Absolute Dweller

[Episode 17] Skirmish¹[전초전 – skirmish or prelude] (1)

‘Level 50….’

It was one level higher than the one I saw before.

But considering how the higher the level, the more significant the difference, it was certainly not to be ignored.

‘Offer citizenship.’

I immediately offered citizenship to him.

‘Accept it!’

Controlling over 50,000 citizens was a challenging task, but controlling a single problematic citizen was extremely easy.

It was possible to restrict them through quest assignments, and penalties could be imposed, including death.

Of course, it wasn’t all advantages.

‘I’d miss out on experience points and settlement money, but…’

This was just speculation, but if someone with citizenship is hunted, there would be no rewards.

‘When Jegal Seong-gyu killed citizens, their bodies remained intact.’

Back then, even though Jegal Seong-gyu had citizenship, the bodies of the citizens he killed did not disappear.

Naturally, there were no experience points or settlement funds.

‘It was the same with the lesser vampires who died after I confronted them.’

The lesser vampires who showed hostility towards me had their heads explode, but their bodies remained intact.

They too held citizenship and were not settled.

Based on those cases, it was clear that this vampire would be the same.

‘If I grant citizenship and then kill them, I get nothing.’

Even so.

‘A higher vampire is too dangerous. Ideally, it should be dealt with here and now.’

While I would lose out on experience points and money, considering the safety of the hunting teams roaming outside the territory, this was the best choice.

‘Moreover…’

If it accepted citizenship, I intended to extract information from it.

‘It keeps bothering me.’

The ‘him’ mentioned by the higher vampire defeated by Ha Dong-geon’s party kept nagging at me.

It was clear that ‘he’ possessed power beyond higher vampires. Could Ha Dong-geon’s party really handle it if he showed up?

What if he commanded more than just one or two higher vampires?

‘It’s a dilemma.’

While Ha Dong-geon’s party was strong, higher vampires were formidable.

Even if there were only three higher vampires at that level, it would be hard to guarantee victory. And what if there was an even more powerful enemy?

Even with my support, Ha Dong-geon’s party might be annihilated.

‘Would it be possible if we gathered all the other hunting teams to face it?’

Honestly, I was skeptical.

The other hunting teams had grown considerably, but they were not yet at the level to battle with higher vampires.

‘Unless I raise the levels of all the vassals…’

I shook my head to clear away my thoughts.

There was no point thinking about it now anyways.

I had no information about the enemy.

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

‘I need to find out as much information as possible.’

The level.

The scale of their forces.

How many other higher vampires existed, and so on.

‘…But why is this guy hesitating so long?’

The higher vampire was standing there with a grim face, placing his hand on the transparent wall.

After a while, the conclusion he reached was:

[The target has refused the citizenship offer.]

‘…Why?’

[Unauthorized entity attempting entry.]

[Unauthorized entity attempting entry.]

The vampire kept tapping the transparent barrier as if trying to gauge its size, and then suddenly straightened his posture.

‘What is he doing?’

Bulge.

His right arm swelled, and the skin flushed red.

Immediately after.

BOOOM!

A tremendous punch struck the transparent barrier, creating a huge explosive sound.

Shockwaves spread across the barrier, getting absorbed.

[Unauthorized entity attempting entry.]

Of course, his punch did not break through.

The barrier remained intact without even a small crack.

Instead, it was the higher vampire’s fist that was damaged.

Crackle crackle.

My expression hardened as I watched its hand heal in real time.

‘This guy is dangerous.’

Although he hadn’t broken through the barrier, the force and impact of his punch just now were not something to be taken lightly.

‘It seemed even more powerful than the Cyclops’ punch!’

Judging by the shockwaves and the explosive sound that resounded from the barrier, it seemed stronger than the Cyclops’ reckless punches.

‘Is it an ability?’

It wasn’t unreasonable to think that the vampire had an awakening ability.

Ha Dong-geon’s party was also showing results far stronger than their level thanks to their awakening abilities.

The higher vampire killed last time also controlled blood as if it were an extension²Like they were limbs. of its body.

It must be a similar kind of power.

At that moment, he turned away.

As I slowly watched him move move away from the barrier, I thought:

‘I can’t just let him go like this!’

I immediately used the Communication Ring.

[Ms. Dabin, please tell all the hunting teams in Suyeong-gu to return immediately.]

[Understood.]

First, I called back all the hunting teams that were likely to encounter the vampire.

Then.

[Ye-jin, please come up to my house.]

I called Seo Ye-jin and,

[Everyone, an urgent matter has come up that needs to be dealt with.]

I thought about it for a moment before calling Ha Dong-geon’s party just in casee.

Because I had a trump card.

‘Should I call him?’

***

The higher vampire, Go In-seok, was hastening his steps with a frown.

‘What kind of power is that…?’

A giant transparent barrier.

He had clearly witnessed the shockwaves spreading across the entire barrier after striking it with a punch.

‘Crazy.’

The barrier was so massive.

It was so big that it was impossible to measure.

It was almost like a barrier surrounding an entire city.

Despite its enormous scale, it remained unscathed even after Go In-seok’s full-force punch.

“There’s an existence capable of maintaining such a large-scale barrier constantly?”

A chill ran down his spine.

As soon as he saw that, he immediately understood how Jeong Yeong-hoon died.

‘Jeong Yeong-hoon’s death was definitely caused by the being inside that barrier.’

Go In-seok was able to gauge the existence inside just by the size of the barrier, because he had already experienced something similar before.

An incredible existence with incomprehensible power.

‘But…’

Go In-seok looked down at his smashed right hand.

Bones stuck out through the skin, and as he watched his hand slowly regenerate, he thought.

‘Even with his greatness, could he do something like this?’

