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The mysterious black werewolf, whose dark aura resembled small particles of black sand, rushed towards Vlad, swinging his massive claws against him, which had grown long and sharp and extremely durable, enough to withstand the sharpness of Vlad’s sword as he attempted to parry his blow.
CLAAASH! CLAAASH!
However, he was only pushed back, realizing the tremendous prowess within the werewolf, whose huge body towered above the vampire prince with ease. The werewolf’s sharp crimson eyes glared down at him as if he were nothing but a pathetic worm.
“Capable, aren’t we? At least you were able to take on one hit from me,” the werewolf smiled. “I like surprising my prey; it always gets me excited for a new hunt.”
“That’s a Soul Artifact, isn’t it?” Vlad pointed at the werewolf’s black bracelet, which had a small ornament shaped like the head of a jackal, with purple jewels as eyes. “You’re from Ennead?”
“Oh, this?” smiled the black werewolf. “I am not from Ennead, prince. I was born and raised in the slums of this damn country. But this? It is a gift from friends that came from Ennead, you see.”
“So you are indeed from that cult,” Vlad nodded. “How nice of you to tell me so openly, and I thought you were a bandit.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter, doesn’t it?” laughed the werewolf. “By the end of this, you’re going to become my obedient monster.”
“So his ability is about turning people into monsters, as I thought,” Vlad thought. “That bracelet has a jackal head. It reminds me of Anubis? The monsters too.”
Vlad quickly realized that the bracelet’s cursed powers must have allowed the werewolf to turn people into jackal-headed monsters.
They were called “Guardians of the Underworld” after all, so it was pretty much a given. This meant that his Soul Relic was most likely a summoning-type.
Hence, the werewolf had to be quite strong by himself to have been able to push him back this much…
“So people that aren’t from Ennead can also create a bond with a Soul Relics?” wondered Vlad as he glared at the werewolf. The two moved around, circling against one another, trying to find an opening to strike.
“Ahah, no, not normally…” The werewolf smiled. “Well, it could be said this one’s special.”
His bracelet suddenly released a burst of darkness, encompassing the werewolf and suddenly covering his body with black armor.
And then Vlad, Camilla, Chris, and Queenie all felt it—the presence of a cursed entity, someone beyond the stars themselves.
[The {Desecrated Shadow King}’s accursed presence has slightly manifested…]
[He is glancing at you.]
Amidst the darkness and shadows generated from the werewolf’s cursed armor, the figure of a huge, heavily armored king manifested.
With bright red eyes, glaring down at Vlad with indifference.
It was barely as intimidating as the one he saw in his Class Change Trial, where the entity had manifested almost completely.
Because three of them had manifested, his mind was breaking apart, and he had gotten to the verge of having his mind shattered.
Whatever that meant on in-game mechanics…
However, after having gone through that, this accursed presence that used to make him feel unease and afraid seemed to not affect him that much anymore.
“Hoh? The pressure of the Desecrated Shadow King does not hurt you, prince?” The werewolf was surprised.
“I’ve grown used to the disgusting presence of monsters like that,” said Vlad. “And of course, I’ve also grown tired of you.”
FLASH!
Without even waiting for another second, Vlad charged forward, fully knowing the werewolf was actually waiting for the moment he would attack him.
The werewolf smiled maniacally as he readied his claws, now covered in black, cursed steel, as he swung a cross-shaped cutting wave against Vlad at once.
SLAAASH!
Vlad concentrated, his focus reaching his maximum level as he spun in midair, propelled by the Soar Spell, and barely evaded the deadly attack, which hit the walls behind him.
BOOOM!
At the same time, he reached the werewolf, imbuing his sword with a Holy Light Spell by using Geomancy into the metal itself.
“{Geomancy}: {Curse-Purifying Holy Sword}”
FLAAASH!
Out of nowhere, his sword fully changed, turning gold and gaining sacred ornaments of crosses and angelic wings.
Its light was so intense that it burned Vlad’s hands; as he was a Vampire, he was naturally weak against Holy Light himself.
However, the damage wasn’t anything his Blood Demon Skill couldn’t heal on its own over time.
“His sword changed color and element?” the werewolf thought, squinting his eyes as he prepared to parry Vlad’s blow. “Well, even if he does this, I am still stronger!”
CLAAASH!
