Research (3)
Seo Nuri was the only surviving member among the high-ranking vampires.
She had been lucky enough to survive when Vlad Țepeș absorbed the powers of all the other high-ranking vampires for a ritual.
However, she was not entirely intact.
{The World Tree... The power of the World Tree...}
Vlad Țepeș was dead, but his blood still remained inside her.
That blood was clouding Seo Nuri's judgment.
"I have to go..."
What initially sounded like a faint hallucination grew clearer and clearer over time.
Now, the blood within her had practically taken control.
And so, in a deranged state, she came to Busan.
Thud
But long before she could reach the World Tree, she was blocked by an invisible barrier.
It happened at a distance where the World Tree couldn't even be seen.
This was due to the significantly expanded territory of Kim Jaehyun.
Thuum-
After crashing into it several more times with a blank expression and fluttering wings, Seo Nuri finally realized the presence of the invisible wall.
"Don't stop me... I have to go..."
The blood of Țepeș, coiled up inside her, responded.
Woom-
The blood, empowered with even stronger blessings from Vlad Țepeș's ritual, began to surge with force.
And then-
Grrrrrk
The invisible barrier began to swell and then burst like a balloon.
Seo Nuri, staring blankly with her mouth agape, squeezed herself through the
gap.
Fwoosh !
As soon as she entered the domain, black energy threatened her, but the red energy from Țepeș's blood shielded her.
Though she was in tremendous pain, Seo Nuri, whose mind was already shattered beyond repair, simply flapped her wings absentmindedly.
At that moment-
Ziiing-
A rift opened in front of her, and through it, she came face-to-face with Kim Jaehyun.
The moment she saw him, the blood within her reacted violently.
"Ugh, you're...?"
At the same time, she felt something pierce through her chest.
Ah.
As she felt black flames consume her heart, Seo Nuri instinctively knew this was the end.
At last...
It was liberation.
Engulfed in black flames, Seo Nuri wore a faint smile.
All that remained at the spot where the suddenly-appearing high-ranking vampire had burned away was a red liquid.
Fwoosh!
The dark crimson flames violently flaring around the red, slime-like mass indicated that it was putting up fierce resistance.
The red energy resisting his black energy was likely a divine force, like that held by Lilith or the World Tree.
But why can't I absorb this?
In Lilith's case, her divinity had been absorbed the moment she entered the domain.
But this red slime right in front of him, although clearly showing hostility, remained unaffected and intact.
The Eye of the Absolute.
Using the black energy to enhance the Eye of the Absolute, he saw the
reason.
This isn't the main body.
The mass of blood floating before him was merely serving as a medium.
It was similar to the transparent energy that had taken root in the sleeping grandmother's mind.
So the red energy being emitted by this blood was-
A power transmitted from another dimension.
At that moment-
Sssshhhhh-!
"!!"
He felt an intense gaze radiating from the red energy.
At the same time-
This is-?
Through the Eye of the Absolute, overlaid with black energy, he caught a fleeting glimpse of the dimension connected through that moment.
A darkness devoid of even a single speck of light.
Within it, a coffin.
The coffin was bound tightly by chains extending from all directions, imprisoning some kind of being within.
Clang!
Emotions of rage and hatred burst forth from within.
At the same time-
Vrooooom-
An immense surge of energy began to radiate from the lump of blood before
my eyes.
Sensing that something was seriously wrong, I immediately swung an invisible hand and smashed the bloody mass.
Whoosh!
The black energy imbued in the claws of the invisible hand blazed fiercely, incinerating the bloody lump. But in the final moment, a tiny fragment remained.
And then-
BOOOOM!
It exploded right before my eyes, scattering into hundreds of pieces.
[A dungeon has been discovered.]
[A dungeon has been discovered.]
[A dungeon has been discovered.]
New dungeons began springing up like mushrooms after rain, covering the entire area.
Because it was the middle of the night, the newly formed dungeons were clearly visible.
I immediately shifted the Absolute One's gaze to one of them to check the information.
[Grade C Dungeon]
City of Intermediate Vampires (0/20)
A dungeon where intermediate vampires appeared.
The first thought that crossed my mind upon seeing it was—
"Isn't this a huge win?"
I had been on edge, thinking this was the last desperate act of a being from beyond dimensions. But the outcome was pitiful at best.
"A dungeon with intermediate vampires, huh."
Intermediate vampires were usually monsters above level 30.
Naturally, with that high level came generous amounts of experience points and monetary rewards.
But that wasn't all.
Based on past experiences, new dungeons often dropped crystals when cleared.
"Jackpot, seriously."
It was like stumbling upon a pumpkin that rolled into my lap-pure luck.
[Everyone.]
It was time to collect payment.
Lee Jun-hyuk had a deep-seated hatred for vampires.
He had lost Shin Ah-young and Kim Ji-tae to their hands.
Whenever he faced vampires, he was far more brutal than necessary-it was a form of revenge.
"KYAAAA!"
Vampires swarmed from every direction.
Since he had entered the dungeon alone, the idea of support from comrades was a pipe dream.
But even as dozens of vampires charged at him, Lee Jun-hyuk remained composed.
That was because his ability was, in essence, the bane of all vampires.
'Water Bomb.'
