While I meditated, Van quietly approached Asuora. "Can I see your staff?" the paladin requested politely.

"Sure," the female Dhampir smiled and casually handed him her weapon.

When the human grabbed it with his right hand, he almost dropped it!

Asuora giggled.

Van scowled at her prank and took hold of the staff with both hands. He was surprised at how heavy it was! How could a woman with such thin arms grab this heavy staff with only one hand? He remembered her nature as a Dhampir and realized that it granted her enormous strength. "What is this made of? How could it kill a shadow so easily?" he peppered her with questions.

Asuora smiled broadly. "The staff is made of mithril," she revealed.

The paladin's jaw dropped. Mithril was enchanted steel made by Dwarven Master Blacksmiths. It was considered to be the strongest metal in existence. Mithril was imbued with magic. No wonder she was able to destroy a shadow with only one hit! "Where did you get this?" he demanded to know.

The Dhampir waggled her finger. "It's a secret." She smiled again.

With a dirty look, Van returned the precious weapon back to her. The paladin had to admit that Asuora would make a formidable opponent. In a fair one-on-one fight, it was unlikely he could defeat her even with his holy protections as a paladin. Therefore, he was glad that he hadn't been forced to defend Brother Mulligan against the vampire hunters back inside the Watch Headquarters.

While the two were talking, Kalistra sat down next to me and meditated as well. For her, meditation was an important way to calm her emotions and refocus on the upcoming battle.

Bjoukia and Bjoukin spent the unexpected downtime sharpening their blades while Rijana reviewed her spellbook and sorted out the spells she would most likely use to fight the undead.

Doudan leaned against a wall with his eyes closed; he focused on his hearing. While he couldn't see the invisible mage, he could hear her heartbeat.

When the twenty minutes had passed, the cat girl immediately opened her eyes and poked my shoulder. "It's time," she said and then sprang to her feet.

I opened my eyes and took a peek at the upper left corner. I saw that my green Mana bar was full. I rose to my feet. I opened my pouch and took out the special magic ring I received from Archbishop Wilshire; I wore the ring on my right hand. I placed the Scroll of Undead Eradication in my potions bag for easier reach. I looked around and saw that my companions were all waiting for my command.

"Let's cast our buffs before we enter the portal," I ordered. I cast Protection from Undead on everyone except Tescka and then I cast Armor on myself. I drank a Mana potion to replenish my mana. I quickly dismissed my pop-up messages; I received 175 XP in total.

Van cast Bless on each person aside from Tescka and then drank a Mana potion.

Finally, Rijana cast Enchant Magic on our weapons. "The spell will allow your weapon damage to be treated as magical and harm the vampire," she explained. She, too, needed to use a Mana potion to replenish.

Once all the buffs were cast, I raised my hand to regain everyone's attention. "The vampire hunters are carrying anti-magic beads. This can either help us or hurt us. When I yell, 'Beads!' that means I want them to be used immediately. Is that clear?"

"Yes," the two vampire hunters replied in unison.

I nodded and said, "Let's go!"

Van entered the portal first and he was followed by the vampire hunters, then Kalistra and I, Rijana and the elves, and finally Tescka.

I felt a slight disorientation when I stepped through the portal. We were greeted by complete darkness. I cast Light to illuminate our surroundings. "Light SUCCESSFUL. +25 XP." I almost wish I hadn't--we were completely surrounded by an undead horde! Thankfully, it was only skeletons and zombies. I also noticed that we were inside a large cavern.

My party immediately attacked!

Van charged right into a group of undead in front of him. He turned into a berserker and he was swinging his two-handed war hammer rapidly as if he was a human tornado. The force of his attacks knocked the undead back, clearing space for the rest of us to move forward.

Asuora and Doudan took positions to the paladin's left and prevented the undead from moving behind the berserker.

Kalistra and I were positioned to Van's right and similarly protected his back.

Bjoukin and Bjoukia took the rear and faced outward to form a circle around Rijana and Tescka. The ranger had traded his bow and arrows for a slingshot; his blessed bullets were aimed at heads and skulls and his headshots were surprisingly effective in destroying low-level undead monsters.

"Rolling Sphere!" Rijana yelled out; she created a large, rolling ball of fire and used it to burn the undead.

Tescka could not cast spells without losing her invisibility. Thus, she played armchair quarterback and gave suggestings to Bjoukin and Rijana on where to aim their attacks. Whenever the mage drained her Mana pool, Tescka passed an opened Mana potion for Rijana to drink.

