Chương 673: The Angel Cleric’s Skills

Luke walked through the forest with the group, heading toward one of the towers. Not the one Rhiannon had allowed him to use. This was another, standing on a different island, in a place where the rain never seemed to stop. Erza's servants had gone ahead. As they walked, silence settled over the group like another layer of damp mist.

"All right. Enough silence," Luke said.

"We need to talk about the elephant in the room. Charlie is a vampire, and I need to know how all of you feel about that." After the incident with Serena, the heroine, they had only walked. No one had said a word.

"And before anyone starts," he added, "I didn't lie. I told you she was undead. I just didn't specify what kind."

"And she's the kind that needs to devour humans to stay alive," Erza said.

"But that's not my problem, so I don't particularly care."

"For me... it's okay too," Anne said.

"I just wish... my friend had told me." Charlie lowered her head, looking a little guilty.

"I was just surprised," Evangeline said.

"But it's not like anyone here was normal to begin with."

"And you, Eleanor?" Luke asked.

"I'm still not sure how I'm supposed to react. You threatened our country's heroine."

"That was after she did the same thing to me."

"I know. That's why I'm confused."

"Fair enough. But I need to know what you think about Charlie. Do you have a problem with her?"

"A member of the government's upper ranks is never going to look at a vampire kindly, Luke. Vampires can take over a government from the inside. Infiltrate it. Control an entire society from the shadows." Eleanor glanced at Charlie, then back at him.

"But I've been with all of you long enough to know you're not planning a coup." They crouched and slipped into what looked like a library. Part of it was flooded. The books were written in an unknown language, but when Luke tried to read one of the pages, the system translated it for him. Angie lit the way for the others, conjuring a Light Ball. [Light Ball (Common)]: Gathers radiant energy into a bright sphere.

When it bursts, it releases a heated flash that injures and can temporarily blind the target, leaving their vision flickering for a few seconds. She has two abilities like this. What's different about the other one? Luke opened Angie's system profile and read the skill. [Arcane Light Ball (Rare)]: Concentrates radiant mana into a bright sphere that grows in intensity as more energy is fed into it.

When launched, it explodes in a heated flash, dealing light damage and potentially blinding the target for a short time, making their vision flicker for several seconds. The sphere can be charged up to the limit the skill allows. The greater the charge, the greater the power and range of the explosion. Now I get what she did against the vampires during the battle. It looked like a little sun. That was this power.

"That's how the world works, Miss Kennedy, far away from the good life in Washington," Erza said as the women spoke among themselves.

"And you weren't scared of that vampire?" Eleanor asked.

"No," Erza answered.

"Now answer something for me," Luke said.

"There are noble titles, and they seem to define some kind of hierarchy. What's the difference between a vampiric Baron, Count, and Lord, aside from power level, obviously?"

"I don't know how it applies to vampires. But in a kingdom, whether it's the size of a village with a hundred people or something so large it can hold a few million, noble titles aren't just decoration. They represent authority, even through the system. And I can't say more than that. When you return to Earth, you'll understand," Erza said. Moss-covered vines blocked the path. As they cut through them, the vines grew back almost immediately.

"Leave it to me," Angie said. A white drill appeared, floating in front of her hand. She began grinding through the growth as she walked. [Mana Drill (Rare)]: The cleric conjures a spinning drill of pure mana that hovers before their hand. Originally developed for precise incisions on large creatures during complex medical procedures, this technique has become a deadly weapon: a manifestation of healing transformed into piercing power. As they left the area, more beasts appeared along the way.

At first they looked like chunks of rock scattered through the street, but then crustaceans crawled out of them, something like monstrous hermit crabs. Charlie took them on. There were a lot of them. The whole street was infested. When she killed one, blue liquid spilled from inside it. Blood. Your second class [Arcane Witch] has reached Level 89! (+12 Intelligence, +10 Wisdom, +7 Perception, +6 Willpower, +5 Agility, +3 Vitality, +2 Endurance, +10 Free Points.)"Charlie, are you alright?"

He had finally stopped long enough to ask her.

"What do you mean, Master Luke?"

"That vampire lord came right up to you. Are you alright? And your secret's out now."

"You... called me your wife," she whispered.

"What?" He had not heard her.

"You... called me your wife... three times," she said, her face turning red.

"Don't tell me that's why you've been so quiet."

"Yes... I'm embarrassed, but I liked hearing it." As always, Charlie was being Charlie. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"That's a relief. I was worried you were upset about your secret being exposed."

"I don't care about that vampire lord. The thought of anyone being interested in me disgusts me, unless it's you, Master Luke. And as for my secret... I think a weight came off me. I'm alright. I think it was good. It's just... now that heroine knows. She and the other hero."

"I'll handle that," he said.

"I promise."

"Watch out!" Angie warned. One of the crustaceans had fired a spray of spikes. She stepped forward, raised a hand, and her magic ring flashed as she activated her skill. [Guardian Dome (Ultra-Rare)]: A defensive cleric skill that shapes pure mana into a translucent dome around an area, creating a solid barrier between allies and danger.

Unlike elemental protections, Guardian Dome focuses on stability, endurance, and containment, making it highly effective against physical attacks such as blows, projectiles, impacts, and charges. Though its greatest strength lies in blocking material threats, the dome also offers moderate resistance against magical attacks, reducing part of the energy that attempts to pass through it.

Once raised, the barrier becomes a point of protection on the battlefield, giving the cleric time to heal, reorganize allies, or withstand an enemy offensive. Other creatures rushed them, but none got through. They slammed into the dome instead. Eleanor kept an arrow nocked, and the instant the barrier dropped, they killed the creatures. By dawn, they had reached the place Erza had been trying to reach. Charlie put her helmet back on. It had restored itself from the damage taken in the fight.

