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Chapter 352 Daddy Dilan

[Nightvision] Ungraded★★★★✭✭

Upgrade requirements

1) Absorb Darkness Essence crystals (91/500)

2) Absorb Essence crystals of Tier-1 monsters with enhanced sight (38/100)

3) Kill monsters on the darkest night (6432/10,000)

Dilan looked at the upgrade requirements of [Nightvision] while the Werewolves approached him.

He noticed that all the requirements were a bit weird because he was pretty sure that he should have been able to see the upgrade requirements of [Nightvision] much earlier by meeting one or two requirements when the ability was still Ungraded and at one star.

It was weird and needed some further investigation later because it might allow them to know a lot more abilities than they were aware of.

However, Dilan also knew that now was not the time to play around.

He looked at the Werewolves for a short while before his attention diverted somewhere else.

The weak and pitiful sound of injured monsters reached his ear, and he quickly found something that attracted his attention much more than the approaching Werewolves.

'I was thinking about getting some mounts but I thought that it would be necessary to tame adult monsters. Maybe…this won't be necessary…' Dilan thought, clearly perceiving that a dying monster was using its last bits of strength to give birth to its children.

The Werewolves and Vampires hadn't paid much attention to their surroundings when they fought against each other. They killed far more monsters in their surroundings than they first presumed, but only the lizard-like monster attracted his attention.

The monster didn't lay dozens or hundreds of eggs but just a bunch of small lizards that had the same long legs as its mother.

"A Tierless monster…well, what does it matter?" Dilan thought with a faint smile on his lips. Monsters could become stronger by absorbing Essence crystals as well. As long as they were tamed and raised to become ferocious but loyal beasts, it should be possible to make use of their existence.

Dilan felt that this was quite interesting, far more interesting than the Werewolves. He approached the dying monster that looked at Dilan with weak eyes while lifting its head with all its might. The mother monster saw Dilan approaching her newborn children and she desperately wanted to move and save her babies.

However, she quickly realized that it was impossible for her to move. Dilan picked up one of the newborn monsters, who were still enveloped in a slimy, sticky membrane. They had yet to open their eyes and were hardly moving as they had just been born.

"Seems like it was a good idea to store a car inside my storage ring," Dilan thought with a faint smile on his face as he looked at the small batch of 6 monster cubs.

It wouldn't be feasible to bring them back to Shiron while running with all his might. This would kill the poor monster cubs as they would get tossed and turned if he could even pick up all of them simultaneously.

None of them would survive the wind pressure when he ran with the speed of the wind itself.

Thus, Dilan was already thinking of different ways to carry them along with himself.

'Running while they're inside my backpack will probably kill them as well…a car it is then, I guess,' Dilan thought while feeling a bit elated in his heart.

Earlier he had thought that it might be easier to raise and train monsters from birth but it was not really a feasible idea because neither he nor the others had seen monster eggs or cubs of suitable monsters before.

The long-legged lizards had a physique similar to horses, which made them the best animals for traveling.

Furthermore, as they were reptiles, Dilan began to imagine that they had the possibility of turning into full-fledged Dragons as long as they kept evolving using the highest possible occupation, or evolution path when advancing through the Tiers.

It was unlikely for the lizards to be able to become dragons but Dilan was mostly daydreaming which wasn't necessarily bad. It only strengthened his resolve to bring the Lizard cubs back to the base.

Dilan retrieved a backpack from his storage ring and gently placed the lizards inside. He was not sure how much heat they needed as newborns, which made things a bit difficult but he put in a small [Isolated torch], which was basically a flame surrounded by a sphere-like membrane of mana.

It was one of the non-combat creations one of the blacksmiths created to be able to work during the night as well. Some Survivors were more night workers, which was why their base, including the alloy factory, had to be well illuminated at night as well.

The Isolated torch radiated some warmth after Dilan had inserted bits of his mana inside it.

'That should be enough…I hope,' he thought before he turned his head in the direction of the Werewolves, who were patiently waiting for him to resume the fight.

They didn't seem bothered that he was more focused on some dying monster, or the fact that he had just collected a batch of newborn monster cubs.

Rather, a trace of interest flickered in their eyes because they had begun to wonder why someone as strong as Dilan felt the need to pick up a batch of Tierless monster cubs.

It didn't make sense to them but it definitely had some deeper meaning that eluded them, considering that a powerful existence bothered to halt the fight midway and pick up the newborn cubs.

"Raising them might relax some of the tense Survivors, and they're somewhat cute, so the women will be more relaxed looking at them, I guess…" Dilan mumbled before a plan began to form in his mind.

'I will bring them back and return here to take a look if there are many more Vampires on their way toward us. If not, it might be worth taking a look at the Sanctum…'

That was the plan Dilan had come up with, but he was quickly interrupted by the Werewolves' pack leader, a middle-aged man with fierce red irises.

"Thank you for supporting us in the fight against the noble clans of the Shikan plains. Without your help, all of us would have died!" The Alpha of the Werewolves acknowledged, not hiding the bitter truth.

However, Dilan didn't accept this. He looked straight into the Alpha's eyes.

"If you knew that all of you would die, why did you attack them, in the first place? The Vampires were on their way to me and my group. I genuinely doubt that these Clans cared about your existence to begin with. Their sole aim was to get their hands on the Sanctum keys earlier than others!" Dilan didn't really think about being overly nice to the Alpha, especially since it looked like he had purposely attacked a large group of Vampires that was close to ten times in number than that his own.

This was beyond stupid and it was not something Dilan could understand.

"They attacked and killed one of our youngest Wolves. We had to do something!" The Alpha growled while coiling his fist, not hiding his hatred for the Vampires.

With this, Dilan could tell that he would only further provoke the Alpha of a pack with more than 400 Werewolves if he continued to discuss whatever was on his mind.

However, that didn't really bother him because it seemed like the Alpha was even dumber than he was. And that was quite difficult in Dilan's opinion.

Chapter 353 Fight together

"So the reason for you to attack them was your pack mentality? You would have killed all of your people, just to attempt taking revenge for the death of one of your dead youngsters?" Dilan had already heard that Werewolves were rigid with their pack mentality, but he thought that Victoria had exaggerated a bit because Vampires and Werewolves weren't really on friendly terms with each other.

"You do realize that this was suicidal and that you could have just waited for a better timing…for example when the Vampire clans were just about to attack my group, to fall into their back?" He asked, looking stupefied at the Alpha, whose fangs and claws were growing once again.

All the Werewolves had turned back from their partial bestial transformation to their human form. However, upon hearing Dilan's words, all of them seemed to be agitated, and eager to start fighting once again.

"I'm not afraid to fight, you know…" Dilan remarked on seeing their reaction, releasing his suppressed bloodlust. The pressure caused most Tier-1 Werewolves to stagger backward.

They felt incapable of releasing their wolf from within them because it was afraid to be torn apart into shreds by humans.

Even the Alpha's wolf respected the strength of the human in front of him, which was why the Alpha had to choose his words carefully.

"We thought that more Vampire Clans would gather up before attacking your group. They didn't know much about your group, and neither do we.

It was not unlikely that the situation would have escalated even more…though I have to agree that it was a bit suicidal. We didn't expect to find so many Vampires with Ancient Vampire Powers, otherwise, I would have been able to wreak as much havoc as you did!" The Alpha excused himself and Dilan just nodded his head.

The Werewolves could do whatever they wanted, and if the Alpha's pack was fine with the suicidal attack, that simply meant they were 100% loyal to him. This was quite interesting and something Dilan would wish to see his Ascenders replicate.

It was not as if they were disloyal to him but Dilan could tell that his Ascenders were not ready to sacrifice their life by fighting a fight that was impossible to win.

In this regard, the Werewolves were much better, especially their morale which seemed to be indestructible along with their unwavering loyalty to their Alpha.

Despite being pushed back, the Werewolf pack was ready to protect their Alpha from all harm, including the possibility of fighting Dilan just after they had utterly exhausted themselves fighting thousands of Vampires.

"In that case, you did what you presumed to be the best…I guess," Dilan replied, not trying to provoke the Alpha a lot.

He didn't feel the necessity to fight against the Werewolf pack just after all of them had exhausted themselves. If they wanted to fight him, they should work hard, become stronger and challenge him.

Dilan would gladly accept fighting them!

"Whatever, I will take your leave, if there is nothing else to take care of," Dilan said while accessing his storage ring.

However, the Alpha stepped forward, lightly lifting his hand to stop Dilan from leaving them abruptly.

"We want to assist you and fight the other Vampire Clans that will come for you!" The Alpha suddenly stated, taking Dilan by surprise.

He knew that Dilan would attack more Vampire Clans in the near future. Dilan was in possession of the five Sanctum keys, which was a great opportunity for the Werewolves to end the Era of the Vampires in the Shikan plains.

"You want to come with me and fight the Vampire Clans?" Dilan asked in astonishment. He looked at the Alpha, who nodded his head.

"That's not necessary…" Dilan added, knowing that he wouldn't be able to control the Werewolves. They might cause more harm than good, especially with Victoria around.

It was not safe to bring them to Shiron, if he wanted to prevent a bloodbath, or an uncontrollable pack of Werewolves, which he didn't even know, straight in the center of his home.

"We, the Silverlight pack, owe you a favor!! You are the only reason why we're still alive!" The Alpha declared with an imposing voice.

It almost looked like the Alpha could never allow Dilan to leave without letting him repay the favor, and that was quite troublesome.

