CHAPTER 284: EXTRACT!

The vampire knight stood motionless, his glowing crimson eyes locked on Gabriel’s party.

"Get ready to perish. The queen will have a lovely time feasting on your blood."

Gabriel didn’t bother replying. He simply lifted his sword.

The vampire smirked, baring his fangs. "Foolish mortals."

He moved first — vanishing in a blur.

Ever since the beginning of the Blood Tower Event, Gabriel hadn’t moved from his spot.

BANG!

He stomped the ground so hard that even without activating any strength-enhancing skills, the floor beneath him cracked like a spiderweb as he shot forward.

The vampire in his path was slightly stunned by the speed of the human charging toward him like a truck without brakes.

However, vampires were known for their super speed and reflexes. The knight swiftly swung his arm.

FWOOOSH!

Immediately, a red arc of blood exploded outward, slicing through the air toward Gabriel. Despite seeing the attack, Gabriel’s gaze remained calm — he simply tilted his head to the side, avoiding it with perfect ease. The blood arc flashed past him.

The vampire’s eyes widened in disbelief. Before it could attack again, Gabriel’s arm trembled slightly.

SLASH!

A white flash cut through the air. The vampire’s head rolled off its neck and smashed into the ground, shattering like brittle glass. Moments later, the rest of its body collapsed.

---

[Ding! You have killed a Level 10 Vampire!]

[Ding! You have gained 5 Extraction Points.]

Unlike when he killed monsters, the System recognized vampires as a race — which meant that some players out there might have actually chosen them.

Keyword: some.

Because Realm of Ascendency made it known that choosing another race was disadvantageous when it came to leveling up due to numerous racial restrictions.

The human race was one of the most flexible; hence, about 90% of the player base consisted of humans. The idea of the game was to enjoy oneself, not to level up at a snail’s pace while others were already miles ahead.

Of course, the remaining 10% who chose other races were quite secretive, and it was rare to come across one of them.

---

Ragnarok stepped forward, swinging his greatsword to intercept, but the knight appeared behind him instead, halberd slicing down.

CLANG!

He turned sharply to block the strike, though the impact pushed him slightly back — a brief trace of shock flashing across his eyes.

Before he could say anything, a voice spoke nearby.

"Fast," Bunny muttered. "Faster than a normal boss."

"Because it’s intelligent," Sophie replied calmly.

Up ahead, a shadow flickered near the vampire’s feet — Anna’s dagger pierced upward, stabbing straight through the knight’s ankle.

The vampire hissed and leapt back. Blood leaked down, sizzling against the marble floor. Those were special daggers Gabriel had given her — extracted items — and because it was made out of silver, they were a bane to vampires.

The knight glanced at his injured ankle and growled before dashing toward her.

"Hmph!" Anna sneered, meeting him head-on. Her daggers met the vampire’s sword as they clashed repeatedly.

Meanwhile, Sophie extended her palm and cast a quick spell, burning through her mana reserves. "Bind!"

Vines erupted from the ground, wrapping around the vampire’s arms and legs, glowing faintly green.

She drew a short sword and slashed across its neck, killing it instantly.

In a couple of seconds, Gabriel had already killed at least ten vampires, but they were far from over. He launched himself into another horde. The first vampire tried to block, but Gabriel’s sword cut cleanly through its halberd, slicing it in two.

Before it could react, he thrust his blade straight through its chest, pinning it to the wall.

"Wha—"

Gabriel’s eyes flickered blue for a brief moment.

Right then and there, he wanted to use his Extraction Talent, but with so many eyes watching, he held back. Retracting his sword, he let the lifeless body collapse to the ground.

’It’s much easier compared to the last time,’ he mused inwardly. ’Back then, I exhausted half my mana before even getting here.’

This time, he hadn’t used a single skill yet — his mana was still perfectly intact!

Within minutes, with the combined force of the entire guild, all the vampires below were dealt with — including the knight who had threatened them earlier.

They had followed Gabriel’s earlier instructions: target the chest and neck.

Seeing the current state, the lesser vampires watching from the balconies began hissing.

Instantly, they drew their bows, firing arrows with glowing red tips. This was the tricky part!

"Don’t let them shoot!" Sophie shouted. "Gunslingers!"

"On it!"

Ratatatata! Ratatatata!

The gunners didn’t waste time. They began spraying bursts of blue fire at the archers above.

FWOOOSH! FWOOOSH!

The vampire archers released volleys of arrows in return, striking some unfortunate players who turned into glowing data fragments, but the core members managed to evade them.

Furthermore, the Hellfire Turrets proved far more effective than the arrows. They fired faster, and because of vampires’ natural weakness to heat, the enemy was at a huge disadvantage.

Samantha’s dark eyes gleamed. "My turn."

Her hands moved quickly — bones cracked through the stone floor as two skeletal knights rose beside her.

"Attack."

The skeletons sprinted forward with eerily human movements. They leapt to the balconies, hacking through vampires with rusty blades.

Cassie’s buffs shimmered through the air, coating everyone in faint blue light. Her face glistened with sweat.

Ragnarok roared, "Come on!"

He cleaved through two vampires at once, blood splattering across the corridor walls.

The last one — a female vampire with long black hair — hissed and lunged at him, claws ready to pierce his neck.

But Gabriel was faster.

One flash of light — and her head rolled off.

She was the last vampire on this floor.

"Floor clear," Gabriel announced.

Everyone stopped moving.

Even Samantha, trembling slightly, realized the battle was already over.

"That... was the first vampire wave?" Cassie asked softly.

"Yeah," Gabriel said, sheathing his sword. "From here upward, be prepared to meet more of them. Their strength will only increase. In a way, you can call this a warm-up."

Ragnarok blinked. "Warm-up?"

Gabriel didn’t answer. Instead, he looked at Sophie and said, "You guys proceed without me. I have something to handle."

At first, the request seemed strange — weren’t they supposed to ascend together? Why was he suddenly pulling back?

However, Sophie didn’t question him and led the others upstairs.

When he was certain they were gone, Gabriel approached the corpse of a level 31 headless vampire — the strongest one on the floor, killed by a single strike of his.

His eyes glowed faintly as he muttered under his breath, "Extract."

***

AN: For the umpteenth time, I have a template I follow... Extraction Points are not random. The amount required to extract, the amount needed per extraction, and how much EP each level gives are all predetermined. I’ll create an aux Chapter later on an paste it there