Leila took a sip of the waterskin, but then refusing to drink more. "Not this," she said, only semi-conscious.

"I won't have my sister turned into a vampire, she can tide through this!" Leon said as he tried to get her to drink more water.

h.e.l.l stepped forward silently and opened up the artery in his right arm on top of her mouth, Leon's mouth agape from his sudden movement. Leila drank the blood as if she was quenched. Grabbing it as she continued drinking, her eyes suddenly turning into their regular green colour while a slim red crescent formed covering the top of her eyes. h.e.l.l would use Knight-demon's vitality every now and then to heal up as it would also replenish his blood. He would be a great source of food for vampires.

They saw Theperes also eating into the heart of another vampire at this point as her disfigured face was slowly restored and she had gotten the characteristics of vampires, no longer looking similar to those ghouls. The same transformation occurred for her.

"Please, allow also me to indulge myself with your blood," Theperes said to h.e.l.l right after as she got closer.

"No." h.e.l.l abruptly answered.

"Perhaps these other-"

"They won't either, I won't kill you right now on the account of our little chat. Be grateful." h.e.l.l cut in and said.

"I am grateful indeed," she said and ripped the heart of another vampire out, drinking it as she turned around to leave.

"Stop," h.e.l.l said. When her appearance was restored with her transition into a vampire, her bountiful bosom and curvaceous lines were revealed. Her dress now fitting her better, she was candy for the eyes. "Drink," h.e.l.l added, showing her his other wrist.

"I am grateful beyond words," Theperes said and bit down. Even replenis.h.i.+ng his blood ever so often, he still got lightheaded, as his blood was constantly drained in both arms. Leon looked h.e.l.l in an odd light as he replied: "What? I appreciate beauty." Theperes had crimson eyes, snow-white skin and jet-black hair dripping down her shoulders. In such a short time-frame, her transformation was incredible.

h.e.l.l then figured he had already supplied them with litres of blood, thus he stopped. "Stay here," h.e.l.l told Theperes and turned to Leila. "How do you feel?"

"A bit lightheaded. Your blood. It was delicious." Leila slowly spoke. She seemed to be in a haze still. He left her in his brother's arms and then turned to Theperes:

"And how do you like my blood?"

"It was delicious," Theperes said seductively, her blood-red lips alluring beyond words.

"How about following me from now on?" h.e.l.l asked.

"It would be my pleasure, but neither I nor your friend can leave as we're bound by the magic of the Djinn."

"Do you know where he lives?"

"I only know that she is at the centre of vampire bases. They'll all rush to help him if you were to attack her keep."

"So it's a she. And how many vampires are there in these bases?"

"I wouldn't know," Theperes said and whispered into h.e.l.l's ear in a seductive tone. "But I bet none of them could put up a fight against you, my lord."

"Don't call me that," h.e.l.l whispered back in a sarcastic but almost approving tone and turned to Leon. "Let's rest for the day. I'm sure Leila will want to stabilize herself first."

"What about the rest of the vampires?" Vaun asked.

"Leave them here. I'm sure beasts will keep them company." h.e.l.l coldly replied and started carving something on one of the trees.

"So, that's where we're going back to?" Leon asked.

"Yes. Should be easy enough to find."

Two hours later, Virgil had gotten the message from the vampire he was sent and came to see as who would be audacious enough to do that to his underlings, only arriving at the scene to see blood everywhere. The blood and remains of their bodies were visible, but it seemed beasts had taken care of them all.

"What will you do, my lord?" A man wearing a suit asked. "Should we use all our resources to find who was so aud"

"Nope, he left a message for us on that tree," Virgil said. "Let's go."

"Right away? Should I alert everyone in the base?"

"No, we'll go together. That vampire saw my top speed and said I couldn't compare. Numbers would be nigh-useless if he's that fast. Also, let's try to diplomatically solve this, if we can, Aurus. We must be smart."

"We can at least tire him out and be your meat s.h.i.+elds!" The man explained.

"Aurus, stop!" Virgil immediately said, his voice echoing. "I will not have my people be simple p.a.w.ns, existing only to die for me."

"You are too merciful, my lord."

"Let's go immediately, I would like to test the mettle of this man myself," Virgil said as they headed after them. They would directly head to the Greenskin base. What they saw was a crude and simple carving of a small tribal village. It seemed the person had drawn some houses and a throne in the middle.

Back at the camp, h.e.l.l and his party were making themselves comfortable.

"This place is still a mess," Leon said as he laid his sister in one of the rooms.

"Cleaning lady must have skipped the day," h.e.l.l said, trying to crack a joke. He treasured the people around him always. He wondered if his brother was looking for him right now. He'd go back as soon as he could to ease his heart. "Devlin must be going insane right now," h.e.l.l mumbled.

"What's that boss?" Vaun asked.

