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Chapter 75

The burning flames intertwined with the black mist around them.

As the flames subsided, Ian immediately prepared for his next spell. Soon, Ascold, slightly singed, burst through the mist.

"How intriguing! I\'ve lived long, yet I\'ve never encountered a human like you!"

Shouting, Ascold slammed his left hand down, causing the swirling smoke storm behind him to pour toward Ian like a reverse flow.

Crack—

The Frost Shield formed just in time, blocking the incoming mist.

The shield\'s surface was swiftly carved away as if sliced by fine blades. Ian quickly created some distance between them. In the meantime, Ascold, now holding a vial the length of a finger, quickly downed its contents, with red liquid trickling down his mouth. Ian\'s brow narrowed.

That looks a lot like blood. Isn\'t regenerating health a bit unfair?

Before he could finish his thought, Ascold\'s body began to heal. The swirling mist around him thickened, now resembling more of a cloud or fog than smoke.

"If you wish to see my full power, I\'ll gladly show." Ascold\'s head jerked back as a thrown dagger embedded itself deeply into his face.

Black smoke billowed around the dagger, and Ascold\'s smile was torn wider.

Clang.

When he looked down again, the ejected dagger hit the ground.

Ascold, smiling at Ian charging toward him, said, "Truly... it would be a shame... to kill you...!"

Whoosh!

Contrary to his words, Ascold raised his hand, unleashing a ground mist that surged up and struck Ian. Ian, propelled upward, managed to maintain his composure and raised his hand.

Whoosh—

Flames erupted around him, pouring down simultaneously.

Ascold extended his hand.

Whoosh!

The smoke veil swallowed the flames. Ian, barely managing to stabilize himself in mid-air, lunged toward the center, enveloped in Wind Blades. Even at this moment, he was acutely aware of everything: Thesaya fighting off and tearing through the bats, Charlotte protected by shadow hawks, Ascold preparing his next attack, and the black mist burning alongside the flames.

As time passed, his cognitive ability while in a state of Concentration was steadily improving.

Boom!

The mist exploded toward Ian, reminiscent of a pattern from Empress of True Blood in the game, Thesaya. Aside from the mist being red, it was practically the same. It must have been Ascold\'s power absorbed and wielded by Thesaya back then.

So... The counter should be the same.

In the palm of his hand, a low-grade essence bead, now whirling with magic, released its spell.

Whoosh!

The swirling mist dispersed in all directions, blasted away by the burst of wind. This basic gray magic, merely producing a knockback effect in the game, became a massive tidal wave of wind with the addition of a bit of chaos power and essence amplification, scattering the mist.

Ian hovered momentarily in mid-air. Beyond him, Ascold\'s figure, eyes widened, became visible.

Ian\'s right hand began to glow with a blue light.

"...!"

Just as Ascold\'s eyes quivered,

Whoosh!

Propelled by the outburst of divine power, Ian, tracing a blue arc in the air, struck down with the Sword of Judgement. Ascold\'s crescent moon blade was raised almost at the same moment. Even now, the vampire\'s body, honed by years of sword training, instinctively replicated the skills it had honed.

Crrrrrrraack— crack!

The attempt to deflect the Sword of Judgement failed as the blade snapped. But for Ascold, it held significant meaning.

The strike that cleaved into the collarbone and dug deeply enough to split the right shoulder would have been fatal had it hit the head or left shoulder.

Hiss—

The remaining divine power on the blade scorched his flesh.

In a silent scream of agony, Ascold summoned all the dispersed shadow mist and demons around him. It was in this moment of life-or-death focus that Ascold concluded he had not sustained a fatal injury. He would need to retreat to Gloomir for recovery but estimated that a few years would restore him to his former state.

The mist and shadow demons were rapidly converging, and in a few seconds, they would sweep away this human who had displayed such inconceivable abilities. And his blood would infuse Ascold with new life. This line of reasoning shattered the moment he saw Ian\'s eyes, full of red magic, glaring down at him, piercing through his intentions with a cold flash.

It dawned on Ascold that time for Ian flowed at the same rate as he perceived. There was no way for him to know that this human, once a mere character in a game, had chosen attributes of focus suited for knights or barbarian warriors, attributes that became significantly effective at high levels, allowing for heightened Concentration during battle, supported by the Intelligence and Mental Fortitude to maintain it.

How...?!

All Ascold could do was marvel at the fact that a mage possessed talents usually reserved for the rarest sword masters. Meanwhile, Ian\'s spell was rapidly coming to fruition.

Whoosh—

Mist and bats surged from all sides, engulfing the world in darkness for a moment.

...Surely not.

As Ian released his grip on the sword and raised his left hand, Ascold, collapsing weakly backward, saw a brightly glowing essence bead imbued with vibrant red magic. The thought that it resembled a small sun crossed his mind just before...

Boom—

Bright yellow flames burst forth from the essence bead, spreading in all directions.

Waves of flame rolled over, engulfing the incoming mist and shadow demons, spreading far and wide. An endless tide of flames. In moments, the surroundings were as bright as day.

Is he planning to burn down the entire city...?

The ground met Ascold\'s back. But his gaze remained fixed on the curtain of flames that consumed the mist and demons, unable to look away.

...But, it\'s beautiful.

A wave of fire splashed over him too.

This is why having a plan B is important.

