Chapter 201: Big Catch

Thalion wasted no time. The moment he recognized the vampire woman wielding a Sanguine Thorn, he struck. In an instant, his form dissolved into mist, reappearing before his startled opponent with supernatural speed. Without hesitation, he unleashed the wrath of his own Sanguine Thorn, its crimson vines lashing outward in a brutal display of predatory hunger.

The vampire reacted swiftly, summoning her own vine to counter the onslaught. For a fleeting second, their weapons clashed, writhing and straining against one another like starving beasts. Then—inevitable defeat. Thalion’s Sanguine Thorn was older, stronger, drenched in far more blood than hers could ever hope to be. It shredded her vine with ruthless efficiency, reducing it to nothing but severed tendrils curling in their death throes.

The remaining vampires never stood a chance. Their defenses shattered the moment Thalion’s Sanguine Thorn finished consuming parts of its rival, and in mere seconds, three of them lay impaled upon its writhing vines—lifeless, their bodies already being drained.

Then, something shifted.

A violent pulse of foreign hunger crashed into Thalion’s mind like a warhammer against brittle bone.

"Kill. Consume. Evolve."

The words slithered through his thoughts, not spoken, but imposed—an insatiable command from the very heart of his Sanguine Thorn. It demanded to feast, to grow, to devour.

Fine by me.

Thalion didn't resist. He merely let his own killing intent fuse with that of the plant, his bloodlust intertwining with its monstrous hunger. His grip tightened around the hilt of his sword as he set his sights on the remaining vampire infront of him. The one whose Sanguine Thorn had just been vanquished.

She was already retreating, her movements sharp with panic. The shock of their first clash had shattered whatever confidence she once had.

Too late.

With a burst of inhuman speed, Thalion pursued, closing the gap between them. His Blooded Templar’s Blade materialized in his right hand, its crimson edge pulsing with raw energy. As he lunged, he summoned two Blood Thorns to strike from the flanks, weaving them into a deadly rhythm alongside a slashing arc of his sword.

His target barely managed to evade—she was fast, far faster than he had anticipated. Perhaps even approaching the level of the Elven Daughter. But power alone was meaningless when faced with a superior force.

Thalion was stronger and more skilled.

So was his Sanguine Thorn.

The vampire darted, dodging his relentless barrage, then suddenly reared back. Her mouth stretched impossibly wide, unleashing an ear-splitting screech that rippled through the air in a concussive blast. The shockwave struck Thalion with staggering force, sending him hurtling backward.

He twisted mid-air, righting himself in time to drive his sword into the thick root of the massive jungle tree they fought upon. The impact absorbed his momentum, bringing him to a sudden, controlled stop. When he looked up, what he saw was no longer a woman.

She had transformed.

The beauty that once masked her monstrous nature was gone, replaced by a nightmarish form. Her elongated mouth now bristled with jagged, needle-like fangs. Her smooth skin had darkened into a leathery crimson hide, thick and unyielding. Her hair had vanished entirely, replaced by ridges of bone along her scalp. Two massive, blood-red wings unfurled from her back, flexing as if eager to take flight. Her fingers had stretched into talons, each one glistening with deadly intent.

A demon of blood and shadow.

Two other vampires emerged at her side. Then, as one, they charged.

Thalion would normally have taken a breath, formed a strategy—calculated his method of execution.

Not this time.

The Sanguine Thorn’s bloodlust was a tidal wave, surging through his veins, drowning out all reason. His body moved on instinct, red vines erupting from his back as he met them head-on.

The transformed vampire lunged, her talons slashing through the air.

Thalion dodged, twisting between her strikes like a phantom, his vines surging toward her. She didn't use her own Sanguine Thorn to block this time—perhaps she had already accepted its inferiority. Instead, she tore through the vines with raw strength, severing them before they could reach her.

Clever. But not clever enough.

One of her allies wasn't as fortunate.

Thalion lashed out, his elbow smashing into the face of the vampire to his right. Without hesitation, he pivoted, his sword carving through the chest of another. The wounded vampire staggered, attempting to retreat—too slow.

A single vine from the Sanguine Thorn shot forward, spearing through the vampire’s chest with a sickening crunch. Ribs cracked, flesh tore, and in an instant, the plant began its feast. The vampire thrashed, its claws raking against the tendril in desperation. But it was already too weak, its blood draining at an alarming rate. Any damage it inflicted healed almost instantly, sustained by Thalion’s unnatural vitality—his amulet, his connection to the Outsider, and his own relentless regeneration.

This was no battle.

This was slaughter.

Two more vines lashed out toward the transformed vampiress, but this time, she was ready. Her talons slashed through them, severing their ends before they could reach her.

Thalion barely had a moment to counter when the last surviving vampire attempted to escape—reaching for an Escape Token.

Not happening.

Thalion unleashed a volley of Blood Thorns, forcing the vampire to dodge—except one of the thorns veered sharply at the last second, impaling the creature’s foot and nailing it to the ground.

The vampire shrieked in agony.

Then, the thorn grew.

