Under Du Mu's relentless Deadly Cock Strikes, Frost was in agony!
He struggled to fight back, only to discover that Du Mu's strength was astonishing. Even with the Blood God Power, he was being firmly pinned down!
Was this guy even human!?
Frost roared furiously inside, but the excruciating pain and his physical disadvantage left him helpless.
Although the Blood God Power gave him an almost absurd ability to regenerate, it did little to improve his body's basic strength. At most, he was a little stronger than Blade.
Against a pure powerhouse like Du Mu, Frost couldn't gain the slightest advantage.
What alarmed him even more was that as his body kept healing his injuries, he could clearly feel the Blood God Power within him gradually dwindling!
At this rate, his Blood God Power would eventually run dry!
"I have to get out of here!"
Before he knew it, the thought of running away had taken root in Frost's mind.
"Once I escape and drink enough fresh blood, my Blood God Power will recover and grow even stronger! Then I can come back and crush this damn human!"
The Blood God Power had another property: the more blood he consumed, the stronger he became.
That was why Frost had started by draining the blood of those vampire underlings.
What, did you think he liked eating rocks?
At the thought, a ruthless glint flashed in Frost's eyes!
Crack!
He gritted his teeth against the tearing pain between his legs, then suddenly strained and forcibly snapped his own neck!
Using the split-second opening created by his self-mutilation, he immediately broke free of Du Mu's grip. Without even waiting for his neck to heal, he turned and ran for the exit at full speed, his head hanging at a grotesque angle.
The sight was bizarre and ghastly!
"Don't even think about running!"
Blade, who had been waiting for his chance, immediately rushed in from the flank to intercept him, swinging his silver sword hard at Frost.
But at that moment, Frost had eyes only for the exit.
He didn't dodge or evade. He let the silver sword carve wounds down to the bone as he kept running, then drove both feet into the ground and leaped like a cannonball toward the raised platform leading to the exit!
With the exit right in front of him, a gleeful smile spread across Frost's crooked face.
"You think you can kill me, Frost? Not a chance!"
Whoosh—!
A sharp whistle split the air!
A rocket with an orange-red trail struck Frost squarely as he soared through the air, with nowhere to brace himself!
BOOM!!!
A massive explosion blossomed in midair!
Frost, charred and smoking, fell from above and slammed into the ground.
Before his wounds could heal, Du Mu approached and unfurled a strange-looking scroll.
It was covered in densely packed, bizarre characters, surrounding a huge "Seal" character in the center.
"Release the seal!"
As Du Mu spoke, the character on the scroll burst into flame.
In the next instant, a huge mass of black fire surged out of the sealing scroll and engulfed Frost, setting him ablaze!
"AAAHHHHH—!"
The strange black flames covered Frost's entire body as he let out a bloodcurdling scream!
In the terrifying heat, his skin visibly charred and split. His flesh melted and peeled away, exposing blackened, twisted bones and smoking entrails—a truly horrific sight!
Frost writhed wildly on the ground, trying to put out the black flames.
But the flames clung to every inch of his flesh like a parasite, and no matter how hard he slapped at them or rolled around, they showed no sign of weakening.
Frost didn't know that the black flames called Amaterasu would never go out until their target had been completely consumed!
The Blood God Power inside him desperately repaired his injuries, but Amaterasu burned and destroyed him just as quickly. His body was caught in a constant tug-of-war between destruction and healing.
In Du Mu's view, the long red health bar above Frost's head was rapidly shrinking before his eyes!
His health bar was almost empty!
"No, no, no!!"
Feeling the Blood God Power inside him run completely dry, Frost let out one last desperate, anguished cry.
The next moment, Amaterasu burned him to nothing, and his ashes scattered in the wind.
"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!"
Blade spat furiously. He'd been standing downwind and had accidentally gotten some ashes in his mouth.
Meanwhile,
the system's voice rang out in Du Mu's mind.
[Quest "Foil the Vampire Leader Deacon Frost's Conspiracy" complete!] [Rewards: 5,000 experience points, S.H.I.E.L.D. reputation +100, skill "Parry," equipment "Hidden Blade," equipment "Physics Holy Sword," item "One Dollar Coin," item "Automatic Fishing Rod," item "Blood God Power"] [Skill: Parry (Requires a bladed weapon to charge and use. Block at the instant an enemy attack lands to briefly stagger them)] [Equipment: Hidden Blade (The signature weapon of the Assassin Brotherhood, concealed on the wrist. Page one of the instructions says installation requires cutting off the ring finger. Page two says the improved model can be installed without self-mutilation)] [Equipment: Physics Holy Sword (A crowbar with multiple functions, including attacking, breaking obstacles, and picking locks. Simple and practical)] [Item: One Dollar Coin (A magical coin. Toss it on the ground, and even a billionaire won't be able to resist bending down to pick it up)] [Item: Automatic Fishing Rod (A fishing rod that fishes automatically. Anglers never have to worry about coming home empty-handed again)] [Item: Blood God Power (A special quest item. Using it unlocks a special quest of considerable difficulty. Use with caution below level 30)]
"Blood God Power?"
Du Mu raised an eyebrow.
Wasn't that Frost's ability?
But after seeing the warning that followed, he put off using it for now. He was still a long way from level 30.
Right then, the system's voice rang out again.
[Congratulations, player! You have leveled up!]
He'd leveled up!
Du Mu immediately opened his status panel.
[Player: Du Mu] [Level: 20 (0/52,000)] [Attributes: Strength 60, Agility 30, Constitution 40, Spirit 20] [Unallocated attribute points: 10] [Skills: Eye of Death, Muay Thai Warning, Leap of Faith, Breathing Regeneration, Parry...] [Equipment: Golden Desert Eagle, Nichirin Blade, Frying Pan, Gravity Boots...]
Each level-up granted 5 free attribute points. With the 5 unspent points he'd saved up earlier, he now had 10 in total.
Du Mu didn't think twice. He put 5 points into Strength, 2 into Agility, and 3 into Constitution.
There was no limit on attribute allocation in this game.
Even if he put every point into Strength and raised it to 100 while leaving his other attributes at 10, nothing like "punching so hard he exploded" would happen.
Du Mu had also earned some free attribute points from previous quests, and he'd put almost all of them into the three core attributes: Strength, Agility, and Constitution.
Strength was what he valued most. He could rely on Eye of Death for Agility, while Constitution helped him survive.
After all, in free America, he could run into a shootout—or even a nuclear attack—at any moment. Without a high enough Constitution, he just didn't feel safe.
As for Spirit, Du Mu still hadn't figured out what it did. He'd stopped increasing it once it reached 20.
After Du Mu finished allocating his attribute points, the system's voice rang out yet again.
[S.H.I.E.L.D. reputation has reached its limit. You can accept an identity advancement quest from NPC Nick Fury.]