The pop-up messages were piling up rapidly as I killed the skeletons and zombies. Yet, I realized that the vampire was trying to get us to burn up our precious stamina and mana. Thus, I avoided using my spells and sword skills unless it was absolutely necessary. Fortunately, my normal attacks were enough to defeat the monsters. "Call out if you see the vampire or mages approaching us!" I ordered.

"I'm right on it," Tescka yelled back since she was the spotter in our group.

After ten minutes of continuous fighting, we finally thinned out the undead horde. Since we were surrounded by piles of dead skeletons and zombies, it was hard to see beyond their bodies.

Suddenly, someone clapped his hands. "That was entertaining," a man said with a funny accent.

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"Above us!" Tescka warned and we immediately looked up.

Hovering just under the ceiling of the cavern was a man dressed entirely in black and wearing a black cape. His skin was pale white. His eyes were red and glowing. When he smiled, I saw his sharp fangs. This was the vampire boss! Hovering in the air with him were three men wearing black robes; those were the charmed mages!

"Ah, where are my manners? My name is Trenton Selis. Who is the leader of your group?" the vampire asked in a polite tone of voice.

I raised my hand. "I am Lawrence Eugene Mulligan, a member of the Church and the Magic Guild. Why are you raising an undead army under Bristol?" I asked.

"Who knows?" Trenton shrugged. "Boredom, perhaps?" The vampire suddenly disappeared!

I was startled when Trenton stood right in front of me! He stared directly into my eyes. I felt my mind spinning as the vampire tried to charm me! However, the ring I received from the Magic Guild helped me repel the charm attempt.

"Lord Mulligan and I are old friends. This expedition is simply a misunderstanding by the Church and the Magic Guild," the vampire suggested. "Please order your party to stand down!" Trenton commanded.

Pretending to be charmed, I lowered my head and started to bend on one knee. When I felt the vampire had lowered his guard, I immediately pulled out my wooden stake and tried to jam it into the vampire's heart!

Unfortunately, the vampire moved too fast and he quickly returned to the ceiling. "How can you resist my charm?" he asked angrily.

I smiled, which irritated Trenton even more. "It's a secret." I winked at him.

Trenton bit his lips, drawing blood. He pointed a finger at me. "Get him!" he ordered.

The three mages started casting fireball.

I interrupted the mage in the middle with an Acid Arrow. "Acid arrow SUCCESSFUL. -8 Health, +25 XP. Spell INTERRUPTED. +100 XP."

Rijana cast her own Acid Arrow to interrupt the mage on the right.

The last mage was interrupted by an arrow to the thigh courtesy of Bjoukin the ranger.

"Must I do everything myself?" Trenton scowled and cast Quake.

The earth started shaking beneath us.

I lost my balance and fell to the ground. "-4 Health."

The spell knocked loose some rocks from the ceiling and smashed into the fliers, causing them to fall to the ground.

My eyes widened at the unexpected opportunity. "Beads!" I yelled.

Asuora and Doudan immediately crushed their anti-magic beads; the entire cavern became engulfed inside the anti-magic barrier.

The vampire shook off the stun effect from the fall and rose back to his feet. "Golems, attack!" he yelled.

Two suits of armors moved from their storage location against the wall and slowly approached us.

With his hands outstretched, Trenton tried to run directly toward me but he was intercepted by Kalistra. The vampire tried to use his charm on her but again he was repelled. He hissed angrily and the cat girl immediately hissed back. Trenton tried to use his vampiric strength to shove her aside. To his astonishment, he was unable to do so. Instead, Trenton found himself knocked to the ground.

Kalistra alertly straddled the vampire and his arms were pinned down by her knees. "Stake him, Lawrence!" she yelled.

"Help me!" Trenton yelled at his minions. However, he saw that the two golems were being fought off by the Dhampirs. The three charmed mages were knocked unconscious and tied up. The remaining undead horde was being cleansed by Van.

Like an executioner, I held the wooden stake in my hands and slowly approached the condemned former human. "Why did you create an undead horde under Bristol? Why did you charm those mages?" I asked.

Trenton's eyes rested on the sharp point of the stake. "I used to be an Apprentice under these mages. Somehow, they caught a vampire and they were conducting experiments on him. The vampire broke free. As revenge, I was turned into a vampire and commanded by my master to charm his tormentors. He also commanded me to create a hidden undead army under Bristol," he revealed.

