[The duration of immortality is over.]
“Pant... Pant... Kuk...!”
Grid’s vision flashed red as he coughed up blood. It meant his health had reached a dangerous level. It wouldn’t be strange if he died. Then Noll’s voice was heard. His voice was filled with killing intent.
"You guys... You trivial humans...!”
[Vampire Earl Noll has used Direct Suppression.]
Kurururung!
The air shook. There was a river of blood that Ruson had spilt. Direct Suppression gave fear and despair to all inferior species. It was a power that served as a big barrier to the Overgeared members in the process of today’s raid. But at this moment.
[You have resisted.]
Grid was the only Overgeared member left in the city. The pressure of the direct descendant was no longer meaningful. It was because all the Overgeared members, except for Grid, were killed in the process of raiding Ruson. Grid gazed into the red eyes of Noll.
"Shouldn’t I be the angry one, not you?”
He knew it wouldn’t be easy to deal with two direct descendants at the same time. However, Grid wanted to minimize the damage to his party members. That’s why they prepared well in advance. As well as the terrain of the city, he grasped the personal characteristics of Ruson and Noll, procured various buff potions from Reidan’s alchemy facility, and installed Alarm magic traps all over the city.
The Overgeared members did everything they could. But the raid didn’t proceed as they planned. It was due to Noll’s power. Noll wasn’t just a tanker with excellent defense and resistance. His skill composition ran more towards a supporter. He specialized in recovery and initializing abilities.
The blood tsunamis and aftershocks occurred from time to time, breaking the formation of the Overgeared members. He also healed Ruson who was in a critical condition several times due to the Overgeared members. In particular, his ability to recover with Blood Donation was a problem. Noll donated his blood to increase Ruson’s health and defense. Thanks to this, the damage to the Overgeared members was bigger than expected. It took too long to hunt Ruson and in the process, the Overgeared members died.
Grid got goosebumps. What if Ruson had been faithful to his role as a supporter in the Earl Cray raid? It wouldn’t be possible to capture the 7th city. He couldn’t be certain of winning, even if NPCs such as Piaro and Asmophel were invited to the party.
‘The Curse of Idleness...’
It was fortunate for Grid that the direct descendants were affected by the curse and wouldn’t cooperate. Looking back, the reason why he was able to raid Elfin Stone in the past was the Curse of Idleness. Therefore, Grid hated the Blood King Candidate title.
It temporarily released the direct descendants facing him from the Curse of Idleness. The effect was equally applicable to Duke Marie Rose and Marquis Fenrir. There was no possibility of raiding them when they were several times or tens of times stronger than the earls. But.
“You’re an exception.”
Grid’s smile contained poison.
"You will pay the price for hurting my colleagues today.”
"Shut up!"
Noll rushed towards Grid. He was freed from the Curse of Idleness, so he willingly attacked.
Puok!
It was just before the cooldown of his health potion ended. Grid’s vision changed to black and white as he was stabbed in the heart.
[You have died.]
[You have lost 36.2% experience.]
[Grid’s Boots have been lost.]
***
"The scale of the damage?"
Outside the 7th vampire city. Grid instantly asked once he resurrected and Lauel, who had done the research beforehand, reported to him.
“We lost experience and 14 people dropped equipment items.”
“What? 14?”
Death in Satisfy was dreadful. It was a huge penalty to players. The experience loss was in proportion to level and there was also the possibility of dropping some items in their possession. The worst was dropping equipment items. Basically, the value of the equipment item was high. If they lost the item they used as their main power, their strength would be reduced. Instead...
"Isn’t the probability of dropping equipment items only around 1%?”
That’s right. When a player died, the drop rate of equipment items was quite low. Grid felt that it was actually at 50%.
‘It can’t be... Did my bad luck spread to everyone?’
Grid was frustrated by the fact that more than half of the party members had dropped equipment items! He felt extreme guilt and Lauel told him more desperate news.
“Among them, Pon and Vantner have lost their main weapon and shield.”
“...”
Grid was experiencing extreme mental pain just losing Grid’s Boots, which he often swapped to when using Grid’s Greatsword. It was due to the value of the item. However, Pon and Vantner lost the weapon and shield that must be used immediately. From Grid’s position, it was like losing the Enlightenment Sword. Grid was worried about how much pain they were in. His gaze moved towards Pon and Vantner. They were already looking at Grid.
“My spear...”
“Shield...”
“...”
Grid wished he could make a new shield and spear! The two men, who couldn’t bear to ask him for a new spear and shield, were like brothers. The difference was that Pon was handsome while Vantner was bald.
"I’m prepared to make new items. Anyway, if we want to challenge the raid again, we have to wait for everyone’s skills to return. It won’t be difficult to recreate the items while waiting.”
