Reincarnated as the Vampire Princess' Familiar
Chapter 38 - 37 - Escape for survival (1)

Chapter 38: 37 - Escape for survival (1)

How can this be happening? How can these creatures use vampire magic? Or maybe...

«Those bastards from CrimsonRequiem are here too! I repeat: those bastards from Crimson Requiem are here!»

A soldier’s worried voice reaches me, confirming what I feared.

Normally, in a fight between those creatures and the vampires, I’m sure the vampires would win, but now...?

I don’t waste any more time and keep running with Ginevra, while the small winged demons, no longer stopped by anything, struggle but manage to get inside through the windows.

Luckily, they don’t seem very smart, as I see when I peek into the rooms of other familiars while I rush down the long corridor to the stairs. A few times, two of them, trying to enter at the same time, ended up getting stuck in the small window.

Meanwhile, panic reigns in the dormitory corridors. Waves of boys and girls, men and women, run in every direction, bumping into us head-on or shoving us from behind, sometimes nearly knocking us to the ground, while the air is filled with desperate screams – I can’t tell if they’re just out of fear or if there’s pain too, coming from the victims of those demonic creatures.

«We must... we must find Luke!» Ginevra exclaims, tearfully – her words barely reach my ears, even though we’re close, holding hands to keep from being lost in the crowd.

«Right now, we just need to find a place to hide!» I reply, determined.

«No, we must first look for Luke! I must protect him... I... I can’t let those creatures kill him!» Ginevra then slows down, stopping me too.

Despite her determination, I stay firm in my decision.

«Do you think I don’t want to find him too? Remember, along with Luke, there’s also Gerard, and I want to protect that big guy just as much as you want to protect Luke, but this isn’t the time to worry about others! We don’t know what kind of creatures those are or how strong they are! If we waste time searching for them, we risk getting killed without accomplishing anything!» I let go of Ginevra’s hand.

«If you want to look for him, I can’t stop you, but you’ll be going alone!» My voice, which had been stern, softens.

«Listen, Ginevra... I promise that later we’ll go look for them, but first we need to find a safe place to hide – somewhere those damned things can’t find us. Once we’re there, we’ll organize the search. Right now, wandering around would do nothing; this place is huge and they could be anywhere.»

With a flick of her wrist, Ginevra wipes away her tears and grabs my hand again – a slight, almost hopeful smile appears on her face.

«Alright Lyon, I trust you!»

With great difficulty, we manage to reach the stairs leading to the lower floors. Unfortunately, my knowledge of the dormitory is limited – beyond my room – to the mess hall on the third floor. It’s a large space full of potential strategic points, so that’s where we’re headed!

«Lyon, behind you!» Ginevra exclaims, alarmed.

I spin around – too late – but fortunately, her reflexes are better than mine. I barely have time to see the horrible body of the winged demon an inch from me, its spear about to pierce my back – seen so close, it’s even more disgusting. Its slimy skin drips with a green, gelatinous liquid, and the demon’s chest is pierced by Ginevra’s rapid and powerful punch – her body surrounded by a halo of exceptionally controlled Vis energy. It’s no wonder she’s climbing the ranks so fast; she’s a true talent.

«T-Thank you...» I mumble weakly – my body still shaking from the near-death experience.

«You don’t need to thank me,» she replies – the sadness and melancholy in her eyes completely gone, replaced by a confident and focused gaze.

«Instead, be more careful! Next time, I might not be as quick to react,» she adds – her voice almost a reprimand – pulling me down the stairs forcefully, jumping two steps at a time – now it’s her who’s in control of the situation.

«Where did you plan to go?» she asks me, without stopping our run.

«I thought... the mess hall,» I answer hesitantly.

«There, defending ourselves will be easier, without the narrow walls of corridors or rooms getting in the way.»

«Bad choice,» Ginevra comments, shaking her head slightly, clearly displeased. «Your reasoning isn’t wrong, but it has one flaw: it’s too obvious, and everyone will have already thought of it. That will be the place everyone chooses, drawing all the demons there and ending up having to fight in a huge, overcrowded area, getting in each other’s way.»

Her reasoning makes perfect sense.

«So... what do you suggest we do?»

«We’ll hide in the underground floor!» she says firmly.

The underground floor... yes, I’ve been there once. It’s a wing of the dormitory mostly used as storage, like a huge basement – the only place in the dormitory with artificial lighting, since there are no windows, but...