Nonetheless, Dilan was not ready to bring the Werewolf pack to Shiron. There had to be another way for the Alpha and his pack to help him, one that didn't involve risking his people to a significant threat.

'They probably want to annihilate the Vampires of the Shikan plains. If that's the case, I might as well help them out. Werewolves seem to be less troublesome than Vampires, either way. If they're the only night race left on the Shikan plains, I would feel a bit better as well…' Dilan thought, realizing that it might be quite useful to exploit the Werewolves a bit more.

It was not necessary to kill all the Vampires, but only those, who were truly evil. Victoria knew all the Vampire Clans in the Shikan plains. Thus, she could simply point them out if they were to encounter them.

"Then…how about we attack the Sanctum of the Vampire Lord, with your people and mine?" Dilan asked as he shared an idea he had thought of before.

Instead of avoiding confronting the issue, they could move the battlefield straight to the center of the Shikan plains.

With the death of close to 6000 Vampires, it would probably take a while before another batch of Vampire Clans would reach Shiron.

"I would travel back, return with my people, and you would have to find one or two more packs. By then, we could annihilate the Vampires waiting at the Sanctum of the Old Vampire Lord," He said, liking the idea the more he thought about it.

With the help of the Werewolves, his Ascenders wouldn't have to face so much pressure of killing the Vampires on their own. Simultaneously, it would help them to get more accustomed to fighting with their life on the line, and having the werewolves around would also make them train harder.

They could witness how powerful Werewolves were when they gave their utmost to fight. This would be quite interesting, especially with Victoria's help as she could point out which Vampire clans should be spared and which should not.

The Alpha of the Silverlight pack began to grin widely. He was beginning to grow increasingly fond of the young man in front of him. Dilan seemed like a battle maniac, but he was not a brainless killer.

He had no idea how scheming Dilan might be, or what his plan might be, but it looked like he wanted to remove all threats surrounding himself and his people.

To do so, he would even resort to asking strangers for help, without knowing whether they were actually on his side or not.

This seemed quite foolish in the Alpha's opinion. He and many other packs had heard the Region announcement of the system as well.

They knew that the Sanctum of the Blood Monarch was located in the Sanctum of the Old Vampire Lord. The Instance Dungeon may not only be useful for Vampires, and that was something Dilan ought to know.

However, from the looks of it, the young human was oblivious to this fact, which was something the Alpha of the Silverlight pack wanted to make use of.

While Dilan wanted to exploit the Werewolves' weird mentality, the Alpha was not a bit different. In the new Era that began with the Primordial Ascension, many things had changed.

Now, killing was much more useful than ever before, and the wild instincts of the wolves that were awakened within the Vampires were wreaking havoc within them, telling the Werewolves to keep killing and to become stronger whenever it was possible.

And Dilan seemed to be the opportunity they had been waiting for. But that was also something he was fully aware of.

After all, he had analyzed the Werewolves during their fight. He could gauge their mindset, which was what he exploited to his benefit as well!

Chapter 354 Monster trainer

Dilan had to drive for a whole day to reach Shiron. He was not bothered by a single monster and could drive over the highway with a high velocity.

Once he reached the base of the Undying group, Dilan first searched for Sven and his management group.

They knew about the occupations and abilities of most Ascenders, whether they were new or old ones. Thus, it was quite fortunate when Dilan found Sven after searching for him for a minute or two.

"Do we have some former dog trainers, zookeepers, or some Ascenders with similar abilities and occupations in our group?" Dilan asked the moment he found Sven.

The middle-aged man looked slightly confused for a moment. Dilan was supposed to report the situation of the Vampires the moment he returned back to the base.

However, Dilan did not only rush over to Sven to ask this weird question but he had also been quite late. There was no need for Dilan to take nearly two days to run in a straight line toward the Sanctum of the Old Vampire Lord and back home again.

If he had encountered a few Vampire Clans on his way, he would have come back directly…given that everything was alright.

"We have some zookeepers, whose first ability turned out to be related to raising monsters. Thus, they became Tamers when they advanced to Tier-1…" Sven revealed slowly before he shook his head, "But forget about that. What happened when you were out? How many groups of Vampires are on their way toward us? What are their numbers?"

Sven was worried but Dilan waved his arm off before he carefully removed his backpack.

"Don't fret about that. There was only one group of Vampires on our way, and their numbers were close to 6000 if I'm not mistaken but they'—…" Dilan was talking calmly but he was interrupted when Sven cut him abruptly.

"6000?! So many…. We won't be able to kill them in our current state… We need more traps and more Tier-2 Ascenders… How long will they take to reach us?" Sven asked in a nervous voice, barely able to control his expression.

Dilan didn't answer right away. He sighed and looked at the middle-aged man with a small frown as he opened the backpack.

The six monster cubs were sleeping soundly inside the backpack and Dilan removed the only one, who started to squirm the moment bright sunlight shone inside the backpack and onto its small body.

It was trying to issue some noises but it was incapable of doing so because it had yet to be able to move properly.

Dilan took the one-day-old lizard out of the backpack to take a proper look at it. The slimy membrane on its body had been shed and one could take a clear look at it.

"What do you say, Sven? How about we start raising infant monsters?" Dilan asked instead of answering Sven's bombardment of questions.

Sven involuntarily took a step back and he grasped the hilt of his sheathed sword. He was ready to fight at once but froze when he saw Dilan's disapproving gaze.

"What the hell did you do in the last 48 hours?!" Sven shouted out all of a sudden, attracting the attention of many members of the Undying group. They saw Dilan squatting down on the concrete ground, holding a tiny lizard that was even larger than the hand of a full-grown man.

This astonished many but they didn't doubt Dilan had lost it. Thus, they shrugged their shoulders before they went on with their tasks. There was more than enough to do in the few days of peace, especially outside their base's building.

"If you want a summary of what I did since I left the group to take a look at the Vampires' situation before anyone else gets informed, that's quite easy," Dilan finally answered with a faint smile on his face as he lightly caressed the rough skin of the infant lizard.

"I ran for a long time, found 6000 Vampires fighting 600 Werewolves, was attacked by the Vampires, killed 2000 of them, and now I have some Werewolves, who want to kill all the Vampires on the Shikan plains at my disposal," He gave him a quick summary, which caused Sven to take a few deep breaths, making him feel as if he had momentarily lost his speech.

"Dilan~ You're finally back!!" Victoria's shrill voice suddenly resounded from behind him and she was just about to charge at him when Dilan turned around.

"Slowly!" He ordered her with an imposing voice that made Victoria slow down her pace instinctively.

She saw the infant lizard in his hands but just like the other members of the Undying group, Victoria was not actually confused by them.

She was relieved that Dilan was finally back and approached him slowly to embrace him tightly.

Dilan just blinked his eyes when he felt that Victoria was rubbing her body against his in an inconspicuous manner that nobody else could detect.

"Not yet, silly!" Dilan warned before he got up from the ground. He picked up the backpack with the infant lizards, and looked at Sven.

Sven was still baffled by the lizards but his eyes followed Dilan's movements.

"Gather the others and tell them what I told you just now. I want to make use of the Werewolves to reach the Sanctum and kill all bothersome Vampires on my way there.

Victoria can help us determine which Vampire Clan is shitty, and which is fine to continue to exist. But I think we need to hurry up because I feel like we need to conquer the Instance Dungeon of the Blood Monarch's Sanctum as quickly as possible.

We need to get stronger and I don't want to sound like I'm spouting nonsense but the number of Tier-2 Vampires is constantly increasing!" Dilan spoke a few words but it was enough for Victoria to step back from him.

She eyed him weirdly, concern evident in her eyes as she asked, "Werewolves?"

Dilan glanced over to her, nodding his head.

"Yeah, the humans, who can turn into furballs, with sharp claws and teeth," He said lightly with a silly smile on his face.

Afterward, he turned to Sven, demanding an answer for where the tamers were located in the building before he went off after Sven pointed in a specific direction in response.

With one lizard in his arm and five in his backpack, Dilan went his way, searching for the people who would be able to train these monsters.

He didn't want the lizards to get tamed with an ability but to get them trained like dogs, horses and similar other domesticated animals humans could train.

Most monsters may be natural predators but that was something one could easily take care of as long as one was stronger than monsters.

However, Dilan didn't want them to simply get tamed, he wanted to transform them into mounts that even ordinary Survivors could use.

This would make things much easier, especially if the long-legged lizards had as much stamina as he hoped them to have.

They were supposed to be used by the scouts for long-distance traveling and much more and Dilan had high expectations.

He smiled at the thought of riding a Dragon or some sort of other unique monsters, and it caused him to feel elated.

'This would be pretty darn interesting!'

Chapter 355 Gloomy Guy

The battle against the Vampires, which would soon happen in their own territory, might be enough reason for Dilan to be tensed up, but he was pretty sure that everything would be alright.

He would love to advance to Level 25, or precisely to become a Tier-2 existence before but he doubted that it would be possible.

It was a bit annoying that he didn't have the chance to advance to Tier-2 in a day or two. He required too much Essence, after all, but he was still somewhat fine.

His strength was not an issue for the upcoming battles and he knew this as well as everyone else.

Dilan reached a place that smelled like dung soon. His nose twitched and his face scrunched as continued to go ahead in the area, where several monsters were being trained.

They were still outside the building, precisely cut off from everyone else because the newly tamed monsters were still uncomfortable being surrounded by so many humans.

Despite having been tamed, the monsters desired to devour the humans, which was something that could hardly be solved.