Item making was the source of Grid’s power. He couldn’t ignore the rise in stats by making items. In addition, Pon and Vantner weren’t people who wanted freebies. They always paid a reasonable price for Grid’s items. It was good for Grid to make items in the remaining time. However, there was a problem.
“There are no materials.”
“...”
“...”
The Black Dragon Spear used by Pon and the Flame Shield used by Vantner were the best items made by Belail’s dropped items. It was impossible to recreate the same things. Grid trembled.
‘If only I was stronger.’
It wouldn’t have been so hard to raid Ruson. Jishuka spoke to the regretful Grid.
“It isn’t that you are lacking. We are the ones lacking. Don’t blame yourself.”
Pon and Vantner nodded.
"That’s right. This is the result of our weakness. It isn’t because Grid is weak.”
“...”
The mood was depressed. Most of the party members lost valuable items, increasing the pressure. In particular, the fact that the National Competition wasn’t far away raised the burden. The National Competition was the place where the best rankers representing each country gathered. Everyone’s hearts were heavy at the thought of participating in the National Competition in a weakened state. On the other hand, Lauel’s expression was bright.
“Actually, you don’t need to worry about that. We can find the items you lost.”
Dropped items weren’t destroyed. They literally existed in the place where they fell. Then why was dropping an item a problem? It was due to the users of Satisfy. Since it was impossible to block a user from the hunting grounds, it was almost impossible to regain an item once it was dropped. By the time they resurrected and ran to the place where the item dropped, the item wasn’t present anymore. It was because another user took it.
But the vampire cities weren’t an ordinary hunting ground. The vampire cities existed secretly in the vast desert of Reidan. The difficulty itself was very high so it was hard for ordinary players to approach. In addition, Lauel controlled the vampire cities from the beginning. It was because he didn’t want a valuable hunting ground for the Overgeared members to be occupied by other players. This mentality wasn’t wrong. Controlling the hunting grounds within a territory was a privilege of the guild that owned it.
“The items that we dropped are still here. Tomorrow we will go back to the 7th city to raid Noll, retrieving the items on the way."
“You’re right. We don’t have to worry about someone else taking it.”
"We will guard the entrance to the city.”
"Okay, tomorrow we will regain them.”
"Come on!”
The atmosphere was cleared up. Everyone was looking forward to tomorrow. Lauel gave them a warning.
“Don’t be too distracted. Noll is a support type, but he’s still an earl. His comprehensive battle strength is comparable to other earls. A strong opponent. If you’re careless, then you will die again before retrieving the item.”
Also.
“Noll is likely to lead a large number of vampires and familiars to maximize his support capabilities. He’s fighting diligently after overcoming the Curse of Idleness thanks to Grid.”
“...”
Grid’s chest hurt but Lauel was just reminding them of the facts. It wasn’t his intention to criticize Grid.
"The key to tomorrow’s raid is how quickly we can retrieve the dropped items. If we encounter Noll before we collect all the items, we are likely to be killed.”
Chris confirmed it.
"That’s right. Noll lacks attack skills compared to the other earls, but he has CCs and high endurance. It’s impossible to get rid of him without full preparations. Don’t forget the point where you each lost an item.”
Lauel added a final warning.
"Noll must be raided. If we can’t raid Noll and Fenrir or Marie Rose joins...”
Gulp!
The sound of swallowing could be heard everywhere. At the same time, they all imagined the worst. If Noll’s support abilities were used on Marquis Fenrir or Duke Marie Rose...
"Fenrir and Marie Rose might never be able to be raided in the future.”
***
"Everyone remembers, right?”
After adequate rest. Grid asked before they re-entered the 7th city. It was excessive concern. The party members responded confidently.
“Of course I remember. Grid, could you forget the point where your precious items were dropped?”
“I also remember.”
Grid spoke after confirming their answer.
“Okay. Let’s move as secretly as possible until we arrive there. We will get hurt if we are caught by Noll before we manage to collect the items.”
“Understood.”
The Overgeared members had experienced the vampire cities many times. According to their experience, the boss would never appear when they just entered the city. There would be a big disturbance as the battles proceeded. The boss would become aware of the intruders and reveal themselves.
Of course, the Overgeared members believed it would be the same again. But was it a matter of having too much faith in Grid? Their faith was betrayed.
“Huhuhut, I was waiting.”
“...”
The moment they entered the 7th city. Grid and the Overgeared members encountered Noll. Noll knew that Grid and the Overgeared members would come again and waited in advance. There were 500 vampires and familiars with him. This was the amazing artificial intelligence of a top grade NPC.
“I...I’ll come back. Haha.”
Grid laughed awkwardly and ran away with the Overgeared members.
***
“XX... Call all of our kids.”
The entrance to the 7th city.
Grid gave a command to all the Overgeared members who were afraid to enter the city again. It was a royal order. A king who had the power to move thousands, tens of thousands at will!