"He’s not human... He can’t be."
One of the soldiers in the pursuit team mumbled in absolute terror after seeing Verc kill their leader bare-handed with such terrifying ease. They all looked at Verc’s left hand following his words, and there—
They saw [Black Scales] covering his whole hand, forming sharp, jagged claws that shimmered darkly under the light of the magic orb.
"W-What are you?!"
One of the soldiers asked in a voice filled with panic, his hands shaking as he pointed his sword toward Verc.
Verc looked at the man, his expression unreadable, and opening his mouth—
"My name is Verc."
He told them that simply, and after a short, heavy pause—
"I’m a vampire."
He declared that with a cold finality.
Kael’s face crumbled in a mix of confusion and pure disbelief. Gibson and the others in the squad were the same. They couldn’t believe what they had just heard.
Verc caught a glimpse of their shattered faces for a split second, but he just ignored them.
"!?"
Anyway, hearing his blunt declaration, the eyes of the entire pursuit group widened in shock. Even though vampires are ancient creatures that haven’t been seen in centuries, the legends about them were still very much alive.
After all, a single vampire is said to be capable of destroying an entire kingdom on their own— they are considered a danger to Arcanis itself. In the history books, they are ranked right along with the demon kings in terms of their danger level!
"ATTACK HIM! WE CAN’T LET THAT MONSTER GET OUT OF THIS DUNGEON ALIVE!!!"
One of the soldiers shouted at the top of his lungs, trying to rally the others. And at his words—
"GRAAAAHHHH!!!"
Everyone started rushing at Verc with their weapons raised, their fear turning into a desperate, violent frenzy!
"..."
Verc just looked at the wave of bodies coming toward him. His whole body and his sword were now covered with a visible layer of mana.
’All of my opponents are in front of me, so no attack will be coming from behind me.’
He concluded in a split second, calculating the situation.
FWIP—
He gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, and seeing the massive wave of enemies in front of him— SWOOSH!!!
He heavily swung the blade diagonally upwards with a roar of wind!
C L A N G—!!!
One of the front-line soldiers tried to block the incoming strike, but his blade just shattered into a thousand tiny pieces the moment it touched Verc’s mana-infused steel! And because of the incredible force behind Verc’s swing— BOOOOM!!!
That soldier was sent flying backward like a ragdoll into a stone pillar, bringing three more people along with him who were standing directly behind him!
The impact was so loud that it sounded like a small explosion. Four of them passed out in an instant from the shock; fifteen more pursuers were left standing.
Verc then noticed that five soldiers had managed to get close and surround him—
SWISH!
Then they all swung their weapons at him from different angles without a hint of hesitation! Verc immediately realized he couldn’t block all of them at the same time with his sword, and so— he activated [Black Scales] and covered his entire body except for his head.
TAAANG—!
All the weapons just bounced off his body as if they had hit a solid wall of iron. He wasn’t shaken by the force of the attacks at all. He didn’t even budge an inch. And after that... He laid his sword horizontally and performed a powerful, spinning swing!
FWOOSH! B O O M—!
The five men around him were able to get their weapons up to block his attack, but they were still sent flying all around the throne room because of the raw force behind Verc’s attack!
To them, it felt like they were trying to block a falling boulder!
’So this is the difference between mana users and non-mana users.’
Verc thought to himself, observing the chaos.
Actually, it wasn’t just that— even if a person can use mana, they will still be overpowered by numbers especially if they are only at the beginning stage.
The only reason Verc was so easily overpowering the entire pursuit team was because of his other skills that strengthened his physical body as well. He was already incredibly strong without mana, so after learning how to use it, he had reached a whole other level of power!
WHOOOSH—!
Just then, a strong, sharp gust of wind was launched directly at Verc! [Danger Sense] flared up in the back of his mind and told him that he shouldn’t let that specific attack hit him.
But Verc couldn’t dodge to the side either because Onyx was still standing right behind him, and so— SLASH!
He covered his sword with a much denser layer of mana and cut the sharp wind coming at him with a swift, vertical downward slash. The air hissed as it was split in two.
Verc then turned his gaze to the place where the wind had come from, and there, he saw five robed individuals standing near the back. They were mages that were working under the City Lord.
"[Earth Spear!]"
One of the mages cast another spell. A bit of the stone ground Verc was standing on raised up into the air and formed three sharp projectiles, and after that— SWOOSH!
The mage fired them at Verc with a flick of his wrist!
Verc saw the spears coming and frowned. To him, this magic was utterly pathetic and slow compared to the fire magic used by the Dungeon Master.
SWISH—!
With three swift, precise swings of his sword, he destroyed every single one of the spears. And after tensing his legs— BAM!
He kicked off the ground and launched himself forward like a bullet. The floor he was standing on before cracked deeply from the force of his kick.
He arrived in front of the mages in a matter of seconds. They weren’t even able to move or react to his speed. Verc gave them no time to chant another verse or create another spell— FWIP.
He then gripped his left hand into a tight fist, and using the strength of his scales— BAM!
He punched each of the mages squarely in the face, one after the other, making them pass out and drop to the floor in a heap!
The light orb that had been illuminating the entire throne room suddenly disappeared as the mage who had cast it lost consciousness.
The whole place went dark again, the shadows rushing back to fill the room.
But just a second after that— SWOOSH~!
A light even brighter than before appeared. Verc turned to look at where it came from... and he saw Kael, Gibson, Stanford, Kelton, and Harper standing together.
The five of them had their swords drawn out, and their blades— it was as if they were being covered by a shimmering [Holy Power].
Just looking at that pure light made [Danger Sense] flare up for Verc, more intense than any attack he had faced so far.
"I don’t want to fight you guys."
Verc said, looking at them through the golden light. They were the last standing from the pursuit team.
"Neither do we... but we can’t really do that."
Kael said with a straight, hardened face. Verc just smiled bitterly at his words, knowing exactly what he meant.
He stared at the five of them as he took a proper fighting stance. The whole place went deadly silent, the only sound being the crackle of the holy energy.
But after a while— BAM!
Verc rushed at them first. With mana covering his legs, he was able to launch himself at a terrifying speed that blurred his form!
TIINK!
He swung his sword downwards with all his might, but Kael blocked it with ease, his blade glowing. Then as a counter, Kael moved in and bashed Verc with his left shoulder— BAM!
Though, because of [Black Scales] covering his body, Verc wasn’t hurt— he was pushed back for a bit, however. And after creating that small bit of distance between them— FWOOSH!
Kael thrust his sword straight at Verc’s chest!
CLANG!
Verc deflected it to his side with his own blade, and with a swift, fluid transition— FWOOSH!
He replied with his own thrust, aiming directly at Kael’s head!
SLASH!
Kael turned his head to the side at the very last second, but Verc expanded the mana in his blade at that exact moment, so Kael was still cut on his right cheek. A thin line of blood appeared on his skin.
TAAANG!!
Kael swung his sword diagonally up and parried Verc’s sword high up in the air, and while his hands were already up as well— SWOOSH!
He swung it back down as hard as he possibly could!
SWOOSH!
Verc did the same as a response, meeting the blow head-on, and with that— TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING—!!!
Their blades met and clashed violently in front of each other. Their physical strength was almost perfectly on par with each other, so they arrived in a stalemate, staring into each other’s eyes from inches away.
But after a few moments of straining against the steel— BAM!
They both jumped back at the same time to reset. And as soon as their feet touched the ground— BAM!
They rushed at each other again, their blades becoming a blur of gold and white!
TANG! TINK! C L A N G—!!!
Then they started exchanging vicious, rapid-fire clashes that filled the throne room with sparks.