Its size notwithstanding, the Hydra was surprisingly mobile. It flattened all the large trees and flora in its way, its nine-heads moving around and choosing all sorts of magical projectiles. Arrow-like projectiles made of poison, small wind-aspected tornadoes that ripped through everything in their way, bursts of purple flames, and even blasts of Holy Magic. Each head is proficient at a certain type of Magic. This is an artificial Hydra, not an authentic one. Leiu ignored the rambling of the curious Inos as he swept his greatsword upwards, blocking several projectiles and then somersaulting further back. Ella had just caught up with him and continued running away, not even daring to look back at the monstrously big pursuer. She was quite fortunate that the Hydra was dead-set on attacking Leiu and no one else. After cutting through a wave of purple flames, Leiu kicked his foot against a tree and used that as a momentum to reach one of the Hydra’s heads. [Invisible Strike] With t
“The Boss was gracious enough to wait for you!”Several armed men were in Wolfgang’s room. What little furniture decorated the place was destroyed or flipped upside down as the gang members took anything and everything that could be sold for money.Wolfgang in question was on the ground, bleeding from his nose and lips after getting kicked and punched by the shouting man.The second-in-command of the Harling Gang had come in person, and from the looks of it, he was a Player too.“E-Ella ran away with the loot! Just give me one more we-”Andrei of the Harling Gang punched the pleading Wolfgang again before cleaning his bloodied hand and smiling.“We’ve waited long enough, Wolfgang. We don’t care if Ivan died or Ella ran away. You borrowed money from us.”“The interest was too hig-”“Still speaking?!”Andrei gestured for his men, who ganged up on Wolfgang and gave him a brutal beating. Admittedly, Wolfgang didn’t suffer as much considering the tenacity of his body. Normal humans wouldn
“This is a total waste of time!”Izy walked around the now-abandoned and run-down apartment of Wolfgang. If it weren’t for the fact that Lao was their superior and a pretty high-ranking individual in the organization, she wouldn’t have come to such a filthy place.In contrast, Pablo was meticulously looking for any clues.“Mister Lao wouldn’t send us for a simple investigation. It seems this ‘side-job’ has transformed into something deeper.”The Italian man, Pablo, examined the leftover clothes and even used an artifact to sense any lingering energy but found nothing of note.“Fine.. fine!”Izy stomped on the ground before finally getting to work. After all, she was much more adept at finding hidden objects and tracking targets.“No ordinary Transcendent would be able to massacre the entire Harling Gang.”“They’re just ordinary humans. What's the big deal about it?”-Izy“Their leader was a relatively capable mage. Do you honestly think it’s normal behavior for someone to behead almos
Two days settling in the motelWolfgang didn’t laze around and went out of his way to contact many of his acquaintances to help Leiu.Unfortunately, finding a Transcendent that was ‘situated’ in the North was difficult.“As I said before, the players in the North belong to the Earth Coalition. There are many of them but they follow a set of rules and they cannot bring just anybody with them.”Wolfgang paused for a bit, seemingly hesitating about something.“However, I heard about someone gathering desperate people, mostly poor or homeless, to take them to the ‘other side’.”“Oh?”“But it’s not the North. It’s the Kantika Isles.”“...”Leiu frowned, remembering the Imperial Counselor.“Didn’t you say that the Queen of Noules had lost her Counselor five years ago?”“You mean Zeno? Yeah. It’s quite the known thing as Noules became very destabilised upon his departure.”‘A brief detour might not be a bad thing. Zeno knows quite a lot of things and I could use her help.’Leiu pondered for
The Kantika IslesBlack Whale IslandPort Heim“A-Adrian!!”A terrified blond-haired vampire barged into a spacious yet dimly-lit room within a luxurious villa South of the city.The vampire was out of breath and covered in blood, barely able to control his terror.Adrian, the one he had called for, stood up but didn’t berate his friend as he instantly knew that something was wrong.“They’re dead! I… I… can’t!”“Calm down and explain what happened.”Of course, Adrian knew that his friend, Iryan, went to procure more humans. There were seldom any mishaps with the human known as the Preacher. Adrian provided him with gold and safe refuse in return for regular supply of humans.Albeit frightened to the core, Iryan did his best to recount the horrors he had experienced and witnessed.The couple of guards Adrian would send with him were slaughtered in an instant by an unknown human.“It seems the Preacher brought a rather unsavoury individual. For now, go home and stay put. I will deal wit
Felix, known as the Preacher, didn’t waste any minute ever since he left his ‘hideout’. The thought of running away did cross his mind, but it went away just as quickly when the youth who had almost killed him planted something inside of his body.Admittedly, Felix knew that taking humans to the vampires was a risky job and that what happened today wasn’t that unexpected, however, he never anticipated that one of his clients would be so strong that he wouldn’t stand a chance.Felix was Lv176, which was neither too high nor too low in today’s standards, nevertheless, he was a Frost Mage and was able to defend himself. But, upon witnessing what Leiu was capable of, and adding to that how Felix himself was incapacitated in an instant, any attempt at retaliating became nothing more than suicide.Rather than trying to be clever, Felix opted for the safest route and immediately reached out to his contacts in the port city.It was much better to help Leiu and get this matter done with than r
Port Heim Xavier’s home “Punished?” Xavier solemnly nodded his head, “Yes. Master left the family years ago and began working for Noules, eventually becoming the Imperial Counselor. I do not know the details, but she had a dispute with her father, the head of the Kantika Family.” “But they accepted her back when she returned?” “They did… on the condition that she stays home and practices the Kantika’s Blood Arts, which would help her succeed as the Head.” Xavier paused and avoided Leiu’s gaze, a look of hesitation on his face, “Five years ago, when the Darkness came, Master… she broke a taboo. She offered her Blood Essence, which is something vital to the Original Vampires, to the Darkness.” “I know that I received help from the Red Moon or something like that. I didn’t realize the cost was that big.” Leiu shook his head and sighed. Including the Pixies and the Mermaid Queen, there was also the Red Moon buff, which was just as important and strong as the other two. It had sign
The Kantika Isle was the main small piece of land East of the continent. It was at the center of the Kantika Isles as well as the biggest of them all albeit housing only one of the Original Vampire Families and no cities or major settlements like Port Heim.There were a handful of small human settlements, mainly farms, all of which were owned by the Kantika family but managed by actual humans that worked under them.The trip to the Kantika Isle took a little over two hours. The boat occasionally rocked back and forth within the darkness of the night and the calm yet eerie waters.Xavier didn’t try to dissuade Leiu, but his facial expression betrayed and showcased his rising nervousness.Setting foot on the Kantika Isle without a proper invitation was strictly prohibited and warranted severe punishment, but Leiu was going to do something even more ridiculous.Attacking the strongest Original Family, especially single-handed, was nothing short of suicidal. Even so, as he saw Leiu’s comp