Anon soared through the air, perched on his raven, gazing down upon the Nightmare Forest. A voice echoed in his mind as he muttered to himself, "Mike informed it to be here somewhere, I guess."
"Master, Here, Down here." called Mike from below.
Anon honed in on the source of the voice and spotted Mike standing amidst the forest. "Let's get to work," Anon said, leaping from his raven and landing beside Mike.
"Hello, Master," greeted Mike.
"What have you found? Show me," commanded Anon.
"Master, first of all, I apologize for my mistake. I let that bastard escape from my grasp. He was this close to me, and when I tried to catch him, he just vanished into thin air." Mike apologized as he explained how the guy with blone hairs, escaped from his hands.
"Don't worry, if he's intelligent enough to create those zombies and that troll chimera zombie, it's absurd to think he won't have tricks up his sleeve to escape sticky situations like this," Anon reassured as he tapped mike on his shoulder.
"This is the entrance to his lab, Master," said Mike, pointing out a hole in the tree trunk.
"Let's see what this sick bastard is making inside this tree. No.300, you guard the perimeter; Mike and I will go inside," ordered Anon, stepping into the tree trunk.
"As you command, Your Highness," No. 300 replied with a bow.
"Everyone, take defensive positions. We are to protect His Majesty," commanded No. 300 to the other ogres.
Inside the tree trunk...
Anon ventured further into the lab, finding it eerily pristine with white walls and tidy floors. A slender hallway connected to the entrance through which Anon had come in.
As he reached the heart of the lab, he encountered a spacious room dominated by a massive white dining table. Seventeen chairs encircled the table, each with an empty plate, as though someone had recently dined there.
"Mike, did you see anyone here when you came in?" Anon inquired.
"No, Master, something is wrong," Mike immediately responded.
"What do you mean? What's wrong?" Anon asked, perplexed.
"This place was never like this when I entered earlier. There were no table or chairs; it was just an empty space," reported Mike.
"What? Are you sure you didn't enter this lab? Are you certain of your senses?" Anon questioned.
"Yes, Master, there was no dining table here. I'm positive," Mike affirmed.
Anon surveyed his surroundings carefully, trying to make sense of the discrepancies.
There were five rooms branching off from the hallway—two on each side and one in front of the entrance. While the four doors on the sides were white, the one in the middle was a sinister crimson red.
"Master, nothing matches what I saw before. There were only three doors in the lab I saw earlier, but here, it's entirely different. There was no red door," Mike reported.
"Hmm, it seems like the first place we investigate," Anon said, summoning his sickles and activating a skill, Wind Armour.
Together, they approached the red door cautiously and opened it slowly. A noxious odor mixed with a chilling gas poured out from the room, filling the air.
"Master, this is the smell of rotten corpses, I can tell," Mike discerned.I think you should take a look at
Entering the room, they were confronted with a horrifying sight. Numerous human corpses hung from enormous metallic hooks, their chests impaled.
Anon's shock didn't arise from the macabre sight but from the sheer number of corpses. Hundreds, thousands, millions—countless lifeless bodies dangled in this morbid chamber, stretching back like a massive hall.
"What is this?" Mike asked, his voice trembling. Even he as an assassin hasn't seen a view like this.
"Looks like hell to me, but it's not. Believe me, i have been there." Anon replied, stepping further into the room.
Men, women, and even children—every age was represented among the ghastly display. The corpses showed no signs of decay, a chilling spell preserving them.
Anon walked more and more inside the room. He felt the chilling airs getting stronger with every step he took towards the end of the room.
"Help," a faint whisper reached Anon's ears from a corner of the room.
"Mike, did you hear that?" Anon asked mike.
"Yes, Master. It's coming from that direction, I believe," Mike pointed to the southwest corner of the room.
"Let's go," Anon said, moving toward the source of the voice with Mike.
After walking for what felt like an eternity, they finally reached the source—a young child, around seven years old, hanging from two sharp hooks that pierced both of his hands. He whispered weakly, "Help, please. I need my momma. Please help."
Anon's heart clenched as he witnessed the child's agony. "Mike, remove him," Anon commanded.
He was dying slowly, like when you cut a chicken and left it hanging until all the blood gushes out of it's body.
"I need to administer some sedative first, Master, to ease his pain. If I remove his hands without any, he'll cry out, and I suspect whoever hung him here isn't too far away," Mike explained.
