Victor launched flames directly at the monster's face, to which the Vampire simply tanked the attack, while everyone ran from behind the boulder.
Firing for a few seconds, Victor stopped to see how badly burnt the naked creature was....
"Hurts, doesn't it?"
To Victor's shock, not a single scratch was made to the creature's face.
"What!?" Victor was shocked. "I'll heat it up for ya then!"
The orange flames engulfed his fists, and then gradually, the temperature around everyone rapidly increased, with his flames turning blue as a result.
Victor ordered, "Everyone, prepare to kill em all!"
The naked Vampire sat on the boulder and watched as the four humans charged him. "This is stupid," he sighed, starting to pick his nose.
As Victor launched blue flames towards the Vampire, he yelled, "Use magic or something! Put on some darn pants!"
The Vampire, with one hand picking his nose, used the other to slap the blue flame away like a mosquito. The flame caught on to some nearby grass, causing the flames to spread to the forest rapidly.
"Oooops! Look at what you made me did." the Vampire sighed, sounding concerned about nature.
Seeing his blue flames being slapped away shook Victor even worse than before, but he did not waver.
"Hmm, the stories about these guys aren't exaggerated."
Oda blurted, "Now's not the time to be impressed, dip shit!"
The Vampire slowly gazes at each human, with his curiosity piqued. When his eyes landed on Ericka, his cheeks blushed for a bit. He had just realized that a girl was amongst the humans.
"Man, how did I miss her?"
The vampire found the decency of magically spawning pants into reality before him.
"Apologies, miss. Didn't mean to scare you..."
Ericka leaped towards the Vampire, who was in the middle of putting on his pants.
"Herches's Twin Blades Act II: Thrust Through Hell!"
Pointing both blades towards the Vampire, while leaping at her highest possible speed she could muster, faster than the naked eye, she thrust both blades into the Vampire's throat and chest simultaneously.
The fire showed no effect, but Ericka's swords seemed to have caused damage.
"Ouch... that hurt," the vampire groaned, now zipping his pants.
Since the girl was right in front of him, with swords in hand, it was only natural to decide, "Ladies first, I guess."
THUD!
The vampire sent a brutal blow to Ericka's face, causing her neck to snap. Oda just barely made it in time to tap her body with his glowing fist in an instinctive attempt to save her life.
"Did I make it?" Oda wondered, panicking. He moved by pure instincts, long before the Vampire swung his fist.
It was that decision that gave Ericka a chance to survive .
Thanks to Oda, Ericka's body was now overflowing with life energy. "Thank you, Oda. I owe you one."
She twisted her neck back to normal, facing the enemy in front of her. She tried taking her sword out of the vampire's body, but they were not budging.
The vampire tenses his body to the point, veins all over start showing.
"Damn it" Ericka had no choice but to retreat and leave her blades.
The vampire looked intensely at the girl, who should have been dead. "Hmm, temporary immortality... that's something I don't normally see every day."
He applauded, then proceeded to use his left thumb to point at the other three vampires who were still leisurely soaking themselves in the hot spring.
"I have a proposition. Seeing that you guys can't kill us, and we can't kill you...or rather it'd require too much effort to kill you. How about we pretend not to see each other? You walk away, and we continue to enjoy our day off."
"Oh, you humans tend to have names just like us, don't you? Speak them, I'm curious...you sure are pretty young from what I can tell... and yet I sense untapped potential deep within. Really scary stuff."
Neither Victor nor the others indulged in the Vampires' attempt to converse.
Victor engulfed his fists with blue flames again, preparing for round two.
"I understand. You can't really trust a person you don't know the name of, right? That's okay, My name is Vladmir Gates. My friends over there are my elder brothers."
"Sadly, I cannot reveal their names to you. Mine alone should suffice."
Hearing the term "Elder Brother" quickly caused Oda to shiver. He understood the implications of that. The other three in the hot springs were most likely more powerful than the one sitting on top of the boulder.
"Let's take him up on his offer!" Oda proposed to everyone.
Ericka strongly declined, "Backing away from the enemy! I was wrong about you, Oda. You are a fool!"
Utar added, "A pretty logical fool then...because this time I agree with him. You don't have your weapon anymore Ericka, and Victor's flames doesn't seem to work."
"And? What about your skill, Utar? Use it," Ericka reminded him.
Overhearing their conversation, the Vampire Vladmir became intrigued by what Ericka meant.
"There's another impressive skill I don't know about...this party is just brimming with humanity's gem, isn't it?"
"Don't you think it would be a waste if your kind's last hope were to be completely wiped out? Hmm, no, humans are not that stupid. I bet there are more of you out there, with the same potential as you folks."
"Yep...they simply sent you lot in here to test how far your level or power can go...am I right?"
There was a person who matched Vladmir's description to the letter. Oda's mind flashed to him for just a second, Isaac Yoh.
"If we all die here, I can find some solace knowing he wasn't here with us." Oda thought to himself.
Every word uttered by Vladmir, ticked Victor off in some way. "Ain't no way I'm leaving this bastard alive, or at least in one piece!"
