The Walker Of Voids
Chapter 99 Death's Door [1] - A Vampire's Demise

"You know, you sure don't die very easily. I would compare you to a cockroach, but that would be insulting their species." Lloyd sneered while looking at the half-dead Veronica, laying on the ground with only half her limbs.

His [Void Channel] form had ended after using [Black Hole Eclipse]. While he would have normally died after such an ability that not only put tremendous stress on his body, but also on his life force, he simply commanded the remaining energy from his awakening to complete its work.

He was healed in less than a minute, and he used the next 10 minutes to cultivate the energy and get new insights into the world of void energy. It did not take him much longer for him to finally reach the first commandment.

After looking at his watch that had seemingly stayed intact due to god's grace, he realized how important reaching the first commandment was, even for someone like him who could rival the second commandment, before he even reached the first.

[Name: Lloyd Elrod]

[Commandment: First - Initial Stage ]

[Race: Void Walker]

[Class: Walker of Voids]

[Talent: 2-Star]

[Affinity: Shadows - Flames [New] - Void [New]]

[Passive Ability: Night Vision - Shadow Sustenance - Soundless Steps - Heat Resistance]

[Abilities: 4-Dimensional Thought [Lvl 3--->4] - Shadow Manipulation [New] - Flame Control [Lvl 3--->4] - Basic Lightning Control [Lvl 1--->2]

[Passive Race Ability: Monarch's Aura, Devour [New]]

[Race Abilities: Aspect of Void - Void Channel - Void Gaze - Void Step - Void Control [New]]

After reaching Veronica, he was surprised to see that she was still alive, but she might as well have been dead, since the wasn't fairing much better than a corpse.

While she would have been stark naked after such a deadly attack, Lloyd had the decency to cover her up by using his new [Shadow Manipulation] ability to carry a pair of clothes he was holding for Tina and dress her up with it.

Of course, she didn't deserve such decency, but Lloyd did it anyway. She was a warrior, the least he could do was kill her in a way decent to the spirit and will she fought with.

After the power of [Void Channel] disappeared, he found himself capable of thinking more clearly. Everything from the way she fought to the way she sacrificed her life force...

It all told him that she thought she was doing the right thing. This didn't mean that he would forgive her for her actions, nor did it mean that he wouldn't kill her once and for all, but for once, he understood her.

Looking at her regeneration, trying its very best to bring back the limbs she lost, he could not help but pity the woman before him.

"From a blood knight that everyone revered to this?" Lloyd asked, yet he did not get a reply.

However, Veronica did not need to speak for him to understand what she was trying to say. Her eyes rolled to look into his, and while he expected them to be filled with pain, anguish, desperation, or even suffering, all he saw was contempt.

Lloyd waited for a few more minutes, watching Veronica slowly heal before him, yet while her body was increasing in strength, her life force was dwindling, and her energy reserves had run dry.

Lloyd expanded his energy and life senses, a thing he had learned to do from Felix's extensive sense training. However, despite increasing his senses to their maximum range, he could only sense Tina, who seemed to have been knocked unconscious. She was very much alive, but it was not her who Lloyd was most worried about.

At the same time, Lloyd contemplated what to do with Veronica. He wanted to kill her, yet the human side of him was trying to replace every reason why he shouldn't.

However, in the end, he made his choice. A choice that had been whispered in his ear ever since he saw the horrible state she was in.

'Vampires have very powerful healing abilities; some can heal even if you destroy everything but their heads. But Veronica is just a half-step third commandment. She will not survive destroying her heart and crushing her brain. However, you must use void energy.' Null explained.

'You finally came around on killing her?' Lloyd asked.

'I was never against the idea. However, I saw many advantages to keeping her around when she did not desire to kill us. A simple miscalculation on my end.' Null explained with his normal voice, completely void of emotion.

Taking in a deep breath, Lloyd pointed at her heart and closed his eyes. This would be his first kill on a sentient creature, so he made sure to brace himself for what would come next.

A small amount of void energy built up at the tip of his finger before he chose to release it, and when he did, the ball of violet energies shot through her heart, the sound of searing skin and boiling blood forever ingrained into his mind.

However, he was not done. Creating another ball, he shot it into Veronica's head and out of the other end, instantly melting her brain while shooting the remaining amount of her brain matter through the other side, sprinkling the scorched land with the blood of a vampire.

It took a few seconds for Lloyd to regain control over his gag reflexes, but once he did, it did not take long for him to get used to the situation.

He had killed someone, but it wasn't nearly as dramatic or horrible as he thought it would be.

He always heard stories from adults around him about their first kills. Almost everyone said that they felt like a hole had opened up in their hearts the first time they committed such an act, while others, like his mother, had puked for days as they continued to replay the scene. It was the first time she realized she was probably not cut out for the military.

Yet Lloyd didn't feel any of that. He just felt sick for a moment, and that was it.

Maybe it was because he had killed monsters and animals before, or maybe it was because he had killed a goblin before, so it didn't feel nearly as bad as it should.

"Why didn't I gain anything. Are you sure she's dead?" Lloyd asked when seeing that he hadn't gained void energy from her kill, nor did he receive any abilities.

'I assume that due to her nature as a vampire, she is already considered dead. However, it could also be due to her having destroyed her life force to a point where it had become unsalvagable.' Null explained with his same old dull voice.

After shooting Veronica another six times just to stay safe, Lloyd also drew to the same conclusion.

While Lloyd didn't know it, something about him had changed at that moment. His voice had changed slightly, his every word sounding slightly more disconnected and distant than the last, and his mind became slightly more calculated and less emotional.