A water bomb formed above his head, condensing into a single point before bursting into thousands of droplets at the critical moment.
The water droplets spread out at incredible speed, and although they packed quite a punch, they weren't lethal on their own.
However―
Psshk!
They easily inflicted small wounds on the approaching vampires.
Then-
'Control Water.'
Any vampire who entered Lee Jun-hyuk's range with an open wound was like a rat in a trap.
The blood oozing from those wounds was mostly water, and Lee Jun-hyuk's Control Water skill allowed him to freely manipulate any water within a certain radius.
"GRAAAH!"
"KyaaAAAA!"
Screams of vampires echoed from all directions.
Their blood was now flowing backward within their bodies.
For a normal human, this kind of pain would be enough to cause death from shock. But these vampires were more durable than humans and even had some regenerative capabilities.
They couldn't die, even as they writhed in agony-because Lee Jun-hyuk had deliberately left their hearts intact.
From the moment he gained control over their blood, he could rupture their hearts at any time.
The fact that he hadn't was purely his own choice.
"Guh... Ugh!"
The vampires could do nothing but powerlessly accept the destruction of their vascular systems from the inside.
Lee Jun-hyuk slowly began to walk, casting a glance over the vampires groaning with bloodshot eyes.
Boom!
With each step he took, the heart of the vampire furthest from him exploded.
He was detonating their hearts just before they left his sphere of influence.
Boom! Crack!
Hearts exploded, bodies collapsed, and watching their comrades vanish into corpses struck fear into the remaining vampires.
Now strengthened to the current maximum of 3-star power, Lee Jun-hyuk was more than twice as powerful as before.
His skill proficiency and potency had increased to a level beyond comparison.
Without sparing a single glance at the carnage around him, Lee Jun-hyuk simply continued to move forward.
Even in the midst of an overwhelming battle, Lee Junhyuk's eyes remained eerily calm, as if devoid of life.
It wasn't until he faced the dungeon boss-a high-ranking vampire—that a faint light returned to his emotionless gaze.
Click.
Clad in blood-red armor and wielding a two-handed sword, the monster looked exactly like the one he had faced back then.
It had the same appearance as the high-ranking vampire who, right before his eyes, had decapitated Shin Ahyoung and pierced Kim Jitae's heart.
"...Found you."
The reason he had been relentlessly raiding vampire dungeons.
It had all been to find this one.
"Create Water."
From around Lee Junhyuk, water began to burst forth like fountains.
Within moments, the area within dozens of meters was flooded.
That was the signal. The battle had begun.
Splash! Splash!
The armored vampire charged toward Lee Junhyuk at high speed.
What had started as shallow water reached nearly up to the knees by the time the vampire closed the distance.
Ignoring the minor inconvenience, the vampire swung his large sword with full force.
Whoosh!
But the blade didn't reach Lee Junhyuk.
Water, having crept up the vampire's body like tentacles, now restricted his movements.
Shaaaa-
The water climbing up his legs gathered strength, forming a massive droplet that trapped the vampire inside.
Then-
"Water Bomb."
The moment Lee Junhyuk activated the skill-
KABOOOM!
A massive explosion shattered the vampire's entire body.
That was the end.
Once the vampire's heart was destroyed, there was no coming back.
[DUNGEON CLEARED.]
Even though the system had officially declared the dungeon cleared, Lee Junhyuk couldn't take his eyes off the spot where the monster had died.
Because that was exactly how he had destroyed the vampire's heart back then.
It wasn't as overwhelming as this time, but everyone had worked together and shattered the monster's heart multiple times.
But it didn't die. As the battle dragged on, Shin Ahyoung and Kim Jitae had lost their lives.
"If only I had been this strong back then."
He knew—at least intellectually-that his current power came from Kim Jaehyun's ability.
It wasn't something born of his own efforts. He understood that in his head. And yet, he couldn't shake the thought that maybe... if he had tried harder, something might have been different.
The techniques he used in this battle were the result of endless training and experimentation since that day.
Staring at the dungeon exit that had formed before him, Lee Junhyuk clenched his fist.
"I need to become stronger."
He stepped through the dungeon's exit, a twisted smile on his lips.
"Nine more to go.
""
Due to the nature of the dungeon, the same structure and the same boss would appear again and again.
"This time, I won't let it die so easily."
[Conditions met.]
[The following can now be constructed: D-Rank Instant Dungeon - Low-Rank Vampire Cave, C-Rank Instant Dungeon - Mid-Rank Vampire House, B-Rank Instant Dungeon - High-Rank Vampire Mansion.]
-
Now that all the vampire dungeons in the area were cleared, new instant dungeons had been added.
A vampire dungeon, huh...
Though different in kind, it reminded him of Lilith, whose divinity had been absorbed.
Once Lilith's divinity had been devoured, she-and everything tied to her became enslaved to the system.
She had become a summon herself, completely absorbed.
The vampires, too, had essentially been assimilated into the system through the form of instant dungeons.
"...Is the system capable of devouring other divinities?"
He couldn't tell if this predation was something any divine being could do-or if it was a trait unique to the system.
"I'll just have to keep watching."
It was then-
[Jaehyun, are you there?]
It was a rare occurrence-Kim Dabin had contacted him first, via telepathy.
[What's the matter?]
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]