The Healing Solaris Cleric-Chapter 271: The Vampire King, Desmond (7)

"Are we just going to leave him to die?" Seol Eun-Yeong looked around at the party as she asked.

In response, Balter shrugged and replied, "Eh, I don't think we really need to go. Judging by his power earlier, Kai could probably wipe them all out on his own."

"Things might seem overwhelmingly in his favor, judging from the last battle, but there wasn't a single high-ranking vampire among them."

"... Oh!" Balter suddenly let out a cry, realizing something from Seol Eun-Yeong's words. "Shit, then that means the high-ranking ones survived both the poison and the explosions!"

"That's the problem. The undead legion under Kai’s command is certainly strong enough that I wouldn’t want to face them as enemies, but..."

"The high-ranking vampires would be strong too."

"Not to mention, we also have to consider Desmond, the one the vampires praise so much."

"Then this isn't the time to be sitting around." Balter hurriedly jumped to his feet. "We should stop wasting time here and get to Kai as fast as possible!"

"Hm. Honestly, I think Bro will handle it just fine, so I'm not really worried, but I am curious about what kind of scene is waiting for us, so I'll go."

"What about you, Ha-Rin?"

At Seol Eun-Yeong's question, Yoo Ha-Rin simply answered by silently gathering her equipment.

Rushing into the fortress, the group frowned at the overwhelming stench of death filling the city.

Clang... Clang...!

The sound of clashing weapons echoed from the distance.

"That way!" Balter raised his shield and sprinted toward the source of the noise.

He should be just past this building.

The sounds were already close enough. As he turned the corner of the building, he raised both arms.

"Hey, man! What are friends for?! I came all the way to help—"

Crunch, crack!

Balter lowered his arms as he witnessed the overwhelming scene of hundreds of vampires, dullahans, and skeletons entangled in a massive battle before him.

Boom!

A dullahan smashed a vampire's jaw upward with its own head and drove a sword into their eye.

"Gurgh!"

Of course, the vampire noble wasn’t going down without a fight. They stretched out their hand and tore the dullahan’s arm off.

A vampire that couldn't suck blood and a dullahan that couldn't regenerate—their battle had naturally turned into a war of attrition.

In such a situation, the appearance of Balter and other humans immediately shifted the tide of battle.

"H-humans..."

"Blood!”

“Now we can feed!"

The eyes of the vampire nobles, who were facing the skeletons and armored legion, turned wild.

"Uh, guys... I have a really bad feeling about this."

As if to prove Balter's fears right, the vampire nobles tore off the dullahans clinging to them and lunged straight at him.

"We must feed!"

"Blood, we need blood!"

"Ugh... Damn it! Why did I have to pick the tank class?!"

Balter grimaced and teared up as he raised his shield to block his front. Perhaps due to his high aggro value, all the vampire nobles immediately targeted him first.

A single slash from the vampire’s nails shredded Balter’s shield like paper. In an instant, he lost his only means of defense.

"N-no! I haven’t even finished paying that off yet..."

At his foolish remark, Seol Eun-Yeong silently looked around the plaza.

Thirty-five dullahans left. One hundred and four skeletons. But the number of vampire nobles...

A total of sixty-two. If the fight continued, the undead legion would be completely annihilated.

What about Unknown?

She scanned the area, but he was nowhere to be seen. Just in case, she checked her friend list, and fortunately, he was still alive.

Then he must have gone to face Desmond.

That meant he wouldn’t be able to assist them.

"Yoo Ha-Rin."

At Seol Eun-Yeong’s call, Yoo Ha-Rin nodded.

"I didn’t ask before because it didn’t seem polite, but right now, I need you to be honest with me."

As she spoke with a serious expression, Yoo Ha-Rin gave a slow nod.

"I mean, it’s great that you two are having a dramatic moment, but can you hurry up?!" Balter screamed as he desperately swung his sword, trying to keep the approaching vampire nobles away.

Ignoring him, Seol Eun-Yeong continued, "Yoo Ha-Rin, I’m about to come up with a strategy to turn this unfavorable battle around. To do that, I need to know exactly what my allies are capable of. So, can you tell me your class?"

Yoo Ha-Rin stayed silent.

Yoo Ha-Rin’s class remained one of the great mysteries since MID Online launched over a year ago.

"Oh, this shot also looks great..."

Even in the midst of the situation, Michael adjusted his position to show Seol Eun-Yeong and Yoo Ha-Rin in frame.

At the same time, Yoo Ha-Rin’s tightly sealed lips slowly parted, and she replied, "Okay."

A clear, soothing voice flowed from her mouth. For the first time since entering the dungeon, she spoke to someone.

"Y-Yoo Ha-Rin is speaking?! This is huge! Ugh, I want to see it up close...!"

It was also the first time the public had ever heard her voice.

Michael and Seol Eun-Yeong’s gazes locked onto Yoo Ha-Rin’s lips.

"I... don’t have a class yet," she murmured, cupping her cheek with her hand as if embarrassed.

Seol Eun-Yeong blinked. "You... don’t have a class?"

"Yes... I haven’t advanced yet."

Seol Eun-Yeong opened her mouth but couldn’t find any words.

So she wasn’t holding back her skills to avoid revealing her strength?

She just never advanced, meaning she had no class-specific skills at all.

Seol Eun-Yeong clutched her spinning head. "Um... so you’re still a beginner?"

"Yes."

"Alright, my brain hurts, so let’s discuss this later..."

"I’m gonna die!" Balter screamed.

