12 hours ago.
The night before Stage 5 began.
Junior ca to , saying she had a lot to discuss, as I contemplated strategies till the very end.
"Your Majesty. You knew I was hiding sothing, didnt you?"
I nodded.
Juniors attribute [Cunning Fox].
An attribute that hides her stats.
[Cunning Fox]
- Always digs an escape hole. To prepare a trump card, deceives opponents about her abilities.
Since Junior had this attribute from the start, it was hard to get a precise grasp of her stats.
"I knew youd know."
With a bitter smile, Junior cautiously took off the glove on her left hand.
The back of her exposed left hand was covered in burn scars from childhood, and at the sa ti, a vivid magic pattern appeared.
My eyes widened.
"This is..."
"You know what this is, dont you?"
I nodded heavily. Junior put the glove back on.
"I told you before that Id shown you all my abilities, but that was a lie. I was hiding one more thing."
"..."
"But I wont hide it anymore."
Quietly, I opened the system window to check Juniors stats.
Juniors real level, real skills, real attributes...
I let out a small sigh.
"...You showing this ans youre ready, right?"
"Yes. Just finished."
Junior gave a faint smile.
"The skill to hit the vampire king, and my readiness. Everything."
"..."
Junior told about the results and achievents of the magic research shed been delving into over the past few days.
I, who had been listening with bated breath, slowly opened my mouth.
"I also got a skill this ti."
My level was already 36 at the final dungeon clear.
I should have gotten the 2nd skill a while ago.
But it wasnt a skill that could be normally applied, so I was thinking of sealing it for this stage.
If combined with Junior, it could be used in this stage too.
I explained my skill set to Junior. Junior looked at with a surprised face.
"Then, if I combine my power with yours..."
"Even if he is a vampire lord, we should be able to kill him."
Imdiately after, I shook my head slightly.
"But, Junior. Are you... really okay? If you use that magic, you will..."
"Im fine."
Junior, who answered with emphasis, let out a fox-like smile.
"Your Majesty. Ive always wanted to be a magician."
"..."
"And this front line was the first place to treat like a real magician since I was born. The mont you gave my first salary, I decided to show all my abilities here."
Even though it was a very thankful statent...
I sighed.
"But your grandmother will be sad."
"Didnt I tell you before?"
Junior cut off.
"I never thought of her as my grandmother."
"..."
"So, shall we?"
With a magic circle floating behind her, Junior laughed lightly.
"Should we practice our combined skills all night for tomorrow?"
***
Present ti.
On the fortress wall. The final showdown of Stage 5.
Ta-at!
Celendion charged forward.
The speed that was unseen to the eyes, just like what he showed before.
But it was different this ti. My party mbers were reacting to it.
The first to block Celendions path was Evangeline.
Evangelines eyes flashed erald as if she had turned on a night vision.
Exclusive Attribute [Crossroad].
Evangelines intuition itself that shows the optimal battle path!
Celendions outstretched hand t with Evangelines shield.
A burst of red light erupted from the tip of Celendions hand, and Evangelines shield tried to absorb the attack, radiating white light.
However, it quickly reached the limit of damage absorption.
Crack!
The steel plate that made up the shield crumpled like a concertina, and the shield that had been on Evangelines left arm was warped.
The gauntlet that had been encasing Evangelines left arm shattered into pieces.
A gleam flashed in Celendions eyes.
"Hoh. Reacting to my move."
Despite her left arm being flung back, Evangeline, with her trademark cocky grin, yelled.
"Do you think I just reacted, you brat-!"
Evangeline thrust the lance in her right hand forward.
Whoosh!
But, the attack was evaded.
Celendion nimbly twisted her small body and skillfully dodged the tip of Evangelines lance.
Evangeline had anticipated that much as well.
"You wont be able to dodge this-!"
The tip of Evangelines lance burst into white flas.
Bang!
The absorbed damage had all concentrated, causing [Damage Payback] to explode from the tip of the lance.
"It wasnt a bad move..."
Even so, Celendion defended against that attack by extending a shield of blood magic.
Brushing off his fingertips, Celendion used magic to lift Evangeline off the ground and flung her aside.
"You only prepared three moves, how do you plan to stop !"
The direction Celendion had thrown Evangeline towards was where Lucas, who was running up from behind, was located.
Whaaa?!
Huh?!
Bang!
The two knights got tangled up and rolled on the ground.
In that mont, the frontline was empty.
Lucas quickly got up and started to run again, but he was a few seconds too late.
Those few seconds.
A few seconds were already enough. Celendion used a strong push to launch herself forward again.
Towards .
He ran straightforwardly to suck the blood of , his first target.
Behind and beside , Damian, Oldgirl, and Skull started to fire all at once. Whoosh! Whoosh! Beep!
