Reincarnated With The Van Helsing System

"Booom!", upon calling out their spell, gray colored symbols appeared on the arms and legs of the seconds in command, which then exploded in a huge amount of black and blue colored mana.

Naturally, neither Sera nor Laila would commit the stupid mistake of "letting her enemy power up in peace", as previously stated Sera has been shooting energy swords at them since earlier, unfortunately the barrier that had originally appeared due to the promotion of Andre to the new fourth, had been renewed when those four took out those tubes from Ereth’s inventory.

So instead of stupidly waiting for the enemies to finish their "transformation" which was taking too long by the way, those two were literally unable to do anything to them, directly at least.

’The nature of their mana is changing, their all-out state was not related to that weird connection they share, that guy and his preparations are annoying’, said Laila as she injected black energy into her eyes to analyze the seconds in command who were in the middle of their transformation.

In case you think that Laila shouldn’t complain considering that Daimon is also the type to make multiple preparations, the situations are different, Daimon’s plans make the enemies feel emotions stronger than "annoyance", they cause anger, hatred, despair or all of them combined, of course Ereth’s ones actually meant to do the same, it’s just that for Sera and Laila who have gotten to know Daimon, Ereth is "just" annoying instead.

"I still prefer this over the other option that would have presented itself in front of us if you ask me though~", jokingly said Sera.

’Oh, hell yeah’, directly added Laila, the other option would have been them being forced to fight Daimon’s group alongside Adam and Marcus after all, they already had an idea of how big was the gap between their sides and Daimon’s, after seeing Arianna, the little tiger girl, Tessa, Femi, Badr and especially Lyn up-close.

Marcus or Adam’s subordinates couldn’t have held a candle to any of them, in fact, a few could have directly fought and forced Adam or Marcus themselves to a tie, but then they met Aisha, whom they had zero doubts would have destroyed those two in a fight, because don’t forget that currently Aisha has a higher battle prowess than Daimon himself, so long as he doesn’t break the rules of the blood prison realm, of course.

Those two stopped their conversation, as they noticed that the seconds in command had finished their transformation, they actually hadn’t changed that much in terms of appearance, their hair turned dark grey toned and their eyes were of a black blue color.

"Aren’t those colors...", mumbled Sera to which Laila finished what her friend was about to say.

’Yes, those are similar tones to the ones of that woman’s mana, well, at least before she changed in order to fight with that silver armored lady’, added the girl from the church of calamity, referring to Karla and Freya, respectively.

And here, one of the layers of "mystery" that Ereth had built around him was about to be solved by the mouth of his own subordinates, who were still protected by the barrier by the way, as they casted one spell exclusive to each.

"Black Fierce Sea Shark, Lord’s Mana Booster", the new fourth was the first one, gray-blue mana gathered on his upper back and forearms, to then take the form of fins, they were mana condensations instead of actual fins as this was the result of a spell, the lineage traits of the seconds in command where all the same, the gray hair and the dark blue eyes.

"Black Fierce Sea Shark, Lord’s Regeneration", then it was the turn of the third, who amusingly enough, recovered the arm which he had lost a moment ago, his bones regenerated first and then the rest did the same, the process wasn’t instant like it would happen with a spell though, it was more like he had an overly accelerated healing ratio, that and judging by the third’s body twitching and his face which was filled with hatred, meant that he probably felt pain while his arm grew back, it’s worth mentioning that his new bones were gray-blue colored instead.

"Black Fierce Sea Shark, Lord’s Fang Armor", the second’s spell resulted in grey-blue rock small structures growing on his arms, legs, chest, neck and other key spots, essentially forming an armor that looked similar to the skin of a shark.

"Black Fierce Sea Shark, Lord’s Sixth Sense", surprisingly, the or maybe not considering the role that the first played in the group as the most "mysterious" one, the result of his spell was the least noticeable and eye catching among the seconds in command, he had some faint gray-blue "freckles" appearing on his face and that was it.

’Black Fierce Sea Shark huh, I guess someone grew fond of the black armored shark, so he worked in creating his own version of it’.

Both, Sera and Laila’s eyes glowed for a second as they heard a familiar voice reaching them, that was naturally Daimon who talked to those two a moment ago.

That being said, Sera who was about to smile suddenly changed to have a downcast expression instead.

"Did we cause trouble because we couldn’t get rid of them sooner...", mumbled the girl from the church of light, she knew that Daimon wouldn’t interfere unless it was needed so in Sera’s mind, their incapacity to finish the fight maybe resulted in Daimon having to step in, to which Daimon chuckled behind his mask.

’Quite the opposite, I came to pay you two a second "visit" because the sudden disappearance of that guy’s subordinates one after another, made him send one of those copies of his, so don’t get it wrong, you did a magnificent job throwing that guy out of balance’, said Daimon.

He was right, the normal subordinates dying didn’t really caught Ereth’s interest, because he had judged Daimon’s group to be dangerous, he even remained aloof when he noticed that the fourth died during the fight, however the same couldn’t be said about the first using an instance of both of the special spells he granted him, and also having to use the lineage release spell by retrieving those tubes from his inventory.