"Do it," Anon ordered.
Mike swiftly bit the child's neck, injecting a potent sedative to minimize his suffering. With great care, he removed the child from the hooks.
The child then glanced at Mike and murmured, "Grandfather?" before losing consciousness.
"This child is not an ordinary one, Master. He is a vampire," Mike observed, noting the flicker of faint red light in the child's eyes.
"If he's a vampire, why aren't his wounds healing?" Anon inquired, examining the holes in the child's hands.
"He needs the blood of a human for recovery. Can Master provide some?" Mike asked.
"Of course. Here, drink this, kiddo," Anon poured his blood into the child's mouth, and miraculously, the wounds began to close.
Thump-Thump
"Someone or something is approaching at high speed, Master," Mike alerted.
"It seems action is coming my way. Keep that child alive at all costs; I want to know what's happening here," Anon ordered, his sickles ready to do some chop-chop.
"Yes, Master," Mike affirmed.
Thump-Thump
The sound of running feet intensified as Anon attempted to pinpoint the source. The noise seemed to dart from one direction to another, leaving him momentarily bewildered.
"It's coming from the north... No, it's from the east... No, it keeps changing direction. How is it moving so fast?" Anon pondered, his mind racing as he tried to anticipate the next move.
"Master, the direction of the footsteps..." Mike looked at Anon as he tried to tell Anon the exact same thing.
"I know. Just keep an eye on the boy," Anon ordered, his voice firm and unwavering.
"Yes, Sir," Mike acknowledged, his sharp vampire senses alert for any sign of danger.
"It's getting closer. I have to figure out its location. 70 meters left... 60 meters... 50 meters... 40 meters... 30 meters..." An intense expression appeared on Anon's face as he closed his eyes and focused on the environment around him.
"It's not one entity; they're coming from every direction," Anon realized suddenly, his instincts sharpening.
"Guess it's time to unveil my ultimate power," Anon said, summoning a pitch-black crown from his inventory and placing it upon his head.
[The Crown of Darkness has been equipped, greatly enhancing all psychic stats and effects.]
The crown opened, emanating imperceptible waves around Anon, signifying the immense power it granted.
"20 meters... 10 meters..."
"Gwaaaaaahhhhhh...." Four massive figures lunged at Anon from different sides, closing in with vicious intent.
"Hello, Motherfuckers, say hi to daddy," Anon taunted, activating a skill honed from his darkest experiences.
A deadly wave of neural destruction erupted from Anon's head, amplified by the Crown of Darkness. The surge of psychic energy hit the giants with brutal force, shaking the very essence of their minds.
As soon as the wave struck, the behemoths collapsed to the ground, but surprisingly, they didn't perish.
"I used the Crown of Darkness to strengthen my skill, and yet these bastards still survived," Anon noted, a fierce glint in his eyes. With swift strikes of his sickles, he dispatched three of them, moving with the precision of a seasoned warrior.
He then turned to face the last remaining giant, the mask still obscuring its face. Anon's curiosity piqued, and he decided to unmask the creature to uncover its identity.
An unsettling discovery awaited him as he attempted to remove the mask, only to find that it was sewn into the man's neck.
"What the fuck?" Anon exclaimed, tearing the mask with his sickle, his mind racing to comprehend the monstrosity before him.
As soon as the mask was removed, the giant human's ghastly features were exposed—eyeless, noseless, and with a mouth brimming with razor-sharp teeth. Peculiar bat-like ears adorned its grotesque head.
Anon decided to explore further and opened the creature's mouth, revealing rows of menacing fangs that sent shivers down his spine.
"Well, well, well... a human chimera, huh? That's fascinating," Anon remarked, though his fascination was tinged with a sense of dread at the unnatural abomination before him. Determined to prevent any further harm, he dispatched the fourth giant with a swift yet calculated strike.
"Master, he's regaining consciousness," Mike alerted, gesturing towards the young vampire boy.
"Good. I have many questions for him," Anon said, his expression stern and resolute as he approached the child.
"Hmmm...? Is this heaven?" the child asked groggily, his eyes still half-closed.I think you should take a look at
"Sadly, not. Open your eyes, kid," Anon replied, his voice firm yet compassionate.
"Huh...? D-Don't touch me, human. Khhhaa," the kid hissed, baring his fangs at Anon to scare him away.
