NOVEL NEXT Chapter 3
“Jayden. Gather the kids and get ready to go to the Jedo.”
“Did you say Jedo?”
“The Seven Lairs has been updated. I need to inform the eradication command.”
“False reporting is a serious crime. Even the captain knows that. If we’re wrong, our heads will be on the chopping block.”
Sergey understood without needing an explanation.
He also wasn’t sure whether to believe the expedition team’s words.
“If it’s true, we won’t have to stake our lives for a while. It’s the Seven Lairs, Jayden. Just the reward for reporting is a jackpot!”
“But nothing is more precious than life.”
“I get your thoughts, so don’t worry. As long as we cross-verify, we won’t end up on the guillotine.”
Before Jayden could say anything, Sergey turned his head.
The expedition leader flinched under Sergey’s piercing gaze.
“How many people know about this?”
“…Quite a few.”
“What about the eradication squad?”
“Nobody knows that.”
“I’m in your debt.”
Ping! A coin flicked from Sergey’s fingertips spun on the table.
Before it stopped, the expedition leader’s hand moved lightning-fast.
‘That, gold coin!’
Seeing Sergey’s surprised face, he gestured to his lips with his fingertips. A sign to keep quiet.
The expedition leader nodded and locked his lips in agreement.
“If you just guide us, I can toss in another.”
Is there any doubt about that? The expedition leader nodded repeatedly.
After that, the eradication squad dragged out the other members who were completely hammered and left the tavern.
The members, soaked in alcohol, sobered up instantly at Sergey’s words.
“There’s a dungeon where even an unarmed expedition team returned alive. If we prepare well, we can make it back too. Remember, our objective is to verify the facts and survive. Any items that hinder our escape will be left at the village hall. The only focus is on returning alive.”
Even so, diving into possibly the Seven Lairs is no joke.
Based on dungeon exploring experience alone, they’ve faced countless challenges. They even managed to tackle a dungeon ranked 30 in the empire’s eradication squad history.
But the Seven Lairs is a completely different ball game.
The silence among the members likely stemmed from fear. He understood their feelings well. Even Sergey was hesitating.
Sergey spoke up in a booming voice.
“I’m the captain of this eradication squad. Your lives are my responsibility. Will you trust me this time just as you have until now?”
“Is that even a question, Captain?”
One member let out a hollow laugh.
“We’re all indebted to you, Captain. Is there anyone scared with you saying you’ll take responsibility? Right, guys?”
“That’s right, brother!”
“And our goal is survival. We absolutely want to live.”
“If we get the reward, we could buy a house, right? I wanted to propose to my childhood friend back home.”
“Dude, you could bury a house and still afford a gold ring. Just slip it on her finger and propose in style—she’ll swoon!”
Sergey chuckled.
It was clear they were scared but trying to shake off the mood.
As always, they believed in him and followed him in this moment too.
“Your lives are my responsibility. You won’t die on my watch.”
*
Are you gonna die, or am I? Still bickering back and forth.
Can’t they see the dying teammate beside them? At this rate, he’s gonna die!
Can’t you figure out the situation even with your comrade next to you? At this rate, they’re gonna die!
I couldn’t take any more of this boring melodrama, so I approached Isabella.
“Don’t you dare lay a hand on her!”
Here she was, acting all frantic just because she was the younger sibling, but she wasn’t doing anything worth mentioning.
If I just sat there and told her to stop, of course she’d pack it in.
By the way, how do you evolve someone?
In a game, you just click a button, but I have no idea how it works in reality.
Usually, when evolution is complete, they say something like shedding a shell.
With a glimmer of hope, I placed my hand on Isabella’s forehead and said,
“Shedd your shell, Isabella.”
[Evolving Vampire Isabella.]
[All conditions are met, so it will succeed with a 100% probability.]
Wait, is this really happening?
It seems that saying something akin to physical contact and evolution triggers it instantly.
After the notification disappeared, Isabella’s deep side wound rapidly healed.
Along with the wound’s recovery, a tiny horn sprouted on her previously bare head.
