Chapter 95:

The Blood Vulture Halls was beneath the Blood Vulture Citadel in the inner city district. That was originally a landmark building of Kadman City, but over 400 years of continuous expansion had transformed what should have been a vampire-style castle into an oversized church-like structure. Including the grasslands, gardens, and auxiliary buildings, the Blood Vulture Citadel alone occupied one-fifth of the entire area of Kadman City. However, now everything was gone. The astral realm rift had almost completely swallowed the landmark building, leaving only a desolate remnant of broken walls. The good news was that the stairway leading down to the underground Blood Vulture Halls was still there and largely intact. The bad news was that the intense astral spirit energy lingering here had yet to dissipate. By the time Murphy arrived with his little players and militiamen, the Witch Hunters had already lit a fire on the descending stairs to dispel the remaining astral shadows. “There’s a nest of Astral manticores down there. They didn’t get pulled back when the astral rift closed, and the mother manticore has made a den here. With plentiful food, she may have even laid eggs. Flames alone cannot kill them.” The fully armed old knight, wearing a bucket-style full helm, spoke. His special oakwood heavy armor was covered in various religious proverbs and runes, looking very thick and cool, immediately drawing the attention of the little players. However, the old knight’s news made Murphy frown. The heavily hooded lady beside him glanced at the still burning spiral staircase and said in a low voice: “This connects to the city’s sewer system below. Your fire is useless and will only cause the dangerous manticores to escape through the passages, becoming yet another big problem in this disaster area.” “Then I truly worry for the future safety of your domain, Lord Murphy.” Old Finoch said in a teasing tone. Judging from the expressions of the Witch Hunters beside him, these people who constantly dealt with evil creatures definitely knew the situation below and had deliberately planted a problem in Murphy’s chosen domain. But now was not the time to discuss this. Several minutes later, after the flames had died down, the Witch Hunters entered first, having purified the stairs with fire. Murphy and his companions, along with the little players, followed closely behind. They passed through the underground spiral corridor and reached the corridor’s great hall several minutes later. The crimson stone door before them flickered with a faint fluorescent glow in the darkness, indicating it was a spirit-made object and had been sealed from the inside, unable to be opened without a key. “Please.” The old knight gestured with an outstretched hand, offering the young lady the desire fragment he had kept. She took it in her hand, stepped forward, and Murphy and Adele, two members of the Blood Vulture Clan, stood as assistants with her before the three-ring seal on the great door. She raised the scepter of the sovereign high, her fingers pierced by the rough edges of the shard of desire. A few drops of viscous midnight blood oozed out, then transformed into crimson beams of light under the ritual, pointing directly at the heart of the Blood Vulture insignia at the center of the door’s seal. Behind her, Murphy and Adele pricked their fingers with ritual daggers, maintaining the same posture as the lady. Their Blood Vulture blood was also drawn into beams of light by the ritual, illuminating the two eyes of the Blood Vulture insignia. Amid the restless stirrings of the eager little players behind them, the stone door before them let out a low groan like an old man’s sigh, then slowly slid open in a cloud of dust. What came into view was not a dark, foul passage, but a corridor as luxurious as a museum or noble mansion. The red carpet from the entrance stretched all the way to the progeny’s great hall ahead, while exquisite stone statues lined both sides, along with opulent murals and gem chandeliers that glittered with a jewel-like aura at that moment. “Hell yeah! That’s what I’m talking about!” The joy stick among the crowd said excitedly: “An ancient family that ruled a region for 400 years better have some treasures stored away, or else it’d be disappointing, boys. If we play our cards right this round, we’re gonna get rich.” “Those gems on the chandeliers are real!” A new player with the ID “Scholar Xiao Zhou” carefully observed the chandeliers in the corridor, then said to the person next to him: “Judging from the transparency and the angle of light refraction, they don’t look like fakes. These vampires must be loaded! Or maybe in this world, these gems are worthless?” “Hey, I knew you’d be the expert on this, Zhou-ge.” Ah Yuen reached over and put his arm around Xiao Zhou’s shoulder, his eyes sparkling as he whispered: “When we take this place, I’m counting on you to help us identify the loot. Say, how’d you end up being the only one from the geology department?” “You think that department goddess would come play games with a bunch of geeks like us? I bet she’s off playing with some simp right now.” The scholar Xiao Zhou leaned on his bayonet-fitted