Slap
Mike swiftly smacked the kid on the head, asserting his authority.
"Don't be rude, kid. Tell me, who are you?" Mike demanded, his red eyes revealing his vampiric nature.
"A vampire...?" the child asked, bewildered.
"Yes. Now, who are you, and what are you doing here?" Mike pressed, showing a level of assertiveness that only a seasoned vampire could exhibit.
"Sir, my name is Angel. Me, my mother, my father, and my grandmother were kidnapped and brought here for experiments," the kid explained, his voice quivering with fear.
"What kind of experiments?" Anon inquired, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.
"T-They tear our skins, take our blood, and inject it into animals, transforming them into different monsters. They make a liquid from our blood that, when injected into a monster, turns it into an undead creature, erasing its will and making it obey its creator unquestioningly. They call them..."
"Zombies," Anon interjected, drawing on his knowledge of the malevolent experiments conducted in this twisted laboratory.
Anon's mind raced as he pieced together the truth behind the creation of the Chimera zombies—these bastards mutilated vampire blood, combining it with a negative mana doping agent. This dark concoction explained why the Chimera zombies were formidable yet short-lived on the battlefield.
"Y-Yes. They use me every day, and when they're done, they hang me here in this room. My father is hanging there, but if we go, the butchers will know and kill us," the kid revealed, his fear palpable.
"You mean those masked bastards?" Anon pointed at the lifeless giants strewn across the room.
"Huh...? Oh, shit. Did you kill them, Human?" the kid asked, his eyes widening in alarm.
Bonk
Mike smacked the kid on the head again, displaying a mix of annoyance and concern.
"Ouch, Uncle, why do you keep hitting me?" the kid protested, rubbing his head.
"Don't call him human, idiot. He is my master. If you say that again, I'll hit you harder," Mike retorted, his vampiric aura emphasizing his words.
"No problem, Mike. Kid, let's go get your father," Anon said, standing up with a determined glint in his eye.
"Sir, Human, can you save my mother and grandmother too?" the kid implored, hope flickering in his young eyes.
"Where are they?" Anon asked.
"They're in the first room on the left. It's their time for experimentation," the kid replied, a mixture of fear and hope evident in his voice.
"Let's get your father first. Then, we'll get your mother," Anon declared with an unwavering resolve.
'Let's See, what these sick bastards are upto.'
Anon, Mike, and the vampire kid named Angel moved toward the southwest corner of the room.
"There, that's my father," Angel pointed to a man hanging on the wall just like Angel had been before, his hands pierced through with large metallic hooks.
"Dad...?" Angel called out.
The man hanging on the hooks opened his eyes slightly and looked at the kid.
"Huh...? Is that you, Angel? Or is this heaven?" The man spoke in a low tone.
"Yep, he's your dad. I can confirm it. Mike, take him down," Anon ordered.
"Yes, master." Mike immediately jumped near Angel's father and started removing his hands from the hooks.
As soon as Mike freed his hands, the man rushed toward Angel and stood in front of him.
"Die, human," Angel's father spoke, his nails growing as he ran towards Anon.
"No, Dad..." Angel shouted.
*Bonk*
Before he could reach Anon, Mike swiftly jumped near him and punched him on the head.
"You fucking idiots, father and son alike." Mike spoke with an angry expression.
"Ouch... Ouch... Angel, why did you stop me?" The man asked.
"Father, sir, this human is the one who saved me with the bonking vampire uncle," Angel explained.
"Huh...?" Angel's father thought for a moment, processing what Angel had said, and immediately went on his knees in front of Anon.
"Sir, I am so sorry. I didn't understand the situation and jumped at you. Please forgive me. I can't thank you enough for saving me and my son," he apologized as he went down on his knees in front of anon.
"Ah, no problem. Let's go and save your wife," Anon said as he de-summoned his sickles that he had summoned behind his back when Angel's father lunged at him.
"It's good that Mike stopped him, or I would've killed him. Mike saved the day, his day not mine." Anon thought as he chuckled.
"Ah... I can't," Angel's father collapsed to the ground.
"What happened to you now?" Anon asked.
"Sir, I am tired because I haven't consumed blood for the past 3 years. The humans who experiment on us don't give us blood until they want blood from us," Angel's father explained as his face started to get pale.
"Here, drink this," Anon offered, giving some of his blood to Angel's father.
