Darius was not surprised by this, as the vampire was stated to have an aura that charmed weak-minded monsters and animals, so that they would free it from its bindings.
Darius and Gunner had discovered it in the first place because a Single-headed Ogre had tried to bash the boulder in.
Xela frowned as she got close. "I sense a despicable aura of evil and malice nearby."
Darius and Gunner shared a look. "Well, we kinda sense a familiar feeling…"
Xela was confused by this until she thought of the two vampires Darius had raised. If it felt familiar to them, then it stood to reason that the one sealed inside would at least be a Pureblood Vampire.
"Well, let's head in shall we?" Darius prompted as he nodded to Gunner, who lazily knocked the boulder aside with his fist. It jumped and rolled some distance away, shaking the ground as it did so.
The trio entered the short passageway that led to the small, polished cave where the coffin still lay on a stone table. The coffin hadn't changed much, only that the dark aura from it had gotten slightly stronger.
Obviously, as was the case with all seals, it had likely gotten weaker over time. When before only a single ogre had been summoned to this place, over time hundreds of different species had died in front of the cave in futility.
Darius Analyzed the coffin just as he did last time.
[Coffin of Lord Darm - Event
Durability: 1,000,000/1,000,000
Description: The sealing ground of the evil vampire Lord Darm. This cave has been abandoned by humans and monsters alike for many decades. Do not stay too long around the coffin, otherwise the residual spirit of its owner might influence you to unseal him by any means necessary.
Event details: Awaken Lord Darm and survive his onslaught of minions as well as his own assault.
Event rewards:
- If all undead minions are killed: 10 Ability Points, 5 Skill Points.
- If all vampire minions are killed: 30 Ability Points, 15 Skill Points.
- If Lord Darm is defeated: 50 Ability Points, 25 Skill Points, and the hatred of the Darm Vampire Clan.
- if Lord Darm is killed (true death): 100 Ability Points and 50 Skill Points, the 'Vampire Slayer' title and immunity from the Darm Vampire Clan's retaliation.]
Darius' eyes narrowed. This was just the second Event he had encountered, but it made him aware that the previous 'Thor's Hammer' Event had basically been a freebie, something that had involved little stress for big rewards. However, this matter concerning Lord Darm would not be anywhere near as simple.
Darius had the confidence to beat the undead and vampire minions, as long as none of them were at the Master stage.
However, Lord Darm himself was the real problem. If he was a Pureblood Vampire like Mikey and Joneson - which was likely since he was called 'Lord' - then it was entirely possible for him to be Adept or even at the Master stage.
Even the best-case scenario was truly terrifying. If one thought back, Mikey and Joneson had already possessed stats at the Master stage back when they were early Adepts.
But if Lord Darm was a genuine Master stage foe... just what would his stats be like?!
Was it even possible to kill him?
This might be why the Event had separated his segment into two, defeat and destroy. Defeating just involved weakening him until he could fight no more, or even managing to reseal him.
Killing though, required ending his life in a way that he could never be brought back. With the various methods that existed in Faust, especially for tenacious undead, the only way was to use the Light or Healing element, especially the latter.
Darius had discovered that the reason why the undead from the Plains of Death had fled in horror after he had killed one of them with his Heal spell was because the spell had utterly destroyed them with no hope of reincarnation.
It was fine to 'die' as an undead, as they could either return to their master, if he was powerful enough to be recreated, or drift away to the wheel of reincarnation to be reborn once more.
With Darius' Heal, neither option would be achievable any longer, which – quite ironically – would guarantee them a fate worse than (un)death.
Still, Darius had the feeling that his basic Heal spell, albeit at level 16, would not be enough to fight back against this vampire should his speculations be correct. As such, he needed to ensure that they would come out on top by fortifying their chances.
Darius nodded to Gunner. He then took out hundreds of Purification Potions and poured them around the cave. An interesting consequence of this was that the coffin in the middle began to shake and tremble, revealing that something wanted to come out and stop them.
However, Darius didn't stop there, he took more of those light-based potions and poured them right on the coffin, soaking it entirely. At this point, the shaking became so bad that it seemed that it would fall off and roll on the ground.
The trio could hear groans of agony from within, a baritone voice that was enchanting likely belonging to the sealed vampire lord.
Even though he had been splashed with such a hateful liquid, he still couldn't break the coffin's seal by himself, as it had rather become slightly stronger while he had become weaker.
Darius saw this and nodded. "We'll set up camp outside. We'll make some more meaningful preparations before releasing his seal. This should be enough to keep him in for a good while."
The trio left the cave, ignoring the pained groans of the vampire lord, who was rolling about in his wooden confines while suffering pain like never before. Even the person who sealed him had not been cruel enough to torture him like this, leaving a smattering of hatred and fear in the unawakened vampire's heart.
Currently, his eyes were closed and the majority of his mind was still forced into passivity, yet he could still muster some low-level awareness, enough to make such thoughts and realizations.
As for his retribution... he could only swallow his indignation since his senses could not leave the coffin. He had no idea who or what had just performed this vile act upon his noble person.
