Chương 659: Vampire Secrets

"Vampires? Like the ones in movies?" Evangeline asked. For the past ten minutes, everyone had been trying to process the news.

"I had a hard time believing it too at first, but I saw them," Marten said.

"Is she going to turn into a vampire?" Randall asked.

"My sister is not turning into a vampire," an amazon snapped as she stepped forward. It was Maia. She was Triss's sister, not just by tribe, but by blood.

"Can you heal her?" Anne examined the bite.

"They really bit her on the neck?" Evangeline whispered to Eleanor.

"I got bitten in other places, on my arm mostly, but I healed through it with one of my passive skills after my berserker mode kicked in," Triss said, coughing.

"The problem is the bite on my neck isn't healing, and I'm getting weaker by the minute." Anne touched the wound.

"This is... more in Jack's field..."

"What do you mean? Isn't it just pointing a wand, flashing some colored light, and boom, she's healed?" Evangeline asked.

"And is there even a cure for vampirism?" Marten asked.

"No, she won't become a vampire from a bite," Eleanor said, crouching beside Triss and taking hold of her face.

"Her eyes are normal. They're not red. In the early stages, they can't control that."

"And how are you so sure?" Evangeline asked. Luke and Charlie knew exactly why.

"Because the only way to become a vampire is through true acceptance and a ritual. It requires consent from both sides, kind of like that myth about them only being able to enter a house if they're invited," Eleanor said, glancing at them. Everyone there looked stunned.

"The United States, and every other major nation, knows how dangerous it would be to let a vampire infiltrate its government. Unlike ordinary spies, a vampire only needs to win over the leader of a powerful country once, and suddenly he has the president in his pocket."

"That's good news," Triss said.

"But it doesn't change the fact that I'm dying. Not even healing potions are doing anything for the bite."

"The bite... placed a curse," Anne said.

"Only those with... affinity for holy mana... can heal it. Clerics are... the best at it."

"And you don't have that holy mana thing?" Mia asked.

"No..." Anne replied. Over the next hour, the group decided to move through the city. Triss had been given two choices: go back to the island through the halo and make the journey back to the ocean with her group, or keep going with them. She chose to keep going.

"You're sure someone from the church can heal my sister?" Mia asked. Anne nodded. As they moved through the city, crustacean monsters came crawling out of the buildings to attack. Eleanor opened fire, and the other ranged fighters joined in.

"This is where you came through?" Luke asked. It was a flooded stretch that looked almost like a giant drainage canal.

"Yeah. From here we reached the tower where we got attacked," Doug said. The tower was their path to the bottom of the ocean. They kept moving through the canal. The other option was to climb the enormous buildings and cross above them by jumping from rooftop to rooftop, but that would mean staying exposed.

"Vampires have good eyesight. They can see over long distances," Luke said to Charlie as they walked. He made it sound like he was just explaining things to her. For two hours they followed the canal. Everything stayed quiet. Then the flooded path ended, and they stepped out into a street.

"I'm going to look for an easier route so my sister can cross. The vampires probably tracked us from here last time," Mia said to her group. They had stopped for a brief rest.

"I'll do the same," Luke said. He walked off with Charlie for a while, and eventually they slipped into a building where they could be alone.

"Charlie, we have a problem."

"It's going to be... complicated now, Master Luke," she said. Luke stood by a hole in the wall, watching the street outside. They had not been followed. No one was close.

"Marten and Triss's group are going to want to go after members of one of the hunter churches," he said. Some kind of war was raging closer to the center of the islands. It was not just people fighting over artifacts or killing for experience points anymore. It was something else, a conflict between vampires and hunters.

"What should I do, Master Luke?"

"Keep wearing your full armor, and do not take off the helmet under any circumstances. Our group is not going to keep escorting Triss for much longer. Once we confirm the situation at the tower, I'm going to try to split off and continue separately. But while we're still in this territory, and while there's a risk of hunters nearby, keep your face covered at all times." Luke did not know whether the hunters had ways to identify vampires on sight.

The little knowledge he had gotten from Samael in the past only covered the basics of Charlie's vampirism, with a little extra on vampire bloodline factions. Beyond that, Luke knew almost nothing, not about the hunter organizations, not about vampiric paths, not about any of it. Before the event, he had considered looking into more material on vampirism. But in the end, he decided not to draw attention to himself that way.

