Chương 34

Oliver awoke after six hours of sleep. He usually averaged around five, but with the threat of danger looming over him, he opted for a bit extra rest. Stressing himself out in the coffin for several extra hours would serve very little use. He took stock of his current supplies and readied himself. He decided to bring with him a coil of rope and resupplied the salt he'd used. Nothing else in his coffin storage would serve him any better in his upcoming escape than what he already had on his person.

Taking some time to read through the book he'd plundered, Oliver familiarized himself with the information within. Sadly, it was dedicated to talking about different treasures across the Nightmare Biome. Most of which were probably destroyed with the merge. A year ago, Oliver would have killed for a copy of this book. Now, he thought a book on the architectural layout of the castle would have been far more useful. Still, it wasn't utterly worthless.

He learned more about the server and the mythos that surrounded the doomsday artifact. He also learned that the Vampire Lord was the caretaker of the artifact, having been placed as its guardian. The most vital bit of information, however, was the secret code he deciphered from the paragraph. He only noticed it on his sixth read of the text. In the section about the servers, the second word of every paragraph lined up to create a message. Seek. Under. Disposal. Beneath. The. Death. Lies. The. Answer. Live. And.

Escape. Youngling. Oliver reread the message a hundred times. A chill took him, despite the safety of his coffin. Whoever wrote this tome knew something of his circumstance. Perhaps, just maybe, Yinyan Zheng was an ally on the outside. However, despite how fascinating and hopeful the idea of having an outside connection was, it didn't help Oliver out of his current predicament. Putting the book aside, Oliver spent his remaining time in the coffin sewing his torn up pant leg back together.

He had years of experience from the thousand different tears his clothing has accrued over his time in the Nightmare Biome, so the stitching only required a few minutes of his time. As he examined his handiwork, seeking out errors, Oliver recalled the [Flesh Weaver], James. He ran a finger down the stitches and wondered how his fellow Nightmare Biome survivor was holding up out there. He hoped James hadn't continued on to kill more experimentees, though he wasn't holding his breath.

Honestly, the best outcome Oliver could reasonably hope for in regards to the insane [Flesh Weaver] was that he'd gotten greedy chasing down someone on the leaderboard and gotten himself killed. Still, even that was unlikely. Nobody survived in the Nightmare Biome without a healthy sixth sense for self-preservation. A minute before the time on his skill ran out, Oliver peeked his eyes out of the coffin. And then cursed and the onslaught of noise.

Explosions, screaming, howls, yells, the clang of metal striking metal. A full symphony of violence.

"Good, you're here on time," Kiki crouched down beside Oliver's sanctuary. The two glowing pink slits that represented eyes on her helmet examined the inside of his coffin.

"Change of plans. We're not retreating. Gather up anything you need. We gotta go."

"What? Why?" Oliver sat up and quickly scanned the surrounding garden. He spotted nothing urgent, his Uncanny Sight picking up on nothing as well.

"We're infiltrating the castle now. Hope you're ready for a fight! These bloodsuckers don't die easily. I've gained a couple levels since you took your nap." She spoke with a cheery jaunt to her tone, as if excited by the prospect of another challenging kill. Oliver genuinely thought this might be the happiest he'd ever seen the [Neon Samurai]. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Oliver blinked.

"We should reground and approach from a different angle. Maybe play the werewolf faction off the vampires."

"Too late for that. The werewolves are already here. Now's the time to act, Oliver," Kiki replied.

"They apparently didn't take too kindly to the mutilated cub you threw back to them yesterday. They've regrouped in greater numbers in a big invasion of the vampire castle. They had a bit of trouble getting through the gate, but they gave me some space to regroup and attack from different angles. You never mentioned that vampires fight dirty. They've holed up and are picking off the werewolves individually these last few hours."

"They'll all die," Oliver said plainly.

"Even if all the werewolf clans survived after the merge, it still would have been a one-sided fight to take on the vampires here. Werewolves were always the weaker faction in my biome." However, that logical outcome apparently didn't seem to matter to the werewolves at the moment. While irrational, Oliver understood why things had played out this way. Werewolves weren't known for being particularly rational.

In fact, Oliver had actually used the species' infamous temper to lure one into a trap a year ago for a quest. If they truly felt like their species was being experimented on, especially their children, there was no telling what lengths they would go to for vengeance. Kiki, obviously not privy to his years of accumulated knowledge, simply shrugged.

"Doesn't matter much to us. Other than them ramming their faces into the enemy's guards gives us an opening. You ready?" Oliver glanced back at his coffin. Nothing necessary for what lay ahead remained within. He firmly believed everything he needed was already in his bags. All that remained in storage would be useless to him in the upcoming fights, regardless of whether their opponents were vampires or werewolves. It would weigh him down.

"Sure. Let's go," he replied, closing the coffin. He stretched and took a deep breath of the bleak morning air.

"Follow me, I can get us inside and down to the dungeons at least. It's a start."

"The dungeons?" Kiki asked.

"Why?"

"I found a book and it hinted that the server was underground. I might also have a lead as well to get us where we need to go. I need to investigate."" This book specifically mentioned the servers?" Ben asked from a drone speaker in Kiki's bag.

"Not in so many words. But it seemed obvious. Do you know of any other flat, metal cubes that hum and are warm to the touch?" I agree, you are likely current in your assumptions. However, technically speaking, I have heard of several artifacts that match that—""Is this new drone speaker going to work inside the castle or should we expect radio silence again?"" This model should be adequate for the comms to continue functioning normally.

However, I have yet to diagnose the previous issue, so please do not feel distressed if my voice cuts off. As you know from your previous excursion, I still receive the mic's input." Oliver grunted. He scanned the surroundings, watching for any sort of traps set while he'd been sleeping. As far as he could tell though, nothing in the gardens had changed in the slightest. He could still see the stomped foliage in a path leading in the direction where the blood tree had stampeded.

Almost as if nobody even passed through the gardens since Ben's explosion. It was possible they'd just been busy these last 8 hours with both Kiki and the werewolves inflicting all flavors of chaos. He peeked through the dining room's window. The same as before. In fact, the cutlery and napkins hadn't even been moved. Everything was immaculately set. Carefully, he opened the window and lifted himself through. As his boots set down on the hard wood floor, Oliver prepared himself for his entrance to trigger a trap.

Nothing came. Motioning for Kiki to follow, he continued on in the direction of the pantry. When they passed through the kitchen, Oliver paused. Another human dressed in servant's clothing was stirring a pot of boiling broth, different from the last. She had a bit more meat on her bones, enough to look thin rather than malnourished. Though, despite the slightly better health, she seemed equally as dazed as she slowly spun the spoon in the pot, her posture lopsidedly slouched.

Her clothes were worse than the last thrall he'd encountered, little more than the rags seen by beggars in the nearby towns. Oliver wondered if perhaps she was a new addition to their thralls. They could probably walk by completely unnoticed. Still, just to be safe, Oliver used his Appraisal skill on her. Evelyn von Akako. Vampire. [Blood Manipulator]. Level 59.