“Well…this is going to be a bit difficult to explain,” Chloe muttered, staring at the unconscious Vlad after he fell asleep from overworking his body.

  “I’ll say,” Arthur said, sighing while looking at the corpses of goblins around them. “Still, Vlad entrusted us in keeping the other players from knowing the truth, so, we should start theorizing now before they show up.”

  Although the battle in the warehouse was over, the pair couldn’t relax yet. Not until backup arrives and they explain something to them. And that was when they hit their first problem…

  Suddenly, the entrance door to the Warehouse was busted open and a conga line of players emerged inside the building, all of them screaming and yelling while their weapons were out and everything.

  Chloe and Arthur witnessed this with shocked expressions, along with a hint of fear as they realized that their situation just got a lot more complicated. With Reinforcements here, they literally had no time to come up with a lie to explain what happened. Which meant they had to make something up on the fly or they were in trouble.

  As the players scattered around the warehouse, they all looked with widened eyes at the devastation that occurred there. They witnessed countless bodies scattered along the floor along with the mutilated corpse of the Goblin Boss. A couple of players approached the Boss monster nervously, trying to get a good look at what happened to it.

  Meanwhile, another player started approaching Chloe and Arthus. When the pair saw him, they both lightly grinned at who it was.

  “Nice of you to finally show up, Tyler,” Chloe said condescendingly.

  Tyler, who was wearing his Knightly armor like Arthur, got close to the group while anxiously laughing.

  “Yeah, we just arrived here, but couldn’t get inside the building for some reason. Something about the maximum number of players being reached. So, we’ve been trying to find a way inside this place before we all saw several messages about a Monster Nest being conquered, and knew it was the Warehouse.”

  Arthur nodded. “Make sense, since we just conquered this place.”

  Since the quest couldn’t allow any more players to enter this place, it was obvious why they couldn’t get inside the building. However, Chloe and Arthur wished that the barrier blocking them from entering or leaving could’ve stayed on for a little longer so they could’ve come up with some kind of lie.

  Sadly, that wasn’t the case, so they were on their own at the moment.

  “Are Vlad and Lucy alright?” Tyler asked with concern, looking over at their unconscious bodies.

  “Y-yeah, they’re fine,” Chloe immediately said. “They were just sleeping after using up a lot of energy.”

  Tyler sighed with relief. “Well, that’s good. What about the others that came with you like Rick, Ben, and Juliet? Are they around somewhere?”

  At the mention of the dead players, both Chloe and Arthur’s faces fell. Seeing this, Tyler put the pieces together and realized what happened.

  “So, they didn’t make it…” Tyler muttered.

  Chloe grimly shook her head in response. “Ben and Juliet were the first to go. The goblins…took them while we were trying to find a place to escape them. Since we were in a monster nest, we couldn’t leave until we conquered it.”

  “And what about Rick?” Tyler asked, to which Chloe’s sullen expression was replaced with rage.

  “That bastard left us to die,” She spat. “When we were trying to climb the second floor to escape the horde, he left us behind and went to the floor on his own.”

  “What?! B-but why?”

  “Because he’s a coward who was only trying to save his skin,” Arthur stated angrily. “If Vlad hadn’t showed up and saved us, we would’ve died at the hands of those goblins…”

  Hearing this, Tyler took a moment to process their words, as I having a hard time understanding it. However, his eyes narrowed into a glare, and his hands were clenched into fists.

  “Where is Rick then now?” He demanded. “If he’s still alive, then he needed to pay the consequences for abandoning his fellow players.”

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  Chloe and Arthur looked at one another, neither of them certain about how to explain what happened to Rick Collins. They couldn’t tell them that Vlad drank his blood and killed him, otherwise, that would expose his vampirism. They also couldn’t just say that they killed Rick, even if the bastard abandoned them. That would cause problems with Tyler.

  This meant there was only one thing they could tell him…

  “The bastard got killed by some goblins when he fled,” Chloe lied. “We came across his corpse while getting to the fourth floor of the building. I’m pretty sure the goblins took what was left after we passed it.”

  To avoid Tyler and the other players searching for Rick, Chloe decided to say that his corpse was likely taken by the goblins. In reality, his body was chopped to a thousand pieces by Vlad using his Blood Strike skill.

  This seemed to have convinced Tyler since his expression softened as he sighed deeply.

  “Well, at least you four of still alive,” He concluded. “it’s a lot better than none of you surviving this nest by yourselves.”

