CHAPTER 306: VAMPIRE COUNT VARGOS [1]

After what felt like twenty minutes, they arrived at a massive set of double doors decorated with carved bats and twisted roses.

A faint, pulsing aura seeped through the cracks.

They stopped.

"Boss room," Bunny said unnecessarily.

Cassie tightened her grip on her staff. "I can feel a pressure... like we’re being watched."

"Vampire nobility always likes theatrics," Sophie nodded. "The Count is definitely behind this door."

Gabriel checked his MP and HP. They were full. There were six Blood Bombs left.

Plenty of potions sat in Cassie and Sophie’s reserve. Team status: injured, but stable.

After confirming all of this, he turned to the others, a serious gleam flickering across his eyes.

"This is the main objective of this floor," he said. "We kill the Count, floor clears. There might be phases, summons, or blood rituals during the fight. Don’t panic if the room changes." He recalled some of the things he had read on the forum in his previous life.

"Anna," Gabriel continued, "focus on eliminating any support casters or ritualists if they appear. Samantha, keep a minimum skeleton line between the Count and our backline. Cassie, prioritize cleanse-type buffs if he tries charm or fear."

Cassie nodded quickly. "Got it."

"And you?" Sophie asked, concern in her voice.

"I’ll handle the Count," he replied calmly, expression neutral.

Afterward, he pushed the doors.

They swung inward with a heavy, echoing creak.

The throne hall was long and wide, lined with cracked pillars and tall stained-glass windows depicting ancient vampire victories. The light that filtered through was red and sickly.

At the far end, on a raised platform, sat the Count.

Vargos.

He wore a tattered noble coat over plate-like bone armor, with a crimson cape draped across the throne steps. His skin was pale but not corpse-white—more refined than the Mutant. His eyes glowed a deep, dangerous red, and a thin smile played on his lips as they entered.

A chalice rested in his hand, filled with dark liquid.

He took a casual sip.

"...another batch of challengers," Vargos said slowly. His voice was smooth, almost courteous. "And not entirely useless, judging from the disturbance outside."

Samantha shivered. "He talks..."

"Of course he does," Sophie murmured. "Vampire Counts are closer to lords than beasts."

Vargos’s gaze swept across the group and settled on Gabriel.

His smile widened slightly.

"You," he said. "You feel... strange."

Gabriel didn’t answer the taunt.

He walked forward calmly until he stood at the front, just out of immediate melee range.

"Vargos," he said. "Floor 30 boss. Vampire Count. Blood manipulation, charm, ritual support. Strong regeneration. Weak point: heart and ritual nodes."

Bunny blinked and couldn’t help but think quietly to herself, ’did he read that off a wiki or something?’

Vargos paused. His eyes briefly showed surprise at how the human knew all this, but then he spun the chalice in his grasp and chuckled.

"Ah, yes. The noisy information networks of your kind. Always believing you understand the rules, when you have only tasted the surface."

He rose from his throne.

The air thickened instantly.

"Still," he continued, "you’ve made it this far, and you’ve slain my outer kin in numbers. For that, I suppose you have earned a more... personal greeting."

Blood flowed from his chalice and spread along the ground in a thin film, circling his feet before reaching the edges of the platform.

Ritual lines lit up.

"He’s using the whole room as a circle," Sophie warned.

"Disruptable?" Gabriel asked.

"Likely," she said. "But it might have multiple nodes."

Vargos lowered his hand.

"Bleed for me," he said softly.

The blood on the floor surged upward, forming spears, whips, and flying blades that shot toward them.

"Spread!" Gabriel ordered.

They scattered.

Ragnarok rolled left, dodging a spear that embedded itself in the stone before melting.

Samantha’s skeletons raised shields and took several hits, getting shredded in the process.

Gabriel dashed forward, cutting through several streams with precise slashes.

"His control has range," Sophie called out. "We need to thin his blood sources, or this will keep going!"

Gabriel’s gaze flicked to the side.

Several stone basins along the pillars overflowed with blood, feeding streams into the floor.

"Anna," he said. "Pillars. Basins. Break them."

"On it," she replied, vanishing from sight.

Vargos watched her disappear and laughed softly. "Ah. A little rat."

He snapped his fingers.

A wave of oppressive aura surged.

Several vampiric knights materialized from the walls, dropping down in armor with glowing red eyes. They charged toward the backline.

"Adds!" Bunny yelled. "Here we go!"

Ragnarok grinned and moved to intercept. "Leave ’em to me!"

Samantha’s skeletons repositioned in a rough semicircle, ready to intercept any that slipped past.

Gabriel kept his focus locked on the Count.

Blood spears rained toward him. He moved through them, weaving like he’d done it a hundred times. A few grazed his clothes, staining them, but none pierced deeply.

Once he got close enough, he swung his blade.

CLANG!

A blood shield formed instantly, hardening into a crimson barrier.

The strike cracked it but didn’t pierce through. He had expected as much—he’d be damned to think he could take out a level 79 enemy with one attack.

"Impatient," Vargos mused. "Good for cattle, bad for longevity."

Gabriel didn’t reply. He stepped back and pulled out a Blood Bomb.

Vargos’s smile finally faltered. He extended his hand, trying to manipulate the blood inside, but the Bomb wasn’t made of normal blood. It was crystallized anti-vampiric energy.

Gabriel tossed it—not at the Count, but at the floor beneath the throne platform.

The Bomb stuck to the stone.

Vargos’s eyes widened slightly.

"Annoying—"

BOOOM!

The explosion rolled upward and outward, ripping through every blood line in the room. The ritual circle sputtered and died. The basins near the throne shattered, sending shards flying.

"Arggghgg!!" Vargos screamed as the wave tore at his flesh. His blood armor evaporated in chunks. The crimson shield around him broke instantly. Pale skin cracked, and his cape disintegrated.

Every lesser vampire...