Dilan had heard about quite a few issues most common tamers faced when taming a beast. Either the tamer's willpower was strong enough to overthrow the mental resistance of their tamed beast completely, or they would fail to tame the beast because their willpower was not strong enough to emerge victorious against the wild instincts of the monster.

There were a few other cases but the two mentioned above were the most common. Dilan didn't want either of the cases to be necessary for the six infant lizards to not just survive but thrive.

Thus, he approached the tamer, whose first impression was quite favorable.

"What's your name?" Dilan asked a gloomy-looking and extremely skinny teenager as he walked toward him.

The skinny teenager was perplexed when he looked up at the greek-godlike body of Dilan, which caused him to swallow his saliva. He was intimidated and momentarily forgot how to speak until he saw the infant lizard in Dilan's arm.

The teenager jumped up from his chair with glistening eyes and he was about to reach out for the lizard cub when Dilan blocked the teenager's advance.

"One step after another, boy," Dilan said calmly, thinking that he had made the right choice. The skinny teenager might look gloomy when looking at other

Chapter 356 Sad Victoria

"The Werewolves will attack the Vampires the moment they make the first move…and I mean ALL Vampires!" Victoria declared with a trace of worry in her voice.

Dilan didn't think that Victoria was worried about herself, which was even less reason for him to be bothered about the situation.

"The Werewolves will have to obey, otherwise, I will kill all of them. They can die or leave you alive, at the very least," Dilan said, pointing out his only concern; her well-being.

"But what about the other Vampire Clans…the good ones?" Victoria asked at this moment, her eyes gleaming in worry.

She behaved differently than her usual intimacy, bubbly, and slightly psychotic personality. Dilan could tell that she was serious about it because he didn't think Victoria understood their situation.

"The 'good' Vampire Clans can leave the surrounding area of the Old Vampire Lord's Sanctum if you don't want them to die," He merely suggested while shrugging his shoulders. He was not really bothered about the fate of the good Vampires.

He didn't think of himself as a good person and he had been annoyed by more than enough Vampires since he had encountered Clerens. If there were good Vampire Clans, they should stay out of trouble, and not join the fray at the Sanctum.

Victoria flinched when she heard Dilan. She knew that Dilan was sometimes rather cold but this had never been the case with her.

He would always care about her opinion, but now he wasn't all too affected by her concern.

However, it was not as if Dilan was wrong entirely. It would be impossible for him to differentiate the good Vampires from the bad ones the moment they would start fighting in the proximity of the Vampire Lord's Sanctum.

If the 'good' Vampire Clans would join the battle, they would have to be killed, or one would die.

But even if they had to fight the good Vampire Clans, Victoria couldn't accept it.

"Some Vampires are good…and I like them…" Victoria uttered quietly, trying to hide her pain as she added, "and I don't want them to die…"

Dilan's expression changed a bit when he saw that Victoria was genuinely sad and frustrated for the sake of others' well-being. Thus, he thought of something.

"That changes the issue a bit. Unfortunately, it won't be possible for me to differentiate good ones from bad ones on the battlefield. Then…" Dilan was trying to come up with a good plan but there was actually not much he could think of.

"How about…you go to the Sanctum, tell the Vampires to leave because Werewolves will march towards us with extremely powerful support and that all of them will die if they don't leave?" He suggested, feeling pretty sure that this was one of the only feasible solutions he had in mind.

If the Vampire Clans chose to leave, the Werewolves wouldn't be able to attack them, and Dilan's Undying group would have much fewer issues.

There would be fewer opponents to fight, and the 'good' Vampire Clans would be able to survive. The Werewolves would probably spread out to kill the Vampires, or they would want to enter the Vampire Lord's Sanctum.

Dilan was pretty sure that the Instance Dungeon of the Blood Monarch's Sanctum was something that could be used by all the races.

Thus, if the Werewolves wouldn't be influenced by their bloodlust, their unanimous decision would be to attempt entering the Blood Monarch's Sanctum first!

Victoria looked at Dilan with uncertainty. She didn't think that his plan would work out but it was not as if she could think of a better solution herself.

Victoria knew that they planned to enter the old man's sanctum, which would inevitably lead his Ascenders to the other Vampire Clans.

However, she didn't like this…

"I'm sorry Victoria, but if they don't listen to you, I cannot help them either. Most Vampires I encountered were prideful and if their ego doesn't allow them to leave, they will have to face the consequences," Dilan said flatly before he added,

"You may think that I'm not a good person for planning to attack the Sanctum with the Werewolves but this is a great opportunity for my Undying group to become stronger!

Whether it is the Blood Monarch's Sanctum or the large numbers of Vampires that we encounter, both will strengthen my group and allow them to advance much faster, and achieve higher stats.

I don't trust the Werewolves but they're useful and powerful meatshields, which will ensure that my people will survive…And that is what I am after!

Milarn is not the same as before and only those who will fight can survive without the fear of being killed at any moment!" Dilan tried to reason with Victoria, and his words seemed to show the desired effect.

She gritted her teeth and nodded her head before she looked deep into his determined sky-blue eyes.

"You're right…if monsters like the Thunderbolt Eagle become normal, we'll have lots of troubles with our current strength…and it's not like I would be sad if 90% of the Vampire Clans were to be eradicated…I will try to convince the other families to leave…" Victoria's expression was constantly changing as she was debating with herself.

She knew that she was going to attempt something with a success rate of nearly zero percent but it was not as if she could stay idle.

"I will leave then!" Victoria said before she hugged Dilan tightly.

"Don't be too fast please…give me enough time to convince them…" She pleaded in a low voice before she released him from her embrace.

Her words gave him yet another idea.

"If they don't leave voluntarily, just force them to leave. Cripple the noble Vampires of the 'good' families, and kidnap them," He suggested with a shrug.

Victoria looked at him and her eyes began to gleam.

"I might as well freeze them and remove them from the Sanctum until everything is over…that's perfect!" Victoria jumped up and down on her toes in excitement before she realized that there was one big issue in the plan.

"You cannot come with me, I guess? I don't think I'm strong enough to defeat several Vampire Clans on my own…they'll definitely have Tier-2 Vampires by now…" Victoria asked suddenly but Dilan shook his head.

"The only thing I can give you is some of my blood. You said that it strengthens you," Dilan made another suggestion, and Victoria nodded her head vigorously, tilting her head while her fangs grew.

She leaned forward, grasped Dilan's neck tightly, and was just about to bite his neck when she realized that Dilan's skin was way too thick for her fangs to pierce through.

Dilan smiled at this before he activated [Switch] to reallocate 100 Health Units to his Mana.

"Try again," Dilan ordered and Victoria followed suit, biting his neck before his sweet sacred blood filled her mouth.

"Anngh," Victoria involuntarily moaned when her entire body felt invigorated by Dilan's sacred blood. She wanted to drink a lot more and she quickly sensed that Dilan didn't seem to be affected after she drank more of his blood which made her smile.

Dilan used his Mana to activate [Regeneration] over and over again, providing him with the necessary blood to replenish what Victoria was draining.

"That's enough," Dilan said after a few minutes, lightly slapping Victoria's butt before he added,

"Off you go!"

Chapter 357 Porter Dilan

Dilan wished that he could advance to Tier-2 before they would encounter the Vampires around the Sanctum but that was pretty unlikely to be the case.

Nonetheless, there were a few things that he could try out until his group finished their preparation for another large-scale battle.

Not everyone would go to the Sanctum of the Old Vampire Lord because the base had to be protected well.

Thus, only around 1000 Ascenders were selected to initiate a large-scale battle.

With the size of their current base, there was approximately one more batch of 1000 Tier-1 combat Ascenders, but they were better off staying at home.

Dilan only wanted strong Ascenders with him, even if he couldn't take all with them.

The Vampire Clans were bound to become powerful and traveling straight to the center of the Shikan plains would take its time.

All Ascenders in his group had an Agility above 40 Units, and they could run quite fast, for a long time at that. However, even then, it would take them half a day to reach the location of the Silverlight Werewolf pack and another half a day, if not longer to reach the Sanctum.

Dilan, if he rushed as fast as possible, without bothering whether he would be exposed or not, would require roughly an hour to reach the Silverlight pack and yet another one to reach the Sanctum.

That was how high his stats were by now!

Dilan left the others with the task of making all kinds of preparations, which would require the remainder of the day. Afterward, they would leave early in the morning.

Dilan updated Sven about the location they would have to be at the next day in the afternoon before he left his group.

There were quite a few things Dilan wanted to focus on, which was why he entered both the Trading hub and the Forging division of the Undying group.

He went to visit Old Jeff, and enquire if he could create a better version of the Blazing Serpentine Blade.

It was possible to reuse the Pyromancy Orb, which meant that only the base material for the Serpentine Blade had to be replaced.

Dilan's only means of attack to injure, and kill many opponents at the same time had been the Blazing Serpentine Blade and [Mana Slash].

However, Mana Slash required too much mana to be used in every single usage.

That was why Dilan figured it would be for the best to have a unique type of weapon such as the Serpentine Blade.

Unfortunately, Old Jeff was pretty sure that he didn't have the necessary materials to forge a better Serpentine Blade yet.

And that was the reason, Dilan devoted his next 20 hours to searching for new ores and other materials in the Gates within other cities.

The Scouts of the Undying Group had worked hard to note down all the permanent Gates in a radius of approximately 200 kilometers and share the list with him.

It helped him easily locate and enter the various Gates to search for ores, and ingredients and to figure out how dangerous the Gates were.

