Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: The Start of Phase 2
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Notifications continued to pour in.
[Congratulations! You have reached level 50.]
[System bestows upon you greater power.]
[5 bonus stats have been granted.]
[All Healer class-exclusive skills increase by one level.]
[System desires for you to grow even stronger.]
[Trait system activated.]
[System begins observing you.]
That was all the notifications.
However, it was exactly as he remembered from before.
‘At the earliest, within 10 minutes. At the latest, by the end of this gate, a trait will be granted.’
The granting of traits was entirely up to the system's discretion.
But setting aside the system's observation, if he followed the pre-established formula, he could acquire the desired trait regardless of the system's evaluation.
Thus, now was golden time.
Having eliminated the Century Bat, Su-ho finally approached the head of the Cursed Prince, which was screaming alone in the corner of the corridor.
- Kyaaah!!
The Cursed Prince's body was frozen like a statue under Shadow Bind, while its head roared in fury like a beast stripped of reason.
Could something like this truly be called a prince?
It didn't matter.
Whether it took the form of a dullahan or a beast, what mattered was its identity as a vampire.
Su-ho lifted the creature's head.
- Let go! Let me go!! You filthy, lowly scum!!
The severed head shrieking wildly—it was just like a mandragora.
That one had screamed exactly like this the instant it was uprooted.
Instead of replying, Su-ho pressed the Cursed Prince's head against his forearm.
Seizing the chance, the Cursed Prince bit down on Su-ho's forearm with all its strength.
Crunch!
It hurt.
If his stamina stat weren't red-grade, his forearm might have been torn clean off.
But Su-ho's stamina stat was red-grade, enduring the bite as if to boast.
In that instant.
[You have been bitten by a royal vampire.]
[Cursed Prince uses Bloodsuck.]
[Cursed Prince uses Vampirization.]
[Vampirization in progress ……1%.]
System notifications appeared before his eyes.
The Vampirization that the Blood Emperor had endured began to take hold.
At the same time, Su-ho felt a splitting headache and intense vertigo.
The moment the dizziness hit, Su-ho ripped the Cursed Prince's head from his forearm and hurled it into the corner.
‘Just as the Blood Emperor described.’
Vampirization brought not only headache and dizziness but an overwhelming thirst for blood.
Sure enough, no sooner had the thought crossed his mind than his mouth went bone-dry.
It felt like trudging through a desert for three hours without a drop of water.
‘To indirectly experience what it feels like to be a vampire.’
It was a novel sensation, if nothing else.
But novelty alone wasn't enough to make him want to keep it going.
Experiences shine brightest when left as mere memories.
Seeing Su-ho stagger, the Cursed Prince burst into maniacal laughter.
- Kuhahaha! You idiot! Strutting about oblivious to your place, only to bring doom upon yourself!
What did it think it knew?
Ignoring the Cursed Prince's deranged cackling, Su-ho sat down on the floor.
The vertigo was too severe to stand.
Then, when Vampirization hit around 49%, Su-ho pulled the pre-purchased Purifying Holy Water from his inventory.
While standard Purifying Potions excelled at common status ailments, Purifying Holy Water specialized in unique ones—like zombification or vampirization, debuffs tied to undead or demons.
‘I prepared 20 bottles just in case.’
The Blood Emperor had said five bottles of high-quality Purifying Holy Water sufficed to fully cleanse Vampirization, but Su-ho had come with twenty.
Finally, as Vampirization reached 50%, Su-ho uncorked the Purifying Holy Water.
That was the threshold for the Blood Emperor gaining the Vampire trait—once Vampirization surpassed 50%.
But then.
[Vampirization has progressed beyond 50%.]
[A portion of your blood begins to contaminate.]
[All conditions for unlocking the second authority of Dragon Blood have been met.]
[① Reach level 50.]
[② Mental and physical threat to life.]
[The second authority of Dragon Blood unlocks.]
[Dragon Armor opens.]
[Learned Dragonkin (S) from Dragon Armor.]
[Learned Dragon Skin (S) from Dragon Armor.]
System notifications flooded his vision.
Things Su-ho had never anticipated.
‘The second authority unlocks here?’
Su-ho recalled the two conditions for Dragon Blood's second authority.
1. Reach level 50.
2. Mental and physical threat to life.
The second was originally undisclosed.
But Su-ho had learned of it from the Dragon Demon.
He had even planned a tailor-made gate for unlocking it after hitting level 50.
Yet suddenly, the second condition triggered.
He knew why at once.
