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nChapter 47 – Count Dimitri’s Castle Ruins (3)

nAfter killing a single Vampire with his spear, Dominic scanned the hallway for another lone Vampire.

n‘There’

nHe took his spear and charged forward once more.

n“H…hey!”

nSomeone shouted at him from behind, but he ignored it. If he didn’t do something, he would be left with no contribution points to speak of.

n“Don’t worry; I am also skilled.”

nHe answered.

n“Endless Needle!”

nHe shouted as he clashed against the Vampires. He aimed for the neck and stabbed with the spear.

n“Kyaa!”

nThe Vampire tried to dodge the spear by tilting its head, but the weapon suddenly split into dozens of spears.

nAnd one or two of them pierced through the Vampire’s neck.

n“Kuh…!”

nThe Vampire grabbed the newly formed holes in its neck and fell to the ground. He had now taken two down and was feeling more confident.

nHe searched for additional targets.

nLuckily he found a female Vampire wandering by herself in the distance. It turned to look at Dominic and screeched.

n“Kaa!”

n‘So you are his pair!’

nHe cast a spell

n“Flying ball of flames, Fire bolt!”

nThe Fire Bolt he fired was aimed at the Vampire’s feet. The Vampire jumped high into the sky. But this is what he was aiming for.

nIt would be easier to target enemies in the air.

n‘I shall send you with your partner.’

nHe watched the Vampire in the air to time its landing and have it land on the spear. However,

n“Ugh”

nHe felt piercing pain on one of his legs. He couldn’t move his feet. He looked down to see.

nThe Vampire he thought he had defeated had stabbed his ankle with its long nails. It was still alive despite the holes in its neck.

nDominic opened his eyes wide. But despite the pain and the surprise attack, he shouldn’t have taken his eyes away from his other foe.

n“Kaaa!”

nThe female Vampire that dodged the Fire Bolt earlier was now upon him. He turned to look at her. She was descending faster than he had anticipated.

n‘They can fly?’

nHis realization came too late. The Vampire was already past the spear tip. Dominic tried to take a step back, but his feet were held down by another Vampire.

nThe Vampire flew into his embrace, ten claws scratching his back open.

n“Aaah!”

nHe screamed out loud in agony due to intense pain, but it was not over yet. The Vampire clamped down on his neck and drew blood.

n“Ack..”

nHis vital was ripped open, and the blood supply to his brain stopped. Dominic felt faint, and he started losing consciousness. But before he passed out

n“Pa!”

nA sword came flying from somewhere and pierced the Vampire’s head. The hands holding Dominic loosened up.

n“Haa!”

nThe sword came flying back and cut through the neck of the Vampire sucking his blood. The head fell off, and along with it, the fangs holding onto his neck.

n“Ta ho!”

nMahadas appeared and kicked away the head of the Vampire holding his leg. He caught Dominic as he was about to fall over

n“Are you alright?”

n“Kyaa!”

nA crowd of Vampires tried to take advantage of the situation and surround them, but Giovani appeared and blocked them with his shield. Meanwhile,

n“Pew”

nPeng Long’s arrows pierced through one of the Vampire’s arms. Giovani pushed the Vampires back with his Shield and Axe.

nWhile Giovani was buying time, Kei appeared out of nowhere and severed the heads of all the Vampires like the wind.

nThe surviving Vampires were finished up in moments, and the battle was over for now. Giovani looked over to Dominic to scold him for running ahead alone.

n“I told you to…”

nBut he stopped himself once he saw Dominic’s ashen face.

n*

nOnce Sungjin was done dealing with the last Vampire, he returned to the other hunters’ side. At the center lay Dominic. Sungjin inspected Dominic’s state.

n‘Why did he overdo it?’

nHe was able to save Dominic thanks to ‘Telkron – Jester’s Gloves’, but his state looked dire. He was bleeding from his ankle and neck profusely.

n‘If I was even a little bit slower… he would have already died. But… if he got bitten by a Vampire…’

nMahadas recited an incantation.

n“By my authority, close the wound and remove the pain, Heal!”

nA white light spilled out of his hands and covered Dominic’s injuries. His wounds disappeared wherever the light touched. Sungjin pursed his lips and gazed at him.

n‘He still uses white magic…’

nMahadas was no tank, but because he fought without a weapon, he had to fight at the very front lines resulting in him getting injured often.

nSo in the previous life, Mahadas had used various white magic, recovery magic, and buff magic. It was a wise decision.

nThanks to Mahadas’s magic, Dominic’s condition improved. But his state was still strange.

n“Are you alright Dominic?”

nDominic finally spoke

n“I feel fine but… something’s weird… I feel dizzy.”

nSungjin asked the operator while watching Dominic.

n“Operator, how long does ‘Blood Curse’ last?”

nBlood Curse, duration is 30 minutes.

nPeng Long asked

n“Blood Curse?”

nSungjin frowned. Peng Long’s reaction reaffirmed his suspicion. The information sheet did not contain any mention of the Vampire’s bites.

n‘Information sheet? Where’s the info?’

nSungjin came to distrust the Information sheet for this reason. Although it was informative, it always redacted few key information necessary to complete the raid.

nSungjin was about to open his mouth to explain the effects of the ‘Blood Curse’, but Mahadas calmly asked the Operator.

