“Vampires have incredible regenerative abilities. Their weakness is the heart, though severing the head works as well. Other methods yield little result.”
Alysia’s voice sounded in Rosie’s ear.
“Don’t be fooled by their appearance. Vampires look human, but their speed and strength far exceed ordinary people, and some can even cast blood magic.”
“I thought vampires were afraid of garlic and silver weapons or something.”
Rosie raised the halberd she had picked up.
“Garlic is useless, though silver does slow down their healing speed,” Alysia said.
To their surprise, after the two of them assumed combat stances, the two guards made no move to fight back.
Instead, one of them stepped aside and reached out to push the iron-barred gate half open, producing a harsh, metallic screech.
“Hmm?” The tip of Rosie’s halberd faltered slightly.
The man who had smiled at her earlier offered a polite gesture.
“You’re here for those women, aren’t you?”
His tone was like that of a hospitable host inviting guests inside.
Rosie and Alysia exchanged a glance.
She saw the same vigilance mirrored in the elf’s eyes.
“That’s right,” Rosie replied. “Are you... planning to just let us pass?”
A polite smile remained on the man's face. “You aren’t Dawnguard, so you aren’t our enemies.”
“There’s no need for us to clash with an elf over some irrelevant cargo, is there?” the other man added.
Rosie didn’t loosen her grip on the halberd. She tilted her head slightly toward Alysia.
Alysia’s gaze swept back and forth across the two men twice, her eyes showing no emotional fluctuation.
After a few breaths, she shook her head gently. “I don’t trust you.”
“I think maybe we can—now!”
Before her sentence was even finished, Rosie suddenly hurled the halberd in her hand forward with immense force.
The heavy shaft cut a sharp, lethal trajectory through the air, aimed squarely at the first man’s chest.
Watching the heavy halberd fly toward him, the man sighed softly.
“Alas... why bother?”
As he spoke, he flicked his right hand.
A crimson sword materialized out of thin air into his palm. With a sweep of the blade, he deflected the heavy halberd off course, sending it crashing clatteringly against the wall.
By then, however, Rosie was no longer where she had been.
The very instant she threw the halberd, she kicked off the ground and surged forward in its wake. The second he deflected the weapon, she forced her way right beside him.
A gleam of sword light flashed in the gloom as her blade thrust toward his heart from a treacherous angle.
At the exact same moment, Alysia moved as well.
Simultaneously with Rosie’s strike, she darted toward the other man.
Her black robe swelled and blurred as she charged.
In a flash, the form of a grizzly bear replaced the elf. Thick limbs slammed onto the flagstones with a heavy thud, pouncing toward the second man with crushing force.
Rosie’s swift thrust struck air.
Right before her tip hit his clothes, the target’s body dissolved like smoke in the wind, breaking down into a cluster of crimson blood mist.
Rosie’s blade cut straight through the fog without hitting anything solid, stirring up only a damp, metallic sweet scent.
A heavy slam echoed from the side as the grizzly’s massive paw smashed into the floor, sending stone chips flying. Yet her target had also dispersed into blood mist, reappearing several meters behind her in the next instant.
The vampire extended his right hand, summoning several crimson spikes out of thin air beside him before launching them all at the grizzly.
The spikes tore through the air with sharp whistles.
The bear's massive body couldn't dodge completely.
With several dull thuds, the spikes buried themselves into the bear's flesh. The grizzly roared in furious pain, her body shuddering violently as she shook them loose.
With a wave of his hand, the blood spikes reversed direction before hitting the ground, hovering once more at his side with bright red blood dripping from their tips.
Rosie had no time to worry about Alysia's situation. Several red sword lights slashed out densely from the blood mist, their trajectories tricky and unpredictable.
She raised the shield on her left arm to block desperately, a flurry of clanging collisions ringing out in rapid succession through the dungeon corridor.
Her right hand thrust her sword into the blood mist repeatedly, but struck nothing—the blood mist seemed immune to physical attacks.
Just then, a furious roar from the bear echoed nearby, laced with unbearable pain.
The instant that roar reached her ears, a streak of bloody light struck from her right at an extremely tricky angle.
Rosie’s shield couldn’t pivot to that angle in time. The tip of the bloody sword swept across her chest, piercing the leather outer layer of her brigandine armor. It produced a harsh scraping sound against the metal plates before catching, failing to penetrate deeper.
Instead of pulling back, she launched a counterattack the very moment the bloody sword got stuck.
Her blade stabbed forward at blinding speed toward where the blood sword originated.
This time, the sensation of blade cutting through flesh traveled clearly up the hilt into her palm. It felt stiffer than piercing a human, but it had definitely hit.
Rosie realized in an instant: the blood mist wasn't immune to physical attacks at all. It was essentially a smoke bomb that allowed the vampire hidden inside to dodge attacks easily and ambush from any angle.