‘Right. Vampirization itself threatens your life, so the system counts it as a life threat.’
Thus, Su-ho couldn't help but smile.
No need for Purifying Holy Water now—and the outcome would far exceed expectations.
Proof followed.
[Dragon Blood activates.]
[Dragonkin effect of Dragon Armor halts Vampirization progress.]
[Dragonkin effect of Dragon Armor begins purifying contaminated blood.]
[Dragonkin effect of Dragon Armor begins absorbing contaminated blood.]
As expected, Dragonkin—innate to Dragon Armor—automatically activated to purify the Vampirization-tainted blood.
Su-ho checked Dragonkin's details.
[Dragonkin]
- Grade: S
# A choice and innate authority granted only to those born of the dragon's bloodline.
# Imbues the bloodline with nobility and supremacy.
# While active, the player resists all infection and contamination effects, automatically absorbing the source for purification, healing, and learning benefits.
Exactly as expected.
Just as the Dragon Demon described.
Su-ho zeroed in on the final line.
[…absorbs the contamination source for purification, healing, and learning benefits.]
In short: it purified the profane vampire blood invading his body, then learned and granted powers derived from that tainted blood.
‘This is why dragons reign supreme.’
Few surpassed pure-blooded dragons.
Ruling like the world's guardians, they boasted unmatched power, mana, mental fortitude, physical prowess, vast lifespans, and biological perfection—immune to most ailments.
And that was just the start.
‘Their innate bloodline superiority lets them swiftly learn and dismantle enemy assaults.’
That was Dragon Blood's Dragonkin power.
Then.
[Dragonkin effect of Dragon Armor fully purifies contaminated blood.]
[Dragonkin effect of Dragon Armor fully absorbs contaminated blood.]
[Successfully fully learned unknown power from absorbed contaminated blood.]
[Learned Vampire (F-).]
[Learned Bloodsuck (A).]
[Learned Blood Reservoir (A).]
[Learned Blood Weapon (A).]
Dragon Armor's Dragonkin effect fully absorbed the tainted blood.
In turn, Su-ho gained four skills.
Strictly speaking, three.
[Vampire]
- Grade: F-
# Proof you nearly became a vampire.
# Sealed state.
Vampire.
Without Dragonkin, this would have been Vampire Blood.
But Dragonkin sealed it—renaming it, dropping it to F-grade, and slapping on a minus for degradation.
Regrettable, but inevitable.
‘Dragonkin wields flawless purification, scrubbing process and aftermath clean. Purifying Holy Water just brute-stops Vampirization at best.’
The purification deemed certain skills redundant and erased them.
Likely 'Blood Soldiers,' 'Blood Scream,' 'Vampirization'—gone.
‘Tch. Have to forfeit this trait.’
A shame.
Su-ho had set his sights on securing Vampire Blood here.
It was key to that trait.
‘Though no player would dream of pairing Dragon Blood with Vampire Blood.’
Shoving regret aside, Su-ho reviewed the skills.
[Bloodsuck]
- Grade: A
# Technique extracting only pure blood.
# Extracted blood stores in Blood Reservoir.
[Blood Reservoir]
- Grade: A
# Vampires' mystic blood vault.
# Stores excess body blood, auto-supplying as needed.
[Blood Weapon]
- Grade: A
# Secret art for noble-born vampires only.
# Fuse imagination with your blood to forge a weapon.
# Insufficient blood forcibly disengages Blood Weapon.
Bloodsuck, Blood Reservoir, Blood Weapon.
All familiar.
Still, not empty-handed.
Blood Weapon especially—a rare skill exclusive to noble vampires and up.
‘No more weapon worries for a while.’
Info check done, Su-ho closed the window.
Only then did he glance at the Cursed Prince, still wailing in the corner.
But its state seemed off.
- How are you unscathed after my bite……?
The Cursed Prince's face twisted in terror.
Fair enough.
From its view, royals' Vampirization rarely failed.
Wrong matchup, though.
Even royal vampires paled before a great dragon's bloodline.
- It must be my curse…… I'm worthless for anything…….
Soon, the Cursed Prince devolved to self-pity, bewailing its fate.
Then.
[Cursed Prince sheds bloody tears, lamenting its destiny.]
[Cursed Prince's power surges dramatically.]
- I'll slaughter them all……! Revenge on this wretched world that made me……! Burn it, crush it—hurl every superior bastard into the abyss……!
The Cursed Prince abruptly went berserk.
Phase 2 had begun.