Malphegor
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MCIM Ch. 12
🕑 Added 2025-09-14 15:29:32 +0000 UTCMario grabbed Krieger, who was slumped weakly on the ground.
The corrupt cop kept struggling, panic written all over his face as he tried to break free from Mario's iron grip.
"No... what are you doing? Let go of me!"
Mario looked at Krieger like he was an idiot, then glanced up at Blade. "Has this guy always been this stupid? Doesn't he wonder how the hell we broke through that bar upstairs and made it down here in the first place?"
The questions left Blade speechless. These vampire cultists all seemed to have serious brain damage, though he supposed anyone dumb enough to worship bloodsucking parasites wasn't exactly working with a full deck.
CRACK.
Mario's fist connected with Krieger's skull.
"You wanted to become a vampire, right? Well, congratulations, I'm about to make your dream come true!"
The punch left Krieger dazed and disoriented, his vision swimming as Mario dragged him over to where Pearl sat.
Blade frowned when he heard Mario's plan. "You want to turn him into a vampire?"
"Why not? It's what he wanted, isn't it? I'm just being helpful." Mario grinned. He grabbed Krieger by the hair and yanked hard, exposing the man's neck. "Hey, Pearl. Time to earn your keep."
Pearl stared at that tempting, vulnerable throat, saliva flooding his mouth uncontrollably. He hadn't eaten his fill earlier, but his terror of Frost had kept his hunger in check. Now, faced with fresh blood just inches away, his body was betraying him.
"No," he said nervously. "He's one of Frost's followers. If I turn him into a vampire, Frost will never forgive—"
Before Pearl could finish his protest, Mario cut him.
"You don't seem to understand your situation here. Maybe I was too nice to you before, and now you think you can bargain with me."
His eyes narrowed as he spoke, "Either you turn him into a vampire, or I kill you right here and now."
"Ten."
"Nine."
"Three."
"I... I'll bite! But wait, shouldn't nine be followed by eight?"
Mario raised an eyebrow at Pearl's expression and said, "What? You got a problem with my math?"
Pearl frantically waved his tiny hands. "No, no, not at all!"
Seeing Mario lift Krieger again and shove the exposed neck right in front of his face, Pearl had no choice. He opened his mouth and sank his fangs into Krieger's pale throat.
"AHHHHH!"
Krieger's scream tore through the underground archives like a banshee's wail. He'd always fantasized about becoming a vampire, but he'd never imagined the transformation would be this agonizing.
After more than ten seconds, Pearl finally released his grip, licking his lips. He usually fed on blood bags, but how could those packets compare to the rich, warm taste of fresh blood? He'd forgotten how long it had been since he'd last tasted something this good.
"There we go," Mario said, tossing the pale-faced Krieger onto the concrete floor. "Now we wait. If he survives the transformation, he'll be one of the undead."
Karen, who'd been silent throughout this display, finally stepped forward and crouched down to examine Krieger's condition. As a hematologist, this kind of supernatural transformation fascinated her. The only disappointment was the lack of proper monitoring equipment.
Seeing how focused she was, Mario offered some friendly advice, "Careful there, doc. You might want to tie him up before he finishes changing."
Karen paused, then quickly realized he was right. She slipped off her jacket, revealing the tight black tank top underneath that hugged her curves in all the right places. Two appreciative whistles echoed through the underground space as Mario and Blade exchanged looks.
Karen rolled her eyes at their behavior.
"Um... do you want me to tell you Frost's address? And his plan about La Magra?"
Pearl's reasoning was simple: since he'd already been forced to betray Frost, there was no way the vampire lord would let him live. His only chance was to throw his lot in with Blade and this stranger.
The mention of La Magra immediately grabbed Blade's attention. He looked at Pearl. "Tell me everything you know. Even if Mario wants to keep you breathing, if you don't cooperate, I don't think he'll give you that luxury."
Pearl nodded, though even that simple motion seemed to take a lot of effort given his massive bulk.
"Frost wants to resurrect him."
As he spoke, he reached over to tap at a nearby keyboard. A 3D holographic display materialized in the air, and simultaneously, a metal door beside them slid open.
"La Magra is about to descend. The Twelve Apostles will awaken him, that's what the prophecy says."
Seeing Blade's confused expression, Pearl continued his explanation, "It's written in the Book of Erebus. And the pages of the book are kept right through there."
He pointed one of his pudgy hands toward the now-open metal door.
