By the time Chen Yu led the Magical Creature Army back to the territory, the sky was completely dark. The Poison-stinger Wasps placed the glowing Gray Gravel Crystals on the tree branches, briefly illuminating the castle's night.
It wasn't until the next morning, when the night receded and golden dawn light spilled over the fortress, that Anvil and Count Bran, who had gone out to procure supplies, finally drove their carriage back, chatting and laughing all the way.
"Hahaha, truly worthy of a Kingdom noble! Count Bran, you really are well-informed. You even know about those embarrassing stories of the southern dwarves."
Count Bran stood proudly on his shoulder, raising his head haughtily. "Oh, don't be too surprised. This Count is knowledgeable about the heavens above and the earth below. Naturally, I am also aware of such rustic gossip."
"Those dwarves always have those clownish, messy red noses. It's utterly ridiculous."
"Hahaha, yes, yes, absolute clowns. I can always recall the arrogant looks of those comical fellows, just like a big rooster strutting around with phoenix feathers stuck on it, hahaha..."
Seeing them return safely, Chen Yu finally felt relieved.
However, judging by Anvil's still-flushed cheeks, he had definitely drunk quite a bit yesterday.
Forget it.
As a qualified King, caring for the mental well-being of his subjects was also necessary.
Chen Yu basked in the sun for a while before starting his day of talisman drawing.
There were just too many troublesome neighbors around the swamp.
It always gave him a sense of unease.
No, he needed more cannons. More, even more.
After the territory returned to normal, the Dryad territory fulfilled its promise, indeed sending over a considerable amount of food, along with the Magic Organs seized by the Magical Creature Army in the Rootwhisper Forest.
After upgrading all his talents, he fed the "Soil Improvement" and "Promote Growth" talent orbs to a few slimes who enjoyed farming, then let them do their thing.
Furthermore, to cultivate spirit herbs as quickly as possible, he allocated a massive investment of thirty "Spirit Stones".
Over the next two days, Chen Yu was either drawing talismans or quietly investigating the movements of the Blacktooth mercenary group, making early preparations for war.
However, before he could wait for the Blacktooth mercenaries, he first heard Yano's cry for help.
"Boss, are you there? Save me!"
Oh no.
These past few days, he had been so focused on drawing talismans that he completely forgot Yano was still in the Dark Realm.
No wonder he had been feeling like he'd forgotten something recently.
So he hurriedly shifted his consciousness over.
...
The Dark Realm, a ghostly place in the eyes of the Kingdom's people, shrouded in mist and perpetually devoid of sunlight.
Here, rugged canyons, swamps filled with poisonous miasma, and continuous black mountain ranges were everywhere. Countless ancient ruins were half-buried in mud and rubble, with broken arches, collapsed stone walls, and wandering Undead a common sight.
And the people who survived here had long grown accustomed to coexisting with the shadows.
They exchanged goods beneath giant stone passes, built temporary dwellings among the ruins, and sustained their livelihoods through secretive trades and silent contracts.
Those who came here were either criminals exiled from the outside world or heretics deliberately avoiding the light.
No one asked about origins, and no one spoke of tomorrow.
Not far from the outskirts of that ruined city occupied by Gargoyles, "Gore", a small black market built against a backdrop of giant fungi had just been left behind.
Four figures cloaked in dark robes were swiftly moving through the silent ruins.
Only after confirming they were far from that area's line of sight did the leader pull down his hood, revealing Leon's vigilant face.
He glanced back at the taller figure at the rear of the group and finally couldn't hold back:
"To be honest, are you really a warrior?"
"I've never seen a warrior who knows Stealth."
Yano also pulled down his hood, unsure how to answer, so he said, "It seems no one ever stipulated warriors can't learn Stealth, right?"
He couldn't very well say the Boss gave him a ball to eat, and he suddenly knew it, could he?
The three Stone Descendants fell silent upon hearing this.
Strangely enough, the words did sound somewhat reasonable.
Even the lofty deities hadn't established rules that warriors couldn't learn Stealth. It was just that different professions trained different attributes. There was no cost-effectiveness for a warrior to learn Stealth, and combat skills were already difficult to master, so no one ever did it.
In other words, this guy was an oddball.
But at least he hadn't completely violated the Belmont family's Stealth honor.
