...However.

Despite all the preparations we had made for the battle, it ended too easily.

We stood, sweat cooling on our brows, looking down at Fallen Blood, shredded and fallen before us. What happened?

"His, his stats were certainly high..."

"Is it because he’s a fallen vampire? He moved too simply."

He was a former vampire, left with nothing but a thirst for blood and primal instincts. No different from a beast.

No matter how fast and strong he was, his movements and actions were too predictable. This made it easy to counter.

Junior and Damien shot from a distance, while Lucas and Evangeline stormed in close with their silver weapons, Fallen Blood couldn’t hold on for long and fell.

I awkwardly scratched the back of my head with my staff. No, I was all prepared, and this is it?

"Do we have something... a little more challenging?"

I looked up at the stage and asked.magic

"..."

Jackal, who had been looking down at us as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, cleared his throat, "Very well! It’s time to bring out the freshest and liveliest monster from this season’s batch!"

He said, opening the iron-barred gate.

Koo-goong...!

[Flaming Colosseum - Wave 6]

- Defeat the enemy!

- Lv.50 Vampire : 1

- Victory odds ratio : 2.00 vs 2.00

A vampire!

Finally, we were up against a real, legitimate vampire.

"Versus! The self-proclaimed noble with a bat-shaped head! Oh, I don’t care anymore! Just go out and fight until you die! The fallen vampire! Bernato~~~!"

Creak, creak.

What appeared was... a young man bound in iron chains.

His skin was pale, his tousled hair was blue and curly, and his eyes were a bloody red.

"Ugh..."

The vampire, Bernato, dazzled by the lights of the arena, found Jackal on the stage and roared.

"Damn you, Jackal! Do you think you can get away with this?!"

"Hmm? What are you saying?"

"The only reason this pitiful arena of yours is allowed to exist is that the great legion leaders tolerate your existence!"

Bernato thumped his chest.

"But I am the family of the great Nosferatu Lord Celendion! You dared to touch me and reduce me to this state, surely the lord will judge you-”

Poo-hwak!

Before he could finish his words, Bernato’s arms suddenly flew off.

Blood sprayed in all directions. Unaware that his arms had been cut off, Bernato made a stupid noise.

"Huh?"

Before we knew it, Jackal had drawn a dagger in each hand.

He had drawn his daggers at a speed that the eye couldn’t see, struck at a speed that the eye couldn’t see, and cut off the vampire’s arms.

"Shut your iron-smelling mouth, you filthy blood bastard."

"Wh, what-"

"Once you’re caught by me and brought here, you’re just a commodity of this Blazing Colosseum. I don’t care who your family is, or under whose ass you were, got it!"

Jackal pointed a dagger at Bernato.

"Next time, I’ll cut off your head. Fight properly! Before I stuff your mouth full of crushed garlic! Got it?!"

"Kuk...!"

Bernato, gritting his teeth, turned away from Jackal and looked at us.

The blood connecting the fallen arms and the torso on the floor swirled, and the arms rose into the air, reattaching themselves to his body.

"I don’t know where you guys are from, I haven’t checked your lineage, and right now, I don’t even have an appetite."

Bernato flexed his fingers, confirming that his arm was properly attached, and bared his fangs at us.

"I must kill you. If you don’t resist, I will let you go peacefully."

"Oh? That’s very kind of you."

I twirled the staff in my hand and gave him a crooked smile.

"I’ll give you a heads up too. We’re going to kill you. And it would be problematic if you don’t resist, so please, do your best to struggle."

"What?"

"It’s our first time dealing with a vampire in a real fight. Don’t we need to gain some experience too?"

Bernato looked as if he didn’t understand my words.

Well, I guess from a vampire’s point of view, humans are like bottles of juice on display at a supermarket.

And if that bottle of juice suddenly says, ’We’re also going to kill you,’ I can understand why he’d be taken aback.However, my bloodsucking friend, the odds of victory now stand at 50 to 50, even with the Goblin voters.

It’s about time you got your head cracked open, juice bottle.

"Now, guys, before we deal with him."

I looked at my party members and casually lifted my staff.

"How about some palm spanking after a long time?"

As soon as my words dropped, Lucas, Evangeline, and Damien stood side by side and extended their palms to me.

"...?"

Only Junior seemed unable to accept the current situation, staring at us with wide, shocked eyes.

"Uh, what are you doing right now...?"

Slap! Slap! Slap!

After swiftly slapping the palms of the three, I turned to Junior with a wicked grin.

"Your turn."

"What? Oh, okay?"

"Don’t worry. The pain will be temporary, and the pleasure... should last for about three minutes."

"Hold on, I’m not a fan of physical punishment- Ouch, that’s hot?!"

Slap!

[Intermediate Buff Activated!]

[The ’20% increased elemental damage for 3 minutes’ buff has been applied to Jupiter Junior(SSR)!]

"...Huh?"

Junior looked flustered as she checked the buff applied to her.

