Underneath the ruins of the windmill outside the small town, lay the underground cavern that Shen Yi had meticulously prepared as the battleground for Dracula. The reason for choosing this location was to significantly weaken the vampire's flying advantage in the confined space of the underground cavern. Agile creatures excel at using high-speed movement for rapid approach and evasion, a fact well demonstrated in yesterday's confrontation between Van Helsing and the three vampire brides. Marica's demise was due to Shen Yi's choice of terrain, which completely restricted her mobility. The narrow space was Shen Yi's primary preparation.
Indeed, Count Dracula arrived as expected. He couldn't afford not to. In the original story of Van Helsing, the Frankenstein Monster was an indispensable asset for Dracula. Being lifeless beings themselves, Dracula and his vampire brides' offspring could never survive. The only way to grant their child life was by transferring the life energy from Frankenstein's Monster. This was a crucial element in the original plot.
Shen Yi's presence could change many details, sway Anna's heart from Van Helsing to himself, and lead to Marica's death by his hand instead of Van Helsing's. However, it was impossible to alter the fundamental elements that constituted the entire mission world. Just as if one used to enter through a door and now prefers climbing through a window, regardless of the method, the existence of these two things and the house itself remains inevitable and unchanged.
Thus, Dracula's need for Frankenstein's Monster, a fundamental factor, remained unaltered. As seen in the movies, Count Dracula, on the surface, was quite a gentleman. This vampire, forever maintaining the appearance of a forty-year-old, was cultured, elegant, and noble in demeanor, speech, and action – every bit the aristocrat. In fact, Dracula himself was a member of the Valerious family, becoming a vampire after death, leading to his father's bitter family curse against God.
When Count Dracula appeared at the windmill ruins, Shen Yi, hidden in the shadows, cast a psychic probe towards him. However, the results were startling. "Count Dracula, the vampire, life force 2000 points, agility type." Beyond this, no further information was available. This indicated that Dracula's level or will was too high, rendering the psychic probe almost ineffective and unable to provide more details. However, the known information was enough to alert Shen Yi.
The next moment, as if sensing something, Dracula looked towards Shen Yi's location. Shen Yi realized that using the psychic probe on a target of high level could alert them. Yet, Dracula seemed unconcerned. He merely cast a disdainful, cold smile towards Shen Yi's direction before he and his two vampire brides headed into the underground cavern. The damp environment, intricate tunnels, and earlier surveillance hinted at a conspiracy to Dracula. But his confidence in his own strength led him to believe he could disregard any plot.
For centuries, humans had tried in vain to kill him – when had they ever succeeded? His immense power gave him the confidence to face any trap. The brief glance had revealed to him that the person in hiding posed almost no threat.
Upon entering the cavern, Dracula found signs of Frankenstein's Monster – the large footprints, traces of its existence, and the unique, lingering scent in the air, all confirming the presence of the creature that had once escaped his grasp.
Dracula inhaled deeply, his eyes reflecting a rapturous expression, "This is the favor of destiny. I thought it had abandoned us, that our child would never gain life. But now, it has returned…"
"This could be a trap," his bride Verona warned him.
"No trap can stop us," Dracula replied in a sinister tone.
Suddenly, a piercing howl echoed through one of the cavern's passageways. Dracula and his brides exchanged looks, recognizing the sound as coming from Frankenstein's Monster. The three vampires charged into the passage.
Despite the darkness, their night vision was unhindered. After running for over a hundred meters, they found Frankenstein's Monster tied to a distant column. The monster, seeing Dracula approaching, roared even louder in terror.
As Dracula's two brides rushed to free the monster, Dracula noticed something flickering beneath it. Realizing the danger, he shouted, "Get back!"
A blinding light burst forth, engulfing the two brides and the monster – a trap of light that had slain countless dwarves, Shen Yi's second preparation.
Amidst the horrific screams, the two vampire brides emerged, their once-beautiful visages charred into a grotesque, blackened state with eerie, contrasting stripes. However, Frankenstein's Monster, unharmed by sunlight, was unscathed.
Dracula watched his brides and the monster, his face a mix of anger and joy.
Simultaneously, a rumbling sound came from outside the passage –
a cascade of falling rocks. Dracula knew something was wrong and rushed to the entrance.
The entrance was blocked by huge boulders, leaving only a small opening. Through it, a man could be seen standing outside – Shen Yi.
"It's him! He's the one who killed Marica!" Verona cried out in anguish.
"Roar!" Dracula let out a fierce cry.
