Chapter 168
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 169
Chapter Title: Vampire Onslaught
Mob had triumphed over the orc warlord.
The three goblins were absolutely thrilled by that fact.
Meanwhile, Havel wasn't even glancing at Mob. His gaze was fixed elsewhere.
"Havel?"
Vibel, who had been resting at his side, voiced his confusion.
He knew Havel was the type who could be cold at times but always gave credit where it was due.
Surely, he had to be quietly pleased with Mob's victory, if not outright celebratory.
There was no way he'd react with such indifference.
Leaving Vibel behind, Havel walked through the reed fields.
The destination he headed for was none other than the orc warlord himself.
The orc warlord belatedly noticed Havel approaching and turned his way.
Havel spoke to him.
"I can sense a massive presence heading this way from the orc village."
"What."
The orc warlord whipped around to check the village, but only belatedly.
They were quite a distance from the orc village.
It wasn't something even a warlord like him could pick up on.
"Vampires?"
The orc warlord's face drained of color.
Right now, most of the orcs' elites were out here.
Plenty of warriors had come to watch the battle, too.
Naturally, the village was left mostly with women, the elderly, and children.
At this rate, they'd be sitting ducks for a vampire raid.
"Orcs! Back to the village now! Vampires are coming!"
The orc warlord spun around, eager to lead his kin back.
But his body was utterly spent from clashing with Mob.
Like this, they'd probably get wiped out by the vampires nine times out of ten.
Vampires ranked seventh in the racial hierarchy.
To ninth-ranked orcs, they were natural predators, pure and simple.
"I'll come with you."
That's when Mob stepped up beside the orc warlord.
His words carried a clear resolve to fight alongside them.
Goblins and orcs had battled so fiercely they'd slaughter each other without a second thought.
But this duel had been agreed upon from the start.
Now that it was over, Mob was more than willing to lend the warlord a hand.
"...This is our fight."
Sensing Mob's sincerity, the orc warlord bowed his head gratefully.
"I owe you."
Right now, he'd borrow help from anyone—even a cat's paw.
Mob strode forward without so much as a backward glance at Havel.
This was his choice alone, after all.
"Hah, what a stubborn bunch."
Then, in the distance, Joa was joining the orcs too.
Vibel and Aren followed suit.
"Feels like we've got some stake in this now."
"We fought together, so we're comrades! Aren, let's help 'em out!"
Havel eyed the four goblins steadily before letting out a dry chuckle.
'So, bonds can form even across species lines.'
That realization was worth something.
Havel started walking at a measured pace.
He hadn't had much action lately—his body felt stiff.
Perfect opportunity.
By the time he caught up to Mob's side, Mob finally turned to him.
"I'll take point. Follow at your leisure."
Mob's eyes went wide at those words.
Then he broke into a beaming grin and nodded vigorously.
"Got it!"
The instant Mob replied, Havel's figure blurred out of sight.
The orc warlord stared blankly for a moment, then gripped his greatsword tight.
"Orcs! Run—for your families!"
Havel had stepped up.
That alone sent his morale skyrocketing.
He was one of the few who'd felt Havel's power firsthand.
"Thanks."
He didn't forget to thank Mob either.
He knew Havel only joined because Mob had led the way.
Mob just smiled in response, saying nothing more.
He only pitied the vampires dumb enough to hit the orc village now.
Annihilation was all that awaited them.
In front of the orc village's wooden palisade.
A horde of orcs had gathered there.
Up in the sky.
Something like pitch-black clouds was surging their way.
The orcs froze in terror at the sight.
Those clouds blotting out the sky weren't carrying raindrops—they were packed with bats.
Ordinary bats? They'd have laughed it off.
But they knew what those bats really were. Fear was inevitable.
Racial rank: 7th.
Vampires.
They'd transformed into bats to swarm the orc village.
"Th-that many..."
One orc warrior muttered in dazed horror.
Vampires were the orcs' ultimate predator.
One bite, and they'd drain you to the edge of death.
Physical attacks barely worked on them.
Orc sorcery had been born out of sheer desperation to fight back.
They fired arrows skyward anyway.
But the arrows did nothing to the bats.