For Dilan, it was pretty easy to survive all kinds of environments and situations. He was immune to most poisons, and even if he were to be severely injured, [Regeneration] would heal him.

Currently, there weren't actually many Gates with Tier-2 monsters, which made it rather easy for Dilan to search through the Gates.

But the situation was quite interesting because there were specific semi-permanent Gates, which he entered because they sounded like they would have ore deposits.

True to his belief, he found lots of high-grade ores in these Gates, which he mined with the mining pickaxe he had borrowed from Old Jeff.

With his strength, he could easily mine tons of ores within the shortest amount of time.

Dilan mined calmly and he killed all the powerful monsters around him to increase his stats slowly. Simultaneously, he accumulated some Essence and was ready to level up quickly, if one could call his leveling speed such.

In a span of 20 hours, Dilan encountered close to 50 Tier-2 monsters in the semi-permanent Gates he had entered, while all the permanent Gates showed signs that monsters would soon be able to advance to Tier-2.

The level of all monsters was increasing, which bothered Dilan much more than he wanted to acknowledge.

After all, it looked like monsters were growing faster than his Undying group which was worrisome.

'We really need those Blood Essences from the Vampires, and the Blood Monarch's Sanctum…' Dilan thought when he returned to the base in Shiron. He handed Old Jeff all the ores and other ingredients had collected before he made the last tour through his base to make sure that everything was fine.

There hadn't been any trouble his group faced in the last few days. All of this was owed to the common enemy they had.

It was frustrating to acknowledge it, but a common enemy forced the rivals to work together and set aside their differences and the animosity they harbored for each other.

Without the common enemy, all the higher authorities of the Undying group would have much more trouble controlling the newly joined Survivors.

That was not a problem for now and Dilan was quite happy about that. He left the base with rapid strides and activated [Thunder Step] to test out just how fast he could go.

As the winds splashed in his face, Dilan smiled weirdly. It was an odd feeling but definitely not something he hated. His body was already accustomed to facing air pressure without issues.

But Dilan wasn't able to go all out with his speed. He had yet to figure out his threshold which Dilan finally tested as he ran over the Shikan plains with all his might.

Less than an hour passed before he saw the large encampment of his group. A large number of half-naked humans had camped nearby.

They were Werewolves, who were alarmed the moment they sensed Dilan's arrival.

He didn't intend to slow down his speed or conceal his power for the time being. Everyone was supposed to know that he was the strongest and that it would be a stupid idea to attempt to attack him.

When Dilan finally stopped, he arrived in front of his people.

"Dilan, you're finally here!" Sven said, sighing in relief before he pulled him closer to their group.

A moment later, he began to tell Dilan what had happened since they departed from their base early in the morning.

"We encountered a few monsters on our way here, but everything was rather simple until we arrived here. Unfortunately, it looks like the Werewolf pack leaders want to determine one Supreme Leader for this battle, and they don't want us to attend the 'Sacred battle' to influence their decision," Sven summarized quickly.

Kathrine and Yvonne were in a heated debate with a bunch of powerful Werewolves, whose partial bestial transformation had been activated.

It looked like both sides were ready to pounce on one another, which was something that had to be prevented by all means.

Thus, Dilan stepped forward. He pulled Yvonne and Kathrine behind him, while ignoring their complaints, as he stared deep into the eyes of the Werewolves that sniffed loudly.

"You have the smell of a Vampire on you!" One of the Werewolves suddenly said, growling deeply.

Yvonne and Kathrine looked at Dilan with squinted eyes for a moment before they showed signs of readying themselves for battle.

However, Dilan lifted his hand to make them stop.

"And where is the problem with that?" Dilan asked, releasing his bloodlust without restraint.

It was unleashed and shrouded the few Werewolves in front of him instantaneously, overwhelming them.

Dilan revealed the mana that was stored in his body as well, putting further pressure on the Werewolves in front of them, forcing the weaklings to their knees.

"You're just an ant in front of my eyes…don't bother me!" Dilan muttered in a warning tone before he walked past the few Werewolves on the ground.

He didn't expect the Werewolves' sensitive nose to be that strong, especially since his entire body had been smeared by the blood of monsters, but it didn't really matter.

If they could smell Victoria's scent on him, that was fine with him.

With a calm mind, he walked past the Werewolves, who were suffocating before he retracted his mana and bloodlust.

Dilan approached the encampment of the three Werewolf packs that had gathered on the plains before he surveyed their huge camp.

"That are loads of meat shields for me to make use of!"

Chapter 358 Sacred Battle

While walking into the encampment of the Werewolves, Dilan was quite impressed with them.

"Their numbers might be quite small but all of them are on par with Gold Tier-1 monsters, or even stronger, not bad…not bad at all!" He mumbled quietly.

By now the Ascenders of the Undying group were at the peak of Tier-1 as well. Most of them had long since surpassed Level 20, and their stats had reached an average between 40 and 50.

With the use of their upgraded abilities, this was more than enough to kill Gold Tier-1 monsters on their own. After the fight against the four Vampire Clans had concluded, the Ascenders' mindset seemed to have changed.

They began to enter more dangerous Gates to become more powerful in a short time. They knew that they needed higher stats and better control of their abilities to be able to fight other humans, races, and stronger monsters.

Dilan's overwhelming strength and his powerful abilities were a clear indicator to how powerful one could be by now, if one relentlessly pursued that goal and worked hard enough.

Everyone knew that Dilan was like an insurmountable target but it was interesting to see him as a role model to surpass, nonetheless.

Bridging the gap of their strength was something that was worthwhile, and all the Ascenders were eager to achieve this, whether it was for themselves, or to make Dilan proud.

Not many members of the Undying Group had realized it until now, but everyone looked up at Dilan with a certain degree of reverence. They wanted to be like him, and they wanted him to acknowledge their existence and strength!

Even Dilan was oblivious to it, and he would call it stupid if he were to know about it. After all, nothing would change if he were to acknowledge someone's strength. That was what he believed, at least.

He was also unaware of his impact on the Undying Group, and how much his presence and opinion influenced every single Ascender.

Dilan was just thinking about ways to make use of the Werewolves' strength as another batch of three Werewolves blocked his path.

"Humans are not allowed in our camp!" The strongest of the three Werewolves said, flexing his muscles as he looked deep into Dilan's sky blue eyes.

"You can try to stop me then," Dilan replied before he continued to walk inside. His shoulders rammed into the strongest of the three Werewolves, but it was as if Dilan didn't even notice anything as he continued to walk past him as if he didn't exist.

While Dilan didn't budge the slightest, the strong Werewolf was pushed aside, his feet scraping against the pebbles to steady himself. His shoulder ached and he looked at Dilan with a deep frown.

'Is he made out of iron, or what?' He wondered, just for the two Werewolves next to him to hint that they wanted to go after Dilan to stop him from passing through their pack's camp.

"Don't…he might actually kill us if we stop him again…" The Werewolf cautioned, just to see that his brethren looked at him in confusion.

"He is not someone we can handle, just let it be!" He added, not able to hide that his pride had been injured.

Meanwhile, Dilan was strolling through the camp, totally unbothered by the numerous Werewolves who were staring at him with ill intentions.

None of them dared to make a move because they could sense that their strength was not even high enough to block him for a single second.

They would just be wasting their time and possibly enrage Dilan. A dangerous human of Dilan's caliber was definitely not something one should underestimate.

Thus, they quietly followed Dilan to see what was about to happen.

When Dilan reached the area where the encampments of the three Werewolf packs held their meetings, he could immediately see that the three Alphas were fighting against each other.

They were fighting tooth and nail to ensure that they would be the Supreme Leader for the next few days so that they could control all three packs to march on the Old Vampire Lord's Sanctum and conquer it.

The three Alphas only stopped fighting when they smelled the presence of an uninvited guest. Turning their head in Dilan's direction, they smelled the blood of numerous monsters and the scent of a Noble Vampire on the human.

This was enough to temporarily stop the fight between the three Alphas.

"Human, I have no idea who you are, but you're disrupting our Sacred Battle!" The biggest of the three Alphas growled dangerously.

Dilan merely smiled in return before he answered with a shrug.

"Then why am I not invited to participate in that battle as well? The Undying group will also fight the Vampires near and around the Old Vampire Lord's Sanctum. Shouldn't it be normal for me to join the Sacred Battle to determine the Supreme leader?" He asked, without batting an eyelid as he kept staring straight at the biggest Alpha.

"Kiddo, don't overestimate yourself! You humans should be glad that we took pity on you and allowed you all to join our war of vengeance!" The other Alpha roared, stepping forward.

On the other hand, the Alpha of the Silverlight pack could only frown deeply. He could gauge what was about to happen as he saw the glistening eyes of the human, and he didn't like it at all.

'I should have told these idiots that the leader of the human group is strong…' He cursed himself before discarding this thought. It was not as if his warning would have helped, to begin with.

The Alpha of the Silverlight pack had barely been able to find these two packs of selfish and arrogant Alphas in the last few days to make up for the numbers.

There were less than 1000 Werewolves in the three packs, which was quite a disadvantage considering the high possibility to fight several thousand Vampires.

The only advantage they had was their high strength and the fact that each of their attacks would permanently injure Vampires.

It was possible for the Vampires to counter this but they would be rendered incapable of fighting for a few seconds, at least. Thus, they had a small advantage over Vampires, even if their numbers were bound to be higher.

Nonetheless, Dilan was still stronger. To the Alpha of the Silverlight pack, Dilan was, by far, the strongest existence they had encountered until now!

