Chapter 49 The Vampire

The vampire wizard apprentice moved with terrifying speed. In the blink of an eye, it charged into the crowd, overtaking the wizard apprentices of the Enforcement Squad and reaching their rear lines, locking onto the light magic user who posed the greatest threat.

Before that wizard apprentice could finish casting the cantrip model [Sunshine Flicker], the vampire clamped its hand on his head and—with a sickening crack—crushed his skull like an eggshell.

As the apprentice died, some strange magical substance on his body flashed like lightning, transforming into an electric arrow that struck the vampire square in the chest.

Twisting its grotesque head, the vampire bared its fangs in a savage grin, ignoring the wound as it lunged toward its next target.

This elite Second-Class Wizard Apprentice from the Blood Curse Court possessed frightening combat experience. He knew that in a one-against-many fight, the worst mistake would be getting bogged down in a stalemate with any single opponent.

If he became locked in combat with even one Enforcement Squad apprentice, a dozen cantrips would rain down on him the next moment, leaving him helpless.

So he used his speed advantage to weave through Dwarf Street, using the chaos as cover while systematically eliminating the greatest threats—those specializing in light magic and fire magic.

Because light and fire could suppress a vampire's undead resilience.

From the All Things Class, Locke had learned that vampires possessed powerful immortality, resisting most magical damage—but fire and light magic dealt bonus damage to them.

This Black Wizard apprentice demonstrated combat experience far beyond that of Lilith's Cottage apprentices from the very first move.

The same spells became deadly weapons in his hands.

Unlike White Wizards who spent most time on research and creation, Black Wizards lived in constant battle and plunder. Their combat experience meant a Black Wizard would always overpower a White Wizard of equal rank.

Captain Bruno Suarez shouted, "Can anyone cast a movement-restricting spell?"

A female Second-Class Wizard Apprentice began chanting, attempting to use Lesser Fatigue Breath to immobilize the vampire.

This cantrip could infuse negative energy into a target's body to paralyze them—a spell from the School of Enchantment.

As a comprehensive academy, Lilith's Cottage trained Second-Class apprentices in all magical disciplines.

But when the gray mist of Lesser Fatigue Breath struck the vampire, instead of paralyzing it, the creature's wounds healed rapidly before their eyes, restoring it to peak condition.

The female apprentice screamed, "Oh no! I forgot—negative energy weakens living beings but strengthens vampires!"

Locke glanced at her. Her timing had been perfect, anticipating the vampire's movement path.

But she clearly still had shortcomings—during the battle, she had forgotten that for undead creatures, all magical attributes were reversed.

Natural and light magic meant for healing would instead harm undead beings, while negative energy spells meant for damage and restriction would heal them.

Evidently, even the Enforcement Squad from Lilith's Cottage still fell short compared to those battle-hardened Black Wizards.

The vampire seemed to think keeping this female Second-Class Wizard Apprentice alive would benefit him, so he bypassed her and appeared behind Captain Bruno Suarez and Locke.

The vampire grinned viciously at Captain Bruno Suarez. "Bruno Suarez, your teammates are truly laughable."

"To think they would heal their enemies mid-battle."

The next moment, two vampiric blood claws descended toward the backs of Locke and Captain Bruno Suarez.

This vampire's self-modification had reached at least 0.5-ring, possibly even nearing 0.6-ring.

Clearly, he still harbored hopes of survival—of fighting his way out of Dwarf Street and escaping Lilith's Cottage's jurisdiction. He refused to die as a discarded pawn of the Blood Curse Court.

In that instant, Locke immediately cast [Green Cleansing Grasp]. The branches and leaves of the Invisible Mandrake Vine, which had been synthesized and strengthened to Level 6 over the past few days, rapidly grew into a small shield, blocking the attack in front of Locke.

Boom~

A tremendous force transmitted through the plant shield as the vampire's blood claws nearly tore it apart instantly.

Locke glanced down at his shoulder and saw his clothing ripped open, with three bloody gashes on his skin.

The sheer impact sent him flying over five meters backward.

The vampire swept past Locke, lunging toward Captain Bruno Suarez while casting a surprised glance at him—as if puzzled that his claw hadn't torn the seemingly mediocre Second-Class Wizard Apprentice in half.

In truth, this vampire's Mana was close to 200, possibly exceeding 190.

Compared to him, Locke's spell model was average, and his Mana inferior. Yet, thanks to the Level 6 Mandala Vine's exceptional foundational magical power, he managed to withstand the blow.

However, since Locke's Mana appeared utterly insignificant, the experienced vampire wizard apprentice immediately shifted his full attention to what he deemed the greatest threat—Captain Bruno Suarez.

