The vampire's bones cracked as Thalion's red-glowing claws tore straight through its back, ripping the creature in half. The seated vampires didn't even know what hit them before they were all dead, wiped out in just a few seconds.

This skill was even stronger than Thalion had anticipated. Cleaving through vampires this easily was something special. The fact that he could also hide his aura and approach unnoticed made it even better.

Now, only the two vampires with the rapiers remained. They quickly shook off their surprise and charged at him. Still a few meters away, Thalion took the opportunity to try something new. He activated his skill to absorb the blood of the fallen vampires. It surged toward him and suddenly, he struggled to keep the Eidolon together.

The power coursing through the Crimson Eidolon was far greater than he'd expected. To stabilize it, Thalion opened his mouth, lined with needle-like teeth, and let out a screech. The shockwave slammed into the oncoming vampires, crashing over them like a tsunami. Bones shattered, limbs twisted, and their bodies hit the ground.

Thalion flew past them, finishing off the lone survivor with a single claw strike. Yep, this was going very well.

Time to move up and help his friends.

He shot through the chamber where he had evolved and continued upward. Many vampires had already left the desert, but some remained with Elias, who had now taken over the small base above the catacombs.

According to the vampire Thalion had questioned, fewer than four hundred had stayed with Ankhet. The rest had scattered, hunting the weaker humans in the tutorial to feed.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much Thalion could do for those humans. He could set up a safe zone around his base, but it likely wouldn't be enough. Over two thousand vampires were now actively hunting, heading toward the zones where the weaker participants had fled to hide.

Right now, his focus had to be on killing the vampires here—and capturing Elias.

That part, however, might be close to impossible. A lich like Elias almost certainly had an escape token—one of those ridiculous survival cheats. All it took was a thought, and poof—gone.

If Elias had one, there was a high chance Thalion would fail to catch him.

Thalion shot through the corridors, racing toward the exit—until he heard voices.

"Why is Ankhet taking so long? I want to feed on the humans," a vampire grumbled. He was a large one, walking on all fours with arms where legs should be. He spoke to another, who looked more like a healer or a blood mage.

"Maybe he's torturing the human," the blood mage replied. "But yeah, he should really hurry."

They didn't get to say anything else.

Thalion flew by like a crimson phantom, his claws tearing through both of their skulls. Their blood drained into droplets that floated behind the Crimson Eidolon.

It was still dark outside, but that didn't faze Thalion. He retained all the advantages of his human form, including Blood Sight—with it, he could clearly see every vampire nearby.

The relatively small base that once blocked the catacomb entrance had been completely transformed. It had to be Ankhet's doing. Thalion couldn't imagine Elias spending all his credits on a fortress like this.

It looked like someone had dropped an undead kingdom right in front of the palace entrance.

Before him stood a towering black palace, at least sixty meters tall and that was just the central structure. Roads of black stone crisscrossed where there had once been only scorching sand. Around the palace stood dozens of large buildings, each likely housing hundreds, if not thousands of vampires, thanks to the spatial distortion effects from the System Shop.

In the distance loomed a massive black wall, over thirty meters tall. Eight colossal towers rose from it, enclosing the entire base. That was all Thalion could see from his current vantage point, but it was already far larger than the Black Fortress.

He wondered how many humans had stayed behind. The ship portals should still be active, and he guessed most had already returned.

Now, it was time to kill the vampires and conquer this fortress and, if possible, capture Elias.

The vampires near the catacomb entrance looked stunned when they saw him. The sound of the earlier execution had drawn their attention or maybe it was the scent of blood in the air.

Thalion didn't give them time to react. He let out a loud screech, no longer acting like an assassin. He wanted to fully test the capabilities of this complex skill.

If he could use the Crimson Eidolon as a conductor for massive ritual spells in the future... well, the vampires were in for a very bad time.

At the moment Thalion had vampires to kill. The empowered screech, infused with the blood of the fallen vampires, obliterated everyone nearby. Those who survived were flung against the walls of the buildings and the palace like ragdolls. Thalion didn't pay them much attention. He shot into the air, activating Blood Harvest as he rose. Blood tore itself from their bodies, whether they were already dead or barely alive, bones shattered by the force of impact or the shockwave.