"Utar! I'll back you up, take the center stage."
Utar nodded, showing no shred of hesitation. Oda responded promptly by slapping the other two, giving them another temporary immortality effect. Utar charged towards the vampire and struck once, to the chest.
A plain and simple punch.
Vladmir was thoroughly disappointed, he sighed upon getting hit.
"That's it? I was expecting something more absurd than this."
With a team consisting of immortality and blue flames, this was the last thing Vladmir could have guessed.
Not a second later, the vampire coughed up blood.
Coughs! Coughs!
The creature started coughing uncontrollably, as blood spilled from his mouth.
The punch that looked weak was surprisingly the most fatal attack so far.
Utar Grace, a commoner forced to live in the most difficult of circumstances growing up. Amid poverty, he went through numerous fights without ever losing once in his entire life.
His ability bypassed stats altogether. Every strike he lands is a critical strike.
What's more frightening was his enhanced senses made it easy to predict close combat attacks, long ranged aims, and find weak spots of most creatures by merely observing them for a short period.
"I already figured it out. Attacks that target the internal are effective against you vampires, but then again, you can regenerate so... a normal internal strike won't be enough." Utar said confidently in his assessment.
Vladmir showed no reaction to those words, "That's it?"
Utar smirked, uttering the most vital piece of his gatherings. "You guys don't have hearts....shall I go on?"
"Hahaha, guess you are the real deal then," Vladmir chuckled, now he was impressed.
"Way to go Utar, I'll begin targeting the internal organs starting now." Victor praised him.
Ericka, on the other hand, was frustrated after seeing her swords falling on the other side of that boulder. She would not dare get too close to the other three vampires leisurely in the hot water, so she decided to keep her distance for now.
Though her immortality was active, she still relied on her instincts most of all, and it was telling her to stay away.
Utar threw a barrage of punches at Vladmir, followed up by Victor appearing beside him and forcing his hand in the Vampire's mouth that was ready to cough out more blood.
"This is disgusting but..." Victor paused to hear Vladmir's scream.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
"But it was worth it." Victor smiled.
He burned the vampire inside out, causing the fire to begin burning outwards as well. Vladmir fell off the boulder, screaming in agony, as he rolled and tussled against the floor.
At this point, the entire forest was ablaze, and the other three vampires decided to show interest in what was happening.
Instantly, they teleported from out of the water and stood beside their burning brethren.
"Hmm, I wasn't expecting this," one of them said, genuinely surprised.
"Blue flames? I've never seen it before....can it be extinguished?" one vampire asked the other.
"Let's try." The naked vampire in the center snapped his fingers, just as Victor would have, and the flames were dispelled instantly, as if it was never there.
"What?"
"Oh hush, don't you know the process of magic, my dear child?" asked the vampire in the center. His long purple hair, cold red eyes behind his reading glasses stared intently at the humans.
"My name is Charles Gates. In case you never learned this, the formula to perform any sort of magic is basically mana equations."
"Whether it's mana infused into your life force."
"Or a weapon."
"Or even your imagination."
"As long as the process gets reversed, what do you think will happen?"
.....
No one dared to answer. They were too scared of the implication.
"Oh, no mathematician in the house? Bummer."
Charles sighed, "It will result in undoing any spell that was casted. It's easy to do."
Charles swung his hair back, for his cold red eyes to be clearly seen.
"This means, that.."
POP!
Blood splattered between Utar and Ericka.
Oda's body popped like a balloon right before their very eyes.
"ODA!" Victor, Ericka and Utar all shouted in unison.
Yes, the immortality spell was still active when attacked, but after hearing Charles' words, they knew it meant nothing.
"Your friend's immortality spell is magic, and thus, I can undo its effects. Pretty elementary."
Vladimir stood up, his body slowly regenerating from the burns he took and blows he received from Utar.
"These folks, they're dangerous."
"Please, it's your fault for playing with your food," Charles said.
The other two vampires jumped on top of the boulder with the same lazy expression as Vladmir and Charles.
"Aww jeez, this is our day off for crying out loud. We don't like using magic on days like these."
"No kidding, such a drag."
Blinded by rage, Victor covered his entire body in blue flames and charged at the four vampires ahead. Ericka and Utar shouted from behind, begging him to stop his advance.
"STOP!"
"Victor! No, don't go!"
As Victor got closer, the flames around him withered away before he reached close to Charles. Charles leaned forward and flicked his finger to the guy's forehead, sending him flying far away.
Several kilometers away, by their estimate.
"Two down, two more to go." Charles yawned.
Vladmir stopped him, "I'll take the rest. I have been rather hungry lately..."
Charles replied, "Hmm, I'm following your chain of thought. Do you think we should save one of them for livestock? We could keep it a secret. Normal human blood won't taste as wonderful as theirs, based on their performance against you."
"And that's why I was hesitant to kill any, but you just had to go and kill 2," Vladmir sighed.
"Well, excuse me for saving you," Charles replied, annoyed.
Utar pushed Ericka away, "Runaway Ericka!"
