Tales of the Endless Empire
Chapter 176: To Bait Vampires is Fun

"Why don’t you try to stop this mighty attack?" Thalion shouted as he hurled the bloodspear at the vampire.

For a moment, the creature’s eyes gleamed with something close to delight, as if it had just struck gold. Again, it seized control of the blood, drinking deeply, reveling in the feast.

"Impossible! But you’ll have no chance against my sword. My patron himself placed it in the system shop so I could buy it, and it has never known defeat!"

Thalion declared, charging forward with his sword raised high. The vampire only laughed, its fingernails elongating into razor-sharp claws as it sprinted toward him. They clashed in the center.

Thalion brought the Sword of the Blooded Templar down toward the vampire’s head in a brutal arc. At the same time, the vampire’s claws slashed toward his chest. But before the blade could cleave through its skull, the vampire twisted unnaturally, its body moving as if guided by the blood itself.

It slipped past the sword’s path effortlessly, its slash continuing uninterrupted. However Thalion had anticipated the maneuver. His boot slammed into the vampire’s chest, sending it flying backward. He considered making some cocky remark about his strength but no. Best to keep quiet for now.

The real issue was that the vampire only engaged in melee combat and Thalion didn't want to show off just how resilient his armor truly was. He could stop reinforcing its durability runes, but he didn’t want the creature ripping off chunks either.

Sure, the armor could self-repair, but there was no point in making it work overtime. A few times, he tried to bait the vampire even more by throwing blood at it, only for the creature to snatch it midair and greedily swallow it down.

So, he tried something else. Thalion released a faint trace of his aura, careful not to trigger the fear effect of his armor, and bellowed something about how he was going to crush the foul creature’s skull.

It worked. The vampire darted back, narrowly dodging one of his swings. All he needed was a plausible excuse to leave the battle early. Now, he fought harder. Striking with more force, moving quicker with swings that were mostly meant to create an opening.

One single strike would drain the enemy’s resource pool. Thankfully, he hadn’t landed a single clean hit yet or it might have exposed the true power of his sword. Right now, the vampire was toying with him. Not trying to kill him too quickly.

Thalion had no doubt it could move much faster. It also likely had devastating abilities it hadn’t revealed yet. That thought didn’t worry him. It just annoyed him. He wanted more information about vampires.

Then, after he struck the vampire in the face with his armored fist for the third time, something changed. The playful amusement in its expression vanished.

Its glowing red eyes locked onto his. A surge of raw, unnatural power slammed into Thalion’s soul. A direct mental attack. For a brief moment, his vision blurred. Had his soul body not been protected by its hardened outer shell, the damage would have been severe.

Damn, I want those eyes. Was his first thought after fully recovering and pushing the vampires influence out of his soulbody. Thalion staggered slightly, feigning difficulty standing. If that mental attack had actually landed, he would’ve been screwed.

His soul body would’ve been shattered. Those eyes were dangerous. No illusion trap like a Sharingan, but getting mentally hit by a truck wasn’t a bad alternative. Could he take them? Could he just rip out his own eyes and replace them with the vampire’s?

The creature was undead... or was it? Its blood definitely had some traces of life in it. Not like those blood-cursed beasts shrouded in red mist. Maybe it would work. First, he needed to get out of here. He had baited the vampire for long enough and it was time for the grand exit.

A jetstream of fire erupted from Thalion’s hands, blasting toward the vampire. At the same time, he unleashed a Mana Wave, a contingency attack he had prepared in case the incredibly fast, agile creature managed to evade the flames.

The impact flung the vampire backward. Thalion instantly activated Telekinetic Dash, propelling himself forward in a blur. Mistform would have been faster, but using it might give away too much of his true strength.

Better to have some fun with a good old-fashioned chase. A furious scream erupted behind him as the vampire gave chase. Good that guy was defnetly on the hook and the more enraged it was, the less rational it would be.

