Chương 131

For the next few days, the legendary quartet continued their journey toward the Vatican. Thanks to Grid's endless greed for experience and Rudra's insatiable desire for high-tier ingredients, the trip had devolved into a rolling natural disaster for the local monster population. Every time Rudra's [Abyssal Sonar] pinged, a field boss was ruthlessly exterminated, their dropped meat promptly tossed into the Protean Crafting Cauldron. By the fourth evening, the group entered a rocky, mountainous region.

The air grew noticeably colder. Rudra tapped his bone staff against the rocky ground. The invisible pulse of the sonar rippled outward. Suddenly, Rudra stopped and frowned.

"Did you find another boss?" Grid asked eagerly, pulling out his greatsword.

"I call dibs on the final hit!"

"No," Rudra murmured, looking toward a massive, gaping cavern carved into the side of the mountain.

"It's not a monster. It's just... energy. Really dense, heavy demonic energy. It's pooling in that cave." Grid hesitated, lowering his sword.

"Demonic energy? Is it a Yatan Church hideout?"

"Only one way to find out," Rudra shrugged.

"Plus, the sun is setting. That cave looks like a decent spot to block the wind while we eat." With his stomach growling, Grid followed Rudra toward the cavern's entrance. Piaro and Mumud walked close behind, though both of their expressions had instantly hardened. As NPCs, they didn't have system radars, but their transcendent senses picked up the oppressive atmosphere leaking from the dark opening long before Grid did. The moment Grid's boot stepped past the outer threshold of the cave, the world seemed to shift.

The temperature plummeted. The surrounding shadows twisted unnaturally, and blaring, blood-red system warnings flashed directly into Grid's retinas. [The Vampire Duchess Marie Rose is sealed in this space.] [Marie Rose's evil influence makes your magic power turbid. All types of spells and skills aren't available.] Grid blinked. A Vampire Duchess? He had never been to the vampire cities, so the title didn't mean much to him. He just assumed it was a standard high-level boss monster.

A heavy, suffocating pressure pushed down on Grid's shoulders, trying to forcibly seal his mana and crush his willpower. But before panic could fully set in, a warm golden light wrapped around his body. [You have resisted.] Grid let out a long breath, glad his legendary status came with absolute resistance to abnormal conditions. He glanced over and saw that Rudra, Piaro, and Mumud had all easily shrugged off the pressure as well. However, Mumud's face was completely pale.

The silver-haired magician stared into the pitch-black depths of the cave, his artificial flesh trembling slightly.

"Lord Rudra," Mumud warned, his voice tight with genuine dread.

"We must not linger here. Marie Rose is the apex of the vampire species. She is the strongest of the direct descendants. It was said that she possessed the power to slaughter legends as easily as breathing." Grid's eyes widened, his casual attitude vanishing instantly.

"Kill legends?! Then why are we standing here?! Let's run!" You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Do not panic, Grid," Piaro said, resting a hand on the hilt of his sword. His eyes were locked on the darkness.

"I can feel a massive divine barrier deep inside. Whatever is in there, it is trapped."

"Piaro is correct," Mumud explained rapidly, sweat forming on his brow.

"Hundreds of years ago, the Second Pope of the Rebecca Church—the strongest Pope in history—sacrificed his own life to seal her away. The holy power radiating from the deepest part of this cave is keeping her asleep. But even in her slumber, her passive aura is enough to completely disable a normal human's magic."

"Oh. So she's basically in a permanent coma," Rudra said, leaning on his staff.

"Yes," Mumud nodded.

"Great," Rudra smiled happily. He reached into his inventory.

"Then she won't bother us. Let's make dinner." Clang! Grid, Piaro, and Mumud stared in total disbelief as Rudra casually dropped his massive iron cauldron right onto the rocky floor of the demonic cave. Completely ignoring the terrifying atmosphere, Rudra sparked a campfire beneath it and started chopping up the leftover Armored Razor-Bear meat.

"Are you insane?!" Grid hissed, looking around nervously.

"You're cooking in the lair of a world-ending boss monster!"

"The wind is blocked perfectly here," Rudra replied, completely unbothered. He tossed a handful of rare, glowing herbs into the bubbling water.

"Besides, she's sealed. What's she gonna do? Wake up for a midnight snack?" As the stew began to boil, something strange happened. The ambient demonic energy lingering in the cave was drawn toward the cauldron like a magnet. The dark purple energy spiraled into the boiling broth, forcefully mutating the ingredients. [The intense demonic environment has affected your cooking!] [The dish has mutated into something unprecedented!] The steam rising from the pot wasn't white; it was a faint, shimmering violet.

And the aroma—it was impossibly heavy, incredibly rich, and intensely intoxicating. The fragrant, violet steam drifted lazily into the pitch-black depths of the cavern, easily slipping right through the ancient, invisible holy wards that had stood for centuries. There was no explosion. There was no dramatic sound of shattering restraints. There was only a sudden shift in the air. The oppressive pressure in the cave multiplied by a thousand, becoming so thick and heavy that it felt like gravity itself had doubled.

Soft, deliberate footsteps echoed from the dark. A figure stepped out of the shadows and into the flickering light of the campfire. Grid froze. His breath caught in his throat. It was a woman of unearthly, impossible beauty. She had pale skin that seemed to glow in the firelight, and long, luxurious hair as dark as a raven's wing. Her crimson eyes were half-open, filled with centuries of lethargy, yet they commanded absolute authority.

She was wearing a tattered, gothic black dress that somehow made her look even more regal. Grid stared at her face, completely mesmerized.

'Ahyoung...?' Grid muttered in his head. But the moment he thought of his first love, a sharp, bitter pain stabbed him in the chest. The recent scars of Ahyoung's betrayal and utter rejection were still fresh. Grid's historically low self-esteem and deep-seated trauma instantly hijacked his brain.

'Wait. Stop. Wake up, Shin Youngwoo!' Grid mentally yelled at himself.

'A woman that ridiculously beautiful would never look at a guy like me. She'd probably just use me, humiliate me, and then drain my bank account—or my blood!' Grid's romantic confidence was completely nonexistent. Instead of falling for her unearthly charm, his trauma turned into hyper-vigilant paranoia. He aggressively backed away, gripping the hilt of Dainsleif until his knuckles turned white.

He glared at the Vampire Duchess with pure suspicion, entirely convinced she was just a beautiful scammer waiting to ruin his life. Marie Rose blinked her crimson eyes, looking at the four men standing around the campfire. She had just broken a centuries-old seal. She expected them to be groveling on the floor in absolute submission, or perhaps screaming in primal terror. Instead, the man in the black coat holding the wooden spoon simply looked at her.

"Hey," Rudra said casually, pointing the spoon at the bubbling cauldron.

"The stew needs about two more minutes. You want a bowl?"