"Who is your master?" I demanded to know.

"Lazarus is his name," Trenton replied. "I've answered your questions. Please let me go. I'm begging you," he pleaded.

My head slowly turned from side to side to survey the cavern under the illumination of torchlight. There were at least 250 skeletons and zombies that had been destroyed by my party. I pointed at the piles of dead bodies surrounding us. "What mercy have you shown them?" I challenged. My eyes burned with fury for all the victims, people who were alive and murdered by Trenton and his minions in order to grow their undead army. "You are a mass murderer and your judgment is death!" I slammed the wooden stake through Trenton's heart.

The vampire gasped in surprise. He struggled to break free but was held in place by Kalistra's superior strength. Eventually, he ceased struggling and Trenton met his final death. The vampire's pale skin immediately turned black at the site of the stab wound. The blackness spread until it covered his entire body. His cells began to degenerate rapidly and his body slowly turned to ash.

Since my mission was completed, I began to relax. I sorted through my messages. The final one read: "Vampire DEFEATED. +1,000 XP." I received another 800 XP for killing my share of zombies and skeletons. I dismissed all the messages and sat on the ground. Although I had completed my mission, I felt no joy in my heart because the innocent lives were still gone and they were never coming back to life.

Kalistra petted my head softly and then walked over to Asuora and Doudan, who were still holding off the golems. With her aid, the inanimate suits of armors were finally defeated.

The elves moped up the rest of the skeletons and zombies that were still alive. Everyone else was simply too exhausted from the long battle.

When the last undead monster was defeated, a black portal suddenly formed above our heads. A giant skeletal hand came through the portal and reached for me.

My companions started to attack the hand when I yelled, "Stop!" I calmly took out the Soul Collector. When I checked its caption, I confirmed that it had been completely recharged to 1,000/1,000.

Van tried to shove me aside but he was shoved back by Kalistra. The paladin looked at the cat girl in shock. "Aren't you supposed to protect your Liege?" he blurted out.

The giant hand took hold of my body and started to pull me through the portal.

Asuora answered. "That is a high-level servant of Keras, the Goddess of Death. Even if Brother Mulligan uses the Scroll of Undead Eradication, it would not be enough to kill this monster. It appears our leader will be granted an audience with the Goddess," she observed.

"Exactly," I added with a reassuring smile. "I will be back soon," I promised. When the giant skeletal hand pulled me through the portal, I experienced a slight dizziness. However, the head-spinning quickly passed and my eyes were able to refocus again.

The giant hand finally placed my body on the ground.

I slowly rose back to my feet.

Keras was sitting on her pet's right shoulder. She flew and landed in front of me. She held out her right hand.

I bowed deeply and handed the recharged black crystal back to her.

Keras examined the Soul Collector and confirmed that it had been completely recharged. "Kneel," she ordered.

I did as I was commanded.

The Goddess touched my forehead lightly with her finger.

I felt a soothing sensation from her touch and the sensation quickly spread throughout my body.

The dark faery's over-sized wings fluttered as Keras flew back and landed on her giant pet's right shoulder. "I have lifted your curse," the Goddess announced. "I saw your angst and despair for the innocent lives lost to fuel the madness of Trenton."

I lifted my head and looked at her with askance.

"Trenton had lied to you," the dark faery explained. "While Trenton was indeed bitten by Lazarus and ordered to charm the mages, the master vampire did not order Trenton to create an undead army beneath Bristol. Unfortunately, Trenton's transition to undeath had caused mental instability."

"You mean Trenton had imagined the order from Lazarus?" I blurted out incredulously.

Keras nodded solemnly. "Trenton's actions have disturbed the Great Balance between Order and Chaos. He shall spend the rest of eternity in penance." Her eyes glowed.

"How?" I asked hesitantly.

"I will use Trenton's soul as the vessel to create the new Grim Reaper," the Goddess revealed.

I bowed deeply to her wise judgment.

"You will face many challenges in your quest for Kingship. Since you have acted honorably and diligently in recharging the Soul Collector, you have found my favor. You may call on my name one time for a boon. And if I find it worthy and within my power, your request will be granted. Now, it is time for you to return to your world," Keras said.

I bowed again.

The giant skeletal hand grabbed my body and returned me to the underground cavern.