Chapter 118: The Vampire Castle

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I stood in front of the huge crimson gates of Countess Blednica's Castle. I did all the preparations that I could for this day, and after saying my goodbyes to everyone, I climbed the hill until I found myself where I was.

I was alone with my sword, confronting the vampire castle. Its red gates emanate a dreadful aura of death and blood. If I hadn't come this far, my hands would certainly be trembling right now.

However, after facing so many challenges until now, it feels like I can do anything.

Yet… I cannot let these thoughts get into my head. If I am careless, it'll only spell doom for me and the demons below.

"Blednica, I know you're watching me. Open the gates."

As I spoke, the blood-red aura gathered together into some sort of spectral being, with two huge red eyes glaring at me.

"So you're here…" She giggled. "If you're so eager to slay me, you must first... accomplish this little challenge of mine! {Blood World Domain}!"

FLASH!

The crimson red mist suddenly started to change form and shape, dividing itself and then materializing into a dozen Blood Knights, led by one that wasn't wearing a helmet, with a cocky smile and purple hair, alongside sharp, arrogant red eyes.

The red mist kept expanding as it materialized into a huge, crimson-colored bubble. It wasn't just some barrier; it twisted space itself into a domain, trapping me and the knights inside.

[You have been trapped inside [Vampire Countess: Blednica]'s {Blood World Domain}!]

[A Domain that works like a pocket dimension of its own, you cannot leave until you manage to destroy it by collapsing its pillars.]

[While being inside the {Blood World Domain}, your HP is constantly being drained by 0.01% per second.]

I see, so this was her plan, huh? She never intended to even let me inside the castle to begin with. She wanted to trap me here with her knights and let me die pathetically as I was overwhelmed from all sides.

"We see you at long last, Celestial." The man spoke with a fascinated smile.

His figure was much taller than the rest; even his red armor was finely decorated with golden linings and demon-like wings as decorations above his shoulders.

The weapons he wielded were also different; instead of a sword or a spear, he was holding a halberd imbued with several magical stones; it was finely crafted and even held a soul. A Demonic Weapon of rather high quality.

He was no ordinary Blood Knight; Blednica prepared a big shot just for me.

"I'm not a celestial; I'm a mere human." I smiled back at the vicious vampire, confronting him fearlessly.

My fearless expression seemed to piss him off a lot as he twisted his handsome face in anger, showing me his sharp canine teeth and his eyes glowing redder.

"Hmph, you wield the powers of the celestials; you hold their wings; you have their eyes; and also that annoying, prideful aura... You say you're a human?! It is the first time I heard a celestial lie this shamelessly!" Laughed the purple-haired Vampire. "I, the Magic Blood Knight Asparthes, shall slay you today!"

"Do your worst." I provoked him.

"My knights! The first one to spill her blood shall be rewarded with fifty blood crystals!" Laughed Asparthes.

"RAAAAH!"

The Blood Knights instantly roared in unison after hearing his commands. Their auras erupted powerfully as they charged forward without hesitating. Their eyes seemed as fearless and wrathful as Blood Thralls. Were they letting out all their bloodlust and undergoing some sort of berserk state?

They were all around A+ Rank, while Asparthes was A++ rank. None were as strong and mighty as the Blood Thrall Wendigo King, but together they would make for a serious challenge.

"Alright, if you charge at me together, that'll make things easier."

I did not move as they charged towards me, however. I braced myself, imbuing my armor and body with my Ki and Mana at the same time. With small bits of Cosmic Energy as well, Gram changed into its Celestial Mode, while my other hand was holding the Dragon Tooth Dagger tightly.

"DIE!"

Five Blood Knights jumped towards me, unleashing their techniques. Their swords and spears glowing with their Demonic Energy and Blood aura—attacks that could easily devastate half a village—reach me.

Time to put to good use what I've learned so far...

"{Eclipsing Arc}!"

FLASH!

