There was a feeling that something would pop up at any moment in the dark cave.
Ghost, monsters, ghouls, and other terrifying existences. You name it.
But this wasn't a treat for the vampire, Lucius.
A vampire's night vision was super clear. He walked through the dark cave as if he was walking in broad daylight.
The sound of dripping water echoed in this cave, as well as Naiya's footsteps behind him.
"It's dangerous inside the cave."
After being converted into a true vampire, it seemed Naiya's cheerful personality changed to cold. Just like her blood.
She controlled her recklessness and immaturity she once had. She understood there's no point in acting that way.
As a vampire, Naiya was a quick learner. She could disguise herself perfectly.
"Dangerous? No, to them, we're the dangerous ones."
Lucius intended to make this cavern his territory. He sent thousands of blood bats to explore the cave, and the dead ends.
But some of them actually found their way into the underground space!
From the blood bats' vision, Lucius perceived the magnificence of the underground space and the lack of human life signs. It also contained a large number of mineral resources.
Lucius planned to turn the vast space underground into his base station for raiding the world, slowly engulfing the whole world from here.
After all, vampires loved a secluded place where sunlight couldn't reach them. Therefore, he needed to get rid of all the creatures living in this cave.
With no one left behind.
......…..
This underground space contained a large number of mineral resources—the most important resources of this world.
North of the forest, there's a city built specifically to mine ores, but no humans dare to venture deep underground.
These four-way underground passages weren't made naturally. It was corroded by the saliva of creatures that fed on ores.
This underground space was like the deep seas, and they were those deep-sea inhabitants! The ruler of this underground space!
"It's too late if you want to warn the poor bastards to run away quickly."
The danger was approaching!
The cave suddenly trembled!
A shrill shrieking sound becomes clearer and clearer…
Lucius's hand rested on the hilt of the Yamato Blade. His eyes scanned the dark space…
Boom!
The rock above Lucius suddenly cracked.
A brown creature with tentacle-like hands emerged from above. Its reticulated mouth was covered with sharp teeth and attacked Lucius with corrosive acid!
The Yamato Blade slightly flickered and split the strange creature's body half before it fell to the ground, twitching.
Naiya watched the scene that happened fast. And had a bad feeling.
It's true. This place was the lair of mineral spirits. These creatures were fed on ores underground.
Although the combat power of a single mineral spirit wasn't much, the problem lies with their numbers!
After a mineral spirit shrieked as it died, it awakened the entire cave.
The same shrieks rose and fell. The cave shook violently.
Naiya felt uneasy. She could only hope for Lucius.
He was always mysterious. Naiya didn't even know where he originally came from, and she had no idea how powerful he was.
A vampire? Then, let me see how strong you are.
Naiya silently observes Lucius.
She thought Lucius had a way to face the incoming mineral spirit swarms, but…
She saw Lucius gesturing something with his hands and sheathed the Yamato Blade back to its sheath.
What is he doing? Did he just perform a ritual?
Of course not!
The bats he sent out already returned. It brought him a map of a part of the labyrinth-like cave. He immediately ran into the depths of the labyrinth.
"They're here." Lucius' voice made Naiya, who was stunned, turn her head.
A dense swarm of thousands of mineral spirits gathered together stretched their tentacles towards Naiya.
From the very beginning, Lucius was planning to escape.
Naiya quickly followed Lucius and escaped. Death from suffocation by thousands of mineral spirits doesn't seem like a good idea.
After obtaining the labyrinth's map in his mind, he ran towards the underground space with no hesitance.
Naiya followed Lucius closely. He's the only hope for her survival.
Light…
A light shone at the end of the tunnel.
He stepped out of the cave tunnel onto the underground space the bats had informed him. And suddenly, the darkness dissipated.
There was no sun in the sky, but space was illuminated by a strange light.
It was the strange ore embedded on the rocky layer above, emitting a faint glow illuminating the whole space.
This is it!
Lucius stopped running and pulled out the Yamato Blade, shifting the azure blade and stabbed the ground!
"…."
