"A vampire?"
A flicker of surprise crossed Kurose Akira's face. But with only a single portrait in front of him, he still couldn't unlock that keyword. At minimum, he would need three such images…
"Why would a painting be inside a coffin?" Shen Jun muttered, scratching his head in confusion.
"That woman is… strikingly beautiful," the centaur warrior Azkman said in a low voice, her gaze fixed on the figure in the painting.
Yet no one could make sense of the woman's identity.
Neither the adventurers nor the players recognized her. Even when they used their authority to inspect it, the system only identified the painting as an ordinary item—no value, no background, nothing noteworthy.
Everyone, that is, except Kurose Akira.
"I'll take this painting," Akira said quietly, carefully lifting it from the coffin.
To anyone else, it was worthless junk.To Akira, it was treasure.
"What do you want a painting like that for?" Shen Siqi asked curiously.
"I collect anything related to beauty," Akira replied lightly, slipping the painting into his inventory.
Shen Siqi paused, then nodded in understanding, clearly agreeing with his aesthetic sense. After all, the woman in the painting truly was breathtaking.
"But still," Shen Jun persisted, frowning, "why would a coffin contain a painting in the first place?"
No matter how he thought about it, it made no sense.
"Who knows?" Azkman said, scanning the room with a vigilant eye. "But within my perception range, there's no trace of any monsters."
Aside from the coffin itself, the chamber contained nothing else of note.
"Let's keep moving," Red Lotus said, pushing open the doors leading from the dining hall into the main hall. A thick, nauseating stench of blood rushed out to meet them. "The vampire in this castle isn't something we can afford to let other adventurers steal."
As they advanced, Akira noticed something glinting near the coffin.
"Hm?"
He bent down and picked it up.
"This is a Royal Knight medal from the Stellar Kingdom," one of the knights in Shen Siqi's party explained. "An honorary commendation."
"A Stellar Kingdom Royal Knight's medal…" Akira frowned slightly. "Why would this be here?"
"Maybe someone already explored this place before us," Shen Jun offered.
Akira narrowed his eyes.
He knew adventurers had indeed entered this demon nest before—but something about this explanation felt wrong. Still, after turning it over in his mind with no result, he pushed the thought aside and continued deeper into the castle.
The moment they stepped into the grand hall, an eerie sound crawled into their ears.
Click—clack—click—
The sound of teeth chattering together echoed through the space, sending chills down their spines.
"They're finally here!" Red Lotus shouted excitedly, gripping her massive sword as flames leapt around her body. "I've been waiting for this!"
Everyone instantly tightened their grip on their weapons, bracing themselves for whatever would emerge from the darkness.
The hall connected directly to the staircase leading up to the second floor. A long red carpet stretched across the floor.
As they scanned their surroundings—
Dozens of dark crimson eyes suddenly lit up along the ceiling of the second-floor corridor, staring down at them.
"Found you."
Red Lotus curled her lips into a smile. Her body shot upward in an instant, leaping straight onto the second-floor corridor and plunging into the shadows.
BOOM!
Flames erupted, filling the corridor as piercing bat shrieks echoed throughout the castle.
The next instant, swarms of bats were stirred into a frenzy, pouring out in all directions and diving toward the party.
"So many of them!" Azkman exclaimed.
She swiftly drew her spear and thrust it forward with pinpoint precision, impaling a bat the size of a leopard straight through the heart.
"Spellcasters," she warned, "avoid large-scale destructive magic. Damaging the castle's structure could collapse the terrain."
"Understood!" the group responded in unison.
Although the castle walls were reinforced by a thin layer of magic and could withstand some spell damage, excessive high-output magic could still cause a collapse.
That would only make the battlefield more chaotic—and no one knew what else might be lurking inside the castle.
Naturally, Azkman was mainly directing that warning at her own companions: Red Lotus and Kailin.
Soon, the party was locked in fierce combat with hundreds of massive bats.
Each one was as large as a leopard, with combat power far beyond the norm. Every single bat was level 20 or higher.
Even stranger—whenever one was killed, its body instantly dissolved into a single drop of blood before vanishing completely.
With three adventurers over level 50 present, casualties were unlikely.
Yet something was wrong.
No matter how many bats they killed, their numbers never decreased. Worse still, the system didn't issue any contribution notifications at all.
"What the hell—why won't these things die out?" Shen Jun cursed, staring at the endless swarm.
"They're being summoned," Akira said, eyes narrowing as he scanned the surroundings. "Something nearby is continuously calling them forth…"
He searched carefully for the source—but sensed nothing unusual.
Red Lotus and the others noticed the same anomaly, yet even after thoroughly sweeping every room on the second floor, they found nothing. All of them were empty.
"There!" Lucia suddenly pointed toward a room at the far end of the corridor.
Akira followed her gaze.
The room was completely empty—no people, no objects. Precisely because of that, they had overlooked it.
Only Lucia had noticed the faint traces.
"Loserine—open the way!" Akira commanded.
At the same time, his body rapidly expanded. Crimson dragon scales burst across his limbs and cheeks. His muscles swelled violently, tearing his clothes apart until only his trousers remained.
The sudden transformation startled Lucia on his back.
This was the first time Akira had revealed his half-dragon form in front of the guild members.
Well—everyone except Ivsha, that is. After all, he had spent an entire night battling that little succubus nun to test the overwhelming might of his half-dragon transformation.
"Let's move!"
Akira pulled Lucia tightly into his arms, shielding her from the attacking bats.
Lucia froze for a split second.
His overwhelming muscles shocked her. Though she was tall and well-proportioned, compared to Akira in his half-dragon state, she felt small—almost like a delicate doll.
Worse still, Akira clearly hadn't fully mastered his strength yet.
The force with which he held her was terrifying—like he was trying to crush her into his own body.
It hurt.
He's… holding me way too tight!
With a thunderous crack, Akira shattered the floor and leapt straight into the room at the end of the corridor.
Loserine followed close behind, clearing a path and knocking away any bats that dared approach.
Even so, more bats kept diving toward Akira.
"Get lost!"
He barked coldly, clutching Lucia with his left arm while his right swung out. Razor-sharp dragon claws tore through the air, shredding every bat that came near.
He didn't notice the flash of pain crossing Lucia's face.
His hand was already pressing far too deep—
Seriously!
Lucia's expression darkened with irritation.
Golden holy light exploded from her body.
In an instant, radiant brilliance flooded the corridor, obliterating every bat nearby into a mist of blood and purifying the entire area.
"…?"
Akira paused mid-motion.
Lucia's magic was as terrifying as ever—but what confused him was the unmistakable trace of anger woven into that holy radiance.
Still…
He had to admit it.
Their compatibility was absurdly high.
Normally, spellcasters were vulnerable while casting.
But if he carried Lucia like this—
Wouldn't that make them completely unstoppable?