Chapter 338 - Stalemate

Seeing the situation within the granary, the Dwarves Vampire’s relaxed and leisurely expression vanished. Rage erupted throughout his body, his white hair moved as though there was a wind, and he howled furiously, "You dare to kill my servants? Today, you will all die... No, I’ll turn you all into new servants so that day and night, you will wail in despair under my command...""Big talk," August retorted, "take this hammer first!" He strode forward to meet the imposing Dwarves Vampire, swinging his warhammer straight at him.

The warhammer shimmered with a brilliant light; there was no doubt that he had launched an Evil-Slaying Slash.

Just now, it was this very hammer that had smashed a fully intact Dwarves Vampire Derivative to the ground, killing it outright.

"Is this all? You think you can hurt me with that?" The Dwarves Vampire said with thick disdain in his voice, his form shifting deceptively to August’s side.

Not only did he dodge the powerful hammer blow, but he also drew a pair of short swords. One held normally, the other in a reverse grip, he stabbed and slashed, each move targeting the Holy Warrior’s vital points.

Just with one dodge and one attack, it was clear that the Dwarves Vampire had a solid foundation in close combat that couldn’t be attained without years of dedicated training.

He was strong, but August was not weak.

Despite his bulky body, reminiscent of a bear, his dexterity was not low, and he had mastered the technique of using leverage to its full extent.

This leverage was a profound art—not just a simple matter of borrowing force from the enemy but also from the environment and even oneself.

This time, August leveraged the inertia from his own attack.

Twisting his waist, his enormous frame surged forward with the momentum of his warhammer, then he swung it around like a whirlwind toward the Dwarves Vampire.

With August no longer in his original spot, the Dwarves Vampire’s attack naturally missed.

The Dwarves Vampire didn’t bother to fight August directly. As August swung his warhammer, the vampire had already drifted back several steps, his blood-red eyes sweeping over the young soldiers in the granary.

Instantly, one of the young soldiers shifted slightly and, without a moment’s delay, hurled a throwing spear he hadn’t yet used directly at a Holy Warrior Apprentice entangled in combat with another Dwarves Vampire Derivative.

Unprepared, Dick took a direct hit.

Fortunately, it was a Holy Water Javelin, and since he was wearing full-body armor, he wasn’t harmed.

However, his rhythm of attack was completely disrupted.

The previously suppressed Dwarves Vampire Derivative, seizing the opportunity, unleashed a frenzied onslaught with its claws upon the young Holy Warrior Apprentice, screeching the Holy Warrior’s shield, healing its previous wounds at a visibly rapid pace.

The young Holy Warrior involuntarily recalled his teacher’s teachings.

When fighting a vampire, you must strive for a quick battle with a blitzing attack to obliterate it.

If you find you can’t achieve this, you must retreat quickly. Getting entangled in a prolonged fight means certain defeat.

But while normally he could retreat, now he could not.

The only thing he could do was hold up his shield in desperate defense, placing his hope in others.

"Be careful."

"What are you doing?"

"Have you gone mad?"

"Control him, quickly take control, tie him up. He’s under the Vampire’s thrall."

The young soldier’s companion immediately abandoned his attack and pounced on him, clumsily pinning him to the ground and binding him tightly with the hemp rope they had prepared.

This is one of the differences between vampires and vampire derivatives in terms of abilities.

The charm used by vampire derivatives is similar to a charm spell, with not only a low success rate but also requiring spellcasting.

The vampires use something called domination, which only requires a look to turn those humanoid creatures into slaves obedient to their will.

It is ineffective against those with strong wills and specialized training, like the holy warriors.

But against ordinary people, it’s far too easy—just a look is needed.

They had barely subdued the soldier when another was dominated, aiming his attack at his own companions, throwing them into disarray.

Darnell, with a shield, knocked away the dwarf vampire derivative he was entangled with, then with his hammer forced a four-armed gorilla attempting a sneak attack to kneel, and lunged at the dwarf vampire while shouting, "Don’t look into his eyes, don’t make eye contact with him!"

The dwarf vampire was clearly aware of his advantage and didn’t give Darnell a chance to entangle him.

The surrounding dwarf vampire derivatives and hunters fell one after another, halting Darnell’s progress.

The dwarf vampire, agile in his movements, continued to sow chaos on the battlefield with his power of domination while he pounced toward the holy warrior apprentices, his pair of short daggers gleaming with a chilling light.

In a short time, killing those two transcendent holy warriors seemed unlikely.

But dealing with these three holy warrior apprentices shouldn’t take more than three moves.

All three holy warrior apprentices were exuding a chill aura from head to toe, eager to escape, but the dwarf vampire derivatives that they had previously tormented weren’t about to let them off easily, insisting on a relentless pursuit even if it meant trading wound for wound.

Death to the undead.

A holy light burst forth in the densest area of the dwarf vampire derivatives, exploding like a shockwave and sweeping across the entire granary.

The transcendent priest who had been hiding in the crowd made his move.

A sixth-ring spell.

The most commonly used spell by transcendent priests against undead creatures.

It extinguishes the flame of life within its area of effect, starting with the weakest, just like a death dharma circle.

But "Death to the Undead" specifically targets undead creatures.

The dwarf vampire derivative who was battling David was the first to fall victim. The holy light’s shockwave directly blasted a dark shadow out of his body. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by ɴovᴇl(F)ɪre.ɴet

That was the vampire’s soul.

