Chapter 48: 99 Ways to Kill a Vampire (1)

Ding-dong!

<WARNING!>

<WARNING!>

<WARNING!>

<WARNING!>

<Blood is overflowing from the Hexagonal Coffin in the depths of the ancient castle!>

<The boss of the instance dungeon ‘Congested Blood Castle’ has appeared!>

Thick gray mist began pouring in from the floor, ceiling, outer walls, and every crack in the ancient castle.

The mist gathered into a single point, swirling like a vortex.

Whirrrrr~!!

The fierce wind pressure slammed Kim Cheolwoo and the rest of the raid party against the outer walls.

Everyone except one person.

Me.

Ding-dong!

<Activating item skill ‘Slime Secretion’ from the Brackish Gloves!>

<Activating item skill ‘Slime Secretion’ from the Brackish Boots!>

<Set effect triggered: ‘Slime Secretion’ skill cooldown reset!>

The thick, sticky slime firmly anchored my entire body in place.

Soon, the gray mist dispersed, revealing a woman in a gothic dress.

Clack— clack— clack—

She was breathtakingly beautiful, enough to leave anyone staring in a daze, yet she exuded an icy, frigid aura.

Long gray hair trailed all the way to the floor.

Ruby-red eyes stood in stark contrast to her bloodless, pale skin.

She was the very woman depicted in the portraits scattered throughout the Congested Blood Castle.

At that moment, Featherback’s guidebook flipped open wide.

Ding-dong!

<Vampire Lord>

– Danger Rank: A+

– Discovery Location: Chiaksan Mountain, Wonju City, Gangwon Province — ‘Congested Blood Castle’

The progenitor of vampires who sustain immortality by feeding on human blood.

A pureblood vampire who inherited untainted lineage, commanding numerous lesser vampires beneath her.

She possesses a body far surpassing human limits and immense magical power, capable of transforming those she drains into vampires through the essence of blood within her.

However, only pure virgins and youths can be reborn into the vampire clan; all others degenerate into wretched ghouls.

Suddenly, Professor Park Ahjeong’s lecture flashed through my mind.

She had compared the creation of vampires to paint.

“Paint is made by mixing pigments with water or oil. Now, what happens if you take that paint and mix it again with more water or oil? Naturally, the color becomes progressively diluted from the original pigment, right?” 

“Vampires work the same way. First-generation vampires who inherit the blood essence from a pureblood, second-generation vampires created by those first-generation ones… The more the blood essence is passed down and diluted, the weaker the vampire becomes. Just like continually thinning paint with water.”

In simple terms, Vampire Lords—known as True Ancestors—possess power on an entirely different level.

I never thought it would actually happen, but this turned out to be an A+ rank dungeon after all.

No wonder.

From ogres to vampires, every monster here had been unusually strong.

Then, the Vampire Lord’s gaze shifted toward the warehouse entrance.

There lay the vampires pitifully crushed to death by the ogre.

[Rebecca. Elysia. Beatrice… Oh, my poor children…]

Her voice was cold, devoid of emotion.

Soon, she gently stroked the mangled vampires.

[You dared… turn my children into such wretched corpses.]

Crimson light flared in the Vampire Lord’s eyes.

Her beautiful, serene face twisted in rage, and thick black blood tears streamed from her eyes.

The Vampire Lord glared at Kim Cheolwoo and the raid party as she continued.

[Filthy rats! I’ll tear every last one of you apart!]

The air began to tremble violently.

In an instant, her body dissolved into mist and scattered in all directions.

Boom boom boooom—

Gray mist surged upward from the center of Kim Cheolwoo and the raid party.

One of the raid mages let out a pained gasp.

“Guh…”

“Gahk!”

Before anyone realized, the Vampire Lord’s pale hand had seized the mage’s throat.

But only for a moment.

Crack!

The mage’s neck twisted into a grotesque ‘ㄱ’ shape.

At the same time, red blood began pouring from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

Gush gush gush gush—

The torrent of blood gathered in midair, forming a sphere.

The Vampire Lord delicately dipped a slender finger into the sphere and tasted it.

[Blood reeking of the sewers.]

With an expressionless face, she flicked her hand lightly.

The mage, now a desiccated mummy, collapsed to the ground.

Thud!

The raid party froze in horror at the gruesome sight, unable even to scream.

Then Kim Cheolwoo’s roar echoed through the hall.

“You idiots! What the hell are you standing around for?! Use the holy water we bought from the White Magic Tower! You morons!”

Several party members jolted in panic and hurled the holy water from their inventories.

The glass vials shattered against the Vampire Lord’s body.

Crash! Crash—!

Holy water drenched her from head to toe.

But…

Sizzle—

White smoke rose as the holy water evaporated in an instant.

The Vampire Lord muttered with an impassive face.

[…To think you’d douse this body with such foul, stagnant slop.]

Holy water from the White Magic Tower could annihilate low-grade undead on contact and inflict irreparable holy damage on higher ones.

Yet it left not even a tiny burn on the Vampire Lord’s skin.

She turned to Kim Cheolwoo and the raid party and spoke.

[Holy water, sunlight, scripture, silver, wooden stakes… and crosses. Did you truly believe such trifles could harm a noble and exalted True Ancestor?]

Da.

Dr.

Kim Cheolwoo flinched, stepping back as he clutched the cross hanging from his neck.

An undead with no weaknesses.

An A+ rank high-tier monster, no less.

This was different from the ogre.

The chance of surviving a fight was 0%. No—worse than zero.