"Nothing," h.e.l.l replied and sat on the throne. He waited, the sun still up, Theperes next to him, quiet. It seemed these vampires were unbothered by the sun. He wondered if garlic would work against them, but dismissing the idea moments later. Leon got out of the tent, almost an hour after.

"Why won't she wake up?" Leon asked Theperes in a serious tone.

"New vampire. She'll need to readjust her body."

"Why didn't you have to do that?"

"I was already half-transitioned. I completed my transformation thanks to my lord here." Theperes said as she caressed h.e.l.l's arm, who gave her a disapproving look, causing her to stop. h.e.l.l then continued looking at the entrance.

"h.e.l.l, what did you do with the sword?" Leon then asked, seeing as he had nothing else to do but wait.

"What sword?" h.e.l.l raised his head and looked in confusion.

"The sword from Player Killer."

"Ah, that one."

"Did you bury it somewhere?"

"Nope. It's with me." h.e.l.l said casually, not too eager to talk about it.

"Why won't you use it?" Leon asked further.

"He talks to me through the sword, so I hid it in my inventory."

"Inventory? As in-"

"Games. Yeah." h.e.l.l suddenly cut in.

"Have you always had it? Please elaborate, don't make me ask every single question." Leon suddenly said, puffing.

"Right," h.e.l.l said as he took out the sword out of nowhere, it was suddenly materialized in his right hand as he heard Player Killer's voice echo in his mind. "Finally." It said. "You are taking out the sword again. Use it. You'll receive your orders through the sword. If you hide it in your separate dimension for more than a day, I'll terminate you." The voice sounded cold and unforgiving.

"a.s.shole," h.e.l.l said after a moment of dazing off.

"Was it him?"

"Yes. He gave me an ultimatum. I can't really hide it away now anyway. Well, here, identify it."

"Identify," Leon muttered, shocked by sword's stats, more so by its prerequisite for usage. It seemed the sword fed on its user, without some regeneration ability, it would be impossible to use it.

*Sword of Blood: Crafted by a G.o.d, the sword carries immense power and weighs 500 kilograms, +300 attack, +50 Strength, +50 Dexterity, +50 Defence and +10 Vitality as long as the sword is covered by the user's blood, +10 attack if blood isn't used and it curses the user if he or she is not given permission by its owner to use the sword*

"There is more," h.e.l.l said after watching Leon read for a while. "Dripping blood on it doesn't cover the condition. I have to cover it with my fresh blood for those boons. Then again, of course, I can heal up."

"What a messed-up sword," Leon said. He would never be able to use such a bloodthirsty sword. "Still," he added. "Such a sword probably will allow us a definite win with all those bonuses."

It was true, along with h.e.l.l's Quickening added to the sword's bonuses, he would be a boss in his own right for sure. This was The Nightmare System, nonetheless. However, even after how far ahead he was compared to other players, nearly every fight still had been a matter of life and death for him. Even Leila and Leon were both baffled, they were experiencing an immense increase in difficulty.

"We'll see," h.e.l.l said. He was still annoyed since such parasites had caused his friend to turn into one such creature.

Soon after, two men appeared among the trees. One looked to be wearing a lab coat while the other a suit. Both had slicked-back hair.

"I am Virgil Maneya. Who called me here?" He declared as the man in a suit stood behind, gazing at everyone in the middle of the village. Virgil then glared at h.e.l.l, sitting on the throne. "Is it you?"

"I a.s.sume you are here to apologize?" h.e.l.l callously said.

The man in suit suddenly yelled in rage. "You either show some respect-"

"Or?" h.e.l.l interrupted the man.

"Or nothing. Excuse my underling." Virgil said as he gazed at Theperes. He knew she was a smart woman. Although the transitioning process had gone awry and she had originally turned into a ghoul, she sharpened her skills and kept her intelligence. She was slowly getting more vampire blood from other vampires by exploiting them, slowly moulding herself into a real vampire. It seemed she had succeeded. Which meant she drank the blood from the heart of at least one of the stronger vampires under him. Virgil was also a smart man, that's how he had stayed as the leader for hundreds of years. He understood that if Theperes betrayed the base, it meant she thought the man next to her had enough strength to invoke such trust.

"Before the apology," Virgil said as he grew his nails into claws. "Would you care to spar with me?"

"My friend was almost toyed to death by your parasites, having to turn into one. You either apologize right now or I cut you in half." h.e.l.l said in a frosty tone that sent chills down Vaun's spine. He knew h.e.l.l was definitely not bluffing.

Virgil stopped Aurus who was baring his fangs against the man on the throne.

"I apologize," Virgil said. "Underlings can be cruel, but they were simply the patrol around that region. I believe the pain you had them go through was enough of a payment for their sins, don't you think?"

h.e.l.l nodded and looked at Leon. "Should I still cut him in half?"

