After about 6 weeks of time in their little abode, Darius finally packed everything up. He showered and had one last meal with Gunner and Xela, before Darius packed the Portable Housing back into his Inventory.
Since they were still in the clearing before the cave, their target was just a stone's throw away. Around the clearing were new corpses of various monsters and beasts that had been lured in by the desperate Darm, all laying around while rotting.
As for the undead Darius had created, their number had gone down from 250 to 245 over this period of time, 5 of them perishing to ambushes, sneak attacks, or just mere carelessness.
Their corpses had turned to dust and their souls had returned to whence they came, be it Heaven or Hell. This was Darius' way of making sure that if he revived a target once, it could never be brought back again, free to enjoy - or suffer - eternal slumber.
As for the new corpses, Darius brought the toughest looking ones back to life with 6 casts, adding about 28 monsters and beasts to his current fold.
He nodded to Gunner and Xela, then entered the cave in a single file.
As for the undead, Darius made them wait outside, for their use had not come yet. Additionally, after weeks of pouring volumes of Purification Potions on poor Darm, the entire cave was soaked in it.
This had created some life in the cave, with white-colored grass growing like a carpet.
Light, Earth, and Life element were three elements on the same side of the coin, while opposed by the Darkness, Wind, and Death elements respectively.
The place looked fresher and much more lively, making Darius smile softly. He gazed at Darm's coffin and winced. The entire thing that had glowed with malice and Death Energy the first time they had entered, now shone with the radiance of light and holiness.
Xela and Darius were speechless while Gunner shrugged. It seemed that after so much time, even Darm's bed could now be considered a holy object.
Just… what kind of torment had the undead gone through?
Pouring Purification Potions on him was hardly any different from throwing hydrochloric acid on any person. That kind of pain, having your skin and flesh eaten away, was not something just anyone could bear.
"Open it." Darius nodded to Gunner.
The large lad walked over and placed his hand on the lid. Just before he put any energy to lift it up, the trio received the same notification from the Supreme System.
[Note: By removing the lid, the Event will automatically begin and cannot be canceled!]
Gunner ignored it and continued pushing it open. Now that they were here and had made so many preparations, what was the point of warning them?
The lid came off smoothly, and the body within revealed itself to the trio. It was a supremely handsome middle-aged man with short blonde hair, a hooked nose, and pinkish lips.
His fair - almost pale - skin was fresher than that of a newborn baby, and he wore red-colored noble's livery. Gunner slowly stepped back from the coffin once a prompt appeared before the trio.
[The Event 'Coffin of Lord Darm' has begun!]
The next moment, the eyes of the Vampire Lord snapped open, exposing two blood-red pupils that glowed with power. From his laying position, he lifted his upper body and gazed at himself.
After doing so for a second, he turned to take in the sight of Darius and co. He then spoke in that baritone of his.
"Are you the ones who- AARGGH!"
Darius cut him off mid-question by testing his new Convert Vampire spell.
[Convert Vampire - Level 1 Skill
Grade: Intermediate
Cost: 50 MP
Description: Infuse a vampire of any grade with pure Life Energy that bears the special property of converting Death Energy to itself on contact. This deals 250% life damage.
Note: this spell can only be used with the Supreme System.]
A single cast took about 5% of Darius' total MP at this stage, but the effect was unbelievable. However, after factoring in Darius' various passive skills, elemental bonus, and critical hit as well as equipment boosts, the final damage was a crazy 13,500!
This should be enough to vanquish any weak Master, but when Darius Analyzed Lord Darm…
[Detected target is of an Enemy affiliation. Displaying details accordingly.]
[Name: Lord Darm
Race: Undead
Class: Vampire Lord
Subclass: Hemomancer
HP: 40,575/40,710 (189,750/189,750)
MP: 9,090/9,090 (38,760/38,760)
STA: 10,350/10,350 (41,800/41,800)
Level: 45 (76)
Strength: 177 (345)
Agility: 189 (410)
Endurance: 230 (550)
Intellect: 202 (510)
Charisma: 105 (200)
Luck: -3 (0)
Abilities: Raise Dead, Summon Undead, Restore Undead, Reclaim, Promote, Create Initiate, Create Half-blood, Summon Thralls, Create Blood Warriors, Upgrade Blood Warriors, Blood Drain, Blood Manipulation, Blood Blades, etc
Traits: Magic Resistance, Blood Ward, Perfect Dominate, Sword Mastery.
Weapons: Magic and Sword.]
Darius almost hyperventilated, and upon sharing it with Gunner and Xela, both their faces paled greatly. The sheer power of the Vampire Lord was beyond their understanding, and it was clear that drowning him in Purification Potions had been effective.
Looking at his original stats in the brackets, Darius was thankful he had decided to spent time preparing, otherwise they certainly would have quickly perished at the hands of such a powerhouse.
Clearly, this wasn't an Event they were meant to clear any time soon. It wouldn't surprise him if it had been yet another one of Caesar's traps. At best, their group could have handled the first two objectives before fleeing.
Even defeating Darm would be an uphill task, much less killing him. Even though Darm's current stats were quite horrific in comparison, the power Darius and his two Branded Servants - as well as their skills - wielded was enough to deal with this weakened Vampire Lord.
However, Darius' face became black when his trump card, the powerful Convert Vampire spell, had only done 1% of its total damage!
This could only mean that Lord Darm had a whopping 100 points in Resistance overall!
