Lone Survivor

"Ha...Ha...Ha..."

Breathing heavily, a young girl is running through the forest, a terrified expression on her face.

It is nighttime and the full moon is out, along with a slight fog, turning the setting of the forest into something out of a horror film.

The girl however wasn't focused on her surroundings. No instead, all she is focused on is running.

Because she is being pursued.

Right behind the girl several shadows with red eyes are chasing her.

The girl knew this, which is why no matter what she knew she couldn't stop running. Because she knew if that happened, she would suffer a fate worse than death.

So the girl desperately tried to pick up her pace. To run even faster than she already is.

But in the end, it didn't matter.

Before the girl even realized it, she tripped. She tripped over a moss-covered rock directly in her path.

Falling flat on her face the girl immediately tried to stand to her feet.

But before she could one of the red-eyed shadows appeared over her and slammed her face into the ground.

"Mhmmmm!" The girl shouted at the top of her lungs. But the sound of her screams are being muffled by the ground.

"Finally caught you." The figure holding the girl on the ground said. "Nice try, but there is no escaping us." The figure told her. "Now then, let's go back. We have lots of things to do together after all." The figure told the girl.

The shape of the figures mouth then formed into a sadistic grin.

Meanwhile the girl just kept screaming with all her might.

But in the forest in the dead of night, no one heard her cries.

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(MC: POV)

Moving through the forest, I followed behind Veronica along with Dominque and a squad of elite soldiers.

It's been three months since Dominque and I passed our initiation test and we are now able to officially call ourselves true warriors of the progenitor faction.

Since that happened we've continued our training, but we have also started doing missions. Taking down rogue vampires, killing stray exorcists that think its ok to operate in our territory, and also helping those in our territory with mundane tasks such as tending to farmland or helping them rebuild their home if it is damaged in a storm or other natural disaster.

Everyone has to make their bones. That's why Dominque and I have not complained once.

We also knew that if we did Veronica would intensify our training, and neither of us wanted that.

Not to mention, it's good to help your people out. It allows them to get to know you as a person, and vice versa.

That's how I've come to learn about the everyday lives of the citizens who live in the territory of Blackspire, and a bit more about how the territory operates in general.

For instance, I had no clue we allowed stray exorcists and certain other species of supernatural beings to live within our territory.

All of whom we've thoroughly investigated of course. We don't want a sleeper cell situation.

Anyway, when I question my mother about it, she told me that those people are just ones that want somewhere to live a peaceful life. A lot of the stray exorcists that live in our lands were excommunicated from the church for not killing supernaturals because they learned they were just innocents living their lives. As for the other supernatural species, it was because they had nowhere else to go. A lot of them possess human blood and human ancestry, so most of them are shunned by their own kind.

The anime showed DxD as an ecchi world filled with hot-blood battles. But in reality, this world is a cruel and cold place.

Though I already knew that, so it's not a shock at all.

Our party came to a stop when Veronica did.

She then surveyed the area briefly, before using her hand to motion us to move forward. Once she did we slowly approached, coming out of the trees.

When we did we found ourselves looking at a lake, and on the other side of it was a massive five-story mansion.

Which is our target.

For the past couple of weeks the surrounding areas near this lake have experience a rash of unexplained disappearances.

When our faction was asked to investigate this by one of our contacts within human society we discovered a pattern.

For the past couple of years in this area, people have gone missing in the same manner, and they are never heard from again.

Digging a bit deeper we found several doctored reports and a lot of misinformation about events happening in the area.

It didn't take us long to realize that massive deaths were taking place. We even found several reports of mass droves of people fitting the missing's descriptions rampaging without pause, biting into the necks of others, causing them to act in the same manner.

Once we saw that it was those people it didn't take us long to put the pieces together.

Those people were undead.

It's what happens when a human isn't able to withstand the process of being turned into a vampire.

After we realized this, we checked the calendar and saw the people in this area go missing all around the same time.

Just a few days before a full moon is set to appear.

