novelraw Chapter 496
Chapter 496
Flash!
With another flashing halo of light, his vision returned.
The surroundings were dark, but.
[ Due to the Original Vampyr effect, you are not affected by the restriction effect of darkness. ]
Thanks to the skill effect, his vision brightened again as if it were broad daylight.
'Where the hell is this place now?'
He looked around.
The place he’d newly arrived in looked like the inside of a huge cave.
This time, too, no related system notifications appeared.
'Same as last time—figure it out and proceed on my own.'
Now that he thought about it, it was incredibly unfriendly.
But if that was the rule here, he had to follow it.
For full-scale exploration, Su-ho started with basic armament.
[ Blessing activates. ]
[ Mana Detection activates. ]
[ Endurance activates. ]
[ Enhancement activates. ]
[ Night Watchman’s Eyes activates. ]
And then.
[ Paladion activates. ]
[ Divine Aura activates. ]
Now even the newly added armaments, too.
'Nice.'
That was when it happened.
“KIAAAAAAAH!!”
The moment holy energy began to burst out from Su-ho, somewhere, along with a bizarre shriek, black swarms started pouring toward him.
Their identity was none other than bats.
“Bats?”
- ???’s Dark Bat. Lv.???
- ???’s Dark Bat. Lv.???
- ???’s Dark Bat. Lv.???
- ???’s Dark Bat. Lv.???
......
Like a rapids wave surging in, they were definitely bats.
There were so many that for an instant, they almost looked like an ant swarm.
'Looking at it like this, it’s really disgusting.'
But Su-ho didn’t panic and immediately took up a combat stance.
[ Heat Storm activates. ]
When something comes rushing in at random, nothing beats Heat Storm.
The moment Heat Storm activated, a scorching wind imbued with True Mana began to blast out an even more intense gale.
“Jijijijijik!”
“Jijijik!”
“Chijijijijiji!”
Unable to withstand Su-ho’s hot wind, the dark bats began to shrivel and dry up, writhing in the heat.
Just as expected.
No matter that this was a trait quest that had reached the third singularity, Su-ho’s current level was higher than any trial the System could throw at him.
Of course, it wasn’t just Heat Storm—taking heavy damage from the opposing energy backlash as well, thanks to the Divine Aura wrapped around Su-ho, was a big part of it.
'Before, Breath of Healing was something I barely used, but now that it’s Divine Aura, its usefulness has gotten pretty sweet.'
Holy attribute imbuement. Just that one difference, and how much usefulness it carried.
Nodding in satisfaction, Su-ho advanced forward at a slow pace.
“Jijijijijik!”
“Jijijik!”
“Chijijijijiji!”
Each time, the dark bats died in droves, but Su-ho didn’t care at all and advanced forward over a mountain of corpses.
He also didn’t forget to check ahead with Mana Detection.
'That way.'
Bats were still pouring in as a swarm.
But since “???’s” was attached in front of the dark bats’ name, there was a high chance the dark bats were someone’s property—in other words, summoned creatures.
Then who the hell was ????
Around then, the bat rush suddenly cut off.
What is it—does something exist up ahead?
Advancing forward with a bit of tension, a large plaza appeared.
But the plaza was red.
The plaza, as if molded from red rock, gave off a solemn, majestic atmosphere like a grand cathedral, and at the center of the plaza, a huge altar like an arena had been placed.
“Oh.......”
It was when he finally set foot inside the plaza.
[ You receive moonlight. ]
[ The Rune of the Moon reacts. ]
[ The Power of the Moon activates. ]
[ You receive the Blessing of the Moon. ]
[ All stats increase by 1%. ]
[ All recovery increases by 1%. ]
[ Ice attribute activates. ]
[ Darkness attribute activates. ]
System notifications.
The Rune of the Moon suddenly activated.
What?
All of a sudden, here?
That meant moonlight imbued with mana was pouring down from somewhere.
Su-ho instinctively lifted his head and looked up at the sky.
And he could see it.
That what he’d thought was simply a dome-shaped ceiling wasn’t a ceiling, but the sky.
And at its center, like an ornament—no, like a painting hung in the middle—there was a red full moon... in other words, a blood-red full moon.
'A red full moon....'
Could it be a blood moon?
It wasn’t the first time he’d seen a red moon.
Even in the original world, a red full moon could sometimes be seen during a total lunar eclipse, under the name “blood moon.”
That was when it happened.
Swaaa!
A blood-red vortex whipped up in front of Su-ho, and inside it, the silhouette of a human form took shape, then fully revealed itself.
The being that revealed itself was none other than a woman.
And a beauty, at that.
Jet-black hair dark as pitch, skin white as snow, and blood-red eyes that contrasted with it—eyes as red as the blood moon hanging in the sky.
Then, above her head, a namecard rose up.
- ???’s Confidant Shuraia Lv.???
Shuraia.
That was her name.
Right after the namecard appeared, her eyelids slowly lifted.
“Hi?”
A clear voice.
But oddly seductive.
Yeah.
That was lust.
The kind a gumiho gives off to bewitch people.
Su-ho narrowed his eyes and asked.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Shuraia. I’m my master’s most loyal confidant. I was waiting here to test you.”
“Test me?”
“Yeah. You filthy human, you dared to use the System’s power to take Their blood?”
“If you mean ‘Them’....”
Catching the context, Su-ho asked back.
“If you’re calling yourself a confidant and calling them ‘Them,’ you mean the royal vampires? The ones called Royal Vampyr?”
In that moment.
Swhuaaa!
