On the way to the castle hall, Mike wasn’t idle, pondering the key points of his conquest.
Currently, his lineage was still human, yet he had the Exploration Rate of three factions.
“Something’s off. If there’s a human faction, there must be humans in the castle, right?”
Mike had been active in the castle for so long without seeing any human NPCs!
No NPCs, yet a human faction existed—this didn’t make sense.
Mike was brought back to wait outside the hall he had been in before.
A maid hurried out, looking flustered, and quickly said, “The Duke said to meet you after the banquet starts.”
“I have something very important to report to the Duke.”
With that, Mike stepped forward, heading into the hall.
“Kill the intruder!”
In an instant, the gargoyles on the walls came to life, flapping their wings and stirring up a storm. The empty suits of armor on either side creaked and raised their weapons. The maid and guards’ pupils turned vertical, their eyes glowing red, fixating on Mike’s neck.
This guy was human, exuding a sweet, enticing scent.
They had been holding back for a long time!
If not for the Duke’s orders, they would have devoured Mike down to the bones long ago.
Now, since Mike was courting death… perfect!
Mike’s staff lifted slightly, casting spells at lightning speed, throwing out two skills effortlessly.
“Wind Fury.”
“Meteor Fire Rain.”
A gargoyle burst into sparks, and before it could do more, its health bar emptied, exploding into countless fragments!
The sparks spread like waves!
Boom—
Boom—
Mike walked with rhythmic steps into the Duke’s hall.
Behind him, continuous explosions echoed, engulfing the castle’s elite guards in flames.
No one survived.
When Mike burst into the hall, the scene before him, despite his mental preparation, still surprised him.
The Duke, wearing a golden mask, lay unconscious beside the throne.
A hole in the Duke’s neck was being drained by Count Vladimir, who was using a straw, looking utterly ridiculous.
Mike cleared his throat, “Ahem, you old fossil, don’t you think this is a disgrace to vampires?”
Look at other vampires—aloof, sinister, elegant…
Then look at Vladimir, sucking blood with a straw, not gentlemanly at all.
“Kid, you’re back.”
Count Vladimir, no, now it should be Marquis Vladimir.
“You returned faster than I expected. That dumb White Wolf didn’t kill you?”
Clearly, the idea of sending Mike to the dungeon came from Vladimir. He was the castle’s master, even if his rank had fallen, he could control everything.
If he could use the White Wolf King to kill Mike, all the better. Even if not, Vladimir had a backup plan—killing the Duke and drinking his blood.
Blood was the best supplement for them.
Drinking the Duke’s blood, Vladimir’s strength was rapidly recovering.
Though his rank was only Marquis, his true combat power was far beyond that.
Even so, Vladimir didn’t let his guard down against Mike.
“We can still cooperate, can’t we?”
Vladimir wiped his mouth clean and said, “When did I start remembering? Let me think, oh, it was when that man stormed into the castle with a sword. He was the rudest guest I’ve ever seen…”
Mentioning ‘sword,’ Mike noticed Vladimir’s body tremble slightly.
Clearly, Ares had left a deep psychological scar on him.
“That sword light, I can’t forget it. In an instant, he swung only once, but I felt like I was cut countless times….”
Fear appeared deep in Vladimir’s eyes, his body curling up, shivering on the throne.
Pitiful, weak, and helpless.
Mike was curious—if he struck Vladimir with a Thunderclap Strike, what kind of memory would it leave?
Suppressing the urge to attack, Mike waited for more.
Vladimir was clearly lost in his memories, “Being cut down by Ares’ sword, I should have died. Who knew, the next day I was alive again!”
“The people around had no memory, the castle was covered in sword marks, but they knew nothing… From that day, my nightmare began.”
Vladimir looked at Mike again, “I heard a slave went mad, muttering about a repeating day, Lord Morpheus, and such. I once interrogated him, but he said nothing.”
As Mike suspected, Vladimir was affected by Ares.
“Until over thirty years ago, I met a man named Apollo…”
Vladimir’s words suddenly paused, looking at Mike, extending an old hand, “Give me the Duke’s essence blood, and I’ll tell you what happened.”
Mike was furious.
“With your lousy storytelling, you want to charge a fee?”
Saying this, Mike raised his staff.
“I suggest you be proactive! Or do you believe the lightning dancing on my fingertips won’t become your worst nightmare?”
“Wait! Everything can be negotiated!”