It was only obvious that such a powerful existence, whether human, Werewolf, Witch, or Vampire would be a proud being.

And that was clearly revealed as Dilan began to smirk.

"If you two continue to act like this, I might as well kill you and become the Alpha of your packs!" He declared, staring coldly at the two Alphas.

All the Werewolves, who were watching the battle, and those, who had followed Dilan to witness what the human was going to do, gasped in shock before they started to growl, and grind their teeth.

The human had dared to threaten their grand leaders, their role models, and the only being they would die for readily.

The Werewolves' loyalty was unbreakable, and Dilan smiled when he realized this.

'They're really good,' He thought as he witnessed how the two Alphas responded to his verbal attacks.

Their body enlarged, their strength increased and they were incapable of controlling the rage that had accumulated within their body.

"I guess, I can join the fight now."

Chapter 359 Against Alphas

It was not hard to see that the Werewolves were enraged. Dilan would have to be blind not to see it.

He smiled faintly when he saw that the partial bestial transformation of the two Alphas entered a second stage, or so it seemed, at least.

"If you guys are already enraged, we might as well start fighting immediately!" Dilan proposed with a suppressed smile as he glanced over at the Alpha of the Silverlight pack.

'Seems like you are the only one with a brain,' He thought with a bright grin that caused shudders to run down the Silverlight pack Alpha's body.

A sigh escaped his mouth before he actively used his special trait, [Bestial tranformation], instead of solely following his wild instincts.

He transformed and enlarged just like the other Alphas' bodies had enlarged, and their strength kept increasing further.

'Maybe I was mistaken…but whatever… More powerful opponents equal more fun!' Dilan thought as adrenaline began to course through his body.

Without a shred of hesitation, he activated [Thunder Step], creating a thunderous noise around his feet. It indicated the start of his battle against the three Alphas and Dilan shot forward.

The ground around his feet sunk in and his footprints could be seen in the dry soil and the Alphas' eyes followed his movements precisely.

The three Alphas had advanced to Tier-2, not too long ago. They had Rare+ and Extraordinary Occupations, which resulted in their combat prowess rising tremendously after advancing to Tier-2.

They were not to be underestimated under any circumstances, but Dilan didn't care about that at all. He didn't even think of wielding a weapon against the Alphas because he was still in need of them.

Killing them was not an option for him and neither was severely injuring them. Dilan desired to force the three Alphas into submission. This would make things a lot easier and he wouldn't lose the three strongest forces he had come across in the batch of 1000 Werewolves.

However, even if he needed the Alphas, it was not as if he would fight them and hold himself back while doing so. He disappeared from right in front of the Alphas and only reemerged when he was right below the closest Alpha.

They had yet to start moving when Dilan was already in front of the first of them, punching into the Alpha's abdomen without holding back in the slightest.

His force was equivalent to the average of more than 110 humans before the Primordial Ascension, which caused the first Alpha to spit out blood and gastric fluids as he was flung backward.

He flew ten meters through the air before he rolled onto the ground. Yet, instead of lying on the ground, he spit out more blood, just to jump up with rage gleaming deeply in his eyes.

Dilan noticed this but he couldn't care less at this moment as he had to twist his body to evade the two remaining Alphas' claws.

They slashed them through the air, precisely forcing Dilan to evade their attacks in a specific direction.

The two Alphas wanted to dig their claws into Dilan's flesh but that would never happen. It was only possible for the Alphas to push him to the side as Dilan was not sure whether his special trait [Stone Skin] was powerful enough to remain unscathed when the razor-sharp claws of Tier-2 Alphas would cut him.

Dilan didn't want to challenge his luck, which was why he ended up continuing to evade the attacks. His Agility was higher than the Tier-2 Alphas, who had yet to use any kind of ability, other than their special trait.

Little did Dilan know that Werewolves didn't have as many active abilities as other races. While Vampires had fewer passive abilities than humans, Werewolves had less active abilities.

They were in possession of many racial traits, such as [Nightvision], [Moonlight Berserk], and [Bestial Transformation]. Their natural regeneration was also higher than that of humans, and their claws while undergoing a partial bestial transformation were capable of preventing other existences to heal as quickly as their usual speed.

This was one of the many traits Dilan was a tiny bit worried about. If he were to encounter an extremely powerful Werewolf, one capable of piercing through his flesh, his strongest power, his exceptional healing capabilities, would be rendered useless.

In that regard, Werewolves were more dangerous than Vampires, but Dilan's thoughts on this were quite simple.

As long as nobody could hit him, it didn't matter how exceptional his opponents' means of attack were. They would be rendered useless because attacks that didn't deal any damage were basically a waste of time and energy.

However, if someone was supposed to be able to hit him, Dilan was still in possession of his near-impenetrable defense! If someone hit him, they shouldn't be able to pierce through him…not if he didn't want that to happen, at least!

Dilan smiled when he thought about his means of defensive tactics but he didn't let his mind wander and follow the intrusive thoughts that were trying to drag him down…not yet, at least.

He twisted his body, while using the accumulated momentum to deliver a feisty punch to the upper body of the smallest of the three Alphas.

Simultaneously, he recharged [Thunder Step] with more mana before he activated [Second Acceleration] as well.

The Alphas were quickly adjusting to Dilan's speed, which made it quite difficult for him to fight three of them at once.

There was a reason for Alphas to be the leader of their entire pack, and it was not only their ability to lead their subordinates properly but rather their power!

As Alphas, their wild instincts were the most prominent in the pack, including their instinctive movements. Working together in a tacit agreement, the three Alphas had slowly been getting through Dilan.

Yet, the moment he activated his second agility-increasing ability, their chances of victory diminished considerably. Dilan had far more combat experience than the three Alphas combined, and he made effective use of this.

His high stats, his combat experience, and his stat-boosting abilities were more than enough to deliver dozens of punches before the Alphas could even react.

The Alphas were covered in bruises all over their body after merely a minute had passed. They seemed to be faltering, which Dilan wanted to make use of as he began to change his fighting style at once.

He activated [Switch] and he relocated his Mana, Agility, and Stamina stat toward his Health stat. Through this, Dilan ended up with 350 Units of Health, which strengthened his body tremendously.

Additionally, with the use of his Special Trait [Stone Skin], Dilan's body became impenetrable to the razor-sharp claws of the Werewolves.

The Alphas just noticed that Dilan's speed had decreased and that he had stopped using [Thunder Step] and the second agility-boosting ability [Second Acceleration], which allowed them to finally hit their designated target; Dilan

However, the moment their claws collided, the Alphas realized that this was the only damage they could inflict upon him.

Chapter 360 Dilan's Monster Doppelganger

The Alphas' fur was disheveled and they were beaten black and blue.

They were lying on the ground, writhing and twitching like the half-dead Vampires while Dilan towered over them.

He had a devilish smile on his face as he bent down to the Alphas.

"Killing you would be a waste. Fight with all your might when we face the Vampires at the Sanctum," Dilan laughed lightly while patting the shoulder of the closest Werewolf.

"Our groups should get accustomed to each other during the day. We'll leave early in the morning tomorrow!" He ordered casually, not leaving any room for negotiation.

Afterward, Dilan didn't have anything else to say. He left the encampment of the three Alphas to tell his people to mix with the group of Werewolves to get to know them.

Whether it was for the fight against the Vampires, or to learn more about the strengths and weaknesses of the Werewolves, getting to know them was bound to be helpful.

While Dilan left, the three Alphas used all their willpower to get up from the ground.

"How the hell is he so powerful? It was not even possible for our claws to penetrate his skin…" The strongest of the three Alphas complained while the youngest sighed deeply.

"He is scary…and the scent of a noble Vampire lingers around him. He makes me feel nervous…" He revealed unwillingly.

"But it doesn't seem like he is the noble Vampire's blood servant or manipulated in any way…Maybe he really has a noble Vampire as a lover?" the Alpha of the Silverlight pack guessed, not sure if he was right or not.

The three Alphas looked behind Dilan before their subordinates rushed over to them, giving them a helping hand.

During the remaining days, Dilan met up with Sven, Kathrine, and Yvonne.

Dilan told the three all the information he had picked up about the Werewolves. This was mostly related to their strength, which would be helpful for Sven to come up with the perfect plan to make use of the Werewolves' power.

In the end, their joined forces were only around 2000-2500 combatants, and it was likely for close to 10,000 Vampires to face them near the Sanctum.

The numbers were likely to be less but it was always better to expect the worst. That way, you wouldn't be surprised if the worst case actually came true.

After he shared his intel, Dilan left the encampment. He wanted to increase his strength a little more and he had seen a few Gates nearby. There were also powerful monsters in the surrounding area.

They didn't dare to attack the huge encampment because it was filled with powerful Ascenders, but with Dilan strolling through the surrounding area all by himself, this was not a problem.

He concealed his strength as much as he was capable of so as to not startle the werewolves. This made things a lot easier and a bunch of powerful monsters attacked him.

However, Dilan was not satisfied with fighting a handful of monsters in half an hour. He was accustomed to more pressure and fighting with all his might.

It was easy for him to replenish his stamina and heal injuries in no time. There was no need for him to hold back.

Thus, Dilan retrieved a small vial he had received from Victoria.

The thick crimson red liquid was inside the vial, and Dilan tilted it as fat drops trickled on the ground around him when he was more than 50 kilometers away from the encampment.

"Let's see how potent your blood is, Victoria!" Dilan mumbled quietly as began his wait.