The barrage of arrows were wrapped in whirlwinds, frost, and flas.
The three of them had split up the attribute enchant scroll that I had given to Damian.
Thud!
However, Celendion caught each arrow with his hand, deflecting the remaining silver arrows with magic, and kept charging towards .
He is a Vampire Lord.
A monster who has mastered both the physical enhancent and magic skills of the vampire skill tree.
As long as both physical and magical attacks are not completely blocked, stopping him is near impossible.
So we have to block both sides...
I quickly glanced at both sides.
The ans to block both sides was still not ready!
In the blink of an eye, Celendion arrived right in front of .
I wont just sit still and die! I exclaid.
Summon-!
[Summon Magic: Chira Origin]
- This magic is one-ti use. The skill will disappear from the list upon use.
- The summoned creatures level is the sa as the summoners. Only one summon can be maintained at a ti.
- Please specify the summoning location.
It was the summon magic of the Chira Origin that I got during the Colosseum exploration.
The summoning location is naturally right in front!
Flash!
A geotric magic circle was drawn, and a monster mixed with various animals such as lions, goats, snakes, and so on sprung up in front of .
The original source of all chiras. Chira Origin.
This creature is also a boss-level monster. It should be able to hold off Celendion for a while.
Thats what I thought, but...
"This battlefield is purely between and humans!"
The vampire king let out a roar.
"Do not interfere, hybrid-!"
Boom!
With a swing of Celendions hand, the body of the Chira Origin exploded.
The summoned monster filled with venomous blood was destroyed in an unbelievably simple manner.
And Celendion tore through the scattered at and blood to reach and-
Grasp.
He grabbed my collar.
Celendions grinning mouth gaped wide.
The four shiny fangs flashed a deadly light, heading straight for my neck-
Snap!
He bit into the arm that had co between his fangs and my neck.
In surprise, I saw the one who had put her arm between Celendions fangs and my neck... it was Oldgirl.
Even as her arm was being bitten by the vampire and her blood was being drained in an instant, Oldgirl, with a calm face, turned to , raised her hand slightly... and waved.
She smiled as usual.
In the next mont, Oldgirl, who had been drained of vitality, groaned and kneeled on the ground.
She had been completely drained by the vampire king.
There was no chance of survival. Oldgirl shriveled up and twisted like an old tree, dead.
While I watched this scene in shock,
Prince!
Thump!
Damian, who had been standing behind , grabbed my shoulders and jerked back.
At the sa ti, Skull, who had been standing to my right, drew a silver dagger from her waist and charged forward.
Your opponent is , vampire-!
An archer going for lee.
What are you doing, Skull. Besides, you specialize in long-range sniping.
She wanted to resist, but there wasnt even a chance. Skull swung her dagger, aiming for the enemys head, just like her codena and specialty suggested.
Purrr-Boom!
She was battered by a blood spell that Celendion swung in annoyance, her body shattered to pieces.
The droplets of Skulls blood, dispersed in mid-air, didnt fall to the ground. Instead, they stopped abruptly, then were all sucked into Celendions mouth.
Celendion, who had killed Oldgirl and Skull in a matter of seconds, savored the taste of the blood in his mouth and lightly licked his lips.
"... An elf, huh? Hmm. Not bad for a first al."
The monster with a boys face curled his lips into a grin towards .
"I guess Ill have to eat you, Ash, to satisfy this hunger."
Damien desperately tried to pull back, but Celendion was approaching much faster.
Celendion took a step toward , grinning as if he was joking, his mouth wide open -
Pooom!
The next mont, Lucass long sword fell down, flashing from behind Celendion.
"Huh?"
Celendion let out a surprised moan from his mouth just as,
Thunk! Thud! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Lucass long sword rcilessly cut through Celendions back and nape.
The Sky Silver long sword had torn apart Celendions core, and unable to endure it, Celendion dropped onto his knees.
Thunk-!
Finally, Lucass long sword pierced through Celendions chest and surged forward, precisely penetrating his core.
He had managed to expose and destroy the vampires core with his sword, just by activating his skill [Soul Strike].
"... What is that state of yours, knight?"
Celendion slowly turned around, coughing up blood.
"Its as if you are not human... as if youve entered the sa realm as us. I even feel a sense of similarity."
"..."
Lucas was a bit different from usual.
His lowered stance was like that of a wolf standing on all fours, and his blue eyes, seen through his disheveled golden hair, were emitting a dangerous light like a beast.
The heat blowing out from his back was rippling like a heat haze.
I swallowed my dry saliva.
Dont tell , this guy Lucas...
Did he use [Beast Transformation]?
I have to stop that! If he uses that trait...!
"Thanks to you, I couldnt sense it. This is..."
Celendions body slid down to the ground,
"...making use one of my lives. Impressive."
And then, as if nothing had happened, he rose again.
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