"The bats rejoice, the plagued rats sing."
"Blood mist veils the sky, shadows overflow."
"Daylight dreads its coming, eternal night descends upon the realm."
The vampire spawn chained to the stone pillars continued to mutter their eerie chant. As time wore on, the sound gradually degraded into something resembling anguished wails.
Blood steadily filled the carved grooves upon the dais, activating the bizarre and sinister magic circle. Simultaneously, the arrays etched beneath hundreds upon thousands of iron cages throughout the bunker flared with a baleful crimson glow.
The bloody light linked the spawn directly to Duke Brad, channeling an endless torrent of vile power straight into his body.
"Ascension... truly magnificent."
Duke Brad raised both arms, as if embracing the immense power soon to be his.
He slowly closed his eyes. Though his undead nature spared him the need to breathe, he still drew in a deep, lingering breath, savoring the tantalizing scent of blood that saturated the air.
Suddenly, the duke's expression froze.
"Wait..."
"I seem to smell... unfamiliar blood."
"It appears a scurrying pack of wretched rats has crept into my castle."
Duke Brad snapped his eyes open, boundless fury blazing within his crimson irises.
"Come out—"
"You are courting death!"
Duke Brad rose into the air. His cloak whipped violently behind him despite the absence of any wind, and dense blood mist swirled tightly about his frame.
The ancient vampire would never permit anyone to interfere with the ascension he had orchestrated over centuries!
Seeing that their cover was blown, Mezrolash, the commander-in-chief of the operation, hoisted his bloodstained greatsword and let out a fierce roar.
"All forces, attack!"
A surge of intense emotion broke across his usually impassive face, his voice trembling slightly.
The brutal murder of his wife and child, thousands of his kin slaughtered at whim, ten agonizing years spent on the run...
At long last, the final reckoning had arrived.
"Kill him!"
Mezrolash charged forward.
At the entrance of the passage, the players had never expected to be exposed like this, and their ranks fell into immediate disarray.
[Scarlet Duke - Brad Lakeman]
[Basic Abilities: ???]
[Challenge Rating: ??? (Extremely Dangerous!)]
A blood-red interface panel signifying mortal danger and hostility flashed before everyone's eyes.
Yet these were elite players after all. After a brief flurry of panic, they resolutely executed their prearranged battle plan.
"He spotted us!"
"Casters, hurry up and cast!"
"Leave it to me!"
Charlotte raised her carved wooden staff, magical auras pulsing along the vines wrapped around its tip.
*Fog Cloud.*
The moment she cast the spell, Charlotte broke out of stealth, revealing her true form. At the same time, thick, billowing fog swiftly rolled out to envelop the platform where the vampire hovered.
Right alongside her, the bard player Feixing de Jita drew his bow across the violin. As the strings vibrated, they produced not only a melodic tune, but also set off ripples across the Weave—the artistic spellcasting method unique to bards.
*Faerie Fire.*
A burst of faerie fire clung to the vampire, outlining his silhouette in violet luminescence and rendering him distinctly visible even amidst the dense fog.
Fengyun, vice leader of the Wangquan Guild, brandished his staff as well.
*Tidal Wave.*
With his gesture, a surging torrent of water crashed forward toward the vampire—a spell chosen specifically to exploit the creature's vulnerability to running water.
Simultaneously, several wizard and sorcerer players unleashed spells in unison. Crowd-control spells like *Hypnotic Pattern*, *Color Spray*, and *Charm Monster* bombarded the area relentlessly, mingled with offensive spells like *Scorching Ray*, *Magic Missile*, and *Fireball*. Lightning, radiant energy, flame, and force—a dazzling barrage of magical brilliance converged upon the glowing silhouette within the fog.
Meanwhile, melee players—monks, fighters, paladins, and barbarians—plunged headlong into the fog, charging after the glow of the faerie fire to strike.
Gangtie Kuangchao summoned his newly built Guardian Mech as well, frantically spraying a hail of bullets while raising its shield and charging straight toward the vampire.
Leading the vanguard, Mezrolash had already reached the very front with his bloodstained greatsword raised high, his pitch-black eyes burning with the feverish anticipation of imminent vengeance.
Yet before any of them could close the distance, a low, raspy voice echoed through the bunker.
"Insignificant ants..."
"Did you truly believe you could oppose me?"
Accompanied by a terrifying wave of force, an explosive blast of crimson air erupted, blowing the thick fog apart.
Facing dozens of kaleidoscopic magical beams incoming from afar, alongside the torrential rain of arrows, throwing daggers, and even bullets, Duke Brad merely offered an eerie smile. His body dissolved into a blurry haze of blood mist and suddenly dispersed.
In an instant, lightning, radiant light, and fire intertwined while throwing daggers, arrows, and stray bullets whistled through the air, but every attack struck only empty space.
The crowd glanced all around, unable to find any trace of the vampire.
Only a thin haze of blood mist drifted through the air.
"Let the blood boil within His vessel..."
"Let us embrace the glorious ascension..."
Yet the vampire spawn continued their chanting, and the crimson light continued to pulse.
Evidently, it was far from over.
Suddenly, Duke Brad's raspy voice echoed through the cavernous subterranean world, elusive and drifting as though originating from every direction at once.
"Foolish mortals."
"Your attacks are utterly laughable."
"For I am everywhere..."
"Once, I swept across the lands like divine wrath, yet I cast it all aside in pursuit of eternal life."
The voice grew increasingly tempestuous and powerful, sending chills straight to the soul.
"And now, I am immortal, I am darkness! I shall become the Sovereign of Eternal Night! And all of you are merely nourishment along my path to ascension!"
The blood inside everyone present seemed to churn and boil, threatening to tear free from the cages of their flesh and burst outward.
The crimson mist in the air surged, coiling and swirling like churning ocean waves into a massive vortex before finally coalescing back into human form above the stone dais.
Brad Lakeman had now shed his luxurious formal attire, draped instead in robes of red and black. Levitating high in the air, his eyes gleaming with crimson luminescence, he gazed down at the crowd on the stone dais with supreme contempt and cold detachment.
He raised a hand lightly.
The blood mist formed a pair of colossal crimson hands in midair.
Gangtie Kuangchao raised the firearm on his armor's left arm and opened fire toward the sky, but the gigantic hand closed around the four-meter-tall armor, clenching tight. It crushed the machine by brute force and pulverized the pilot inside into paste.
The scrap-metal wreckage was casually tossed to the ground, while the pilot's blood mingled with the mist, rendering it even thicker and more solid.
"Fresh blood..."
A look of intoxication and satisfaction surfaced on Duke Brad's pale face.
"Flee, wail..."
"I shall savor every moment of this."
Beneath the chanting of the vampire spawn, Duke Brad toyed with the players like a cat with mice, manipulating the blood mist to hunt them down. He slaughtered them effortlessly, draining their blood and driving them into panicked, desperate flight.
In just a few short minutes, over a dozen players perished—and these were the absolute cream of the crop!
"Holy crap, the guild leader got one-shot again!"
"How the hell are we supposed to fight this?"
"This boss's damage is ridiculous—"
"Can someone hit me with *Fly*? I want to try getting in close."
Mezrolash slashed his greatsword to disperse the incoming blood mist. Staring up at the vampire hovering aloft, he muttered, "No, he is siphoning power, growing stronger by the second."
"He must be stopped."
Mezrolash glanced toward a certain dark corner, a strange glint passing through his jet-black pupils.
Chapter 136