Leon weighed the several bags of hard bread, jerky, and clean water they had just "replenished".
"These supplies should be enough to sustain us back to the castle. Let's go."
Yano subconsciously touched his bulging backpack, recalling the heart-pounding thrill when he "picked up" items in the market earlier. It felt quite exciting.
Among the three, Elara also had a reasonable explanation for this thieving behavior—"Those active around Gore are either Blacktooth's informants or hyenas fencing goods for Blacktooth. These guys don't get along with us Stone Descendants. How can taking their stuff be considered stealing?"
Alright then. That reason was very bandit-like, and also very reasonable.
After filling their stomachs, the four continued their silent journey.
Another half-day passed. The surrounding scenery grew increasingly desolate and dilapidated. Massive architectural ruins began to emerge from the mist, like giant's toys carelessly discarded here, then submerged by sparse forests.
It was hard to imagine that in a distant era, a grand, vibrant, and lively city once stood here.
"We're almost at the outskirts of Gore. Everyone, be careful." Leon lowered his voice in warning.
Gazing at the endless ruins stretching out with ominous silhouettes under the bleak, faint light ahead, and the sparsely growing trees, Yano recalled what Elara had said and asked curiously in a low voice, "The relationship between the Blacktooth mercenary group and the Stone Descendants seems quite bad. Is there some grudge?"
"Deadly feud," Max responded gloomily.
Elara leisurely picked up the thread. "Because behind Blacktooth stand those damn Vampires of the Dark Realm who deserve to be burned to ashes by sunlight. To be precise, these old winged bats and the Stone Descendants are the ones with the deadly feud."
Through her slow narration, Yano learned much about the Dark Realm's past.
The Vampire Grand Dukes were once the undisputed rulers of the Dark Realm, their shadows even looming over the surrounding Kingdoms at one point.
They ran rampant, abducting commoners as blood slaves, weaving a vast dark web with obscure and dangerous blood ties.
Relying on secretive propagation and terrifying speed of spread, the Vampire race reached its peak era a century ago.
However, the principle that extreme prosperity leads to decline is an eternal truth. A group calling themselves "Children of Gore" returned to this forgotten, barren city, bringing with them a turning point in the Vampires' fate.
They had originally returned only to have their fallen leaves return to their roots, but they faced ruthless suppression and enslavement by the Vampires, their fate hanging by a thread.
But where there is oppression, there is resistance.
A fourth-generation Stone Descendant named Castor attempted to change this, resolutely embarking on a trial path.
He endured countless hardships, subdued the Gargoyle legion with absolute power, and ascended to the position of Stone Scion Grand Duke.
After obtaining sufficient strength, this Stone Descendant ancestor delivered an ambitious Obsidian Declaration upon the ruins, vowing to drive the Vampires out of their homeland.
Thus, he led the Gargoyle legion on campaigns in all directions, advancing triumphantly, recovering the core territories of the Dark Realm, and pushing the Vampires completely into a corner.
Regrettably, just as the dawn of victory was about to arrive, fate no longer favored this Stone Descendant ancestor. He ultimately failed to completely eradicate the Vampires before his life reached its end.
After recuperating, the Vampires made a comeback, becoming more cunning and more terrifying.
They colluded with certain mad mages pursuing forbidden knowledge, secretly capturing lone Stone Descendants, extracting their blood for dark experiments, attempting to uncover the secrets hidden within the Stone Descendants' Bloodline.
"A very impressive Stone Descendant. I never imagined there was such a heroic figure. It's just the ending wasn't great," Yano said honestly.
"Who says otherwise? They were so close," Max sighed.
"And Blacktooth, they're the ones the Vampire Grand Dukes have been nurturing specifically to deal with us over the past few decades," Leon added.
Yano suddenly understood. No wonder these Stone Descendants were all Stealth masters.
In such an environment, those who couldn't hide would have been picked clean to the bone long ago.
Elara seemed to see through his thoughts, raising her chin slightly with a hint of pride.
"Hmph, you don't understand. An assassin's power isn't for hiding and fleeing. Concealment and assassination—that's the honor ingrained in the Belmont bones."
Yano gave an awkward smile, too embarrassed to refute.
He hadn't known before, but after meeting the Boss, he realized how satisfying it was to ambush people from the shadows.
