Alex and Bonnie - Boss Killers

Four vampires rushed out of the mansion. They all looked very similar to the first ones, feral and with elongated limbs. However, unlike the ragged clothes of the first wave, those were wearing better attire. Jeans pants and some novelty t-shirts. One of them was wearing T-shit that had a coffee mug with the O+ in red letters. Ruby jumped towards one of them, as Alex triggered her [Expunge] skill again on the two heading towards her. Before her attack was over, she created a jade wind saw. An upgraded version of the wind blade that also added a circular motion to the attack, turning it into a buzz saw. Using [Wind Chase] she also followed along the attack, dropping off in front of the other vampire she attacked. With a quick motion, she decapitated it using her dagger. Bonnie channeled a few fire fist spells through the Furnace and Lupus constellations, turning the spell into a fire fang that flew from the left head of the werecerberurs and bit down on the vampire moving towards the Astral Witch. With the last one already in Ruby's grasp.

"Not bad. How many times can you use that skill in a row, Alex?" Elistrae asked.

"Pretty much as much as I want. The skill costs more mana the more effects I'm ending, but there is no cooldown," the assassin replied, jogging back to the center of the courtyard along with Ruby.

"Then why don't you double down on the spell? It's already leaving the vampires very close to death," the elf frowned as more growls and snarls came from the mansion.

"Two reasons. First, this skill can't kill. It can leave someone at the point where they will die if left alone, but not kill them outright," as Alex spoke, the next wave jumped from the windows on the second floor. This time, the 8 vampires that appeared were less monstrous. Their faces were more elven, with the one exception being the nose that still pointed upwards like a bat. Their clothes were also more elegant, and so were their movements. These vampires floated down instead of landing in a frenzy, clearly not just mindless beasts like the ones before.

Bonnie didn't even have to tell Ruby what to do. The slime-werecerberus rushed to a pair of the vampires, trying to bite and claw at them. The first target wasn't fast enough to escape and quickly fell to the ground when the three heads broke its neck and separated it from the rest of the body, but the next was ready for the attack. Jumping back, the vampire tried to escape, but a stone fist came from the side, slamming on her head and giving Ruby an opening to decapitate another of the attackers.

One of the remaining vampires waved his hand and sent a small wave of bats towards Bonnie. She didn't move, but pulled a staff from her back. The same one she got from Hera after they got rid of the curse. Using [Stellar Blast], a wave of cosmic energy expanded from Bonnie in all directions. As soon as the bats touched the area of that skill, they were completely obliterated, allowing another elemental fang to bite down on the vampire's neck. He looked around, trying to see where the attack came from, only to once more be hit in the neck. Two more of the same attacks hit him from different angles. But only when the last strike was biting on his neck did the vampire understand what was going on. All around them were dozens of small specks of light in various colors. Two of Ruby's heads kept firing those elemental fangs at those lights. Once the spell hit, it would change elements and direction, gaining a bit of power and speed with each conversion. His eyes landed on the fourth vampire, or more specifically, their mangled body on the ground. While he used the bats to attack, the fang spells battered them until they couldn't handle anymore.

This was a spell that Bonnie was able to bind to the legacy called [Star Path]. It created a star field imbued with the elemental shift mote. She could aim spells at those tiny stars and control where it would bounce to. Even if that was powerful, it didn't come without its risk. Anyone could attempt to aim at the stars to empower and redirect their spells. The difference was that others would have a hard time knowing where their spell would fly towards. It was unlikely that this would be a problem during this dungeon, but when facing other people, it was something she had to keep in mind.

Alex used the same idea as before. Triggering the [Expunge] skill on all the vampires and jumping towards them. She added a buff on herself that could increase her speed and damage. Using the wind saw as an opener towards two of the vampires. One died right away as the attack arrived while the white flames were still around. The second spell sent by the assassin was just a second behind, but that was enough for the monster to dodge and evade the attack in the nick of time. Still, the creature had to launch itself to the ground to survive. Alex didn't focus on the one she almost killed. With a twirl, she reached the third vampire and decapitated it with a swift motion. The last one of her targets turned to the assassin, yelling in rage. It let its nails grow as it tried to lash out, but between the damage dealt by having its buffs removed, and the speed Alex could move, the monster missed all the attacks until it fell to the ground. As an act of 'mercy', the Purifying Light finished the vampire out, before sending another wind saw at the one that survived the first attempt. That vampire was in the middle of standing up and failed to see the attack coming.

With the monsters dead, Alex walked back to Elistrae and continued speaking, "Second, that skill works on a target only once every hour. That still should happen even if I rank the skill up. But it's already plenty powerful, don't you think?"