  “Yeah, but it’s still terrible that Ben and Juliet didn’t make it,” Arthur mumbled, remembering their last moments before getting taken by the goblins, causing his face to contort with anger and disgust.

  Knowing those goblins, they likely turned them into food or something else, not leaving a single piece of them. Just the thought of that made the Knight queasy.

  “Alright, I’ll have the players here investigate the warehouse and finish the initial quest I gave you. And…I’m sorry for nearly getting you guys killed. If I had properly surveyed this place beforehand before sending you out, none of this would’ve happened.”

  Tyler lowered his head in shame, feeling guilty over what occurred here in the warehouse. Though it wasn’t his fault.

  “Tyler, none of us could’ve known that this place was a nest,” Chloe stated. “This was just bad luck.”

  “Vlad knew,” Tyler told them. “When we first arrived at this place, he immediately knew that this warehouse was filled with monsters and was possibly a nest. That was why he sent me back to bring in more reinforcements in the first place.”

  Right, Chloe was aware of this, already, since Vlad told them after he explained everything. Still, knowing the truth, Vlad was a bit unique compared to the rest of them. So Tyler still wasn’t to blame for this. But, she knew that their leader wouldn’t accept such a thing and simply remained silent.

  “You guys should head back to base,” Tyler said while scanning the warehouse. “I’m going to stay here and continue to investigate this place along with the others. Once I get back, I’ll need you to explain the full story regarding what happened here, alright?

  Both Chloe and Arthur nod their heads, while mentally sighing with relief. They initially feared that they would have to make stuff up about what happened, but they were given a miracle and now had plenty of time to get their stories straight.

  A couple of players came by and offered to help carry Vlad and Lucy back to their base, but the pair declined instead. Instead of letting the other players do this, the two friends took that burden themselves. That was mainly so none of the other players could see any of their vampiric features like fangs and such.

  While carrying them, the four players made their way to the exit, finally able to leave this place after everything that happened. Once they emerged outside, the group was greeted with the same devastated city as the apocalypse raged on around them.

  Chloe took one look at the destroyed apocalyptic city and sighed. “Man, I wish things could go back to normal…”

  “You and me both,” Arthur mumbled, carrying Vlad on his back.

  Now that they were free, the group made their way back to the Mall Base along with several other players coming back with them to act as bodyguards against any monsters that came their way.

  Meanwhile, things were beginning to stir upon others learning of the existence of Vlad Stoker. Even now, there are forces within the system that are currently plotting on how to deal with him.

  …

  Michael stood in his white chair, surrounded by a heavenly blue sky on top of an entire floor of clouds. He brushed bits of his long and brilliant blue hair that covered his eyes, revealing them narrowing with displeasure.

  While sitting down, he adjusted his pure white suit that emanated a golden glow, revealing a divine aura that would mesmerize any lowly mortal that laid their eyes on it. He then stared at the holographic screen before him, showing a video feed of a certain player that caught his attention. And not in a good way.

  “Vlad Stoker…” Michael lowly growled, glaring at the screen that displayed a young man wearing leather armor and wielding a spear, attacking the Goblin Boss from the Monster Nest quest.

  He was rewatching the feed of the fight for a while, unable to stop watching it due to the boy’s circumstances and existence. Including the fact that he was now a vampire. One of the most monstrous species in the known multiverse.

  But there seemed to be more to this player that surprised Michael. Especially during his fight with the Goblin Boss after the Angel Faction blessed it. It was supposed to kill the vampire and end the threat once and for all, but something unprecedented happened. And the boy won against a Blessed Being.

  That alone annoyed Michael to his core. It was one thing that he was forced to bless a vile creature like a Goblin but for his efforts to fail in such a way. He could already feel his blood boil with rage at the thought.

  However, it was like Michael told Vlad when they talked in the Chat Room. This was far from over. He may have failed to kill the vampire in that nest, but other opportunities would show itself soon enough. And when that happens, that will be the moment that Michael strikes again.

  With that in mind, The archangel continued to watch the video feed of the vampire again and again, his eyes meticulously monitoring the boy’s fight with the Goblin Boss. He rested his head on his knuckles while glaring at the holographic screen, only muttering a single sentence when he saw the boy.

  “This isn’t over…lowly pest.” His pure blue eyes glowed intensely, radiating an aura of pure wrath.

  That was when Michael swore…that he would eliminate the vampire by any means before he progressed any further. If he failed…Michael feared that another war would be upon them. A war that would change everything.