Chapter 55: Criminal Hunting

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"P-Please spare me, my lord! I was wrong! T-They convinced me to work for them because I had a debt with them! P-Please don't kill me!"

The old goblin's neck was being held tightly by Vlad's armored hands. He might be cursed, and his stats were lowered, but his armor plus his stat bonuses made him strong enough to easily crush a goblin's neck with his bare hands.

The bodies of the other thieves littered around the floor, their blood having been drained by Vlad as he mostly drank it all, leaving their bodies as dried mummies, which only added to the horror factor.

"I simply had no idea that such a powerful noble vampire was coming here! W-We couldn't notice your appearance with that armor covering your body!"

Vampires were most of the time nobles of great power; every citizen of the entire world of Obscuritas knew this very well, and most of the time they would choose not to mess with them unless they were fools, like it happened once when Vlad was assaulted while looking for blood with Camilla.

"Of course you wouldn't have attacked me if you knew I was strong," Vlad said. "But what about all those you've attacked, robbed, and killed? Do you think that because it doesn't affect me, I won't make you pay for those people?"

"A-A Vampire with Empathy?!" The goblin was even more shocked as he heard Vlad's words.

Usually, vampires don't care about the misfortune of others, not even of the citizens of their own territory. As long as THEY were fine, nothing else mattered.

That thought process was fine and common for poor people who couldn't afford to take care of others, even more so for weaklings.

However, vampires were powerful nobles that should take responsibility for their own territories; despite that, their pride and selfishness made them terrible rulers!

Therefore, the only way people kept loyalty towards them was because they were just physically strong and could, most of the time, deter threats coming from outside their cities.

Nonetheless, criminals abuse the vampires' indifference and lack of empathy and care for others, easily proliferating in their cities' darkest alleys, where the vampires would never step into.

"Empathy? I'm simply being a responsible lord of this city," said Vlad. "It wouldn't sit right with me to let all of you rats proliferate everywhere, worsening the place I live. Now, Chris, he's yours."

"Fine, okay~" Chris shrugged. "Time to use the true powers of an Incubus, hehe~"

"W-What are you doing…?!" The Goblin trembled as he saw Alitheus delicate hands touch his wrinkled, greasy forehead.

Although he felt slightly blessed to be touched by such a beautiful girl or boy, as he discovered just recently, he was still pissing himself out of fear.

Because he knew that if this boy was truly an Incubus, then that meant...

"No, don't do it…! Please!"

"Heheh~ {Dream Eater}!"

With a light chuckle, Chris activated his racial ability—the power to devour dreams themselves—and no, it didn't matter if the person wasn't sleeping. When they were much weaker than the user, it worked once they were completely subdued.

The old goblin couldn't fight back as Vlad held him tightly, and Chris powers activated. Pink clouds wrapped around the goblin's head, and then fragments of his memories and dreams started coming out.

"So this is how it works the first time you use it?" wondered Vlad.

"Yeah," nodded Chris. "It looks like eating dreams is part of what I should've been doing since the beginning! A-Anyways, dreams are also composed of memories and hopes, so you can easily scoop out things a person has done or seen through them."

"That's really useful; it was a good idea then!" Vlad nodded, patting Chris head.

"Don't pat my head while I'm busy!" Chris barked angrily, resembling a wrathful chihuahua.

Like that, after a couple of minutes, Chris was able to devour the old goblin's dreams and memories, leaving him with brain damage and killing him.

Yeah, it was possible to kill someone by eating their dreams and memories, although it took a while to do so.

"Hm, that wasn't bad... Now let's see... Ugh, a lot of disgusting shit," Chris groaned. "This guy's really degenerate. How can this game make NPCs this wicked? Hmm, yeah, he was lying about the debt. He is a member of an underground gang; there's like two big ones that are constantly fighting for territory here. The thugs you killed were his lackeys."

"I see, what else?" Vlad wondered.

