Free and Unfettered 154 Shock Part II

Seeing Nine's eyes directed at him, he took the liberty to explain himself before she had to open her mouth to ask. "We can use those Elf Vines. Seems like the Vampire King isn't disposable to their plans, so we'll use the blood he so conveniently left behind."

Nine's eyes widened minutely. That's right! The Elf that looked so much like her left so hastily, probably shocked by the revelation, that she neglected the fact that there was still an ample amount of the Vampire King's blood left behind!

Nine charged up a Tier Nine Ice spell that allowed her to freeze over a wide area, causing all of the Elf Vines to freeze in place. As she walked nearer to the vines that previously held the Vampire King captive, she sliced the base of the vine, collecting the slightly sparkling blood in a container she pulled out from her interspatial bracelet.

There was so much blood that had already been drained from the Vampire King that they would be able to locate him using the blood like this rather than have to use a long, drawn out process of crafting a spell to track him down.

Instead of the messy battle that she had been expecting to face earlier on where she had to rely on her students as well as her information network to face, this seemed much simpler in comparison.

Though the Vampire King didn't seem to rank highly on the priorities for the Elf, Nine couldn't imagine that the Vampire King of all people would be left to gather dust. At least, he would likely now be within the ranks of his allies.

It bothered her a little that the Elf never once spared a thought for how the Vampire King left behind his blood so carelessly but couldn't discount the fact that she did look rather shaken after seeing herself and looking at her Nox.

Nine herself was rather startled, but she had it easier, probably due to the fact that although she called this body hers now, after everything was said and done, this wasn't her original face to being with.

This little fact allowed her to have a slight bit of immunity to the shock that would have otherwise run though her mind. It helped that Nocturne acted nonchalant about another woman having her face.

Nine walked over to Nocturne, squeezing him tight. She pressed a soft kiss to his foehead. "Thank you," she said softly.

Nocturne melted, hearing the unspoken things she was thanking him for, feeling lighter now that Nine's expression had lightened as well.

Nine tapped on the glass bottle the Vampire King's blood was stored in, casting a spell over it. This caused the remainder of the blood that was still lingering around the Elf Vines to fly towards the bottle.

Just as they were about to leave, the husband and wife caught sight of a drop of blood that resisted Nine's call.

Nine grabbed the remaining droplet of blood, storing it in a different bottle. At a closer look, the blood didn't shine like the Vampire King's did and instead looked like the normal red without any visible differences.

"This must be that Elf's blood."

Nocturne's face showed an unholy glee at the news. "That's even better. They should be in close proximity with each other, so we'll be able to track them even quicker."

Nocturne's expression was mirrored by the gleam in Nine's eyes.

At this rate, they would be able to take care of the masterminds of Darkness Uprising before the day was over.

With that over and done with, they would be able to relatively take their time concerning the vast amounts of undead that littered the planet.

A spell the size of a meter in diameter appeared between the two of them. Nine dripped the single drop of the Elf's blood, followed by roughly half of the Vampire King's blood, allowing the spell to work its magic.

A faint band of magic hovered from the blood, attaching itself to Nine's wrist. As she probed it, she was able to feel the connection from the blood to the rest of the blood in the Elf's body.

Similarly, Nocturne had a faint band that had attached itself to his wrist.

Nocturne nodded at her, teleporting blind as he followed the trail from the blood.

Nine didn't hesitate as she chased after the trail the spell led her to. Teleporting, she landed on top of the Elf.

Nine was briefly surprised but her pragmatism took over before she had any chance to think about it. Before the Elf could react, she was already bound securely in the hands of her captor.

Shocked, Helce was silent for a moment as the sheer ludicrous moment sank in before she exploded. "How did you find me?!"

"I assume by that faint cut you have on your left hand," Nine said dryly.

Though she could have taken care of the Elf in a 'proper fight' as one might argue, Nine wasn't known for doing foolish things. She would rather take her down without wasting any magic if she could help it. This way, she would be able to adapt to any unforeseen circumstances that she might face later on.

Nine immobilised the Elf so securely that even Nine was doubtful that she herself was able to break out. She wondered if she went a bit overboard but chalked it up to still feeling slightly off from the way she stared into a familiar face.

Nine grabbed the bound Elf, who struggled as best as she could, which was not very much at all. "Unhand me you charlatan!"

Nine inwardly rolled her eyes. If it wasn't because she thought that the Elf's death would have tipped off the High Elf, she would have already disposed of this doppelgänger.

She teleported the both of them where she could feel Nocturne approaching the area where the Vampire King was. She hadn't noticed, but somehow, her Nocturne radar had grown. She wasn't sure if it was because she had approved of the man being her Vampiric Mate, or because they had joined in body, but where she was unable to locate him previously after he 'ran away' to pose as a Princess through their Sire and Childe bond, she could feel him as clear as day.

Nocturne showed no surprise at Nine's timely arrival by his side, barely glancing at the Elf she had secured.

Looking at the solid wooden doors, she kicked them down before the Elf was able to shout out, not that it would have helped.

What they saw inside astounded them.

The Vampire King was standing, his arms crossed as he looked down with a cold, arrogant expression on the blissfully kneeling High Elf.

Helce made a sound of shock, which caused the Vampire King's head to snap up, his arrogant expression melting away instantly.

The Vampire King took a horrified step back before his expression melted into anger and rage upon seeing his Lady bound and helpless. By the two fakes, no less.

"My Lady, wait for me! I'll surely save you!"

Instead of receiving the response that he desired, he received the Elf's anger instead. "W-what. What do you think you're doing to His Majesty!?"

The High Elf stood up as his serene expression melted off his face, which was rather disconcerting to Nine and Nocturne. He didn't even seem to bother that Nocturne had the same face as he did.

"Insolent! How dare you speak to my Master that way?!"

The High Elf's words sent Helce into a daze.

Nine and Nocturne watched the drama that was carried out in front of them like a particularly interesting play.

Though they didn't know what was going on, they got the gist of it, and the husband and wife couldn't help but feel entertained.

The conspirators had essentially backed themselves into a power triangle without knowing about it.

How exactly would this play out?

Chapter end