soldier’s musket, rolled his eyes and grumbled like an old man: “What’s wrong with her changing boyfriends every week? Tsk! Shame on me for being blind before. I spent over a grand taking her out to dinner, buying her flowers and whatnot, but once we got to the hotel room, she knew her way around better than me. That night, I felt like a damn escort. Ah, the more I talk about it, the more it hurts. But my dormmates are all waiting, not that they can do anything without an invite code. Let’s stop wasting breath. You veteran players take the lead! We can’t just let us cute noobs get killed, right?” “Tsk” Ah Yuen gave an unsatisfied snort as he gripped his weapon and followed Lord Murphy into the Blood Vulture Halls. “Damn! The mobs in this instance are brutal! Those weakling ghouls outside can’t even compare.” The three shield-bearers who had been knocked away rejoined, covered in dirt and complaining as they helped their brothers smash another stone gargoyle. But before they could catch their breath, more gargoyles and humanoid constructs charged in from the second hall. The Witch Hunters behind showed no intention of intervening. Murphy rejoined the group to protect his little cuties, a scene that made the Meow King blink. Suddenly, he had a brilliant idea. “Why are we wasting time beating on these stone freaks?” He grabbed the nearby Niuniu, who was about to charge forward, then yelled to the student players: “Pull them! Get aggro on the gargoyles, but don’t attack right away. Kite them over to the NPC and let him deal with them! His attack power is way stronger than ours.” “Good idea!” The struggling little players immediately brightened. Several shield-bearers, covered by musket fire, immediately charged the emerging construct group. Of course, there’s no such thing as “aggro” in the real world. The helpless constructs could only mindlessly pursue and attack the nearest intruders. Through the players’ snake-like kiting and a round of circling the pillars like the Qin king, they actually managed to pull seven or eight constructs over. The other little players made way, howling as they coordinated flawlessly, causing the observing Witch Hunters to exchange puzzled looks. What were these guys doing? Were they trying to take out Murphy by luring the constructs to their leader using the monsters? Hey, isn’t this mutiny? This is definitely mutiny, right? I can’t believe you swarthy blood servants hate your own leader more than us Witch Hunters do. Well done, you lot! “Meow King, slow them down! I can’t hold much longer!” Niuniu, fending off three constructs, cried out. The Meow King immediately released Binding vines to save him from being crushed. Murphy’s expression was rather strange. When he saw the shield-bearer players kiting the constructs towards him, he realized what these sly bastards were trying to do. Well, if I were truly an NPC, you’d have fooled me. But I’m not some braindead AI, am I? You dare try to bug me? You guys are pretty bold! Seeing the eager players around him, ready to swoop in for kills once the “NPC” softened up the mobs, Murphy felt annoyed. But with a shift of his gaze, he didn’t immediately lose his temper. Instead, he played along like a true NPC, pretending ignorance. After seven or eight gargoyles and humanoid constructs clustered around him, Murphy grabbed the Tomb Guard insignia on his wrist, intending to open the little players’ eyes and show them his true power. Murphy’s Skill – Mass Death’s Grasp, activated! “Shua” Cold, gloomy death spirit energy surged from Murphy’s left hand, creeping like shadows along the ground and up the bodies of the surrounding constructs, coiling into nooses around their necks. Despite their struggles, these constructs below the Black Iron rank were hoisted into the air. Then, with a powerful sweeping arc, his Blade of the Desire Clan hummed as it traced a crimson sword beam around him. In the next instant, he sheathed his sword in a dashing pose. The second he turned back towards the players, the seven or eight constructs suspended in the air simultaneously had their chests shatter, their construct cores destroyed as they fell lifeless to the ground. “Damn! So powerful and fierce!” The Invincible Tyrannosaurus Cheche exclaimed in amazement as the nearby players nodded vigorously. Feeling the little players’ praise, Murphy inwardly scoffed. Laugh it up while you still can, because soon you won’t be laughing anymore. “Femis, did you apprehend the one in the alert chamber?” As Murphy led the players onward into the second hall, he asked with a voice technique. A few seconds later, the lady’s voice responded: “I have him captured. It’s a core construct, only following my father’s orders. But I can banish it easily enough.” “No need to rush. What’s its strength level?” Murphy asked, and the lady replied: “Black Iron rank, tougher than regular stone gargoyles and can use some basic spirit spells, but just as dim-witted.” “Good. Listen to my instructions, toss it down here in a bit.” Murphy glanced back at the little players still trying to kite mobs towards him. A subtle smile crossed his lips as he added: “And if possible, make its entrance as cool-looking as you can.” “?”