"Ever since you got that skill that lets you feed on beasts, we got a little careless about this. But now we need to stay sharp again," he said.

"How's your Blood Core?"

"It's still almost full, Master Luke. No lower than ninety."

"Okay. Don't use any vampiric skills that would draw attention. And no summoning Lulie for now." The little bat would stay inside Charlie's sword. When they returned to the group, they set out again, moving along the canal on foot. Then the Stalkers came. They crawled up out of holes in the canal walls, several of them, swimming even through the shallow water. When one of them dragged Marten down by the leg, Luke cut off its arm and killed it.

"T-thanks," Marten said, taking the hand Luke offered him as he got back up.

"How the hell are those bastards here?" The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"It's probably because the tunnels or pipes this civilization built connect back to the ocean," Luke said. The tower stood inside a mass of stone, with only its top jutting out above the rock. But the moment they got close, they were attacked. Archers rose from behind the rocks and fired. The group dove behind broken masonry and rubble for cover.

"Didn't you say you were good at spotting things from a distance?" Mia shouted.

"That doesn't mean I can see through walls," Luke shot back. But he had seen them. He just wanted them to think they had surprised him. He wanted information. Luke burst from behind cover and ran while Eleanor gave him support fire. He and Evangeline raced up the side of the massive rock. Then he vanished. He turned into shadow, slipped between two of them, and appeared behind their position. His kukris flashed, and he struck both in the head.

[You have slain a Human - Lvl 91 (Iron Knight – Lvl 87 / Water Archer – Lvl 71 / Barrier Builder – Lvl 68)] 21, 205, 910 EP earned [+1 Soul Fragment] [You have slain a Human - Lvl 87 (Bone Arrow Shooter – Lvl 86 / Wind Swordsman Apprentice – Lvl 42 / Stone Soldier Sculptor – Lvl 91)] 13, 471, 663 EP earned [+1 Soul Fragment] A gunshot cracked behind him. Luke turned and deflected it, then hurled a kukri into one man's leg and rushed another. The man raised a round shield and took the hit.

"You'll need to be a lot stronger than that if you want to beat me," he shouted at Luke.

"All right." [Crimson Fang activated] The shield shattered on impact, and the man was launched off the top of the rock. The moment he hit the ground below, Charlie rushed in and took his head off with one clean stroke. The rest of the group kept climbing and storming the position. More people poured out of the tower. A squad of soldiers came sliding down fast, their swords glowing white as they charged Luke. He met them head-on, parrying their strikes while fighting all three at once.

He slashed one across the face with a kukri and drove another back with a kick. Charlie appeared from behind and lunged, impaling the man through with her sword. Luke nicked the throat of the third with a quick cut. The man survived the first wound, but only for a second. Luke was already on him. [You have slain a Human - Lvl 93 (Steel Axe Walker – Lvl 94 / Trash Tracker – Lvl 76 / Friend of Roses – Lvl 73)] 47, 852, 874 EP earned [+1 Soul Fragment]"More coming!" Eleanor shouted.

Luke activated [Acid Blood Arrow], drew a bow, and fired. A green cloud of acid burst into existence. The people inside the tower came running out in panic. He aimed his bracer and fired a knife. [Telekinetic Impulse activated] [You have slain a Human - Lvl 72 (Valiant Crossbowman – Lvl 61 / Sound Ambusher – Lvl 53 / Stormy Seas Navigator – Lvl 67)] 34, 456, 357 EP earned [+1 Soul Fragment] Your second class [Arcane Witch] has reached Level 88!

(+12 Intelligence, +10 Wisdom, +7 Perception, +6 Willpower, +5 Agility, +3 Vitality, +2 Endurance, +10 Free Points.) It did not take long. The enemy group was dead. They moved toward the tower.

"They're not vampires," Mia said, checking the bodies one by one.

"Just bandits. Or they thought we were vampires," Evangeline said. The tower was useless now, completely sealed.

"Same as last time," Triss said.

"Looks like one use per tower," Luke concluded. They would have to find another one.