Too small a target, for one.
And even on a hit, physical immunity meant arrows were useless.
"Keep firing! Buy time till the sorcerers finish the ritual!"
They had to stall somehow.
So the orc warriors loosed arrows relentlessly.
Pointless or not.
Just to scrape together a few extra seconds.
Boom!
Then, small giants of smoke rose behind the sorcerers.
The smoke giants unleashed sorcery in unison.
Lightning from some, frost from others, flames from the rest.
The skyborne vampires couldn't shrug it off.
Their wings thrashed wildly overhead.
A storm born of their flapping collided with the sorcery.
Kwaaaaaang!
The storm nullified the orcs' spells outright.
The orc sorcerers scrambled to prepare more.
But the vampires weren't about to let them.
They dove straight down, wings pounding.
Vampires plummeted in seconds, assaulting the orcs.
Shifting from bats to their true forms, fangs bared.
Crunch. Kwajik. Kwaak!
"Kyaaaak!"
"Aaaaak!"
They tore into the orcs' napes on landing.
The orcs screamed as blood was sucked dry in moments.
They flailed wildly with their weapons.
But physical immunity rendered the blows harmless.
"You rotten vampire scum!"
Orc sorcerers hurled spells at them.
They couldn't take down every vampire, though.
Those who broke through bit the sorcerers too.
"Mealtime!"
"Rip 'em open and drain 'em dry!"
The vampires howled in ecstatic frenzy.
Their eyes glowed crimson with savage delight as they savored the feast.
"Braaak!"
"Kyaaaak!"
Orc screams multiplied across the village.
One vampire, having drained an orc dry, lifted its head.
Right ahead, a fleeing orc caught its eye.
A child—not warrior or sorcerer.
Terror-stricken. The vampire pounced with sadistic glee.
That instant.
Slash!
"Huh?"
The vampire mumbled in bewilderment.
Its head was already soaring skyward, severed clean.
The flying head's eyes caught a figure.
Short stature, green skin, pointed ears, silver hair near-white.
Undeniably a goblin.
A sword gleamed in the goblin's grip, inexplicably.
Did that thing just behead me—physical-immune me?
The vampire perished, denying reality to the last.
Havel, vampire-slayer, lifted his head with a chilling glare.
Vampires choked the sky in his view.
"Talk about rotten timing."
Had they gotten word the orc elites were away?
No other explanation for the boldness.
"Whoever you are, you picked the worst moment to raid."
They clearly didn't grasp how disastrous this was.
Dawn's glow began to sheen Havel's blade.
He leaped, racing through the village.
Every vampire in sight fell to his slashes.
These fiends feared no edge, thanks to physical immunity.
That complacency was their undoing.
They took blades to the throat without flinching—didn't even dodge.
"Wh-what the hell!"
"That goblin's pulling some freak trick!"
Some raised the alarm as comrades dropped.
But Havel's sword outpaced their cries.
Every neck severed before a word landed.
Vampires massacred under pristine swordwork.
Even the saved orcs gawked, stunned.
Havel's blade was absurdly swift.
Then.
Clang!
Finally, one blocked his strike.
Havel eyed the interrupter.
A vampire in tailored black, fangs out.
Unlike the rest, long silver hair flowed free.
Red eyes fixed on Havel as he spoke.
"Goblin. Where'd you crawl from to crash our dinner?"
Comrades dying around him?
Not a flicker in his gaze. Straight to the question.
Havel pegged him as the leader instantly.
"Name's Havel. Yours?"
"Count Darupan Nosfell."
Higher vampire nobility meant purer blood.
They bred by blood infusion—no limits.
Count meant near-pureblood tier.
Power leagues beyond common vampires.
"Apologize for the interruption and back off now, and I might overlook it."
His smile dripped leisure.
Havel cracked his neck at the sight.
Body itching from the drivel.
"Save that for someone stronger. Not you."
Darupan's brows twitched sharply.
He'd offered an out.
This goblin had no fear left, apparently.
"Goblin blood's not my taste."
Darupan's fangs flashed keen.
"But yours... might be different."
The vampire count's duel with the goblin ignited.