But if they found out about his infamous reputation in the Outpost Ruins for "liking to strip people's clothes," they'd probably expel him from the Stone Descendant registry on the spot.
Right then, Leon seemed to have noticed something. He suddenly signaled everyone to be quiet, then ducked into the shadow of a nearby broken stone pillar.
Yano immediately focused his mind, following Leon's gaze.
Not far ahead, several flickering torch lights approached, accompanied by chaotic footsteps and complaints.
"Damn it, that Stone Descendant brat is as slippery as an eel. We've searched for so long and haven't even caught a whiff."
"The boss said even if he's dead, we have to find him..."
"Alright, stop complaining. Search carefully."
They were Blacktooth mercenaries.
Yano's heart tightened. He subconsciously touched his chest.
The little slime was still sleeping. Moreover, due to the distance and environment, the connection with the Boss had become intermittent and severely laggy.
With the Boss not here, he always felt a bit panicky.
Suddenly, a voice came from the shadows, instantly silencing all the searching mercenaries.
"No need to waste any more time running in circles for a rat."
A figure slowly stepped out.
This was a mercenary wearing more refined Blacktooth standard-issue Leather Armor. His skin was sickly pale, and his pupils were a crimson so deep they seemed to flow with bloody light.
"You few, take that batch of scrolls to the Outpost Ruins first and deliver them to Overseer Glock. Those Green-skinned Shorties are pressing hard. The 'little trouble' in the Eastern Swamp needs to be resolved quickly."
"Yes, Lord Vladimir." The mercenaries bowed respectfully and quickly departed.
"The Eastern Swamp?" Yano was inwardly shocked.
So the scrolls stored in that warehouse really were meant to deal with them.
This Blacktooth mercenary group truly had ill intentions.
While he was still thinking about how to relay this information back to the territory, the man named Vladimir didn't leave. Instead, he slowly swept his blood-red eyes over the area where Yano and the other three were hiding.
"I smell your scent, Gore's stone lumps. Will you come out yourselves, or shall I come find you?"
The hearts of all four sank simultaneously.
Afraid Yano didn't understand the situation, Max said in a low voice, "'Blood Bat' Vladimir. An old Vampire within Blacktooth. His strength is extremely terrifying."
"Go!" Leon made a decisive call, giving a low shout.
The four instantly transformed into shadows, fleeing urgently deep into the Gore ruins.
"Heh. Rats always choose the filthiest sewers."
Vladimir chuckled lightly. With a "whoosh," massive leathery bat wings unfolded from his back. With a gentle flap, his figure transformed into a blood-red shadow flying forward, quickly surpassing the four who were traveling through shadows, landing steadily on a collapsed archway ahead, blocking their path.
"Catching you will make the Grand Duke very happy."
"Vampire scum, don't even think about it!"
Leon reversed his grip on his dagger, lowering his body.
Elara and Max fanned out to the left and right, their eyes resolute.
"Count me in."
Yano tightened his grip on his broadsword, taking a step forward to block a slightly more forward position.
Clearly, the Vampire wouldn't care about his status as an outsider Stone Descendant. His fate was temporarily bound together with the other three.
Thinking of escaping alone at this point would be utterly foolish.
Vladimir's figure flickered, appearing ghost-like directly in front of Leon, his fingers splayed to grab his throat.
[Crimson Tear]
Leon's dagger stabbed swiftly to parry. A tremendous force transmitted through, numbing his arm and forcing him back.
Simultaneously, Elara and Max's daggers stabbed cunningly from left and right at the Vampire's ribs and back.
[Wing Strike]
Vladimir didn't even turn his head. His bat wings vibrated violently, the powerful impact sending both flying.
"Too slow," the Vampire commented disdainfully.
Leon and the other two relied on Stone Descendant defense and agility to barely hold on. Although they managed to injure him each time, Vladimir, as a Vampire, possessed terrifyingly powerful regenerative abilities.
As long as it wasn't a fatal injury, he could recover quickly, not even bothering to dodge some attacks.
Vampires and Stone Descendants, two mortal enemies, yet so similar.
Seeing the three falling into a disadvantage, Yano cleverly used the information gap, his broadsword cleaving down with a dull whoosh of wind.
