Chương 506: Chapter 475: More Testing

Being a wyvern was great, and killing the eagle and the griffin resulted in another well-deserved level up. Clawing at each other while dropping from the sky felt epic. Thalion had expected the fight to be far more dangerous—and a lot more painful—but aside from a few cuts that healed quickly, he had taken almost no damage, while the griffin had already been nearly dead when he let go. He hadn't even used his biting or claw skills, which would have made the fight even easier.

The sheer power of almost eight thousand strength felt incredible, and so far, he hadn't really utilized it. With that fight, his testing with the wyvern was basically done. He could still hunt smaller birds in the area to train his maneuverability, but that was about it. Maybe, if he found a large beast in the forest, he could test how the form performed in ground combat—but otherwise, he was satisfied. Well… almost. There was still one more form he wanted to test.

Actually, now that he thought about it, he hadn't fully tested all the abilities of his human form and the Primordial Bloodseed either. To be fair, it wasn't strictly necessary if he encountered a strong opponent, since it wasn't that different from his F-grade human form—aside from the raw power increase. He would still test it later. But first—the Eclipsari. After the fight, he had deactivated his domain skill and reined in his aura so that, hopefully, not too many would notice him.

It took another day of flying before the black forest—the supposed home of the vampires—came into view, and he descended. About twenty meters above the treetops, he shifted into the Eclipsari, Consecrated Scion of the Void. Even with his aura mostly suppressed, the light around him dimmed as darkness crept into the area. His landing didn't even send a ripple through the forest.

Like the silent predator he was, Thalion moved toward the blackened part of the woods where, according to the merchants, the vampires resided. His human form would have been even more effective in direct combat—but vampires were perfect test subjects for his newly evolved Eclipsari form. They were faster and stronger than most humans, and their blood-based abilities made them dangerous opponents. Most people wouldn't walk into their territory with such a broad grin like Thalion did.

Thanks to his passive intuition skill and the Hunter of All title, he had already located the first vampires, perched in the trees and waiting for humans to pass by. His aura was now completely reined in, making his presence blend naturally into the surroundings. That was one of the techniques Ratgul had taught him after the treasure hunt—and even with a god's guidance, it had taken him over three months to master. It was midday, and the sun stood high in the sky.

Even though the dense canopy filtered much of the light, the unnatural darkness around Thalion would have been an obvious warning—if he hadn't suppressed it perfectly. He moved silently across moss-covered branches until he reached striking distance. The vampire scouts were relatively relaxed, sitting about ten meters above the ground. They were likely watching the forest below with their blood vision, waiting for humans to pass by. Every living being should glow red in their sight.

They probably wouldn't have said no to a beast either. Since the Eclipsari didn't truly carry blood in the same way, detecting him wasn't as easy. Not that it mattered—none of them were even remotely looking in his direction. Thalion crept closer until he was in range. There were three vampires he intended to kill instantly—before any of them could raise the alarm. If he failed that, he would consider the attack a failure. He struck.

He leaped at the first target so quickly that it didn't even raise its head before his claw tore through its body. Then he activated Shadow Step, his form distorting much like Scarlet Maelstrom—just without the overwhelming aura or destructive currents. That didn't make him slow. The other two vampires barely had time to turn before their bodies were ripped apart.

Since the Primordial Bloodseed could speak—and he would never hear the end of it if he didn't offer the blood—Thalion quickly switched back into his human form, letting the hungry vines devour the corpses. These vampires had a considerable amount of blood, which was valuable for his human form. So far, he had only run out of blood a few times—but it wasn't something he ever wanted to experience again. Keeping the Primordial Bloodseed satisfied was necessary. Otherwise, it might lash out at inconvenient moments.

Not that it had ever done so—but there was no reason to take that risk. Now it was time to move deeper into vampire territory. Thalion was curious how many vampires he could kill before being noticed—before someone managed to raise the alarm. The answer was twenty-seven. One vampire was actually fast enough to dodge Thalion's attack and scream loudly. The sound was high-pitched—a mix between someone slamming their bare toe into a door and fingernails scraping across a chalkboard.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Thalion quickly crushed the vampire's head, but by then it was already too late. The trees in this part of the forest were over a hundred meters tall, and hidden beneath the dense canopy lay the main fortress of the vampires. Thalion suspected they had used a plant mage to grow the canopy thick enough to conceal the clearing from above. Maybe that was also the reason why so many trees had blackened trunks in the first place.

A loud gong echoed through the fortress just as Thalion thought he might have gotten lucky. Did vampires never scream when they hit their toe or banged their head? Apparently not. Multiple vampires leaped onto the walls, and those already on guard pointed directly toward Thalion's position behind a tree trunk. Several squads vaulted over the walls and rushed in his direction—some running along the forest floor, others leaping from branch to branch.

Thalion couldn't use Identify to check their levels, but he was certain every single one of them was well into E-grade. It was highly likely they had participated in the first system event, which would explain their powerful auras. This wasn't a fight he could win with brute force alone. Or… maybe? Yeah. Why not act like a complete idiot and go all out? If things went wrong, he could always revert to his human form and slaughter them. Against the Primordial Bloodseed—they stood no chance.

