Chapter 129: Underground Vault [5]

CLANG—! CLANG—! CLANG—!

The sound Wampa hands hitting the sword echo through the vault as Alice desperately trying to block the centuries old monster attack.

Her arms were shaking.

Each blow rattled through her bones like thunder trapped beneath her skin.

CLANG!

She blocked again, knees nearly buckling. The Wampa didn’t pause—it brought down another hammering strike, snarling with ancient fury.

CLANG!—CRACK!

This time, Alice’s guard broke. Her sword was knocked from her hands, skidding across the chamber floor in a trail of sparks.

“Alice!” I shouted, too far, too useless.

She staggered back, breath ragged, blood trickling down her lip where she’d bitten it to stay conscious.

The Wampa loomed above her.

“No! You won’t Kill her! You fucker!”

Immediately, I clapped hands together and made form of gun and activated the blood magic circuit installed in me by Velra.

“Blood Manupaltion: Blood Needle!”

[You have used Blood Magic.]

[A penalty is applied. A certain amount of blood is consumed.]

The dizziness intensified as a consequence, but I didn’t pay any attention to it.

A faint glow traced along my arms as blood surged to my fingertips, sharp and pressurized. Then in instant blood began form at the tip of my fingers tips, it spun and change it shaped to …a long, needle-like spike—thin, gleaming crimson, and deadly.

With a subtle twitch of my finger, it shot forward.

Shlick—!

The Blood Needle buried itself deep into the Wampa’s shoulder. The monster jerked slightly, its body twitching from the impact.

A splash of dark, sluggish blood hit the ground.

The Wampa turned its head slowly, not with pain—but with annoyance.

Its glowing eyes locked onto me.

It didn’t roar.

It didn’t scream.

It just stared, like a god looking down on an ant that dared to bite.

The wound hissed faintly as steam rose from it, the crimson needle sizzling as if trying to burn its way deeper—but the monster’s dense, enchanted flesh held firm.

“…It worked,” I whispered, breath catching.

But only barely.

The Wampa rolled its shoulder once, dislodging the needle with a grotesque pop. The blood-spike clattered to the floor and melted into a puddle, returning to its liquid form with an almost mocking sound.

“Didn’t even flinch…” I muttered.

The Wampa had turned back to Alice.

No words. No hesitation.

Just raw, merciless instinct.

I couldn’t let it end like this.

“Shadow Pin!”

The shadow beneath my feet stretched unnaturally, peeling away from its natural shape. It slithered across the floor like a sentient liquid, jagged tendrils rising from it like spears of dark glass.

They froze mid-air—then struck.

Pin.

Dozens of needle-thin shadows shot outward, slicing through the air with deadly precision.

SHUNK—SHUNK—SHUNK—!

The Wampa’s massive limbs jerked as the tendrils struck true—shoulders, knees, joints—each spear embedding into nerve points with supernatural accuracy.

It staggered mid-step, one claw just inches away from Alice’s throat.

And for the first time—

—it stopped moving.

The chamber fell deathly still.

Its muscles strained, trembling with resistance, but the binding held. The beast’s legs locked in place, arms frozen mid-swing. Veins pulsed violently beneath its fur, as though trying to fight the magic itself.

“Four seconds,” I breathed out. “That’s all I’ve got.”

I ran.

My legs screamed in protest—blood loss, fatigue, magic backlash, all of it—but I didn’t care.

Alice’s eyes met mine as I reached her.

Behind us, the Wampa twitched. The shadow pins were already cracking.

Three seconds.

The next second, both of us getting away from that monster.

Two seconds.

One second.

CRACK—!

The pins shattered like brittle glass.

The Wampa roared—not in rage, but in release—its body exploding into motion. Its claws scraped along the floor, sending sparks flying as it charged forward, murder blazing in its glowing eyes.

The next moment, the guardian of the underground chamber charged at us.

The next moment, the guardian of the underground chamber charged at us again.

I stepped in front of Alice, dagger drawn, and shouted at the oncoming beast.

“What are you thinking, attacking a member of the Draken family, you overgrown spirit?! Hey! The thief you want is right here!”

But it was like I didn’t exist to him.

He barreled right past me, ignoring the one who was literally blocking his path, and continued toward Alice with relentless pressure.

“Prove it!” the creature boomed again.

Prove what?

What exactly did he want her to prove?

Repeating those words like some broken mantra, he lunged at her again.

Thud! Thud!

“Ugh! What kind of air pressure is this?!”

It wasn’t just wind—these were shockwaves. My body rocked backward from the sheer force of the collisions as Alice’s sword met his massive fists. The sound was deafening, and I could feel the vibrations rattling through my bones.

I tried to intercept again, but the guardian simply brushed past me like I was nothing. It was infuriating.

I summoned another Blood Needle—desperately.

But it was no use.

That thick fur and layered fat absorbed most of the impact. Unlike with Bjron, the needle barely even pierced the surface. It didn’t bleed. It didn’t even flinch.

I switched tactics.

“Shadow Pin!”

The shadows leapt to life—but even that was only barely effective. The monster had adapted, twisting and dodging most of the incoming pins. And it still went after Alice, ignoring me completely.

He was too fast.

My eyes struggled to keep up with his movements.

Worse—my mana was draining. Not rapidly, but I didn’t have a big mana pool to begin with. Every cast was chipping away at my stamina.

“Tch.”

I gritted my teeth and took a step back.

Right now, I was dead weight.

If I couldn’t even pull aggro, I was just getting in the way. Useless attacks, wasted energy—I needed a new approach. Fast.

For now, Alice was holding her own.

Her swordsmanship was nothing short of brilliant, each movement calculated and graceful, but the real MVP was the sword she was holding. It was absorbing most of the force behind each blow, acting like a buffer between her and death.

Still…

“…Ugh.”

A strained sound escaped her lips.

She was holding strong—but not unscathed. Each clash sent visible tremors through her body.

She was slowing down.

’If this keeps going…’

She wouldn’t last.

“Damn it,” I hissed under my breath. “I have to help somehow.”

Normal attacks weren’t working.

Daggers? Useless.

Blood magic? Ineffective against a body that could shrug off piercing attacks like mosquito bites.

Even Shadow Pin, my most reliable skill, was barely stalling him now.

We lacked one thing—absolute firepower. Something decisive. Something that could actually wound this thing.

And I didn’t have it.

Which meant—

I had to improvise.

Now.

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