Its crimson tendrils coiled around the vampire’s leg, sinking into flesh, burrowing deep. The creature spasmed, its screams turning ragged as the parasitic growth fed on its lifeblood. Vines sprouted from its own skin, twisting around its form as the Sanguine Thorn claimed yet another victim.

The jungle trembled with the echo of death.

Thalion barely even noticed.

He was already moving again, his blade poised, his bloodthirsting vines writhing in anticipation.

This was far from over.

The vampiress launched herself at Thalion with renewed ferocity, her claws slashing toward his head in a blur of crimson. He barely had time to react, forced to abandon the nearly-drained vampire at his feet as he twisted to the side. His sword arced in retaliation, a red slash carving through the air toward her exposed flank.

But she was fast. Too fast.

Her lunge reached its peak just as Thalion’s evasion faltered, and though he managed to avoid a lethal strike, her claws still raked across his armor. Fragments of enchanted plating splintered into the air, glinting like shards of shattered moonlight before vanishing into the gloom of battle. A shallow cut marked his side—nothing serious.

Then he felt it.

A slow burn igniting in his veins, spreading like wildfire. His muscles tensed, his heartbeat thundered in his ears, and for a moment, a wave of nausea threatened to unbalance him. His eyes flicked to her claws, glistening not just with his blood, but with a dark, viscous sheen.

Poison.

Any ordinary warrior would have already collapsed, writhing in agony as the venom gnawed at their insides. But Thalion was no ordinary warrior. Pain was an old companion, and poison—even the kind that twisted through his bloodstream—was just another obstacle. He grit his teeth and pushed forward.

The vampiress hesitated.

She had expected him to falter, perhaps even to drop to his knees in helpless convulsions. Instead, he advanced, as relentless as ever. Within moments, the poison’s potency faded, his body knitting itself back together as if the injury had never existed. His armor, too, reformed, its enchantments restoring the lost plating with eerie efficiency.

Her crimson eyes widened in disbelief.

Then, she attacked again.

This time, her strikes came faster, more precise—her aura darkening with desperation. But experience was the deciding factor in this battle, and Thalion had plenty of it. The vampire may have been centuries old, but she had lived those years before the System had reshaped the world.

Thalion, on the other hand, had spent a full year in relentless, unforgiving combat. And he hadn't just mastered fighting—he had forged his own path through raw willpower and the weapons he created.

His armor dulled the force of every clawed strike. She couldn't block his sword—every cut drained her reserves further, bleeding her dry in ways she could not afford. Her ranged blood abilities were worthless against him, his superior soul rendering them ineffective before they even reached him.

But she was still strong. Strong enough that he couldn’t land a single spell. At times, she even absorbed his attacks, her monstrous endurance allowing her to persist through wounds that would have left lesser vampires crippled. Their battle became a contest of melee prowess, a whirlwind of slashes, counters, and evasion.

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Yet Thalion had one overwhelming advantage.

The Sanguine Thorn.

It wasn't purely a blood-based ability, meaning she couldn't manipulate it. Each time she tried to counter with her own Thorn, the result was the same—hers was utterly consumed, and his only grew stronger. The battle of endurance was already decided. Thalion’s resources were virtually untouched, while hers dwindled with each passing second.

It was only a matter of time before she either fled or activated an escape token.

Still, he wasn’t just focused on her. Whenever an opening presented itself, he fired Blood Thorns at other vampires, consuming corpses with his vines or draining their life essence with Blood Harvest. The battlefield around him was chaos, yet his allies held their ground.

Chloe and Eddie stood back to back like towering juggernauts, weathering the vampires’ onslaught with unshakable endurance. They didn’t fight with finesse, but they didn’t need to—their raw durability made them immovable walls of flesh and bone.

Jack, on the other hand, was a whirlwind of destruction. His telekinetic strikes were absolute devastation, if they hit. The vampires learned quickly, dodging his attacks with supernatural reflexes. Forced to switch tactics, Jack adapted, teleporting in and out of his squid form in an unpredictable rhythm. He only assumed his monstrous shape for quick surprise attacks or when a vampire ventured too close in his human form. The moment they tried to counter, he was gone—flashing across the battlefield before they could react.

The vampires quickly learned to keep their distance.

Josh fought in the thick of the melee, wielding a blend of telekinetic and gravitational abilities that made him a nightmare in close quarters. He wasn’t just difficult to pin down—he was difficult to kill. Every move was a perfect combination of force and control, keeping his enemies on the defensive.

Kargul was... Kargul. The berserker. He fought with raw, unchecked fury, every swing of his weapon aiming to crush rather than cut. But the vampires were fast. They weaved around his attacks, narrowly avoiding what would have been bone-shattering blows. Still, Kargul was relentless. A single mistake on their part would be fatal.

Vorlok, the monstrous turtle, was locked onto a particularly unfortunate vampire with wings. His prey flapped desperately, trying to escape, but Vorlok’s pursuit was tireless. Once he set his sights on something, he never stopped.

And then there was Evelyn.