The elf nodded, "It is. The one problem is how you have to aim one target at the time. Also, what would happen if someone else buffed the monster? Would the damage increase?"

Bonnie nodded, "It would. But it needs a strong buff. For some reason, buffs from other people don't damage them as much."

"Barriers work too. The damage is more or less equal to half of what the barrier can take. But the barrier also protects from the attack, so unless the timing is just right, it's not worth using it," Alex added.

"Want to test it on this next wave? From what I understand, the skill you want to practice is not that one. And it's kind of boring to just wait here," Elistrae suggested.

"Sure," Alex shrugged. Just as the next 16 vampires jumped from the mansion. This time it was a mixed bag of versions. Some were the feral creatures, while others were the more elegant ones. Two even had elven features, with the only thing showing they were vampires being their fangs.

Elistrae instantly covered all of them with one of the strongest barriers she could muster. However, Bonnie wasn't expecting that she would do that to all enemies. The Astral Witch sent a few attacks to one of the new versions of vampire and a couple of the more ghoulish ones. The blows hit the barrier, which made the elven healer apologize. Right after that, Alex pointed from left to right, triggering the [Expunge] on the vampires one by one, including the ones that Bonnie was supposed to face. The numbers were not in their favor this time, and because of it, the human decided to help her friend.

The first three vampires, all ghouls, were not damaged by Alex's skill at all. Elistrae wasn't able to drop the barrier before the flames disappeared, blocking all the damage from the [Expunge]. The next ten, including the two elven vampires, had the barrier dropped at the right time while the flames still roared. With the combo of the barrier, the power of the skill was much stronger. But the last three vampires, all ghouls again, didn't get the extra damage, just the regular effect of the skill. When it was finally over, all but three of the dungeon creatures were on the ground, severely burned and struggling to stay alive.

Since only three creatures were in fighting shape, Bonnie sent Ruby to one, and took care of the second, leaving Alex to deal with the last. It didn't take long for them to be killed, and the rest of the vampires couldn't recover in time to fight back. The two humans didn't want to rush things and methodically finished the remaining ones. Starting by those who were less damaged. Around a minute later, they had cleared the last wave.

"OK, so what now? Can you still see the boss with the spyglass?" Alex turned to Bonnie.

"No, the enchantment is over and now the item is on cooldown," the Astral Witch replied.

"Just wait," Elistrae said.

They grabbed the loot from the vampires, mostly gold with a few bags of blood, that worked as quick meals. Anyone who drank one of the vials would be satiated for 10 hours. Some time after they were done, Uav appeared, walking from the gate towards the mansion. He was covered in bruises and wounds.

"Are you ok?" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah… got ambushed by a few of the vampires outside. Bastards almost got me. I see you managed to kill the ones hiding inside the mansion. Good. I'm trying to find the missing hunters," he groaned, shaking his hand. His fingers were swollen, and he was forced to take off his wedding ring.

The moment he did that, Alex tossed her [Burning Purity] at him. It was the one skill that could forcibly remove a curse she knew from a target. The ring was hiding the fact that Uav was a vampire. One that was close to a vampire lord. As soon as the accessory was off his finger, the Purifying Light saw the countless red lines over his body and triggered her skill to remove his vampirism. The lines shattered one by one at a rapid pace, clearly hurting the man as they went along. In a follow up, she used [Expunge] to cut any buffs the man had. Bonnie didn't wait, the moment Alex attacked, the Astral Witch followed it up, trusting her friend knew what she was doing.

Still, both of them used their [Observe] to see what they were looking at.

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Uav Silenteden - Vampire Hunter Hunter - Level 45

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"Oh, that's just bullshit," Alex groaned as the white flames were snuffed out. Uav's body was different now. Much bigger, around two and a half meters tall. His limbs were longer and his bones protruded from his form, but there was some muscle around his body. His face was now more bestial as well, with the bat nose and a deformed skull.

"What have you done?!" Uav groaned.

"It doesn't matter," Bonnie replied with a smirk, ruby had sent several elemental fangs out during the time they were waiting, slowly increasing the power of the attacks that suddenly slammed at the dungeon boss.

Before he could even reply, Alex appeared behind his neck, "You are already dead," she said with the same smirk Bonnie gave him before pulling her dagger with a massive jade blade of wind attached to it. Thanks to the curse and buff removal, Uav's defenses were too weak to stop the attack and after the barrage of spells that pummeled his body, the jade blade finished it off by separating the man's head from his body. The notification about them completing the dungeon quest popped up, but they ignored it. Grabbing the ring that Uav wore to hide himself on Elistrae's advice and walking back towards the vampire lord penthouse. They might have completed the quest, but there was still work to do here.