Watching the fight from his hiding place, William was sure he had blinked. The two fighters were now standing on the bridge like there hadn't been an attack at all. He knew better though as he studied those two; from the way Hugue was holding his sword, it was quite obvious that the swordsman had countered the blow and Reinhold had jumped back, his charge interrupted.

"Hmph," Reinhold stepped back and studied the blond some more before moving in for a feint attack. Hugue was ready to counter, and the vampire moved away before anything happened. "Well. That tells me quite a lot of how you fight. His student, indeed."

"That's great," William commented from his hiding place. "Maybe you'll now consider him a worthy opponent and stick to the fact that you're supposed to kill him before you get to me? You deal with that, Hugue my dear boy, I'm so not getting involved. And don't take all night, it feels like it's getting even colder, and it's so bloody cold here already that my fingers are getting numb."

Hugue ignored the older man's complaints and went in for an attack, but the vampire jumped back on the last moment, the swordsman's blade barely missing him. Reinhold struck back in an attempt to cut the blond's throat, but before his blade made it anywhere near the swordsman Hugue had already countered. Their swords clanked against each other before both retreated a few steps.

"Still, you're a strange priest," Reinhold commented to Hugue while taking a moment to study the swordsman. "Of course you are, being another one of these Vatican idiots who go around and think they're vampire hunters, seeing you're so set on killing me." He feigned an attack to get a better look at Hugue's weapon. "Hmm. Somewhat different blade from what your 'Master' used, I see. Makes no difference, I've fought swordsmen before, and they all lost."

The blond didn't reply at first and stood still, his gaze following the vampire's every move. "It doesn't matter. Die," he said as he stepped to the side and sliced at the vampire, the long blade cutting a bit of Reinhold's clothes before the vampire managed to evade. Hugue didn't stop there and made another attack, with his opponent countering this time and forcing the blond to jump back.

"It's too bad for you and your ideas of vampire hunting, but I don't intent to die," the vampire said as he stepped to the side then made another attack using Haste towards the swordsman. Hugue blocked the attack and Reinhold pulled away again. "On the contrary, I plan on killing you both here," he added as he moved closer and waited to see if Hugue did anything before he went in for another attack.

There was a frown on the swordsman's face as he realized the vampire was intending to get past him to attack William, but he held his ground and blocked the attack, responding with a quick slash from his blade. Reinhold jumped backwards, appearing cautious, and Hugue took the opportunity to continue his attack. They exchanged a few blows before the vampire broke away to evaluate his opponent for another moment.

"Guess you really are his student," Reinhold commented on Hugue's fighting technique. "Your style reminds me of that battle, although your moves are a lot more graceful. That, or you just manage to look prettier than that old man hiding over there." He went for another attack, and Hugue responded with his own.

Back at the other end of the bridge, William rolled his eyes. "What, my sword technique isn't good enough for your high standards anymore? First you brag about all swordsmen losing against you, then you have /standards/." He peeked out from his hiding place then withdrew back behind the trees before Reinhold changed targets to his direction. "For your information, I taught him that. I also taught him a lot of other things you might end up seeing before he kills you!"

He couldn't decide if the taunts were a good idea since he had wanted to stay out of the battle. There was of course the possibility that if it worked, Reinhold was more likely to make mistakes that might help Hugue in the battle. The vampire was, after all, pretty easy to annoy, if he remembered anything from the original mission involving Reinhold. Their opponent did like boasting about his skill - and skilled he had been. Had Leon not have gotten the lucky shots in on the vampires, accompanied by William's strike, the result of the battle from a couple of years past might have been different.

To William's credit, his comments did end up having the desired effect. Reinhold muttered something the Professor couldn't hear and went for another quick attack, his goal obviously to move across the bridge. Hugue blocked the vampire's way and countered with his own swift attack, which pulled Reinhold's attention back to the blond, and they exchanged strikes for a moment. William hid back behind the trees and took a deep breath, considering his options. Hugue could for certain deal with it, but since there was a chance what he was attempting worked...

