Chapter 32

Vampire Lord.

A AA-class monster of the vampire type, possessing the ability to increase its power by drinking the blood of its enemies and turning those whose blood it has absorbed into its servants.

This creature, so powerful that it could be designated as a disaster, was one of the most challenging monsters in his previous life.

However, to one person alone—Yushinyun, to be precise—it was merely a tiresome prey that he had hunted countless times during his hunter career, to the point where he had grown thoroughly tired of it.

Due to the nature of the vampire's blood-sucking skill, which had no effect on Yushinyun's undead summons, he had almost exclusively taken on the task of eliminating requests for this monster.

Thanks to his numerous experiences, Yushinyun quickly realized that Guo Zhushan was using the exact same power.

Yet, despite his experience, he found it hard to accept this fact.

The reason was simple.

In his previous life, no one had ever succeeded in using a monster's power.

Moreover, research into obtaining a monster's power was a strictly forbidden area.

Mutation, rampage, infection, and massive explosions.

Every attempt to harness a monster's power had always resulted in catastrophic damage to the world.

And the citizens, who lived ordinary lives, had to bear the full brunt of this damage.

He knew this all too well.

"Run, Taeha! 'Those things' are no longer the brother, sister, and others you knew."

"Director!"

"Run while I can still hold them off! Hurry!"

He frowned.

The terrible memories he had barely managed to forget resurfaced.

At that moment, he confirmed that Guo Zhushan was using 'corrupted mana,' a form of mana that humans could never use, with such natural ease.

Corrupted mana is the raw form of mana that only monsters can use.

Humans cannot use it without refining it into positive and negative mana, due to its side effect of causing fatal madness.

However, despite using corrupted mana, Guo Zhushan clearly had a mind.

Yushinyun had no choice but to acknowledge it.

Guo Zhushan had entered the realm of the non-human.

Yushinyun's gaze, fixed on Guo Zhushan, was as cold as the ice of the North Sea.

If he spoke carelessly, he would cut his throat immediately.

However, Guo Zhushan, not the least bit frightened, glared with bloodshot eyes.

Then, he spat out a mouthful of blood and spoke.

"What... do you mean? This... is the power of the Demon God. After a thousand years of waiting, the... great one has descended... upon our Blood Sect!"

Blood Sect.

This was the moment when the name of the mysterious group that had targeted Baiyun Escort Agency was revealed.

Yushinyun's eyes sparkled.

'It wasn't the Demon Sect?'

Until now, he had assumed that the 'sect' referred to the Demon Sect, which he believed was based in Tianshan. But a different name was revealed.

However, he did not easily believe it.

'Let's not jump to conclusions. Even this could be a lie.'

He continued to gather clues from Guo Zhushan's words.

From the phrase 'a thousand years of waiting,' he realized that the Blood Sect was a secretive organization that had been secretly amassing power for a very long time.

From the phrase 'the descent of the Demon God,' he inferred that they followed an absolute being.

He needed more information.

But when he looked at Guo Zhushan again, he was breathing heavily and had clamped his mouth shut, refusing to speak.

Seeing this, Yushinyun smiled coldly.

Forcing someone to speak against their will was one of his specialties.

'Let's see how long you can hold out.'

Step by step.

He approached Guo Zhushan, who was writhing like a worm.

'Since I don't know what kind of nonsense he might do, let's start with some safety measures.'

Crack! Bang!

A sound like a drum exploding echoed loudly.

"Ahhh!"

Simultaneously, Guo Zhushan let out a terrible scream.

Yushinyun had kicked his dantian with all his strength.

With his source of power, the dantian, destroyed in an unprotected state, Guo Zhushan was overwhelmed by indescribable pain.

The corruption of his body by the corrupted mana accelerated rapidly.

'Just... kill me.'

The pain was so intense that death seemed preferable.

Despite this, Yushinyun showed no emotional disturbance as he watched Guo Zhushan struggle.

'Sympathy for trash is a luxury.'

Guo Zhushan must have performed countless rituals to use a monster's power, and the bodies he saw earlier were likely the victims of those rituals.

In other words, Guo Zhushan was nothing more than trash who had sacrificed the lives of countless innocent people to activate the ritual.

"Gasp!"

Yushinyun's hand moved like a snake, grabbing Guo Zhushan by the throat and lifting him up.

At that moment.

'What is this?'

For some reason, a look of doubt appeared on Yushinyun's face.

Although he could not see any particular abnormalities from the outside, when he touched him, the texture of Guo Zhushan's skin felt strange.

There was a peculiar texture, as if something had been added to the skin at the junction of the jaw and neck.

'I'll check it out.'

Rip!

A layer of artificially attached skin was torn off.

As Guo Zhushan's mask was ripped away.

"..."

A terrifying face, severely burned as if it had been scorched by fire, was revealed.

Guo Zhushan had never existed in this world from the beginning.

"Gasp!"

Yushinyun suddenly gasped.

Thud.

Guo Zhushan, freed from his grip, fell to the ground.

His head ached as if it were about to split.

It was a familiar pain.

'...This!'

The moment he saw Guo Zhushan's hidden true face, the memories of the original body, Yushinyun, resurfaced.

In a space shrouded in pitch-black darkness, flames began to rise, illuminating the surroundings.

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the broken fragments of a coffin scattered on the ground.

He was lying on a platform he had never seen before, bound by restraints.

Trying to scream from the intense cold piercing his body, but no sound came out of his mouth.

