Life in a new Kingdom

"You should have left with your companions, Caleb," Rys says in a firm tone. I hold my sword in my hand and follow behind him. Rys doesn't end his pursuit and continues into the mansion.

"I won't let you do this alone. You told me a lot about these creatures; if you fail here, more people will die."

"The people he used in his experiments created those flesh constructs and many more evils. These unholy abominations are not something you can swing a sword at, and they will fall. My wires were designed to exterminate anything undead and unholy."

"Do you have any way of making my blade able to kill them permanently?" I look at my sword, trying to figure out a solution.

"I have some holy oil in my bag; drench your blade with it, and it will have the properties of a blessed weapon for twenty-four hours."

"What are you waiting for? Hand it over." I chuckle as I reach out toward him. Rys stops momentarily to glare at my face before walking deeper into the mansion. I race back to his side and grab his sleeve. "Don't ignore me."

"We are dealing with a powerful Vampire. One that uses necromancy and science to create constructs from the flesh of anything. If you want to help, don't get in my way. I'll be the one to kill these creatures."

"Are you that dead set on doing everything on your own? You're a doctor; surely you know that helping people, you need help yourself."

"This matter is my own vendetta!" Rys raised his voice into a shout. I stop to look at his face, twisted with wells of anger. A look that I am familiar with. Letting out a sigh, I walk in front of him and stand in place.

"Finally, let it slip. Regardless of your feelings, I am coming with you. Now, either you make this easier for yourself and give me the oil, or I will just fight creatures I am unable to kill fully on my own." Once again, I present my hand for the flask. Rys lets out a grunt of displeasure before reaching into his pouch.

"Here, take it! Don't say I didn't warn you. Stay out of my way, Caleb." Rys takes off as I pour the oil over my sword. I can tell the oil is absorbed into the blade magically. A slight glow emits from the blade. Approving of my weapon, I accompany Rys.

The dark hallway part to a single room on the third floor, presumably Cornelious's room. The door isn't locked, and when opened, it reveals nothing unusual. Rys investigates without saying a word, moving certain objects for some hidden switch or button. My role to keep a lookout goes without incident.

"There has to be something here. He spends most of his time in this room; the scent of his corpse riddles the entire room." Rys looks around frantically, darting his eyes in directions, retracing the scent.

"How can you smell him?" My thoughts were confused by his comment and behavior. I turned my attention toward Rys for a moment. A burning sensation hit my back, sending me rolling over the desk in the middle of the room. Rys turns to look at me and the figure that had attacked me.

"Caleb! Tsk! I knew you were lurking somewhere, Bozem!" The pain in my back was near paralyzing. I grabbed the edge of the table and lifted myself to see the assailant. Standing in the doorway is a tall figure with slender arms and pale skin. Wearing butler attire, the figure slumps and moves forward with a massive sway.

"Ah Rys, how good of you to show up back to work. The Master is working at this moment; I am afraid I must ask you to leave." His voice was oddly raspy; he grabbed a small black object and placed it into his mouth. A loud crunch as his teeth pierce through the oozing creature. He swallows and licks his lips with a long tongue.

"Maybe Cornelius would like to see what I can do for him. Might showing me how to get there?" Wires encircle his fingers and forms a wall of the wire. Bozem lets out a chuckle and licks over his long, claw-like nails. I strain to get to my feet and raise my blade.

"Ah, the child, you survived my attack, good. My Master enjoys having children whenever he feels hungry after work. You'll prove to be a gracious gift for his appetite!" Bozem leaps with a large sweep of his claw directly at me. Rys steps forward, repels him with his wires, and twirls them around his body to drag nearby objects to slam into the tall man.

I stand up and stay back before getting in the way. Bozem grabs a lamp and crushes the glass of it into his hand. His blood falls to the ground, which starts to burn through the floorboards. Then he flings the shards and pieces of his blood at us. The shards cut through the wires as the blood corrodes them instantly, and Rys lifts his arms to cover his face. The shards slash through his skin, and the blood begins to burn his skin. I narrowly dodged the spray of blood, but droplets had fallen onto my arm.

Intense burning pain seared into my arm as the acidic blood burned past my clothes. I slid my blade along my arm to flick off the blood and prevent further damage. Rys doesn't react in time before Bozem throws another volley of his blood directly at him, a cone of his blood enough to hit his entire torso.

"Barrier!" Thinking quickly, I prevent the blood from reaching Rys and let it splash against the barrier. The blood doesn't react to the magical essence and just falls to the floor, quickly burning through and seeping past down to the foundation. Bozem scoffs at my attempts to hinder his attacks and grows impatient for our survival.