Ian, watching the flames consume the mist and bats, extended his hand. The high-level red magic, Flame Tide, was one of the new skills Ian had learned. Its fast casting time and the wide area of effect had appealed to him, and its firepower exceeded expectations.

The amplification uses a lot of magic, and it\'s hard to control, but...

In situations like this, with enemies on all sides, some sacrifices were inevitable. Ian focused, doing his best to control the flames.

Swoosh—

The wave of fire spread rapidly and fiercely.

"Kyaaak—!" Thesaya screamed, lying prone on the ground.

Despite the fierce battle with the shadow demons, she managed to keep a firm grip on Charlotte\'s collar, showing remarkable resilience.

Roar—

The flames, having devoured all the mist and bats, surged up once more before vanishing as if evaporated. The eradication was possible because everything had converged toward Ian.

Sizzle...

The essence bead, spinning like a gyroscope, lost its light along with a puff of smoke and fell. Darkness and silence returned. Ian\'s gaze shifted. There lay Ascold, charred, with the Sword of Judgement still embedded in his right chest, yet still alive.

"Here lies... my long... life...."

Ascold\'s lips moved as if feeling Ian approaching. Bits of his skin flaked off.

"I never... imagined... it will end... here...."

Ignoring his whisper, Ian pulled the Sword of Judgement from Ascold’s chest. The heated blade seemed to burn Ian’s grasp, but at this moment, that sensation was almost welcome.

"You all... in the end..."

Ah, chatting till the end.

With a flick of his tongue, Ian didn\'t hesitate to thrust his sword into Ascold\'s heart.

The blade pierced through, crushing everything around it as it skewered the heart. A hissing sound conveyed the sensation of something burning away—every drop of the pureblood being consumed by flames. Ascold\'s body stiffened, and soon, it crumbled into ashes.

"Ha..."

Just as Ian was about to withdraw his sword,

Crack!

"...!"

Something burst from the ashes. A bat formed from the shadow surged upward.

Was this a final act of defiance? Or an unknown countermeasure of his kin?

Even as he pondered, Ian sent a fireball after the fleeing creature. The fireball hit the bat squarely.

Whoosh—

The flames lit up the sky.

Unexpectedly, the fireball didn\'t completely consume the bat. A tiny sliver of shadow escaped the inferno, eventually disappearing into the darkness.

"...Tsk." Ian clicked his tongue shortly.

However, it didn\'t matter. Given that the quest was marked as complete, Ascold was definitely dead, and that tiny fragment seemed too insignificant to fulfill any substantial role.

Thud—

Finally, Ian sat down.

A throbbing headache, dizziness, and the pain from the crescent moon blade\'s wounds became fully apparent. But it was worth it. Completing the quest had granted him an ability point, and the experience gained was significant. Moreover, a level-up seemed imminent—the first since he\'d been thrown into this world.

"Is it over...? Is it really over?!" Thesaya, who had been lying prone on the ground, lifted her head.

"Yeah." Responding in a weary voice, Ian looked down at what had been Ascold, sensing a faint magic lingering in the heap of ashes.

Digging through, he unearthed the magical box that contained the mermaid\'s scream, a vial of blood, another mysterious box, and a necklace with a sinister emblem. All had miraculously retained their shape despite the fire.

The necklace, at least, could be identified—a rare grade opal necklace that slightly enhanced Mental Fortitude and several resistances, along with a rare option to boost magic recovery.

"I knew it...! Ian! You\'re the best...!" Thesaya jumped up and exclaimed.

After storing the necklace in his spatial storage, Ian asked, "How is Charlotte?"

"She\'s out like a light. Such a useless creature!" Thesaya kicked Charlotte lightly as she moved toward Ian.

Ian quickly turned his head, "Stay back."

"Huh? Why?"

"I\'m bleeding. Keep your distance."

"Oh, right...! Okay, got it."

Through this event, he had definitely learned that his blood emitted a scent that could drive vampires to lose their rationality. While the reason or cause remained unknown, it was never of any real importance to begin with.

As Thesaya nodded, she slyly added a comment. "Can\'t I just take a little lick?"

"You think I’ll let you do that?"

"Honestly, I didn\'t expect you to say yes anyway."

Shrugging, Thesaya discarded her torn clothes. Her gaze wandered over the quiet night streets. Craters pocked the road, and buildings bore marks where flames had licked. The plaza where roads intersected was in complete disarray.

Thesaya smirked, "So, shall we make a quick exit before the city\'s humans wake up?"

"Make an exit? What..." Ian chuckled.

If they were on the outskirts of the kingdoms, maybe it wouldn\'t have been a big issue. But this was still Imperial territory, even if it was a self-governing region. With his identity already recorded, fleeing now would surely land him on a list of criminals.

"Stay in your room and lock the door. And put on some clothes."

"What about you?"

"I\'ll wait here until dawn. Staying put might clear up any misunderstandings faster."

Truthfully, the majority of the chaos was due to his magic. But the dead tell no tales; blaming Ascold would simplify matters.

"You and Charlotte, pretend you know nothing about what happened. You were asleep."

"Fine, I got it. I\'ll head in and rest first. You\'ve worked hard."

Quickly nodding, Thesaya picked up the unconscious Charlotte. She strode to the inn\'s door, then paused and looked back at Ian.

"Ian, could you go in and invite me so I can go inside?"