"Ah, tasty. How many days has it been since I drank blood this tasty?" Angel's father spoke as he drank Anon's blood from his hand.
"What is your name?" Anon asked.
"Sir, I am Billy."
As soon as Billy drank Anon's blood, his wounds started healing rapidly.
"Good, Billy. Let's go and save your wife now. What's her name? Is she also somewhere in this room ?" Anon inquired as they started walking toward the exit of the room.
"No, sir. It's experiment time for my wife and my mother-in-law. Both of them must be inside the first room on the right wall. They must be taking her blood once again. Those damned humans." Billy spoke with a very angry expression on his face, his fangs coming out and his eyes shining red.I think you should take a look at
"What is her name?" Anon asked as they continued their journey.
"Who, Sir ?" Billy asked.
"Your wife." Anon answered.
"Her name is Alisa. She is a very good mother, a marvelous wife, and an excellent daughter. I just love her, but since these humans captured our family, I haven't seen her once. I am seeing Angel after so long too," Billy spoke with a sad expression, tapping on Angel's head.
"Dad... Please don't leave me again," Angel pleaded, holding Billy's hand.
"Oh, i won't son. Don't you worry." Billy spoke reassuring Angel.
"Alisa, huh...? That's a good name your wife has," Mike commented, looking at Billy with a smile.
"So, what is your age?" Mike asked Billy.
"Sir, I am twenty-five-" billy tried to speak his age before he became a human but before he could've even completed his sentence.
"The real one," Mike interrupted.
"Oh, I am around 56, sir." Billy replied.
"You just became a vampire, huh...? Why did you decide to become a vampire?" Mile asked with a curious voice.
"When Alisa came to my village for the first time, I fell in love with her instantly. One day, when some guys were bullying me, she came to save me. That's when I confessed my feelings to her." Billy explained.
"She said yes, and after one year of our marriage, she told me that she is a vampire. But by then, we had Angel, and I also became a vampire because i loved her no matter the race."
"Pftt... hahahahaha...."
"Hehehe..."
Both Anon and Mike burst out laughing upon hearing Billy's endearing story.
"How romantic, a girl rescuing a guy from some bullies and then marrying him... hahaha..." Anon laughed.
"She must be one dumb vampire to marry a human who was being bullied by other humans. Vampires usually don't want a weak partner, or else they'll end up in a place like this," Mike joked.
"Sir, my Alisa was the only one who saw my love for her and not my strength," Billy spoke with pride.
"Dad, but before you said that grandmother beat you good when you proposed to mom, and mom took pity on you as she said yes, and she even-?" Angel revealed his father's embarrassing secret.
"Angel, don't say that in front of others," Billy hurriedly covered Angel's mouth.
"Hahahahaha...." Both Mike and Anon laughed.
"Okay, playtime is over. We will now exit and go to the room where your wife is, and then we'll capture all the humans inside this base, understood?" Anon said firmly.
"But sir, I want to help you," Billy insisted.
"Me too," Angel chimed in.
"Just listen to master and go out. We will come out with your wife and mother-in-law. Do you understand?" Mike advised.
Reluctantly, Billy and Angel nodded in agreement, realizing they would be safer outside the lab while Anon and Mike handled the dangerous situation within.
*creak*
As the gate swung open, Billy and Angel made a mad dash for the lab's exit, while Anon and Mike emerged with a calm demeanor, summoning their formidable weapons. Anon manifested his deadly sickles, while Mike wielded his pair of lethal daggers.
"Don't kill too many; I want most of them alive. After all, I also want to conduct some experiments on them," Anon instructed Mike.
"I understand, Master. I'll try to minimize casualties and capture as many as possible," Mike replied dutifully.
'Master, someone just exited the lab. Should we kill him? He's a vampire, and he's threatening us by showing his fangs. There's also a kid with him,' No.300 informed Anon through their psychic connection.
'Hold off, No.300. Don't kill him. Just tell him you're with me; that should deter any unnecessary conflict,' Anon responded.
'Yes, Master.'
"Is everything alright, sir?" Mike asked.
"Nothing to worry about. We simply forgot to inform that fellow about the army of ogres standing right above us," Anon answered nonchalantly.
"Did they kill him?" Mike inquired.
"No, fortunately, we intervened just in time. He bared his fangs at No.300, and you know what might have happened if No.300 hadn't consulted me," Anon explained, relieved that unnecessary bloodshed had been averted.