Leon was flabbergasted. Although he was angry, he guessed how much of a humiliation it could be for the head of an organization to not only head over for some of his deceased underlings, but also to apologize to the offender himself. "No." He muttered. "I am good."

"Really?" h.e.l.l said. "We can wipe their entire race out if you wish so."

"We will wait for Leila to wake up to make such decisions, then," Leon said. It scared him to his fibres that this guy h.e.l.l could be so evil. He knew this man was not a good person in general, but such thoughts of his would simply get lost in h.e.l.l's usual silly demeanour. Although he was still angry, he still remembered the screams of his offenders. Also knowing that they were probably slowly eaten by the beasts of the jungle shook him to his core.

"Alright." h.e.l.l answered and asked Theperes: "What kind of person is he?"

"He is an upright man, only decent vampire you'll find among other leaders, but if he opposes you, you must slay him, my lord," Theperes said again in a seductive tone. h.e.l.l was almost swayed by her even at this moment, slowly gathering his thoughts again.

"Then why did you say you'd be grateful if I killed him before?"

Virgil replied. "Because she was bound to me as a half-ghoul. Vampires have a direct connection to the ghouls they create, the only way to end the connection would be either killing the parent or turning into a vampire."

"Do you still want that spar?" h.e.l.l asked, also wis.h.i.+ng to see how strong a vampire leader would be.

"If you don't mind."

"Are we using weapons?" h.e.l.l said as he summoned Imp Needle and sent the sword to his inventory.

"You can use that one." Virgil smiled, he could feel the power radiating from the other one, that was obviously not a normal sword. The needle-weapon he summoned was much simpler.

"Let's start then," h.e.l.l said.

"Before we do, may I learn your name?" Virgil politely asked.

"h.e.l.leborus Reeveman," h.e.l.l replied.

"Virgil Maneya," Virgil said in return, lunging forward with all his speed as he activated his skills, boosting himself further.

Virgil swung his claw aiming h.e.l.l's chest and followed up with vertical and horizontal slashes one after another after barely missing the first one. It seemed h.e.l.l was slightly faster but it didn't make a difference to a veteran fighter such as Virgil. He mutilated h.e.l.l's chest and took a step back, watching h.e.l.l.

"It's over," Virgil said.

"What's over?" h.e.l.l looked at Virgil, pretending to be confused. Virgil saw the blood residue in h.e.l.l's s.h.i.+rt, but it seemed his regeneration could maybe even rival his own. "Good," Virgil yelled, wearing a grin as he lunged again. h.e.l.l wanted to see if he could beat him without Quickening, but he would still use Short Distance Warping. It was a valuable skill nonetheless as it allowed him to change places even mid-air. h.e.l.l took a step back and then teleported behind Virgil to impale his head and finish the fight. Right after h.e.l.l teleported behind him, he noticed the trajectory of the claw immediately changing on the other hand, just as h.e.l.l impaled Virgil's head, the claws would also reach his own head. He wasn't unsure if he could survive an injury to his brain, he suddenly couldn't think of anything else as he warped back 15 meters but he was immediately followed by Virgil. This was a man with experience, not drunk on his power and used calculated attacks as well as predicting h.e.l.l's movements while executing his attacks without hesitation.

"Come on. Split me in half!" Virgil yelled in laughter as he took out a chunk out of h.e.l.l's right arm with another claw attack, his weapon away with it. Seeing it slowly recover, Virgil was at least sure h.e.l.l's regeneration could not be compared to his. It wasn't as good, but the thrill of a fight he hadn't felt in hundreds of years was surfacing in his heart again. He was enjoying the situation thoroughly. "My men said you could go even faster, do it!" Virgil yelled as another of his attacks landed on h.e.l.l's regenerating arm, ruining the process.

Woken up by Virgil's yelling. h.e.l.l came to himself, dispersing the confusion in his heart. He hadn't expected such moves from just one of the vampires and he was taken aback. He started employing Quickening to gain an exponential burst to his speed. Being 10 times faster, Virgil could no longer react to h.e.l.l as he was punched by his other arm that wasn't mutilated. With this punch he received, Virgil also confirmed h.e.l.l was definitely as strong as himself at least. The incredibly fast punch made him slide across the ground for around half a metre as he tried to stabilize himself. Receiving a barrage of punches from all sides as he tried to do so. Virgil, thrown around like a ragdoll for around a minute, was about to give up as h.e.l.l's arm had healed. After gaining the use of his right arm back, he summoned the Imp Needle again and penetrated Virgil's heart.

"Are you convinced?" h.e.l.l asked as Virgil puked some blood on him as he spasmed in pain.

"Yes." He said. "I knew Theperes was a smart woman." He muttered. "I accept defeat. Will you stop impaling my heart now?"