The vampire relentlessly exploited his speed and physical advantages, slashing claw after claw at Captain Bruno Suarez, attempting to kill the Enforcement Squad leader within ten seconds.

"Bruno Suarez, today you die by the hands of Talen Curry, a Second-Class Wizard Apprentice of the Blood Curse Court!"

"Hahahaha…"

Under the vampire's rapid assault, Captain Bruno Suarez struggled immensely. It wasn't that he lacked the ability to counterattack—but the vampire's speed was simply too overwhelming, preventing him from casting any Spells in retaliation.

Captain Bruno Suarez could only activate the Thorn Armor on himself for protection, but even that set of Enchanted Items was torn apart by the vampire's blood claws in an extremely short time.

Just as he found himself in dire straits, he suddenly felt the vampire cease its attack.

Captain Bruno Suarez looked up and saw the vampire suspended mid-air, seemingly restrained by something invisible.

Meanwhile, the Invisible Mandrake Vine that Locke had kept concealed on his right hand now became visible.

The Second-Class Vampire Wizard Apprentice wore an expression of disbelief. "When did—? This is Vine Hand, such a low-level Spell!"

Under the effect of Vine Hand, the Mandrake Vine transformed into a plant-like hand, gripping the vampire.

No wonder the vampire wizard apprentice was both shocked and furious—Vine Hand was a relatively low-tier Cantrip.

Moreover, given his combat experience and the vampire's speed advantage, a Spell like Vine Hand should never have been able to get close to him.

But Locke's Mandrake Vine possessed invisibility, which allowed Vine Hand to approach the vampire wizard apprentice unnoticed.

The Second-Class Vampire Wizard Apprentice quickly realized he had to break free from Locke's Vine Hand immediately.

His ability to wreak havoc here wasn't due to sheer power but rather his combat experience and speed, which created localized advantages.

Additionally, the White Wizard apprentices lacked combat experience. Initially, they hadn't realized he was a modified vampire and hadn't used vampire-specific Spells, allowing him to endure many attacks thanks to the vampire's undead resilience.

But if he was even slightly delayed, his localized advantage would vanish.

In a way, failing to instantly kill Captain Bruno Suarez meant he was already being held back.

This shouldn't have been a major issue—he was confident he could kill Bruno Suarez within ten seconds. But he hadn't anticipated that an unknown Second-Class Wizard Apprentice with ordinary Mana would use Vine Hand, a low-level Spell, to restrain him.

The next moment, Captain Bruno Suarez summoned a Thorn Spear, and the magic vines transformed into a long spear, piercing through the vampire's chest—right where the heart was.

Fire, sunlight, or a wooden stake through the heart could all break a vampire's undead nature.

Captain Bruno Suarez shouted to Locke, "Well done, newcomer."

"Didn't expect you to be so capable."

"Thanks to you restraining him—just a moment of control was all I needed to kill it."

"That magic vine of yours must have been specially bred for you by Lady Sophia, right? Truly impressive."

The vampire monster's face twisted with hatred and resentment as it glared at Bruno Suarez and Locke. "No… no…"

"No…"

"No…"

Golden flames erupted across its body, and amidst the burning, it let out continuous screams before gradually turning to ash. All that remained was a still-beating, pierced crimson heart on the ground.

Captain Bruno Suarez exhaled in relief, surveying the devastation around them. "This time, our Enforcement Squad lost three wizard apprentices and two Wizard Seedlings."

"The war is growing fiercer."

"Thanks for the assist, newcomer. Since we killed this vampire together, by the rules, the spoils belong to both of us."

"But you did save me just now—or at least helped me—so the vampire heart should go to you."

Captain Bruno Suarez added, "Vampire hearts make excellent materials for potions and alchemical works."

Locke glanced at the vampire heart on the ground and didn't refuse—after all, a vampire heart was quite valuable. "Alright."

Captain Bruno Suarez turned to his team. "Clean up the scene and file the report."

"We need to inform the higher-ups about this."

The female wizard apprentice who had misfired her Spell and ended up healing the vampire spoke with lingering fear, "Captain, patrols have been getting more dangerous lately."

"We're severely understaffed."

"Some members in the Enforcement Squad pulled strings to transfer out, drastically weakening our combat strength. And the new wizards still lack practical experience..."

She glanced guiltily at Locke. Regardless, in that last battle, Locke had shown more combat experience than her.

"Captain, could you... talk to the higher-ups about our current difficulties? Maybe the Academy could assign us some locally-trained wizard apprentices."

"Local wizard apprentices would definitely have better magical training than those from overseas."

Captain Bruno Suarez gave her a cold look. "Halia, focus on your own duties."

"Where would we even find local wizard apprentices willing to join the Enforcement Squad now? And given your performance earlier, you were outperformed by the newcomer... by Augustine."