"He's a good father. Despite his weakness, he's brave enough to confront the ogres, clad in mithril armor, to protect his family. He'd do anything for them, something I failed to do," Mike said with a tinge of sorrow.
"Come on now, let's not get emotional. We've got work to do. Let's capture these pieces of shit and get back home," Anon said, offering reassurance as he tapped Mike's shoulder.
"I-I apologize, Master. I shouldn't behave like this. It's just that when I met that man and heard his wife's name, it reminded me of my daughter, but that's impossible because she is... sigh"
"What are you talking about? Don't dwell on it. Let's focus on our mission," Anon said, trying to ease Mike's distress.
"Right, Master. Let's go inside," Mike replied, his grip on his daggers tightening.
"Don't worry, Mike. Everything happens for a reason," Anon said reassuringly as he kicked open the door.
Thud
Anon and Mike swiftly entered a vast white hall filled with people wearing white coats. Around 20 individuals were present, and at the center of the room, two women were hanging from poles, restrained by ropes, while blood was being drawn from their hands and legs. Numerous blood bags surrounded them, and their long hair concealed their faces.
The intruders' appearance took the occupants by surprise. One of the white-coated individuals spoke up, demanding to know their identity and daring to intrude.
"He is your father, and I am the grandfather. Now, come and give us a hug," Anon replied calmly, unsheathing his sickles with a resolute air.
Clank
Clank
The daggers slipped from Mike's hands as tears welled up in his eyes, and he reached out towards the two women in the middle of the room.
"Mike? Are you alright?" Anon inquired, concerned about his companion's sudden change in demeanor.I think you should take a look at
"Alisa and Jenna?" Mike muttered softly, his voice filled with disbelief and emotion.
The words reached the women's ears, and they turned to look at Mike.
"D-Daddy?" Alisha said with a faint smile on her face.
"Darling... You're here," Jenna exclaimed, her eyes welling up with tears of joy.
"Hey, human. Remember what I told you the first day? My father will come for me someday, and look, he's here now. So, who's in trouble now?" Alisha said boldly to one of the men standing nearby.
"Guards, kill the intruders," one of the men commanded, prompting 12 giant human Chimeras to charge forward from the back of the room.
"Mike, we have to—"
Crackling
Anon noticed pitch-black sparks crackling around Mike's body before he could finish his sentence.
"Mike, calm down. We need to capture them aliv—"
Before Anon could complete his sentence, Mike vanished from his position, reappearing beside his wife and daughter.
Everyone in the room froze for a moment, and Anon observed that Mike's daggers were dripping with blood.
"Fuck..." Anon swore under his breath, realizing the extent of Mike's unleashed fury and what he had done.
Instinctively, Anon touched his temples, and in an instant, everyone in the room dropped dead, including the formidable human Chimeras. The white room was now engulfed in crimson, the floor covered in a pool of blood.
Overwhelmed with emotion upon discovering his wife and daughter were alive after all this time, Mike's mind had lost control of his anger, leading him to unleash a forbidden skill.
[The skill known as "Endless Shadow Strikes" is a formidable and perilous ability that taps into the untamed mana present in the surroundings, channeling it into its darkest manifestation. When invoked, this skill transforms the user into a beast of shadows, granting them unprecedented power and speed for a brief but intense period.
To activate Endless Shadow Strikes, the user gathers the wild mana from the environment, drawing it into themselves in its unfiltered form. The mana courses through their veins, suffusing them with the essence of darkness. During this process, the user's intelligence is reduced by 50%, their mental faculties temporarily suppressed as they become consumed by the overwhelming power of the shadows.
However, this dark transformation bestows immense advantages upon the user. Their damage output is multiplied by a staggering 500%, turning them into a force to be reckoned with in combat. Their speed is also amplified to an extraordinary level, enabling them to move with swift and elusive grace, leaving their opponents struggling to keep up.
To sustain this potent state, a significant 90% of the user's mana is instantaneously consumed, reflecting the tremendous energy required to maintain such power. It is a costly investment that demands careful management of the user's mana reserves.
Yet, as the name "Endless Shadow Strikes" suggests, the skill's duration is limited to a mere 5 seconds. Once this brief period elapses, the user will face a painful and potentially dangerous backlash.
The backlash may manifest in various ways, such as physical strain, mental exhaustion, or even temporary incapacitation.]