[Power Attack]
Vladimir seemed not to have expected this Stone Descendant to possess such strength, completely unlike an assassin.
He had to retract his hand, bloody light flickering at his fingertips as he forcefully slapped the broadsword's side.
*Clang!*
The sound of metal clashing exploded. Yano was forced back two steps, his palms numb, but Vladimir also retreated two steps.
"Abandoning the Belmont tradition? Interesting stone." His gaze formally fell on Yano for the first time, a flicker of interest passing through his crimson pupils.
Although Yano's joining slightly eased the pressure, the four were still completely suppressed. Defeat was only a matter of time.
And at that moment, the little slime in Yano's embrace seemed to be jostled awake.
Amidst such violent shaking, Chen Yu felt his gel was about to be shaken into a uniform consistency.
"What the, Yano, are you demolishing the house?"
"Boss, you're finally awake!"
Yano cried out joyfully in his mind. "We're blocked by a Blacktooth Vampire. We can't hold on much longer!"
"Vampire?"
How did a Vampire suddenly pop up?
What on earth did Yano provoke?
Chen Yu's muddled little head squeezed out from the collar of Yano's Leather Armor. His gaze swept around, landing on the opposing Vampire.
Vladimir also noticed him.
But upon discovering it was just a Slime, he couldn't even be bothered to pay attention. A slender rapier suddenly appeared in his hand, transforming into a point of cold starlight as it stabbed toward Yano's heart.
"Looking down on Slimes?"
Chen Yu's little eyes narrowed slightly.
[Little Arrow Technique]
The next moment, a water ball condensed in front of his chest, elongating into an arrow, soundlessly meeting the sword's starlight.
*Pfft!*
The Water Arrow shattered the rapier, shooting straight toward Vladimir. He only felt a sharp force transmit from in front of him. The rapier was knocked from his grasp, instantly sending him flying backward.
When he got up to look, he discovered a hole had been torn in the Leather Armor on his chest.
He stood up, staring at that seemingly harmless clump of Slime, an expression of shock and uncertainty appearing on his face.
"Magic? A Slime..."
His words were interrupted by Leon's attack.
[Backstab]
The dagger stabbed straight into the opening exposed by the Vampire's shock. Elara and Max also attacked simultaneously. Yano's spirits greatly boosted, his broadsword swinging in a full arc for another slash.
Vladimir was momentarily forced into a passive position, parrying and dodging awkwardly.
But what surprised Chen Yu was that this Vampire's regenerative ability was terrifyingly strong. Even if his arm was pierced, he could recover quickly.
Not to mention he had even tanked a Little Arrow Technique head-on and ended up completely unscathed.
Were the elite monsters in this new map this powerful? This was pure stat inflation.
Chen Yu suddenly realized he needed to update his Dao arts.
The thought flashed through his mind. His gel body wriggled, spitting out all the Stone Swords from his belly.
[Mud Pellet Sword Crafting]
*Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!*
Eight Stone Swords, as if possessing life, shot from various cunning angles, converging on Vladimir.
He swung his rapier and bat wings to block, yet several wounds still instantly appeared on his body.
"What in the world is this?!"
He was inwardly horrified. Using magic and manipulating stone—this was clearly no ordinary Slime.
He was beaten back step by step, relying solely on speed and regenerative ability to hold on.
Just then, the sound of numerous footsteps and shouts came from the distance.
"There's movement over here!"
"Quick! Surround them!"
Vladimir's reinforcements had arrived.
"Go!" Leon's expression changed as he shouted loudly.
Seizing the opportunity under the cover of the Stone Swords, the four turned and desperately fled deep into the Gore ruins.
Vladimir watched their fleeing backs. Without a second thought, he gave chase.
"Pursue! They've entered Gore," he commanded the arriving mercenaries.
Simultaneously, he took a deep breath, chanting an ancient Vampire incantation. Instantly, dozens of small vampire bats came screeching from the distance, pouncing toward Yano and the others.
And he himself spread his bat wings, chasing after them.
"Boss, what do we do? That old bat seems to have locked onto us. We can't shake him off!"
Yano cried out anxiously while sprinting wildly between toppled giant stones and decaying colonnades.
Chen Yu's small body was jostled dizzyingly in Yano's embrace. The severe delay and interference in the connection with his main body made it difficult for him to make correct judgments.
