Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

The group of nine prepared themselves to fight. At that moment, the very first batch of presences that surrounded them appeared before eyes. It was humans, their movements were sluggish and there was something bizarre about them.

"Wait aren't they the denizens of the Black Town?"

One of them recognised the people or more like it was the only logical conclusion after all, who in their sane mind would choose to sit in the Norther Outlaw Forest other than the people of the Black Town?

"Something is wrong, look at them. They look exactly like that weird informant" Benny warned.

"Good observation, all of them are the same as the one you took out"…

"You mean that unkillable thing?"…

"They are not something but humans who have been converted into lesser Ghouls, a kin of the lesser vampires by Miss Maybell's kindreds. They will also be your opponent" Annette answered, introducing the opponents to them.

"Lesser Ghouls?!!" Before Lucas and the others could even comprehend what those words meant, the army of Lesser Ghouls started rushing towards them.

"Dammit, it looks like we have been had. Everyone prepare for battle" With Benny leading, the group faced off against the enemy.

Lesser Ghouls, born as the spawn of shadows, they are a kin to the lesser vampires. They are eerie beings that dwell in the realm between life and death. These creatures although not a full fledged vampire, share a semblance with them in their undying nature.

No matter the severity of the wounds inflicted upon them, be it through piercing blades or spells of destruction, Lesser Ghouls seem impervious to the grasp of death. Because of their undying resilience that allows them to keep moving even after sustaining life threatening wounds, is what makes them an excellent footsoldier.

Other than that, their voracious hunger that drives them to relentlessly attack any living being, not for sustenance but simply as a means of pure pleasure is what makes them a threat and a menace.

They seek to drain the life force from the living, drawing sustenance from the very breath of their victims.

Despite all the semblance, one shouldn't mistake them for a vampire after all ghouls are merely just a footsoldier, a cannon fodder in the hierarchy of the vampires. Although they bear some semblance, they are nowhere near the threat that a vampire represents.

Not only that, even though they are lesser versions of vampires, they are unable to think for themselves and are driven purely by instinct or by the one who created them.

Unlike the vampires, who can regenerate their lost limbs, Ghouls are unable to reciprocate any such abilities. Nevertheless, despite their obviously lacking strength and weakness, what really made them a threat was the fact that they could be mass produced.

That's right, any vampire or higher can create ghouls and have them serve them. These ghouls then can create more of their kind by biting into their prey and the latter doing the same, thus creating a chain where more and more of them are produced.

As could be seen from the scene that was playing out in front of the humans right now.

"Dammit, no matter how many you kill, there are simply no end to them" Culling a couple of ghouls with his sword that was laced with red thunder, Benny complained.

"If you have the strength to complain then it means that you have the energy to kill. It doesn't matter how many of these things she throws at us, they are all individually weak. We just need to deal with their numbers" Lucas answered back.

The others too nodded their head in agreement. If it was before, they would have been surprised at the uncanny undying ability of these ghouls. However, after facing the informant named Jarr, they now knew how to deal with them.

These things or as called as Lesser Ghouls by that woman named Annette are beings that have a high resilience and do not die easily. To kill them you would have to either use magic to destroy their body or use overwhelming force to blast them into smithereens.

Another way to kill them is by…

"Attack their heads, it's weakness" Benny shouted.

Unlike wither limbs or any body parts, once the head of the lesser ghoul is cut apart or destroyed, they stop completely.

Finding this weakness, made it easier to ward off the army of ghouls. However, the more they fell, the more the woman would bring forth with just the clap of hands. The scene seemed never ending like a nightmare that had no end in sight.

"Did this woman turn the entire black town into these things? It can't be right?" somebody joked. However, from the sight in front of them, it hardly seemed like a joke and more of a fact.

"Dammit, it's hard to confront this number while covering for someone. Hey man would you snap out of it and fight these things"

One of the warrior looked at the Assassin who had been standing still all this time. Handling these many numbers, even with their high level was proving a little difficult which is why he snapped at the other party.

However, even after being ridiculed, the assassin showed no signs of moving from his place or confronting the ghouls. Novel Fire - novelfire.net

"Hey watch out" Just when it seemed like he would be attacked by the ghouls, the enemy simply ignored him and walked past.

What is going on? How did he do that? Just as those questions arrived in their minds, the answer was revealed.

"Gurghhh… Raargghhh" The assassin growled. When he lifted his face up, his complexion had changed completely, turning pale white. Bloodshot eyes and sharp fangs, he looked just like the Ghouls around him.

"This can't be" The warrior who was covering for that assassin was taken aback. He hurriedly put up his shield to defend against that assassin when he realised he was pushed back for the first time since the start of this clash.

The assassin unlike the other ghouls was more powerful. Almost at the same time, the woman who was watching the entire spectacle while standing in the sky spoke.

"It looks like the Lesser Ghouls aren't your match. Then how about we switch it up a level… Clap"

With a clap of her hand, another batch of Ghouls appeared out of the forest. However, unlike the many ghouls around, there was something fundamentally different about them. It was not only their gears which was better than all the other ghouls who only had low quality gears or simple clothes with them.

No, this one, they were special as they held better gears and obviously released a much more powerful aura. They were Greater Ghoul, the evolution that came after Lesser Ghoul.

"Now then how will you deal with them?" With Annette's voice as the signal, the Greater Ghouls joined the battle.

CLANG… CLANG… over at the place where the warrior was, a fierce battle was going on. The assassin who had turned into a Greater Ghoul, attacked the warrior with a relentless force.

With all the lesser ghouls and now even a greater ghoul attacking him, the latter was barely able to hold on. Similar cases could be seen with the others too. They were all struggling to contain the enemy.

Perhaps they weren't in danger of dying; however, they were no longer able to take it easy anymore. They were compelled to use some of their more powerful skills that they have been keeping it away from Annette's eyes.

"Don't let them bite or else you will also turn like them"

To make matters worse, the woman fanned the flames with her words. They had all seen what happened to the assassin who got bitten by a Ghoul, thus they did not dare to get careless and let a ghoul get too close to them.

On top of fighting the greater ghouls, the army of lesser ghouls, trying not to get bitten or even injured, they also had to keep an eye on the woman who was clearly the mastermind behind this ambush.

The armies of ghouls were just there to tire them down, the true opponent was actually the woman standing in the sky, looking down at them with her cold sophisticated eyes.

Why was she attacking them? What motives she had? They had no idea, though one thing was clear. After they finish dealing with the ghouls they will have to fight her next.

"Hmph, fight, fight, keep fighting and tire yourself out. When you are almost exhausted, I will reset the board and reduce all your efforts to nothing. I will throw you into the pits of despair and make you beg for death"

Standing in the air, Annette muttered to herself. The group of nine humans now reduced to eight, had no idea what was coming for them. They fought diligently yet whenever they felt like they reduced a significant number of the ghouls, more and more would pore out from the forest.

The same was the case for the greater Ghouls too. Although they are said to be greater ghouls, they are in the end ghouls too with a higher level. If a lesser ghoul was around 150-200, then a greater would be around level 300. It was just the matter of level.

However, if one thought that they were nothing special and underestimated the greater ghouls they were up for some surprise. Unlike your typical mindless lesser ghoul driven by instincts, the greater ghouls retained some form of mind.

They were not only intelligent, knowing how to feint and attack, they could also use the skills that their human self knew.

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