Chapter 270: Humans vs Vampires (1)

Thalion ducked beneath a sweeping claw, pivoting low before driving a sharp kick into the shin of the infuriatingly powerful vampiress pursuing him through the chaos. The chamber around them erupted with constant detonations—echoing booms of magic, the metallic clash of weapons, and the anguished cries of both human and vampire. Flames danced along the cracked stone walls, casting long, frantic shadows in a war-torn blaze. His forces had finally breached the chamber fully, evening the odds. But Thalion had no time to savor the tide turning—not with death snapping at his heels.

She was relentless. Her aura surged with a primal, intoxicating power that mirrored his own Heart of the Sanguine Archon. At first, the battle had been manageable. She hadn’t yet understood the depth of her Sanguine Thorn’s power, and Thalion had been able to dance around her, using his Crimson Virethorn to stall her advances. But blood—blood was a volatile element for both of them. Each attempt to unleash their blood-based skills spiraled out of control, the energies clashing violently and canceling each other out.

That suited her just fine. She abandoned magic for melee, where she clearly held the upper hand. Her claws were like obsidian blades—fast, deadly, and unnervingly precise—and her thorned vines lashed like serpents. Thalion found himself purely on the defensive, surviving rather than retaliating. He couldn’t pressure her with Crimson Virethorn, not with how she deflected it effortlessly, and most of his blood spells were now useless in this clash of equals. His only option remained his sword—but even that demanded distance, and she gave him none.

Every time he tried to create space, her vines coiled around him or swept toward his legs. The sheer speed of her assault bordered on the absurd, and Thalion silently cursed that such power existed unchecked. His fireball skill was too slow, too weak—mere embers against the storm. And despite landing several slashes—some deep enough to cut through flesh—she never faltered, never cried out, not even a twitch of pain. Her regeneration was instantaneous, unnerving, and absolute.

Still, there was one weapon he had left: his bloodline.

Crimson flames licked around him, leaving trails of light as he wove through the inferno. The middle of the chamber was an ocean of fire, and while the flames seemed to do little to her directly, they fueled his strength. She pressed him harder, and parts of his armor were torn away by her claws, each hit sending shards of metal flying. But Thalion didn’t counter—he evaded, luring her deeper into the burning maelstrom, weaving through collapsing barricades and the confused ranks of other vampires.

This tactic wasn’t without cost. Several vampires managed to land blows on him as he passed, but thanks to his title, he bent away from danger with preternatural grace. Blades scraped off his armor, cutting into the plating but failing to pierce flesh. Pain barely registered anymore—back on Earth, perhaps, he might have winced. But now, after so many battles, so many ascensions, this level of suffering was background noise.

His armor mended itself. Wounds knit together seconds after they opened. His regeneration and resistance—enhanced by Sanguine Ascendance, a passive he’d only recently acquired—kept him alive in the center of a fight he could not afford to lose.

Over time, he began to read her better. The vampiress wasn’t unskilled—but she relied too heavily on brute force. Her attacks lacked finesse. No feints, no layered deception—just overwhelming speed and strength. Thalion, in contrast, had trained in the Golden Palace for nearly a year under master tacticians and battle mages. She might have lived for centuries, but she hadn’t grown under the System’s pressure. She hadn’t been forged in combat against enemies of equal might.

If only he had a weapon that could truly harm her—something beyond his blade. He knew, if he had just one tool strong enough to wound her past her regeneration, he could turn the tide.

But as it stood, Thalion remained on the run—dodging, slipping, weaving through fire and blood. Every so often, he’d land a shallow cut or a quick kick to destabilize her stance. And then he’d be off again, chased by a fury wrapped in claws and thorns.

The only ability Thalion had not yet unleashed was his bloodline skill. With it, he could either replicate one of his existing techniques or forge a weapon capable of delivering a singular, devastating blow—powerful enough to kill nearly anything at his grade. But against the vampiress, even that seemed uncertain. At best, it might wound her. She was simply too fast, too powerful, and too calculating to fall to a single attack, no matter how overwhelming.

She was no reckless brute. Her movements were deliberate, her strikes measured. She was constantly testing him, adjusting, seeking weakness. While Thalion was caught in this intense duel, the rest of the chamber had erupted into chaos. His allies had all entered the battle now, clashing violently with the enemy forces. Explosions echoed through the stone hall, mixing with screams and the clang of steel. Yet none dared enter the inferno where he and the vampiress fought—an area scorched in crimson fire, lethal to anyone caught too close.

