Field Trip (5)
I sprinted at full speed alongside Lillia. Using Mind's Eye, I glanced at her for a moment. 'She's a mage, so no wonder she's not that fast.' She wasn't slow by any means, but from my perspective, it felt frustratingly sluggish. With no other choice, I came to a stop.
Lillia, who had been following right behind, tilted her head with a visible question mark hovering over her. “Mister Baran? Why did you suddenly stop?”
“I apologize in advance.”
“Pardon…?”
Before she could even process her confusion, I swiftly scooped Lillia up in a princess carry. The next instant, a rather startled expression crossed her face. Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, she flashed a foxy smile and wrapped her arms around my neck.
“I didn’t expect you to carry me like this?”
On the surface, she looked quite composed. However, her ears had turned a deep shade of red—anyone could tell she was extremely tense. I replied in a calm, indifferent tone.
“My apologies. It simply seemed far more efficient this way.”
As I spoke, I concentrated mana beneath my feet. At the same time—
High-Speed Movement
I kicked off the ground with explosive force. Our speed was on an entirely different level from before. If earlier it had simply felt like running, now it was like using a teleportation technique.
“So this is what high-speed movement feels like,” Lillia murmured, still held in my arms as she looked around with evident fascination. Given her specialization in illusion magic, it was only natural for her to be so intrigued. Honestly, even I had been secretly amazed the first time I used it.
-Ugh! That woman was definitely running slowly on purpose!
At that moment, Miroel clung tightly to my back, glaring with fierce eyes. I had no idea why she was so jealous.
Some time passed while I carried Lillia like that. Before long—
“There’s another door?”
We had finally arrived at our destination. I nodded and gently set Lillia down. Then I spoke.
“Let’s enter quickly.”
With those words, I opened the door.
-Creeeeak!
The iron door slowly swung open. Inside the room, a man gradually opened his eyes.
“So you’re the ones who’ve been killing my minions?”
The man glared at us with a murderous gaze. True to his nature as a vampire, his eyes were blood-red. He was also wearing a stylish black coat that gave him an imposing presence. I examined him closely with Mind's Eye.
His level was indeed higher than mine. In terms of level alone, he was on par with Luden at the entrance ceremony. However, no matter how high the level, talent, traits, and technique could still lead to defeat. The vampire before us was simply not at a level where he could defeat us.
“Miss Lillia, let’s finish this as quickly as possible.”
At my words, Lillia nodded. At the same time—
-Whoosh!
Mana erupted from her body. Come to think of it, I had never actually seen Lillia fight before. She had always stayed quietly in the back, observing. She had never stepped forward even once.
'In the main episodes, she was always the one handling the trash mobs.'
As I was thinking that—
'Hmm?'
Suddenly, I sensed strange mana in my field of vision.
Lael, who had been occupying the position of dungeon boss, couldn’t help but feel puzzled by the scene unfolding before him. The woman confronting him had definitely released her mana. Yet, contrary to expectations, nothing was happening.
'What is this? Why isn’t anything occurring?'
It was suspicious, but his task remained the same. He had to kill the two people in front of him. It was obvious they had come for the failed bracelet he had created.
-Slice!
Lael slashed his own arm with his nails. Blood immediately gushed from the wound. He infused it with mana.
-Vrrrrrm!
The flowing blood formed into droplets. On the surface, they looked like ordinary blood spheres. But each one was infused with mana, making them incredibly dangerous.
“Just die already.”
With a cold voice, he swung his hand downward. In the next instant, the blood droplets hurtled toward us. There were so many that both of us showed signs of alarm. Then—
“Kyaaaaa?!”
Lillia let out a feminine scream as she took Lael’s attack head-on. Small holes appeared all over her body. At that moment—
-Whoooosh!
Baran, who had somehow finished preparing, fired an arrow at him. It was strange that a blind man could shoot a bow, but that was all it was.
-Grab!
Lael caught the incoming arrow without even looking. Then he spoke.
“To come to my stronghold with only this much power. How laughable.”
With those words, Lael crushed the arrow with his grip. Then he kicked off the ground.
“?!”
