The bard fantasized again.

Chapter 215 Vampire Mist (4k)

Beneath the thick fog, everything appeared almost gray and white, making the crimson blood color all the more vivid.

It wasn't far away, hovering just a few meters away, and even showed signs of spreading outwards.

A thin line of blood stretched upwards from the earth, like an IV drip, supplying the mist with vital energy and gradually revitalizing it.

But anyone can see that it is sucking blood.

Like breathing, it draws in the blood that had just spilled from Fide's throat not long ago.

"Damn it, it's latched onto me!"

Fide's gaze was initially drawn to the blood mist, but then she felt a sharp pain in her neck, as if a needle had pierced her pores, and a suction force seemed to draw out her blood, which then merged into the mist.

She then realized that it wasn't the crimson mist that could suck blood—

They turn scarlet because they have been drinking blood.

They seemed to have been summoned by the leaking blood, lurking in the thick fog, unnoticed by anyone.

So they slowly approached until they surrounded the target whose bloodstains had dried.

Finally, it invaded the skin of the living, sucking her blood like a mosquito!
She had just been resurrected, and although the wound on her neck had healed, the feeling of exhaustion had not yet dissipated.

In just a few seconds, she felt death beckoning her again—

With no other option, it could only let the beast's soul forcibly take over, its body suddenly swelling and rising to two meters tall. Its thick clothes bulged from its muscles, but not to the point of tearing, and its face then transformed into that of a brown bear.

Her beast-like self-healing ability resisted the loss of blood, preventing her from fainting for the time being. She suddenly unleashed a powerful gust of wind towards the surrounding mist.

With a single palm strike, the fierce wind seemed to disperse the blood mist, which then coalesced, proclaiming to her that brute force was utterly useless.

"They're everywhere!?"

Arthur felt the chill of the fog seeping in through the gaps in his heavy armor.

He knew that this blood mist had no form, and the only thing he could do was strengthen himself. He quickly patted his chest, and a beam of light flashed across it, like a radiance reflecting off his plate armor, making it gleam brightly.

His blood became hot, causing his skin to harden. The mist tried to penetrate his pores, but was completely blocked as if it were piercing a steel plate.

[Enhance Resistance], a priest's protective trick. When facing unknown targets, strengthening one's physical attributes is always a good choice.

Tang Qi felt the blood being drawn out of his body, and the mist around him began to turn crimson.

He couldn't see the true nature of this fog.

It's unclear whether it originated from nature or was cast by some kind of magic.

Wielding the blade, the fiery red light sliced ​​through the crimson mist in two. When it reformed, only white mist could be seen touching back together.

"it works?"

Thinking of a certain being, Tang Qi quickly looked at Kuru:

"Aim at them and try the magic missiles!"

"Rua?"

Kulu was taken aback, thinking Tang Qi was joking—

As a targeted, tracking spell, the necessary condition for casting [Magic Missile] is to select a biological target.

It had read books and knew that fog is essentially water vapor condensation, which by no means qualifies as a "living thing".

The only consequence of aiming at Tang Qi is that the magic dart will end up hitting him...

But it still subconsciously chose to believe, and thus waved the magic wand.

Three crimson darts, surrounded by a bright red light, shot straight toward Tang Qi.

But just as it approached within a meter of him, as if blocked by a wall of blood mist, three muffled bangs suddenly exploded in front of Tang Qi's eyes, shaking the blood mist and creating three visible holes in his flesh.

Tang Qi realized this in an instant:

"Priest, disperse them!"

After a brief period of testing, Arthur also realized something.

Without hesitation, he raised the holy emblem and whispered a sacred prayer, accompanied by a gentle melody, as if to lull someone to sleep.
Stop, fog that should not exist.

Retreat, the blood that should not be clamored.

The long night should be silent, and the departed should rest in peace.

A soft glow emanated from his fingertips, like the faint afterglow leaking from a yellow and blue sky—

The afterglow wasn't dazzling; it was like strands of thin gauze, enveloping everyone like a bed curtain.

As the light spread, the dawn suddenly felt uncomfortable, a burning pain on its skin, searing the soul hidden within.

She instinctively retreated into the distance, avoiding the radiance along with the increasingly dense blood mist—

[Guide divine power: Dispel undead creatures].

All undead creatures illuminated by the light will do everything in their power to stay away from it.

