The Vampire (4)

Rhode stared at the vampire in the distance. As he watched it, he seemed to notice something.

The vampire had only just reformed when it immediately charged toward Rhode. Since the surrounding Undead Creatures were all wounded, Rhode didn't have them surround the vampire. Instead, he faced it himself.

The two figures clashed, their swords and claws repeatedly colliding with the ring of metal on metal. For a time, Rhode held his own against the vampire with his Expert Swordsmanship and impressive attributes.

As the battle went on and he experienced it firsthand, Rhode gained a better understanding of the vampire's attributes.

Among third-tier creatures, vampires had well-rounded attributes. They had no obvious weaknesses in strength, speed, or constitution. Combined with their Bat Form and the traits of an Undead Creature, they were better suited to survival and fighting large groups of weaker enemies. As a result, Rhode couldn't defeat this one quickly through technique alone.

For Rhode, opponents who specialized in a particular attribute were still the hardest to deal with. Against an enemy with balanced attributes like this vampire, as long as none of its attributes reached the elite level, Rhode could rely on his Expert Swordsmanship.

Though his basic attributes were inferior, Rhode's Expert Swordsmanship made up for that shortfall with technique.

Rhode had also learned something about the damage the vampire could inflict by observing the wounds on the Undead Creatures. He was certain that if the vampire got its claws around his neck, it could kill him instantly, too.

Rhode's approach to fighting the vampire focused on counterattacks and controlling the distance. He parried its claws with his blade and dodged nimbly, preventing it from landing a hit.

At this point, the effects of Expert Swordsmanship were on full display. The vampire couldn't get close to Rhode through technique alone. Instead, Rhode had opened several wounds on its body.

But Rhode didn't look relaxed, as he might have if he'd gained the upper hand. Instead, his expression grew even more serious.

The vampire's combat experience couldn't match Rhode's Expert Swordsmanship, but it surpassed that of every enemy Rhode had faced so far.

Whenever Rhode tried to attack the vampire's weak points, it either dodged or relied on its powerful constitution to charge straight at him.

Rhode naturally wasn't about to trade injuries with the vampire, so he had to abandon his attack.

At the same time, Rhode realized that with this approach, every attack of his could only leave shallow wounds on the vampire. Given its high constitution, those shallow wounds had almost no effect. Instead, they only made it more ferocious.

The surrounding Undead Creatures weren't idle, either. Under Rhode's control, whenever the vampire tried to take one of his attacks head-on and charge at him, the Undead Creatures nearby immediately rushed in.

The Walking Corpses blocked attacks at Rhode's side, while the Corpse Wolves took the opportunity to harass the vampire with their own attacks.

However, this also meant that Rhode had fewer and fewer Undead Creatures under his control. Neither the Walking Corpses nor the Corpse Wolves could withstand a full-strength swipe from the vampire.

Watching the Undead Creatures around him die one by one, Rhode grew anxious. But he knew he still had to wait for an opportunity to deal with the vampire...

The vampire should have needed only two uses of Bat Form to wipe out all the Undead Creatures nearby, after which it could have attacked Rhode directly. But it had already used Bat Form too many times in the tomb, and the limit on how often it could use the ability meant it had to rely on its basic attributes to fight.

Gradually, more and more wounds appeared on the vampire, but they were clearly all minor. The traits of Undead Creatures meant that these wounds wouldn't weaken it in battle. Rhode hadn't struck the vampire's true weak point even once.

The vampire swiped at Rhode. He raised his blade, trying to block the attack. To his surprise, the vampire changed its claw into an open palm and grabbed the blade without caring about the damage it might cause. At the same time, it swung its other claw at Rhode.

By then, apart from the Corpse Wolf King, which had survived one of the vampire's attacks despite being gravely wounded, few Undead Creatures remained.

The vampire had noticed this. With no nearby Undead Creatures to interfere, it seized the chance to land a devastating blow on Rhode.

Its extensive combat experience had taught the vampire that although a human's Flesh and Blood might be more skilled than its own, it could never surpass it in constitution. If it could badly wound the human in front of it this way, it could kill him afterward.

Here it comes...

Rhode's eyes narrowed. He clearly understood what the vampire was planning, but this was also the opportunity he had been waiting for.

Aside from summoning the Corpse Wolves at the start and lighting a torch later, Rhode hadn't used any more mana. He had enough mana left to cast only two spells.

Rhode hadn't chosen a spell that affected his attributes. Even if magic temporarily increased his basic attributes, he couldn't kill the vampire before the effect wore off. Besides, the vampire could still use Bat Form. Rhode didn't believe it had exhausted all its uses.

Rhode chose Magic Arrow, a spell that could turn the tide of battle. From their previous exchanges, he knew that even if Magic Arrow hit the vampire, it would cause only minor damage unless it struck a weak point.

So Rhode needed to find the perfect moment to use Magic Arrow.

With the vampire gripping his weapon and swinging its claw at him, Rhode didn't dodge. Instead, he raised his free hand toward the vampire.

A flash of light rapidly took shape in Rhode's hand. The vampire was attacking and had left its body completely unguarded. The light shot toward it.

Magic Arrow!

Vampires had few weak points. Even a high-tier vampire could keep fighting for a while after being decapitated.

But a third-tier vampire clearly didn't have that ability. Its head was one of its most vital parts.

So, with the vampire's entire body exposed, Rhode aimed his Magic Arrow at the spot that would cause the most damage: its head.

The vampire's claw closed around Rhode's neck. Its sharp talons had just pierced his skin, and it was about to tear out his Flesh and Blood when Rhode's Magic Arrow slammed into its head!

At such close range, the spell pierced straight through the vampire's skull, and a cloud of blood burst before Rhode's eyes. The fatal blow drained the strength from the vampire's hand around his neck.

The vampire's tenacious vitality kept it alive, even with its skull pierced through.

Rhode pressed his advantage and was about to thrust his sword when the vampire's body split apart, and a huge cloud of Black Mist burst out in front of him...