Chapter 10: Could you take me with you next time?
Page 1 of 3
The main hall was the temple’s central area, boasting its finest architecture and most exquisite decorations. Unfortunately, it had now been reduced to ruins.
The statues and divine images once enshrined within had long since been destroyed beyond recognition, leaving only shattered remnants.
As Gu Chen and the others entered the hall, a layer of indistinct black mist began to rise from all around them. A moment later, heavy footsteps sounded from behind the main hall.
Boom! Boom! ...
The light dimmed, and the ground began to tremble faintly. An immensely powerful presence, unlike anything they had encountered before, was slowly drawing near.
Lin Yuan instinctively climbed onto a half-body statue and stood upon its broken shoulder, deliberately removing himself from the battlefield.
Seeing this, the others hurriedly climbed to higher ground as well.
Although the main hall was vast, there was no telling where a guard might appear.
The first thing any competent actor did was stay far away from the fighting.
Gu Chen was no exception. With his attributes greatly enhanced, he easily climbed to the top of a pillar.
From there, he had a perfect view of the entire hall below.
From behind the main hall, a towering figure nearly three meters tall charged out first.
[Alien Race: Fallen Guard]
[Level: LV.5]
[Health: 2,900]
[Attributes: Strength 48, Agility 29, Constitution 48, Spirit 37]
[Skill I: Oathbound Sword]
[Skill II: Ultimate Judgment]
A level-five guard, with nearly three thousand health!
The enormous creature wielded a black longsword and charged toward Dracula.
Dracula did not hesitate. He raised his gun and fired.
The bullets from his ordinary attacks were not to be underestimated. One after another, they struck the guard in the head.
Bang! Bang! Bang! ...
Dracula’s Agility had already reached 60, higher even than the attributes of a level-five assassin.
In the space of a single breath, he emptied two magazines, blasting away a full fifth of the guard’s health.
Then came the skill combination.
The high-explosive round fired by [Deadly Shot] shrieked from the muzzle like a streak of silver lightning, sinking into the center of the guard’s brow.
It was not a headshot, but the guard’s health dropped straight to half.
As before, the tremendous damage inflicted on its head triggered a stun effect.
The guard’s charging body suddenly lurched to a halt.
Dracula did not hesitate. He immediately unleashed [Crimson Feast]. Scarlet energy surged around his body, spiraling into the guard’s chest.
The first burst of damage erupted, followed by a second wave.
Boom!
The guard’s body convulsed violently. Its health was emptied, and it exploded into a heap of black flesh.
Page 1 of 3
Page 2 of 3
[Defeated Fallen Guard LV.5, Experience +113]
“Now that’s badass!”
Lin Yuan stood on a statue’s shoulder, his face filled with amazement.
The level-five guard had also been described in the strategy guide. The only way to deal with it was to kite it while attacking. After all, it had nearly three thousand health and a Strength attribute close to fifty.
Once it got its claws into the party, the entire team would be wiped out.
Yet Dracula had dispatched it effortlessly with a string of ordinary attacks and skills, without even giving it the chance to use a single ability.
At that moment, all the precision footwork and kiting tactics in the world were utterly insignificant before overwhelming strength.
Lin Yuan sighed inwardly. An epic-grade summoned beast truly was terrifying.
Forget Li Wenhui from the elite class—even the most gifted professional in Lin City might not have been capable of such a feat.
Now that the level-five guard had been killed, the lower-level guards that should have spawned alongside it finally appeared.
From every direction, from unexpected corners, corpses clad in frigid armor emerged one after another.
Boom!
The first guard had barely taken a step before a bullet blew its head apart.
Boom! Boom! Boom! ...
With a gun in each hand, Dracula stood amid dozens of guards and fired without pause. Not a single guard could approach within three meters of him. The instant one drew near, a single shot blew its head apart.
The killing speed was horrifying. This was a massacre in the purest sense—a truly bloody feast.
Once every guard had been slain, an upgrade notification appeared before Gu Chen’s eyes.