"I've only been gone for four days. How did you manage to provoke such a character?"
This thing just wouldn't die.
If absolutely necessary, he could throw the split entity out as a bomb.
Go out with a bang.
He was just pondering how to bring it up when Leon, running at the front, suddenly let out a surprised, low exclamation.
"Quick, hide in those ruins! Those guys won't dare come over easily."
Yano looked in the direction he pointed. Ahead appeared a large expanse of ancient architectural group ruins hidden within the forest. Giant archways tilted precariously, broken statues remained only as pedestals, everything shrouded in an unsettling, deathly silence.
Above their heads, the area was even more obscured by crisscrossing broken giant stone beams and trees, pitch black, making it impossible to see the specific situation clearly.
Although they didn't understand what safety Leon was referring to, they had no other choice now. Everyone plunged headlong into that shadow-shrouded ruin.
They hid behind a broken wall. Vladimir, leading the Blacktooth mercenaries, chased to the edge of the ruins.
His pale face carried apprehension. He raised his hand, ordering his subordinates to go test the waters.
"Bring torches over. Find these rats."
Mercenaries cautiously approached with torches, probing and searching. One bold mercenary discovered an unusual patch of shadow and tried to probe into it with his torch.
As the torchlight flickered, deep within the shadows, a pair of eyes like polished obsidian suddenly lit up.
The mercenary shrieked in fright, stumbling backward, almost dropping his torch.
Yet, he had only met those eyes for an instant. His backward movement abruptly stiffened, the terrified expression on his face freezing. His skin visibly lost color at a rapid pace, taking on a grayish-white, rough, stone-like luster.
In just a few short seconds, he had completely transformed from head to toe into a stone statue!
"Damn it!"
Vladimir's expression turned ugly. "How can there be such a ghostly thing even in the outskirts?!"
Then, the owner of those eyes slowly revealed part of its form from the shadows.
It was a humanoid Magical Creature crouched on a broken stone pillar. Its skin resembled rough, gray-black stone. A pair of equally stony, massive wings were folded on its back. Its face was twisted and ferocious, with sharp claws and teeth.
It was precisely a Gargoyle that struck fear into people's hearts.
Its cold stone pupils swept over the living creatures below, filled with pure malice.
Vladimir made a decisive call, turning without hesitation. "Retreat!"
He immediately spread his bat wings, transforming into a blood-red shadow as he swiftly fled the spot, showing no intention of rescuing the ordinary mercenaries.
The Gargoyle let out a low, rumbling growl, seemingly wanting to give chase.
But the swarm of vampire bats Vladimir released before fleeing fearlessly pounced forward, attempting to harass it.
The Gargoyle irritably swung its sharp claws, easily smashing those bats into bloody mist.
It was thoroughly enraged. It petrified all the fleeing mercenaries, then vibrated its stone wings, chasing in the direction the Vampire had fled.
Confirming the danger was temporarily averted, Yano and the other three cautiously emerged from their hiding place, hearts still pounding with lingering fear.
Leon urged, "Let's leave here quickly. The Gargoyle could return at any moment."
Yano stared at the vampire bats smashed by the Gargoyle on the ground. He quickly stepped forward, drew his dagger, and deftly cracked open the relatively intact bat heads, extracting the tiny Magic Organs inside.
"Boss, here."
Huh?
Unexpected harvest.
Chen Yu swallowed all the Magic Organs in one gulp.
[Devour Digestion Lv.7 triggered—Vampire bat characteristics fully recorded. Talent obtained: Bat Wings Lv.2]
Unfortunately, the new talent could only be directly utilized by the main body. This split entity had to return and make contact with the main body to "mount" it. The talent was temporarily unusable.
Yano and the others fled a great distance, even attempting to use Stealth to lower their presence.
But that Gargoyle had no intention of letting them go. It flew back.
It circled in the air, searching for its target, still gripping the Vampire's petrified arm in its mouth, its icy gaze sweeping over the ground.
[Petrifying Gaze]
That intangible, terrifying force instantly enveloped them.
"Don't look at its eyes!" Leon shouted in a low voice.
But Elara instinctively glanced up. Just that one glance, and the area below her calves was instantly covered in a layer of gray-white stone shell. Her movements abruptly stiffened.