The vampire nobles’ shining fangs reflected the moonlight as they lunged for his throat.

"... Let’s save him first."

"Okay."

With that, Yoo Ha-Rin dashed forward, her sword slicing through the air alongside the moonlight.

"Argh! How dare a mere girl like you?!"

One of the vampire nobles, enraged by the sudden ambush, attacked her. And at the same time, her eyes sparkled.

Three, two... one!

She precisely calculated his approaching speed, and as the vampire closed in, she stepped back and whipped her left leg like a whip. Her leg drew a smooth, elegant arc through the air before slamming into the vampire’s jaw.

Crack!

"Kugh!"

As the vampire noble clutched his forehead, momentarily dizzy, Yoo Ha-Rin’s sword shot out like a streak of light. She stabbed the vampire's heart three times in succession, then swung her sword backward.

"Kraaagh!

A vampire that had been lunging at her from behind clutched their face and staggered back. Blood continuously trickled through the gaps between their fingers.

"That’s enough! Fall back now!"

Before Yoo Ha-Rin could finish the job, Seol Eun-Yeong called her back.

"I could have finished it." Yoo Ha-Rin returned without hesitation but expressed slight disappointment.

At that, Seol Eun-Yeong laughed, "But we can’t be the ones to kill them."

Crunch!

The solid skull held by a dullahan was used to smash down and crush the vampire nobles to finish them off. At the same time, a corpse trembled violently, and a powerful skeleton got up.

"We can’t win this fight."

The level gap was too great, making victory impossible. At the same time, complete annihilation was not an option, leaving them with only one choice—endurance.

We’re gonna need a cannon fodder to withstand these attacks.

After witnessing the battle at the gates, Seol Eun-Yeong had realized that when dullahans killed an enemy, skeletons were created.

"From now on, we focus on defense. Then, when an enemy lets their guard down, we’ll take them down and turn them into a new skeleton." Seol Eun-Yeong swallowed hard as she stared at the vampire nobles closing in around them.

***

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The grand mansion’s doors swung wide open.

As the visitor entered alone, the door behind him suddenly slammed shut with a loud bang.

The inside was dark, and the only source of light was the moonlight coming through the windows. However, the man didn’t even consider turning on the lights, and turned his gaze toward the stairs leading to the second floor.

"Your manners are a mess. Are you even a noble?"

"There’s no need to be courteous to an uninvited guest," a deep voice came from within the shadows of the second floor.

"Figures. You already know why I’m here, don’t you?"

"Of course. I’ve been waiting. If you hadn’t come, I would have sought you out myself."

"Then I should’ve just waited patiently."

"Hah." The mansion’s owner let out a chuckle and slowly began descending the stairs. "I’ll at least commend you for coming alone."

Whoosh!

Finally reaching the first floor, the mansion’s owner spread his arms wide. At the same time, the entire mansion lit up.

There stood a towering figure, one hundred and seventy centimeters tall, with a beautiful face that had delicate features such as that of a woman. He had two massive bat-like wings extending from his shoulder blades, and although concealed beneath his luxurious suit, the sculpted form of a warrior was undeniable.

[Vampire King Desmond LV.600]

"... That's high," Kai, the visitor, muttered at the sight of the mansion’s owner.

Really high.

With the nighttime and racial buffs combined, Desmond was a monster exceeding level 800.

He must be stronger than Zirukan.

Perhaps because of that confidence, Desmond stood with his eyes closed even as his enemy stood before him.

Heat began to radiate from Kai’s body.

Vampire King. A raid-level boss monster.

The same rank as Aosa and Zatan. Yet, unlike his previous two fights, Kai felt nervous.

Is this my first humanoid opponent?

Aosa and Zatan were massive, so as long as he was fast enough, he could react by watching their movements. However, Desmond was different.

He's shorter than I expected.

That meant he was likely much quicker.

Kai lowered his stance slightly more than usual.

"Summon Holy Sword."

Gripping his sword, he activated a sequence of buffs that blessed his entire body.

I'll start with a critical hit while his eyes are still closed.

Just as Kai was finished preparing and was about to launch forward...

"Hmm. I smell danger." Desmond smiled.

He's smiling?

Before Kai could analyze the meaning of the smile, the chandelier hanging from the ceiling exploded, the lamps blew up, and darkness swallowed the mansion again in an instant.

"Damn it!"

Kai's vision blacked out, his eyes momentarily blinded after adjusting to the light.

Was that why he had his eyes closed?!

Kai had been fooled. With visibility completely gone, even his Hawk’s Witness ability was useless in the situation.

"Hahahaha! It’s a brilliant strategy that a savage human could never come up with!" Desmond laughed before lunging at Kai.

He instantly grabbed Kai by the throat and slammed him into the floor.

"Kugh!"

The scream of the bug-like human echoed.

Hmm. Indeed, human screams are delightful.

To him, a human’s screams were like a classical masterpiece. Something he could listen to over and over without ever growing bored.

As Desmond opened his mouth, his brutal sharp fangs shot out. He firmly pinned Kai’s body and lowered his head to sink his teeth into Kai’s throat.

... Hmm?

That’s when he noticed something strange.

Why does this human have his eyes closed?

It made no sense. Any normal person would have kept their eyes wide open, desperately trying to adjust to the darkness. But what Desmond failed to realize was that Kai was no ordinary person.

Kai snapped his fingers.

Then, Desmond instinctively turned his head.

At that moment, Kai grinned. "Upgrade, Sacred Flare."

A blinding flash of light erupted from his hand, illuminating the entire mansion.