"I'll be the shield! Just focus on killing this bastard!" I shout to Rys as he readjusts his wires and covers his arms with them as a way to protect against any damage from the blood. He nods to my plan, flicks his coat, and extends his wires around my barrier toward Bozem. The lengthy figure shows an unnatural reflex, twists around the wires, and races forward at me.

"Barrier!" I summon the barrier at his legs, which stops him. He nearly ran directly into the yellow wall and tripped over his feet. Rys angles his wires, which pierce Bozem's arms. The wires quickly burn away from the blood, but Rys wraps the wires around the length of his arm and grabs the long connection with his hands. Pulling tightly, Rys twisted his hips, leaped into the air, and pulled the wires over his shoulder to fling Bozem into a bookcase, breaking completely.

"Wow, I didn't realize you were that strong," I comment. Rys lets out a slight grin before dropping it and pushing me down to the ground. In that moment, a long claw extended toward me from Bozems location. The elongated hand slashed Rys on the side before dragging him on its retreat. Rys's blood flows from the wound as Bozem crawls out from under the bookcase.

"Don't get cocky, boy! My Master has given me many gifts! Not only has he revived me on the brink of death, but he has also turned my body into his playground! Giving me untold power, and you shall be the pig I shall demonstrate my strength! Rys is slammed into the ground before being kicked in the face by Bozem. A handful of his teeth shatters inside his mouth and falls across the floor. He struggles to move from the kick, and Bozem yanks his arm to finish him off. "You'll prove to be another great example of Masters work!"

Rys smiles with his mouth bleeding profusely, a slight tug on his fingers and wires that were wrapped around Bozems left arm tighten around and shred the creature's flesh apart. The wires quickly snap from the acidic blood, but Rys grabs a long dagger from his side and uses his wires to throw it into Bozems chest. "Thanks for leaving me an opening!" Through the gargling of blood, Rys continues to smile as Bozem kicks him in the chest, knocking him to his knees.

"You mongrel! DIE!"

"Sword Art: Flash Strike!" Before Bozem could kill Rys, I flashed stepped with my sword, slicing through Bozem's final arm. The oil on the blade protects it from the acidic blood, and the magical enchantment allows it to remain sharp as I cleave the arm from his body. The blood splashes onto my shoulder. Sounds of the acidic blood burning my flesh echo in the room. I grit my teeth through the intense pain and continue the Sword Art. The muscles in my arms and legs tighten beyond physical means to enhance the speed at which my body moves.

My joints ache from the intense pressure, and the muscle fibers in my arms and legs stretch beyond their limit. The pain is immediate, but I follow through, expanding the limit once more, turning my blade for another strike. Bozem tries to kick me away, but I duck under it, sliding to my knees. Turning my strike vertically, I stare at the fearful monster with a stern look. His eyes are wide with disbelief. Pivoting my foot backward and turning my back, I cleave from groin to head. The blade effortlessly slices through his flesh without issue. At the same time, I leap forward away from Bozem, tackle Rys to the ground, and raise my hand to cast a barrier.

It was a mere fraction of a second for my strike to connect and tackle Rys. The barrier wraps around us as the spray of the orange-tinted blood erupts from the screaming creature before his guts and organs slump to the floor. His body lands with a meaty thud before the corpse starts to melt into the acidic blood, leaving the stain of his demise forever.

The barrier vanishes when it was safe to do so. I get to my feet and cast healing magic on my shoulder. The soothing sensation erases most of the discomfort. My muscles ache from using the Sword Art.

"Didn't expect him to be that strong..." Rys holds his bleeding mouth and rests on his knee before standing up.

"Stand still; let me fix you up." I place my hand on his mouth and cast some healing magic. The bleeding stops and closes the wound. Rys takes a step back, rubbing his mouth. The teeth that he lost still filtered the floor while others corroded from the blood.

"Guess I don't need to smile anyways," Rys says, still feeling his mouth.

"What smile? Just look more stone cold like always." He chuckles at the comedic gesture.

"Thanks. We should continue to search for the-" Rys stops himself and looks at the wall on the far side of the wall. The splatter of Bozem's blood corroded parts of it, but upon further inspection, Rys points out a hidden door behind the wall's interior. "This will take us to Cornelius."

With some effort, Rys pries the rest of the wall off and opens the door, revealing an elevator that leads downward into some basement. I look at Rys and to the mass of melted flesh before taking a long sigh.

"I guess it does. Let's go." Entering inside the elevator, it slowly descends down into the next layer of this cursed mansion...