Vampire II

When the Iron Armor Ghouls in the tomb chamber were being torn apart by bats, Rhode had already entered the hall behind them. He began controlling the Ghouls stationed there to ignite the second barrier.

This hall was where Rhode first woke up. As the hall was spacious, it was impossible to ignite the entire floor. Rhode's focus remained on the rear, near the Crypt passage.

At this moment, the entire rear was a sea of flames. The passage was blocked by the ignited barrier, and in front of the barrier stood an Iron Armor Ghoul, holding its shield and facing the Vampire charging through the sea of flames...

"Cough, cough..."

Waking up in the Crypt, killing Undead Creatures all the way out, then luring Wolf Packs, and returning to the Crypt to fight. Rhode was very familiar with all the passages within the Crypt.

Therefore, Rhode selected several locations most suitable for creating flame barriers. One was at the entrance of the tomb chamber where the coffin was located. Another was at the junction of the hall displaying corpses and the Crypt passage. One was at a narrow section of the Crypt passage. The last was at the Crypt exit.

According to Rhode's original plan, he would be in front of the Vampire. Every time the Vampire passed a barrier, he would have the Ghouls at the next barrier ignite it.

However, the burning wood filled the entire Crypt with thick smoke. The smoke made it difficult for Rhode to observe his surroundings and caused him to cough violently, making him extremely uncomfortable.

Unlike Undead Creatures, the smoke produced by burning wood might not have much effect on them, but for Rhode, with a human body, such smoke was deadly.

Rhode had to change his plan. While the Vampire was blocked by the second barrier, he retreated rapidly towards the outside of the Crypt, igniting the barriers set up by the Ghouls during his retreat.

Exiting the entire Crypt passage, Rhode stood on the ground. Wolf Packs were waiting around him. Looking at the thick smoke rising from the exit, Rhode recalled the situation he first saw inside the Crypt.

Originally, Rhode was not surprised that the barrier was broken. He knew from the start that it was impossible to trap the Vampire in the tomb chamber with a single barrier, so he had set up multiple barriers. What surprised Rhode was the speed at which the Vampire broke through the barriers.

When he first set up these barriers, Rhode could not determine the type of Undead Creature sleeping in the coffin. He had several guesses about which Undead Creature was slumbering there.

The first thing Rhode thought of was a third-tier Wraith. In Dya, most tombs contained slumbering Wraiths. Necromancers could borrow the power of Wraiths to transform Undead Creatures and simultaneously accelerate the Wraiths' advancement, a mutually beneficial relationship.

Besides Wraiths, the other possibilities were much smaller, only Warlocks and Vampires. Among these Undead Creatures, if their tier exceeded the third tier, Mental Marks could not directly control them.

Regardless of which Undead Creature was in the coffin, Rhode believed that with the barriers he had set up, and the Ghouls sacrificing their lives to hold it back, it would hold out for a while, and the flames would injure it.

However, because the Vampire was slumbering in the Crypt, and Vampires focused on survival, its Bat Form skill greatly reduced the effectiveness of the barriers. With this skill, the Vampire only needed to deal with the Iron Armor Ghoul in front of it to quickly bypass the barrier.

If it were a creature like a Wraith instead of a Vampire, it would not have passed the barrier so easily.

The barriers Rhode set up clearly did not cause much damage to the Vampire. The flames did not have the effect Rhode had imagined, only causing the Vampire to use Bat Form a few more times.

However, even if it made the Vampire use Bat Form a few more times, the purpose of Rhode's arrangements had been achieved. With the Vampire using Bat Form more often, Rhode's confidence in defeating it increased.

From the beginning, Rhode did not intend to use these arrangements to kill the Undead Creature slumbering in the tomb chamber. He only wanted to weaken its strength as much as possible. Third-tier Undead Creatures were not that easy to kill.

Even Wraiths, while not having the formidable survival ability of Vampires, could force their way out through sheer physical prowess and their undead nature. For Rhode, the real battle was on the surface.

Rhode's arrangements were only to give himself a significant advantage in the upcoming battle. Directly opening the coffin to fight was undoubtedly the most foolish course of action.

Everyone knew to gain an advantage before a battle, whether by setting traps, poisoning weapons, ambushing, or by other means. Any action, even if it only provided a slight advantage, could tip the scales of victory in one's favor, and was better than facing the enemy head-on.

"How many more times... can you use Bat Form?"

Feeling the dissipation of the Ghoul's mark before the third barrier, Rhode whispered.

Rhode understood Vampires relatively well due to his combat experience from his past life. The Bat Form skill of a third-tier Vampire consumed life force and had a usage limit. Only upon reaching the fourth tier would the limit on Bat Form disappear.

In the game, the third and fourth tiers were a watershed. Reaching the fourth tier brought about a fundamental change for both Practitioners and other creatures. Stepping into the fourth tier would immediately multiply combat abilities several times over. Only after reaching the fourth tier could Mages shed the prefix "apprentice" and become formal Mages.

Similarly, for creatures like Vampires, reaching the fourth tier not only significantly increased their basic physical attributes but also enhanced all their skills. Bat Form would no longer have a usage limit, and they would awaken other skills.

Rhode had always feared the advancement of the Undead Creature in the depths of the Crypt, precisely for this reason. Based on Rhode's observation, the current Vampire was only third-tier and had not successfully advanced.

The Vampire could have advanced peacefully, accumulating energy by slumbering in the Crypt, to advance from a third-tier creature to a fourth-tier creature.

This was why the Vampire appeared so enraged when its advancement was interrupted. When advancement was interrupted in this manner, it was a complete loss of effort.

Because of this, the Vampire, after its advancement was interrupted, would not hesitate to cross the flame-filled passage to hunt Rhode.

Recognizing this, Rhode set up what he considered the best barrier at the exit. The effort he put in even surpassed his initial arrangements in the main tomb chamber.

Rhode ignited the barrier at the passage entrance, and the surrounding Ghouls swarmed around. Rhode intended to heavily injure the Vampire once it arrived.

After the Vampire broke through the third barrier, Rhode focused all his attention on the passage exit, intently awaiting the enemy's arrival.

Thick smoke continued to drift out of the Crypt.

After waiting for a while, Rhode began to feel puzzled. Given the Vampire's speed, it should have arrived by now. The Ghouls guarding the passage had not sent him any unusual alerts. Rhode couldn't help but become more vigilant.

Suddenly, a strong premonition alarm sounded directly in front of Rhode. Without thinking, he turned his body and rolled to the side.

A black shadow erupted from the ground away from the Crypt exit and charged towards Rhode's position at extreme speed, slashing out with its claws.

Even though Rhode dodged immediately, his arm was still injured. The sharp claws tore a piece of flesh from Rhode's arm. This black shadow was none other than the Vampire.

For some reason, the Vampire had anticipated Rhode's preparations and turned the tables, using Rhode's waiting opportunity to launch a surprise attack on him!