Luckily, the helmet was a System item.

"Much better," Charlie said. Now, covered head to toe in her full armor, she was completely shielded from the sunlight.

"Now a few things make sense, Charlie. You're weaker during the day, and sunlight bothers you," Erza said. They had stopped at the edge of a crater. Ahead was a forest, and inside it a tunnel that looked like some kind of sewer.

"That's the bad part of being a vampire," Charlie said. Sliding down through the crater, the group entered the sewer tunnel.

"You're sure this is the right way?" Evangeline asked.

"This is how Erza and I came through," Angie said, lighting the way.

"Our Halo is in a flooded hole that opens into the sea inside the tunnel. It'll be better than going through that forest full of beasts." Angie threw her spear into a hole, the weapon crackling, and it struck a rock that had been lying there. The "rock" died instantly, revealing itself as a beast using camouflage.

"Maybe one or two of them got in," Erza said. They moved carefully, studying the place as they went. It was not just a sewer. The passages connected to other structures buried beneath the island.

"These people had easy access to the sea, so it makes sense," Eleanor said, examining a hole that opened out toward the water.

"Either easy access beneath the island, or an escape route," Erza said.

"But what does all the writing on the walls mean?" Eleanor asked.

"It means what it means," Erza replied. Luke read one of the lines:' Everything began with dreams, and soon after, the nightmares became real.'

"That's pretty poetic," he said.

"And how... did the world end?" Charlie asked. That question had crossed his mind more than once. How did an entire planet's society simply disappear?

"We know every continent on this planet sank into the ocean, just like the legends of Atlantis," Erza said.

"I suppose they couldn't hold their breath long enough for us to show up." As morbid as the joke was, there was something hidden beneath it.

"And how does a society that was advanced through the system, with technology adapted for aquatic environments, just fail to exist at the bottom of the ocean?" Luke asked.

"The same way we can use items to breathe underwater, or take a potion?"

"That," Erza said, "is the question worth several stacks of gold." They passed by an enormous opening that led out to the sea. Something glowed in the water: the halo Angie and Erza had used to get there. Once they finished following the path, they emerged on the other side of the forest.

"There's the tower," Erza said. All that remained was climbing the hill.

"Luke, Charlie, try not to attract an army to us this time," Evangeline said.

"I'll do my best," Charlie replied.

"Can I... be a vampire?" Anne asked, half-joking. Everyone looked back at the doll maid.

"Charlie... can you turn me into one?" Anne asked.

"Why...?" Charlie looked genuinely confused.

"You can't become a vampire," Erza said.

"You only have a human soul. Your body is artificial."

"But why would you want to?" Charlie asked.

"Well, so I can be... beautiful... like you."

"You're already beautiful, darling," Erza said. When they reached the tower, Erza's group of maids was already there. After a brief conversation, they decided to climb.

"Before that, let me help with this," Angie said. She pointed her hand at each of them in turn and activated a skill. [Energy Blessing (Common)]: The cleric grants a gentle blessing of revitalizing mana, awakening the body and steadying the target's mind. Sacred energy moves through the body like a faint warmth, partially reducing sensations of sleepiness, fear, and exhaustion, allowing the target to regain clarity, resolve, and the strength to keep acting.

It does not erase fatigue completely or remove deep emotions, but it offers the push needed to endure, take a breath, and keep going when the body or mind begins to fail.

"After days without sleep, that helped," Eleanor commented. When Erza moved to climb, Luke caught her by the arm.

"Go on ahead. I need to talk to her." He waited until everyone had gone up.

"About Charlie's secret, I won't tell anyone," Erza said.

"I know. But I'm curious. Why are you helping me complete this phase's Beacon when you have no interest in doing the Beacons yourself? And why are you in such a hurry for us to finish it?"

"Maybe you're imagining things. It doesn't make any sense for me to want you to complete them. I don't gain anything from it."

"That was my first thought too. But then there's Anne. And your brother. I think you want Anne to reach Stage 3 of the event. What I'm wondering is when you're going to ask me for whatever it is you want to ask." Erza's expression shifted, just slightly.

"Well, since you've been so perceptive, I suppose I don't need to keep pretending. Will you help Anne reach Stage 3 or not?"

"I will. But only if you tell me why she can't go back with you."

"Because the moment we return to our planet, something tells me my brother will have either found a way to escape wherever he's being held, or he'll be more than ready for a fight. And I don't want Anne anywhere near him when he comes after me." Anyone who failed to reach Stage 3 would be sent back to Earth at the end of Stage 2. That was the heart of Erza's plan.

"So you're telling me you can't protect your sister and protect yourself from your brother at the same time? How much stronger is he than you? And what are you really afraid of when it comes to Julian Grimhart?"

"I'll answer that if you tell me how Charlie spent months with me as a vampire and somehow survived without drinking a single drop of human blood the entire time."

"I guess we'll both have to keep living with unanswered questions," he said, then began climbing with the power of [Demonic Predator Hands].

"And that core the flame hero mentioned. Did you somehow do something like that to your own soul?"

"There's no point hiding it. But that's all I'm saying."

"Soul manipulation is a dangerous field to get involved in. One mistake and, well, you die. So yes, I'm curious. And impressed."

"Then stay curious and impressed." They reached the top of the tower. An artifact was required, and when they placed it on what looked like an altar, the tower's summit sank beneath them like an elevator. For long hours, they remained trapped inside that enclosed space, until at last they were thrown into the depths of the ocean and emerged in a submerged city swarming with sharks.