Chương 161: Chapter One-Hundred-and-Sixty-One

Adam's mind was racing. He hadn't heard anything about the Patriarch showing up this early. I must've triggered this somehow! Maybe it was finishing the church quest early or killing that second-generation vampire. To make matters worse, he couldn't pick up any clues from his blood melody, making it clear the bloodfiend master was actively countering its effect. He also hadn't spotted any Mana from his illusion, which was concerning, but he thought there might be a way to avoid the Mana-sight of his cowl.

Luo instantly fired his crossbow, blinking to make it teleport right into the Patriarch's head where it exploded, popping open the side of his face and skull, and knocking him back into the doorframe that he was now too big to fit through. Adam pulled on Sofia who was clearly in shock.

"Get the statue! It'll hurt him!" he yelled and gestured to the reliquary on the altar. Kateřina launched forward with a bestial leap using the power of her Chimaera Helmet while swinging her charged-up daggers forward in a thrust. While they dug into the Patriarch's body, the weakness of the Duellist's Glove was once again highlighted by the fact that the bloodfiend master had a natural defence from his tough skin, rather than armour which it worked against.

She instantly realised this and hopped back, managing to parry a devastating slash that would've unzipped her from groin to neck. A glowing-red weak spot appeared on the Patriarch's upper torso and she immediately fired her crossbow bracer at it, which dealt more than double damage thanks to her Exploiter evolution and the bonus from hitting the weak point. But it seemed negligible, since the Patriarch hardly reacted, even as a hole was opened in his body.

In response, he lifted the corpse of Father Mathias that he was still holding, and Adam knew he was about to do something with one of his special abilities, so he surged forward and pulled out all the blood he'd collected, along with the flesh of his grafted tail, creating a wall in front of Kateřina, Luo, and himself. Then the priest's body exploded, sending all of its blood into Adam's defences.

Since he'd been bathed in the First Light's blessings, his blood was blessed as well, and it proved extremely corrosive against the vampire blood that Adam was controlling, as well as his own flesh. Before the wall could disintegrate, Adam fired it all into the Patriarch, who swiped his claws through to pulverise it, only to immediately catch the blessed statue from the reliquary right in his messed-up face.

A horrifying wail filled the inside of the church as the bloodfiend screamed in actual pain, having shrugged off everything else until now. Where the statue had struck him was charred black skin, and it made Adam cringe to remember just how close he'd been to touching the statue himself earlier. Luo fired off several bolts aiming for the boss' neck, while Kateřina went to town on his legs, stabbing them repeatedly to try and damage muscles and tendons.

Adam quickly prepared the Heart Lance spell pattern he'd made during the night and draped over his right arm, but before he could fire it, Sofia swooped in with a double-activation of her new jacket. She had her left arm wearing the Shapeshifter's Claw pulled back, and in it she held her two-handed sword. The fingers and hand bulked up and grew larger before she swung the weapon forward with enough power to sheer through the Patriarch's right leg, cutting it all the way off.

Then she punched her right arm upwards and activated the Purple Slime Glove she wore on her hand, sending an acidic spike up through the bloodfiend's torso, clearly piercing a lung and the heart in the process. The Patriarch immediately stepped forward, his severed leg pulling itself back in place with tendrils of blood while he back-handed Sofia with enough force to send her bouncing across the church floor until she struck the altar and came to a sudden stop.

Adam fired his Heart Lance, swiping it up through the Patriarch's body, but as the spell struck him, it didn't seem very effective, and at the same time, the damage that Luo had done to his head healed itself back into place. However, the burn-mark remained from where the statue had struck.

Kateřina parried a lazy swipe from a clawed hand, creating another weak spot on the bloodfiend's body, but when Luo and Adam both sent their attacks directly for it, the Patriarch's massive body turned hazy and the church suddenly filled with orange-coloured Mana to Adam's sight. A loud crunch came from where Luo had been as he was smashed into the floor, breaking something in the process. Adam turned and shot out his Spidersilk Needle, but it just passed through the large vampire.

Then his Shade Barrier activated, launching him five metres forward, just as the boss crushed the clone of blood left behind. Adam pulled the blood to himself, turning it into three separate spinning needles in the air and launching them out, while simultaneously absorbing the orange Mana permeating the church by activating his cowl, making the ambient Mana dissipate and interrupting the illusion-based attack.

