The power of soul brought by the Heroic Spirit surged through Raiden body, filling his once dry veins with strength once more. Staring down the bloodthirsty beast in front of him, Raiden felt the Heroic Spirit Sword in his hand gathering energy from thin air...
The best way to tame a beast is to defeat it.
Yinsen, facing Raiden, was also studying his prey. He could clearly sense the change in Raiden—his prey had definitely grown stronger, hadn't he? But for a werewolf, a creature ruled by instinct, that only made things more entertaining.
Raiden and Yinsen collided, Heroic Spirit power clashing with overwhelming physical strength. In this clash, Yinsen utterly crushed Raiden with absolute dominance.
There was nothing Raiden could do—because of some kind of restriction, he couldn't fully wield the Heroic Spirit power. To be precise, the Heroic Spirit power simply didn't respond to him.
The only strength Raiden could muster was the residual power left over.
Yet, even that feeble resistance stirred Yinsen beastly nature. His onslaught rained down like a furious storm. Be it speed or force, Raiden found himself utterly overpowered before Yinsen.
All Raiden could do was force the Heroic Spirit power into a fragile shield, barely keeping him safe.
Damn it!
Raiden never expected a newly turned werewolf to possess such overwhelming power. This didn't fit the character's setup at all and far exceeded anything Raiden could have imagined.
What now?!
A bead of sweat slid down Raiden forehead. Was he in for another day trip to hell? And last time, he could only come back because his body was intact. This time... Raiden wasn't sure what would be left.
While Raiden was distracted for just a moment, Yinsen lunged and snapped at Raiden throat. Raiden hurriedly raised the Heroic Spirit Sword to parry. Yinsen bit down hard on the blade, the edge cracking in Yinsen jaws. Drool dripped along the sword and landed on Raiden face again.
"Gross!" Raiden turned his head away, but the sound of the sword breaking kept reminding him—he was running out of time.
Just as the Heroic Spirit Sword was about to shatter, Raiden yanked it back and rolled sideways, leaving Yinsen to plant face-first into the sand.
But Raiden, having narrowly escaped, didn't even consider running. Like that would work—he couldn't outrun Yinsen before, let alone now, with his energy spent. Where would he even go? Still, Raiden had no strength left to fight. What could he do?
Raiden watched as Yinsen pulled his head from the sand and turned to stare at him. A gleam of blood began to pulse in Yinsen golden eyes.
'Shit!'
Raiden cursed inwardly. The bloodlust had totally consumed Yinsen. Yinsen wasn't even amusing himself with Raiden anymore—he just wanted to eat. He was going to devour Raiden! The real danger had only now begun.
"Whoosh!"
Yinsen vanished from Raiden sight, leaving just a swirl of flying sand to mark where the threat now lurked, invisible.
In this desperate moment, another ring appeared on Raiden right hand—a ring engraved with a bat. The bat looked lifelike, as though it might fly off at any second. This was another ring in Raiden possession, the Vampire Lord Ring. Its power could also grant an ordinary person extraordinary strength.
Raiden had always eyed this ring with respect, partly because he was unfamiliar with vampire magic, and partly because—unlike the Hircine Ring—the origins of this ring weren't exactly trustworthy. But it was now a life-or-death situation. Raiden couldn't afford to worry about that!
The moment the ring appeared, Raiden lifted his left hand and slid the ring onto his left ring finger without hesitation. And as soon as the ring was on, Raiden heart constricted sharply, then swelled rapidly. When it swelled to the limit, another fierce contraction hit... And then, Raiden heart simply stopped beating.
Fresh blood surged out of Raiden unmoving heart, and his body instantly became icy cold, like meat stuck in the freezer. All of it took place in an instant. In the same instant, Yinsen appeared behind Raiden, claws flashing—he was aiming straight for Raiden heart!
But as Yinsen claws touched Raiden skin—already splitting beneath the force, blood beginning to well up—A flood of blood-red filled Raiden pupils, overpowering his eyes, and at that instant, his body scattered into a cloud of bats that burst into the sky.
Yinsen strike hit nothing but air. The bats re-formed not far away, coalescing into Raiden human shape again.
This power was fantastic!
Raiden raised his hands, studying them. He could see the blood running beneath his skin and feel the surge of fresh energy in his body.
Now a vampire, the world before Raiden eyes had utterly changed. The night could no longer hide anything from his sight!
As Raiden looked at Yinsen, every bone and muscle and strand of flesh inside Yinsen was clearly visible to him. Raiden even simulated in his mind, within the blink of an eye, countless methods of dismembering Yinsen. All of Yinsen weak points were crystal clear.
But in the next instant, as they clashed again, Raiden realized that anything he could recognize as a weakness, wasn't really a weakness at all.
Yinsen possessed even more strength, greater speed, and the desert itself was his element. Even as a vampire, Raiden found himself at a natural and overwhelming disadvantage.
What made it worse was that Raiden body refused to retain the vampire power—the Dragonborn blood within him was rejecting it forcibly. Raiden situation was still desperately dire.
Did pouring every ounce of power into this still mean he couldn't escape death? Raiden honestly didn't know if he should be laughing or crying. Because it also proved just how powerful the force he'd given Yinsen was.
Yinsen would definitely be able to protect himself with this strength in the future. And yet—damn it all—was I really going to die like this? Raiden barely dodged another strike, cursing in his mind.
In this open expanse, exchanging blows at close range, every encounter between Raiden and Yinsen was a brush with death. Yinsen claws had already left one bloody mark after another on him.
A vampire regenerative powers were immense, yet in this moment—against Yinsen claws—those healing abilities were completely suppressed. The injuries Yinsen inflicted just wouldn't heal quickly, and at the same time, the Dragonborn blood in Raiden body drove out the vampire power for good.
The Vampire Ring slipped off Raiden finger, turning him back into a regular human... a powerless, ordinary human.
With Yinsen bearing down on him, Raiden closed his eyes. He didn't want Yinsen to see the look of death in his gaze—it would be too bitter an experience.
But to his surprise, pain never came. When Raiden hesitantly opened his eyes, he breathed a heavy sigh of relief. A transparent figure was now standing in front of him.