Once Tyler succeeded in convincing Vlad to allow him to join, the leader went off to grab his equipment along with informing several of his players in his rank about the plan. Meanwhile, Vlad descended the stairs and made his way toward the Mall Exit. The faster he got out of there, the faster he could get to his friends. As usual, there were a lot of players scurrying around the floors, moving from shop to shop and doing whatever they could to prepare for the Blood Moon Event.
Getting to the second floor, Vlad had to maneuver around several groups of players as they scampered along from one section of the mall to another. He bumped into some players, to which he apologized each time. He soon made it to the stairs leading to the ground floor and quickly descended. As soon as he reached the ground floor, he spotted two familiar faces approaching him.
“Vlad?” Flint noticed Vlad while walking with Conner. “What’s going on?”
“Are you going out somewhere?” Conner asked, looking curious.
Vlad almost didn’t stop to answer them, pressed to leave the mall to go find his friends before it was too late. However, after taking a few breaths, he halted and turned to them.
“I’m leaving the mall to go find my friends. Apparently, they’re somewhere North from here.”
“S-should I come with?” Flint stammered, his face filled with anxiety as if the idea of going back out in the badlands was an option.
“No, I already have Tyler joining me, so he’s all I really need. Besides, you should probably keep looking around here, since we’re likely going to be staying in the mall to help out for the Blood Moon Event.”
Since Vlad’s friends were part of this group, he would have to stay here as well to both protect them and help out for the Blood Moon.
Conner nodded. “Right, I’ll give your friend here an official tour of this place. Let’s keep moving, Flint.”
“O-okay,” Flint said, following behind Conner.
The moment they left, Vlad moved his legs once more, propelling himself toward the exit. Only to be stopped once more…
“Looks like I managed to catch up to you in time,” Vlad turned around and saw Tyler approaching him, looking a bit different.
He was decked out in a little more metal-plated armor like metal boots and a knight-like helmet carried in his left arm. Aside from the sword strapped to his left side, there was also a short sword attached to his right, hinting that this Knight was a duel weapon wielder. The moment he got to Vlad, he stopped in his tracks and proceeded to put his helmet on, giving him an even more knightly appearance than before.
Vlad’s eyes furrowed, annoyed that he wasn’t able to ditch Tyler before he could catch up. He hoped that the leader would be too busy either getting ready for departure or informing his other people about it, allowing Vlad to use that time to get out of the mall and abandon the knight. Sadly, with him here now, the vampire was left with no other choice but to let him join.
Vlad let out a slight groan while turning his back toward Tyler. “Let’s get moving.” He said nothing else after this and walked toward the exit, not even attempting to make small talk with the leader.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Despite being the leader, Tyler hasn’t made any attempt to take charge. At least with Vlad. If anything, he was letting the Blood Hunter call the shots. Whether it was because he knew he wouldn’t listen or something else entirely, Vlad wasn’t sure. But that didn’t wasn’t important right now. Since Tyler knew not to push his luck with him, that made it easier for the vampire to accomplish his goal.
With the pair prepared to go, they soon left the mall to go find Vlad’s friends.
In the back of his mind, Vlad hoped that they were okay and that he could make it in time before things got bad.
…
Chloe cautiously remained crouched, her back pressed against the metal railings that prevented her from falling off the catwalk. She wheezed out a breath as her ribs ached painfully with each inhale. Sweat beaded down her face, getting in her eyes and dripping off her chin. Aside from her ribs, her leg flared up in pain as blood seemed out of the knife wound. Despite the pain, The daughter of the Cribb family gritted her teeth and pushed the feeling away, allowing her to focus on something more important. Like what was below her.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
As her eyes trailed down below the catwalk, Chloe witnessed nearly a hundred or so goblins roaming about the ground floor of the warehouse. Their numerous voices filled the entire building, making it sound like a rave party without the extremely loud music. As she looked down at the monsters, her vision soon filled with messages regarding their status windows, and what she was seeing filled her with dread.
[Goblin – Level 9]
[Goblin – Level 7]
[Goblin – Level 5]
[Hob-Goblin – Level 14]
[Goblin – Level 8]
[Hob-Goblin – Level 12]
[Hob-Goblin – Level 14]
There were so many of them that Chloe’s head throbbed from the overload of information flooding her brain. The only way she could make it stop was by turning away, not sparing a single glance at the goblins, fearful of the headache of information coming back.