His needles flickered and multiplied as the effect was replicated in his own magic, and the Patriarch standing nearby vanished as the real one appeared behind Kateřina. His needles lanced into the Patriarch's back, stopping the boss from swiping his claws through Kateřina. Adam immediately sunk the needles into the Patriarch's body and spread the blood throughout his veins and flesh. Then he triggered Blood Crystal and the boss wailed in pain.

Kateřina swung the statue she'd picked up from the floor, driving it into the side of the Patriarch's right knee and eliciting another loud scream. A bolt struck the Patriarch in the head, and Adam turned to see Luo holding his crossbow despite his left arm clearly being broken.

The exsanguinated corpse of Father Mathias still remained on the floor, and as Kateřina struck the boss with the statue again, getting another loud scream out of him, Adam went over to the corpse and filled it with his Mana to take control of the flesh. It was not as powerfully blessed as the priest's blood had been, but he figured it would still carry some of the First Light's power within.

Adam quickly sculpted the flesh into a massive clawed limb, and as Kateřina struck the boss a third time, sending him to his knees while Luo added more bolts to his head, Adam swung the limb forward, driving its talons up through the torso of the Patriarch and digging it in deep. He shaped the flesh as it entered the boss, pushing it in through the wound he'd made, twisting and expanding the limb to leave a ruinous channel all the way through the bloodfiend to try and make it impossible to quickly heal.

Kateřina saw the opportunity for what it was and shoved the statue all the way into the Patriarch's torso, which turned the wails from pained to desperate.

"You fucking thought you could kill us, you piece of shit!?" she screamed into his burn-marked and monstrous face while repeatedly stabbing her daggers into his neck, little by little carving all the way through in an attempt to decapitate him.

"It's not over yet!" Adam warned as he ran back to Sofia, trying to get her to wake up. As she started to blink and come to, Adam went over to Aeran's dead body and harvested its blood and flesh, hoping he could bring it with him. Then pink Mana flooded the church and their surroundings changed as they were forcefully pulled into a dream version of Moonport, the same that Kateřina must've witnessed in her dream.

Colours inverted and the walls of the church turned pure white, while the candles and their light became black like soot. The Patriarch too had turned black, becoming like a shadow. Adam tried to absorb the Mana with his cowl to break them out of the second phase of the fight, but nothing happened. Luo jumped behind a white-glowing pew and Kateřina parried, as the boss sent out four rapid spikes of shadow aimed at them both.

But even though they'd gone to a dream-like world, they were grounded in the real Moonport, and the boss still had a holy artifact lodged inside his body, killing him from within. He couldn't touch the object without hurting himself, and all the burn-marks on his body glowed white like their surroundings, making it clear his time was numbered.

"Just avoid his attacks!" Adam told them. Luo activated his grappling hook to pull himself to the altar alongside Adam and Sofia, who was still groggy from being knocked unconscious. The blessed blood that Adam had collected from Aeran also glowed white and he shaped it into a flowing blade, which he swung at the boss before he could attack Kateřina who was the only one still fighting up close. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

As Adam's magic tore into the boss, she ran back towards the altar as well. Every slash and cut of the blessed blood left bright-glowing marks on the Patriarch's shadowy body. The wails he produced were powerful enough to shake the floor and walls around him, and they made Adam's chest hurt, as though it interfered with his breathing and heartbeat. Then the Patriarch turned and tried to claw his way out of the church's opening, which was too small for his big frame.

Despite possessing the power of shadow, it apparently didn't allow him to traverse through them. Adam quickly used the blessed blood to paint out a spell pattern on the Patriarch's back. The moment the linework was complete, white-glowing thorny vines wrapped around the boss, binding him in place. At the same time, the holy relic Kateřina had planted inside his torn-open body was starting to do enough damage that glowing holes appeared all over his shadowy skin.

Adam took the last of the blessed blood from Aeran's corpse and shoved it inside the bloodfiend, trying to spread it out as much as possible. And then it was like a switch had been flicked, as the dream magic cut off and the world around them was returned to its real colours. Jammed into the doorway lay the Patriarch's large body. It was covered in black burn-marks, and hardly any of his pale skin was visible anymore.

