The wind stirred the grass as Paulo stood face-to-face with Vaelia, the vampire girl whose crimson eyes glowed faintly in the morning light.
Students watched from the windows above, frozen in disbelief. The peaceful school day had turned into something out of a nightmare.
Vaelia tilted her head, her voice calm but laced with suspicion. "Who are you?" Paulo's eyes narrowed. His voice was low, almost bitter. "I am Paulo Satoshi… Lily's ex. I used to be human. But I died, died from rumours, lies, and betrayal in middle school. That death woke something inside me. Something ancient."
Vaelia's gaze sharpened. "You are not just Paulo. You are the vessel… of the cosmic king, Ash."
A smirk curled across Paulo's lips. "So, you know who he is. That saves me the trouble of explaining."
He took a step forward, the air around him pulsing with dark energy. "I do not know why you are here, vamp. But I have had a shitty day. My friend Alexis is dead, slaughtered in battle. I had to kill two people with my bare hands just to get revenge. So, forgive me if I am not in the mood for diplomacy."
Vaelia's expression remained unreadable, but her fingers twitched at her sides. She could feel the power inside him, unstable, cosmic, and dangerous.
From the classroom window, Lily's voice rang out, trembling. "Who are you really? You are not the Paulo I knew. Not the boy who sat next to me in middle school…"
Paulo glanced up at her, his eyes softer for a moment. Then he laughed, a hollow, bitter sound. "I am that Paulo. I just changed. The world did not give me a choice. Now let me do what I was reborn to do. Fighting this bloodsucker."
Max stepped forward, his face pale. "I heard you fell off the rooftop at Keiko High. You died. That was real. This… this does not make sense."
Paulo did not look at him. His eyes were locked on Vaelia. "I will tell you everything after the fight. If I survive."
Vaelia's stance shifted. Her voice was a whisper. "You won't."
***
The clash echoed across the school grounds as Paulo's blade sliced through the air, landing a brutal strike across Vaelia's side. Her arm was severed cleanly, falling to the grass with a sickening thud.
But before anyone could react, her body shimmered with crimson light. The arm reformed in seconds, tendrils of blood weaving muscle and bone back into place.
Paulo narrowed his eyes, his voice sharp. "You are like the two I fought yesterday. Regeneration. Immortal… until I stab your brain." Vaelia did not flinch. Her expression was calm, almost amused. "You learn fast."
Suddenly, the ground beneath Paulo trembled. A massive serpent-like dragon made of blood erupted from the earth, its eyes glowing red, its fangs dripping with venomous ichor. It lunged at Paulo with terrifying speed.
But Paulo was faster. He vanished in a flash of light, reappearing behind Vaelia mid-air. His blade was ready, but the blood dragon twisted unnaturally, following his movement like a predator locked onto prey.
"Tch," Paulo muttered, leaping away just in time as the dragon's jaws snapped shut where he had stood.
He landed in a crouch, summoning his weapon with a burst of cosmic energy. A three-section staff materialized in his hands, glowing with swirling galaxies and starlight. He spun it with expert precision, the segments cracking like thunder.
With a roar, Paulo charged again, slamming the staff into Vaelia's chest. The impact sent her flying across the field, crashing into a tree with enough force to splinter its trunk.
Leaves scattered. Dust rose. But Paulo did not relax. His senses flared, another presence. Cold. Hungry. He twisted mid-air, narrowly avoiding a clawed strike from a second vampire who had emerged from the shadows. This one was leaner, faster, with glowing blue veins and a wicked grin.
Paulo landed and slid back, eyes locked on both enemies now. "You guys fight cowardly," he spat. "Two-on-one? That is low, even for bloodsuckers." He spun his staff once more, the cosmic energy pulsing brighter. His stance deepened, feet planted, eyes blazing.
"Come on then," he growled. "Let's see if immortality can survive a cosmic beating."
The air thickened with bloodlust and cosmic energy as Paulo faced off against Vaelia. But before he could strike again, a new figure stepped forward from the shadows, tall, pale, with icy blue eyes and a cruel smirk.
"I'm Micheal Glamori," the newcomer said, his voice smooth and venomous. "Vaelia's brother. And you have made a grave mistake coming here."
Paulo's eyes narrowed. "Another one? Great."
Suddenly, the ground split open again, two blood dragons erupted from the earth, their serpentine bodies twisting through the air, jaws wide and dripping with crimson fire.
Paulo launched into light flight, his body glowing with radiant energy as he tried to escape the encroaching beasts.
But the blood dragons were faster this time around and coordinated.
One slammed into him mid-flight, sending him crashing through the side of a classroom building with a deafening boom.
Dust and debris exploded outward. Students screamed and ducked for cover. But Paulo was not done.
He burst from the rubble, bloodied but burning with fury. His cosmic staff reformed in his hands as he charged back into the fray. With a roar, he spun and struck, cleaving Micheal's head clean off in a single, brutal arc.
The head hit the ground. But Micheal's body did not fall. Instead, it twitched… and began to regenerate. Paulo's eyes widened. "You've got that trick too…" He did not hesitate. He lunged again, this time aiming for the brain, his staff glowing brighter, sharper, deadlier.
But just as he was about to strike, a blur of motion slammed into him from the side. Paulo flew across the field, crashing into a tree with bone-cracking force. The trunk splintered, leaves raining down around him.
A third figure stepped into view, cloaked in shadows, their face hidden beneath a hood. Their aura was colder than the others, ancient and suffocating.
Vaelia smirked. "You didn't think we'd fight fair, did you?" Paulo groaned, pushing himself up from the shattered tree. His body ached, but his spirit burned hotter than ever.