n“Operator, what is the Blood Curse?”

nThe Operator gave an explanation in her usual expressionless tone.

nBlood Curse (Debuff): Duration 30 minutes. Lower all status points by 30% for the duration of the curse. Once the time runs out, the curse kills the target, and the target is reborn as a Vampire.

nGiovani whispered.

n“Kills… my God. Is there no cure?”

nPeng Long replied

n“I checked every item in the consumable shop, but I’ve never seen anything that reverts curses.”

nSungjin shook his head.

n“This is not a poison; It’s a curse. Does anyone have ‘Remove Curse’ or ‘Scroll of Remove Curse’?”

nEveryone’s eyes grew large. It was probably their first time hearing about a curse. Dominic’s eyes lost its lustre as he fell into despair. Everyone fell into silence.

nSungjin thought about it for a moment.

n‘Remove Curse… Soldamyr said that he couldn’t use White or Green schools of magics…’

nThere was no immediate answer. But, there was still a way. The only way available to them. Sungjin told them immediately.

n“Even if we don’t have ‘Remove Curse’, there is still a way to save him. The only way.”

nMahadas asked

n“How?”

n“Complete the Raid before 30 minutes are up. As you all know, if you get teleported back to the Black Market, all your injuries go away.”

nEveryone nodded at his words. Even if one took an otherwise fatal wound, if they were to be teleported to the Black Market, all their wounds would disappear as if nothing had happened.

nBut there was a problem with this method as well.

n“Operator, how much time is left until the Raid is over?”

n1 hour 19 minutes and 4 seconds.

nEveryone turned to stare at Sungjin, thinking ‘so it’s impossible after all’. None of them had ever experienced being teleported back early; they had always been sent back when the time ran out.

n“Even if we don’t hit the time limit, if we reach 100% completion for the raid…”

nSungjin was about to say, but he decided against it.

n“I will do my best to save him, so please trust me. Giovani.”

n“Yes? What?”

nGiovani answered in panic at being called out.

n“Please protect Dominic. Even though his status points were decreased, you two should be able to keep each other safe if you two work together.”

n“Ah, got it.”

nGiovani’s helm moved up and down twice. Sungjin now looked over to Peng Long and Mahadas.

n“You two, hunt with me. As fast as you can possibly manage.”

nThe other two men nodded as well. They haven’t had a chance to speak properly, but they already understood his strength; they trusted him.

n“Let us hurry then.”

nSungjin pointed towards the elevator on the far side. Within the elevator was the same circular formation as the castle entrance.

n“Please go stand on them.”

nEveryone took their spots. Once all 5 of them took their place the elevator began to climb. Even if one of them died, they had to carry the corpse and place it on the slot in order for the elevator to continue moving.

nThis part was written on the information sheet, although it didn’t help improve their chances of survival.

n‘Clang clang clang clang’

nThe elevator made worrisome noises as it began to climb. Sungjin was thinking about various things as the elevator moved up.

n‘Will I be able to kill the hidden boss and find the secret location within 30 minutes? I can try but…’

nStill, there were two things going right for the team.

nFirst was that the monsters were not spaced far apart like in Ahenna’s forest or the Kutan Desert. They were all gathered up in the same floor. So all they had to do was clear each floor as fast as they could and kill ‘Count Dimitri’ and the hidden boss within the thirty minute time frame.

nSecond, he decided to bring ‘Treasure Hunter’ this time rather than Master Hunter. He would be able to find both of the hidden elements of this raid faster than any previous raids.

nOf course, the thirty-minute window was extremely difficult to overcome. Sungjin glanced at Dominic. His face was very pale.

n‘If 30 minutes are not enough… then with my own hands…’

nSungjin reviewed his options while having such thoughts.

n‘Keep Romance of the Three Kingdoms for the Hidden boss. I may have to face the hidden boss alone. Then the only other thing I could use to reduce the time spent is…’

nSungjin took out Cain’s wooden figurine and Soldamyr’s golden lamp. He threw the figurine into the air and rubbed Soldamyr’s lamp. Soon,

n“Woof woof!”

n“Did you summon me, master?”

nTwo loyal summons appeared before him. The others stared at Sungjin out of surprise. Meanwhile

n“Ding!”

nThe Elevator reached level 2. Level 2 was the Spider room. Due to the large amount of giant spider webs laid out, trying to clear the room normally would take considerable time and effort.

nBut this time was different. Sungjin ordered Soldamyr.

n“Soldamyr.”

n“Yes, master.”

nSungjin nodded.

n“Burn them all.”

nAt his command, Soldamyr began an incantation.

n“Eternal Flames of Hell!”

nBlinding light and heat formed in Soldamyr’s hands, and the Spiders in the room turned towards the Elevator. One or two began to make their way towards the elevator, but it was too late.

n“Inferno!”

nThe ball of fire left Soldamyr’s hands and quickly spread to everything it touched, setting them ablaze.

n“Kiiii~”

nHigh-pitched screeches of the spiders filled the air as they cried out in agony. Several spiders ran amok across the room while on fire. It was a scene straight out of hell.

nWhile the other hunters were afraid to make a move,

n“Let’s go Cain.”

n“Woof!”

nA lone man and his trusty wolf ran into the room.

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