She danced between three vampires, dodging effortlessly while keeping a watchful eye on the battlefield. Whenever Chloe or Eddie sustained serious wounds, she was there, healing them. Whenever Kargul needed speed, she buffed him. All of this, while simultaneously summoning mana barriers to block enemy advances and weaving illusions to mislead their attackers. She was their shield and strategist, ensuring they survived this battle with minimal casualties.

And then—Thalion pressed forward.

Bit by bit, he dismantled the vampiress before him, overwhelming her in nearly every aspect of combat. He could have gone for a decisive kill at any moment, but he held back. If she died too soon, he would lose his chance to capture her.

She was one of the stronger vampires of the Fifth Stage. That meant she knew everything about the catacombs. More importantly, her eyes were valuable—far stronger than those of the Fourth Stage vampires he had encountered before.

Capturing her would be difficult.

The moment she pulled out an escape token, he would need to slice off her hand before she could activate it. At the same time, he would have to restrain the Sanguine Thorn from consuming her entirely.

But it was worth the risk.

Amalia might get some information out of her, and he had his own experiment to conduct. He had already been hit by a vampire’s Eye Skill before, and hers was far superior.

He was willing to gamble his own sight for this.

After all, he still had the crippled Eclipsari’s as a trump card.

And if he could absorb the vampiress’s eyes into his human form, his power would surge even further.

His gaze flicked briefly to her Sanguine Thorn.

If his own Thorn devoured it, how much stronger would he become?

The thought sent a shiver of anticipation down his spine.

This battle was nearly over.

And the real reward was just within reach.

Time to finish this.

Thalion pushed his body beyond its limits, his blade a blur as he relentlessly pressed the attack, forcing the vampiress onto the defensive. She was barely fighting back now, dodging rather than countering, her movements growing increasingly desperate. The jungle around them had fallen eerily silent. The distant clash of battle had faded, leaving only the sound of ragged breaths and the sharp whistle of steel slicing through the air. Then, suddenly, a surge of power flooded Thalion’s limbs—Evelyn’s buff.

His strength soared. His speed doubled.

Before the vampiress could react, his fist crashed into her face, sending several of her fangs flying into the dirt. She reeled, screeching in agony, but Thalion gave her no time to recover. With a single precise swing, he severed three clawed fingers from her left hand. The cry that tore from her throat was raw, filled with fury and disbelief.

It was only then that she seemed to realize the truth. She wasn’t just losing. She was alone. All the other vampires—dead. Their lifeless bodies littered the battlefield, torn apart, drained, or left in smoldering heaps.

Panic flashed in her crimson eyes. This was the moment he had been waiting for. As if on cue, a small escape token materialized in her right hand. Too slow.

Thalion exploded into motion, unleashing the full terror of his armor’s fear effect he had hidden for this moment. The sheer force of his presence was suffocating, a black tide of dread. And the one closest to him—the vampiress—froze.

That second of hesitation was all he needed. His blade struck true. With a single, merciless slash, he severed her right hand. The escape token tumbled into the dirt. In one fluid motion, his sword continued its deadly arc—taking both her legs and one of her wings in a blur of crimson.

The vampiress let out a soul-wrenching scream, her body convulsing as blood thorns erupted from her wounds. Thalion didn’t stop. He dashed through them, slicing them to pieces before they could even touch him. His next strike took her remaining hand and wing, and before she could react, his armored fist crashed into her skull.

Her head snapped back. Her mangled body hit the ground with a heavy thud.

For a moment, there was silence. Then—a piercing, agonized wail tore through the jungle, raw and feral. It sent birds shrieking into the sky, their wings a chaotic blur against the darkness. But before the cry could fully escape her lips, Thalion’s fist met her mouth again, cutting it off mid-scream.

She was still conscious. Still trying to fight. Bloodied vines of the Sanguine Thorn lashed out from her broken form, writhing toward him like vipers. Useless. He was too fast. With effortless precision, he shredded them before they could reach him. She was a terrible captive already. And she was only going to become more difficult.

A deep, rumbling voice broke the tense silence.

"Uh… why didn’t you just smash her?"

Thalion turned to see Kargul, standing amidst the carnage, covered in blood and blinking in confusion.

"I have questions for her," Thalion replied, his gaze never leaving the struggling vampire. "And I want to do a lot more than just kill her."

Kargul grunted, shifting his grip on his weapon as he eyed the twitching remains of their enemy. "Okay… and how exactly are we bringing her back? She doesn’t look like she wants to go with you."

Thalion wiped the blood from his blade and exhaled. "We just need to hold her here for a little while. A scout vessel will pick us up soon."

He turned slightly, sending a quick mental message to Kaldrek and Maike.

Captured a high-ranking vampire. Tell Amalia to meet me at the tower.

Both responded with immediate surprise, but there was no time for questions. More vampires were on the move, swarming toward Thalion’s base. And worse—hordes of undead were appearing out of nowhere, their soulless eyes glowing in the darkness.

Maike had a theory. The vampires must have a portal. Or something worse. Whatever it was, it allowed them to flood the area around Thalion's base with limitless reinforcements. It wouldn’t be long before they were surrounded by a force far greater than the last.

And this time, the real war would begin.