Chapter 5: Breaking into the Vampire Castle

“This time, in the siege, we defeated 46 player forces, totaling 1,320 soldiers. Of these, there was one of level 8, 119 of level 7, and the remainder were level 6 or below. Moreover, 37 player forces managed to escape and are currently being pursued.” After tallying all the data, the third-in-command handed the report to Li Bin. Li Bin sighed softly. “I never expected them to be defeated so easily. I thought this siege would last much longer.”

“Master, it’s not that simple. I find something quite odd,” the third-in-command shook his head, analyzing the situation. “The number of attacking forces is far fewer than the information we received.”

“How big is the difference?” Li Bin asked casually, recalling the players he had seen observing the siege from a distance.

“Over two hundred,” the third-in-command replied with certainty. “According to the Dark Guild’s reports, nearly three hundred player forces chose to participate in this battle, with a total strength exceeding five thousand. But if you noticed, there were only about eighty teams that first arrived at Ghost Butterfly City. If they had all shown up, victory would not have come so easily.”

“Are you suggesting that something went wrong among them?” Li Bin’s brows furrowed as a thought struck him. He asked loudly, “What about Shui Yuetian? Did he send any news?”

“Yes, he reported that he has surrounded the Hill Stone Mine. There are fewer than twenty player teams inside, and he is requesting instructions on whether to assault or keep up the siege,” the third-in-command replied immediately.

“No, that’s not what I meant. Send a message to Shui Yuetian and ask if he’s noticed anything unusual,” Li Bin said, somewhat anxiously.

Soon after, Shui Yuetian’s reply was delivered. Only then did Li Bin learn of the actions coming from the direction of the Vampire Castle.

Li Bin quickly realized something was amiss. He turned to the third-in-command and asked, “You mentioned there were three overall commanders among the players. Did all of them appear in this battle?”

“Amanda Gale and Wright both showed up. Amanda Gale fell in battle before Ghost Butterfly City, and Wright escaped. But it seems that one named Nairo did not appear,” replied the third-in-command.

“That’s not good. There may be trouble at Shenling’s side.” Li Bin immediately guessed the gist of the situation. He gave swift orders, “Tuo Dina, Dierdery, cooperate with Shui Yuetian’s forces to clear out the remaining players in the territory. You’ll be allocated extra Phantom Undead Archers. Little Carter, you and the third-in-command will hold the city. Gru, Reid, Ted, get ready—we’re heading to the Vampire Castle.”

As Li Bin hurriedly led his team toward the Vampire Castle, fierce fighting was already underway there.

Though the Vampire Castle was reputed to be a flying mobile base, it usually docked on the ground. Shenling, arriving first, seized the opportunity to launch a surprise attack while the castle was grounded.

Anticipating Li Bin’s forces might attempt a sneak attack, Elisse inside the castle had made some preparations. When Shenling’s troops entered the Vampire Castle, vampires stationed on the outskirts immediately launched their assault.

All these vampires were agile level-7 units—their offense and defense were not outstanding, but they could restore injuries by absorbing blood, revive at a lower level upon death, and command level-4 Corpse Wolves and level-1 Ghost Bats.

Upon encountering these two squads of vampires and their minions, Shenling quickly split her forces. The level-7 Harpy units engaged the vampires head-on, while the Amazon units fought the Corpse Wolves and Ghost Bats.

This strategy quickly paid off. The vampires could only absorb 15% of the blood from undead units, and often suffered from poisoning, making their main advantage moot. Meanwhile, Amazon Forest Hunters and Swamp Assassins were adept at dealing with beasts, so despite the numbers of Corpse Wolves and Ghost Bats, they were swiftly dispatched.

Before long, Shenling’s troops had cleared the outermost vampire units and pressed into the castle’s middle levels.

At this moment, Nairo also led his forces into the castle. With Shenling’s team paving the way and his own familiarity with the castle’s layout, he encountered few vampire defenders on the way.

Soon, both teams entered the third level of the castle, but to their surprise, there were no vampire defenders present.

Shenling walked forward, remarking, “There were two squads on the first floor, four on the second. Shouldn’t there be six or eight on this one? Why is it completely empty?”

Just then, a row of figures appeared before her—she realized these were the vampire sentinels of the third floor.

However, unlike the vampires from the previous floors, these four squads were clearly divided into two groups. The three at the front had abandoned the usual ornate evening attire for black silken chainmail and wielded slender dual swords, their blades glistening with fresh green liquid—obviously freshly poisoned.

Standing behind these vampire warriors were others, all robed in black with red-lined cloaks, their hands hidden within the folds. Aside from the distinct emblem over their left chests, there was little to tell them apart.

Behind all the vampires stood a figure clad in heavy armor fashioned from white bones. If not for the cold, sinister light flickering in its eyes, Shenling might have mistaken it for a mere corridor ornament.

But the bone-armored figure gave her no time to ponder. With a wave of its hand, those suspected level-8 vampire warriors charged swiftly.

Facing such foes, Shenling dared not let her Forest Hunters confront them directly. Only the Harpy units could hold them back while the Amazon units fired arrows from the rear.

The vampire warriors, being speed-type fighters as well, matched the Harpies move for move. Sometimes, a few even broke through the Harpy line, crashing into the Amazon ranks.

Sensing the battle slipping from her control, the bone-armored figure swiftly signaled, and the squad of black-robed vampires split into two groups.

Six, marked with vampire fangs, began chanting incantations, sending crimson light from their bodies to the embattled vampire warriors ahead. Under its glow, wounds closed rapidly and their prowess surged.

Another six, marked with vampire claws, chanted as well, but emitted black light that gathered in their hands, slowly coalescing into four or five black orbs.

“Damn, vampire priests and vampire mages…” Seeing this, Shenling finally recognized their identities.