‘The direct descendants are outstanding.’

Grid was reminded of one person throughout his fight with Earl Cray. It was Elfin Stone, the former owner of Iyarugt. Earl Cray was strong enough to remind him of Elfin Stone. Tiramet and Latina were no comparison. Grid had a question once he remembered Elfin Stone.

‘What if Elfin Stone appeared in the present time?’

Ruby’s one-shot Purification skill couldn’t resolve Blood Field and most of the Overgeared members would be neutralized. Grid wouldn’t have benefited from the instantaneous skills and would’ve lost his immortality.

‘He might’ve even summoned Iyarugt...’

Grid had suffered several crises during the Elfin Stone raid and eventually died. From Grid’s perspective, the Elfin Stone raid was one of the most difficult raids. But now he thought it was fortunate that he met Elfin Stone at an early stage.

Grid broke through the widespread Tornado. The blood tornadoes were a magic that dominated the field itself by overlaying with each other. The field magic that disarmed all ‘avoid non-targeted skills’ was useless in front of the present Grid. Grid’s evasion rate in the Ecstasy of Desire state reached 99%. Grid’s consciousness left his body and evaded all the winds of blood.

But.

[You have suffered 8,700 damage.]

“Kuk.”

After all, 99% wasn’t 100%. Furthermore, the higher Earl Cray’s accuracy rate, the more likely it was for the 99% evasion rate to fall further. Grid’s skin started to tear as he broke through the area of blood tornado. Immediately after avoiding the red tails that became six pillars, his potions cooldown had ended. Otherwise, Grid would’ve died at this moment.

“Transcend!”

His health was so dicey that approaching closely was difficult. Grid judged and entered transcendent mode. It was the Pagma's Sword Dance technique that raised attack power by two times while converting basic attacks to ranged attacks.

Pepeng!

Pepepepeng!

The more powerful Grid started aiming ranged attacks towards Earl Cray beyond the blood tornadoes.

“Youuuu!”

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

The blood tornadoes responded to Earl Cray’s emotions and became wilder. But this momentum didn’t last long. Thanks to the Enlightenment Sword, Grid’s basic attack displayed a power that could kill an army and it wasn’t inferior in the Transcend state. Earl Cray continued to be hit by red flames and black flames and his health soon reached the bottom.

“Keook...!”

Beyond the bloody whirlpool, Earl Cray’s face was white. At the same time, the blood tornadoes’ momentum weakened and Grid didn’t miss this gap. In the end, he used Ecstasy of Desire to reach Earl Cray and fired Pagma's Sword Dance, Pinnacle and Kill.

Shaaaaaah-

The blood tornadoes that had grown to devour a city started to disappear. Earl Cray shed tears of blood as he was stabbed by Grid’s sword.

“Cough! Kuhuk...! I...! To a human, I...!”

“...”

Grid’s face was full of compassion as he stared at Earl Cray, who had started turning to grey. The moment that Earl Cray transformed all six tails into a whirlwind, Grid had interpreted it as manifesting an obvious need for survival. It seemed to be an obstacle disallowing access to Grid and to remove all risk factors to the city. In other words, Earl Cray felt a crisis from the beginning.

Nevertheless, he didn’t ask for help from his brothers. Pride? No, it was probably because they wouldn’t help in the first place.

"How poor...”

People couldn’t live alone in the world. Grid had always been alone, so he knew this fact.

"It’s not because you are weak. I just have companions and you don’t. That’s the difference.”

Was he reminded of himself in the past? Grid gave a meaningless and uncomfortable comfort to Earl Cray. Oh my god, was there anyone other than Grid who would sympathize and comfort a monster at the end? If someone saw this scene, they would be scared or laugh.

"...A human is taking pity on me. You should be caredul of Marquis Fenrir and Duke Marie Rose. Fenrir inherited two powers from Mother and Marie Rose is the second coming of Mother...”

As he stared at Grid with eyes that were losing light, Earl Cray gave him advice. Braham and Elfin Stone, who ignored and degraded Cray, despite being kin. Compared to them, he thought Grid was better. It was the unexpected result of combining the Qualification of a Blood King title and Pangea’s Duke of Virtue title. At the end, Earl Cray felt favorable towards Grid.

Swaaaah!

Eventually, Earl Cray scattered as ashes.

"...Your personality seems to be similar.”

Grid gave a bittersweet smile as he was reminded of Braham.

[Owner of the 9th city, Vampire Earl Cray is forced to sleep after exhausting all his powers.]

[The level of the party members including ‘Grid’ has risen by 1.]

[The level of party members ‘Sexy Schoolgirl’ and ‘Ruby’ have risen by 3.]

[The party leader ‘Grid’ has acquired the Cray’s Bracelet.]

[The party leader ‘Grid’ has acquired the the Finest Opals.]

[The party leader ‘Grid’ has acquired 12 blessed weapon enhancement stones.]

[The party leader ‘Grid’ has acquired 16 blessed armor enhancement stones.]

[Cray’s Strength is engraved on the Rune of Darkness possessed by party leader ‘Grid.’]

[Party member Chris’ ‘Rune of Supplementation’ has been engraved with ‘Direct Descendant Resistance,’ ‘Blood Magic Resistance,’ and ‘Blood-sucking Capabilities.]

“...”

The raid’s difficulty was naturally rewarded. Grid confirmed the rewards and became filled with joy and bitterness. In particular, he noted the power attached to the rune that Chris had recently acquired.

'As the name suggests, it is a rune that compensates for lacking parts?’

It was a rune that would have tremendous value over time. Grid felt proud. He was glad about combining strength with his colleagues and sibling and knocked down one of the strongest. But that joy was brief.

“What...? He isn’t the owner of the 7th city?”

