Ghoul Baron

*krrr* *krrr*

" Hey don't go there! Stay with the team." A bulky man shouted towards the hooded man.

'We haven't encountered a single life in an hour. Is the blood forest this lifeless?' Keith looked at the red bushes, a rattling noise came from there.

'Forget it, I will leave the group if I encounter any ghouls.'

As the group of ten mercenaries moved forward, the silence in the surrounding area increased. It was evident, they were moving away from the settlement. This group was one of many that ventured into the forest.

*Grrr* *Grrr*

A bizarre sound was heard from a distance away from the group. Everyone turned their heads in that direction. There it stood, a vicious-looking silhouette with its bright red eyes and big fangs. The body was behind a shadow, so they couldn't see the whole body.

"There it is, that damned ghoul. Everyone prepare for an attack." The bulky man instructed everyone.

Clutching their weapons, they dashed forward behind the leader. The ghoul that was looking at them behind the shadow, moved forward as well. The leader clashed with his large metal club.

*WHAM*

The ghoul stepped back a few steps. It growled loudly and opened its mouth and a large tongue that was several feet long came out. It was blood red and dripping with bizarre saliva.

' 5th stage blood condensing. From the looks of it, it has no intelligence. But its blood-qi is way higher than the regular 5th stage blood condensing vampire.' Keith silently examined the ghoul and its power.

The ten people surrounded the ghoul from all sides. The leader was in the front with 3 vampires by his side. Others covered the ghoul's remaining sides. Keith was standing on the left side of the monster. Looking at the best, It towered over 8 feet with dark red skin.

" Attack it from all directions, don't let it get away!" The leader shouted.

Everyone started to attack the ghoul from all sides. Keith strengthened his fist blood-qi and punched its body.

*Crack*

The ghoul rolled over to the right, after getting hit by him. Its abdomen was caved in, but there was no open wound as the skin was really tough. Still, the cracking sound indicated that the rib cage was broken.

'Shit! It's too weak. I didn't even use half of my blood-qi. No wonder they were recruiting 4th stage vampires.'

All the attention was now on him. He put the ghoul down with a single punch. Not that it was unheard of, but for vampires below baron level, it was not an easy task. Ghouls were really vicious and sturdy, immobilizing them required the cooperation of several vampires of its stage.

'Oh well, the cat is out of the bag. No point holding back.' Keith kicked the ghoul in the head and its head was sent flying in the distance with the tongue fluttering like a cloth.

" Amazing work young man, mind telling us which stage you are in? " The leader offered a handshake to Keith.

"9th stage Blood-condensing," Keith replied to him without shaking his hand.

" Ahhhah nice, I like your confidence. I have been at the 6th stage for several decades." The leader took back his hand in embarrassment.

" I will count this as your individual hunt, as you dealt with it single-handedly. Now let's mark this place on the map. We will collect the body after scouting the area."

While everyone was getting ready to move out, Keith was looking at the dead ghoul from the corner of his eyes. Then he sensed a blood-qi signature from the other direction. The others haven't sensed anything yet.

" You guys go, I will catch up in a bit."

" I know you are strong, but don't stay here alone, other ghouls might be lurking here." The leader warned.

Keith stayed back as they vanished into the forest.

' Now, time to find out if my little hypothesis is correct or not?' He stretched his hand and touched the neck of the dead ghoul.

[ Corrupted blood-qi detected.]

[ Blood essence conversion will be lower due to chaotic energy.]

[ Converting...]

[ Blood essence absorbed: 1]

[ Blood essence absorbed: 1]

...

...

'That's it.' Looking at the status window, he heaved a sigh, underwhelmed by the result.

Only ten blood essence were absorbed from the ghoul. According to the system, the blood-qi was corrupted, and untangling the energy resulted in the loss of most of the blood-qi.

He looked in the direction where he sensed the blood-qi, it was the same as this one. Without thinking further, he dashed in that direction with inhuman speed.

*Grrrr* *Grrrr*

Several bizarre sounds echoed as he approached that place.

*swish*

Stopping right before a large tree, he saw dozens of ghouls surrounding the tree trunk. When he looked up, he saw a giant ghoul with folded wings hanging upside down from the tree.

The blood-qi emanating from it was subtle, probably because it was purposefully hiding its presence. But Keith could sense it. Without a doubt, it was a baron-level ghoul as he sensed a blood core inside. it was a mid-level baron blood core.

' That ghoul is probably resting, as it hasn't noticed my presence yet. There is no spike in his blood-qi circulation.'

Keith dashed forward to their herd of ghouls, circulating blood-qi throughout the body. He wanted to finish all the small fries before the ghoul baron woke up.

*boom* *crack* *crack*

He pierced the ghouls in their vulnerable spots, moving swiftly among them. Just in a couple of minutes, he finished half of the ghouls. The remaining ghouls started to gang up on him, but with his superior strength, they stood no chance.

*BOOM*

Blasting three ghouls at once, and then cracking the heads of the remaining ones, he stood below the giant tree. The corpses were littered all around the tree. It took him only a couple of minutes to finish them off. The martial art played a key role as it allowed him to move efficiently among the herd rather than using brute force to break their formation.

Now the final ghoul remained, hanging ever so casually on the tree with the wings folded all around it. After all this commotion, it still hadn't uncovered its wings.

' Good, stay like that. It will be easier if you stay motionless until I finish you off.'

He circulated blood-qi in his legs and the ground cracked. He locked into the head of the ghoul and jolted up like a bullet.

The ground cracked as he shot upwards, moving straight towards the ghoul. He extended his hands and channeled blood into the fingertips to make them harder. The frightening momentum coupled with the influx of blood-qi in his hands was enough to deal a lethal blow to the ghoul if it stayed still like that.

Or so he thought.