"Vampire innate ability: Bloodsucking. Regains health by consuming the target's blood, restoring 20 health points per second, continuing until the target dies. Effective only on living beings."
"The continuation until the target dies!" This meant that vampires could only use the blood of the living to recover their health. What they really consumed was not the blood itself but the life energy contained in the blood. The dead have no life energy.
Shen Yi's shot killed the villager, thus rendering Marika's bloodsucking ability ineffective—she couldn't gain the life force she needed from a dead body. The townspeople, initially united to defeat the overpowering vampire brides, inadvertently became their lifesavers, a scenario Shen Yi hadn't anticipated.
However, he quickly thought of this tactic. Even though the characters he killed appeared and behaved like normal people he had encountered before, Shen Yi only regarded them as NPCs.
Shen Yi might not have been strong in combat, but his ability to seize the moment and identify the enemy's fatal weaknesses was unmatched.
Marika didn't know if Shen Yi had killed by accident or on purpose, but she had no time to ponder.
Van Helsing's demon-hunting guns roared again, small bullets whistling through Marika's body. Verona and Elina, realizing Marika's peril, simultaneously pounced on Van Helsing, trying to prevent him from attacking Marika again.
But Gasken, leading the townspeople, rushed forward, determined not to give them that chance.
Marika quickly targeted another villager.
However, just as the villager was about to fall into her hands, another bullet, again from Shen Yi, claimed the villager's life.
He looked emotionlessly at her.
Marika gazed at the corpse, her eyes filled with raging flames. She finally realized that this young man, who hadn't made a move until now, was ruthlessly heartless, and wouldn't give her any chance to recover her health, even if it meant killing all the people in the town.
If Shen Yi had aimed at her, Marika might have dodged with her speed, but she couldn't ensure the same for the villagers. And she couldn't avoid Van Helsing's attacks.
This vicious cycle formed a deadlock, continuing like this, she would be killed by Van Helsing.
"Ah!" Marika roared, lunging at Shen Yi.
She wanted to kill this "incapable, yet extremely vile" guy to change the unfavorable situation. If she killed Shen Yi, the justice-proud Van Helsing certainly wouldn't kill the villagers.
But she soon realized she had made a grave mistake.
In terms of gun skills, attributes, and abilities, Shen Yi was far inferior to Van Helsing, but Shen Yi had special bullets with potent effects against undead creatures.
At this point, Marika's health had dropped to just over a third. Given the vampire brides' already low health, a third was barely over 200 points.
She could have flown away to escape, but by attacking Shen Yi, she fell right into his trap.
Shen Yi had been observing her speed, trajectory, and habitual movements throughout the previous fights. When Marika charged at him, he knew he had time for only two shots.
These two bullets couldn't kill Marika, and he would die if Marika struck him thrice.
But that was fine.
No one noticed that Shen Yi's position was between two wooden houses, where only a narrow path was available.
Marika, charging in a straight line towards Shen Yi in the air, couldn't dodge his attacks. Hit by two bullets, her health dropped to just over a hundred. She was terrified by his powerful attack but also quickly realized Shen Yi couldn't fire a third shot in time. If she grabbed him and used her bloodsucking ability, she could immediately recover all lost health.
But as she was about to reach Shen Yi, she suddenly found herself immobilized.
Looking down in shock, Marika saw vines, from an unknown source, entangling her feet.
"Inferior Entangling Trap: Immobilizes the target stepping on it, rendering them unable to move. Duration 20 seconds, shorter for higher-level creatures. Requires pre-setup, lasts 3 minutes."
This was one of the item rewards Shen Yi got after killing the dwarf leader. Like the Light Trap, it had limited use, requiring pre-setup and only activating when a target stepped on it, thus not very practical. But in a narrow space, it was easier to predict the enemy's path.
Although vampire brides could fly, they had to land to attack, giving Shen Yi a chance to set the trap.
The Bloody Emblem indicated: Due to the high level of the trapped target, the entangling trap could only hold for 5 seconds.
Shen Yi smiled slightly: "I only need three seconds."
Type 92 novice gun, worth 150 bloody points. Kinetic
energy bonus none, firing rate 1 round per second.
That was the characteristic of Shen Yi's gun.
At this moment, Marika had just over a hundred health points left. Given one second, she could tear the young man in front of her to pieces.
But she simply couldn't.
She stood there like a target, watching as Shen Yi's gun pointed at her. Just then, Marika suddenly opened her mouth, as if calling for something, but no sound came out.
Shen Yi felt a buzzing in his head, a terrible discomfort, and vomited a mouthful of blood.
Not just him, but all the townspeople in the wooden houses simultaneously clutched their heads, screaming in agony.
"Vampire Marika's special skill: Ultrasonic Attack. It emits an ultrasonic attack, causing sound wave damage to all living beings within a fifteen-meter radius, 30 damage per second, lasting 5 seconds."
Shen Yi knew this was bad. Clenching his teeth against the severe headache, he fired three shots...
The ultrasonic attack abruptly stopped. Marika looked at Shen Yi in disbelief, his eyes cold and merciless.
With a look of despair, Marika's body crumbled like a thousand-year-old dry corpse, turning to ashes with the wind, scattering like dust.
"No!" Verona and Elina screamed in agony.
Verona circled in the sky and lunged at Shen Yi.
Shen Yi stood still, facing Verona with a mysterious smile.
Seeing Shen Yi's smile, Verona suddenly remembered how Marika had just stood on the ground, being killed by Shen Yi in a strange manner.