Her face regained vitality and color, and even her fangs were noticeably larger.
The strength of a vampire is often measured by their horns and fangs, so I had already anticipated this outcome.
But I didn’t expect her hair color to change from silver to red.
[MAX Evolution!! Isabella’s evolution succeeded at 200%!]
‘This gacha is insane.’
Red hair is rarer than 1% in vampire society.
This is because red-haired vampires are pureblood.
I suspect that while Isabella is of pureblood lineage, something intrinsic has made her blood seem diluted.
Ultimately, she was about to die without ever unleashing her full potential.
[Lv. 48]
…Wait, she’s stronger than me now?
I’ve never seen someone’s level inflate threefold just from one evolution.
Is this really just luck? I just evolved a vampire who’s not totally on my side?
Isabella’s previously closed eyes slowly opened.
“…Huh? It doesn’t hurt?”
Raising her upper body, Isabella looked around.
The other vampire comrades were alternating glances between us and bursting into tears.
“Sister!”
“Chief!”
“W-What is happening?! Why am I alive…?!”
After a while of crying and hugging each other, the vampires finally calmed down and bowed their heads towards me.
They seemed quick on the uptake; they must have figured it out without me saying a word.
“Thank you. So it was you who saved my sister.”
“Oh wow! How can I repay this favor…?”
One of them approached a bewildered Isabella and explained, and only then did she follow suit and bow her head too.
‘Bow’ doesn’t quite capture it; it was more like she shoved her head down.
“Thank you. I appreciate it. You look scary, but you’re actually really kind.”
Couldn’t you cut out the last part?
I love basking in appreciation, but this felt a bit overwhelming with all the gratitude being thrown at me.
The vampires’ level colors shifted to a deep green. That meant they were extremely favorable towards me.
Considering what to say in response, I finally opened my mouth.
“I just saw hidden potential and helped it bloom.”
Hmm. Speaking with some weight as a Death Knight, it felt a bit cool.
Isn’t it the kind of romantic sentiment every guy holds onto? Or maybe it’s just me being an edgy teenager.
“Or maybe I’m just suffering from middle school syndrome.”
“…Possibility?”
Isabella blinked her eyes.
Before long, as if she felt something, she nervously touched her head with trembling hands.
The tips of her fingers, which had been playing with two horns, soon brushed against her fangs.
“My hair color!”
With that realization, Isabella’s eyes widened to the size of lanterns.
Her gaze met mine, and the questions hidden within her were transmitted to me.
Even though it’s better to keep things positive, it was natural for doubts to arise first.
How am I supposed to explain this?
How am I to explain it? I have no choice but to give a vague explanation.
“It’s part of my abilities. You don’t need to know more than that.”
“…I see.”
She didn’t fully understand but it seemed she accepted it, thankfully not asking more.
Honestly, what worried me more was the sly smile slowly creeping on Isabella’s lips.
She seemed to know what her revelation meant.
Maybe she was overwhelmed with emotion since her dream had finally turned into reality.
“To think you’d show such kindness to someone you don’t even know. You truly are a noble person.”
Since the Death Knight was a knight in life, the honorific “noble” seemed fitting.
Suddenly, I became curious about how the vampires ended up in this situation.
When I asked casually, the answer came right away, but it turned into a long story that I had to cut off halfway.
“So, in the end, it means you got caught up in a turf war?”
I never expected they’d get taken down by monsters instead of the human extermination squads.
That means there are a lot of monsters in this forest, which was another shocker.
Especially since there’s a nearby village, yet the monster presence is thriving.
I didn’t know the exact reason, but I felt like I was missing something crucial.
“There’s no need to dig too deep into that.”
Anyway, I’m going to leave here soon. Probably to a place where no human foot has touched.
“I want to repay you for your kindness. Is there any way?”
The level 48 advanced vampire was showing the utmost goodwill.
I appreciated the sentiment, but I didn’t really want anything from her.
And who knows what might happen? The extermination squad could charge in during this delay.