[Level Up]
[Level: LV.4 (1/680)]
[Strength: 47]
[Agility: 46]
[Constitution: 48]
[Spirit: 49]
[Summoned Beast: Dracula LV.4 (Epic)]
[Talent—One Dark Bloodline Currently Available]
Excitement flashed across Gu Chen’s face. The first wave of monsters had just been cleared, so there was no reason to hesitate. He immediately activated his talent.
[You Have Obtained: Dark Bloodline—Royal Blood]
[Dark Bloodline—Royal Blood: Can transform ordinary creatures into dark creatures, or advance the bloodline of an Original Dark Creature once]
It could advance an Original’s bloodline? What an incredible reward!
From the looks of it, Royal Blood corresponded to the Legendary rank, Original Bloodlines corresponded to the Epic rank, and Descendant Bloodlines corresponded to the Rare rank.
Gu Chen was about to advance Dracula into a Legendary summoned beast, but after a moment’s thought, he decided that might not be wise.
With one more level, he would be able to contract a second summoned beast.
If he used the Royal Bloodline now, and then received only a Descendant Bloodline upon reaching level five, the potential of his second summoned beast would be greatly diminished.
On the other hand, if he saved the Royal Bloodline, then even if he truly obtained only a Descendant Bloodline at level five, he could give the Royal Bloodline to his second summoned beast instead.
Page 2 of 3
Page 3 of 3
By then, his first summoned beast would be Epic-grade, while his second would be Legendary-grade. His combat power would soar.
As for the Descendant Bloodline, it could still be used to awaken a summoned beast’s bloodline, effectively serving as an enhancement and making it even stronger.
For the sake of caution, Gu Chen decided not to use the Royal Bloodline for the time being.
Even so, this level-up brought Dracula a considerable boost.
[Dracula (Epic Star)]
[Level: LV.4 (Follows Summoner’s Level)]
[Health: 5,620]
[Attributes: Strength 70, Agility 74, Constitution 72, Spirit 71]
Since reaching level three, Dracula had slain twelve level-one guards, seven level-two guards, two level-three guards, and one level-five guard.
Of his 5,620 health, 220 points had been gained from those kills.
It was not much, but small gains accumulated over time.
Besides the increase in health, this level-up also granted twelve points to every attribute.
With his attributes enhanced, his ordinary attacks, skills, attack speed, and everything else improved accordingly.
Dracula could now kill a level-two guard instantly with a casual shot. [Deadly Shot] could instantly kill a level-three guard, while his Mozambique Drill had already been put to use against level-four guards.
With two skills chained together, he could kill a level-five guard in a single breath.
Within this dungeon, Dracula had become the undisputed ceiling of combat power—frighteningly strong.
A spark of battle intent flashed through Gu Chen’s eyes. He was about to advance when he noticed that Dracula had already lowered his weapons.
The main hall was empty. The first wave of monsters had been completely wiped out.
At the same time, Lin Yuan, Lin Qingqing, and the others jumped down from the damaged statues.
Wu Ziyi stepped forward and said, “The first wave is over. In another fifteen minutes, the second wave of guards will appear together with the boss. Once we kill the boss, we’ll clear the dungeon.”
Wu Ziyi was admittedly somewhat cocky, but no one could deny that he had truly put effort into studying the strategy.
Lin Yuan asked bluntly, “So all we have to do now is wait here?”
Wu Ziyi ignored Lin Yuan and instead looked toward Gu Chen. “Once this dungeon is cleared, the difficulty levels will unlock. You’ll choose Hell difficulty right away, won’t you?”
The beginner dungeon had four difficulty levels: Normal, Hard, Nightmare, and Hell.
These four difficulties corresponded respectively to A-rank, S-rank, SS-rank, and SSS-rank evaluations.
According to the rules, one had to obtain an S-rank evaluation before being allowed to choose SS-rank or SSS-rank difficulty.
Gu Chen nodded. “Yes. I can’t be bothered with all the intermediate steps. Next run, I’ll choose Hell difficulty and go straight for an SSS-rank evaluation.”
Wu Ziyi nodded, then asked cautiously, “Then... can I still come with you next time?”
Gu Chen thought for a moment before shaking his head.
“You’re not taking me?” Wu Ziyi asked, visibly disappointed.
“Can’t say yet,” Gu Chen replied indifferently.
Page 3 of 3