The werewolf was sure to be stronger than Vlad; after all, his Appraisal Skill allowed him to see Vlad’s stats, which were incredibly low compared to his own, which were at least ten times as high.
Yet…
Crack, crack…!
“Huh?!”
CRASH!
Before he could realize it, his claws and his armor were shattered into pieces as Vlad’s sword descended like a guillotine, followed by two other attacks from his ghostly guardians.
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CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
“Graaarggh?!”
The werewolf was caught off-guard completely, as three stabbing blows pierced his chest, making his armor shatter apart and his mouth vomit blood.
To make things worse, the sword’s holy light burned his insides, and the cursed powers coursing through his body were being rapidly destroyed, causing even more damage as they combusted and exploded.
“Did you think I was weak?”
From what little of Vlad’s skin could be seen, his pale white color had suddenly turned red as his muscles bulged and horns grew from his forehead.
Ding!
[The Skill [Blood Demon’s Immortal Chimera Body (SS)]’s Ability {Lesser Blood Demon Transformation} has been activated,
[Your body has transformed, taking upon the form of an Ancient Blood Demon of your Lineage for 15 Minutes and Increasing All Stats and Vampiric and Chimeric Abilities Power and Effects by 330%!]
[While in your {Lesser Blood Demon Form}, you are Immune to any Status Effect, and your Stats cannot be lowered or increased any further. You can also use the following Abilities without any cost: {Blood Asura’s Rampage} {Blood Domain}, {Blood Curse}, etc.]
Blood Runes activated across his entire body as his Stats rapidly skyrocketed once he activated his Blood Demon Transformation.
“Y-You fucking…!”
The werewolf screamed as he fell from the air to the ground, his aura suddenly turning deep red as his body massively grew, becoming three times as big!
“{Cursed Soul Absorption}: {Berserk Werewolf Form}!”
With a loud howl, the werewolf’s wounds suddenly regenerated lightly as his armor reshaped around his body to accommodate his new, larger form.
The cursed souls of all the monsters Vlad’s team killed just recently were absorbed by his bracelet, which melted into his wrist, becoming one with him.
“He must have used the Fusion ability they can do with Soul Relics, isn’t it?” wondered Vlad, rushing forward. “I have to be careful.”
Despite how he had shown his strength, Vlad was never reckless; he showed caution as he quickly fired long-ranged slashing attacks first, which came accompanied by crushing invisible shockwaves from Camilla’s psychic attacks and arrow rains from Chris, which exploded into electricity.
BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!
As the explosions of attacks bombarded the werewolf, he laughed, smiling as they were dealing no damage at all anymore.
“Hehehe… HAHAHAH!”
As he laughed maniacally, he seemed to have lost his composure, charging towards Vlad at full power and punching him with his massive fists into the ground.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
“ARGH!”
Vlad gritted his teeth as he screamed, feeling his armor barely protecting him from having his internal body crushed, despite the boost from his Blood Demon form.
“AWOOOOO!”
The black werewolf howled loudly, releasing dozens of jackal-like cursed specters, which rushed towards Vlad and the rest of his party.
“Eat! Eat them all!”
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
As Vlad felt dozens of jaws biting his armor at the same time, he saw dozens more of these creatures appearing in front of Chris, Camilla, and Queenie, aiming to kill them.
However, they weren’t going to go down easily anyway, as the trio started to defend themselves. Camilla kept her composure as invisible shockwaves of psychic energy blew away the specters, making them disappear. Chris fired Holy Arrows, exploding into shockwaves of holy light that made the specters disappear into ashes. And Queenie fired countless heart-shaped projectiles made of pink light that exploded upon contact, leaving holes through the ghosts.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
“TCH!”
The werewolf’s face distorted in anger and frustration as he saw them surviving, only to feel something lifting his body up.
“GRURGH?!”
He glared down, realizing Vlad’s sword had slashed apart the specters already, and with his bare hand, he lifted the werewolf up and threw him away with a barrage of punches from both of his fists and the fists of his guardians, encompassed by a demonic aura of blood.
“{Blood Asura’s Rampage}!”
BAAM! BAAM! BAAM! BAAM! BAAM!
“GRAAARRGH!”
Each punch left a hole through his armor and flesh, while his face got all swollen as he was covered in blood, which splattered all over the place.
CRAAASH!
Hitting the walls behind him, the furious werewolf roared, and the hundreds of cursed specters gathered once more within his body, wrapping his fists as they swirled rapidly.