Gram unleashed a shockwave of burning, blinding light as I spun my body rapidly, unleashing a mighty rotating attack that cut through their attacks and blocked them successfully, throwing them away like ragdolls.

SLASH!

BOOOM!

"Uuuaarggh…!"

They shrieked in agony as they fell over the floor, vomiting blood and burning in agony. Their armor seemed to not work as intended; Blednica hadn't prepared all that well to resist their greatest weakness.

"Just as I heard, you're not bad at all, defective Celestial!"

Asparthes suddenly appeared behind me, having transformed into shadows, and took advantage of the light I created and the shadows behind them to sneak into my back, aiming my neck with his halberd.

"But you're merely a one-winged pigeon; you cannot FLY!"

CLASH!!!

Five Sunlight Blades materialized in that instant, emerging from my own Aura, and blocking his attack. A bright eruption of light burned his skin and eyes, yet the bastard kept attacking, destroying my sunlight blades and then conjuring ten spears of blood.

"DIE!"

"{Holy Dragon Flare}!"

Combining Celestial Energy with my Dagger, an explosion of holy dragon flames erupted from my body, turning his attacks into ashes before they could pierce my armor as I leaped towards Asparthes, pointing Gram into his neck to finish him off.

"{Sunlit Arc}!"

"Ngh?!"

Distracted by the light, my sword reached his neck before he could properly react; it sliced through, blood splattering everywhere, and his head rolled into the ground.

"Uuuaarrggh…!"

BAAAM!

He died much faster than I imagined, but well, he was all talk and no bite at the end. Only being slightly stronger than the others won't make him a big challenge either. Also, the light blinds them and opens a lot of spots for me to attack.

"RAAAAH!"

The other Blood Knights roared, attacking all at once. Four of them readied their spears and attempted to impale my entire body at once. I leaped into midair, kicking the air with Winds generated by Sylph's Tear, and I gathered Spiritual Energy into my hands.

"{Sunlight Spirit Blades}!"

A slightly stronger version of the Sunlight Blades was conjured; dozens of blades made of spiritual light rained upon the nearby Blood Knights, piercing their bodies and exploding, making them splatter over the floor one after another.

BOOM!

"Urgh…!"

BOOM!

"Argh…!"

BOOM!

"Uuaagh…!"

BOOM!

They were dying rather quickly. If I can deal with them, I can just break through the Domain and enter the castle anyway. Blednica's distraction wasn't that big of a deal.

"{Wrathful Blood Dragon}!!!"

A figure emerged from the shadows behind me, pointing its halberd as a powerful mass of blood energy materialized, shaping itself as a furious crimson dragon, opening its maws, and attempting to engulf me whole!

CRASH!!!

I blocked it with a wave of Gram and an explosion of Sunshine, but was pushed several meters away, only for dozens of magic projectiles to materialize all around me.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

I erected as many barriers as I could as I evaded the attacks, but several hits got through them and hit my body. My armor resisted, but some crevices ended up getting affected anyway, burning my skin and draining some of my life force.

I did not give up though, as I evaded the halberd attacks constantly chasing me down as I swung Gram and my daggers, slicing and blowing up the blood knights getting on my way.

But as I kept fighting, things started to get stranger. It felt as if I made no progress at all, and the number of blood knights I've slain never went down.

"Hahh… Hey Gram, am I tripping or something? Or did that bastard just revive?"

["This is not an Illusion either... He really did revive."]

As I glanced back at the perpetrator of that mighty attack, Asparthes was laughing manically, his neck completely healed as he laughed.

"Hahahaha! Did you think I would go down so easily, you pathetic one-winged dove?!" He laughed. "This is the Blessing that Lady Blednica has imparted upon us! She who will become a Death Apostle!"

As he said those words, I noticed what he meant. The corpses of the Vampires I had just slain suddenly started stitching together as a supernatural, blood-colored energy coming from the domain itself regenerated their bodies, even when they were blown to pieces.