«Are you sure? The corridors and rooms in the basement are much smaller and narrower than those on the upper floors. What’s the point of running away from here only to hide in an even worse place?»

«You just answered your own question, didn’t you? It’s a place that, theoretically, works against us, which is exactly why few would think of choosing it as a hideout. Not to mention, without windows, we just need to block the only entrance to keep them out. But...» Ginevra’s voice becomes serious.

«...once we go down there and block the door, we won’t be able to leave until this is over. And as I’ve already said, I won’t let Luke die! Surely – like everyone else – he’ll be heading to the mess hall. We’ll find him – no matter what – and then take refuge in the basement!»

It’s incredible how Ginevra becomes a completely different person when she activates her Vis energy. Probably, feeling the energy flow through her body gives her a huge boost of courage and confidence. Her determination, the firmness in her words, makes me hold back from arguing. After all, my plan was to reach the mess hall, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. Once we’re there, we’ll look for Luke and Gerard – hoping they’ve taken refuge in the one on the third floor – the closest to us, and where we usually eat.

One by one, making our way through the crowd, we pass almost all the floors that separate us from the mess hall, while those little devils pop up from everywhere. From time to time, we’re forced to stop and face them – summoning my sword right now would only get in the way, not to mention the BloodWords, which would likely cause more human casualties than anything else, so I’m forced to fight them barehanded. Luckily, they’re fairly weak and fragile creatures, and we manage to get rid of them without too much trouble.

Upon reaching the fifth floor – just two more to go – a violent explosion shakes the entire building, causing a serious structural collapse; the entire staircase collapses in on itself – fortunately, we were on the landing between the fifth and fourth floors, so we manage to throw ourselves into the corridor and escape the collapse, but sadly, many others weren’t so lucky and were crushed by the rubble.

Now, instead of the stairs, a deep chasm opens behind us, leading straight to the ground floor, while in front of us, the swarm of demons advances menacingly. There are too many, far too many to think we can fight them. Besides me and Ginevra, only about ten familiars. We have no chance of making it out alive.

I look with concern at the chasm, about fifteen meters deep. I wonder if my body, despite the powers I have, would survive such a jump. Thinking about it doesn’t help much, since, in the end, jumping is the only option right now.

Even Ginevra, staring deeply at that chasm, seems to be thinking the same. We’re both at the edge of the precipice. We exchange a quick look of understanding, as if giving each other courage, and I focus the Vis energy in my legs, and...

...an instant before the jump, a new tremor shakes the entire dormitory – probably caused, like the previous one, by some blast of energy from the vampires of CrimsonRequiem. The tremor makes us lose our balance, throwing us off and plunging us into the deep chasm.

I, despite everything, am in a state of precarious stability – I might still be able to fall in a way that won’t crush me – but Ginevra... that shock has completely destabilized her, causing her to fall headfirst.

I must... I need to come up with something to save her!

«Hang on to me!» I shout to her, wrapping my left arm around her waist, while she does the same, locking her legs around my chest.

I don’t know who the vampire was who – at the dawn of time – must have designed the familiars’ uniforms, but I think I owe them thanks for making the female version with skirts just above the knee... In the position Ginevra is in now – head down, with her legs wrapped around my chest – well, I know it’s the most inappropriate time to think about such things, but it’s hard not to be distracted by that small – yet round and firm – sun-kissed backside, now completely exposed beneath her skirt and covered in white lace underwear.

No! I can’t let myself be distracted by that wonderful sight, I have to focus on saving our skins!

«Blood Word: Telum!» My sword forms in my right hand with surprising speed, and I immediately thrust it with all my strength into the wall. A deafening metallic screech fills my ears, and sparks fly from the crack in the wall, but somehow, I manage to stop our fall just over a meter from the ground. If I had taken even half a second longer to summon the sword, Ginevra would surely be dead – or at least, badly injured.

«Thank you, Lyon, you saved me...» Ginevra murmurs, her breath heavy with fear but a slight embarrassment, her cheeks flushed – she must have been aware of the beautiful view she gave me, but it’s not my fault!

«You don’t need to thank me,» I reply pompously, as if I were about to deliver a dramatic line from a movie. «Instead, be more careful! Next time, I might not be as quick to react,» I add, perfectly mimicking her recommendations from earlier.

«I’d say we’re even now,» Ginevra responds, giving me a slight amused smile. A brief moment of levity – a way to lighten the heaviness of the hellish death and destruction around us – though it doesn’t last long.

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