Dragon Tribulation of All Realms

Chapter 172: Illusionization and the Trail

Something is wrong.

The vampire didn't even get close to Wu Chen before Remedios slashed it into pieces with her holy sword. It didn't cause Wu Chen any damage at all, because it was actually quite weak.

It's just an ordinary, degraded vampire.

They weren't much different in intensity from those encountered on the previous floors. Wu Chen could clearly sense their energy levels and the total amount of darkness gathered within them. In any case, they were easily dealt with.

It shouldn't have survived the Flame Strike spell—even if it wasn't a direct hit, and not an absolutely effective counter to holy power, the flames themselves would have been enough to inflict serious damage. Could it be that the Celestial Magic of Calgarh's Kingdom was downgraded after transcription, rendering it ineffective against the vampires of Mondas?
Memories suddenly flood back.

Wu Chen recalled the solar ray that had aimed directly at Callisto but failed to penetrate. At the time, he had assumed the vampire had implemented countermeasures beforehand. But now, the situation might be different.

He pondered for a moment, then led his allies deeper into the lost city before them—a strange stench permeated the burning houses and decaying ruins. The earlier battle, unsurprisingly, had caused a slight tremor in this ruined city.

"Roar—" It sounded like the roar of a wild beast, or perhaps some strange insect. A broken wall suddenly shattered, and another tall, pale monster, as tall as a story, roared as it emerged from behind the wall!
It still lacked reason, but it wasn't a degraded vampire—its energy level was close to the mid-tier in Wu Chen's perception. And the moment it appeared, Wu Chen reached out a hand to it with telepathic stimulation.

Stasis!

The pale, menacing monster was frozen in mid-air. Meanwhile, Wu Chen's thoughts silently drifted towards his allies.

—Using holy magic, pure holy power.

Calja responded, and a pure white light crashed down upon the bound vampire. This was a fourth-tier Strike Necromancer. Pure light struck the dark creature before him!

'Boom—' The light struck the pale shell, like a reef resisting the current. The water receded completely in an instant, but the impacted reef remained standing!

invalid?

No, it wasn't ineffective. The enormous vampire bound by stillness did indeed show some marks of purification by the holy light. However, the total amount of these remaining marks was almost as much as if it had been burned by a candle!

"What the hell?"

A hand rose, and a warm sphere of light gathered at the fingertips—healing spells naturally inflict damage on dark creatures. This pure healing hand, in the form of a gentle flow of light, successfully touched the experimental target under Wu Chen's will.

A wisp of smoke rose from the point of contact of the Healing Hand. The massive, bound vampire let out a low, threatening growl—the holy magic of the Kingdom of Heaven and Mondas was largely ineffective against this dark creature. Wu Chen's brow furrowed, and the Healing Hand transformed into a flowing stream of flames.

Flametongue is the simplest and most basic destruction spell.

Its power should have been highly effective under Wu Chen's control—it instantly transformed into a crimson tide that enveloped the entire giant vampire. The entity surrounded by flames then let out a sharp roar.

No, not at all.

Don't say that vampires are always weak to fire; even if it weren't a vampire, an ordinary flesh-and-blood being would have suffered heavy losses under the effects of this spell. Yet the one in front of Wu Chen withstood his enhanced flames for several seconds!

The roar subsided, leaving only a dark skeleton amidst the pale flesh, still bound by psychic power—undoubtedly, this ordinary lower-level berserk vampire displayed extremely high resistance to holy power and fire damage. In terms of sheer strength, it even surpassed the innate frost resistance of a typical Nord!
—What the heck?

A sense of foreboding arose in his mind. Wu Chen frowned and waved his hand—the three sisters of the Holy Kingdom were immediately released from their summons at his will. His own form also vanished in the distortion of light and shadow.

Illusion magic, specifically the art of stillness.

Third-tier magic, invisibility.

The runes of power operated silently. Even without activation, the passive ability to reduce presence subtly took effect as Wu Chen crouched down—his body vanished in an instant, fading into the surrounding environment like dust in the air and gravel from roadside ruins. And in the very next instant after his disappearance, a tall, slender figure appeared where Wu Chen had previously executed the giant vampire!
A monster.

It wasn't Callisto, but another monster.

It too had crimson eyes and pale skin. Its face was sunken, causing its vampire fangs to protrude slightly. Unlike the previous degraded vampires who resembled refugees fleeing famine, it wore an old, predominantly red coat adorned with dim gold threads that outlined indistinct lines. A nobleman.

The aristocracy among vampires.

Its energy level was higher than Wu Chen's, and also higher than Kalisto's, whose strength had been temporarily boosted by the necromancer's amulet. Its gaze swept over—the remaining vampire skeletons had already crumbled to dust on the ground. It warily looked around, its eyes flashing with bloodlust.

Vampires have a special gift—their natural vision allows them to see anything imbued with blood.

However, after looking around, Wu Chen found nothing from the high-level vampire that was right in front of him.

It suddenly opened its mouth—

'KEEEEEEEEEEE——!' A sharp sound accompanied by a visible shockwave.

All the windows in the vicinity that hadn't yet crumbled over the long years exploded in the same instant. All the walls that hadn't collapsed were riddled with cracks. Countless small stones, rotten wood, and all sorts of broken debris were flung high into the air and scattered in all directions. Its effect on living things should have been even more pronounced.

Under normal circumstances, it is unlikely that a successful stealth attacker will appear within a radius of 100 meters.

but--

“Feim”

The sound of spitting out eyes was hidden within the shrieking.

Mil may be a rather self-centered dragon, but her request to Wu Chen was undisguised—since she pointed out that she expected Wu Chen to help her find another dragon, she wouldn't let him risk his life in unfamiliar and dangerous territory, acting without any support.

The first stage of the phantom spirit's transformation: operation.

The moment Tumu was activated, Wu Chen felt a surge of power flowing from the second scale on the back of his hand—unlike the previous strand of hair, this time the rune imbued his hand with a tangible bite. And some of Mil's power was stored within this scale.

One breath attack instantly transformed into the complete effect of three breath attacks. The cooldown time for the breath attacks was also rapidly reduced under the genuine power of the dragon—Wu Chen's form, hidden within the spell, vanished into nothingness. And the next moment, the sharp shockwave swept past him without any effect!

—An oversight.

Watching the passing sound waves, Wu Chen thought to himself—the more sensible choice would actually be to leave Remedios to draw fire and then feign a self-destruction. That way, the act would be more convincing. However, while Wu Chen may have subconsciously conceived of this plan, he ultimately didn't put it into action.

Even if it were merely a magical condensation with the same appearance, he ultimately couldn't command Remedios to self-destruct. Because Hera had also said that combat experience returns to the original body when traversing worlds. Therefore, the pain of death might also be considered a form of experience.

—But it's not bad either.

The Source Theory didn't activate—despite being a decision that reduced efficiency, Wu Chen didn't feel his condition decline this time. It seems the Source Theory's judgment was indeed based on Wu Chen's own subjective perception rather than some dubious external interference. This saved him a lot of trouble.

Time flows.

He saw the high-ranking vampire, who had gained nothing, let out a sharp howl.

An exceptionally massive blood explosion rapidly formed before Wu Chen's eyes. This innate spell only managed to corrode the floor, creating a small, deep red swamp.

So……

The tall, slender high-ranking vampire moved aside.

From within the illusory spirit, Wu Chen concealed himself and followed closely behind.

(End of this chapter)