Although her powerful Stone Scion Bloodline resistance allowed her to quickly break free from the Petrification, the stone shell cracked and peeled off, the noise from this movement was enough for the Gargoyle to discover them.
"Damn it!"
Leon and Max hurriedly supported Elara from left and right. Yano covered the rear.
[Shadow Slide]
They once again slipped into the shadows, attempting to shake off the pursuing Gargoyle behind them.
But the continuous fleeing and battle with the Vampire had already consumed a great deal of their stamina. Especially the three Stone Descendant assassins, whose endurance was generally not high, they became physically exhausted. They were forced to tumble out of the shadows, staggering as they were exposed in a clearing among the ruins.
And behind them, the Gargoyle was already descending with suffocating wind pressure.
Its sharp stone claws reached straight for Yano, who was at the rear.
Just as Yano's eyes widened in that instant, Chen Yu's small body suddenly shot out from his collar.
[Little Arrow Technique]
[Mud Pellet Sword Crafting]
A Water Arrow shot toward the Gargoyle's face, forcing it to tilt its head to dodge.
Simultaneously, eight Stone Swords coated with gel shot out, firmly sticking to the Gargoyle's chest, wings, and joints.
[Mana Explosion]
*Boom—!!*
An explosion erupted on the Gargoyle's body. Stone fragments flew, dust and smoke billowed.
The Gargoyle let out a shrill, painful howl. Its massive body lost balance, crashing headlong into the nearby ruins. A small portion of its body and one wing were blown to smithereens. It struggled, momentarily unable to get up.
Meanwhile, Chen Yu's body visibly shrank to less than palm-sized, flopping limply into Yano's palm, looking somewhat wilted.
"Quick, take out all the food!" Yano urgently shouted.
Leon, Max, and the still-shaken Elara immediately scrambled, gathering all the dry rations, jerky, and even water skins they had on them to the little slime's "mouth."
The little slime struggled to wriggle, slowly devouring the food, attempting to replenish energy.
However, misfortunes never come singly.
Perhaps the commotion from the explosion was too great, or perhaps its companion's wails had drawn attention. Once again, the heart-palpitating sound of something cutting through the air came from above.
Two other, slightly smaller Gargoyles descended around them like two shadows of death, completely sealing off all routes of escape.
Their cold, merciless stone pupils instantly plunged the four, who had just felt a glimmer of hope, into an ice-cold abyss.
Despair, like freezing quagmire, drowned each person.
But simultaneously, a fifth figure silently emerged from the shadows.
Her movements were so fast they defied imagination. Yano only saw a blur before his eyes. That figure had already passed by the crippled Gargoyle.
Time seemed to freeze for an instant.
The next second, the two charging Gargoyles' movements abruptly stiffened. At the junction between their ferocious heads and bodies, an extremely fine gray line appeared.
Immediately after, their massive stone heads slid off soundlessly, landing on the ground with a dull *thud*, rolling a few times before stopping.
The entire process was silent, clean, and lethal.
Only then did Yano get a clear look at the figure.
It was a girl who appeared even younger than Elara.
She flicked her short blade as if she had just done a trivial little thing, then walked toward the four with lazy steps.
"Look at your sorry state."
The girl spoke, her voice crisp yet carrying an old-fashioned tone. "Being chased around crying for your parents by a few lumps of broken stone right at your own doorstep. You really have none of the grace your aunt here had in her day."
Seeing the girl, Elara's tightly wound nerves instantly snapped. Tears burst from her eyes as she threw herself into the girl's arms, sobbing loudly. "Auntie, wuwu... we almost didn't make it back."
Yano's eyes widened into circles. Pointing at the girl, he stammered, asking Leon.
"She... she's your family elder?!"
Hearing this, the girl lifted her foot and gave Yano's calf a not-too-light, not-too-heavy kick.
"Hey, big oaf, look at your clueless, never-seen-the-world appearance."
Leon's expression was complex, respectful yet carrying a hint of helplessness, as he explained in a low voice, "Auntie, he... he is also a Stone Descendant."
"Stone Descendant?"
The girl's eyes instantly widened, filled with astonishment and scrutiny as her gaze swept up and down Yano.
"An outsider Stone Descendant?"
"Oh, damn. The descendants of those old folks have found their way back."