Argoric Hermon was delighted by the news of the vampires in Sanguineum dying.
“So?! So?! How many died?!” Argoric asked excitedly.
“T-T-There are around two hundred and fifty dead according to the reports, sire,” his young vampire aide reported.
“Hmm… That’s too few…” Argoric said, clicking his tongue. His aide was perplexed by the Vampire Lord’s reaction.
Argoric grimaced and picked up his wine glass before saying, “Tsk… These vampires look good on the outside, but they’re rotten to the core with all their plotting and backstabbing. Yes, that’s right… It would have been better if all of them just died from this disease…”
“M-My lord! What are you saying…?!” the aide exclaimed.
“Lord? Who picked me as lord?” Argoric replied as he stood up from his throne and walked toward his aide. He was now a mere breath away from the young vampire, and he said in a low voice, “A true lord would prevent disasters like this from happening, and would listen to the voices of their people.”
The young vampire aide held his breath. However, Argoric stood up and said with disinterest, “Why should I do something that’s such a hassle like that?” He swirled the blood in his wine glass and added, “I only inherited the Vampire Lord title from my father. I would probably still be soundly sleeping in my coffin if my father hadn’t tried to fight against that guy named Sirian.”
Argoric took a sip from his wine glass and stared intently at the young aide, who just gulped nervously. He said, “Come to think of it… You look quite fair and pretty…”
“S-sire, I am a boy…” the aide said.
“What does it matter whether you’re a boy or a girl when it comes to love?” Argoric said.
“I-I will excuse myself since I have finished my report, sire!” The aide ran away, his face red.
Argoric sat down on his throne and thought, ‘The situation is getting worse…’ The carefree laugh had disappeared from his face, and he rubbed his chin while deep in thought. ‘Someone intentionally spread this disease…’
Argoric was not a fool. He was very well aware that it was impossible for any disease to propagate naturally among vampires. The pandemic was a first for even him, someone who had lived for millennia. Additionally, the disease seemed to only affect vampires.
‘The slaves are fine. I’m certain that someone purposely spread this disease in Sanguineum. There’s no other explanation aside from that,’ he thought.
Argoric did not consider himself to be the Vampire Lord, just as he had said in his own words. However, he did not deny that he was the owner of Sanguineum and the city was his property, and there was no way he was just going to idly sit by and watch as a thief tried to steal his property.
‘Let’s see… There’s definitely a medium if there’s an infection spreading… Something that would infect hundreds and thousands of vampires at once…’
The first thing that came to his mind was blood. Vampires drank a lot of blood. They either drank it from wine glasses, or drank it straight from humans or animals.
‘Could sucking blood be the cause of the infection…?’ Argoric shook his head. The vampires drank from different sources for their need for blood; it was not something produced in a single factory that someone could sabotage and infect.
‘No vampire is dumb enough to suck the blood of a sick animal, either…’ he thought, becoming stuck in a dilemma.
‘Is it an airborne infection…?’ he thought, before he suddenly realized something. ‘Air?’
He immediately stood up from his throne, then walked toward the window. Sanguineum was covered in the blackish-red fog today, just as it had always been. ‘The fog!’
The fog had been created from Argoric’s magical energy, but what if it was the medium that spread the disease? It was nothing but a theory, but it was the one with the highest probability at that moment. He thought, ‘There’s nothing better than the fog if anyone wants to cause an outbreak.’
Sunlight was something that could not and could never be allowed into the vampires’ city, and that was precisely why Argoric would not disperse the fog that blocked it—even if that was how the disease was being spread.
‘It’s worth taking a look,’ Argoric thought. He summoned one of his vampire minions, and an old vampire hurriedly came and kneeled down in front of him. He commanded, “Go to the Fog Dispensing Center at once and inspect it.”
“Sire! It’s an emergency!” the old vampire exclaimed.
Argoric furrowed his brow and asked, “What is it you’re making a fuss about?”
“Sanguineum’s slave quarters are under attack!” the old vampire hurriedly reported.
Argoric smirked and said, “I’ll go.”
“Sire?” the old vampire replied.
“I’m sick and tired of sitting around on the throne all day. Oh, and go check the Fog Dispensing Center no matter what happens,” Argoric commanded.
“My lord! I still have something to report…!” the old vampire cried out, but in vain, as his words fell on deaf ears.