Reaching that conclusion, Kim Cheolwoo let out a pathetic scream and fled.

“Uwaaaagh—!”

The rest of the raid party scrambled after him in a panic.

The Vampire Lord’s body dissolved once more into pale crimson mist.

[…Not a single one will escape!]

The gray mist split into multiple streams, chasing different targets.

It swiftly overtook the fleeing raid members.

Soon,

Crunch!

“Gurgh!”

Crunch—!

“Gaaah…”

Cruuunch!

“P-please… spare— gurgh!”

The sounds of snapping necks, pierced hearts, and tearing flesh.

Horrific noises erupted alongside the raid members’ desperate screams.

It was like a child cruelly ripping the wings off insects.

The raid party that had been slaughtering monsters just hours ago was now the one being slaughtered.

Soon, gray mist closed in behind Raid Leader Kim Cheolwoo.

A pale hand touched the nape of his neck.

“U-uwaaaagh~!”

Kim Cheolwoo grabbed a nearby party member and hurled him straight at the Vampire Lord.

The thrown member’s face twisted in betrayal and fury.

But only for a moment.

Riiip~!

Caught by that pale hand, his upper and lower body were torn apart in an instant.

Unfazed, Kim Cheolwoo sprinted toward the only exit.

But the moment he reached it.

Ssssh—

The Vampire Lord materialized in front of him.

Every surviving raid member had been massacred in that brief time.

“H-how… ugh… how…”

Kim Cheolwoo’s face turned ashen.

Overwhelmed by terror, his mind no longer functioned rationally. He swung his fist wildly.

“Die! You bitch!”

The instant his steel gauntlet struck the Vampire Lord’s face.

Cruuunch~!!

His arm crumpled grotesquely, like a tin can in a hydraulic press.

“Gaa… gahk!”

He couldn’t even scream properly.

A pale, slender hand had pierced straight through his throat.

Thud—

Kim Cheolwoo’s body slumped lifelessly onto the stone floor.

Five seconds.

That was all it took for the Vampire Lord to annihilate the entire raid party.

Finally, she turned her gaze toward me.

[…You’re the only one left.]

The Vampire Lord began walking toward me with an expressionless face.

Clack— clack— clack—

One step, two steps, three steps.

As she took her fourth step, I pointed upward with my index finger.

“Up.”

[…?]

The Vampire Lord looked up at where I pointed, her face puzzled.

Her eyes widened in shock.

[…!]

In her line of sight…

Rumble rumble rumble—

Beyond the gaping entrance of subspace, a massive hellgate loomed into view.

Its surface was etched with grotesque patterns and images.

At the top of the gate, framed in dark crimson flames, a pair of orange eyes glared down.

The Vampire Lord trembled faintly as she stared into those orange eyes.

[N-no… It can’t be… That’s impossible…]

For the first time, her voice carried a trace of agitation.

Unlike moments ago when she had been utterly composed, she now stood rigid, staring up at the warehouse entrance.

At that moment.

Ding-dong!

<Receiving the ‘Open’ command.>

<Opening Morgue’s Magical Warehouse.>

The warehouse entrance slowly swung open.

At the same time, something shot out from the gap and struck the Vampire Lord squarely on the head.

[Kyaaaa… agh?]

She recoiled in shock.

But what had hit her head was nothing more than a large bulb of garlic.

[…]

The Vampire Lord brushed off the garlic with an impassive face.

Then, pressing a hand to her forehead, she muttered under her breath.

[Of course. A mere human could never wield His power.]

She fixed her gaze on the warehouse entrance visible through the spacetime rift.

A mocking smile curled her lips.

[Just a flashy illusion. I don’t know where you learned such a cheap trick…]

Thud—! Thud thud—!

Five or six more large garlic bulbs rained down onto her head.

The Vampire Lord spoke in an irritated tone.

[There are still fools who believe the old rumor that our clan is vulnerable to garlic. Our noble vampire lineage does not die to mere garlic. That’s enough. I’ll make you suffer the most horrific, slow death imagi—]

At that moment.

Ruuuuuumble—

A thunderous rolling sound echoed from above.

From the wide-open warehouse entrance over the Vampire Lord’s head.

Soon.

Thud thud thud thud thud thud~!

Tens of thousands of garlic bulbs poured down like a torrential downpour.

Fist-sized bulbs hammered her face and battered her entire body.

Thick garlic cloves even forced their way into her mouth.

[Kyaaaaaaaaaagh—!]

The Vampire Lord let out a pained scream.

At the same time, Featherback’s log appeared before my eyes.

Ding-dong!

<Mass-Conserving Garlic Sack>

– Storage Number: MRG-4683

– Storage Rank: Safe

Outwardly an ordinary sack filled with 20kg of garlic bulbs.

Yet no matter how many bulbs are removed, the mass always remains 20kg—new garlic instantly proliferates to replace what was taken.

Thus, the sack must always be fixed upright with its opening facing the sky.

“Some idiot mage made this trying to solve a food shortage. Why garlic of all things? There are plenty of other crops worth using as staples.” -Featherback-

An artifact from the Safe zone, newly updated after my promotion to warehouse keeper.

In short, a magical sack filled with endlessly multiplying garlic.

Tens of tons of garlic buried the Vampire Lord until she was no longer visible.

She’s not dying even with garlic?

Then…

Thud—! Thud thud thud~! Thud thud thud thud~!

[Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh—!]

Maybe we just didn’t use enough garlic.