"Ah, bloody hell with this," he muttered and got up then moved to the end of the bridge to watch the fight. He realized doing this ended up with him doing exactly what Hugue had asked him here for - to serve as a bait. Still, it was clear his presence distracted the vampire, so serving as the distraction was what he would do. "Hey, there," he called to the two figures fighting at the other end of the bridge. "You two perhaps planning on finishing this anytime tonight? I'll have to admit, I'm kind of tired. And you have any idea how cold it is here with these clothes on, it's..."

Reinhold turned towards the Professor on that instant and prepared to attack. Of course, he didn't get anywhere as Hugue stepped in the way yet again. "Why yes, I am indeed planning on finishing this," the vampire commented with a nasty grin on his face. "By killing you and your precious student, and I don't even care in which order!"

It was quite clear Hugue did care about the order as the blond was not about to let the vampire get anywhere near William. Reinhold glared at him, calculating how to get to the other end of the bridge, but no matter what he tried, the swordsman was always in the way. "Guess I do have to kill this one first, though, seeing he's quite a pain," Reinhold continued. "You're quite right, Wordsworth, I should finish this. Your dear student here is sure making me waste more time than I'd like to waste to kill some priests. Taught him well, in being annoying as heck at least!"

"Oh he's good in bed too," William commended casually. "Knows quite a bit of nice tricks and you wouldn't believe how flexible he is." It was not the best conversation topic he could come up with in the situation - as the matter of fact, it was probably one of the worst and stupidest. However, seeing the way Reinhold stopped abruptly to stare at him, William figured it worked. "You wouldn't probably know what I'm talking about though, it's not like you were one to be..."

At that point, Reinhold cursed aloud as Hugue got a clean slash at him, ripping his coat. A few drops of blood fell on the snow from the wound on the vampire's left shoulder, and he retreated a few steps and took a defensive position. "You're certainly are something, good Father Wordsworth," Reinhold commented, shooting an odd look at him. "What, next you're going to tell me you and that big hunk of muscle from the last time..."

William shrugged and smiled at the vampire. "Oh Leon you mean? Well I can't say I haven't tried..." He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Although you might want to ask Hugue about that, he's probably been doing that a lot more than I have, I mean..."

"Would you shut up and die?" Reinhold cut in, his voice annoyed. "You certainly like to waste your time talking."

While the vampire was making his comment, Hugue took the opportunity and sidestepped around him and slashed at him again. Reinhold cursed as he barely dodged the attack and pulled away, not attempting to counter right away. He frowned as he glanced at William then back at the blond swordsman, appearing to be considering the situation for a moment before he went for another attempt at using Haste to get past Hugue.

The swordsman's reflexes were nothing to underestimate, though. Only like a fraction of a second later Reinhold was there again, jumping backwards to dodge another precise swipe aimed at him, and it was only luck that kept the vampire from getting his head severed. Hugue frowned and continued his attack, and the vampire struck back at him, his sword cutting through the railing of the bridge. This caused the railing to creak dangerously, but it held together by some chance.

"Not having much luck today," William said, appearing to be evaluating the battle. "It could just be that he's too much for you to handle, Reinhold. You do realize you have the option of giving up and letting him arrest you for the crimes you've-"

That was about as far as he got, as on that moment Reinhold went for a stronger attack, which Hugue dodged, but it was obvious that the vampire's intention had not been to hit the blond swordsman. Rather, Reinhold's sword cut to the edge of the bridge, and his vampire powers considered, deep into the structure.

The old bridge creaked again, half of the railing falling off. William stumbled backwards a little, leaning heavily on his cane as he tried to regain his balance. Another sharp creak followed, then a loud snap as another piece of the bridge broke off. Hugue and Reinhold both withdrew as William's end of the bridge shook, then collapsed into the river.

"Master!!"