Chapter 227: Into the Vampire Crypt

Kaiden’s eyes scanned his team one last time.

They nodded.

Together, they stepped forward.

And vanished from the face of Planet Earth.

Kaiden’s boots landed against uneven stone. The moment his vision cleared, dread vibrated through his bones. There was no wind, only the sound of his own heartbeat and those of the people behind him.

They’d arrived.

The shift in atmosphere was incredibly evident, impossible to miss. The oppression wasn’t just emotional. It felt architectural. The very air pressed down on their lungs.

It was standard for dungeon entry zones to spawn near relatively safe areas. A brief mercy. Even the desert dungeon, for all its suffocating heat, had given them an oasis to catch their breath.

Would it be the same this time?

Kaiden tapped his temple once, and a familiar interface opened before his right eye. [Harem Vision] — Stream Activated.

The visuals began recording.

The footage would be live... but delayed by one hour. Enough time to censor anything too personal, too incriminating, or simply too damning to show. There wouldn’t be chat interaction this time, arguably lessening the enjoyment of the stream. But Kaiden didn’t mind the tradeoff because with what they were walking into, it wasn’t like he planned to have fun conversations with the chatters. His focus would remain in a constant state of alert.

But what mattered the most was that the stream was rolling.

And it would be a hell of a show.

They found themselves standing in what passed as the potential Safe Zone.

The name was very, very generous. It was no oasis with fresh water to quench their thirst in the suffocating desert heat.

The room was a collapsed ballroom, half-buried by rubble and tilted at a disorienting angle. Pillars stood cracked and crooked, as though the entire structure had tried to twist itself out of existence but failed halfway through. The far wall was covered in what must’ve once been luxurious murals, now faded into pale blue specters of themselves, the faces distorted in pain or hunger.

The colors were wrong.

Sickly pale blues. Rotted purples. Oxidized silver.

Nyx nearly yelped in fright but caught herself just in time and instead squinted at a painting nearby. "Guys! I swear this one blinked!!"

"I saw it too..." Sasha agreed with a ghostly pale face.

The portrait depicted a noblewoman with an elaborate collar, her pale eyes open wide in a mixture of hunger and madness. When looked at directly, the canvas remained still.

But the moment they turned away...

Blink.

Meanwhile, somewhere down the hall, a voice echoed.

"Don’t leave me here... don’t leave me here... leave me... leave... me..."

It was Nyx’s voice.

The Space Valkyrie froze.

"Echo parasite," revealed Diaz, the tall, silver-haired rogue who’d entered beside them. His black cloak barely moved as he walked forward. "They mimic sounds they hear."

"Oh... right." They’d heard of this monster before and came upon it during their research. But hearing its abilities in the flesh just hit differently than on a recording they watched in the comfort of their home.

Bastet hissed lowly, hating this place with every fiber of her existence. Her tail flicked in agitation as the sound repeated again, this time in Sasha’s voice.

Luna turned her [Stormblade] on.

Kaiden released his greatsword from his back.

This wasn’t like the desert. There was no oppressive heat.

No dry sand to burn your throat.

No sun to suck one’s body empty of liquids.

But in a way, this place was worse.

Because they all felt it in their very bones: This dungeon was...

Hungry.

...

*Whirrrrr.*

A loud mechanical sound cut through the quiet gloom of the room as Vaelira’s mana camera whirled to life above her shoulder. A spinning crystalline orb powered by enchantments and an arcane battery, it framed her face with just the right amount of illumination to make the woman appear as pretty as possible. The moment it activated, her tone shifted: from calm combatant to gleeful entertainer.

"Hellooo, my little Devotees~" she cooed with a wink. "Welcome back to the Vaelira Show, streaming live from the dungeon of doom~!"

She spun slowly in place, making her camera sweep across the ruins with flair, showcasing the cracked murals, the flickering torches, and the creeping darkness pressing at the edges of their meager light sources.

And then she turned the lens toward Kaiden.

"And look who I’m with again!!" she squealed excitedly with a grin, then lowered her voice conspiratorially, "The wonderboy: Kaiden Grey. Both of my dungeon undertakings have happened with him at my side! I can’t help but wonder if it’s fate playing a game..."

[💬: Wait, isn’t that the guy you said confessed to you in high school?]

[💬: Kaiden Grey was madly in love with Vaelira??? 💀]

Vaelira giggled, sounding full of mischief. "Oh, indeed. Kaiden Grey... back then, he was just a nerd like most boys. And, like most boys, he had a big crush on me~ with absolutely zero charm~ Poor thing was so in love."

The camera zoomed in on her playful pout.

[💬: "DID YOU REJECT HIM??"]

[💬: "Omg the man who stormed the net recently had his heart broken by Mistress Vaelira?!"]

"Hehe~ Don’t say such cruel things about me, little old me... I don’t break hearts~" she sang sweetly. Then, her expression shifted. The smile was still there, but her gaze narrowed, turning more sultry. "But I wonder... now that he’s turned things around so wonderfully, maybe he’d finally be worth my time, and perhaps... even more~?"

Her voice dripped with honeyed suggestion.

Kaiden didn’t even glance her way because he’d learned to ignore parasites like her. Creatures who spun lies into gold and wove drama like silk, all for the fleeting affection of the chat box, weren’t worth his spending his time on.

She wanted him to respond so that the drama could blossom fully. So that her stream’s engagement numbers soar. So that she potentially poaches a few of his hundreds of thousands of followers.

But he wouldn’t give her that satisfaction.

Not even the flicker of a reaction came from him.

His women didn’t feel so nonchalant about it all, however.

Nyx’s pupils narrowed into slits.

Luna gave a strong exhale through her nose.

Aria’s gaze could’ve pierced steel.

And Bastet? Bastet was baring her teeth at the leech of a woman.

None of them spoke a word.

But the temperature around them dropped a few degrees, despite the dungeon’s unnatural chill.

...

Now that the entrance was secure, it was time to bring in the supplies.

"The safe area has been secured," Diaz decreed.

Kaiden nodded. "Let’s get the gear."

He and his team turned back toward the shimmering dungeon gate, the same portal that had delivered them here. Outside, waiting for them, were large supply backpacks: rations, tent poles, fire starters, bedrolls, potion pouches, and more. Everything they’d potentially need was neatly packed and enchanted for preservation.

The girls each grabbed a bag.

Kaiden shouldered the heaviest one.

As he turned back toward the dungeon’s eerie interior, Vaelira clicked her tongue and turned toward Talia.

"I’ll be a dear and wait outside~ Please have an aide handle my setup."

Talia didn’t like the tone of the woman, but far be it from her to ruin the mood of this important undertaking before it even started. So, the guild leader of Runewoven gestured with her hands, and a dungeon aide stepped through the gate in Vaelira’s place, carrying the woman’s camp gear. He didn’t make eye contact with anyone.

Kaiden’s group returned to the ballroom, already laying out their bedrolls and starting a small, enchantment-fueled cooking fire in the corner of the broken room. When Talia offered to send in an aide to do their camp as well, they refused, saying they might have to set up camp further in, so it would be best if they got acquainted with handling the equipment on their own.

Soon, three distinct camps took shape.