"come on in!"

Arthur shouted immediately.

Tang Qi interrupted abruptly: "She is a construct, we don't need to pay attention to her."

Since Chenxi hadn't spoken a word in front of them from beginning to end, her lie was convincing enough.

Otherwise, if a priest who is keen on putting the dead to rest were to discover her undead nature, he would probably be preoccupied with how to bring peace to her soul.

"So these mists are actually a kind of living organism?"

Now that things had come to this, Arthur couldn't care less about arguing with Tang Qi about who was right or wrong before, and asked in a low voice,
Where did they originate?

"It's probably the remains of a vampire," Tang Qi explained.

The vampire mist hidden in the churning fog is essentially the remains of vampires who were defeated or encountered accidents and were unable to return to the tomb in time.

Unable to recover from dormancy, their bodies gradually dissolve into a thin mist over prolonged periods of dormancy. This transformation usually strips them of their reason, leaving only their most primal blood-sucking instinct.

Like sharks in the water, the mist can detect the scent of blood in the air, drawing even the smallest wounds towards the victim and prioritizing their attack.

Tang Qi will probably write this in the "Guide".

But that's contingent on them successfully escaping danger—

"The Holy Light won't last long. We need to consider our next move... If they can be damaged, perhaps we can take advantage of this opening and eliminate them on the spot?"

After Arthur finished speaking, he began to recite a prayer, and around the mist that was constantly retreating beyond the halo, he summoned a flame as orange as the setting sun.

They seemed poised to sweep through the mist, burning a brief hole in the blood mist as well, but Tang Qi soon realized that this glimmer of fire was like a pebble thrown into the ocean.

It created ripples, but quickly disappeared from sight.

The extracted blood continuously stained the mist red, allowing them to clearly discern the quantity of the vampire mist.

It was indeed as vast as the ocean.

As the holy light faded and they were enveloped in blood mist, apart from the immortal dawn, they faced only one fate: to be drained dry by the mist.

"How many vampires have died here, for God's sake?"

Tang Qi even suspected that a war had taken place here.

But that's not something we should be considering right now:
"It's pointless to waste time with them. This blood mist seems endless; the only way is to disappear from their sight—"

Release another [Leomon's Hut], let's hide there first!

The Holy Light doesn't last long; without a proper plan, you'll only be drained dry by the blood mist.

Arthur has three third-circle spell slots, so even after casting [Resurrection], he still has plenty of spell slots.

Without hesitation, he followed Tang Qi's lead in inscribing the magic array.

A minute passed quietly, and as the holy light dissipated, the semi-circular sphere once again enveloped the group.

The mist inside the 'cabin' seemed to be repelled and dissipated outside, allowing the group to remain huddled in the small space. "This will at least guarantee our safety for eight hours," Arthur said.

Tang Qi stared at the lingering mist outside the sphere, then gritted his teeth:

“This thing is a living being. Although it acts on instinct most of the time, it’s not stupid enough, and it won’t be fooled by sight. When we hide in front of them, they choose to wait in place.”

"So we're essentially trapped here?"

Arthur also looked out of the cabin.

"Are we just going to keep dragging this out on?"

“Take the initiative and draw them away!” Kuru suggested.

Tang Qi nodded, acknowledging its idea:
"They are driven by the smell of blood, so we can release bait to lure them to other places."

Fide shed his bestial form and weakly stroked his throat, which had been slit earlier.

Returning to her senses, she realized that, possessing self-healing abilities, she might be the only suitable candidate to be used as bait.
"Then I'll do it."

She was certainly willing to take the gamble.

He gambled that his physique was strong enough to escape the mist's influence and chase the faint, pungent smell back to the village.

This was her original plan with Kane.

"So you're so eager to go back and report that you're safe, hoping to provoke the beastmen into launching a counterattack against the tribe?"

Tang Qi could not possibly agree to that.

"Do you have a better method?"

Fied scoffed.
"Or you could become the bait?"

While Tang Qi was deep in thought, his eyes suddenly lit up: "That works."

When Chenxi saw him slap his forehead, she knew that some new idea had just come to mind.

But Fede just thought he was crazy.

In their brief time together, she had gained a basic understanding of Tang Qi.

This guy is like a cunning fox, eloquent, quick-witted, and always able to make reasonable judgments using his extensive knowledge.