The ‘citizenship’ proposal he received was also strange.

The moment the offer appeared, he inexplicably recalled the moment he first became a vampire, when the Great One’s blood flowed into his mouth.

Instinctively, he felt that accepting the offer was something he should not do.

‘This is not something I can handle alone. I should return.’

With that conclusion, Go In-seok headed back to his base.

Unaware that a small mouse was trailing him.

Tracking a higher vampire was not particularly difficult.

If he had run at full speed, there would be fewer ways to track him, but fortunately, his leisurely pace allowed Seo Ye-jin’s mouse to keep up.

However, even that had its limits.

“What do we do? I think the connection is about to be lost.”

Seo Ye-jin had become much more skilled and could now maintain the sensory link while conversing. Additionally, the distance which she could share senses with the mice had significantly increased.

Still, the connection would be lost soon.

“Where did you say the vampire was now?”

“He just passed Sinhaeundae Station.”

That meant the vampire was moving extremely far away.

“Ah.”

“Is it over?”

Seo Ye-jin, who was sweating profusely, answered with a gloomy expression.

“Mm, I’m sorry….”

I patted Seo Ye-jin’s head, comforting her.

“You did well. Ha Dong-geon’s party is chasing after him anyways, so it’s fine.”

Seo Ye-jin smiled and replied.

“That’s a relief.”

“You must be tired. Try to get some rest.”

“Okay.”

As I watched Seo Ye-jin carefully lie down on the sofa, I thought to myself.

‘Is he planning to go all the way to Gijang?’

I had hoped to find out the vampires’ base through him, but it seemed their base was much farther away than expected.

‘Could it be Ulsan?’

The tracks the higher vampire was walking on was the Donghae Line, which ran from Busan to Taehwagang Station in Jung-gu, Ulsan.

Choosing the Donghae Line among many possible tracks was significant.

‘If the vampires’ base is really in Ulsan…’

It would make sense that another higher vampire had come a month after the previous one was killed.

‘…What if.’

It was a grim assumption, but…

‘What if the vampires have taken over all of Ulsan?’

Ulsan was a huge city with a population of 1 million.

If such a large population became nourishment for the vampires, how many higher vampires would there be?

…Terrible!

Realizing this, I could foresee the potential consequences when the higher vampire, who had scouted our area, reached his destination.

In the worst scenario, a monster commanding dozens of higher vampires could come here.

‘We must not let him go!’

The conclusion was clear.

I said to Ha Dong-geon’s party, who was closely following the higher vampire.

[We’re switching to Plan B.]

At that moment, Ha Dong-geon’s party members began to move swiftly.

‘Absolute Dweller’s Eyes’

Shwaaaah—

Kim Geon, who was flying in the sky merged with Kaman, quickly swooped down towards the railway tracks.

At the same time.

‘Open warehouse. Release poison mist.’

Pwisshhhh—

Purple poison gas spewed out from beneath Kim Geon, drifting to the ground and blocking the higher vampire’s path.

The tracks from Sinhaeundae Station to the next station, Songjeong Station, was built above ground, making this possible.

“Hm?”

Suddenly confronted with the purple gas, the higher vampire stopped and looked up at the sky.

The moment his attention was diverted to Kim Geon flying above, Moon Byeong-ho, who had been stealthily tracking the vampire from the closest range, began firing his gun in rapid succession.

Dadadadada—! Dadadada—!

It was an attack aimed precisely at the vampires’ weakness—the heart.

However.

Crunch crunch.

Click click—

The bullets lodged in the vampire’s back began to pop out one by one.

The vampire’s entire back was stained red.

“Grrr. You bastards…”

With a face twisted in rage, the vampire rushed in.

A punch was aimed directly at Moon Byeong-ho’s position.

“!!”

Although momentarily flustered, Moon Byeong-ho remained calm and used teleportation to evade.

Whoosh!

As the vampire swung at empty air, a light arrow flew from the left, once again aiming at the vampire’s heart.

“Grrk!”

The higher vampire rolled forward to dodge the arrow.

As the vampire began to stand up again.

Swoosh!

A spear imbued with dark energy flew towards him.

“Rise!”

And silver armored knights rose around him.

The higher vampire clicked his tongue and threw himself into the poison mist.

A foolish choice.

No matter how much he held his breath, he couldn’t completely avoid inhaling the gas. Once Yoo Hye-rin’s paralysis poison penetrated his body, tracking him down would not be difficult.

Moreover.

‘Oh Eon-ju is already waiting on the other side of the poison mist wall!’

It meant that even if you tried to escape, you were still trapped in Buddha’s palm³Sun Wukong reference..

[Mr. Kim Geon, please assist Oh Eon-ju and buy as much time as possible.]

The plan was to have Ha Dong-geon’s party join together to take down the higher vampire.

However…

BOOM!

Suddenly, an explosion was heard from within the poison mist.

Simultaneously, a gust of wind dispersed the mist in all directions.

From within it, the higher vampire, whose entire body turned bright red, slowly emerged.

‘Not good.’

The vampire throwing himself into the poison mist wasn’t to escape but to buy time to unleash his abilities.

Chink!

A steel knight charged at him.

However.

Clang—!

The halberd wielded by the steel knight slid off without even piercing the vampire’s skin.

The higher vampire sneered and swatted the steel knight away.

Boom!

The heavy steel knight flew through the air like a toy.

In the chilling silence, the vampire smirked.

The next moment.

“Grrk!”

The higher vampire charged at Ha Dong-geon and swung his fist.

Ha Dong-geon tried to block the attack by gripping his spear with both hands, but—

Crunch!

The vampire’s fist shattered the spear in an instant and continued forward.

BOOOOOMMM!

With a loud sound, Ha Dong-geon’s body was sent flying backwards.