From the heart of that chaos, flares of unstable energy erupted outward. Crimson flames, born from Thalion’s presence, ignited spontaneously in midair. They reacted violently to blood, flaring brighter upon contact. Vampiric spells that passed through the flames were weakened, their strength devoured by the fire. The vampiress struggled little with it, but other vampires found themselves scorched or denied their magic.

Kargul was the next to charge into the chamber, but he didn’t go straight for the red orc. He had to carve a path through the vampire ranks to allow the other human fighters in. With a deafening roar, he slammed into the enemy lines, drawing attention away from the rear. Those too slow to move were reduced to broken bodies beneath his strikes.

Thalion’s duel with the elite undead had created enough distraction for Kargul to focus on the lesser vampires. Before the arrival of the System, vampires had outclassed orcs and humans in every measurable way. But now, Kargul’s power eclipsed most of them. Many vampires still believed themselves superior, unaware that their speed and strength were no longer unmatched. They tried to bar his path with confidence—and died for their arrogance.

Kargul wasn’t the only one tearing through them. Josh, in his grasshopper form, fought nearby. His chitin-covered body resisted blood magic, and his class made him a natural vampire killer. He was faster, stronger, and his claws tore through undead flesh with terrifying ease. The only real weakness in this form was his vision. The compound eyes gave him an expansive field of view but no protection against mental attacks that targeted sight. He had no eyelids to close, no way to turn away.

But Josh had learned from the past. After being knocked out—and kissed—by the witch, he had fortified his mind. Now, mental attacks had to pass through reinforced barriers before taking effect. His fighting style was raw and brutal, not unlike the vampiress Thalion faced. He didn't finesse his way through enemies. He demolished them. One strike was enough to kill. He wasted no time, no motion, and left only broken bodies in his wake.

Jack, on the other hand, fought with precision and restraint. His squid form was far too vulnerable in a battlefield like this—too slow, too large, an easy target for blood spears. So he remained in human form, blinking across the battlefield with short-range teleports, using his telekinetic blasts to obliterate targets. He focused on backline enemies—the vampire mages. His rhythm was always the same: teleport in, kill, teleport out. But the second jump was shorter, and it left him vulnerable. That’s why Jack stayed near Kargul and the human lines, always aware of the blood witch who had nearly ended him before.

Evelyn remained at the rear, calm and focused. Her role was support—casting protective barriers, mending wounds, and deflecting ranged attacks. Each of her spells shimmered like glass shields, absorbing the force of blood magic and saving lives. Jakob fought like Kargul, carving a brutal path through the undead, though he used no weapon—his bare hands were enough. Annie stayed at his side, methodically slaying vampires with sharpened icicles and water blades.

With reinforcements entering the chamber and the elite undead no longer hunting Thalion, the battlefield balanced. The two armies turned their fury on each other, the air thick with blood, flame, and the stench of death.

A bellow thundered across the battlefield. “Yes! Finally! Vorlok, get over here—it’s time for our rematch!”

Kargul’s aura exploded outward as he activated his boosting skill. His muscles bulged beneath his shirt, and the air around him vibrated like a struck drumhead. On the far end of the hall, the red orc answered in silence. A sinister red glow lit him from within. Mist poured from his mouth and nostrils, rising like smoke from a smoldering forge. At his side, the wyvern landed hard, claws gouging stone, eyes glowing with murderous light.

Red mist steamed from its scales. Then, the final piece of the confrontation arrived.

As soon as the business with Kael had been concluded, Kargul had sent a runner to get Vorlok. It wouldn’t have been right to deny the turtle it's revenge against the wyvern. The massive creature lumbered to Kargul’s side, eyes glowing faintly, jaws snapping with heavy metallic clangs—like a gate slamming shut.

The two forces moved forward, slow at first, their power radiating in waves. And then, in the next heartbeat, they collided.

All sound vanished in that instant, drowned out by the deafening force of their charge.





<author note>

Thats it for this week.
We are getting really close to the end of the first special quest arent we?
Next week we will see who will walk out as viktorious.
Can the undead revive Ankhet or will the pillar be destroyed in time?
And what will the elfs do after the fight in the catacomb is concluded?
So many ways this story could turn to.

I have just finished writting the outcome so who guesses it right first will be allowed to see the cover of my new story before all other. Maybe i also throw the cover we get from aethon also in the mix.

Cheers see you next week

<author note>