"He specializes in robbing Players, apparently he dealt with drugs and common thievery before," Chris said. "Over a hundred Players have fallen victim to him by now… Ugh, my head hurts a bit. I think that's about it. I learned where he came from and how to get to their hideout. The place's full of thieves and bandits, though; they also got a boss and everything."

"What's the gang's name? Does it have one?" I asked.

"Green Fangs," said Chris. "They're mostly all orcs or goblins. Their boss is a strong Hobgoblin named Chuklet… I don't know how strong he is from his perspective because this old man's too weak on his own, but… He's mighty."

"Nice," Vlad nodded. "Let's take care of them for now; once we get there, we can then gather more memories for the other gang if that hobgoblin knows anything."

"I guess so... But you do the killing; I don't know how you can so easily kill these people. I know it's a game and all, but I don't want to if possible," said Chris.

"That's fine," said Vlad. "Though, if the situation becomes dire, you'll have to help."

"Ok, ok~" Chris yawned. "Let's go now, before I fall asleep of boredom~ Show me some action."

"Huh? Weren't you afraid of bloodshed?" Vlad laughed as he stored the corpses in his inventory, one after another.

"I'm not afraid of bloodshed; I just don't want to do it myself." Chris shrugged. "But it's nice seeing you do it, hehe."

"That's… I think you're contradicting yourself," Vlad sighed. "Are you sure you're not just lazy?"

"Hey! Who's investigating minds and stuff here? I'm totally useful!" said the little incubus. "Now, chop-chop, hurry!"

"Fine…"

The two quickly left the run-down place, not before ransacking it out of every single valuable they found. The first room barely had anything other than expired potions, but the second floor and a third hidden floor underground were full of stuff they had robbed from players: beginner potions, armor, teleportation scrolls, and more.

"It's unfair how we didn't get any of these beginner items!" Chris complained.

"Yeah, because we chose a random background and got a legendary one, apparently you don't get much beginner stuff," said Paul.

After stealing all the goodies and coming out with 300k Credits in each of their pockets, they moved forward, quickly encountering more ruffians along the way, which Vlad easily took care of by cleaving them apart and draining them out of their blood until they became mummies.

Eventually…

"W-Who are you?! Just who the hell are you!"

A group of orcs and goblins were defending the area that led to their underground hideout; there were roughly twelve of them, wearing fancy armor and weapons freshly stolen from players.

"My name is Vlad Von Sange, the seventh prince of the Iron Blood Empire!" said Paul. "Young Lord of Elderbridge. And today I've come to punish you, scoundrels! Prepare yourselves!"

"T-The young lord?!"

"But wasn't he a cripple?"

"W-What's going on here!"

"Oi, and that damn girl keeps sucking everyone's dreams! Is this how they learned about our whereabouts?"

"Succubus are rare…! Dammit! Where did he find one?!"

The dozen fighters quickly had nothing else to do but attack Vlad. Weapon techniques, skills, and even magic spells were launched at him, yet his mighty armor protected him from all harm.

CLASH! BOOM! CRASH! RUMBLE!

He was sure there were at least a few Tiers 3 mixed in the crowd, yet they simply couldn't even harm him; he was a walking wall.

"Compared to Vlad's brother or that dragon, these guys are really weak; they aren't even pushing me back…" Paul thought. "Well, let's finish this quickly!"

"My turn."

With a vicious, predatory smile, the young vampire took a step forward, swinging his magic sword as he imbued it with a powerful aura of Arcana, activating one of his skills in the process.

"{Dual Blazing Blade Arts}: {One Sword Style: Burning Cleave}"

SLAAASH!

A slashing wave made of fire was unleashed, spreading out as Vlad spun in the ground. The flames engulfed his foes, burning through their armor as the slashing attack destroyed their weapons.

"Ugh…!"

"Uuaaggh!"

"F-Fire?!"

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

As they agonized, Vlad pressed forward, swinging his blade, cutting through their limbs while searing the wounds, leaving them all in a state of agony, barely alive.