The soul of the vampire, forced out by the holy light’s shockwave, flew away like a kite carried by the spreading shockwave, growing dimmer and dimmer, as if it would extinguish at any moment.

But a thin black line connected the soul to the body, keeping it from vanishing completely.

The holy warrior apprentice reacted swiftly, driving a stake straight into the heart of the vampire derivative.

The black line connecting the soul to the body was severed on the spot, the vampire soul let out a despairing wail, and vanished completely.

The second to suffer was the vampire derivative who had been trailing Darnell, trying to bind him.

Although it wasn’t like the previous one, where the soul was ripped from the body,

the Holy Warrior he faced was no ordinary person. As the Holy Light flickered, he had already turned over and brought down his hammer with a thud.

The moment the warhammer hit, the Vampire Derivative was in shock, and there was no after that. Darnell simply didn’t give him a chance to recover; a Silver-lined Vampire Stake was thrust directly into his heart.

The killing power formed on other Vampire Derivatives wasn’t as great but was enough to slow them down, giving the Holy Warriors enough time to extricate themselves.

Three Holy Warrior Apprentices ran towards their teacher as if by an unspoken agreement.

At this moment, fewer than half of the Vampire Derivatives that were present at the start remained, and the monsters and beasts they commanded were reduced to a mere few small cats.

"Priest! I hate Holy Priests! All Holy Priests should die." The Dwarves Vampire seemed to be provoked by some unpleasant memories, roared angrily, and reversed its attack direction, pouncing towards the area where the Transcendent Priest was.

Boom!

The Dwarves Vampire had just crossed halfway past the granary.

Before it was sent flying back even faster.

More precisely, it was blasted back.

A granary pillar erupted in a roaring sound, spewing forth a column of holy fire, hitting it squarely in the face.

Advanced Guard Barrier.

This granary pillar had been set up by the Transcendent Priest with an Advanced Guard Barrier Spell in advance.

This spell would turn an ordinary object into a spell repository, allowing one to inscribe desired spells into it.

The Transcendent Priest had inscribed the Flame Strike Spell into this Advanced Guard Barrier.

Transforming the originally sky-descending Flame Strike Spell into a blasting ray, the Vampire was forced back.

After the Flame Strike Spell was activated, the Advanced Guard Barrier Spell also ceased to function.

The sound and light effects were powerful, and the Dwarves Vampire appeared quite miserable.

However, the injuries were not as serious as they seemed; by the time it regained control of its form, the wounds had already healed.

The Vampire’s regenerative ability could be described as terrifying.

This delay was enough for Darnell and the others.

Five Paladins had already assembled.

Especially Darnell and August, with hammers combined, be it Vampire Derivatives or wild monsters, a single strike from either of them was enough to knock them down. The three Holy Warrior Apprentices following them would then complete the subsequent harvest.

Under such circumstances, those Vampire Derivatives naturally wanted to be as far away from them as possible.

Instinctively, they began to rally around the Dwarves Vampire, forming a formation as well.

Even if the Dwarves Vampire was reluctant to engage in direct combat, it had no choice but to lead the Vampire Derivatives in an assault.

No one knew how many traps these rascals had laid out here.

Even the proud Vampire didn’t dare to barge in recklessly.

It could only focus on eliminating these five Paladins first; once they were dealt with, whether it was those soldiers or the Transcendent Priest, they would all become easy targets.

Fighting in a group was an entirely different situation.

The Vampires were keenly aware of their advantages, alternating cover to ensure each only took one hit before retreating to the ranks for recovery.

They provided as much cover as possible for the Dwarves Vampire, creating more opportunities for it to strike.

It wasn’t easy for them to kill a Holy Warrior either.

Not only did they have strong shields and heavy armor, excelling in mutual aid techniques, but they could also channel Positive Energy to self-heal or heal others.

As long as the Positive Energy stored within them wasn’t exhausted, they stood unshakably.

Both sides were grinding away at each other desperately, watching to see who could outlast the other.

The Vampire’s regenerative ability wasn’t limitless; it was determined by the blood energy stored in their bodies. Once that blood energy was depleted, their healing power would decrease significantly, unless they replenished it with new blood energy—specifically, the blood of intelligent beings.

It’s a long story.

In reality, from the Vampires breaching the granary to the life-and-death struggle inside, it all happened in less than ten minutes.

Both Darnell and Kopofiel were anxious in their hearts.

Their ambushers had yet to appear.

There were only two possibilities for this.

One was that Gaven and his party had turned tail, scared off by the Vampires.

The second was that Gaven and his party had encountered trouble and were blocked.

Compared to the first possibility, they believed more in the second one.

Because their intelligence indicated a total of three Dwarves Vampires.

The Vampires here, while they seemed formidable and numerous,

were actually not the main force.

The two unseen Dwarves Vampires were the real threat.

Beyond the Transcendent level, taking on ten opponents at once was standard practice.

Especially since these Dwarves Elves had Professional Levels before they turned into Vampires.

After converting into Vampires, while their professional ranks would be erased, some abilities would be retained.

Like the one they were currently dealing with, which was clearly of warrior origin; they retained relatively few abilities, unlike those who were Spellcasters. They would keep their pre-conversion spellcasting abilities.

If a frontrunner of the weakest kind was this terrorizing,

just how powerful were the two Vampires lurking behind it?