Something sharp brushed past Su-ho’s face.
The sharp thing was some blood-red something Shuraia had fired.
Kang!
It flew past and embedded itself behind him.
He still couldn’t identify it.
It just looked like a blood-red metallic projectile.
But the moment Su-ho saw it, he recognized it at a glance.
'A blood weapon?'
That was the right answer.
If nothing else, it was a weapon he’d used his entire life this time around, so there was no way he wouldn’t recognize it.
Shuraia spoke.
“Don’t you dare mention Them with that filthy mouth.”
“Bullshit.”
An immediate response.
At the same time, Su-ho also summoned his blood sword and gripped it.
[ Blood Armory activates. ]
“Looking at your sorry state, your ‘master’ is probably the final [N O V E L I G H T] boss here, and you’re just the gate of qualification or something.”
“What did you say?”
“If you’re the entry test, then come at me already. Don’t yap uselessly. I’m busy.”
“Haha! For a mere human, you’ve got guts! I’ll turn you into my slave so you can’t die and can’t live.”
In that moment, blood-red mana burst out of Shuraia’s body, and her hair lashed wildly.
At the same time, crimson light shot from her eyes, and something like a massive ultrasonic wave spread out wide toward Su-ho.
[ ???’s Confidant Shuraia uses Abyssal Allure. ]
Allure?
The name itself was Abyssal Allure, and it was clearly written as “allure.”
But the moment he confirmed it, the allure burst out and he couldn’t respond in time.
However.
“.......”
Nothing happened.
Su-ho didn’t just stand still—he actually tilted his head in confusion, and Shuraia’s eyes widened as well, looking slightly flustered.
“Uh......?”
“What did you do?”
“T-This can’t be happening?”
Again, blood-red mana burst out, and her hair lashed.
[ ???’s Confidant Shuraia uses Abyssal Allure. ]
Hwaak!
Abyssal Allure used again.
This time the mana had become thicker, like she’d put more effort into it than before. But.
“......?”
This time too, nothing changed for Su-ho.
“This is ridiculous.”
No specific notification popped up either.
It wasn’t like the Dragon Mind effect activated the way it did under a boss monster’s fear.
So why was there no effect at all?
He wasn’t that curious.
Either way, what mattered was that he was fine.
So this time, Su-ho snapped his fingers.
[ Influence activates. ]
The moment he snapped and Influence activated, Su-ho’s True Mana shot toward Shuraia in an instant.
Feeling Su-ho’s True Mana too late, Shuraia tried to evade, but by then it was already too late.
Hwaaa!
A heart-shaped Influence mark rose in Shuraia’s eyes.
The influence had succeeded.
“Well, I’ll be.”
That works?
All he did was eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, but he never thought it’d go down this easily.
Well, whatever.
When Su-ho crooked his finger at her, Shuraia hurried over to him.
“You called?!”
“Influence is crazy. You said you’ve got a master—are you really allowed to act like this toward me?”
“Of course I am! Why wouldn’t I be?”
This influence effect was insane.
A girl who said she had a master, a girl who was trying to kill him just a moment ago, had even rounded off her tone now.
Good.
Now he could just ask what he wanted to know.
“Yeah, sure. Anyway, where is this? I came because of the trait quest, but what’s at the end of this?”
“This is.......”
In that moment.
PUH-EONG!!
Shuraia’s head exploded.
Thud-thud-
And the extra was Shuraia’s blood and bits splattering all over him in the process.
Thump—
With only her head blown apart, Shuraia’s corpse fell backward and collapsed.
Looking at Shuraia’s corpse, Su-ho let out a sigh.
“Man, security’s really tight.......”
He didn’t know who the master was, but he could tell it was an incredibly meticulous bastard.
Yeah.
It was a one-and-only trait quest location, so it’d be a problem if it got resolved this easily.
'Still, if she’s a confidant, then Shuraia’s master is probably a vampire too, but the moment it looks like a secret might get exposed, he blows his subordinate’s head off. He really is a guy with no blood and no tears.'
Ah, but since he lives sucking blood, I guess he does have blood?
Thinking that, Su-ho shifted his gaze past the plaza to move to the next place.
That was when it happened.
Swaaa!
A blood-red vortex whipped up in front of Su-ho again.
This time, it was a knight.
Like a death knight, made entirely of steel plate from head to toe.
But if there was one difference from the death knights Su-ho knew, it was that the guy’s body was dyed blood-red like the surrounding plaza.
“Man, what a stale design. Is this place all red and nothing else?”
Around then, a namecard rose above his head.
- Blood Knight Seorio Lv.???
The name was Seorio.
Not a death knight, but classified as a blood knight.
Then Seorio, who had descended in front of Su-ho, flashed a single crimson glow from inside his empty helmet and spoke.
“My name is Seorio. I am the sharpest sword of my great lord.”
“Sounds like your affiliation is a kitchen.”
“......From now on, I will test you.”
Damn.
It was a killer joke, but cold Seorio didn’t even pretend to hear it and pulled out his weapon.
Swhuaaa!
When he raised his hand, blood-red energy whipped into his grip, and a blood sword with a similar feeling to Su-ho’s formed.
Seeing that, Su-ho also raised his summoned blood sword and smiled.
“So Blood Armory is the default setting here? Or are there just no other weapons?”
“You’d better be ready.”
Seorio ignored him again.
Man, he’s the type that doesn’t communicate at all, like someone else.
Doesn’t matter.
If you can’t talk, you can just cut him down and kill him.
As soon as those words ended, Seorio rushed at Su-ho.