"Your turn."

"Hehehe, thanks~!"

Chris had grown addicted to eating dreams, which actually enhanced the growth of his Lust Stigma. One by one, they were all emptied out of their dreams, memories, and minds, dying from brain damage.

"Hmm, got it," Chris nodded, who saw these memories and dreams like little videos or gifs in front of him. "Alright, let's go. I know their password and where to go. The place down there is like a damn labyrinth, though. I hope you're ready."

"Hah, to think they made such a thing down below, bastards…" sighed Vlad. "Let's go then."

After Vlad took all the corpses and any items they found lingering around, which were mostly just more of the beginner items these ruffians stole, they moved to a room underground.

As they walked downstairs, it seemed as if the whole room was actually empty, but after closer inspection, Vlad felt something.

By using his enhanced senses, he felt a slight flow of air and wind.

Lifting his foot and then kicking it down, he broke through the floor, revealing a small cave leading underground.

"And there it is, told ya," said Chris, winking at Paul.

"I'm lucky to have such a cute assistant," Paul laughed. "Let's go; you guide me from behind, and I do the slaying."

"Gotcha!" Chris nodded, flying behind Paul. "Now jump, my loyal steed!" he said while grabbing Paul's shoulder armor.

"I'm not your horse…"

Although he said that, Vlad jumped right into the hole at his beloved little incubus' commands.

As he landed on the wet dirt floor, he glared around; there were a few torches lighting the place barely.

He was thankful that, as a vampire, he could see in the darkest of places anyway, so this wasn't a problem for him or Chris.

[You have entered the [Green Fang Underground Hideout] Secret Dungeon!]

[Difficulty Level: Tier 3 ~ 5]

"That hard?!"

"Eh?!"

Both Paul and Chris were shocked to see the difficult level of the Dungeon! This meant that the final boss, the Hobgoblin known as Chuklet, was someone at Tier 5!

"If he's so strong, why hasn't he tried doing something more bold?" wondered Paul.

"Well, I guess it's because your mom's still stronger, right?" asked Chris. "Anyways, wasn't Vlad's brother just as strong?"

"I don't know if he was just as strong, but that dragon helped him a lot… Hm, well, we're already here, so we might as well go," Paul said. "If push comes to shove… I'll use my trump cards."

"Trump cards? So you got multiple ones now?" laughed Chris. "Aren't you cool~?"

"Stop with it; be serious for a moment; things are going to get more intense."

As they advanced across the labyrinthine caves thanks to Chris' lead, they quickly met with bandits and thugs, who blocked their path, most of the time alarmed by their presence appearing out of nowhere.

SLASH!

"W-Who are you- UWAACK!"

SLASH!

"Stop that- AGH!"

SLASH!

"How did he get here- GYAGH!"

There was no time to sit down and eat their dreams this time; Paul mercilessly slashed them apart one after another. As many as they came, he killed them and absorbed their blood.

Eventually, they reached a single path forward, blocked by twenty more ruffians, wearing heavy armor, holding weapons, and even magic wands.

"I don't know how you got here, you bastard, but you're not taking another step forward!"

Faced with twenty foes at once, Paul looked… very relaxed.

"I guess this is all you can offer at the end… The real threat will be the final boss."

"CHARGE!"

Commanded by what seemed to be a red-skinned orc capable of wielding flames, the criminals rushed forward, swinging weapons, firing magic spells, and more.

Paul rushed forward, swinging his blade once, twice, and thrice, this time while also wielding a second sword made out of a Blazing Doppelganger.

"{Dual Blazing Blade Arts}: {Two Swords Style: Three-Headed Infernal Snake}"

By combining Geomancy with this technique, Paul was able to create illusions that carried tremendous power.

Three slashes of his two swords turned into a giant, three-headed serpent, devouring and burning through his foes. Its sharp fangs tore apart their flesh as explosions of flames blew his foes into pieces.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Within mere seconds, he was done.