From the information Dilan had picked up, Vampire blood was of exceptional use for monsters. They would mutate after drinking a certain amount of ordinary Vampire blood, and it was possible for them to transform if the Vampire would actively attempt to turn them into their blood servants.

The blood of a powerful noble Vampire was of higher potency and Dilan awaited great results.

He didn't get disappointed as numerous powerful Tier-1 monsters rushed in his direction from all directions.

Tier-1 monsters had great smelling senses, which allowed them to smell even the faintest trace of Victoria's blood.

To his surprise, not just Tier-! But a few Tier-2 monsters also appeared.

"There are so many Tier-2 monsters already? Why does it feel like they're mocking me for still being at Tier-1?!" He grumbled, looking at the large number of monsters around him.

He retrieved Balzaki from his storage ring and brandished it right in front of himself.

"Who cares? I can still kill Tier-2 monsters even if I'm only at Tier-1!" He added, licking his lower lip in anticipation.

The number of Tier-2 monsters on Milarn seemed to be increasing rapidly and Dilan could tell that there was no time for him to waste.

Thus, with a push that released all his might at once, Dilan shot forward, with an aim to slaughter all his opponents.

Time passed quickly and Dilan ended up smeared with blood. Most Tier-2 monsters, who had followed the scent of Victoria's blood, had been ordinary or Bronze Tier-2 monsters.

Dilan guessed that the quality of their Essence crystals had decreased after they had chosen to complete one of the easiest missions to advance to Tier-2.

If that was not the case for most Tier-2 monsters to have an ordinary or Bronze Essence crystal, the Tier-2 monsters must have emerged on Milarn as Tier-2 existences already.

In some areas of the Shikan plains, there were many Gates, and they would throw hundreds, if not thousands of monsters on the Shikan plains before disappearing into nothingness.

In the end, Dilan was pretty sure that all his theories were somewhat true. It didn't really matter because the fact that more Tier-2 monsters appeared around him just meant that his Undying Group had to hasten up, otherwise, more anomalies like the Red Dragon may appear around their helpless group at any time and cause bloodshed.

Dilan didn't want to run away from any kind of monster anymore.

If possible, he would fight the Red Dragon with all his might, but Dilan knew that this was not possible for the time being.

While fighting with all his might, he could defeat Tier-2 noble Vampires, because he knew that his stats and abilities were more useful than theirs. He could tell that for sure, yet, he also knew that he was slowly becoming arrogant.

That was not good, and Dilan knew that.

He was so lost in thoughts that Dilan didn't even realize that he was fighting a more powerful opponent.

While most monsters were defeated after one, or at most, two slashes, the huge Tiger that had appeared in front of him was of a completely different caliber.

It was a Sabertooth tiger with razor-sharp teeth and a metal-like hide underneath its fur.

Dilan's attack managed to inflict some injury on the sabertooth tiger but the monster was able to heal rapidly. It was almost as if the Sabertooth tiger was a copy of Dilan, a monster with abilities unnervingly similar to his own.

The monster's rapid healing and metal-like hide made it an exceptionally dangerous opponent for most opponents.

However, Dilan didn't look at the situation like this. On the contrary, he began to enjoy fighting the Sabertooth tiger.

He had to focus more on his fight against the sabertooth tiger and a great idea flashed through his mind

"Shouldn't I…? That wouldn't be a bad idea!"

Chapter 361 Little Tiger

"I have no idea if you understand me, but you should fight by my side!" Dilan suddenly remarked, smiling devilishly as he looked down to the semi-conscious sabertooth tiger.

Instead of continuing to use Balzaki to cut through the sabertooth tiger, Dilan used his overwhelming strength, and [Switch] to further increase his strength in order to beat the sabertooth tiger to a pulp.

The sabertooth tiger's flesh wounds could heal easily but it was not possible for the monster to cope that easily with the damage Dilan caused with his bare hands.

"I will fight some Vampires soon, and you will become even stronger if you eat them. You have only one chance. Accept me as your master, or die now!" Dilan spoke coldly and the sabertooth tiger could dreadingly fathom what was going to happen if it were to shake its large head.

However, it didn't seem to like the way Dilan was treating it. Though, that was not something Dilan could be bothered about. He wanted the sabertooth tiger to fight by his side rather than as an opponent because it was a powerful Tier-2 monster with similar abilities.

The Vampires would have many problems facing both Dilan and the sabertooth tiger, which was the entire reason for Dilan not to kill the monster.

He gave the sabertooth tiger some time to think about his proposal. In the meantime, Dilan picked up all the Essence crystals of the 200ish monsters he had killed in the last hour.

[Essences of 161 Tier-1 monsters and 69 Tier-2 monsters have been absorbed→+3.6 Strength, +2.9 Stamina]

[Essence pool has been filled. Host reached Level 18(Tier-1)! +1.0 Status points can be allocated!]

The Essence that he received increased rapidly. If his Health, Agility or Mana stat would have increased after absorbing Essences, the unused stats would turn into more Essence, which Dilan would absorb right away.

This was one of the few advantages he gained from maxing out three of his five stats.

Once his Strength and Stamina would be maxed out as well, leveling up to Level 25 would be even easier.

Dilan liked this thought, which was also why he smiled faintly while looking intently at the sabertooth tiger. The monster flinched at the sight of the smile before it forced itself to stand up. It wasn't used to seeing opponents that stood their ground instead of running away for their lives.

The sabertooth tiger was only around two meters tall but that was almost perfect for Dilan to ride on it. At the same time, the monster was quite fast.

"Did you make your final decision?" Dilan asked in a commanding voice while looking the sabertooth tiger in the eye. It nodded its head and bowed at Dilan in submission.

"Good choice. Now, follow me!" He said in satisfaction before he shot in the opposite direction of the encampment.

Dilan had yet to finish his hunt for the day. He was not tired, and in contrast, was eager to fight more and more.

In the following hours, Dilan and the sabertooth tiger kept hunting, using a few more vials of Victoria's blood.

After Dilan had supplied Victoria with his blood a few times, the noble Vampire had entered a state of blood oversaturation. She had to release some of her blood to digest Dilan's sacred blood.

His blood was more important to Victoria than her own blood. Thus, she ended up giving Dilan more than enough blood to fill a large batch of blood vials.

That was why Dilan didn't even think about saving up some blood vials. He wanted to make use of every last drop until late at night when he returned to the base.

He was eyed weirdly as he rode on the sabertooth tiger, but everyone simply accepted the reality when they realized that it was Dilan they were talking about.

He was doing the weirdest stuff imaginable and it was not even the first time that he was doing such things. Hence, it was better for everyone to simply accept it. Asking what Dilan was doing and how he was doing certain things would cause too many people painful headaches.

Sven, Yvonne, and Kathrine were sitting around a map, trying to come up with the best strategy to surprise attack and overwhelm the Vampires when Dilan showed up.

"They may be higher in number but the Vampire Clans should be located further away from each other. They're the exact opposite of the socializing Werewolves and basically hate each other. Until they think about teaming up with each other, we should have eradicated a few of their families already!" Yvonne replied and was about to add more when she sensed the powerful presence of a monster.

Her hands automatically went to her weapon and she was ready to fight when she saw Dilan riding an unwilling sabertooth tiger.

The head of the sabertooth tiger looked a bit deformed as it was still healing from the wounds Dilan had inflicted, but the monster was still powerful.

"What the hell did you bring here?!" Yvonne asked, but Dilan could only blink his eyes.

"Ehm…a sabertooth tiger?" He answered, smiling lightly.

Yvonne bit her lip and clenched her fist so as to punch him when she saw Kathrine approaching the sabertooth tiger.

The monster growled weakly, which was enough for Kathrine to stop in her advance.

"I didn't tame it. I just used some…words to convince it that following me will help it to become stronger," Dilan said before he explained the sabertooth tiger's innate abilities.

"So, basically you didn't feel like killing it because it could be useful to fight against the Vampires?" Sven asked, while Kathrine quietly added,

"And you used brute force to convince it that following you for a few days will allow it to stay alive…great, we have a wild monster in our group now…"

Kathrine didn't sound pleased with Dilan's reckless decision but he just smiled.

"The sabertooth tiger should be stronger than Victoria," He revealed, which caused everyone to look at him with squinted eyes.

"You brought a monster into our base, which only you can handle? I guess you want to jump straight into the biggest crowd of Vampires while fighting them, or am I mistaking something?" Yvonne asked, subtly hinting at something.

Dilan nodded his head without a change of expression.

"I hope this little tiger can wreak havoc in the rows of the Vampires. It wouldn't even matter if he is incapable of controlling his wild instincts while wreaking havoc. After all, I would be there as well, and I'm maxed out!" Dilan added nonchalantly.

The three were still uncertain what to think of Dilan's plan but they could only nod their heads. The sabertooth tiger seemed to be afraid of Dilan.

This fear would prevent it from doing anything stupid and against Dilan's wishes.

That was helpful enough for Kathrine, Yvonne, and Sven to change their point of view once again.

"In that case, come and sit down. We need to come up with a different plan, now that you brought us a new secret weapon!" Sven said, sighing deeply.

Dilan sat down as told after he ordered the sabertooth tiger to lie down. Hours passed and they finished planning before everyone except Dilan fell into a deep slumber right on the table.

While the others were asleep, Dilan looked through his Log of the Ancient. He anticipated great action fighting the Vampires around the Sanctum.

However, there were also a few problems he would have to take care of.