Vladimir unexpectedly caved in, seemingly sensing danger.
Clearly, that sword many years ago had changed him too much.
From a cold, arrogant, and strong prince to the submissive figure before him.
“Apollo said one thing to me…”
At this point, Mike noticed Vladimir’s eyes losing their luster, becoming hollow, repeating mechanically, “He said to me….”
“Maybe, you’re a pig.”
Mike’s eyes widened, unable to comprehend what was happening!
As Vladimir repeated [Apollo]’s words, his body began to change!
His body shrank bit by bit, ears growing large and round, nose flipping up, protruding forward…
Simply put, Vladimir turned into a pig!
A vampire with Marquis rank, combat power close to a Battle Chief, turned into a pig!!
“Holy fuck! I don’t get it!”
Mike felt a chill run up his spine.
Suddenly, he had a new understanding of Shadow Nine’s repeated warning:
Don’t be alone with Apollo when Shadow Nine isn’t around!
Pig Vladimir: “Oink oink.”
Mike couldn’t understand pig language, but fortunately, his talent was universal translation.
[Story’s over]
Vladimir could understand human speech; Mike didn’t need to learn pig language.
“Honestly, I almost feel sorry for you.”
[Cut the crap, give me the essence blood]
“Hold on, there’s still some blood left in this guy, don’t waste it.”
Mike stepped forward, first kicking the pig away to avoid being ambushed, then began draining the unconscious vampire Duke’s blood.
After collecting a few more drops of the Duke’s essence blood, the vampire Duke’s blood level bottomed out, his body shriveling, completely losing life.
Having done all this, Mike wasn’t satisfied, trying to gather more loot.
The golden mask looked valuable, couldn’t waste it.
“Why is this mask stuck so tightly to his face!”
In the end, Mike had to cut off the entire head, mask included, and put it in his storage space.
With the Duke’s essence blood and the completion of the [Dancing with Wolves] task, the vampire faction’s Exploration Rate reached 100%.
“Alright, as per our agreement, I’ll give you thirty percent of the Duke’s essence blood.”
Mike placed the small bottle of essence blood on the ground, signaling Vladimir to come forward.
Pig Vladimir cautiously approached.
Then, a pair of hands grabbed his ears, lifting him off the ground, ignoring his violent struggles.
What could he do? He was just a pig!
“Now you’re my captive. By the rules, everything of the captive is my loot.”
Saying this, Mike pocketed the small bottle.
Once something’s in the stomach, there’s no reason to spit it out!
“As for you….”
Looking at Pig Vladimir, Mike was momentarily indecisive.
“Keep you around, kill you before clearing the level.”
Pig Vladimir: [Kill me, now].
“Quiet, or I’ll throw you in the pigsty!”
Threatened by Mike, Pig Vladimir immediately quieted down.
With the two vampires gone, the entire castle fell into chaos and panic.
“Hurry!”
Mike rushed into the depths of the dungeon, already in disarray, with many werewolves breaking free and fleeing.
Dorian, with eight werewolves, obediently squatted in a corner, waiting for Mike.
“Sir!”
Seeing Mike return, Dorian stepped forward to greet him.
“Move aside.”
Mike didn’t stop, heading straight to the deepest part of the dungeon.
The White Wolf King was still imprisoned here!
If possible, Mike didn’t mind taking the White Wolf King along. Even injured, he was still a Battle Chief-level existence.
A very powerful ally!
“Kid, it’s useless.”
The White Wolf King sat in the darkness, the chains on him seeming alive, tightly binding him with no room to escape.
Back in his peak, these chains could imprison him.
Now, with only Battle Chief strength, escape was impossible!
“Shut up.” freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
In a blink, Mike was beside the White Wolf King, a hammer appearing in his hand, striking down hard.
Thunderclap Hammer!
Void Tremor!
Bang—
The Thunderclap Hammer struck the White Wolf King.
The sword scar on his chest began to heat up, as if something was about to burst out!
Not only that, the entire castle underwent a transformation, as if awakened!
Boom—
Countless bolts of lightning appeared, the castle shaking and trembling, precisely divided into countless pieces, the chains on the White Wolf King breaking!
And it all stemmed from Thor’s single strike with the Thunderclap Hammer!!
The White Wolf King was utterly shocked, not understanding what had happened!
Mike, holding the Thunderclap Hammer, let out a cold snort.
“No one understands lightning better than I do!”