So, Ereth sent one of his copies to see what was going on, and naturally Daimon did the same.

’But don’t worry, he won’t interfere because he knows it’s useless unless he comes personally, I’m far better at using projections than him after all, I simply found amusing that he seems to have gotten obsessed over the black armored shark lineage’, he added to which Sera whose expression brightened after listening to the previous said.

"That seems to be a recurrent subject, all those guys used trident magic weapons that looked exactly the same as if they were made based on the image of something~".

"Mm, that’s borderline obsession, Marcus was like that with his gauntlets, but he couldn’t create decent replicas of them for his subordinates, I honestly found it inefficient and pathetic", added Laila whose words were especially sharp since unlike Sera who was rather playful, hers were cold hard logical.

’Tsk that masked bastard followed me here, how is it that I can’t slip away without being noticed’, thought Ereth whose copy became visible in front of the four seconds in command.

"Gregor, I want those two dead, then go and support that Arlion fool", said the copy as it disappeared.

’Looks like time is up, you two have progresses amazingly fast in your challenge, to the point that you have some really strong techniques active at all times, so it’s weird that you haven’t crossed the Arch rank limit already, good luck’, said Daimon as he also retrieved his conscience, leaving behind a Sera and Laila who were momentarily lost in their thoughts.

"We are...", mumbled Sera.

’...Missing something’, added Laila.

Unfortunately, they had to return to the real world sooner than expected, because the barrier around the four seconds in command broke apart and their pressure which was contained inside of it until a second ago, spread like raging ocean waves during a storm, in fact there were actual raging water waves advancing their way,

"Black Fierce Sea Lord Domain!", that was the fourth whose body radiated gray-blue mana which dyed his previously black sea domain of the previously mentioned color, and also turned its already aggressive nature much more violent, and he wasn’t the only one to "update" his domain.

"Black Fierce Seabed Sand Lord Domain!", the third followed with the sand and clay domain dying gray-blue and then also expanding outwards.

"Black Fierce Seabed Rock Lord Domain!", the second was the same, but in his case, it was rain of gray-blue rocks what were produced.

Interestingly enough, the first didn’t have to update his domain, perhaps his was in this state from the very beginning, it’s just that his domain was used for support so it wasn’t as noticeable as with the others.

"Humph!", accompanied by a soft snort, a white light shone before the three expanding domains engulfed everything in their path.

"Booom!", the raging gray-blue water mana waves, sand and rocks produced a loud clashing sound as they were met with a semi-transparent white energy sphere which forced them to spread to the sides, no matter how "fiercely" they pushed, the white energy sphere didn’t move a centimeter, so ultimately, they domains had no choice but to move around it.

"White Barrier Shield", said Sera who had a white energy shield floating next to her.

’Their domains grew in size and they became naturally stronger since that new mana they are using is stronger, not as much as the one of that woman though’, added Laila after catching a strand of the gray-blue mana of those guys.

"So, if the normal subordinates are "commoners", these guys are "nobles" and that woman would be "royalty" or something like that, right?", asked Sera to which Laila nodded.

’Yeah, something like that, or at least she was "royalty" before that change in order to face that armored lady’.

"Heh, I guess that regardless of your technique, that fourth guy was actually annoyed due to all those useless hierarchies~", jokingly said Sera which made the first frown.

"Don’t give them any time to rest", he said.

"Yes!", the other three seconds in command seemed in high-spirits after their transformation, and they had reasons for it, let’s start with the new fourth.

"Black Fierce Sea Converging Piercing Currents!", yeah, he was able to use that spell which used to be exclusive to the first, or well, an improved version of it, but that’s not what mattered the most, instead of simply pointing his hand at those two, the new fourth lashed his arms which had the mana condensed fins attached to them.

As a result, not only was the spell casted incredibly fast, but the size and strength of it doubled, the new fourth’s version actually surpassed the one of the first.

"White Flashing Step", Sera at whom the dozens of gray-blue water mana currents were aimed, turned into a white energy stream which disappeared into space, perfectly dodging the enemy’s attack.

’Those fins increase the fourth’s capacity to gather and process mana, so he can cast overloaded spells in the time that it would have taken him to cast their normal versions’, thought Laila who didn’t move an inch from her position.

"Let me return the favor from earlier, Black Fierce Seabed Abrasive Sand Storm!", the third who was surrounded by fierce revolting gray-blue sand streams, descended upon the girl from the calamity church.

Unlike his previous spells, the sand that the third was using now looked quite rough, he seemed to want to grind Laila into dust as revenge for the pain he had to endure when he regenerated his arm.

"Looks like someone got bold after gaining improved regeneration", said the "Laila" who got caught up in the gray-blue sand storm as she turned into black energy particles.

"Behind and above", the first who was watching from the back of the battlefield, spoke just as Sera came out of space above the third with her winged sword on her right hand and Laila who had the demon grimoire floating next to her, to appear behind of him.

"White Brilliant Bursting Sword!", Sera was faster since she had used a movement technique, but as her sword was about to reach the third’s head, a gray-blue "meteorite" got in her way.