As if his mouth had been sewn shut.

"Ha, Ha, Young Master Yi, it's been a while."

Then, a man's voice echoed.

A voice he knew all too well, but the person who revealed himself was a monster with severe burn marks on his face.

As he began to struggle on the platform, the owner of the voice, Guo Zhushan, smiled menacingly.

"You were just a worthless piece of trash with no talent before you died and were buried, but when I took you out of the coffin, such extraordinary talent emerged. Who would have known?"

Confused by the monster's incomprehensible words, he finally looked down at his own naked body.

His body, devoid of the vitality of life, had turned a bluish color.

"Ha, Ha! Rejoice. You are now the one and only *** reborn to become a cornerstone of the Blood Sect's grand plan!"

Ding. Ding.

The sound of the monster's bells made his consciousness gradually blur, as if enveloped in a fog.

And.

"Gasping, panting."

Yushinyun returned to reality.

He staggered in place.

'Gasp!'

The most severe aftereffects of the memory regeneration he had experienced so far were pouring out.

It felt as if he was reliving the shock the original body had felt.

Slowly regaining his breath, Yushinyun calmed his mind.

He quickly synthesized the new clues he had obtained.

The monster had clearly said he had buried and then exhumed the dead body.

When he saw the remains of the broken coffin, it seemed to confirm this.

But he had clearly woken up before being buried, at the funeral, hadn't he?

The timing didn't match.

'...As I thought.'

His suspicions, which he had vaguely guessed from the hallucination at Jinmihu, were becoming clearer.

The original Yushinyun, who had not reincarnated, had also had a 'life' after death.

And the future memories that seemed like hallucinations were the memories of that life after death.

At that moment, Yushinyun lifted Guo Zhushan, who had fallen to the ground.

"Gasp!"

"Tell me everything about the Blood Sect."

The intense killing intent from Yushinyun made Guo Zhushan feel the fear of death.

"That, that's—"

Just as Guo Zhushan was about to speak.

"Ah, Ah!"

He suddenly began to scream.

Boom!

Boom!

The corrupted mana inside Guo Zhushan's body was raging out of control.

'Oh no!'

Yushinyun immediately understood what was happening.

A mental seal placed on Guo Zhushan by someone else was causing a mental breakdown.

Whoosh!

Yushinyun quickly infused his energy to try to stop the mental breakdown.

'Damn!'

It was too late.

The mental seal was too powerful.

It was at a level similar to the one he had reached in his previous life.

'There are people in this world with this level of power?'

As he was bewildered by this.

"Grunt, Grunt."

Guo Zhushan's body, convulsing, finally stopped moving.

His brain had completely melted.

Yushinyun's pupils were filled with numerous system messages as he watched the terrifying end.

[Monster, 'Vampire Lord' has been defeated.]

[Obtained 'Mana Stone' as a reward.]

[Experience has reached the maximum.]

[Level has increased.]

[Reached Level 35.]

[Skill, 'Commanding' has reached A rank.]

[Additional proficiency gained in all commanding-related skills.]

[Skill, 'Skeleton Mastery' proficiency has reached the maximum.]

[Skill, 'Skeleton Mastery' rank has become A.]

[The number of summonable subordinates has increased to 22 due to rank increase.]

[All skeletons' stats have increased due to A rank achievement.]

[New summon added to your subordinates.]

[New skill, 'Ghost Horse Mastery (A+)' has been unlocked.]

[New skill, 'Ghoul Mastery (B+)' has been unlocked.]

[New skill, 'Memory Manipulation (A+)' has been unlocked.]

[New skill, 'Mental Projection (A+)' has been unlocked.]

[New skill, 'Portable Dimension (A+)' has been unlocked.]

[Obtained artifact, '***'s Vampire Sword' as a first kill reward.]

[Artifact '***'s Vampire Sword' is not compatible with the world line and has been rejected. Reward item automatically changed.]

[Obtained treasure, 'Rongduo Jian (融毒鎌)' as a substitute reward.]

[Obtained title, 'Bat Lord' as a first kill reward.]

Surprisingly, the system treated Guo Zhushan as a 'monster' rather than a human.

Therefore, like when he defeated a monster from the gate in his previous life, numerous valuable rewards fell to him.

However, despite this, Yushinyun's expression remained cold.

'...What exactly are the Blood Sect, these guys?'

Swoosh!

Whoosh!

As the spellcaster who had cast the spell died, the fog that had enveloped Baiyun Escort Agency began to dissipate.

"The fog is lifting!"

"All guards, find and protect Young Master!"

"Young Master! Where are you?"

Voices calling for him echoed from all directions. Those who had been in a panic when Yushinyun disappeared were all calling his name.

Swoosh.

Before the fog completely dissipated, Yushinyun stealthily reached out to Guo Zhushan.

Then, when the fog completely cleared.

"Ah, what is this!"

"That, Red Cloud Pavilion has completely collapsed!"

The guards, seeing the ruins of Red Cloud Pavilion, reacted with confusion.

Then, they soon noticed Yushinyun standing alone next to the ruins.

"Y, Young Master Yi!"

"It's Young Master!"

"Young Master is over there!"

As everyone's gaze focused on him.

'Right, let's focus on the present for now.'

Yushinyun organized his thoughts.

Swish!

He raised his sword high into the sky.

"The battle is over! We have won!"

He shouted loudly to the guards.

"Yaaah-!"

The guards' deafening cheers echoed throughout the area.

Wulin Family, Reincarnated Ranker