Grid belatedly confirmed it. Earl Cray was the owner of the 9th city, not the 7th city!

“This!”

The Overgeared members, including Grid, fell into shock. They hoped the exit would open when they raided Earl Cray and this unexpected reversal was confusing.

“Wait! Everybody, calm down!” Lauel exclaimed urgently. "All the direct descendants have left this place. We still have time to recover. And just like Earl Cray, the rest of the direct descendants will deal with us on their own without cooperating.”

Yes, it meant there was hope. So what if there were three direct descendants? Each one fought separately. Everyone expected that they could escape the 7th city safely if they defeated the direct descendants individually. But this expectation was broken. Coincidentally, it was due to Grid.

[You have sealed four of the progenitor Beriache’s direct line. The title Qualification of a Blood King has been promoted to ‘Blood King Candidate.’]

[Blood King Candidate] Lv. 1

You have become a candidate to be a blood king.

You will give a sense of pressure to ordinary vampires. All general vampires hostile towards you will have their stats decreased by 15%.

You will give a sense of hostility to true blood vampires. All true blood vampires hostile towards you will have their stats decreased by 8%.

Direct vampires will be interested in you. Any direct vampires facing you will temporally awaken from the Curse of Sloth.

"Ah...?”

Qualification of a Blood King reduced a general vampire’s stats by 10% and a true blood vampire stats increased by 10%. It also had the effect of making the direct descendants interested in him. Thus, Earl Cray liked Grid at the last minute. However, the influence of Blood King Candidate was completely different. It created a vigilance in the direct descendants that caused them to overcome the Curse of Sloth.

"XX, this sucks...”

The moment Grid cursed.

"Cray was defeated?”

Earl Yetima. He was one of the three direct descendants who took a bystander’s attitude throughout the attempt to fight Earl Cray.

“This damn thing!”

The Overgeared members were exhausted in the aftermath of the Earl Cray raid. All types of skills were on cooldown and their stamina was lacking. Given the fact that Earl Yetima was the same rank as Cray, the probability of the Overgeared members’ survival was 0%.

Huroi came forward.

“Your Majesty! I will buy time so take the others away!”

Always, always. Huroi sacrificed himself every time there was a crisis in order to guard Grid.

Grid looked at him and pledged. He wouldn’t sacrifice his colleagues again. In order to do that, he had to be stronger.

"Huroi, it’s my job to protect you from now on.”

Step.

Grid took a big step in front of Huroi. His fighting energy was still at 100 points so he pulled out the trump card he had been saving.

Hwaruruk.

Grid’s body was surrounded by flames. It was from head to toe. The red flickering covered Grid’s eyebrows and hair. Belial’s Power, the power of fire was opened.

"I’m certain. You’re weaker than Cray. Isn't that right?"

Cray had said that he was a marquis candidate. He had warned Grid to be careful of Fenrir and Marie Rose before he died. On the other hand, he didn’t even mention the remaining three direct descendants. It was clear that Yetima was weaker than Cray.

"Kukuk, what does a human known? Even if I’m weaker than Cray, what can you do now?”

Yetima noted that Grid’s body was injured. He was like an intense flame in front of the wind. At that moment.

Peeng!

Grid flew up. He was like a comet.

“Item Transformation!”

Paaaat!

The hands behind Grid transformed into Raphael's Spear.

“Trivial humans!”

In the sky, Yetima pulled out a greatsword. Yetima aimed an overwhelming horizontal slash towards Grid. He believed that the human was injured and attacked Grid without fending off his strike. It was to tear flesh off bones. This was the first step.

“Linked Kill!”

The Power of Fire boasted overwhelming resilience, so Grid had already regained a considerable amount of health.

Puok!

Puk puk!

[You have dealt 539,000 damage to the target!]

[You have recovered 100% of the damage deal to the target due to the effect of Cray’s Power, attached to the Rune of Darkness.]

[Cray’s Power]

Passive.

Cooldown Time: 5 minutes.

Absorb 100% of the damage done to the target. Once the blood volume exceeds the maximum health, a red tail will be summoned with a duration that is proportional to the amount of health exceeded. You can have up to two red tails and can’t control them.

In addition, Grid had a new power. It was a mighty force that couldn’t be met by Yetima, who was less than Earl Cray.

“Kuk...! What?”

The moment Earl Yetima was struck by Grid’s Linked Kill. Unlike his expectations, Grid didn’t die. Then Earl Yetima found two red tails behind Grid and was shocked again.

‘Stupid Cray! Your power was absorbed by an inferior human!’

Teteng!

It was a matter of being conscious of Earl Cray’s strength. Yetima defended against the red tails with the greatsword, but couldn’t defend against the four Raphael's Spear that came after him. It was the second cause of his defeat.

Puk!

Puuok!

“Keok!”

The deadly power of one of Rebecca’s three divine artefacts. Yetima flinched as he was skewered by four spears. Grid whispered to him.

“Small fry.”

Hwaruruk!

Gigantic spheres of fire rose before Yetima’s body. It was Queen’s Flames of Hell which dealt damage proportional to the target’s health.

Puaaaaaaaah!

The explosion shook the ground. Then it was followed up with Pagma's Sword Dance. Due to the influence of the power of fire, the flames that repeatedly came from Enlightenment Sword struck Yetima. He was also assisted by Jishuka, who boasted infinite stamina thanks to the Red Phoenix Bow. The other Overgeared members also started to join the battle.

On the other hand, Yetima was alone. It was the third cause of his defeat.

After a while.

[The owner of the 7th city, Vampire Earl Yetima is forced to sleep after exhausting all of his powers.]

The entrance to the 7th city, where the Overgeared members were trapped, was opened.