With a single leap, Thalion dropped to the forest floor, landing right in front of the first vampire, who froze in surprise upon seeing him. At three and a half meters tall, Thalion towered over the creature, forcing it to look up at him like a child. He gave it one second to stare—then attacked. Living darkness gathered around his claws as he dashed forward. As the Umbral Predator and the crippled Eclipsari, he had always been a brutal fighter, winning most battles by overwhelming his opponents with sheer force.

Ratgul had trained him for months in claw combat, and this was where he had improved the most. After endless painful stretching and conditioning, he had become surprisingly agile—and that was only the beginning. Thalion's towering form blurred forward at a speed the vampire couldn't even react to at such close range. His claw tore through its chest, and at the same moment, his aura of malice erupted outward, drenching the surroundings in pure darkness. He didn't stop at one.

He surged forward, ripping through vampire after vampire. Seven died before the first one managed to react. By then, the remaining vampires were filled with fear, glowing like little lanterns in the dark. Their skin and armor didn't resist his claws for even a second. The scouts hadn't worn armor, but these vampires were fully equipped for battle—and it made no difference. Each time one died, a fountain of blood burst outward as their internal reservoirs collapsed.

With Thalion not in his human form, that was actually a disadvantage. Blood was the vampires' weapon—and they could easily turn it against him.

"Quick—use your rage to counter the mental manipulation!" a muscular vampire roared, his eyes beginning to bleed as he charged toward Thalion, swinging a massive sword. The roar must have been some kind of buff, allowing the vampires to resist his aura and react without being slowed by it. Perfect. In a real fight against Chosen or other E-grade enemies, there would always be healers or support classes capable of cleansing his advantages. Being able to train against that here was ideal.

There was another unexpected factor. With his four eyes, Thalion effectively had near-complete vision in all directions. Normally, that was an advantage—but against vampires with their eye-based abilities, it became a risk. If his soul hadn't been reinforced through constant cultivation and brutal training under Ratgul, being hit by ten mental attacks at once wouldn't have been something he could just ignore. To be fair, if he ever seriously fought vampires, he would use his human form anyway.

Still, it wasn't something you considered at first—how seeing everything also exposed you to everything. Now it was the vampires' turn to fight back by using their eye skills. They looked shocked that Thalion showed no signs of weakness after being hit by multiple mental assaults at once. Thalion weaved around the first sword strike, completely ignoring the incoming blood skills and claw attacks. He wanted to push forward and deal damage—and this was the fastest way to do it.

At the same time, he wanted to test his defenses. The blood missiles fired at him were hastily conjured and barely charged—but the vampires clearly had high expectations for them. That their attacks simply glided off Thalion's obsidian-like skin wasn't something they had expected at all. Meanwhile, Thalion used all of his speed and strength to tear through the vampires in front of him. They were fast and well-trained opponents, but their training couldn't compare to what Ratgul had drilled into him.

With skill, speed, strength, and durability on his side, things were looking grim for the vampires. Their attacks slid off his skin, at most pushing him slightly aside or slowing him down on direct hits, while he carved a bloody path through their ranks. A single claw strike was enough to kill them. The darkness infecting their wounds had also become far more aggressive than before, immediately beginning to dissolve their bodies. It wasn't just more corrosive—the mental effect had evolved as well.

It was no longer simple fear or dread. Now, even a scratch was enough to make a vampire's eyes snap wide open as their bodies trembled uncontrollably, as if they had been dropped into Antarctica wearing nothing but shorts and a T-shirt. These weren't weaklings. They were around level one hundred fifty—deep into E-grade. The fact that they were vampires already placed them above the average human. If the mental effect was this strong on them, then others would be in for a nightmare.

The first group sent against Thalion was wiped out in moments, leaving him with only a few minor cracks on his skin that healed almost instantly. The fight, though brief, had been loud—and his aura had been visible. That was enough to draw more vampires to the walls of the fortress. They stared in his direction, but aside from seeing their comrades fall, they couldn't actually see him. The pure darkness surrounding Thalion—where no light could enter—extended for at least ten meters.

Since he had no blood, they couldn't detect him at all. This was something Thalion only realized now. He had assumed they would have ways to see through darkness. Ever since the system, he himself had been able to see perfectly at night. To be fair, it wasn't complete darkness right now—but these were E-grade vampires. Hunters of the night. And yet… they couldn't see him. That was interesting. Their unwillingness to step into the darkness and investigate gave Thalion time to consider his next move.

If he was being honest, he had lost a few abilities. No more Umbral Feast to gain stats from fallen enemies—unless they were devoured by the Abyssal Devourer, which turned everything into darkness and was perfect for body tempering. The latter was still integrated, but the stat gain from devouring was gone. Umbral Spire and Umbral Miasma were also missing. He could still manipulate darkness, but that was something he had already been able to do before.

At the moment, it didn't make much of a difference since Thalion had trained extensively with Ratgul on how to shape shadows. Creating three-meter-long spikes wasn't difficult—but having a skill made it easier. Activating a skill and spending mana while focusing entirely on aiming was far simpler than conjuring and controlling darkness manually. Darkness began to condense around Thalion as he formed multiple massive spikes—each one carrying more power than anything he had ever created with Umbral Spire.

With a grin that revealed rows of needle-like teeth, dark mist rising from his mouth, Thalion prepared himself. He was about to tear this vampire stronghold apart. And the vampires had no idea what was coming.