“{Cursed Ghost Fist Rampage}!!!”
With a ferocious roar while vomiting blood due to the damage he took, he intercepted Vlad’s barrage of punches with his own.
However, Vlad quickly jumped away from the attacks, surprising the werewolf, who had guessed wrongly that Vlad would honor the battle and fight him head-on.
No, Vlad instantly evaded that deadly attack, propelling himself using Soar ten times in a row, wrapping his body in so much wind a storm was released.
FLUOSH!
“RAAAH! COWARD!”
With whatever mind he had left, the werewolf grew furious and frustrated, jumping towards Vlad and unleashing the attack anyway.
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
His armor held on just fine, and as Vlad quickly swung his blade against the werewolf, a guillotine attack reflected on a giant golden dragon biting his arms with its sharp fangs was enough to cut both of his arms!
SLAAASH! SLAAASH!
And that was also thanks to his two guardians, imitating his attack and making sure the werewolf was completely incapacitated.
“GRAARGH?!”
“Still thinking I’m weak?!”
Vlad didn’t stop there, kicking the werewolf in the face and then rushing down at lightning speed. His sword suddenly started growing larger as Vlad merged it with the various swords he had taken from the bandits.
“{Geomancy}: {Titan Blade}!”
His sword temporarily became ten times as huge, as Vlad used his monstrous strength to swing it down, resembling a massive hunk of metal rushing towards the werewolf.
“GRRGGH?!”
CLAAASH!
The werewolf gritted his sharp fangs, rapidly evading the incoming blow by a hair, although his tail was caught in the slashing attack, cut apart and making him bleed even more.
“Heh, fucking idiot!”
He didn’t really care about his tail though, jumping towards Vlad by using his own blade as a platform, knowing full well that Vlad could simply not lift it as easily now that it was so heavy.
“I got you!”
A barrage of powerful kicks and phantoms covering Vlad’s entire body and cursing him while trying to suck his soul out engulfed the vampire prince.
BAAM! BAAM! BAAM! BAAM!
“Nnggh…!”
Vlad vomited blood as he felt his soul being slowly eaten away. Quickly attacking back, his guardians used their powerful technique.
“{Silver Moon Mirror}!”
They pointed their shields towards the werewolf, tanking his attacks momentarily before the mirror shields shattered into pieces.
Crack, crack…!
CRASH!
“What was that?! That’s all you got?!”
As the werewolf laughed, pushing Vlad down with his legs into his chest, aiming to crush his heart by the weight of his body, suddenly…
FLAAASH!
The two broken mirrors manifested a reflection of the werewolf twice.
“Wha…?!”
BAAM! BAAM! BAAM! BAAM!
And before he could even realize it, his entire body was punched and wrapped in ghostly attacks, weakening him and cursing him, and even dealing damage to his soul too.
A powerful technique the guardians can unleash only once every hour, it allowed Vlad to fully reflect any attack capable of breaking the mirrors.
“GRAAARRGH!”
As the werewolf screamed in agony, Vlad smiled, controlling the blood of his wounds and then touching it by extending a small thread.
“{Blood Bomb}”
“NGH?!”
Suddenly, in that very second, the werewolf felt the blood from his wounds rapidly combust, burning his already ugly wounds and then blowing apart his body piece by piece.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
“GRUUUAAAGGHH!”
As he fell from the skies with half his torso missing and with his head barely intact, he noticed Vlad’s sword had yet to come back.
The vampire prince, even while falling from the air, lifted it up easily with just a mere wave of his hand.
“M-Magnetism?!”
The werewolf was wrong once more; Vlad didn’t need his physical strength to lift his sword anymore.
SLAAASH!
With a single, gigantic slash, the werewolf’s head and whatever remained of him were split apart, his innards and blood splattering into the ground, leaving a bloody mess behind.
The cursed presence of the Desecrated Shadow King remained, lingering for a couple of seconds as Vlad glared at it.
And then…
[The {Desecrated Shadow King} admires the bloodshed.]
[The Fate of the Damned has been brought by their very actions, or inactions.]
[And so, when you die, there is nobody to blame but yourself.]
FLUOSH!
And then the presence fully disappeared.
[The {Desecrated Shadow King} presence has dissipated.]
“Hahh… What the hell did he even mean with that?”
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