The months and dates are varied up, but you can't vary up a full moon's appearance.

Bottom line is, some vampires are using this area as a place to forcefully recruit and turn humans into vampires. Most like just so they can bolster their own fighting forces.

Well that is going to end tonight.

As soon we my mother and the progenitors realized what was happening an operation was set in motion.

One that is about to begin shortly.

Turning her head to the left Veronica immediately put herself on guard, as did the rest of us.

We are sensing something from that direction.

It is most likely our allies who will be assisting us in this operation tonight, but since we are so close to the enemy we can't be sure.

So it's better to be safe than sorry.

A few moments passed, before several figures moved out the trees and stood in front of us.

There leader is a male.

He is in his twenties, and he is a trap. He has silky black hair that goes just past his shoulders, slender arms, deep red eyes, and prominent feminine features across his face.

But I just want to say again, this guy is a male.

He is also someone I know.

His name is Basteya Irclu. Or just Steya for people who are close to him. He is a sixth progenitor, and an elite commander among our people.

I've met him several times before.

Seeing that it was Basteya and his troops Veronica relaxed, as did the rest of us.

"Veronica, good to see you made it here safe and sound." Basteya said, walking up to Veronica.

"Yes, we had no trouble." Veronica said. "But enough about that. Let's discuss the matter we all came here for tonight."

"Of course." Basteya said. He then turned to the rest of us. After which he threw up a silencing spell to keep out unwanted eyes and ears. "Listen up people, tonight's operation is pretty straight-forward. While my troops form a perimeter to tackle any scum that might try and sneak away, Veronica will take her troops and enter the premises. Once inside they will exterminate any and all vampires on sight. When that is completed we will move in and rescue any humans left alive, while also gathering any information we can on the perpetrators behind these events. But remember, we need to exercise extreme caution. We have not been able to gather information on the owners of this estate, so if push comes to shove we could be looking at quite the battle."

Basteya is right.

Although is it usually only common for low-level vampires to sire followers by turning, I've heard cases of pure-blood noble vampires doing it. And those guys have the the power of high-class vampires, which usually translates to the pinnacle of high-class for devils, and in some cases if the vampire has lived long enough, the power of an ultimate-class devil.

Basically we need to tread carefully.

But I won't lie. I am a bit excited for the chance to fight a strong opponent if there is one lurking about. All the fights I've had up until now have just been so damn boring. I want a challenge that I can really sink my teeth into.

Pun intended.

'Damn. I guess this must be what Vali feels like.' I thought.

When I eventually meet him I'll spar with him. Now that I understand what he goes through.

"Alright, let's move out people." Basteya said.

Once he did he canceled the silencing spell.

When that happened everyone started heading around the lake, straight for the estate.

---------------------------------------------------

In just a few moments we all arrived at the estate.

Once we did Basteya and his troops set up a perimeter and put up a barrier around the entire area to avoid any unwanted attention, but also to capture any strays that might try and escape.

As soon as the barrier was set and Veronica got confirmation she put a feral grin on her face.

She then walked up to the front door and kicked it in like an FBI SWAT team bursting into a home looking for lolicons.

She really is a boss.

Following after Veronica we all entered into the mansion.

As soon we we did we could smell several things in the air.

Blood, urine, fear, and also sex. But we all knew that smell of sex definitely wasn't the product of anything consensual.

Putting disgusted looks on our faces we all stared at the vampires in front of us.

As soon we entered all of them looked directly at us. Some had shock on their faces, while others began running away with looks of terror.

Meanwhile their were some who looked at us with extremely cocky expressions.

I did not like that one bit. And from the way the others were looking, neither did they.

One of the vampires walked up to Veronica. "Hey, are you here to jo-"

He didn't get a chance to say another word before Veronica took her hand and used it to slice his head off his body. A spray of blood following it into the air.

"Exterminate them." Veronica said coldly.

She really didn't have to tell us twice in this instance.

We all moved out.

