Alistair dashed forward, his gaze briefly catching on Syca’s new black combat suit, which seemed to distort focus, making it difficult to keep one’s eyes on her. She moved with precision, swiftly driving a dagger into the neck of a hyena-like beastkin. Alistair couldn’t afford to linger, however, as he clashed with a sea-monster-like beastkin wielding twin axes. His opponent combined ferocious melee strikes with earth-themed attacks, sharp shards of rock orbiting around him and firing in rapid bursts like a machine gun.

  Alistair was a terrible target for such a physically oriented concept. He struck with the hammer end of his poleaxe, anticipating the beastkin’s stone armor. The sheer force and mass he infused into the blow shattered the armor and caved in the beastkin’s ribcage, despite the clever layering of the protective stone. The devastating impact left the beastkin reeling, gasping for air.

  Before Alistair could capitalize on his retreating opponent, a vampire lunged at him from the side. He casually raised his shield, deflecting the vampire’s claws as they scraped along the metal. The kinetic energy was entirely absorbed, leaving only a faint scratch behind, which was already a somewhat impressive feat. Alistair spun on his heel, storing his poleaxe and encasing his gauntlet in the white-hot flames of his Blazing Edge skill. He drove his flaming fist into the vampire’s side before it could recover its momentum.

  “Heads up, Kujo—another vampire!” Alistair yelled as he sent the vampire hurtling toward his ally, utilizing his telekinesis to ensure the vampire couldn't recover.

  Kujo grinned, his body igniting into a roaring inferno of silver flames. The flames coalesced into a claw-like construct that caught the airborne vampire mid-flight. The vampire shrieked in agony as the silver flames consumed him utterly, its form disintegrating like a mosquito flying into a bug zapper.

  "Thanks, mate!" Alistair shouted as his force barrier absorbed the stream of fire unleashed by a draconian. The attack ended abruptly when Riseth’s blades shifted into chainblades, tearing through the screaming lizard with brutal precision. Jack’s jubilant telepathic voice rang out gleefully, “Lizard sashimi for everyone!” followed by his characteristic cackling.

  “I’m heading for the ritual circle to free the slaves,” Riseth said over the Akashic Link, her movements a deadly dance as space itself bent to her whims while she sliced through enemy ranks. Each enemy she passed found their own skills turning against them as her blades cut with uncanny precision.

  “I’ll back you up,” Alistair responded firmly. “There are still too many of them to risk going alone—it might be a trap.” He charged forward like a juggernaut, plowing through the chaos, sending weaker enemies splattering against walls and ceilings as he cleared a path to follow her.

  Riseth stopped gracefully spinning while cutting those closest to her deeply, her expression shifting as she seemed to reconsider. “You’re right,” she admitted. “Something’s off. They haven’t sacrificed anyone yet, and their fighters—while strong—are downright pathetic compared to our elites. Honestly, I wouldn’t call anyone here except the one facing Inquisitor Seitz a true elite.”

  "Something's off here. Get ready," Alistair shouted as he and Riseth teamed up, tearing apart anyone daring to get too close to them with vicious efficiency.

  Elenora Seitz began to glow with radiant golden light, the aura spilling across the chamber and weakening their enemies. Alistair felt the surge of energy coursing through him as his own strength amplified. “They’ve set a trap to lure us in with the slaves!” she shouted. “Stay away from that door—their true elites are lying in wait!” She sidestepped another strike from the serpent-like creature she was battling, her movements sharp and decisive.

  “Fine! If they refuse to come out, drag one of them into the circle!” a gruff, irritated voice boomed.

  Shadows stretched unnaturally, and vampires began stepping forth, emerging from the darkness itself. They moved with a haunting grace, their forms twisting free of the shadowy recesses of the chamber. At their head was a towering, human-like vampire, his aura dripping with potent bloodlust. He held two sickle-like swords, their blades slick with blood, and strode forward with unshaken confidence, his crimson gaze scanning the room like a predator sizing up its prey.

  From behind him, more individuals emerged from the shadows, but Alistair didn’t have time to focus on them. The lead vampire, [Molverth Nezret - lvl 142], charged at him with terrifying speed, his sickle-like blades carving through the air as arcs of blood lashed out like liquid razors. The attack wasn’t too dissimilar to the waterblades wielded by the Lirsaross of Lacustrine. Still, Alistair had long since honed his Kineticskin Guard to absorb the inherent kinetic energy of such attacks before they could transmit their cutting power. The result left him with a semi-cross pattern of blood across his chest, which he quickly forced off with a shockwave for safety.

  Their weapons clashed with a deafening impact. Alistair’s poleaxe, its blade wrapped in the white-hot flames of his blazing edge skill, struck against Molverth’s dual blades. The vampire attempted to slide his weapon along the poleaxe toward Alistair’s fingers, a move designed to cripple, but found his momentum completely stolen mid-strike. Molverth’s crimson eyes went wide as he bent backward unnaturally far to evade the counterattack.

  Despite his agility, the edge of Alistair’s weapon grazed the vampire’s neck, causing his skin to bubble and burn. Molverth let out a venomous hiss as the flames seared him, his crimson eyes narrowing with malice. Alistair’s senses flickered outward, confirming that Kujo was busy reducing the small horde of vampires to cinders with his silver flames. At the same time, Riseth guarded his back, ensuring no one interfered with his battle.

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  Alistair let out an annoyed huff, tightening his grip on the poleaxe. “Fine, I’ll kill you myself, you bloodsucking parasite.”