"We're going to have to go deeper into the city," Eleanor said. Luke and the others ran hard through the city, burning stamina to move faster as they pushed toward the center.

"A river?" Charlie asked. Wooden bridges connected one section to another.

"No. That's the sea," Luke said. The city had been built across a chain of islands. They were so close together that the narrow gaps between them made the water look like a river. Mia crouched, dipped her fingers in, then tasted it.

"Saltwater," she said, spitting it out. They kept moving until they reached an area littered with bodies. Some of the corpses were missing pieces.

"They were eaten," Eleanor said after taking a closer look. Evangeline nudged one with her spear.

"There are bite marks. And they're dried out."

"Vampires did this," Luke said. He looked around. There were too many bodies. Either one very powerful vampire had done it, or a group of them had. I've never fought a vampire before. At least he understood more than the others about how some of their powers worked, thanks to living alongside Charlie. But that only made one thing clearer. Depending on the vampire, fighting one could be dangerous. They have Vampiric Regeneration, Vampiric Strength, and at least one class shaped by vampiric powers.

That was a lot of hidden cards.

"I know this is probably late to ask," Evangeline said, "but how do we kill one? I've been told a stake through the heart doesn't do it, so is there some other trick?"

"I don't know," Eleanor said.

"I think normal methods still work. They're just harder to kill. Kind of like zombies, I guess." Then a cough echoed down the street.

"There's one still alive," Triss murmured. They approached the wounded man lying on the ground.

"Careful. He could be one of them," Mia said.

"With one arm missing?" Marten said.

"She's still not wrong," Luke replied.

"What happened to you?" Mia asked. The man started screaming at the sight of them, then stopped all at once.

"He's... dead," Anne said.

"He was already at the end," Eleanor said.

"Well, that's cheerful," Marten muttered. Then the man opened his eyes. They glowed red. B lack veins spread across his face. His hair began falling out. His skin darkened into a sick brown. The man sprang to his feet in a single jump. Charlie spun and struck with her sword, taking his leg off. His mouth opened wide, every tooth sharp now. He had turned into something else.

"That's one filthy vampire," Marten said. Vampire? That doesn't look like a vampire. Then Luke saw the other bodies around them start to rise, changing the same way, and lunge toward the group. They were surrounded.

"T-they were dead just a second ago," Triss said. Marten opened fire with his revolver. Luke cut down the ones that came at him. [You have slain a Ghoul Slave - Lvl 42] [You have slain a Ghoul Slave - Lvl 42] [You have slain a Ghoul Slave - Lvl 42]"So it's pretty obvious these aren't vampires," he said. A laugh rolled through the street.

"No. They are not," said a voice. A man in a black cloak sat atop a mound of broken stone. His eyes glowed red.

"You have no idea what's coming, do you?" he said.

"You'll make excellent test subjects for the Blood Banquet."

"A vampire," Eleanor said.

Alastair stood beside his master, watching the horizon.

"What are the Apocrypha?" he asked. The lich had come in person to collect one of his master's poems, something of enormous value.

"The fact that that creature came himself, and with such obvious displeasure, means he needed your poem badly, my lord," Alastair said.

"Old Tobias has no interest in the Apocrypha. That obsession belongs to another organization. What he wants is a ring, and this little favor is merely the price," his lord replied.

"A ring?"

"A very old and very powerful ring. But that is Tobias's concern, not mine. More likely than not, he is only doing all this so he can hand the ring over to his dear little lamb, Jonathan." Jonathan was the heir to the Lasiurus bloodline, one of Lord Damian's rivals.

"And yet you helped him anyway. I wish I understood you better, my lord. Your vision reaches so much farther than anyone else I have ever known. I would like to possess your kind of intelligence."

"I simply enjoy keeping the game in motion," his lord said.

"It is fascinating to watch. One organization wants information. Tobias wants the ring. And for that, both sides are willing to beg favors even from old enemies. It is almost like a pyramid scheme. In the end, someone will not have their favor repaid."

"If the organization is willing to offer a ring powerful enough to tempt a lich, then the Apocrypha must be worth even more," Alastair said.

"The Apocrypha are not books. And they are certainly not objects," his lord said.

"Then what are they, my lord?"

"They are individuals."