Lucas, Evangeline, and Damien all nodded their heads in unison at her.

Why does it feel like their expressions are saying ’Isn’t it delicious?’

"Uh, uh?"

The color of the elements floating around Junior intensified. The buff seems to be taking effect immediately.

I whispered softly to Junior.

"You can only do this once a day, so don’t try to get hit too often."

Relying on buffs should be avoided, but more importantly... this does feel a bit perverted! (TL Note: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°))

***

Vampire combat methods can be broadly divided into two categories.

First is Blood Magic.

All abilities related to blood are called Blood Magic.

These abilities are based on the vampire’s own blood and the blood consumed from others.

The strange and powerful abilities that vampires use are mostly this Blood Magic.

Second is Physical Strength.

The overwhelming regenerative ability that far exceeds common sense, and the strength of the body that clearly has the upper hand compared to humans.

Many vampires train to wield weapons.

The weapon swung with their superior physique itself carries brutal power.

Simply put, there are two major skill trees, and most vampires concentrate on one of the two.

If either one reaches a certain level, they become monsters that show disastrous power.

Unfortunately, Bernato,

"Craaargh!"

Seems to have been lazy in practicing both Blood Magic and Physical Training.

Whenever Bernato tried to use some magic by collecting blood, Junior interfered and nullified it.

And he didn’t excel in physical combat either, his hand-to-hand combat skills were subpar.

He’s being butchered by Lucas and Evangeline’s combined attacks.

It might seem like we’re winning easily based on this.

"..."

But it wasn’t necessarily so.

The natural regenerative ability of the vampire species was astounding.

No matter how much Lucas and Evangeline cut him, or Junior burned him with magic, Bernato healed his wounds in an instant.

Even with silver weapons that slow down their regeneration, it still looked like this.

’How can we effectively cut off a vampire’s lifeline...’

As I watched the flow of battle from the back, I groaned.

"Damien, can you see his soul core?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

Damien had been keenly searching for the Soul Core of the creature for a while now, but even with his Far-Sight, it was hard to spot.

"That vampire, it feels like its entire body is made of blood. Its Soul Core is not fixed; it merges and disintegrates repeatedly."

"Hmm...""Even if I snipe it, it just disperses right away. I don’t know where to shoot."

I stroked my chin in thought.

’What should we do...?’

In the game, when you raid a vampire, it’s usually in the middle stage of the game.

We’d typically set up various healing reduction artifacts and cut them down with holy weapons.

But this is still early game.

We don’t have any rare items like healing reduction artifacts, and we haven’t even drawn a holy weapon yet.

’No damage can be inflicted... Is there any good way?’

The battle of attrition continued without landing a decisive blow.

But we weren’t the only ones getting worn out. Bernato had lost too much blood.

"Khuk...!"

Bernato, whose complexion noticeably worsened, looked around. Probably searching for a suitable victim to suck blood from.

And then our eyes met.

"..."

Hold on a minute.

No, seriously?

"Give me your blood, prey-!"

Bernato, his mouth wide open, charged at me in an instant. His sharp fangs glistening threateningly.

It seems I was targeted first because I’m the lowest level. It’s getting annoying.

’But, you see.’

If you’re going to announce ’I’m going to suck your blood now,’ naturally, we can prepare a counter.

Thud! Thud-thud!

Just before Bernato’s fangs could rip into my throat,

Three arrows flew into his open mouth.

The arrowhead that pierced his left cheek came out through the other cheek, blood spurting out.

"Keuk... He."

Bernato froze in his tracks. Lucas and Evangeline charged at him.

Thud!

Thwack!

Into Bernato’s stomach went Lucas’s silver sword, into his back went Evangeline’s silver spear.

The moment I saw this scene, an idea flashed across my mind.

"Lucas, Evangeline! Don’t retrieve your weapons, keep them stuck in his body and back off!"

Lucas and Evangeline acted upon my command immediately. They dropped their weapons and quickly distanced themselves from Bernato.

"Junior!"

I quickly instructed Junior.

"Lightning! Can you do it?!"

"Ah ha."

Rumble...

The sound of thunder echoed, and Junior grinned cheekily.

"I know what you mean."

Ka-boom-!

The next moment, lightning struck.

The lightning, guided by the silver weapons in Bernato’s body, burnt him from the inside out.

"Kyaaaak-?!"

The vampire’s blood-curdling scream echoed everywhere.

"Ah."

At that moment, Damien mumbled softly.

"I see it."

Whiz-!

A crossbow bolt was fired from Damien’s hand.

Thud!

The silver bolt, accurately piercing through Bernato’s heart, had a small red bead impaled at its end.

It was the vampire’s Soul Core.

Ting-!

The next moment, the red bead shattered to pieces.

"Kyaaa... aaah..."

And Bernato, from the end of his body, gradually disappeared as smoke.

Looking down at the disappearing red smoke, all the party members were catching their breaths.

Our first vampire hunt was a success.

--TL Notes--

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