It's not difficult to recognize Anubis' origin based on his appearance alone.
Vampires, who doesn't know about them? Creatures of evil feed on blood. Their presence is a harbinger of disaster, and wherever vampires appear, it becomes a barren land devoid of life-giving blood.
But that was hundreds of years ago, and who knows if it might have been an exaggerated legend?
The history of this world tells the tale of the vampires' resounding defeat by the demon race, which forced them to be banished from the underworld and seek refuge in this upperworld realm.
Now, those vampires are nothing more than lowly creatures isolated in the underworld, and cowardly creatures who hide from the sunlight in the upperworld.
The adventurers were surprised, albeit only slightly. It was the first time they had seen a vampire up close. This encounter should have been something terrifying, but the situation was completely contradictory.
"A vampire dressed as a butler, and the name Anubis..."
"Whoever wrote his lore must have been quite mad, mixing all these unrelated things together."
Anubis, with his mysterious appearance, when observed more thoroughly, had certain aspects that did not support the potential of threat.
The sunlight had weakened him, his now emaciated form made the previously fitting attire look loose. Despite the brave radiance of his eyes, his pale face did not portray hidden strength in any way.
Combined with the backstory that had spread throughout the world, Anubis had very little chance of merely scaring the inhabitants of the upperworld during broad daylight.
"But wait a moment," Momonga began to mumble as his curiosity suddenly aroused. "During the beta test, I once explored a ruined tomb and encountered some vampire-type monsters, but they were completely different from this one."
Normal monster types usually display their grade, such as [Elite], like the one they had just defeated. It wouldn't be strange if the vampire before them showed its rarity or type, but strangely, it didn't display any at all.
Instead, an icon was visible:
[♦] Lv.1 Anubis «Crown of the Vampire Lord»
They should have been able to peek deeper into the vampire's status if they had the 「Inspect!」 skill or some sort, but even so, the situation didn't require them to delve further more.
"Lucky!" Flicking his finger, Kiritwo glanced at Momonga with a mischievous smile, teasingly.
Understanding the non-verbal intention, Momonga felt the two were heading towards a common understanding. "Hmp, it seems you read the situation quickly, Beater-san," mused him.
The only one who completely lost was BokuNoPic, who kept alternating his gaze between his companions then occasionally back to the vampire in front of them. "Um... so what? Don't indulge too much in your weird personas, I can't even follow," he complained.
He received glances in response to his words. Among the three of them, the most peculiar thing was undoubtedly the nickname he had chosen.
"There are many types of monsters in this game, na? From humanoids, beast-types, to demons and vampires. But they are monsters, and just monsters," Momonga began to explain. "But those who don't fall into the monster category, hmm... let's see, like this vampire here."
"He is a Non-Player Character with a unique background story, including his race and Origin, is that right?" Kirito contributed to the further explanation.
To support their theory, there's actually one strong piece of evidence that had been there from the beginning. "Crown... of the Vampire Lord..." As if starting to grasp the situation, BokuNoPic noticed the sign. "No doubt, that's some sort of noble, correct?" he almost shouted, making sure.
"Exactly, not only is he a special NPC, but he also holds a prestigious position. Do you know what that also means?"
Momonga and BokuNoPic glanced at the questioner, who was now smiling enthusiastically as if they had just stumbled upon a pile of gold and silver. Although not in the form of actual valuable coins, they had essentially fallen into a stroke of luck. It didn't take long for the thoughts of these beta testers to align.
Apart from being very clear from the outside, their fiery spirit was also felt by Anubis. He wasn't just standing still there without any purpose; evaluating the situation and gathering all the information about this world was the most important thing. One that had gnawed at him from the beginning was his insatiable curiosity, which was fueled by the uncertainty.
From the recent conversation of the adventurers: a game, beta test, and NPC, there were many dots he had to connect one by one to form an answer. However, it seems the time to do that would have to wait a little longer.
The excitement that reached Anubis turned into enthusiasm and greed as the adventurers prepared for combat. A kind of outcome he was already factored in, where Anubis would become humans' threat. Still his curiosity was so high that he couldn't bring himself to step back even an inch.
"I'll aggro him. 「Endure!」, 「Provoke!」" BokuNoPic shouted with enthusiasm, his body shining with auras. "Urryyaaa!"
"Huh?!" x2
With no consensus from both Momonga and Kiritwo, the two flabbergasted. Because of this same reason, they all fell into an unknown trap and ended up in this place with this situation in their hands.
"Not this again...."
"Tck, just let him cook."
It wasn't their first time, Momonga and Kiritwo evaluated the situation more calmly now. Instead of disrupting BokuNoPic, both battle-prepared behind while he ran, handling the vampire.
"Hyaaaa…." Ran... might be the wrong word to describe it. "Aahh, uh, uh."
BokuNoPic did intend to run, and he should be doing so, but he wasn't advancing any faster than someone who was just normally walking. That's because, he pulled a greatsword that the current him shouldn't be using.
While he took Swordsman class just like the Kirito-wannabe, BokuNoPic insistently chose the greatsword as his main weapon. Though that sort of heavy weapon normally could only be used if someone reached second class or enough stats requirement.
"Aah, so embarrassing. Can't you do something? Cast Fireball into his head maybe?"
That wasn't something Momonga would do, but for some reason, when the idea crossed his mind, he considered it as if it were a worthy action to try. "If... if I don't get a penalty, then maybe?"
Perhaps, at this level, they would let BokuNoPic act as it is now. After all, their enemy was just a Lv.1 vampire whose existence would disappear forever when they killed him in a moment. When that happened, the only witnesses to this event would be the two of them, so they didn't need to worry.
"He's starting to make a move?!" These two observing from behind, noticed the suspicious gestures of the vampire.
Anubis had already seen how the greatsword user fought before, also he wasn't the type to wait still just to get attacked. It was already ensured that other methods of approach were no longer considerable, so he'll take the initiative.
Although his power was sealed by 50% due to the sunlight, it didn't mean Anubis would just give in to the situation. Even in this state, he could move as if nothing had happened, at least from the humans' perspective. They would never suspect that it wasn't Anubis's full strength.
His opponents were those who had already decided to fight him for temporary satisfaction, Anubis could feel it. When the emotions brought to the surface, there was very little room to turn back... unless through coercion.
The struggling face of the adventurer as he dragged his greatsword instantly turned into a thin smile upon seeing Anubis approaching. Behind the smile, confidence in fruitfulness could be seen.