'My stats won't increase anymore, even if I absorb the Blood Essences of the Vampires. Entering the Blood Monarch's Sanctum might also not be as fruitful for me if I don't advance to Tier-2 first…I should adjust my plan a bit…'

__________

Name: [Dilan Cier]

Rank[Tier-1 (Level 21)]

Race [Human]

Occupation [Kirak's Vassal(Divine)]

Title [Beyond the Stars <Bronze(Growth) >]

**

Strength= [110+11] (+20)

Health= [200+20](+15)

Stamina=[11+11] (+5)

Agility=[110+11](+20)

Mana=[110+11] (+11)

Status Points to allocate→7.0

**

-Origin ability-

[Regeneration] Tier-1 ★✭✭

-Special Trait-

[Stone Skin]

-Active abilities (3/4)-

[Thunder Step] Tier-1 ★✭✭

[Second Acceleration] Tier-1 ★✭✭

[Switch] Tier-0 ★★★★★✭✭

-Passive abilities (3/7)-

[Immunity] Tier-0 ★★★★★✭✭

[Nightvision] Ungraded ★★★★✭✭

[Language comprehension] Tier-1 ★✭✭

-Blessed Curse-

[Will of the Primordial]

Chapter 362 Initiating an attack

It was already noon of the following day when the Undying group and the three Werewolf packs reached the Sanctum of the Old Vampire Lord.

A huge circular building with a radius of more than one kilometer appeared in front of everyone's sight, and most Ascenders and Werewolves were baffled.

"Since when did such a large building exist on the Shikan plains?" Dilan asked, pretty sure that he hadn't seen this building when he had passed through the small valley in the Shikan plains.

The Sanctum of the Old Vampire Lord was located in the center of the Shikan plains and quite a few Ascenders of Dilan's Undying group had been there as well.

It was a tiny valley without much flourishing nature. The area was scarce of trees like the rest of the plains but there had been a beautiful riverbed that was known as 'The Lovers' River'.

Many young men and women in their 20s had visited this river because of the legend behind it, and none of them recognized the huge building that ought to be the Sanctum of the Old Vampire Lord.

"It looks quite dirty, so maybe it emerged from underground?" Kathrine guessed without giving it much thought.

It was not actually important where the Sanctum came from. Instead, it was much more important that there were more than a dozen Vampire Clans around the Sanctum.

"We're going to attack the Vampire Clans where they don't expect us to strike….so this Clan should be our first target, right?" Yvonne asked, pointing at one of the groups that were living all by themselves on the southern side of the Sanctum.

"I bought a few Sound barrier dome Magic Scrolls from the Taurus shop. It will be easier to stay unnoticed," Sven added before he pointed out something else, "But first of all, we will scout the surroundings. This will take an hour or two. Afterward, we will see what plan to pick based on the circumstances!"

Dilan nodded his head before he sat down on the ground, his legs dangling from the small slope that led down to the valley.

The valley only stretched a few kilometers and a group of more than 2000 armored men and women would be noticed easily.

That was only obvious, especially against Vampires, who had great senses.

Launching a surprise attack on them wouldn't be easy but that was not necessary as long as only a few Vampire Clans would notice their approach.

Two hours passed and all the leaders and their strategists were given a report of the situation in the valley.

"16 Vampire Clans, of which three are the furthest outside the Valley. They have teamed up, are more than 1500 in number and it will be difficult to kill them without facing casualties," The Alpha of the Silverlight pack reported with a frown.

Avoiding casualties was important for the Werewolves. They might look like wild animals once in a while but they were actually empathetic to their brethren. The Alphas wanted to eradicate the Vampires by all means but they also wanted to make sure that their subordinates would survive.

Their pack was their family, and their family was supposed to be protected, after all!

"Then let's descend into the valley through the southern forest. It's only scarce but they can block our movements slightly. That way, only three or four Vampire Clans will take note of us immediately. If we use the Magic Scrolls to mask the battle noises, it should be possible to fight the three to four Vampire Clans before we will be noticed by the other Vampire clans when we advance towards them," Sven proposed a simple plan.

It was nothing special but the others nodded their heads in agreement as Sven continued to speak when he noticed that nobody had something to add to his plan.

"Dilan should fight off the Vampire Clan with the strongest Vampires all by himself, and the other Vampire Clans shall be outnumbered with five Ascenders focusing on one Vampire at a time. As for the Werewolves, you guys can either fight one on one with the focus on stalling your opponents or if possible kill them.

I have yet to analyze your fighting style, which makes it difficult to come up with the best-customized plan," Sven suggested honestly without a trace of embarrassment.

Some may wonder how Sven could be the strategist of the Undying group with the simple and obvious plans he revealed but not Dilan who was the leader.

Dilan could tell that the simplest plans would be the easiest to see through, especially since the Werewolf packs and the Undying group had never fought together.

He nodded his head, got up from the ground, and went to the area where the slope had most trees 'densely' packed together.

The others followed him after they finished their preparations and the small army of 2000+ Ascenders and Werewolves split up into three equal groups. Only Dilan was the one to shoot downward like an avalanche all on his own.

"If there are only three Vampire Clans, who take note of us, please kill the strongest Vampires of all groups," The voice of the telepath, Niko, reached Dilan's ear and he looked backward, just to see that the young telepath was right next to Sven.

Sven nodded his head at Dilan, who could only sigh as he descended the slope slowly. He reached the valley in no time before he began searching for the Vampire Clans.

Two Vampire Clans had already taken note of two of their three parties and the third party was noticed not long after.

The Vampires in the two Clans were shocked but they moved rapidly. Instead of avoiding clashing with the Werewolves and humans, the Vampires shot forward without a sign of hesitation.

'They didn't even bring their blood servants with them. Why is that?' Dilan wondered all of a sudden.

He understood that there weren't any blood servants or other vile Ascenders in Shiron when the first four Vampire Clans had attacked them, but there hadn't been any blood servants on the battlefield of the Vampires and Werewolves as well.

And now, the same situation occurred once again, which was why Dilan felt that something was off.

'The Blood Legion had both blood servants and evil Ascenders but why nobody else? Are they too prideful to take in humans now, or what?' Dilan was a bit confused but he didn't allow such thoughts to corrupt his mind.

He focused on the situation around him, which included the fact that the first two groups had already engaged. They had activated the Sound barrier dome Magic Scroll to block all the noises their fights would cause and alert the others.

The third Vampire Clan surveyed the situation around them and noticed that the third party of the Undying group and the Werewolf packs was bound to clash with them at any minute.

Dilan nodded his head in satisfaction when he saw the ongoing battle. The teamwork of the Werewolf packs was near perfect and the Undying group's Ascenders were trying to copy that in order to show off how strong they were.

There was an ongoing rivalry between the Werewolves and the Ascenders of Dilan's group, and Dilan wholeheartedly supported this.

After all, it was a healthy type of competition, not something bloodthirsty.

However, now it was not the time for him to blankly watch other fights.

"It's time for me to play as well!

Chapter 363 Womanizer

Getting rid of the three Vampire Clans was quite easy. For most Vampire Clans it was already surprising if there were more than 100 Vampire subordinates for each noble Vampire.

In most Vampire Clans one could find roughly five noble Vampires on average. Sometimes there were many more, such as in the battle where 6000 Vampires had been present but this was basically an anomaly that was not supposed to happen.

After all, each Vampire subordinate would have to receive a fragment of a noble Vampire's Blood Essence.

100 Blood Essences could be separated from a noble Vampire without influencing his powers negatively, but that was usually the limit.

In a large-scale battle against the Vampires, the noble Vampires had been unique. There had only been 10 noble Vampires of the same family, but they could regenerate their Blood Essence and thus create more Vampire subordinates.

That was also the reason why the fights against the first three Vampire Clans ended so quickly.

Dilan killed the strongest Vampires in each group, with ease, using both [Thunder Step] and [Second Acceleration] to make sure that he could defeat them quickly enough before the remaining Vampires were left to fend for themselves like lost puppies without any connection to their master.

After he had killed the vampire leaders, and the three Clans were exterminated, Dilan collected their Blood Essences. He didn't absorb them because their use was non-existent with his maxed-out stats but he stored them away to use after he advanced to Tier-2.

When the battles were over, Dilan met his people to ensure that his group had suffered no casualties and that nobody was gravely injured.

With Dilan's support, it had been no problem to kill the Vampires, and even the Werewolves, who liked him the least, couldn't help but acknowledge his strength.

It didn't matter whether they liked him or not because the results of the battles were the most important.

After the first three Vampire Clans had been exterminated, it was necessary for them to quickly advance ahead.

The remaining Vampire Clans would quickly smell the blood of their brethren because it would spread through the entire valley.

Dilan and the others had already accepted this and they traveled toward the western side of the Sanctum. The Vampire Clans were the furthest spread out there, which would make it difficult for them to enter a tacit agreement.

Vampires were prideful and they would only swallow their pride in the face of imminent death. Thus, Dilan and the 2000+ combatants would have to work hard and overwhelm their opponents as quickly as possible.

With a numerical advantage of five to one, while fighting a single Vampire Clan, it was a matter of minutes before the Vampires would die.

Adding Dilan's subtle support to kill the noble Vampires, and the Tier-2 Vampires with special traits that were a menace, the Vampire Clans were falling one after another.

Only when a total of eight Vampires clans were left behind did everyone in the valley realize that the Undying group and the Werewolf packs were here to eradicate everyone.

They were noticed and the five solo Vampire Clans threw aside their pride to join forces and tackle their mighty opponents.

The three Vampire Clans, who had already been together beforehand, seemed to want to team up with the five Vampire Clans as well.