Argoric opened the window and jumped out of it, spreading his black wings while in freefall. Suddenly, however, the Vampire Lord scratched his cheeks and awkwardly muttered, “Oh right… I forgot to ask which slave quarters they were…”
***
The gate of the third slave quarters had been broken open.
“Defend! Cough! Maintain the defensive line! Cough!” The vampires defended the entrance while coughing as Zombie Vampires charged through the gate.
The Zombie Vampires dragged their rotting flesh over, groaning as they bit the vampires. “Grwoooooh!”
“Euukk…! Aaaah!”
“Let go of me!”
Some of the vampires used magic to fight against the zombies, but the zombies charged in endless waves that filled the inside of the building, and the vampires’ magic ended up hitting their fellow vampires as well.
“Gaaah! Aim properly, you dumbass!”
“Damn it! It’s too crowded!”
The vampires would not be having such a hard time with a horde of zombies if they were in their normal condition, but the disease that had spread among them had drastically lowered their abilities. The disease not only made them cough endlessly, but also drastically reduced their strength, magic power, and even vision.
Pshiing!
Pshiiiing!
A few silver bolts went through the windows and hit some of the vampires; many vampires that were hit immediately fell dead to the floor. Some of them survived the bolts, however, dropping their weapons as they groaned in pain.
“Euk…. M-My head…!”
“Euuuuk…!”
Some vampires had suffered from pain all over their bodies just because of the disease; they did not even have the chance to fight properly as they succumbed to the disease. The zombie wave ended up sweeping over the vampires.
Kang Yoon-Soo, who had been at the rear commanding the zombies, walked to the front and commanded, “Return to the summon dimension.”
The zombies disappeared, leaving only vampire corpses littered across the ground. Mini-Lich walked toward the vampire corpses and waved its wand, calling out, “Rise!”
The vampires lying dead on the floor all rose up as zombies. Kang Yoon-Soo’s forces increased the more he killed; that was the power of an army that possessed a Necromancer.
‘Infecting the vampires with the disease, then raising them as zombies after they died, was an excellent plan,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought while observing the situation.
There were four slave quarters in Sanguineum, and there were around two hundred slaves in each one. It was not difficult to ambush the slave quarters, as they were all located on the outskirts of the city and the vampires that were guarding them were all below average-ranked.
“A pandemic and a zombie horde… It’s going to be really strange if the city doesn’t crumble from this combination,” Henrick said as he stared at the rotten zombies. He continued, “But why aren’t these vampires running back to reality? They can cross dimensions by using the portraits just like we did, right?”
“Vampires can only leave Sanguineum during the full moon,” Kang Yoon-Soo explained.
Vampires had complete freedom to enter Sanguineum through the portraits, but they were restricted when it came to leaving. It was one of the measures put in place to ensure that they would not all leave the city and turn it into a deserted ghost town.
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“How many days are left till the full moon?” Henrick asked.
“Eight days,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.
“Hmmm… I guess we have to end this within that time,” Henrick said as he rubbed his chin.
They now faced a time limit of eight days. It was a very tight schedule even if they had the disease and the zombies on their side, and that was not all.
‘The Vampire Lord…’
Kang Yoon-Soo had to kill the Vampire Lord that ruled over Sanguineum. It was not only because he had promised to let Iris eat the heart of the Vampire Lord, but also because of the requirements of the legendary quest.
[Legendary Quest—Vampire Lord]
The Vampire Lord, Argoric Hermon, is the vampire who rules over all of the other vampires; he is also the strongest vampire on the continent. Kill him and prevent the vampires from continuing their evil deeds once and for all!
Reward: Authority of the Vampire or Authority of Mind Control
Deff huffed and puffed as he ran toward them, and collected his breath before asking, “Have you killed all the vampires?”
“Yes,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied. Deff ran into the slave quarters as if he were someone thirsty in search of water.
“I feel sorry for him. I hope he really finds him this time,” Renil said.
Iris tilted her head and asked, “What are you talking about?”
“…” Gasen nudged Renil’s shoulder with his elbow.
Renil grimaced and complained, “Damn it. I know it’s a secret as well, but who knows? Maybe they’ll be able to help.”
“What is it?” Iris asked.
Renil replied, “Deff’s younger brother was sold as a slave to the vampires.”
“…So that’s why Deff is trying to liberate the werewolves from the vampires,” Shaneth said with a sad look.