Having figured this out, she didn't bother swinging her sword again and instead executed a completely different move.
Holding her shield high, she poured all her power into slamming directly into the blood mist.
A sword's reach was too narrow, allowing the vampire to dodge easily, but her entire body slamming forward covered enough space.
Bang!
A blurry figure was blasted out by the shield, revealing its full body mid-air.
A flash of sword light followed the airborne figure, severing the arm holding the sword.
Splat!
The vampire's right arm was severed clean below the elbow. The severed arm, still gripping the crimson sword, flipped through the air a few times before dropping to the floor with a clatter.
The vampire shrieked in agony, attempting to turn into blood mist and escape the moment he hit the ground.
But he was half a beat too slow. An exceptionally swift arc of sword light swept through, slicing in from his left waist and coming out through his right ribs, bisecting both the incomplete blood mist and the body within.
The two halves of his body thumped onto the floor.
Dark red blood surged from the cut, yet the upper torso didn't die immediately. Its hands clawed at the stone floor, trying to crawl toward the iron gate.
Rosie stepped forward without mercy and swung her blade, decapitating him instantly.
The headless body ceased its struggles, then decayed and decomposed, turning to ash.
At that moment, a notification popped up at the edge of her vision.
[Heroic Strike Lv. 1 → Heroic Strike Lv. 2, Strength +1]
Heroic Strike finally reached Level 2—that really wasn't easy.
A subtle warm current rose from within her. Rosie felt her strength grow and her battle fatigue lessen significantly.
She flicked the blood off her blade. “Hmph, vampires are nothing special.”
Just as the words left her mouth, an ear-splitting roar echoed from behind.
The roar left Rosie's ears ringing. She immediately turned around, preparing to reinforce Alysia.
Only to see the blood-soaked grizzly pressing the other vampire firmly to the ground, wildly mauling, tearing, and biting him.
Dark red blood splattered across the walls and floor, creating large, sprayed dark stains.
Every tear from the bear was accompanied by the crisp snapping of bones. Her violent rampage continued until the body on the floor was completely reduced to a pile of minced flesh.
Panting heavily, the grizzly paused, watching the pile of remains turn into ash before shaking the blood off her snout.
The grizzly's outline shrank, and Alysia reappeared in her place.
The elf was pale now, her black robe tattered in several places, exposing fair skin and bleeding wounds.
Rosie froze for a moment, then realized a silent truth:
The elf wasn't wearing anything underneath that black robe—she had been going completely commando the whole time! No wonder she never took off the robe.
She stepped forward quickly to support Alysia. “Are you alright?”
“Ran into a blood mage... Luckily, I took him out.”
Alysia's voice was weaker than usual, but it retained her characteristic calmness.
She reached into the inner lining of her tattered robe and pulled out a red fruit.
She popped the fruit into her mouth and swallowed it whole.
Shortly after, her complexion regained its healthy color at a speed visible to the naked eye. The bleeding edges of her wounds contracted and healed, leaving behind only faint pink marks.
Watching this instant transformation, Rosie couldn't help but ask, “What is that?”
Alysia let out a long breath, straightened her back, and gathered her tattered black robe to cover her exposed skin.
“A Seed of Life. It restores injuries in a short time, with effects equivalent to a high-grade alchemical healing potion.”
“That impressive...”
Rosie muttered under her breath, her eyes unconsciously lingering for a moment on the spot where Alysia had pulled out the fruit.
Alysia didn't miss her gaze.
She reached back inside her robe, drew out another identical fruit, and held it out to Rosie. “Seeds of Life are fruits of the Tree of Life. I only have a few left.”
“Oh, I couldn't possibly...”
Rosie feigned politeness while her hand already reached out, snatched it, and slid it directly into her inner pocket.
Alysia watched her polite words paired with her completely unhesitating hand movement. The corner of her mouth twitched upward slightly, flashing a fleeting smile before quickly returning to her usual unreadable composure.
Rosie caught that fleeting smile and couldn't help taking another look at her. “Huh, I thought you didn't know how to smile.”
“Elves can smile, of course,” Alysia replied flatly. “We just rarely smile at humans.”
Rosie shrugged and dropped the subject.
She turned around, squatted down, and rummaged through the vampire's remaining ashes, shifting the debris to check thoroughly.
The crimson sword had dissolved into dust along with its master's death.
Other than that, there was nothing of value—no wallet, no magical items, not even a single copper coin.
Rosie clapped her hands and stood up. “What vampire? More like paupers.”
Alysia walked over to the iron-barred gate, turning her head with her face back to its usual calm. “We should go in.”
Rosie walked up to the iron gate and reached out to unhook the hanging oil lamp.
“Alright, let's go.”
Alysia stepped across the threshold into the dark dungeon.
Rosie followed closely behind with the oil lamp held high. As she advanced, the light dispelled the darkness.
Rate on N.U.
