My OP Minion System in the Apocalypse

For the first time in several days, I made my way to the other side of the grand wall.

The entire area had become a barren landscape. A few days ago, there were some small human camps were set up around the outskirts of the city. However, now that I was finally walking on the loose dirt of the outside world, there was not a single person in sight, aside from all of the soldiers who were fighting.

I couldn't see any of the civilians who were living around the outskirts of the city just a few days ago.

With my three Elite Minions by my side, I made my way through the battlefield. Most of the fights were occurring a significant distance away from the wall, between mostly elves and vampires. It seemed that they weren't able to recruit many humans to help in the battles.

As I made my way further away from the wall, I noticed more and more battles. From the general scene, it appeared that the elves and vampires were fighting on a pretty even level. I had a look around, using my [All-knowing World] to look at the strengths of the different vampires.

Most of the vampires didn't even have a rank.

[Vampire detected]

[Rank]: None; [Remaining Blood]: 86%

They were the weakest vampires in terms of the system's ranking criteria. It was pretty obvious that they weren't very strong considering they were struggling to overpower the elves who are just stronger humans with no abilities.

I looked around to see if there were any stronger vampires I could fight. I was sending my Minions around the place to aid with some of the smaller engagements, but I didn't see any places where my personal aid was required.

The elves were slowly taking down the weaker vampires, one by one, clearing the general area. I considered just returning and letting my Minions help with the defence, however, I saw something approaching from the distance.

[Vampire detected]

[Rank]: Earl; [Remaining Blood]: 100%

Ah, now this was something.

Earl was the third highest rank from what I knew. This would be a good opportunity to see the relative strength of all of the vampires.

I drew [Mayuri-Luc-Ei] and positioned my Minions in front of me.

The vampire was slowly making its way over to me.

It was wearing a long black cape, with its signature dark, red sword attached to its hip. From a distance, the way it walked and the way the cape swayed in the wind extruded a menacing feel.

As the vampire got closer, he swiftly drew his sword and swung it flashily in his hand. It was clear that he was quite proficient with handling such a weapon.

I decided that I wasn't going to let him get the first move.

Cut him down, Mayuri.

Concentrating the aura at the end of [Mayuri-Luc-Ei], I launched a shockwave of wind at the vampire. He braced a little bit before being hit and it seemed that the attack didn't do much damage to him. It hit him with a slight thump before he looked back up at me.

"You're not an elf."

That's true, I wasn't an elf.

I wasn't in the mood for small talk, however. I sent my elite Minions at him, following shortly behind. With a few swings up his blade, he managed to fend off my Minion's attacks, leaving it up to me to engage him directly.

[Rank]: Earl; [Remaining Blood]: 100%

Using the techniques I learnt during the past few days, I manipulated my body in such a way in order to create an opening. However, it seemed that the vampire was much stronger and faster than even Laiex. I would have to make use of my abilities if I wanted to defeat him.

As I swung my sword toward his chest, he easily dodged it by taking a step back. I pushed in to continue engaging him but he managed to block all of my attacks with his blade.

Looks like I'll have to turn up the heat.

With my left hand, I drew [Tengen-Ko-Rin] and raised it into the air.

Chain him down, Tengen.

I still wasn't capable enough to duel wield my demonic weapons, but I could access their abilities just by holding them up for a little while.

Powerful steed chains were conjured, immobilising the vampire. I could see that the chains were instantly suffering a lot of stress from the vampire's movements, but it bought me a precious few seconds. I quickly charged in and swung [Mayuri-Luc-Ei] once again.

Unable to defend my attack, the purple blade of [Mayuri-Luc-Ei] dug into the vampire's flesh, drawing out a violent stream of blood. The vampire grabbed his chest in pain and looked down in shock.

"W-why am I regenerating so slow..?"

[Rank]: Earl; [Remaining Blood]: 82%

Despite my [Regenration Blocker] slowing the speed of his healing, it was still covering up the wounds and slowly repairing the damage. I needed to reduce his blood even further in order to fully take him down.

Before long, he broke out of my chains and leapt backwards to create distance between us. I decided to stand back a little instead of rushing in since the vampire was clearly agitated. He raised his sword in front of himself and did the vampire chant.

"Sword, drink my blood."

Just like all the other vampires, blood dripped down from his forearm, feeding the crimson blade of his sword. I braced myself for this strength increase. It was going to be a test of my defensive capabilities.

Kicking off the mud and grass, he dashed towards me. I had only milliseconds to react. I raised my sword. I followed his movements with my eyes. Then, I positioned my blade to block his attack.

With a loud smash, our blades clashed as I just barely was able to deflect his attack. Using the very brief opening, I quickly swung my sword and cut into his side. It wasn't a very deep wound but it was enough to draw some more blood out of his body.

This was going to be a long fight.