"T-That's…?!"

[The Special Effect of the {Blood World Domain} has been activated. By channeling the Blessings of [The Bleeding Scream], Sacrificed Souls can be used to revive any of the caster's allies within the pocket dimension.]

[All allies have been successfully revived. Remaining Sacrificial Souls: 1093]

What?!

Bleeding Scream?!

Are they helping Blednica? No, they're not only helping her, but they're also giving her their blessings?!

This can't…!

"Where are you looking at?!"

A huge Blood Knight appeared behind me as I was immersed in my own thoughts, wielding two giant gauntlets. He unleashed a barrage of punches against me.

I was incapable of intercepting his blows or reacting in time, as I was bathed in his attacks and thrown away like a ragdoll, clashing over the ground and shattering it.

CRASH!

"Fuck…!"

I quickly stood back up, utilizing Healing Touch to recover most of my minor wounds and a bit of my Stamina, I glanced at the Blood Knights moving towards me as I spit some blood and teeth I had lost.

"Hahah… HAHAHAHAHA! Do you feel despair now, girl?! Are you trembling in horror yet?! Are you scared?! This is the power that I've been given!" The voice of Blednica echoed all around my surroundings. "All of my sacrifices and all of my prayers have been answered! In that time you spent trying to save those pathetic cattle, I've been given ENLIGHTEMENT!"

"I can't believe you would agree to ally with someone like Bleeding Scream." I laughed. "Blednica, you will not get what you expect from that sponsor."

"SHUT UP!" Blednica roared furiously. "What are you all doing?! You're practically immortal now! KILL HER ALREADY!"

["Who is this Bleeding Scream you're talking about?!"]

"I'll explain things later; for now, we have to find a way to destroy this stupid domain. It is useless to try to kill these guys a thousand times!"

I quickly started running, evading the Blood Knights's attacks while trying to find the Domain's "pillars". However, the task wasn't going to be anything but easy. The Blood Knights seemed to be growing more and more berserk as they attacked, their weapons gathering their energies as explosions of crimson energy kept stalking me.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

I kept jumping, blocking, slashing, and unleashing my spells as much as I could. Light against crimson energies constantly clashed. The vampires died every time, yet they kept rising again, endlessly.

I was able to mitigate the HP Drain of the Domain thanks to Healing Touch, which has no MP cost, but even then, it was taking a toll on my body.

"Don't you understand your position now?" Asparthes roared, emerging from within my shadows, his halberd gathering his blood energy. "You have no way of winning here! Succumb to your fate, you Celestial!"

CLASH!!!

His mighty blow unleashed an explosion of crimson light as Gram managed to block his powerful strike, my legs coating themselves on a strong veil of Sunshine as I kicked his stomach and sent him flying into the air.

BAAAM!

"You're seriously pulling out the cliché villain lines now, Asparthes?" I sighed. "I expected more from you, my friend."

"Hahaha…! Act tough all you want!" Asparthes quickly stood back up like nothing. "Right as we speak, your people are now being massacred by our second unit, led by my twin sister!" He laughed manically.

"Hmm~ Whatever will I do?" I wondered.

"W-Why are you so… confident?! Stop pretending!" He roared furiously as the rest of the Blood Knights all charged towards me. "Your fate is now sealed; YOU and your stupid pets will die today!"

"I'm sorry, but..." I sighed, charging Gram with energy and my Frost Wolf Fang Dagger, as a wave of freezing cold winds and light was unleashed, freezing half the blood knights and throwing away the rest.

TRUUM!

"But only WE will decide our Fate…" I smiled, fearlessly confronting the odds in my favor. "Don't underestimate the tenacious Demons of the Demon Realm!"

"Tch, will you SHUT UP?!" Asparthes roared with fury, his entire body erupting with crimson energies as it shapeshifted into a massive arm made of blood energy. "Die already!"

CRASH!!!

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