With a total strength of members of eight Clans, they would have more than enough powerful forces to inflict tremendous damage to the Undying group.

Dilan wouldn't allow that, which was something everyone in his group knew. They were fully aware of Dilan's strength and that he would kill all the powerful noble Vampires before something catastrophic would happen.

That was the trust and belief they had in their leader.

"Isn't it weird that we have yet to fight the Clan of the new Vampire Lord? There hasn't been any powerful noble Vampire in the Clans I killed…" Dilan mumbled when he ended up next to the three Alphas.

They looked at him with stiffened tails as they stared at him in doubt and a trace of fear.

'What the hell is he talking about? The noble Vampires of the Clans he killed terrorized the Werewolves all over the Shikan plains for over a thousand years, and he calls them weak…'

'Shouldn't we be happy that the Vampire Lord isn't here?! Even True Alphas have issues fighting such a powerhouse, let alone us…'

'This human is really insane…Will we really be able to get the Sanctum Keys from him…maybe we should just let him be and enter the Blood Monarch's Sanctum first. I really don't want to sacrifice my pack to defeat him, if that is even possible, to begin with…'

Those were the thoughts of the three Alphas. Each of them could clearly gauge the enormous strength Dilan held and none of them wanted to fight against him anymore.

Their initial plan to backstab him had already been discarded because it was suicidal.

How were they supposed to kill him if it was not even possible to cut through his skin, to begin with!?!

While the three Alphas were deep in thought, their subordinates began to growl while looking at the north. Someone came running in their direction, straight from the group of the three Vampire Clans, who showed signs of wanting to team up with the other five Vampire Clans.

They had yet to move but it was only a matter of time until that would happen.

Dilan smiled when he saw the familiar flash that halted right in front of him.

The Alphas began to growl as well. They activated their Bestial transformation instinctively and were ready to pounce at the female Vampire, who had appeared out of nowhere.

However, they could only freeze in their tracks when they saw Dilan's ice-cold expression. His killing intent erupted like a volcano from his body, causing shudders to run down the spines of all the Werewolves around him.

"Whoever dares to touch a single strand of her hair will have to learn how to walk without legs and eat without arms," Dilan said quietly as he squeezed the right cheek of the noble Vampire in front of him.

Victoria wanted to complain about him squeezing her cheek but she could only smile foolishly. She liked the way Dilan protected her, whether it was necessary or not.

"Tch!" The sound of someone clicking her tongue could be heard from behind and when Dilan turned around, he saw Kathrine, Yvonne, Sven, and a few others walking up to him.

It looked like they had something to say but Kathrine glared daggers at Dilan.

"You really are a womanizer!" She grumbled quietly, turning her head with a "Hmpf!"

Dilan lifted his right eyebrow in response before he smiled lightly.

Kathrine was a pretty good target to tease.

However, Dilan knew that now was not the time to think about teasing someone. He turned in Victoria's direction before he asked the most important question.

"It looks like you weren't able to make them leave, right?" Dilan asked, feeling a tiny bit apologetic.

"…No…I wasn't…" Victoria's expression quickly turned gloomy and she let out a defeated sigh.

He didn't want to kill anyone, who was important to Victoria, but it would be near impossible to take note of this if the three Vampire Clans were to merge with the five hostile Vampire clans.

"In that case, I might have to resort to violence!"

Chapter 364 Threat

Dilan didn't hesitate to separate from his group.

He told Kathrine and Yvonne to pay attention to the five Vampire Clans that had merged into one group, while he would leave to finish off the group of three Vampire Clans.

Dilan's intention was to give the three Vampire Clans a last chance at survival. They could either make use of this chance and flee for their lives or die at his hands right here and right now.

"I hope you understand what will happen if they don't obey," Dilan said monotonously as he ran through the valley. Victoria was by his side, biting on the inside of her cheek as she nodded her head in silence.

The sabertooth tiger was left behind with Yvonne, who could control the monster to a certain extent. Yvonne was amongst the strongest members of the Undying Group.

She was still at Tier-1 but her stats were high enough to rival most Tier-2 Ascenders, and her abilities were extremely powerful as well.

Thus, Dilan was not worried about her.

He didn't even worry about the three Vampire Clans, who he would finish off real quick, because they were bound to submit to his threat.

He activated [Switch] the moment all the Vampires of the three Clans looked over at him and Victoria.

He reallocated 60 Health Units, 30 Stamina Units, and 10 Strength units to his Agility, to increase it to 210 Units, adding the [Beyond the Stars] title that amplified his stats by 10%, making his normal Agility reach 231 Units.

However, that was not enough for Dilan and he activated both [Thunder Step] and [Second Acceleration] to increase his stats to 390 Units.

The boots he was wearing added 20 Units to his Agility, which was how Dilan ended up with stats that exceeded the realm any Tier-1 existence ought to be able to reach.

Even Tier-2 existence shouldn't be able to enhance their stats to such an extent because their body would tear apart.

However, Dilan was currently still somewhat fine. His skin would burst open the moment he unleashed all his might but with a Health stat of 235 Units, he was still somewhat fine!

He used [Burst Regeneration] to make sure that he wouldn't suffer a lot of damage before he leaned forward and shot ahead.

A sonic boom reverberated through the entire valley as Dilan perked forward. An excited smile formed on his face and he felt like retrieving Balzaki and starting a massacre.

Fortunately, it was possible for Nial to control his urges, maintain his calm and shoot straight into the rows of Vampires, who only realized what was going on when it was already too late.

When Dilan passed through their rows, all the Vampires were pushed backward. Dilan didn't even try to avoid anyone. He simply seemed to move around with the grace of a dancer, grasped a few collars, and dragged certain Vampires behind himself. He put them down more than two kilometers away from their group and returned to pick up more.

In less than half a minute all powerful noble Vampires of the three Vampire Clans had been picked up and thrown in the same area, dumping them above each other likes heaps of trash.

Dilan halted in his tracks to look at the noble Vampires with ice-cold eyes before he pointed out their situation.

"I could have killed all of you by now. You guys weren't even able to escape being dragged out here, so I doubt anyone will try to deny reality," Dilan started before he gave the dozen or so noble Vampires a scrutinizing look.

They looked at him in fear, just like he had intended, and only continued to speak when he was satisfied.

"For Victoria's sake, I spared you once. I suggest that you leave the valley of the Old Vampire Lord's Sanctum, for the time being, otherwise, the Werewolves will tear you apart. I won't show any mercy to my opponents either!" Dilan's thirst for blood was evident as warned them.

His bloodlust shrouded his body before it expanded through his surroundings, impacting the Vampires around him.

Victoria had reached his side, and she looked at the situation in anxiety but also hope. Dilan's threat and the way he picked out all powerful noble Vampires from the place they were supposed to be the safest should have influenced the opinion of the noble Vampires.

If that was not enough, even Victoria couldn't help them anymore, which was something she was fully aware of.

"Are you one of the Werewolves' allies?" One of the noble Vampires asked carefully and quietly but did not avoid Dilan's gaze.

His crimson glowing eyes stared deeply into Dilan's ice-cold sky-blue eyes as if the Vampire was searching for something.

"Allies? Not really. They just wanted to kill all Vampires of the Shikan plains and I wanted to make use of them to enter the Sanctum of the Old Vampire Lord without further issues. You know, I had to face quite some issues because of a bunch of Vampire Clans. I just want the Instance Dungeon and to take a look at the Sanctum, nothing more," Dilan spoke honestly while shrugging his shoulders.

There was no need to hide the truth, and the only thing Dilan had left out was the fact that he made sure that his Undying group's Ascenders would gain more experience with killing and surviving on the battlefield, without facing too many dangerous situations.

The Werewolves were basically Dilan's meatshields whether they wanted or not.

It looked like the noble Vampire was relieved when he heard that Dilan was not an ally of the Werewolves, but Dilan didn't really notice it.

"We will take your leave then. Are we allowed to enter the Sanctum when you leave?" The same noble Vampire asked and Dilan nodded his head.

It didn't really matter much but Dilan hadn't expected the Vampire nobles to be able to talk calmly.

And a single glance in Victoria's direction told Dilan that she seemed to be just as astounded, not expecting the reaction of the strongest present noble Vampire.

Victoria knew the noble Vampire, and she was certain that he wouldn't simply accept Dilan's threat. However, that was a big miscalculation from her side.

When the strongest of the present noble Vampires spoke his mind, the others agreed grudgingly as well. They didn't feel like putting aside their pride but they were forced to do so in order to survive.

None of them had witnessed Dilan's combat strength but the fact that he was able to run fast enough to bring them here without giving them an opportunity to react in time was a telltale sign of what a monstrous existence he was.

It didn't need much strength for Dilan to pierce a dagger through their eyes to destroy their brains. As for the rest, Dilan shouldn't have much issues taking care of that himself as well.

After everyone agreed to leave, Victoria sighed in relief. She looked at Dilan gratefully and with something else glimmering in her eyes.

Her eyes burned fiercely but Dilan ignored that for the time being.

He just looked at the noble Vampires, who rushed back to their people, who had been anxiously waiting for their masters.

They left the valley without saying anything which was enough for Dilan to avert his attention to the remaining five Vampire Clans.

"Victoria, how about you fight a little bit as well? Go and kill some of the noble Vampires you hate so much!" Dilan laughed lightly before he slapped Victoria's butt.

Victoria squealed out in surprise and she looked at him in shock, before a bright smile emerged on her face. The glint in her eyes deepened and she instinctively blurted out,

"As you wish, Master~!"