He was about to push away the stones to kill Shen Yi when he suddenly heard the whistling sound of bullets from behind. Dracula instantly realized that besides Frankenstein's Monster, someone else was hidden in the passage. He should have thought of it earlier – the light trap needed someone to set it off, and it obviously wasn't the tied-up Frankenstein's Monster.
A dark figure rushed from the depths of the passage, firing repeatedly at Dracula. It was none other than Van Helsing. In the dark corridor, countless bullets whistled towards Dracula with a deadly sound. After his initial shock, Dracula scoffed coldly. Such an attack was trivial to him. With a wave of his hand, his two vampire brides pounced towards Van Helsing, screeching as they attacked.
A series of crackling, shouting, and chaotic sounds erupted from the passage. Though invisible, the intensity of the battle could be deduced from the sounds. Shen Yi even heard Van Helsing's muffled grunts, indicating he was under attack and at a disadvantage.
However, Shen Yi had carefully chosen this battleground and his traps were not limited to just the light trap. He pulled out a peculiar object from his emblem – a device created by the artificer Karl using Vesuvius lava and Gobi Desert alkali. This unnamed item could create a light source similar to the sun, dealing 120 damage per second to undead creatures for 8 seconds. This item, originally in the plot, was something Karl never knew the use of, but Shen Yi had taken it and was now using it. It was a lethal weapon against vampires, capable of inflicting nearly a thousand points of damage, and was Shen Yi's third preparation.
The next moment, Shen Yi threw the light source into the tunnel. As the bright light rose, the entire dark passage lit up like daylight, and the terrified screams of Dracula and his brides echoed.
With the path blocked in front and Van Helsing desperately holding the rear, Dracula knew he had little time. He roared, swung his arm, and a huge stone blocking the path flew away, revealing a hole the size of a basin. In the next second, a piercing scream from Aleera indicated she was starting to disintegrate.
Dracula used both arms to move two more stones, creating a larger opening, but Aleera had already perished in the intense sunlight.
Van Helsing, now under less pressure and remembering Shen Yi's instructions, relentlessly shot at Dracula.
Perhaps sensing her impending doom, the last vampire bride, Verona, screeched and pounced towards Van Helsing. Her sharp nails almost touched Van Helsing's face but stopped just 0.1 seconds short, disintegrating like a millennia-old mummy, turning into ash with a gentle breeze.
"No!" Dracula screamed in agony and rage.
He charged at the last blocking stone, sending it flying towards Shen Yi.
At that moment, Shen Yi fired four shots at Dracula. As the huge stone flew past, barely missing his cheek and stirring a strand of hair, Shen Yi fired a fifth shot.
Bang!
Dracula finally broke through the stones, roaring as he charged at Shen Yi.
This was the greatest trauma he had experienced since becoming a vampire. His three brides had died because of this man, and he himself had been directly exposed to the sunlight, still not out of its range.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he exited the tunnel, he found his feet entangled in vines – another low-quality entrapment trap. The bloody emblem indicated: "As the entangled target is of high level, the trap will only hold for 1.5 seconds."
A sly look flashed in Shen Yi's eyes. Dracula might never understand how Shen Yi could have predicted his landing spot. Initially, Shen Yi hadn't used the entrapment trap. But when Dracula began to move the stone wall, Shen Yi knew exactly where he would come out, as he had seen Dracula's position.
Shen Yi quickly set the entrapment trap, waiting for Dracula to escape. The 1.5 seconds felt long for Dracula. When that brief time passed, he stepped diagonally to avoid another trap, only to step on another one.
Shen Yi's three entrapment traps were arranged in a '品' shape. If Dracula had continued to charge forward after stepping on one, he would have escaped. But learning from his mistake, he fell into another trap.
Two consecutive entrapment traps delayed Dracula for 3 seconds, giving Shen Yi time to shoot thrice and causing Dracula to stay under sunlight for three more seconds. After escaping the second trap, Dracula didn't dare to charge at Shen Yi but dove into a dark corner of the cavern, narrowly escaping the last two seconds of sunlight exposure.
With 720 life points lost from six seconds under the sunlight and the frenzied attacks of Van Helsing and Shen Yi, almost half of Dracula's life was gone, along with his two vampire brides. This was perhaps the greatest setback Dracula had ever faced.
And all this was caused by Shen Yi. His hatred for Shen Yi was intense.
The next moment, as the light disappeared, Dracula burst out of the darkness, ferociously lunging at Shen Yi. He threw a blood-red energy arc with his hand:
"Vampire Dracula's special skill: Bloody Shockwave. Deals 150 damage to all enemies within a 20-meter straight line."
With only a hundred life points, Shen Yi would perish instantly if hit by this skill. However, at that moment, Shen Yi did something that utterly shocked Dracula.