A trap!
Verona's heart skipped a beat. Just as she was about to pounce on Shen Yi, she suddenly retreated with a fierce shout.
By this time, Van Helsing had turned to attack Elina. The townspeople fought desperately; for every villager the brides fed on, they paid a price. Elina couldn't find a suitable target for her bloodsucking. Marika's death had severely shaken their confidence, and the two vampire brides shouted, "You will pay for this!" before flying away into the sky.
They dared not linger in battle.
Van Helsing's demon-hunting gun couldn't keep them, and he could only watch as the two vampire brides disappeared into the sky.
Shen Yi coldly watched the disappearing dots in the sky, exhaling a long breath.
His tense spirit finally relaxed.
Marika's last ultrasonic attack was indeed terrifying, inflicting thirty damage per second, ignoring defense, and reducing Shen Yi's health to just 10 points. Had he been a second later, it would have been Shen Yi, not Marika, who died.
The worst part was, when he tried to use his healing art, he got the message: "Cowardly Healing Art ineffective against special attacks."
If only Verona knew that the seemingly composed Shen Yi was just putting on a tough front, and that a few more strikes could have killed him. Shen Yi's greatest weakness was his low health as a normal human, even with doubled attributes.
Shen Yi first searched Marika's ashes and found a blue box, not bothering to check his loot. He walked out from between the wooden houses with a cold face.
The townspeople also emerged, witnessing the vampire brides' retreat. Their eyes on Shen Yi were filled with fear.
Gasken, furious, grabbed Shen Yi's neck: "You shot your own people!"
Shen Yi coldly responded, "They were caught by the vampire brides. Whether I killed them or not, they only had death to look forward to. My killing them at least allowed them to die with dignity, respectably, and with value."
Gasken's grip loosened slightly.
Shen Yi looked around at the townspeople and shouted, "I remind you, this is war! If you have decided to fight for freedom, be prepared for sacrifices! If... I get caught by a vampire bride, you can do the same to me!"
"But before that, think about what just happened!"
Shen Yi looked at the townspeople and shouted, "We killed a vampire bride!"
"Roar!" All the townspeople cheered together.
They realized that they had just killed a vampire bride, something they once thought impossible.
But the fact in front of them had overturned their beliefs.
Yet, the victory achieved by killing their own people, as Shen Yi had done, was difficult for the townspeople to accept.
This complex mix of joy and reluctance towards Shen Yi left them unsure how to react.
Shen Yi didn't care about their thoughts. He walked back to the Verlaine family castle.
Only then did he finally relax.
Fortunately, these were oppressed townspeople, accustomed to the actions of the powerful.
Whether Shen Yi's reason for killing the townspeople was justified or not wasn't important; what mattered was whether he conveyed enough authority when he spoke. If he had shown any sign of relaxation, lack of confidence, or had been busy explaining himself, the angry townspeople might have torn him apart. This battle, from the moment he took action, was always a walk on the edge of death's cliff...
Sitting on the sofa, Shen Yi quietly waited for his health to regenerate automatically and opened the box.
The emblem notification read: "You have killed the vampire bride Marika, completing main task three, and earned a reward of one thousand bloody points. As you received significant assistance from a plot character in killing Marika, your item reward will be determined based on your contribution. Overall assessment: you played a 42% role in the fight against Marika, thus you receive only the basic reward, no novice extra reward. Complete all main tasks to receive a novice extra reward."
"Vampire Bride Basic Reward: One vampire fang, granting 3% of melee attack damage converted to self-health. Can be embedded in a weapon. Special processing required before embedding. Priority effect and bloody point value are uncertain."
"Vampire Bride Basic Reward: Marika's Hatred - Crystal Tear Pendant. The vampire bride Marika was an innocent girl before being turned into a vampire by Count Dracula, harboring immense hatred for life. Her last tear before becoming a vampire turned into a crystal, capable of recording the names of enemies. Once recorded, the information is eternally etched into the crystal until the enemy dies. If your enemy appears within a ten-meter radius of you, you will immediately know their presence and direction from the crystal. Equipment effect priority: 15. Bloody point value: uncertain."
"Novice Extra Reward: A bottle of Holy Water. Can be applied to a melee weapon to add 20 points of additional damage against undead creatures for one hour, usable for ten applications. Or it can be used for direct attack, causing 600 points of defense-ignoring damage to undead creatures. Each use for application reduces the direct damage by 60 points."
These were the three items Shen Yi received.
The vampire fang seemed decent, but a 3% bloodsucking effect was just marginally better than nothing.
What interested Shen Yi was the Crystal Tear called Marika's Hatred. The idea of recording a list of enemies was intriguing. However, its range was too narrow, effective only within ten meters, and it could only record three enemies.
Due to the lower assessment, the rewards for killing the vampire bride were special but even less practical than those from the dwarf leader.
Plot characters are a double-edged sword, Shen Yi reflected. They help complete tasks but also reduce the risk and difficulty, thereby decreasing the rewards.
Considering the presence of three vampire brides this time, Shen Yi realized that the missions in this world were becoming increasingly difficult.
Now, Shen Yi had to consider the possibility of Count Dracula himself arriving with the remaining vampire brides.
But the thought only brought a cold smile to Shen Yi's face.
He murmured, "I'm just afraid you won't come."
He solemnly engraved Count Dracula's name onto the Crystal Tear.
After a moment's thought, he added another name to the crystal.