  By now, Alistair knew vampires were among the most common and favored racial evolutions across the multiverse, particularly within the Blackmarket Syndicates. Unlike werebeast transformations—which were often seen as a curse, burdened with race-specific flaws—vampirism offered a slew of advantages: enhanced stats, regeneration, increased affinities, and bloodline-specific powers. They were only mildly affected by the usual weaknesses of undead species, making them a far more appealing choice. In comparison, only a handful of high-tier werebeast transformations could rival them, and Alistair had yet to face any of those.

  Still, he’d fought enough vampires to know their weaknesses, and his Blazing Edge skill had been optimized to counter regenerating opponents. Judging by the vampiric servants and thralls he had seen so far, this particular bloodline leaned heavily into the concept of shadows—a nuisance but something he could handle.

  Alistair used his telekinesis to propel himself above the dodging vampire, striking downward with his shield. Its sharp edge and point, coated in white-hot flames, pierced into the vampire’s blood core; empowered by his Telekinetic Death From Above and Kinetic Combat skills, his shield pinning the vampire to the ground. Molverth’s attempts to meld into the shadows to escape were rendered useless by Alistair's force magic, his dark form flickering and failing and screaming in pain as he repeatedly lashed out, only empowering Alistair further.

  But before Alistair could finish the vampire, a sea of blood erupted from Molverth’s body, forcing him and anyone nearby to retreat. Liquids remained one of the more difficult forms to siphon kinetic energy from, but Alistair gritted his teeth, focusing his telekinesis to halt his opponent's escape. He continued to siphon kinetic energy from the surging wave of blood, his control steady as he locked the vampire in place again.

  "Get back here, you discount Dracula!" Alistair barked, his voice infused with Vicious Mockery as he yanked the swirling liquid mass toward him with telekinesis, his senses zeroing in on the elusive blood core.

  "There you are," he muttered, dashing forward with precision. The point of his poleaxe shot through the liquid mass with incredible speed, white-hot flames flaring along the blade as it pierced straight into the vampire's blood core. The flames burned away more of the vampire’s life force before it managed to retreat, blades raised defensively. Crimson lines crisscrossed its form where Alistair's searing magic had left its mark.

  Molverth glared at Alistair, his crimson eyes burning with hatred as he raised his blades to strike. Before he could act, Kujo’s massive cleaver, wreathed in silvery flames, came crashing down, splitting the vampire cleanly in two and ending him for good. The faint chime of a level-up notification reached Alistair’s ears, but it barely registered over his shock at having his kill stolen.

  Kujo turned to him, an apologetic look on his face. “Sorry about that, but we need you to handle the beast guarding the lich."

  Alistair’s gaze swept over the battlefield, locking onto Elenora and Nomura, who were locked in a fierce magical duel with the lich. Guarding it was a massive creature, its sinewy, deep-red flesh stretched taut over a hulking frame that resembled a grotesque mix of toad and gorilla. Its enormous, tree trunk-like arms pulsed with raw, force-enhanced power, shrugging off attacks with alarming ease.

  Bullets ricocheted harmlessly off its hide, leaving only bruises, and most cuts or spells failed to do more than carve shallow scrapes into its thick flesh. The [Gatugoth - lvl 140] lashed out savagely, smashing the ground with its immense limbs, attempting to crush its enemies, bite down with its curved tusks, or send them flying with terrifying swipes.

  Alistair spat on the ashes of the vampire and let out a sigh. "Fine, I’ll handle the Battle Toad. This knockoff Dracula didn’t even bother using his core concept."

  Kujo nodded, his cleaver resting on his shoulder as silvery flames flickered along its edge. “There are still plenty more of those bloodsuckers around. If you’ll excuse me, I’m on vampire duty.”

  They dashed in opposite directions. Alistair used the moment it took to reach the hulking Gatugoth to assess the rest of the battlefield. Simon and Nikki had arrived alongside their inquisitor counterpart, their presence adding to the chaos as the chamber devolved into a swirling maelstrom of combat. Vampires swarmed along the ceiling and walls, launching themselves at the power-armored fighters, only to be cut down in droves by the Inquisitors wielding their holy-aspected powers and weapons.

  The threat level had surged significantly with the arrival of more powerful enemies exiting the realm, the most dangerous being the lich [Ekhar - lvl 151]. His aura pulsed through the massive chamber, radiating cold malevolence that made even the Gatugoth’s immense strength seem secondary. The lich seemed to wield the concept of chains, supported by ice magic, with chilling precision. The chains didn’t just lash out to restrain anyone attempting to bypass the Gatugoth; they also empowered the massive creature, amplifying its already devastating attacks and protecting it from more devastating blows.

  The part of the chamber where the lich held his ground was covered in a glimmering sheet of frost, alive with his magic. Whenever anyone approached, ice elementals clawed themselves from the depths of the ice and lunged into the fray with ferocious intent. The combination of his overwhelming power and the Gatugoth’s brute force made advancing toward the ritual an almost insurmountable challenge.

  Alistair crashed into the fray, the hammerhead of his poleaxe smashing into the Gatugoth’s side with relentless force. The massive creature was catapulted into the magically reinforced concrete wall, obliterating an unfortunate vampire crawling along its surface into a smear of red paste. The impact reverberated through the chamber, and even the reinforced concrete cracked under the sheer intensity of the blow, the room trembling as dust and debris rained down.

  But before Alistair could follow up, chains lashed out toward him, attempting to bind him. He managed to dodge most, but one coiled tightly around his arm. He felt the concept of binding taking hold, struggling against his Freedom of Movement skill as his range of motion diminished. More chains and icy spears shot toward him, forcing him to act fast.

  Unable to tear himself free with sheer power or Freedom of Movement alone, Alistair unleashed a surge of raw kinetic energy. The force rippled through the chain, overloading its binding magic and causing it to shatter into fragments. Freed, Alistair steadied himself, already preparing to counter.