“T-that’s a lot of goblins …” Chloe turned and saw her friend Arthur, fearfully looking down at the goblins, his face paled at the sight of so many of the green monsters below them.
His forehead was bleeding profusely, blood trailing down his face along with a gash mark on his cheek. His blondish brown hair was a mess, coated in both blood and grime as if he hadn’t showered in the last few days.
“W-we weren’t told that there was a horde of these bastards…” Rick muttered fearfully. “T-this was just supposed to be an easy job. Get the metal, and get the hell out of here…”
Chloe tried to say something, but she could only choke on her words as he ribs flared up again, each breath causing her immense pain. Wincing in pain, she watched as another friend kneeled in front of her with a worried expression.
“T-try to stay calm. I-I’ll do my best to heal you…”
In front of Chloe was Lucy, as she kneeled in front of her, with her hands placed in front of her chest. After a few moments, a faint divine yellow light emitted from her palms. The light touched Chloe’s chest, and almost instantly, the pain from before slowly faded away, allowing her to breathe a little easier.
Much like Arthur, her clothes were a bit bloody and her arms and side bled a little, soaking the fabric on her profusely.
Once the pain in Chloe’s chest lightened a bit, she tried to pull herself up, only for Lucy to place her hand on her friend’s shoulder, slowly pushing her back on the floor.
“Y-you can’t move yet. You’re still injured from before, alright? M-my healing skill might’ve alleviated your wounds, but y-you’re still too wounded to move around.”
Chloe attempted to protest, opening her mouth and voicing her complaint, but as soon as she did, her chest ached once more. Despite Lucy’s healing magic, her wounds were still present, only making things difficult for Chloe to act. As the pain got worse, she simply leaned back against the railing, making no effort to fight back anymore.
Chloe didn’t expect the situation to get this bad. All she and her group were trying to do was collect some metal and weapons to prepare for the Blood Moon event. She thought it would be an easy in-and-out job. And yet…the moment they entered the warehouse, they were quickly faced with the goblin horde.
They only managed to get halfway across the warehouse before goblins spawned all around them. Because they were caught off guard by this, the group barely managed to escape while making their way to the catwalk, taking down any goblins that came their way. Chloe got hit with a flail directly in the chest, and Arthur got bashed in the head with a club by a Hob-goblin. Rick and Lucy managed to avoid getting hurt, but with two of the main fighters severely injured, they were in serious danger.
As for the other two players, Ben and Juliet…Chloe grimaced while remembering the last time she saw them, witnessing the goblins overwhelm the two as they were dragged away. Chloe or the others couldn’t even try and save them due to the goblin horde they were facing against. So, for all the group knew, those both Ben and Juliet were dead…
Then, Chloe remembered the quest they were given around the time the horde attacked them.
[Side Quest – “Underdeveloped Monster Nest” – You managed to come across a Monster nest that hasn’t been fully developed yet! Lucky you! Since you were able to locate one, your goal is to now exterminate the nest, including the Monster Boss that resides within it! Until Quest is complete, players are not allowed to leave the area or send out any message to call out for help.
Reward – [Rare Item] and [Extra XP]
A monster nest. The place where monsters take residence and build their forces to prepare for the Blood Moon. Chloe and the others were aware that during the five days they prepared for the event, they would be given quests that would allow them to diminish the number of monsters attacking them, by directly attacking the base.
And this had to have been such a case. However, the quest told them that this was an underdeveloped monster nest. If this horde was underdeveloped, Chloe feared what a fully functioning nest was like.
Even if this place was underdeveloped, taking on a horde with just four players was practically suicide. They needed at least ten or so to stand a chance. But because they couldn’t leave, they were stuck here. At least until some kind of help arrived.
They’ve been gone for a while, so their leader Tyler should’ve noticed by now and is currently sending help. Sadly, they didn’t know how long it would take for backup to arrive, so all they could do was wait until then.
Despite the danger, she was faced with. She had one thing floating in the back of her mind that she would occasionally think about.
“Where are you, Vlad…?”
Even when she was in mortal danger, all she could think about, at the moment, was if one of her friends was okay. It’s been two days since the apocalypse and Chloe and the others haven’t found Vlad yet.
Little did they know, the very person who they thought was missing, was currently on his way to save them.