The blind man in front of him looked startled. It seemed his other senses were well-developed; he had noticed Lael closing the distance in an instant. Lael swung his claws at Baran.
-Whoosh!
Sharp nails sliced through the air. Baran twisted his body and barely dodged the attack. Then he kicked backward.
“Hmm?”
In the next moment, Baran’s body vanished in the blink of an eye. Lael’s eyes widened at the unexpected movement.
'Where is he?'
He looked around frantically. Then—
“I’m right here.”
Baran, who had somehow prepared his bow again, drew the string from behind him. The moment he released it—
“?!”
An arrow far faster than before flew toward him. Lael was visibly shocked. He hadn’t expected the power to be this strong.
'I wanted to conserve my blood if possible, but it can’t be helped.'
Having assessed the situation, Lael transformed the blood flowing from his arm into the shape of a spear. At the same time—
-Kaaaaang!
He deflected the incoming arrow with the spear.
“Hoo. I never thought I’d have to use a weapon against a mere human.”
The vampire spun his spear and took a stance, staring at Baran in deep thought.
'I can’t let my guard down.'
Because the opponent was blind, he hadn’t expected him to be particularly strong. After all, not being able to see was usually a huge disadvantage in combat. However, judging by the man’s movements now, there didn’t seem to be much risk. His motions were far too natural for someone who couldn’t see.
“Tsk.”
Lael clicked his tongue and glanced at the completely dead Lillia. A pool of blood had formed beneath her corpse. He infused mana into Lillia’s blood. The next moment—
-Vrrrrrrrrrm!!
Lillia’s blood completely transformed into the shape of spears. Countless spears appeared around him. Lael looked at Baran and spoke.
“You never know what might happen in this world, so let’s end this quickly.”
With those final words, the spears surrounding him shot toward Baran. No matter how fast the man was, dodging that many spears should have been impossible.
Sure enough—
-Squelch!
The countless spears tore Baran’s body to shreds. Lael smiled with satisfaction at the sight before him.
***
I quietly watched Lael as he shadow-boxed alone. Just what kind of illusion was he seeing that made him so happy and perform by himself like that?
-Disciple. That vampire is dancing all by himself.
Even Miroel, standing beside me, looked at the vampire with pity.
“Illusion magic really is terrifying.”
“Is it?”
At my words, she gave a mischievous smile. The ability to make someone dance without them even realizing it—without actually killing them. If I didn’t have Mind's Eye, I probably wouldn’t have noticed either.
'Most people would be completely toyed with by Lillia.'
While I was thinking that—
“Then let’s finish this.”
Lillia spoke as she watched Lael continue attacking the empty air. I nodded and poured mana into the Bow of the Beginning. At the same time—
-Vrrrrrm.
A bow appeared in my hand. I breathed in the mana filling the cave.
'Since he can regenerate, I should kill him in one strike.'
I concentrated as much mana as possible. The next moment—
Lightning Arrow
A crackling arrow formed in my hand. I nocked it on the bow and—
-Shooook!
I released the string at high speed. The arrow tore through the air as it flew. At the same time—
-BOOM!
The face of Lael, who had been shadow-boxing in midair, exploded. His head burst apart in a single strike. While it was true his level was higher than mine, my overwhelming advantage in every other aspect made this outcome inevitable. Especially since he hadn’t even attempted to respond. Dying in one hit was only natural.
“It looks like it’s over now, so let’s get going.”
Lillia pointed toward an exit in the passage. I stopped her for a moment.
“Wait. We should still take what we can.”
I quickly searched the pockets of Lael’s coat. As expected, I found five bracelets that looked identical to the Bow of the Beginning inside his inner pocket. I examined them with Mind's Eye.
◈ Blocks any status abnormality once.
◈ Can only be used by the human race.
Just as I expected, the item I wanted had appeared. To prepare for the illusion demon race that would appear in the final exams, this bracelet was practically essential. This was exactly why I had deliberately walked into Tia’s trap.
At that moment—
You have successfully defeated the hidden route boss, Adult Vampire.
The player has been awarded the Phoenix (Legendary) Feather.
A system reward message appeared before my eyes. I stared at it, inwardly shocked.
Crazy. This actually dropped?