"Three-on-one?" he spat, wiping blood from his mouth. "You vampires fight like cowards." He spun his staff once more, the cosmic energy flaring around him like a storm.
"Fine," he growled. "Let's see how cowards manage a cosmic reckoning."
***
Meanwhile, across at Keiko high school. The scent of old paper and quiet determination filled the air as Saya, Ava, and Tsuki huddled around a table in the dimly lit library of Keiko High.
Stacks of ancient texts and handwritten notes surrounded them, records of vampire sightings, battle strategies, and supernatural lore.
"We need to find the nest," Ava whispered, tracing a map with her finger.
"If Paulo keeps fighting alone, he won't last." Tsuki nodded. "There is something stirring in Rikako. Too many vampires in one place, it is not random."
Saya, silent until now, suddenly froze. Her eyes widened.
"He's fighting," she said, voice low and urgent. "I can feel it. Paulo's aura, it is flaring."
Without another word, Saya stood and pulled a crimson mask from her satchel, the tengu mask, carved with sharp angles and glowing runes. As she placed it over her face, her body shimmered with energy.
Feathers burst from her shoulders, her eyes turned golden, and her limbs elongated with supernatural grace.
She had become a tengu hybrid, swift, fierce, and born for aerial combat. "I'm going," she said, her voice now layered with a mystical echo. "Tell the others to prepare. If I do not come back, follow the blood trail."
***
Back at Rikako high, Paulo was surrounded by Vaelia, Micheal, and the cloaked third vampire circled him like wolves.
His cosmic staff pulsed with energy, but his body was bruised, his breath ragged.
Then, a gust of wind tore through the field. A blur descended from the sky, landing between Paulo and the vampires with a thunderous impact.
Dust exploded outward, and when it cleared, Saya stood tall, her tengu wings spread wide, her mask glowing.
"Three-on-one?" she said, her voice sharp. "Cowards." Paulo blinked. "Saya?" She did not answer. Her gaze was locked on the vampires. Vaelia stepped back, eyes narrowing. "Another hybrid?"
Micheal growled. "This is getting annoying." Saya raised her hand, summoning a gust of wind that knocked Micheal off balance. "You messed with the wrong school."
Paulo smirked, regaining his stance beside her. "Glad you showed up. I was about to start round two." With Saya now in the fight, the tide was turning.
The battlefield crackled with tension, and the vampires realized, they were no longer the hunters.
The clash of cosmic energy and blood magic echoed across the field. Paulo and Saya stood back-to-back, facing down Vaelia, Micheal, and the cloaked vampire.
The tension was razor-sharp, the air thick with supernatural power.
Then everything stopped.
A wave of pressure rolled across the battlefield, cold, suffocating, ancient. The grass wilted. The sky dimmed. Even the blood dragons recoiled.
Vaelia's eyes widened. Micheal took a step back.
"No…" Vaelia whispered. "It can't be him."
From the shadows, a figure emerged, tall, draped in a cloak of black mist, his eyes glowing like twin embers.
His presence was overwhelming. The aura he carried was not just powerful; it was evil incarnate. Pure malice wrapped in elegance.
The vampire did not speak. He did not need to.
Paulo's grip tightened on his staff. "You're the one they fear."
The vampire's lips curled into a faint smile. In a blur, he moved, faster than light, faster than thought. Paulo barely raised his weapon in time as the vampire struck, sending shockwaves through the field.
The others stepped back. Even Vaelia and Micheal dared not interfere.
This was no longer a group fight.
This was a duel.
Paulo spun his staff, deflecting a flurry of strikes that shattered the air around him. He countered with a cosmic burst, but the vampire absorbed it with a flick of his wrist.
"You're strong," Paulo muttered, panting. "But I've fought gods."
The vampire's voice was like ice cracking. "And now you fight death."
They clashed again, cosmic light against abyssal shadow. Each strike tore the earth, each movement bent reality. The students watching from the windows could only stare, frozen in awe and terror.
Saya tried to step forward, but Vaelia blocked her path. "Do not. If you interfere, he will kill you too."
"What is he?" Saya demanded.
Vaelia's voice trembled. "He is the one we do not speak of. The vampire who devoured his own kind. The one who walks with the curse of the void."
Paulo gritted his teeth, blood dripping from his lip. "Then I'll be the one to stop him."
***
The battle had paused, but the tension was suffocating. Dust hung in the air. Paulo stood bruised and bloodied, his cosmic staff pulsing faintly in his grip.
Across from him, the cloaked vampire slowly removed his hood, revealing a face both regal and terrifying, sharp features, silver hair cascading like moonlight, and eyes that burned with ancient crimson fire. Vaelia and Micheal took a step back, visibly shaken.
"No…" Micheal whispered. "It's him."
The vampire's voice was smooth, commanding, and cold as winter steel.
"I am Izumi Morningstar," he said, his gaze locked onto Paulo Satoshi. "The Leader of the Vampire Association. The one who governs the bloodlines. The one who decides who lives… and who dies."
Paulo's grip tightened. "So, you're the one behind all this."
Izumi smiled faintly. "Not behind. Above."
He stepped forward, the ground cracking beneath his feet with each movement. "You have killed two of mine. You have defied our laws. And now you stand here, wielding cosmic power like a child playing with fire."
Paulo raised his staff. "I do not care about your laws. I care about justice. And if you are the king of monsters, then I am the storm that ends your reign."
Izumi's eyes flared. "Then come, vessel of Ash. Show me what your rage can do."
With a roar, Paulo charged, and Izumi met him head-on. The clash was cataclysmic, light, and shadow colliding, shaking the earth, bending the sky. Each strike was a symphony of destruction, each movement a dance of death.
And above them, the students watched in silence, knowing that this was no longer a fight between enemies. It was a war between worlds.