Vampire Three

As the Vampire continued to charge at him, Rhode quickly controlled the Undead Creatures nearby, directing them towards the Vampire.

The Vampire lunged beside Rhode, who countered with an upward sword slash, clashing against the Vampire's sharp claws.

Taking advantage of the Vampire's attack on him, Rhode commanded the Undead Creatures beside him. The closest Corpse Wolf, under Rhode's control, leaped forward, preparing to bite the Vampire not far away.

The Vampire's form flickered, its claws slashing rapidly through the air, and the Corpse Wolf's already tattered body was torn in two. Blood splattered onto the Vampire's face, not slowing its charge but instead seeming to stimulate it, making it more excited.

The other Undead Creatures around them also arrived, beginning to surround the Vampire.

Previously, in the Crypt, Rhode had only seen the Vampire in its Bat Form, lacking a clear understanding of its true strength. Now, under the bright light outside the Crypt, Rhode finally got a clear look at the Vampire's appearance.

The Vampire's physique was no different from a normal person's. Its original long robes were in tatters from the erosion of time and the scorching of flames, barely covering its body.

There were traces of burns on its body, especially on its feet, where there was almost no intact skin. However, due to its powerful Constitution, even with injuries, its mobility was not affected.

Rhode focused his observation on the Vampire's hands and face. The blood-stained claws and the teeth bared outside its mouth were undoubtedly its strongest weapons.

During his brief observation, Rhode identified the type of Vampire before him based on its characteristics.

Vampires were divided into two types. One was the traditional Vampire, hidden within human city-states. Even at only second tier, they possessed human appearances and behaved like ordinary people. They enjoyed drinking human blood, which they could use to increase their tier and rank.

Using their advantage of having the same appearance as humans, they would secretly establish influence within human city-states. However, they generally could not hide from the thieves' guilds within the city. Once discovered, they were often expelled or even put on trial as heretics.

The other type of Vampire was like the one before Rhode. Although its size was the same as a human's, it possessed razor-sharp claws, ideal for directly tearing and devouring prey, and teeth that made it easy to distinguish.

They also craved human blood, but unlike the former type, these Vampires did not obtain it secretly. Instead, they directly hunted humans as prey before devouring their flesh and blood.

For this reason, this type of Vampire was hunted by all human-like creatures, eventually forcing them to flee back to their place of origin. Rhode knew this location was within Dya, and this type of Vampire had a close connection with Necromancers.

It was said that these two types of Vampires shared a common ancestor, but there were also wars within each type of Vampire.

In the instant Rhode was observing, the Vampire had already engaged in a fierce battle with the surrounding Undead Creatures.

A Ghoul lunged at the Vampire, which retaliated with a claw swipe. Its arm blurred with speed, preempting the Ghoul's attack by gripping its neck. Its claws dug deep into the flesh, then it yanked backward, tearing off a large chunk of flesh.

Half of the Ghoul's neck vanished instantly. The massive damage extinguished the Ghoul's Soul Fire, and it fell to the ground.

The Vampire did not stop after killing the Ghoul, continuing its attack on a Corpse Wolf on the ground. The Corpse Wolf, unable to dodge, suffered a deep gash across its front. The Vampire struck again, its claws piercing the Corpse Wolf's neck, tearing off another large chunk of flesh.

At this point, the surrounding Undead Creatures had all closed in, attacking the Vampire. Even though the Vampire could easily kill the Undead Creatures, it was temporarily trapped in the middle. Rhode also seized the opportunity while the Vampire was attacking to thrust his sword from its flank.

The Vampire seemed to have anticipated this. Before the Undead Creatures could attack, a large mass of black mist erupted from within their ranks.

A swarm of bats surged from the black mist, pouncing on the nearest Ghouls and Corpse Wolves. Due to the close proximity, the surrounding Undead Creatures were completely unable to dodge. The bats began to frenziedly tear at the bodies of the Undead Creatures.

The moment Rhode drew his sword, he sensed something was wrong. Before Rhode could command the Undead Creatures to retreat, the Vampire transformed into bats and swarmed the surrounding Undead Creatures. Furthermore, many bats were flying towards Rhode.

Rhode thrust his sword. The bats attempted to dodge, but Rhode's blade seemed to lock onto them in the air. No matter which direction they flew, Rhode could adjust his sword with minute precision, keeping the tip aimed directly at the bats before him.

A bat was pierced by the sword, instantly dissipating into a cloud of black mist.

Rhode chose to use thrusts to deal with the flying bats. His sword thrust out repeatedly, turning into a blur of motion in his hands, and black mist exploded in the air one after another.

Even though the bats had previously displayed strong evasion abilities, able to dodge frontal attacks by flying, they seemed to lose this ability against Rhode, who possessed Expert Swordsmanship. They could only be pierced one by one by Rhode, turning into black mist.

Quickly clearing the bats flying towards him, without any pause, Rhode felt the Mental Marks weakening and immediately went to support the fallen Undead Creatures, stabbing his sword into the bats clinging to them.

Just as Rhode knocked down some bats, the remaining ones retreated, completely ignoring the rest of the Undead Creatures.

Looking at the blood-stained Undead Creatures beside him, Rhode knew the losses were heavy this time.

Unlike Rhode, the Undead Creatures themselves had difficulty dealing with the bats, relying entirely on Rhode's support.

The bats embedded their claws into the Ghouls' bodies, hanging on and tearing with their teeth. Without Rhode's help, it would be difficult for the Ghouls to tear the bats off themselves. If they tried to pull them off forcefully, the bats' claws would tear away large chunks of flesh.

Many Ghouls were missing several fingers, a result of the bats biting their hands during the struggle to pull them off. Almost all the Ghouls had bloody hands.

The Corpse Wolves were in an even worse state. With their naturally lower Constitution, once a bat latched onto them, they could only roll on the ground to make the bats release their grip. However, the bats' claws seemed to have special barbs; once they latched onto a prey, they were almost impossible to dislodge.

The only Undead Creature that seemed relatively unharmed was the Corpse Wolf King. Transformed into an Undead Creature, the Corpse Wolf King displayed its powerful physical prowess. In the previous battle, Rhode had seen it leap multiple times, accurately biting flying bats in mid-air.

The bats gathered not far away, and as the black mist surged, the Vampire's figure reappeared.

Looking at the Vampire's form, Rhode deeply understood that the surrounding Undead Creatures could only serve as a distraction, used to slightly impede the powerful Vampire. The one truly fighting on the front lines was himself.