I ran up to a pair of vampires on the stairs and drew my blade. I then sliced their heads from their heads as soon as I reached them, neither having time to react.

Dominque held out her hand, and a second later a sword appeared in it. The sword then stared giving off a bright white glow, which caused the skin of the enemy vampires to being boiling and sizzling.

"Fuck, it burns!"

"Kill that little bitch!"

Several vampires swarmed Dominque, their fangs and claws prepped to attack her.

But Dominque just look at them in a disinterested manner. Taking her sword she slashed several times through the air, before appearing on the other side of the vampires who were attacking her, completely unharmed.

As soon as Dominque lowered her sword, multiple wounds opened up on the vampires that tried to attack her, all of them screaming in utter agony as they died from their wounds.

Normally this wouldn't be the case, but Dominque is holding one of her special blades in her hands for situations just like this.

It is a blade that emits UV rays on the same wavelength as the sun. Making it deadly to vampires, and several other species of supernatural beings associated with darkness.

I helped her come up with it by the way.

Once the opponents in front of her were finished Dominque looked at a vampire to her right and instantly charged at him, slashing him clean in two, right at his chest.

He never stood a chance.

The other in are group are also making short work of their opponents.

Meanwhile Veronica is watching all of this, taking out any would be escapees without an ounce of regret our restraint.

Nodding at this I continued working with the others, until eventually we killed all the vampires within the mansion.

Which only took us 20 minutes.

That's a new squad record.

After inspecting the mansion with her senses to make sure there were no more enmies, Veronica formed a spell circle on her left palm and lifted it up to her left ear. "Basteya all enemies have been dealt with. We are all clear for rescue and extraction." She told him through the communication circle.

"Understood." Basteya said.

Once he did Veronica dispelled the communication circle and looked at all of us. "Move out and search for survivors. And if they can't be saved, you know what to do."

We all nodded at her words.

Everyone then spread out throughout the entire mansion.

I went with Dominque and two others to check one the major no-go areas in a situation like this.

The basement.

Someone has to do it after all.

Opening the basement door the four of us entered with no issue. We then headed straight down the stairs.

But when we got to the bottom it was pitch black.

However for us vampires that didn't pose a problem.

But in this case I wish it did.

Because as soon as we arrived at the bottom of the stairs we saw several cages spread out across the basement area.

All of which were filled with the naked bodies of dead humans. Every single one of them with puncture wounds in their necks, their bodies covered in feces and urine.

"Disgusting!" One of my squad mates cried.

I can't agree with him more.

I know supernatural creatures have always terrorized humans and used them for food in some cases, but this...this is just plain evil.

Seeing crap like this actually makes me a bit ashamed to have supernatural blood in my veins.

"Let's head back up." My other squad mate said.

"Wait, we need to check for survivors." I said.

"Kufa, I don't thi-"

"Bump Bump*

Before Dominque could finished her sentence I heard it.

It was faint, but I am sure I heard a human heartbeat.

I didn't wait for the others to respond before I dashed in the direction I heard the heartbeat come from. In a few seconds I found myself at a cage on the far end of the basement. Looking inside I found the source of the heartbeat.

It was a young girl.

She looks to be about thirteen years old. She has short purple hair and blue eyes. She is also dressed in ragged clothing, with cuts and bruises all over her body.

Not only that, but she has wound deep in her gut that is leaking blood at this very moment.

Even so, as soon as I arrived in front of her cage she raised her head and looked directly at me. She then reached her hand out in my direction.

"H...elp." She managed to say.

"No problem." I said. I then raised my right hand in front of the bar and conjured a few winds blades to slice them apart.

During my magical training I've discovered my talents lie in the obvious ice magic, but also wind magic.

As soon as I finished cutting the bars I moved them out of the way and went into the cage to retrieve the girl, picking her up in my arms.

Once I did she clutched onto my clothing.

"L...ive....I wa...nt..to...l....v...e" The girl wheezed out.

"Don't worry. You are going too." I told her.

I am not going to let this mission end with the survivor count being zero.