“This time, you die! Right here and now!” Joseph roared, conjuring swords in both hands as he charged at the monster wielding the Relic of Servitude.The monster sneered, scanning the battlefield in a desperate search for reinforcements, but there were none; his incapacitated minions lay scattered and unconscious. Snarling in frustration, he unleashed a series of devastating blasts. Joseph dodged skillfully, weaving between the attacks as the monster's rage fueled his relentless assault.“Die, you pathetic creature!” the monster shouted, throwing himself into a fierce clash with Joseph. “You’ll never take this relic from me!”Meanwhile, in a separate battle, Yoshi and Lyra exchanged powerful, crackling bursts of magic. The air shimmered as Lyra, her staff blazing with energy, tried to break the monster's hold on Yoshi, who responded with brutal force, his attacks a reflection of the monster’s influence. Lyra was unyielding, determined to snap Yoshi from the relic’s control while buyin

Unkillable leaned back, his unsettling grin widening as he began recounting the tale, this one darker and more twisted than the last. He reminded them that the essence of his second story echoed the first, but with one significant deviation—a version of himself, a variant from an alternate reality, where the rules of life and death had twisted into a grotesque parody of existence.In this world, every male had been eradicated, murdered in cold blood by the very women who once loved them. But the women didn’t stop there. They evolved, their biology corrupted by an ancient, malevolent entity known as Nymphomania. This force transformed them into near-immortal predators, feasting on the flesh of males to sustain their ageless beauty and unnatural power. Any woman who refused this horrific ritual met a grim fate, drowned by her sisters and then possessed by the Nymphomania, her body and soul warped beyond recognition.His variant had become the last man standing—an unlucky survivor, hunte

Hina Rika shook her head, still chuckling. “Well, let me set you straight. We don’t have super speed like you think, but we’re faster than humans because we don’t get tired. We’re stronger than normal humans too, but that’s mostly because of the weight of our dead bodies. We don’t regenerate or heal like you might think. We’re already dead, and so are our cells. That’s why we have our auras to protect us from being dismembered."“Mind reading?” she continued. “Nah, we don’t do that either. No telekinesis or anything like that. We don’t have magic unless we actively practice and study it. We’re just… well, dead, so we don’t have the same abilities as vampires from other places."Joseph scratched his head, slightly confused. “So… no mind reading, no healing, no super strength?”Hina Rika smiled as she explained further. “Exactly. And get this—female vampires here can’t reproduce, and male vampires can’t impregnate anyone either. We’re just a dead species, and we live on with the aura th

"This is no ordinary monster; it's a false-ranking creature at best," said a frightened hunter, desperately trying to track the creature's movement in the chaos. "How can we fight what we can't even see? It's clear it’s been holding back.""Hold your ground! We’ll survive this," Hina snapped, her voice unwavering. Though some of the hunters were clearly terrified, others fought to mask their fear.Joseph and Hina stood back-to-back, eyes darting around, desperately trying to pinpoint the monster's movements."Damn it... This is bad," Hina thought, her thoughts racing. "I never expected it to be this tough. But I can’t afford to show even the slightest fear—if I do, we’re all doomed.""If I had my XPT with me, I’d flush this thing out in no time. But if I rush in blindly now, I might put their lives at risk," Joseph's mind whirred. "These hunters—none of them stand a chance. Hina might hold her ground, but that's not enough. I'm the only one here who can recover from even lethal damage

The journey to the city of Yokosuka took twelve days. Like Shimonoseki, the city they had previously visited, Yokosuka bore its own distinct character and history. Shimonoseki, a city perched on the southern tip of Honshu island, served as a vital strategic gateway between Honshu and Kyushu. Its bustling black markets and discreet harbor had long made it a haven for smugglers and shadowy dealings.Yokosuka, located in Kanagawa Prefecture, was different. A coastal city with a naval base that had fallen into disuse, it had transformed into a hub for mercenaries and privateers operating within Fujimori's waters. Its once-proud docks now hosted an array of characters who walked a fine line between law and chaos.As Yoshi and his companions made their way down the winding paths, Joseph turned to Yoshi with a question. "Do you think the relic of servitude will ever be found again?"Yoshi replied with measured calm, "Only time will tell. Right now, securing other regions and their relics and