Seeing the vampire use Bat Form right in front of him, Rhode rolled backward to avoid being swarmed by bats.
Once the roll was complete, Rhode sprang to his feet, ready to fend off the bats swooping toward him.
But to Rhode's surprise, not one of the bats transformed by the vampire's Bat Form flew at him. Instead, they scattered in every direction, diving toward the corpses of the fallen Undead Creatures.
The bats descended on the corpses and began greedily devouring their flesh and blood. Even the Corpse Wolf King couldn't escape this time. Bats swarmed all over it, forcing it to collapse to the ground.
The instant he saw what was happening, Rhode realized what the vampire was trying to do.
Rhode remembered that vampires could restore their health by drinking blood. This particular vampire could go even further, restoring its health by devouring flesh and blood.
The dead Undead Creatures from the earlier battle were strewn across the ground, giving the vampire a perfect opportunity.
All around him, bats feasted on the corpses of the Undead Creatures.
Rhode rushed to the nearest corpse with his sword and knocked the bats off one by one. But they paid him no heed, focused entirely on devouring the bodies.
Even when they turned into Black Mist, the bats didn't stop feeding.
Rhode had no time to worry about anything else. He swung his sword as fast as he could, stabbing the bats on the corpses in the hope of reducing the vampire's recovery.
At last, after a flurry of strikes, Rhode had killed enough bats. At once, every bat left the corpse it had been feeding on and converged on a spot not far away.
As soon as the bats took off, Rhode followed close behind.
Based on what he knew about vampires from his previous life, Rhode understood that Bat Form came with many limitations. The specifics varied slightly from one individual to another. Since this vampire could use Bat Form repeatedly, it was bound to have limitations in some other regard.
The reason Rhode followed the departing bats was that his observations of the vampire's Bat Form had revealed a weakness.
Earlier, as the bats gathered, Rhode had noticed a detail: when they reformed into the vampire, it was immobilized for a brief moment.
That was why, whenever the vampire finished using Bat Form, it made a point of reforming some distance away instead of appearing right in front of Rhode.
The bats gathered in one spot, and a cloud of Black Mist billowed out as the vampire began to reappear. Rhode followed the bats right up to the mist, staring intently into it.
The vampire had only just reformed when Rhode struck. Before it could make a move, his sword pierced straight through its throat.
Taking advantage of the moment when it couldn't move, Rhode attacked.
After devouring so much flesh and blood, and recovering its wounds through Bat Form, the vampire's head—previously pierced by Magic Arrow—had healed.
Its appearance had recovered, but it had lost a great deal of vitality and was now extremely weak. Rhode's sword then pierced its throat, dealing another devastating blow.
Rhode wasn't about to give the vampire a chance. He raised his hand toward its head, preparing to cast Magic Arrow again.
The instant it saw Rhode raise his hand, the vampire realized what he intended to do.
The vampire reacted immediately. Just as Rhode was about to cast, it charged forward and swung a claw at him, unconcerned that the sword had pierced its throat, its blade jutting out the back of its neck and smeared with dark red blood.
Seeing the vampire rush toward him despite the blade through its throat, Rhode instantly understood. He let go of his sword and dodged backward, evading the vampire's attack.
To avoid the vampire's lunge, Rhode had to forgo casting Magic Arrow. Unlike before, if he insisted on casting it now, the vampire would slash his throat first.
After dodging the attack, Rhode had no other weapon in hand.
Earlier, when he had moved blocks of wood to seal the tomb passage, Rhode had taken everything out of his Space Ring and left it in an open area outside the tomb, not far from here. His Space Ring now held no weapons either.
The sword had pierced straight through the vampire's throat. The blade was lodged in its neck; a pull in any direction would be enough to behead it.
The vampire stopped and gripped the hilt with both hands, trying to pull the blade from its neck. Rhode didn't go off to fetch a weapon. He stayed where he was and raised a hand toward the vampire.
Realizing his enemy might cast another spell, the vampire moved at once, refusing to wait for Rhode's Magic Arrow. It held the blade in its throat in place with both claws and dodged rapidly from side to side.
The vampire couldn't move and pull out the sword at the same time. If it drew the blade while dodging, it would effectively be beheading itself—and die on the spot.
Rhode wasn't in a hurry. He kept his hand raised without casting a spell, simply keeping the vampire in his sights as it dodged.
Rhode knew that keeping his hand raised without casting Magic Arrow was more intimidating than casting it.
The vampire was clearly gravely wounded. The fact that it hadn't used Bat Form meant it had run out of uses. One more use would have healed most of the wound in its throat. The preparations Rhode had made in the passage had finally paid off.
The vampire didn't know how many times Rhode could cast Magic Arrow, but Rhode knew he had enough mana for only one more—and couldn't afford to waste it.
So Rhode simply kept his hand raised, putting the vampire under immense pressure. It didn't dare stop to pull the sword from its neck and could only keep dodging.
The vampire also understood that its enemy wouldn't cast the spell so easily. He was waiting for it to stop and pull out the blade, then strike at that moment.
The vampire tried to retreat, but Rhode immediately followed, still holding the pose of someone about to cast. Wherever the vampire moved, Rhode moved with it.
The vampire had no options left. Rhode held the initiative. As long as he didn't cast Magic Arrow, the vampire would have to remain on guard, unable to stop and pull out the sword.
If it stopped to pull out the blade, it would have no Bat Form to evade the damage. The vampire knew that another hit from Magic Arrow would be fatal.
Dark red blood flowed down from the vampire's throat. It tried to keep the blade steady as it dodged, but the sword was heavy, and each movement made it difficult to control. The blade continued to widen the wound in its throat,
The ground where the vampire dodged was stained red. It had suffered a devastating injury, and its health was critically low.
As the vampire dodged, a shadow suddenly darted out from the side and sank its teeth into the vampire's foot. It was the Corpse Wolf King.
The Corpse Wolf King had been gravely wounded when the vampire used Bat Form, but its greater vitality than that of the other Undead Creatures had kept it alive.
Its health was so low that it couldn't withstand even one hit from the vampire. Rhode had therefore ordered it to lie in wait nearby, holding back until the crucial moment.
Now, under Rhode's control, the Corpse Wolf King clamped its jaws around the vampire's leg.
Once attacked, the vampire couldn't keep dodging. It held the blade in its throat steady with one hand, then brought the other down in a swift strike,
Even with its grave wounds, the vampire displayed its strength. A single blow was enough to kill the Corpse Wolf King.
Though it had killed the Corpse Wolf King, the vampire knew that its enemy—who had been waiting for an opening—would cast a spell while it was distracted by the Undead Creature at its feet. And now it could no longer dodge.
But the spell the vampire expected never came. For a moment, it didn't pull the blade from its throat. Instead, it quickly looked up at the enemy before it.
Rhode stared at the vampire without expression and cast Mental Mark.
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