This makes him always make choices that are in his own best interest.

How could someone like that possibly agree to sacrifice themselves as bait?

Arthur looked at him hesitantly:
"An ordinary person's body would probably be drained in just one minute."

"So we need your help."

Tang Qi took out a mushroom from his dimensional bag.
“I have a clone that I can use as bait.”

During his escape from Dragon Gold City, he had already used up the energy of the [Spore Replicator] to replicate Iu ​​and deceive Leon's eyes.

Afterwards, there was no time to return to the Golden Oak's cellar to recharge.

In reality, they met with Leon and fled Dragon Gold City almost immediately after leaving the Deep Well.

So much so that when they were in the deep well, Chenxi didn't have time to remove the mushrooms covering her body, allowing them to continue multiplying on the corpse.

Before setting off on the giant tortoises, Tang Qi had already pulled them out, buried them in damp soil, and placed them in the chief's room to raise them.

Although the cultivation speed is not as fast as that of a cellar, it still gives the replicator a chance to recharge once every seven days.

Tang Qi then took out several empty water bags.

It used to contain Star Plum Wine, and Tang Qi inevitably drank a few bags during his month-long journey.

He looked at Federer:
"Lend me your blood."

Fide was somewhat confused and instinctively refused, "Why?"

"This clone cannot be harmed, so I need your blood as bait to attract the mist, and I also need the priest's second-circle spell [Enhance Attributes] to give him physical toughness."

This should ensure that, during the hour the clone remains active, the smell of blood will carry away as much of the fog as possible.

As Tang Qi spoke, he took out a curved knife and prepared to cut Fede's skin to draw blood.

Arthur grabbed his arm:

"Wait! She hasn't recovered yet! You'll cause her to bleed to death!"

"I can restore her blood through the [Healing Mantra], and you can also heal her wounds."

The kind-hearted pastor felt that his worldview had been shaken:

"You are torturing a person's body."

Tang Qi said irritably:

"Why are you talking so much nonsense? I'll use magical items, you'll use divine spells. She can't do anything, so all she can do is bleed."

To drive away the blood mist, each of us three has done our part, nothing more.

"But she's the only one who sacrificed her health..."

"If you can't stand it, then take her place and bleed yourself, okay? Anyway, I won't sacrifice my own health, or even my partners'—there's no reason to enjoy someone else's protection without doing anything."

"Then I'll do it."

Arthur nodded, then removed his gauntlets, revealing his powerful forearms, clenched his fists, and held them in front of Tang Qi.

"Draw my blood."

"Fine, you can have it."

Tang Qi sighed, not knowing what to say.

Fied looked at him blankly as well:
"Why are you doing this?"

"The Father of Twilight guides us, bringing sleep to the world and shelter to all living beings. As long as I live, there is no reason for others to suffer."

Arthur said with certainty.

He snatched the curved knife from Tang Qi's hand, cut a wound on his arm, and let the blood flow into his water bag for storage.

Whenever he feels weak, he casts a healing spell on himself, which heals his wounds and replenishes his blood.

Then he cut the wound open again to draw out the fog with as much blood as possible.

"You have a noble character that is admirable."

When his spell slots were depleted, Dawn approached and used the paladin's [Holy Heal] to heal his wounds.

Since acquiring this power armor, she no longer needs to worry about physical wear and tear, and her use of power has become more unrestrained.

Fied was unable to speak for a long time.

She instinctively thought that the priest who was bleeding her blood was ridiculously stupid.

Didn't he know that from the very beginning he intended to let them die in the fog?
She said, her voice trembling slightly:
"You...you think I'll thank you for doing this?"

Arthur calmly replied:

“I am not doing this for your gratitude. It is the teachings of my loving father that made me realize I must do it.”

"But do you know what kind of person you're helping? I brought you here, letting the mist consume you, just to prevent you from returning to the village and to lift the curse on the others..."

She wanted to put on a sneer and tell him that it was all meaningless.

It's as if doing this will tear off his hypocritical facade, make him angry, and drag him into the mire, so that they can appear less despicable.

“I guessed as much. But even if you hadn’t done that, I would still have gone into the depths of the mist.”

Only now did Arthur reveal his goal of reaching the Duskwood.
"I came here for the vampires."

(End of this chapter)