Renil added, “That’s right. The reason why Deff became a Vampire Hunter was to find his younger brother who was sold as a slave to the vampires. Don’t mention this in front of Deff, though. He really hates it.”
“Why does he hate it?” Iris asked.
“Hmm… How do I put this…? Deff hates being pitied,” Renil said with a shrug.
Kang Yoon-Soo’s party went down to the basement; there, they heard voices screaming desperately from within the jail cells.
“It’s a human! It’s a human!”
“Find the jail key! Free us!”
The slaves were locked behind bars; they were wearing tattered rags that could not even be called clothes, and they also had chains around their necks. They were from a variety of races, including elves, dwarves, and even centaurs.
“Please! Please save us!” one of the slaves pleaded, crying loudly. The slaves’ pleas showed how desperate they were for freedom.
“We should look for the keys first, I guess…” Henrick grumbled.
However, Kang Yoon-Soo took out a piece of metal from underneath his sleeve and said, “This will be more than enough.”
“What the hell are you saying?” Henrick exclaimed.
However, Kang Yoon-Soo replied not with words. but with actions this time. He pushed the piece of metal into a keyhole and twisted it. He did not even feel around inside the keyhole, but the lock opened as if he had used the actual key.
“W-We’re saved!”
“Free me first!”
The slaves caused a ruckus as Kang Yoon-Soo calmly freed them one by one. He even released the chains on their necks using the same piece of metal.
Henrick was dumbfounded by what he was seeing. He asked, “Was your class ‘Legendary Locksmith’ or something?”
“I used to work as a thief before,” Kang Yoon-Soo nonchalantly replied.
He then stretched his wrists and observed the slaves. The slaves who had suddenly been freed had different reactions from one another. Some of them grabbed the hands of the party members and thanked them for saving them, while others just stood in place, confused by their sudden freedom.
Deff, on the other hand, ran up to the slaves and asked everyone he passed by, “Do you know a boy named Diel? He should be a teenager by now, and he’s a werewolf. He has a scar on one of his brows.”
However, all of the slaves he questioned shook their heads. Still, Deff did not give up and continued to ask the other slaves.
Kang Yoon-Soo was observing Deff when someone tapped him on the shoulder. A centaur with a messy beard asked him, “Are you the leader of this party?”
Kang Yoon-Soo nodded in response. The centaur then said, “That’s good. I want you to unite the slaves.”
“What do you mean by that?” Shaneth asked.
The centaur grimaced and replied, “I’m saying that we need to establish order here, little miss with the burn marks.”
Shaneth’s eyebrows twitched at the mention of her burn marks, as she still had traces of her burns on her cheek and a few other places. However, the centaur was not fazed at all as he continued, “Look at us right now. Everyone is confused by the sudden freedom that’s come to them, and that’s why you have to unite and organize us.”
“What the hell are you saying? Can’t you just decide for yourselves?” Henrick asked.
The centaur shook his head and replied, “There are more than two hundred of us here, and all we’ve done for so many years is to be worked or locked up. The sudden freedom will only cause confusion, and that’s why we need someone to unite and lead us.”
“I agree!” a man said while clapping. All eyes in the room turned toward the man, but nobody knew how long he had been standing there. The man continued, “The centaur has indeed said something wise, and he’s right.”
The man was quite tall and handsome, and his skin was as white as snow—or perhaps even whiter than that. He had red eyes, large fangs, and a black cape on his back.
“V-Vampire!”
“There’s still a survivor among the vampires!” Renil shouted, and immediately shot a silver bolt toward the vampire. However, the handsome vampire caught the silver bolt in mid-air and crumpled it with one hand. Renil could not believe his eyes, and exclaimed, “W-What?! That was pure silver! How could a vampire…?”
“Even vampires have ranks among them, my hunter friend,” the handsome vampire said with a smile. He continued, “I forgot to ask which slave quarter it was, so I was late because I was looking for the right one. I never expected all of the vampires to be dead, though…”
The slaves trembled. They did not know why they were trembling, but they could not help but do so in front of the vampire.
“My dear slaves,” the handsome vampire began. He spread his arms open and shouted, “I am Argoric Hermon! I am the Vampire Lord!”
The final boss had suddenly appeared before they even managed to accomplish anything.
But…
“You’ll die by having your heart pierced through.”
Argoric Hermon, the Vampire Lord, turned around and looked at the man who had said those words.
Kang Yoon-Soo, the man who was a scarier being than the final boss, walked toward the Vampire Lord.