That bard is such a charmer!

Chapter 117 Slaying the Vampire Count

Battlefield in the sky.

Vespera truly lives up to his reputation as a renowned vampire count.

Although Elsa had roasted her whole body, she did not lose her fighting ability. She recovered halfway down the fall, used her flowing blood to fill the wounds on her wings, and took to the sky again, dodging Grace's gaping maw.

"Pretty fast—"

Grace clicked her tongue, then changed her bite into a breath attack, sending out a blast of dragon breath in an attempt to reheat Vespella.

However, Vespera was even more agile than Ravenna. With just a slight turn in mid-air, she not only dodged the dragon's breath but also conjured a scimitar from her blood and slashed fiercely at Grace's neck!

Grace couldn't dodge in time and took the full hit. There was a loud clang, and then—

And then nothing happened.

After all, Grace in her dragon form is much stronger in every aspect than in her human form, with the greatest increase being in her defense!

The body of a genuine red dragon is not only incredibly tough, but also possesses extremely high magic resistance!

Even though Grace couldn't unleash her full power to defend against Zoya, her body's natural defenses remained unaffected!

Therefore, for a high-level spellcaster like Vespella to break through the defense, normal attacks are not enough; they must use their ultimate skill.

Vespera realized this and was about to chant a spell when he saw Grace sweep her tail at him, forcing him to turn around and continue dodging.

Although Grace was large and somewhat clumsy, her claws, tail, and dragon head combined were enough to keep Vespera busy.

For a time, the situation remained deadlocked.

Grace couldn't catch the agile Vespera, but the latter couldn't find an opportunity to fight back or escape.

Just then, Richard looked over.

As a level 6 bard who can't fly, he definitely can't participate in this battle head-on.

But he can still play support without any problem, which is what he does best!

"Hey! You mosquito with the eye patch, I heard you all lived in the sewers when you were kids. It doesn't smell very good there, does it? Or do you just like the rotten smell of secondhand food?"

"Thinking about it, it makes sense. After all, you are essentially lowly creatures that depend on other races, no different from lice in your scalp. It's normal that you like equally vulgar things."

Richard immediately activated his powerful spell feat, unleashing a barrage of vicious words that doubled the damage.

Then, under the same powerful spell, he unleashed two shattering sonic waves—the power of which was insufficient to blast through Grace's dragon scales, but enough to stir up the air currents and make Vespella unsteady on her flight.

Finally, he whistled, sending Vespera a tiny bit of silver light.

Under a series of punches, Vespera didn't lose much health directly, but his dodging movements were inevitably distorted.

Grace seized the opportunity and, with the enhancement from the Silver Light Whisper, unleashed a dragon's breath right in front of him!

"Ughhhh!"

This time, Vespera couldn't dodge it. Its wings, which had just been repaired, were scorched, and its body turned into a fireball as it fell to the ground.

"Aha~"

Grace raised her paw and slapped it again.

Seeing that he was really about to turn into a mosquito, Vespera endured the pain and used his secret technique again, transforming his body into a large swarm of small bats that fled in all directions.

Half a second later, a quarter of the bats were burned to death, a quarter were crushed into mincemeat by Grace, and the remaining two-quarters escaped and reassembled into Vespera.

"Damn it—"

At this moment, Vespera had a vague feeling that he would not be able to leave the world in the painting alive today.

The Empire's speed and power exceeded his expectations.

He didn't even manage to retain a single victory.

This is----

What a disgrace!

Have humans really driven themselves to this point?

I'm sorry, Your Grace, I have failed to live up to your expectations.

As a spirit who had lived for an unknown amount of time, Vespera was long since numb to death. In his view, death was not frightening; it was like a cool summer night, a place for carefree, peaceful sleep.

But he refused to accept the pointlessness of dying.

Since things have come to this point, at least—

At the very least, this poet in front of us should be buried with him!

Vespera turned his head to look at Richard nearby, a fierce glint flashing in his single remaining eye. He then flung out a flying sword made of blood before lunging forward!

Grace quickly warned, "Watch out!"

Richard took a deep breath and, while retreating, unleashed the vortex power of the Flowing Water Rock-Shattering Fist once more.

He had long since discovered that Vespera's move was no different from Ravenna's move back then, so naturally he could control it as well!

Sure enough, under the influence of the vortex's power, the flying swords disintegrated into their original blood as soon as they approached him, then rolled back and attacked Vespera.

"This is outrageous!"

Across from him, Vespera's face finally broke down.

It's bad enough that they ruined his plans, but in the end, they even want to compete with him for the vampire's signature skill of controlling blood?

Are you kidding me!

He felt his dignity had been insulted, roared, focused his mind, and increased his control over his blood.

As a high-ranking vampire, he was much stronger than Richard. When he got serious, he immediately freed the blood from the influence of the vortex power and made it his own again.

Richard, however, smiled slightly, took out his lute, and gently strummed the strings.

In an instant, musical notes leaped, and two gleaming silver flying knives shot out from the floating blood clots, covering less than half a distance, and pierced Vespera's chest!

"what!"

When did you hide there?!

Was the person manipulating this blood just to hide a knife and then ambush me?

Vespera groaned, his body stiffening, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He wanted to say something more to Richard, but there was no time left.

The next second, to avoid hurting Richard, Grace transformed back into human form, landed behind Vespera, and swept her greatsword across, severing his head.

Thus, this notorious vampire count, who had slaughtered countless people within the empire, died in the world of the painting.

Although the sun overhead was an imposter, and its rays weren't scorching, he, like countless predecessors, still turned to ashes under its light.

[Team up with teammates to kill a level 13 vampire count, gain 30 experience points]

[You have accumulated enough experience. Would you like to upgrade your job level?]

[The first Earl Schneider's first duel: Great! That bastard who messed with my body is finally dead, and my illness can finally be cured. Thank you—of course, it would be even better if you hadn't taken the opportunity to demolish my castle—]

You have received a new gift pack.

At the very moment the vampire died, a series of words appeared before Richard's eyes.

The poet relaxed, and with a soft "plop," collapsed onto the lawn, looking up at the azure sky, and chose to upgrade.

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