Ch.5454. Vampire Lord

Ah, of course, even if they’re divine artifacts at level 5, there are clear resource limitations. With just three level 5 items, it would be impossible to achieve complete magic immunity or withstand and recover from damage ten times greater than one’s HP.

Equipment is merely supplementary. To incorporate such functions, one would need weapons forged from a god’s soul at minimum.

Therefore, my guess is… his divine artifacts probably have special abilities mostly focused on magic damage reduction.

Judging by how he couldn’t resist Lisa’s level 5 binding spell “Chain of Heaven” earlier, it’s unlikely to be magic resistance. Also, we could confirm that the debuff from “Frost of Cocytus” affected him, so it’s not complete nullification either.

On the other hand, seeing the clear physical damage he took from the Vampiric Dragon’s breath, which isn’t a magical attack, there’s a high possibility he doesn’t have any abilities that enhance physical defense.

As for healing or super-regeneration abilities… since they complement warrior-type classes so well, I think he probably has those incorporated.

Reducing magic damage and recovering with super-regeneration—simple but certainly effective. But if magic damage doesn’t work, there’s only one answer.

《My child, use blood. That one is strong against magic.》

“Father of Blood… I understand! Then, 《Bloody Wave》!!”

If physical damage works, we can simply wear him down with vampiric blood magic—a specialty that counts as physical damage—and beat him until he dies.

Following Lisa’s command, a massive amount of blood erupted from the tip of her staff, crashing over the vampire like a wave. This blood, infused with magical power, sliced at Barca I like countless small blades while pushing him back with its pressure.

If he were in his right mind, he might have countered with a shockwave created by releasing his aura… But with his response abilities diminished due to excessive faith and divine power side effects, Barca I—

“《Thousand Blood Spear》! 《Bloody Meteor Rain》! 《Fall of Bloody Moon》!!!”

He couldn’t even respond to the vampire’s subsequent blood magic attacks and was literally beaten to tatters.

From the pool of blood splattered on the ground by the “Bloody Wave,” a thousand blood spears formed and stabbed at him from all directions. Hundreds of blood clots appeared in the sky, pouring down and pummeling Barca I.

And as the finishing touch, she dropped a massive blood moon created with “Fall of Bloody Moon,” the flagship and most powerful technique of blood magic—

After being hit three times with level 5 magic and once with level 4 magic, Barca I clearly appeared depleted.

His equipment—two axes presumed to be a single divine artifact, plate armor made of connected metal sheets, and his helmet—was in tatters except for the divine artifacts themselves. The presence that had been inflicting minor holy damage to the surroundings just by existing had diminished.

His injuries seemed to have been healed through regenerative abilities gained from his divine artifacts plus healing magic… But what matters is that Barca I has been sufficiently worn down in the process.

So I thought it was just a matter of time now as I watched the battle unfold—

Not long after, Lisa successfully depleted Barca I completely and restrained his near-death state with blood thorns, bringing the three-hour battle to an end.

※ ※ ※

《Well done, Lisa Raeldotir.》

“N-No! It was all, all thanks to your protection, Mar-Duk!”

Shortly after, at the Blood Sanctuary.

When I praised Lisa, who had returned with the captured Barca I and the Vampiric Dragon, she responded as if such treatment was excessive.

For a moment, I wondered if her self-esteem was too low compared to her abilities.

“Most honorable and great Mar-Duk! I offer you this blasphemous and disgusting thing, please accept it!”

As she bowed her head at my shrine and offered Barca I as a sacrifice, as one might do in a blood offering ritual, I had to dissuade her.

《That is unnecessary, Lisa Raeldotir. It is merely dregs now, of no value to me. Use it to create your own servant instead.》

Indeed. After carefully observing Barca I with my divine eyes, I found that he was now just a husk with an intact appearance.

His mind and soul had been shattered by the divine power infused by his former master, the patron deity of the Levia Kingdom, and ironically, even that divine power which had destroyed his mind was completely depleted.

Moreover, because he had drawn faith and divine power from his divine artifacts to move himself, those three artifacts had become empty shells—beautiful scrap metal, just like their owner who was now merely a good-looking piece of flesh.

Therefore, with his connection to his god severed upon the deity’s demise, Barca I could exist independently as a human body returned from being a divine servant… except his soul was damaged.

Considering that the soul is the core of supernatural abilities like aura manipulation and magic casting, Barca I’s body was now just physically tough due to the continuous emission of aura.

That was all that remained, which paradoxically made him perfect for becoming Lisa’s servant.

Normally, if someone is of equal or higher rank, their resistance check success rate increases dramatically (at least 500 times), making it 100% certain that Lisa, a second-rank vampire, would fail to turn them into a servant. Even if successful, they would clearly be a first-rank vampire and impossible to control.

But now, Barca I’s body lacks any self-awareness to resist or break free from control, so turning him into a vampire and attempting to control him wouldn’t be a bad idea—

If it doesn’t work, I can directly intervene and eliminate him. Besides, since Lisa is my apostle, she can easily kill or even subdue an ordinary first-rank vampire without injury.

“…Then, I shall follow your command.”

So Lisa followed my instructions, piercing Barca I’s neck with her elongated nails and injecting her magical power while drinking his blood. His body began to transform due to the concentrated vampiric energy in her magic.

His body, which had been just over 170 centimeters tall—hardly what anyone could call massive—was restructured from the skeleton up, becoming a large frame approaching 190 centimeters.

His Levian-typical brown curly hair and light brown skin changed to a stark white, as if devoid of pigment, and his face transformed to subtly resemble Lisa’s.

Shadow bats gathered from all directions, merging to change his attire into a bat cape and noble clothing, and only then could I identify what kind of monster he had become.

A first-rank monster, a Vampire Lord. Judging by his appearance, he was just an ordinary monster, not a named or boss entity, but still a first-rank vampire and therefore not to be underestimated.

A Vampire Lord is just a high-level vampire, without a specific rank, typically chosen from ranks 1-3 depending on circumstances. His specs would be those of a third-rank monster adjusted to first-rank parameters—which is actually good.

He’s essentially a permanent servant created from what is technically Barca I’s corpse, having lost all abilities from his former life. He can reinforce Lisa’s lacking close-combat protection.

Though he’s wearing those flowing clothes now, he’ll automatically change into armor during combat, and being a servant, he’ll resurrect on his own given enough time if killed.

Additionally, Vampire Lords are excellent warriors and mages who can instantly summon subordinate vampires—at least in terms of summoning subordinates, a Vampire Lord surpasses Lisa.

As the default high-tier race of vampire-type monsters, his job and skills are set to specialize in basic vampire abilities, and he shows no signs of trying to break free from control.

Therefore, according to my estimation—this is probably the maximum benefit we can gain at present.

“…I am a Vampire Lord, and I will follow your orders, my parent.”

Fortunately or unfortunately, despite being a soulless body, a new soul has taken residence as he was reborn.