Adam and Kateřina approached it, but before they could get all the way up close, the Patriarch turned to ash, leaving behind a few objects, but nothing else. The holy statue dropped to the floor with a clunk but it was immediately clear to Adam that its power was spent and no more anti-vampire juice could be squeezed from it. Still, he didn't want to test his luck by getting too close to it.

< < Optional Stage Objective Completed > > < Defeated the Patriarch > As the ruler of the night falls, a vacancy is left for another to fill. I think that warning means that the Matriarch might actually leave her island and come here… We don't want that to happen.

"We did it…" Luo remarked in surprise and relief as he came over, supporting Sofia on his right shoulder. His left arm was clearly broken, but he was able to push through the pain for now. One of the things left behind was a Relic Chest that was made entirely out of shadow, but there was also a weapon in the form of two clawed hands, and a key made of crystallised blood.

< < Secret Weapon Obtained > > < Bloodfiend Claws (Rare) — The claws of a Bloodfiend > < Unique Skill (Night Terror) | Transform into a Bloodfiend Beast after the sun has set > I think this is the weapon Emelia talked about. She said it had an evolution that let you go incorporeal. I'm guessing it would also be possible to fuse it with Beast, and I feel like it would be powerful if matched with the Beast of Moonport evolution for double Speed and Damage at night.

Maybe with the transformation skill it would allow the wielder to fly or something?

"Do you think the transformation is involuntary?" Luo asked as he looked at the claws as well.

"Probably," Adam replied.

"And it will perhaps also give you the weaknesses of bloodfiends, such as holy damage, silver, and daylight."

"Daylight didn't seem to cause much trouble for the Patriarch," Sofia grunted. From her melody, it seemed she was in quite a bit of pain as well, plus she was nauseous, which he thought might be a sign of a concussion. Adam lifted up the key to inspect it. It had a very simple shape, but he figured it was the blood used to make it that mattered and not the actual teeth on it. < < Quest Object > > < Crimson Glass Key — The key to the Patriarch's chamber of power > That tells us nothing about where it belongs…

Adam tried to use his crimson glass hand to figure out where the blood was from, but it only succeeded in filling his mind with tortured screams. He put the key in his backpack with a frown. If only the Patriarch hadn't turned to ash, I might've been able to gleam something from his blood. We'll have to find his lair by some other means, possibly by stalking a second-generation bloodfiend. After all, with their progenitor dead, they'll no doubt want to fill his spot.

The pained melodies of Luo and Sofia seemed to only grow in intensity, which was starting to affect Adam as though he could feel their injuries too, and since neither had any healing potions on them, Adam made a quick decision.

"I need you three to stay here while I go to the market to buy some potions."

"We'll come with you," Sofia insisted.

"I'll be faster if I go alone," he said and went out through the ruined doorway before lifting into the air and flying south-southeast as fast as possible. Once Adam returned to the church with two medium healing potions and 1, 000 Shillings poorer, Sofia and Luo were sitting on the floor inside, both looking quite unwell. Their eyes lit up as he handed them each a potion.

"Thanks, Adam," Luo said.

"Yeah, thank you," Sofia agreed.

"You saved my life."

"You should thank Kateřina," he said.

"If not for her, then I'm not sure we could've won that fight."

"I am glad you all trusted me," she remarked. Though her face didn't show it, her melody made it clear it meant a lot to her. I have a feeling that we might've fared poorly if Aeran had been alive, Adam considered. Kateřina might've tried to only protect him, and he would've probably done something stupid and reckless, putting everyone in more danger.

"We work well together," Adam said and meant it.

"We need to talk about what to do now though, because I have no idea where the Patriarch's lair is, so even though we have his special key, we can't get to the Godstone until we find that place. And there's also the matter of his absence leaving room for someone else to take charge, and that someone might be the Matriarch, who is way scarier, if you can believe that." His words put a bit of a damper on the relief they were all feeling, so he quickly added, "But first, let's have a look at what's in that chest."

