The blond swordsman swore silently as his blade cut empty air. His opponent wasn't, however, far away, and he jumped back to the stairs and rolled to the side just in time before a ball of fire exploded where he had been standing a second ago. He didn't waste any time and got ready for another attack, his gaze searching for the vampire.

"Master?" He called to William, well aware of the fact that he wouldn't have time to protect the older man in the midst of the fight.

He got no answer. He frowned, then dashed to where the man was lying and checked him quickly. William appeared to be unconscious, but he was still breathing, and Hugue figured he could use the situation to his advantage. His opponent couldn't have known about William's condition, although there was no way to be sure. He just had to pray it would work.

"Vampire," he called angrily. "Are you satisfied now? You had your revenge."

"Really?" Came the vampire's amused voice from above Hugue; the swordsman looked up and saw him on the roof of the building. "Humans are such fragile creatures, really. Oh I'm so sorry, did I kill your lover? Too bad!" He jumped down, glaring at the blond with a dark grin on his face. "That's what you did to me, you damn bastard! Die!"

He threw another fireball at the swordsman. Hugue leaped out of the way, took a quick step to the side and then slashed at the vampire. His blade met the side of the vampire's sword, and he remembered William mentioning that his opponent was carrying a blade around.

The vampire pushed Hugue's sword away with relative ease, and the blond jumped away, frowning again. He was used to using both his hands while fighting, but while he was capable of using the sword one-handed, his left hand being useless left him at a disadvantage.

"You think you're so good, Vatican dog," the vampire snarled at him. "Think you can get away with anything. Humans, bah! You're all going to die sooner or later..." He paused to throw more flames at Hugue, but the blond dodged, dove forward and swung his blade at the vampire's feet. It hit; the sword cut his opponent's thigh, and the vampire screamed in pain. Hugue was on his feet a second later and spun around, bringing his weapon where his opponent's neck was - or would have been, if the vampire had still been standing there.

Hugue jumped backwards, his instincts warning him just in time as another fireball landed by his feet. He felt the heat from it and moved away quickly, taking a couple of quick steps up the stairs and stopping by one of the pillars. He dodged behind it to evade another fireball, then jumped into the open, making a mental note to not try doing flips with one hand as he went and almost faltered. It was certainly possible, but he had to make sure his sword stayed with him.

The swordsman evaded the next pair of fireballs which rocketed towards him, then took the few necessary steps to reach his opponent and jumped at him, spinning around and bringing his sword down at the vampire's neck. His strike was blocked, but he continued the attack, landing a few feet away, dodging from under the vampire's blade and sliced at him again.

"Vatican bastard! Would you fucking die already?!" The vampire yelled at him angrily, barely dodging Hugue's sword. The blade cut through the vampire's clothes and slightly into his skin, enough to make him bleed. Hugue didn't stop to admire his work; he leaped at his opponent again and their blades met in the air. The vampire used the Haste skill then and zoomed past the swordsman, successfully cutting him in the arm slightly. Hugue ignored the pain and spun around to see where his opponent had gone.

"No," he said coldly. "You die."

"You fucking wish," the vampire replied, backing away for now. He threw another fireball at Hugue, then escaped to the side of the square in front of the large building, pressing his hand over his side where, Hugue concluded, William had stabbed him before.

Hugue went after him, then found himself having to dodge into a doorway to get out of another fireball's way. He kept his eyes on his opponent, knowing that the vampire was trying to buy a moment to heal himself from the injuries he had caused.

The vampire was faster than him and managed to avoid him for a moment. Hugue didn't, however, give his opponent an opportunity to stop for too long, keeping the vampire from getting the time to heal. They circled the square, glaring at each other, each waiting for the other to make another move. The vampire got tired of it after a while and leaped at the blond, and their swords met again, then they parted and kept glaring at one another for a moment longer.

"Useless struggle," the vampire taunted, a cruel grin on his face. "You're still injured from what happened to you last night. Give yourself up nicely and I won't hurt you... Much."

Hugue didn't answer but jumped at his opponent again, slicing the blade through the air. He landed on the stairs, rolled to his side and got up again, barely dodging another fireball. He evaded behind one of the pillars - and he then happened to glance behind him, towards where William had been lying. The man was gone. Hugue smiled a little, then jumped out from his cover and slashed at the vampire.

Their blades met and they stood there, weapons locked together. The vampire grinned at him, and Hugue stared back at his opponent, gritting his teeth. With the cybernetics in his arms he could match the vampire's strength, but his opponent had both hands free, and he didn't. The only compensation was that his opponent was injured and lacked full strength.

They stared at each other for a long while, both struggling to push the other's sword away. Hugue finally broke the stance by dodging down and pulling his sword away, then went for a downward slash at the vampire's body. The vampire managed to jump away and fled away from the blond swordsman, obviously still trying to find a moment for healing.

"Was he good in bed, that lover of yours?" The vampire asked Hugue, staring at him from the other side of the street. He crouched down a little, holding his side, and Hugue stared back at him, calculating his opponent's possible weaknesses. The wound from the silver dagger was certainly beneficial to him.

"Yes," Hugue replied, his voice imperturbable. He took advantage of the distraction and ran across the street, slashing at his opponent. The vampire dodged and threw more fire at him, then escaped away from the blond.

"Too bad," the vampire hissed. "So was mine, you know. Until you... Bastard! Die!" He attacked, aggravated. Hugue blocked the vampire's sword, then struck at his opponent, his sword cutting the vampire's coat again.

They exchanged a couple more blows, switching sides of the street and moving along it slowly. Hugue noticed the street widening a moment later and found that they had arrived to the larger square where he had found William's umbrella earlier.

The space allowed the vampire to get away from him for a moment, and Hugue frowned, his gaze searching for signs of his opponent. He got his response a moment later though, as fire was thrown at his direction from behind a statue by the edge of the square. He barely evaded, the burning projectile passing him dangerously close.

"Enough of this!" The vampire yelled, leaping at him with the sword. Hugue brought his own sword in-between them, blocking the strike. The vampire then went all out on him, and they fought.

They clashed blades a couple more times; the vampire then suddenly summoned a fireball and threw it at the blond, forcing Hugue to dodge it and lose his balance for a moment. The vampire's sword came down at him half a second later and Hugue could only raise his left hand in the way to block it.

"What...?" The fight paused and the vampire stared at the blond. His sword had gone right though Hugue's arm, and the blade was stuck. He scowled at the blond but then grinned and twisted his blade downwards, pulling Hugue down with it. The swordsman fell, having already lost his balance earlier, but he slashed at the vampire's stomach as he went down, cutting though his opponent's clothes and deep into his skin. The vampire screamed in pain but then kicked Hugue in the right arm, causing him to drop the sword. He then placed his foot on the blond's chest to hold him down, and raised his hand, summoning a ball of blue fire.

"Die!"

"Negative," a voice from behind the vampire said. Hugue looked past him, a hint of a smile touching his lips as he saw Tres standing there, his guns pointed at the vampire. Not that Tres' presence had actually been what made Hugue smile, though - it was who stood behind the gunman.

"Figured you could use some help," William called to him, smirking.

The vampire turned, glaring at the newcomers. "You... Die, you bastards!"

A third figure stepped forward from William's side. He took off his glasses and handed them over to the cyborg, who lowered his guns. "If you'll allow me, Tres," the silver-haired man said calmly, and the black ribbon holding his hair on a ponytail slipped off.

"Nanomachine Kresnik-zero-two. Release of restrictions to 40% - approved."