"Huh? Come with me!" Ericka shouted back, her legs trembling.
Even if she wanted to move, she doubted she could. Four vampires with all eyes on them. It was a pressure she had never witnessed or felt before.
It dawned on everyone that coming to floor 79, no journeying passed their original goal of the 30th floor was a huge mistake.
The result of their actions, succumbing to their egos and instincts for a challenge, led to this outcome.
"I'm sorry for this...." Utar whispered. After seeing Ericka frozen like a statue, Utar was forced to land a harsh strike to her right cheek, causing her to move. "Get out of here damn it! We can't have all of us die here!"
"We're the War Potentials! Humanity's greatest weapons! We....We mustn't be wiped out!"
"Ericka I-" Utar's words were cut off as his head fell off his body. The white haired vampire, with only one fang on top of the boulder, puked in disgust.
"Yuck! That man's voice was so gross! I just had to end it..."
"Damn it Damian, you too," Vladmir complained.
"What of it? We still have the girl to feast on, don't we?" Damian defended his decision.
As the sole survivor, Ericka used all her strength to force her legs to move. All while tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
"Victor...Oda....Utar...." she mourned their names.
One by one, each of them suddenly left her life without warning. The people she thought she would live to see the peak floors with were now dead.
She began to take off, running as fast as she possibly could, but as she ran, it felt like it was not for survival but the dream of reaching the top.
The further she ran, the more impossible it felt to keep that dream alive. It was more than just fear, it was a reality check, one that struck her mercilessly.
"It is impossible...isn't it?"
Yes, she was coming to this realization.
"I'm sure there are more of these vampires out there...perhaps even stronger than the ones here."
"On higher floors, humans have yet to explore."
"I bet there are even monsters that outclass vampires." These despairing thoughts continued to cloud Ericka's mind as she ran.
"It's all meaningless, if not even us.... could..."
Yes, everything was meaningless.
The explorations, the hope, the training, the dreams.... Ericka was certain of it now more than ever.
"Humanity was on borrowed time."
Suddenly, a memory flashed before her eyes—the reason as to why she needed to reach the top.
Ericka reigned from a prestigious family, one that required perfection from a young age.
The Magic Family, Hersches Familia.
She was to be raised to become the future Family Head, a position that held no form of action or combat assigned with it.
However, deep down, Ericka yearned to become a swordswoman.
She yearned to be a fighter, to be one of the strongest there ever was.
It was a trait she could not help. She was born with it, molded by it to the point of no return.
The life of a normal girl had never crossed her mind once.
It was Victor's dream of reaching the top that paved the way for her that faithful evening.
When she ran away from home, and he invited her to join him on his quest,
"To Reach The Top!"
Thanks to Victor, Ericka lived the life of a swordswoman instead of the one set out for her since birth. She managed to gain the freedom she needed. Even now, in her last moments, there was still a lingering freedom she cherished, which would never happen if she continued her mondain puppetry life.
"If I don't stop now, I..."
"I won't ever return here."
Ericka would have to live her whole life knowing she failed miserably at her life's goal. Even if she managed to traverse the higher floors in the future, it would not be with her friends.
"I can't run!" to Ericka, running felt like dishonoring her friends that died. She would much rather die with them than be the sole survivor.
Ericka decided to stop running.
Thanks to Oda's contact with her life energy throughout the years, Ericka has steadily been getting used to accessing her energy at will. And with it, she raised her hands high into the air, and formed two wind blades made from pure energy output.
Charles saw that from a distance and clapped, impressed by the feat she just performed.
"So, this one can manipulate life energy directly without using mana as an accessor."
"Futile effort. I can still reverse that technique."
Vladmir stopped Charles' gesture before he canceled the girl's technique.
"This is her last stand, Charles. Give her this chance."
"Hmph! Suit yourself, if you die, your body will be left here."
Vladmir charged towards the girl, and Ericka charged back, not running away from the confrontation.
CLASH!
Ericka's twin blades snapped in two as they swung against the Vampire's neck.
It was brief, but the man's neck hardened to a yellow substance she had never seen before.
"That's it then."
The clash ended with Vladmir's raw speed overpowering Ericka's blades, knocking her to the floor, landing harshly on her head.
She fell unconscious immediately.
Vladmir picked her up, wiping the drool from his face.
"I can't wait to see how she tastes, she smells really good."
Charles sighed, "What should we do with her after getting our fill?"
"Hehehe, that depends entirely on her."
......
By midnight, Adventurers were beginning to panic. Omarus especially began to worry.
"I saw those kids earlier. They looked fine. What sort of trouble could those prodigies have at the 50th floor?" he wondered.
That's when the thought hit him, "What if those brats didn't stop at the 50th?"
Omarus, already being at the adventurer's guild, filed a report and initiated a quest to search for Victor's party, at the brink of dawn. Seasoned adventurers know not to enter the spiral at night, so they won't dare.
Not unless they are sure they could withstand vampires.
On this day, whatever hope humanity still clung to was dragged through the mud and buried beneath despair.