Throughout the city, vampires suddenly appeared and began attacking people. Though their appearance was unexpected, able fighters quickly took up arms to combat them. Among these fighters, adventurers were the most eager to join the fray, knowing the guild would handsomely reward those who helped during the emergency. They also realized they outnumbered the vampires and believed the battle would be an easy victory, but they soon discovered how wrong they were.
"These monsters are strong!"
"Watch out! They can control blood!"
"They're vampires! Use fire and light magic if you can!"
Most had forgotten about vampires, thinking they were extinct, but the few who recognized them informed the others, helping to clear some of the confusion. Those who could adapt to the situation did their best to put the knowledge to use.
"Fly forward with brilliant flames and burn my foes to ash, [Fire Arrow]!"
A fire mage cast a flaming arrow that soared through the air, targeting a vampire locked in combat with two adventurers. The vampire grinned at the incoming attack, grabbed one of the adventurers, and tossed him into the arrow's path.
"AHHH!"
The unfortunate adventurer was engulfed by his ally's flames. Fortunately, a healer was nearby.
"Condense the sap containing the essence of life to heal and revitalize, [Life Dew]!"
The healer saved the adventurer before he succumbed, but the burns were too severe for immediate recovery. The adventurer wouldn't be able to fight again until the healer could cast another [Life Dew] or two.
While the healer tended to the burnt adventurer, the other engaged in the fight desperately parried the vampire's strikes. Even his casual swings left his arms aching.
"This thing is too strong!" he yelled in frustration.
The vampire laughed mockingly at their struggling. "You can't beat us! We are under a blood moon! You don't stand a chance!"
The blood moon not only shielded the vampires from the sun but also greatly empowered them, doubling their attributes and enhancing all blood related abilities. This advantage elevated every vampire in the city by a rank, except for peak B-Rank vampires, as the barrier to A-Rank was not so easily surpassed.
With the adventurers not understanding the difference between them, the vampire became bored and decided to end it. He swung his hand and slapped the adventurer away, sending him crashing into a nearby building and ending his life in a single blow. It then swung its arm, launching blood needles at the fire mage, the healer, and the wounded adventurer. The attack aimed to finish them all at once, but just before the needles struck, a stone wall erupted from the ground, blocking the assault.
The vampire frowned and scanned the area. "Who's there? It doesn't matter how many of you come, the result will be the same."
No one responded, but suddenly, the vampire felt wetness at his neck. He touched the area and stared at the red liquid on his fingers.
"What the—?"
Before he could process what happened, his head fell clean off its body. The stone wall protecting the adventurers receded as well, revealing the slain vampire to the group.
The healer stared in disbelief. "It's dead? In an instant?"
The others were equally shocked but assumed a powerful adventurer had saved them.
"Thank you!"
Though they didn't know their savior's identity, they were grateful nonetheless.
[[Intermediate Blood Magic] leveled up! (6 -> 7)]
[[Blood Recovery] leveled up! (5 -> 6)]
A fair distance away, Sol and Amber were already towards the next battle. Sol paid little attention to the skills he gained, siphoning what he recognized before moving on. With battles erupting across the city, every second counted, and wasting time in perusing the possible skills could have been spent saving others.
Though they had slain many vampires and saved many lives, it still felt as if they'd made no impact on the overall chaos.
"We need to find the A-Rankers. That's the only way to end this." Sol said, scanning the surroundings. He suspected the A-Rank vampires were already fighting the city's A-Rankers. If he could locate and assist them, they could tilt the battle in their favor while simultaneously freeing up more A-Rankers to snowball the advantage.
However, the city was too vast to search quickly. He decided to contact his squad via PAL.
"Where are you guys? Is everyone okay?"
Duncan responded immediately.
"The slums? Why are you there?"
Most avoided the slums unless they had specific business there.
Duncan hesitated before Aron interjected.
Nataly added,
"You guys…" Sol blushed, embarrassed by his oversight but touched by their gesture.
Despite wanting to assist them, Sol trusted his squad's capabilities. "Have you seen any A-Rank vampires? We need to prioritize them."
Rex replied,
Sol agreed. "Alright. Stay there and ensure the slums are safe."
He worried the slums would be overlooked by other defenders. With his squad there, he knew they could rally local adventurers and make a difference.
Sol deactivated his PAL and glanced between the palace and the guild. 'The palace or the guild, where to go?'
BOOM!
An explosion shattered the air, drawing his attention to the palace. A massive hole gaped in the wall as vampires surged inside, met by knights and soldiers scrambling to hold them back. Initially, Sol wasn't concerned, knowing the palace's defensives were formidable. But then he noticed something troubling: the vampires could use their abilities freely inside the palace.
'How did they bypass the nullification array?!'
There was no mistaking it as he could see large blood spells being cast by the vampires inside the walls of the palace which was normally impossible thanks to the nullification array. The array suppressed magic within the palace unless the caster had an emblem that registered their mana signature. Sol's Royal Knight Captain badge served that purpose allowing him to freely cast magic, but seeing the vampires unaffected was alarming.
With the defensive measures compromised, the palace was in greater danger than anticipated. Determined, Sol and Amber made a beeline for the palace.