"Black Fierce Seabed Crushing Rock Impact", that was the second who had gray-blue rock growing around his body with the shark-like skin armor as its base.

"Clang!", sparks and a loud clashing sound were produced as the sword clashed with the rock armor covering the second’s body.

"Crack!", the physical impact of the sword didn’t destroy the rock armor but it did crack it, and then at Sera’s order the sword released the energy contained inside of it.

"Boooom!", the second was sent flying into the distance due to the explosion, and the rock armor covering his body crumbled apart, but he was perfectly fine.

What’s more, Laila who has used her execution guillotine technique without chanting out loud of course, was behind where the third used to be positioned, but the blood energy chains were holding onto anything.

"Black Fierce Seabed Sand Storm Step", the third who appeared next to the second and the fourth, chanted his spell after using it this time, that was the updated version of that space movement spell of his.

’They have gotten strong enough to equal us’, said Laila.

"How annoying...", added Sera.

Why is it like that you wonder, well, like Daimon said they had done some amazing progress in their challenge, which sounds like a good thing, and it is a good thing, but at the same time they had hit a wall currently, no new techniques were coming to their minds and their energies and capacities to use them weren’t getting stronger and improving, respectively, anymore.

That’s because they naturally went with the flow and cleared the "easy" part, but had yet to understand the hard part of their challenge, which is the reason as to why these guys were selected as their opponents.

’We still don’t know why these guys are our challenge, in terms of strength there is no other option for us, that woman, Arlion and that guy are definitely out of our league, so they are the only choice, but why, is it because they are subordinated to a "chosen one" like we were once, what’s more they are a hero’s subordinates so I wouldn’t be included, is it because I joined the group last perhaps’, said Laila, to which Sera shook her head.

"No, we both are...", the words of the girl from the church of light were interrupted by the third who suddenly appeared above those two.

"You have the audacity to chit-chat in front of nobles from the black fierce sea shark lineage, and yet I’m the one who has become bold!", there was blood on the corner of the third’s mouth.

The reason is that he forcefully used that space movement spell without chanting, so he had a rough time within the spatial tunnel, but he was fine thanks to his improved regeneration capacities.

"Black Fierce Seabed Abrasive...", but now it was the time for the third to be interrupted, by what you might wonder, well a familiar in terms of shape, energy sword, which led the third to glare at Sera.

"You fucking bitch, what the hell is this!", said the third as he saw the black energy sword which had appeared out of nowhere and stabbed him on the back, barely missing his heart because he the gray-blue sand currents which had already gathered around him midway through the casting of his spell, deviated its trajectory.

"If you are going to kill someone, just do it, don’t talk with them", said Sera whose body was now radiating black energy, yeah, that girl from the church of light was now using darkness affinity energy, even her winged sword which was the one stabbing the third’s back, had turned black colored.

"Aghhh!", speaking of which, spikes grew out of the blade of the sword which broke their way out of the third’s body ripping his right arm and left leg to shreds on the spot, but before his chest and head were about to suffer the same end, a grey-blue meteorite clashed against the sword which was lodged in the third’s body.

"Black Fierce Seabed Crushing Rock Rush!".

"Boooom!", both the solid rock covering the second’s body and the spikes that grew out of the sword exploded due to the impact, the second took the chance to grab the third and retreat back to where the first and the fourth were.

’Black Betrayal Sword’, only now did Sera called the name of her technique, what’s more she did it in a way that only Laila could hear it.

"I see, so it was as simple as that and that’s also why I couldn’t see it...", mumbled Laila as she extended her hand making the demon grimoire which was floating in front of her to shuffle through its pages, stopping at a different one for a change.

"Demon Grimoire, Light Chapter First Page, Brilliant Descent!", unlike usual, not only did Laila called out the name of her technique so that everyone could listen to it, but she also put quite the spirit into the casting, unusual for someone serious and reserved person as her that has also seen firsthand how Marcus failed because of his aggressive temperament and lack of control over his emotions.

"Holy Grimoire, White Burning Flare!", Laila whose body was now shinning in a dazzling white energy pointed the now "holy grimoire" at those four and then with it as the medium, released a huge stream of white flames that forced the seconds in command to dodge.

"Hsssss!", their domains which had been reinforced to resist against Sera’s light energy, found themselves quite vulnerable against Laila’s light energy and released smoke as her attack ran all its way through them.

"Boooom!", what’s more, the stream of flames exploded after having travelled a certain distance, releasing a rain of white flames that stuck like bubblegum to anything with a negative orientation and in case you have forgotten, that includes the floating pieces of black ground.

"Are you fucking kidding me, they can use both light and darkness!", exclaimed the third who had the spikes that were still lodged in his body, removed by the second, allowing him to recover in a second.

"No, I don’t know how it happened, but they seemed to "exchange" their affinities, but it was only for a moment, look the woman with the sword has light affinity again and the one with the book is darkness again", said the first.

’That being said, how could their bodies endure going from one extreme of the energy spectrum to the other one like that, without them suffering backslash, was it due to the weird rules of this damn place which favor them?’, he added to himself.