Without saying a word, he walked forward, quickly reaching the end of the long corridor. A huge chamber greeted him; it was empty.

Aside from a single person, a tall, muscular man with green skin and sharp crimson eyes was sitting over a throne sculped out of mud, with two human skulls and an orc skull on top.

He looked like a goblin, yet he was taller and more muscular, like an orc, wearing armor made of black steel and with a huge axe at his left side.

"So you're the damn bastard making a mess on my turf?" the hobgoblin said. "Who the hell do you think you are, you filthy fucking bastard?!"

He quickly stood up, unleashing a powerful aura.

"I'm the lord of this damn place, and you're going out, Chuklet." Vlad smiled, revealing his face.

The confidence of the hobgoblin quickly dropped to zero.

"E-Eh?! A vampire?!" he screamed. "Wait, the young lord?! T-The one that slayed the orcs that invaded… and the raid bosses?!"

"So you're well informed," Vlad nodded. "This'll make things quicker, then."

"Hahaha…! D-Don't think that I'll go down so easily, though!"

While trembling in fear out of nowhere, the powerful Tier 4 Hobgoblin quickly took out from his pocket a huge black orb.

"Wait, he's Tier 4? So who's Tier 5?!" Chris panicked. "Paul!"

"Yeah!"

Paul rushed forward, trying to stop the hobgoblin from using that orb for whatever he was planning. He swung his blades, unleashing a storm of slicing flames.

BOOOM!

"Did that stop him- Ah!"

However, as the smoke dissipated, a figure as tall as Chuklet appeared, standing in front of him. His body was almost completely covered with black robes, and he wore a semi-transparent black hood over his head, revealing his barely visible blonde hair beneath.

From what little skin Paul could see, it was of a clear brown color, and he quickly realized there was a pair of long ears at each end of their head, slightly poking out of the black hood.

Covering their face from the nose below, there was a black veil, but Paul could see their delicate and small nose and their sharp, emerald eyes.

Holding two black daggers with intricate designs resembling snakes, the figure unleashed a powerful, cursed, dark aura.

"What a bother... Did you have to call me for such a thing?" The young man talked with a surprisingly soft voice. "Don't tell me you can't handle these two clowns?"

"I-I already paid you in advance, Shamir! Take those bastards down while I get out of here!" said the fearful hobgoblin.

"He summoned someone else!" Chris said. "Bastard! Stop running away!"

"Wait, Chris!" Paul ran towards Chris, barely dragging him back, before Shamir appeared in front of him.

The assassin's daggers moved down rapidly, mowing through the empty air and generating shockwaves of shadows, sending the two flying away.

"Did you think I would let you touch him?" the young man asked. "Hmph… So a vampire man and... a succubus of some sort? First time for me fighting such foes. Don't die too quickly, please."

Before Paul or Chris could react, Shamir moved at lightning speed, leaving behind a path of shadows, his two daggers moving down towards their heads.

At the same time, Paul noticed how golden particles of sand, which were actually a type of energy he had never seen before, encompassed the assassin's body, and then his daggers.

"{Soul Artifact}: {Dual Shadow Serpent Daggers: Enchant}"

"Soul Artifact?!"

Paul quickly remembered where that word came from.

That's the unique power that people who come from the Realm of Sand and Dunes wield!

"That damn hobgoblin summoned someone from a whole other realm?!"

And it just happened to be the most dangerous Realm of them all.

The Realm of Ennead.

CLAAASH!

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Can't wait to see what's next? You can join my Patreon: 

https://www.patreon.com/pancakeswitch 

and gain access to all these Advanced Chapters:

60 Advanced Chapters of

The Protagonist's Sister Is Actually The Strongest

39 Advanced Chapters of

The Heavenly Martial Empress Returns

17 Advanced Chapters of

Fantasy Story Online: The Crippled Vampire Prince Walks The Heavenly Demon Path