched.

All six of the tendrils then pierced into the creature\'s body and pinned it in place as it attempted to force its body away from Lucius.

"Not good enough." He growled while swinging his sword downward and cutting the vampire\'s head in half.

The twitching stopped instantly. A few moments later the body began to turn to ash. The ring clattered to the ground and began to \'call out\' to Lucius. He felt himself drawn into the beautiful darkness of the gem. Once his fingers touched the piece of jewelry, it jumped onto his finger and began to absorb into his skin and vanish.

\'Good job, boy, on retrieving a fragment of the abyss… tomorrow… visit the spire and I will share more.\' Grimm whispered before disappearing again.

Once the ring disappeared, Lucius felt a sense of panic rise in his chest. Before it could get too bad, an almost forgotten sensation spread from the base of his skull. It was a chill that seemed to eat away at the anxiety in his heart, returning him to a state of apathy about the situation.

Glancing around, he saw the deceased bodies of the other warriors and torched them with a strike of lightning to prevent any more undead creatures. After he was satisfied with their level of destruction he returned to the research camp.

While he had been gone, they suffered a number of casualties from the waves of undead. Dozens of people were breathing heavily while a few others ran around and cast healing spells while constantly draining mana restoration potions. One of those doing healing was Rena.

He decided to leave her to her task and searched for the other party members. Desmond had a few cuts and scratches on him but was otherwise okay. Natali looked perfectly fine, though a bit tired. From what he overheard while asking around for her, she was able to cast multiple Ice Walls between waves to allow for frequent regrouping.

"Lucius, are you alright? I take it you found out what was the source of the problem?" Desmond asked.

"It was a vampire. The rest of the task group is dead. Tomorrow we are going to the spire," Lucius answered.

"There\'s no point. There is no way to enter the spire that we have been able to find. Why do you need to go there?" a portly researcher asked while raising his glasses.

"That is none of your concern. Desmond, Natali, Rena. Rest. Everyone else can split up the night\'s watch. We have earned our keep." Lucius stated plainly before disappearing into the small room that he and Rena shared.