Adam went over to the shadowy Relic Chest and pushed it open. To his surprise it felt like cold glass and not a pillowy cloud like he'd imagined. [Since you defeated the Patriarch before the third day, your rewards have gone up one Rarity level.] As it opened, three Relics were Epic and one was Legendary. There was a pale-white tongue, a full plate armour suit of bone, a red fancy-looking shirt with frills, and blue metallic and sleek boots with blades on the sides.

< < Relics Available > > < Fiend Tongue (Legendary) — Consuming the heart or core of a defeated foe increases total Health by 1.

For every 10 hearts or cores consumed, increase Speed and Damage by 10% > < Raiment of Bone (Epic) — The armour will reactively defend against attacks, using the bones it is made of as material | Automatically harvests the bones of nearby corpses if the armour is depleted > < Gluttonous Aristocrat's Crimson Shirt (Epic) — Absorbs nearby blood into its thirsty fabric, imbuing 5% increased Defence and 10% Speed to the wearer for every litre imbibed | On hit, release a Blood Nova with the imbibed blood, dealing exponentially more damage based on how many litres are stored within the fabric > < Mongoose Chargers (Epic) — Charge up the boots with Stamina and release to shoot forward, the Speed and distance increased with every 5 points of Stamina consumed | Every kill made by the wearer restores 5 Stamina > All of these are really good, but that Legendary and the crimson shirt are by far the most powerful things here.

Gaining exponential damage based on the blood stored in the shirt has got to be insanely busted, and being able to snowball Speed and Damage by consuming enemies is also just insanely strong, especially if paired with the Beast and its ability to gain power from consumption. I could make good use of the tongue, but I'm sure it has a side-effect like the Mandate, so I would need to be careful with it.

The shirt seems a no-brainer though, especially if I can pull the blood out of it again, since that would allow me to use it to store a lot of material, which in turn would boost Beckoning Crimson and Princely Raiment, not to mention giving me a lot more options for fighting without the need for as much preparation and harvesting.

"I want the shirt," Adam said.

"I would like the tongue," Kateřina added. Although Adam didn't want to give up the Legendary, he thought it would be good to find out how it worked from someone else first, especially since neither Emelia nor Beck had mentioned the Relic before.

"If no one else was picking, I would take the armour," Luo said.

"But I'm fine to sit this one out."

"I could use the boots," Sofia also added. Adam pulled out the Choice Ring he'd taken from Aeran's body and the orange stone immediately started to glow.

"I'm taking the shirt," Adam said and no one questioned him.

"I do think it's best that we also loot the tongue, but we need to know every time you're going to use it and what side-effects, if any, it may have." Kateřina nodded.

"I would also like to swap out my Swashbuckler weapon for the Bloodfiend Claws. I think it is a fitting combination." Adam looked to the other two.

"What do you think?" he asked them. They seemed glad to be consulted on the decision, but Adam figured it was important they were on board if Kateřina was going to be regularly turning into a monster every night.

"It may make it difficult to find a place for us to stay," Luo said.

"And I'm a bit freaked out by the idea that she will be eating our enemies…"

"I don't think it's a bad choice, especially since Kateřina is very strong already, but I'm worried that the tongue or weapon may change her in unpredictable ways," Sofia remarked.

"If I turn into a monster, Adam will kill me," Kateřina replied without hesitation.

"I'd prefer not to," Adam said with a frown.

"If it happens, I know you would do it," she repeated, and he had to wonder if she knew he was responsible for Aeran's death. Her melody didn't hold any malice towards him, only certainty and determination. It was clear she wanted the Legendary and the claws to grow stronger. She wanted to beat the Trials and save her unborn child. Adam sighed.

"Are you okay with that?" he asked Luo and Sofia.

"If the Mongoose Chargers show up again, I want them," Sofia said.

"But yes, I'm tentatively on board."

"Don't take it the wrong way if I keep my distance from you at night," Luo told Kateřina. Kateřina laughed. It was the first time she had shown any such emotion in front of them and they were all taken aback for a moment. It's been decided then. < < Relics Selected > > < Fiend Tongue (Legendary) > < Gluttonous Aristocrat's Crimson Shirt (Epic) > Kateřina paused.

"What a strange sensation," she remarked. Then she showed them all her pale-white new tongue. This time it was Luo's turn to laugh. Adam suddenly didn't feel so bad about taking Aeran out of the equation.