Thalion weaved between the trees with practiced ease, his movement skill allowing him to slip through the dense jungle faster than the vampire could close the gap. Blood projectiles whizzed past him. Dodging them wasn’t difficult with the trees providing natural cover.

Then, the terrain changed. The jungle thinned out, giving way to tall, open grasslands. With nothing obstructing his path, Thalion surged forward, accelerating even more. The vampire also adapted, moving significantly faster now.

Of course, Thalion wasn’t even using his full speed. Just enough to make sure the vampire couldn’t quite catch up but also didn’t suspect anything. Then a massive fireball exploded behind him, the shockwave throwing the vampire backward.

More attacks rained down, fired from the scout ships above. Thalion skidded to a halt, turning in time to see the vampire weaving between the incoming spells with terrifying agility. The vampire was skilled, Thalion admitted, but that didn’t stop him from making a bit more fun of it.

"Yeah, run as long as you can. You should have known who the superior being was from the start."

The vampire hissed, its face twisting with pure hatred. The air around it vibrated with bloodlust until it was forced to dodge another fireball. It didn’t take long before the creature disappeared into the jungle.

A wide smile spread beneath Thalion’s mask.This was going well. It wouldn’t take long before they could fully test their defenses. The only one who might be upset was the Sanguine Thorn, but Thalion doubted that would last.

He ordered the scout vessels to regroup above the base and prepare for the vampire’s attack. Thalion was confident that it wouldn’t be long now.

"Uh, Thalion, I don’t want to be personal or anything, but why did you run from the vampire? Okay, before you say anything. I know it was insanely powerful, but I felt your aura, and I’m pretty sure you could have killed it," Maike’s confused voice came through the comms.

Thalion smirked.

"Don’t worry about it. Just tell everyone to regroup above the base and the surrounding area. Also, we need to burn the tall grass near the walls," he replied, amused.

"Uh… okay? Just so you know, this doesn’t look great. I’m pretty sure one of those witches’ allies recorded it, and they’ll use it to bless even more people," Maike sent back, now sounding more worried than before.

That was… inconvenient.

Thalion had considered the possibility of being recorded, but having his retreat used against him? That was definitely not good.

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"New plan. Spread the word that I obviously had a strategy and that nothing ever happens without me knowing about it or being able to handle it."

Maike didn’t seem thrilled about the idea, but it was the best solution he had at the moment. Now, he had to defeat the vampires. Otherwise, he might be in real trouble. At least he was confident in doing so. Unless, of course, some secret powerhouse appeared that could rival him.

There was also another problem. He needed to find a way to keep the vampire alive just long enough to take its eyes. He was still curious about how that would work.

If he cut out the vampire’s eyes, would they eventually regenerate? Fingers and arms regrew over time, so why not eyes? If that was the case, he could start a transplant business on New Earth.

Who wouldn’t want vampire eyes capable of launching devastating mental attacks? There had to be a drawback. Either that, or he was missing something. And honestly, the thought of pulling out his own eyes wasn’t exactly appealing.

It would definitely be unbelievably painful as there were no painkillers or something similar. Back at the base, Thalion made his way to the underground chamber. The first step was swallowing another blue crystal as Tidecaller Serpent.

Then, he consumed some plants as Umbral Predator, gaining a total of four vitality. Not bad. After that, it was time for the gravity array. He needed to strengthen Umbral Predator, as it was currently one of his weaker forms.

Once he was finished with the darkness crystal and the elemental, that would change. Thalion had high hopes that it would become his strongest form. But he still had a long way to go.

Even though the Darkness Elemental was feeding on the crystal, it still wasn’t strong enough. All the air elementals were used up, and the only remaining sources of improvement were the large darkness crystals and the environment created by the trees he had planted.

The progress was impressive, but would it be fast enough for him to bond with the elemental in seven days? For now, he focused on training in the gravity array while refining his soul. He doubted the vampires would take long to assemble their forces.