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Hovering twenty meters above the palace, Thalion scanned the undead stronghold. It was a solid structure, and now every vampire inside was on high alert. They all stared up at him as he burned with power, forming blood spears from the remains of over ten dead vampires. He hurled the spears, charged with raw force, toward those stationed on the walls and towers who had yet to react. If he could use the blood the same way he did with his bow and perhaps make the spears explode on impact, it would be a huge advantage in the coming battles.

The vampires wasted no time and launched spells at him in return, but it didn't go their way. Thalion took control of the blood in the air and devoured it, further boosting his strength. Four vampires died immediately, one narrowly escaped, and the others either dodged or survived by absorbing the blood spears, assuming they hadn't been obliterated on the spot.

Thalion consumed the rest of the available power and dove straight down toward the palace rooftop. He was overflowing with energy. Passing through the roof was effortless, as if the material wasn't even there, completely unlike the dense stone of the catacombs.

The first room he entered was full of vampires. Apparently, they were having a celebration. If you're wondering how vampires party, the answer is: pretty much like humans did in medieval times. They feasted, laughed, danced, and mocked those they had defeated. Many of the vampiresses were barely clothed, spinning and laughing while bathing in their own arrogance. The only real difference was the menu. No roasted boar, just human blood.

There were all kinds of humans present: men, women, old, young and with "young," Thalion meant too young. That made it even more satisfying when he burst through the ceiling, paused mid-air above the gathering, and unleashed a devastating screech fueled by every drop of blood he had consumed.

Every vampire in the room died instantly. The shockwave cracked walls and ceiling alike, and the sheer force of the ability left no doubt: this skill was far beyond his old mana wave, especially when amplified. Disrupting their sick celebration felt incredibly satisfying.

Without wasting time, Thalion plunged downward again, passing through the floor into an empty bedroom. He was searching for Elias, but navigating the massive palace was proving more frustrating than expected. There were too many rooms, too many halls, and no clear direction. With every wrong turn, his irritation grew. Why was there no main corridor leading to a throne room or central chamber?

Every vampire he encountered was swiftly cut down, their blood fueling his next strike. He crashed three more victory feasts and even interrupted a few vampires in the middle of sex, killing them without a second thought.

Eventually, he encountered the first lich. A walking corpse of a man, wrapped in power that radiated from his very being. It was obvious this wasn't Elias. After tearing him apart and damaging his soul with Crimson Gaze, the lich finally told Thalion what he needed to know: Elias was in the dungeon, experimenting on human captives.

With that confirmed, Thalion killed the lich and immediately descended further. If Elias was busy with his experiments, there was a chance he'd be too deep in concentration to notice Thalion's approach and that gave Thalion a real opportunity to capture him.

Flying downward at full speed, Thalion phased through walls and floors, racing toward the dungeon. It wouldn't be long before someone sent a warning, and once that happened, Elias would be on full alert. Capturing him after that would be nearly impossible.

But Thalion had a plan. If he was fast enough, he could use the Crimson Eidolon to trap Elias before he escaped. High-level liches who jumped between bodies always had one major weakness: the phylactery, the vessel that held their soul. When their current body was destroyed, the soul was pulled back into the phylactery.

There were two known ways liches used their phylactery to their advantage. One was to hide it in a laboratory and send out weaker bodies under remote control—much like Thalion was currently doing with the Crimson Eidolon. These bodies were expendable and easy to replace, but significantly weaker. Without direct access to the phylactery, their power was limited.

The other method was more dangerous but far more effective: integrating the phylactery directly into the active body. This made the lich much more powerful, but if the body died, so did the lich.

Thalion doubted Elias had a lab set up already, especially one equipped to control a body with a strong bloodline from afar. Powerful bloodlines were highly sought after by liches, as they directly boosted their magical capabilities. Rumors existed about ancient liches who no longer needed a phylactery at all, but Thalion doubted Elias was anywhere near that level.

He didn't yet know how to extract the bloodline from a lich's phylactery, but that was a problem for future Thalion. Right now, he had to reach the dungeon before Elias noticed him.

Thalion shot down the spiral stairs into the dungeon, only to be stopped by an undead elf rushing up toward him.

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