Seeing Lucius stopped, Naiya stopped and stood beside Lucius. If she didn't continue running, she would definitely be swallowed by the swarm of mineral spirits. But as Lucius' servant, she must obey Lucius' choice.
"Have you ever seen the sea?" Lucius whispered a question to her.
"Heard of it." Naiya had never seen a sea in her life. She relied on the books to imagine the magnificent sea.
"Then… I'll let you see it today."
A blood sphere suddenly floated beside Lucius.
It was Lucius's Dead River!
Carrying the blood of tens of millions of people… this is…
"A Sea of Blood."
In front of them, the sound of surging water overflowed the entire underground space.
Following the Yamato Blade's movement, the blood washed away the thousands of mineral spirits like a raging wave!
The mineral spirits immediately were swallowed by the waves. They couldn't withstand the power of the waves!
The deterrent effect he made by releasing all the blood stored in the Dead River, all at once, was huge.
Once the blood touched life, they turned into sharp blades. They were slicing through the flesh and blood of the mineral spirits.
Naiya sat down on the ground, speechless.
Using blood as a blade!
Blood is a vampire's weapons…
The strong blood scent in the underground space made it hard for her to breathe!
This… is the power of this man… a vampire's power…
No matter how rough the sea wave was, it would eventually calm down. The raging blood wave didn't last long before it faded away.
Only the suffocating blood scent in the air remained to represent that this place was once washed by blood!
The carcasses of the mineral spirits had lost their original appearance and turned into dried up bits of flesh as their blood was sucked by the Dead River.
"This is the power you have." Lucius withdrew his blade and looked at his side, at Naiya, who was sitting on the ground.
With her long hair tied up into a ponytail, Naiya no longer looked like her…
Dressed in black men's clothes with her ponytail, she looked masculine.
…Masculine, if she gets rid of her frightened expression.
"So… how do I get stronger?"
Now, Naiya possessed blood perception power. Although it's far weaker than Lucius'.
Right now, she wasn't much stronger than a normal person, let alone become stronger like him.
"You must prove yourself to me. You had enough qualification to inherit the vampire bloodline, half-breed."
Lucius threw the sword that stabbed into the ground in front of her. It's not a special sword. Just sharp enough to kill the mineral spirits.
Lucius pointed to one of the caves.
"There's a king from these mineral spirits. Go and fetch me the head of its king. I'm not willing to share my power with a coward. If you can't do it, let your body become the food of those mineral spirits."
Words don't prove anything. This is the only way to prove herself worthy. Naiya understood, probably it was the reason for her cowardly behavior.
Without saying anything else, she took a deep breath, drew the sword, and resolutely walked towards the depth of the cave.
"...…."
Lucius watched as Naiya left.
In fact, the trial was fake, and he was just distracting her. She had some uses to keep, but Lucius thought it'd be better if she didn't see this. In case this information leaked.
"System. Tell me how to summon my servant from the other world here. One will do."
[Single-use Stargate.]
To make one person travel between two planets or two worlds.
Cost: 1 million Despair Points.
It's not that expensive.
Lucius immediately exchanges for a Stargate, selecting the target…
[Arthas, the Lich King!]
Blue light gleamed in front of him, from a floating metal gate.
And then…
A figure emerged from the gate. Her long silver hair was fluttering, the two nekomimi on top of her head kept shaking, indicating her excitement.
"Master…"
But the voice was calm and cold. Arthas, who was separated for a few days from Lucius, casually stood in front of him, expressionless.
"You wear a strange outfit again."
Lucius found that the armor on her body was gone. She was replaced by a school swimsuit. Aside from the Frostmourne in her hands, she looked like a real loli!
"Miss Kurumi says…"
"The Master will be… pleased."
That girl…
If she liked to dress others in costumes, she should do it herself!
"Change back into your regular clothes! Now!"
"…."
Arthas bowed her head, her swimsuit turned into Lich King's heavy armor. But… is she still wearing the swimsuit underneath?
Lucius couldn't care less.
"Command, Ar…" Lucius pointed at the vast space. "Summon the Scourge Legion and build the first fort where the Scourge will conquer this world!"