They probably had special teleportation methods too. If they didn’t, he’d be very surprised.

Occasionally, he checked his messages. None of them were good. It seemed that this Jim was gaining influence fast.

And the fact that Thalion had gone straight to his underground chamber? That wasn’t helping either. Most people thought he was hiding. Thalion clenched his fists. Couldn’t they leave him alone for one second?

They were fighting for survival, and instead of focusing on that, the witches and Jim were trying to take him down.

Were they really that idiotic? Who else would fight the Undead Elites, if not him? The base had decent fighters, but no one at the pinnacle, except for him.

Or maybe they felt safe behind their formations and believed they could just empower someone until it didn’t matter how strong or skilled the opponent was? Fine. He would deal with it later.

For now, all his fury was poured into training. He pushed himself to his limits in the gravity array, refining his strength, his abilities, everything. When the special quest was over, heads would roll.

The only problem? The gods. He had no idea when they blessed someone in his camp. Right now, they probably didn’t either. At least Thalion hoped so. But that would change after the tutorial. No matter what happend, Thalion would be ready if it changed.

Not knowing who led the camp didn’t stop them from ordering their blessed to kill him. Okay they probably know who let the camp but shortly after they should forget him. At least that was what the voice had told him. They probably knew that he was not blessed and so not part of the pact which was enough for them.

A class that could absorb blessings would be perfect. At the moment he had plenty of enemies to feed on. But that was probably not an option. Even if it existed, he doubted he’d ever get the chance. No point in dwelling on it. That kind of thinking would only distract him.

There was a war coming.

<--

"How long until all the undead are here?" Sirva yelled at Rika, frustration seething in his voice.

This human had valuable items, yet the bloodsack escape. Not only was the human a terrible fighter, but he was also pathetic at blood magic. There was no better matchup in the entire universe, and he had still failed to kill him.

The human's blood had been powerful—delicious, even. Not as pure as his blood, of course, but impressive for a mortal. And the sword… that was something entirely different. Sirva had never seen a weapon like it.

It radiated power, and he would personally rip it from the human’s dead hands after draining every last drop of his blood. If necessary, he would even follow the human directly into the fifth stage to claim it.

That blade would be his. The portals were set up to speed up the undead’s arrival, but it would still take time for them all to gather. The hundred and two vampires left in the fourth stage were already here.

Some had grown considerably since they last met, their hunger sharpening their strength. All of them were starving for blood. A human base filled with so many mortals… It was almost too good to be true.

If they found humans with particularly exquisite blood, they might even keep them as slaves. It had happened countless times before the system. Back then, the vampire kings and queens had bred slaves to have incomparable blood. Commoners like him and the others here could only dream of such luxuries.

But maybe… that dream would become reality tonight. Almost an entire day had passed since the human had slipped from his grasp. Since then, more and more undead had poured into the jungle. Over sixty thousand undead beasts were already stationed here. More were still arriving.

In just a few hours, when their forces were complete, they would march. They would surround the human base. The mortals, in their fear, had wisely stayed inside their walls, not even daring to hunt. They probably thought they were being smart. It wouldn’t matter.

No matter how many defenses they had, their walls would fall. Sirva had no doubt. They had too many undead. At some point, a wallbreaker would get through. And once that happened?

It would be over. He and the other vampires were busy exterminating the last living beasts in the jungle, making sure they were well-fed for the battle ahead. A full blood reservoir was crucial. It allowed for stronger attacks and kept them alive.

"Sirva, it is time," Rika said, murder gleaming in his crimson eyes.

Sirva understood his comrade’s hunger. He felt the same and gave the command without hesitation. The undead army started to march toward the human base. The higher-ups would be pleased when they reported wiping out a settlement of over fifteen thousand people.

Of course, he wouldn’t mention the sword. If they knew about it, they might decide it was too powerful for him. They could even kill him for it. No, this sword and the human’s screams were his prize. And he would claim both.