“Hmm? There are about six humans approaching.”
What the hell. My bad feeling turned out to be right.
Now I understood why that vampire kept looking outside.
Thank goodness their hearing is as sharp as bats. It gave us a chance to escape in advance.
“I can hear the sound of armor. It seems to be the extermination squad.”
It couldn’t get any worse.
The intrusion of the extermination squad was nothing less than an unavoidable battle of force.
Facing off against armed individuals and trying to solve things with words would be a huge risk.
Moreover, looking at my current appearance, words wouldn’t even come before the blades started swinging.
In this tense moment, Isabella and the vampires caught my attention.
Where there’s one way in, there’s another way out.
“You said you wanted to repay your kindness.”
“Yes.”
“Handle the intruders yourselves.”
I nearly told them not to kill them but chose to hold my tongue.
Showing mercy to an extermination squad that knows nothing about strength, strategy, purpose, or reinforcements would be equivalent to sacrificing my own life.
Isabella looked around, then nodded.
I looked around and nodded.
“So, the intruder means… you’re the boss of this dungeon.”
Why is this place a dungeon and why am I the boss?
In the urgency of the situation, I didn’t have time to argue.
“I’m glad I can repay you. I’ll finish this quickly.”
Maybe it was the evolution that boosted her confidence, but Isabella led the vampire group with a swoosh and they zipped past.
I felt a bit relieved just knowing that Isabella was leading.
She’s a highborn vampire. One with enough power to massacre an entire extermination squad by herself.
If we’re inside a cave, the vampire’s territory, even a B-rank extermination team would struggle to stand against her.
My only concern was not wanting to see too much bloodshed.
Being human myself, I really didn’t want to see my kind being brutally killed. If they were going to die, they should at least go out nice and tidy.
Is it too much to ask a vampire not to wreak havoc?
……
‘Is something taking a while?’
The situation I thought would end swiftly was dragging on without progress.
Strangely, I couldn’t hear screams, just the sounds of battle cries and clashing weapons echoed.
Occasionally, I heard the screams of women.
For many reasons, extermination teams generally avoid using female members, whereas the vampire group had women making up half of their numbers.
The reason was clear and ominous.
I took a step forward to watch the unfolding situation.
Actually, it was a situation I really couldn’t just watch.
Contrary to my expectations, the vampire group was at a disadvantage.
Even Isabella, whom I relied on, was limited to just defending. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before everyone was dead.
[LV. 52]
As soon as I saw the man’s level, it all made sense why they were struggling.
He seemed to be the leader of the extermination team, relentlessly pushing back Isabella. With a level of 52, he was almost at S-grade level.
His fellow teammates were around level 30, skilled fighters but nowhere near his caliber.
Saying they would win most of the time only meant it was a risky situation overall.
How the hell did such a top-tier extermination team end up here?
‘There’s no way we can win.’
I was sure that even with my help, we wouldn’t stand a chance.
Reality hit hard, but I couldn’t just bail either.
The thought of pushing forward was dizzying, and heading back would lead to a dead end.
While the situation was urgent, my mind went blank, and I couldn’t see any viable escape routes.
If the vampire group gets wiped out, then it would be my turn next. They’d stomp over the corpses to get to me, no doubt.
‘What the hell do I do?’
I saw the faint glow of the man’s blade.
For some reason, he was freely wielding an aura, something that was supposed to belong to knights.
Gulp.
I could vividly picture my neck getting sliced by that blade in deadly clarity.
Just then, a notification popped up in front of me.
[Well-tempered Advanced Bastard Sword(A)]
[Durability: 90]
[Enhancement Chance: 8%]
[※Caution! Failure in enhancement will automatically destroy it!]
[Failure in enhancement will reset the cooldown.]
[Would you like to enhance the Well-tempered Advanced Bastard Sword?]
[YES/NO]
“Huh.”
Wait. I could enhance someone else’s weapon without touching it at all?
And if I fail, it resets the cooldown.
‘…That means if I fail, I could blow up all the weapons!’