Blade's eyes sharpened at the mention of the Book of Erebus, the legendary vampire bible. He'd heard of it in the underground, but never seen the actual text.
As Blade processed this information, Pearl dropped another bombshell. "To resurrect La Magra, your blood is the most important sacrifice. Frost will stop at nothing to capture you alive."
Mario couldn't help but voice his confusion. "To resurrect the vampire ancestor, why does it have to be Blade's blood? Aren't the twelve vampire elders' bloodlines pure enough?"
Ever since watching the movie years ago, he had never understood why resurrecting La Magra specifically required Blade's blood. Just because he was the protagonist?
Besides, Daywalkers weren't exactly unique. Bite enough pregnant women close to their due date, and eventually you'd create more half-breeds.
Pearl looked helpless as he replied, "I don't know the reasoning either. That's just what the prophecy demands. As far as we know, he's the only Daywalker in existence. Maybe it's because his reputation among vampires is legendary."
That explanation Mario could accept. Watching Blade turn toward the chamber containing the book pages, Mario called out to Pearl, "I can't take you with me right now, you understand why, given your... physical situation."
His eyes swept over Pearl's grotesque, immobile form before continuing, "Give me Frost's location. Once I've dealt with him, I'll come back for you."
"He's at the Edgewood Towers, not far from here. But since you came down through the bar, he definitely knows you're here by now. He's probably already on his way."
Mario nodded. "I think we can handle him. I'm heading out."
He waved, grabbed the unconscious police officer from the floor, and followed Blade toward the archive chamber.
Between sheets of transparent protective glass were old pages covered with arcane symbols and disturbing illustrations. These were the inner pages of the vampire bible, documents of significant archaeological and occult value.
Carrying the unconscious Krieger, he quickly caught up with Blade and started to say, "Frost will be here any minute. You should leave first, their numbers are definitely not..."
He stopped mid-sentence because in his enhanced vision, he could see a swarm of vampires rushing toward them from another passageway. There were so many of them that a rough count showed at least a hundred bloodsuckers.
"Contact! They're coming!"
Hearing this, Blade immediately drew the katana from his back, falling into a combat stance. Karen looked panicked.
"What should I do?"
Mario glanced at her, then addressed Blade, "Since we know their target is you, fighting them head-on right now would be suicide. You take her and retreat the way we came. I'll hold the rear."
Blade considered this for only a moment before responding, "We leave together!"
He wasn't stupid. If Frost had come in person, he'd brought overwhelming force. He turned, grabbed Karen by the arm, and started running toward the archive room exit. The sound of approaching footsteps was getting louder by the second.
Mario also rushed back toward the archives, quickly spotting the nearest vampires in his peripheral vision. The moment they saw him, they raised submachine guns and took aim. Seeing this, he quickly pulled stone blocks from his inventory and wedged it into the doorway.
A burst of gunfire erupted.
Fuck me! The difference between 'capture alive' and 'kill on sight' is huge. If these vampires had been this decisive in the original story, Blade would've been dead years ago!
Cracks began spreading across the stone barrier much faster than expected. This caught him off guard, he'd underestimated their firepower.
Looking at Blade, Mario shouted over the gunfire, "You go first! I've got my own way out. I might even beat you back to the surface!"
"Give me everything you've got for fighting vampires except that katana. I'm going to teach them a real lesson!"
Without hesitation, Blade stripped off his trench coat and tossed it to Mario, most of his anti-vampire gear was hidden in various pockets and holsters. Without any dramatic farewells, he dragged Karen toward the exit.
He wasn't worried about Mario's survival. If the Italian was just showing off, there wasn't anything he could do about it anyway. And something told him Mario had more tricks up his sleeve than he was letting on.
Once Blade was gone, Mario's expression became deadly serious. He glanced down at Krieger, who was lying nearby and showing signs of stirring.
"Shit, no more time to play nice."
Without hesitation, he swung his axe down. The pain jolted Krieger fully awake, making him scream. But Mario showed no mercy, three more axe strikes cleared the man's health bar completely.
Somewhat surprised, he picked up the Vampire Fang that materialized from Krieger's corpse.
"Well, I'll be damned. The transformation actually worked."
He was shocked. Barely twenty minutes had passed, and Krieger was already recognized as a full vampire. If he'd known the conversion would happen that fast, he would've used a wooden stake for the execution instead of his axe.
The gunfire from beyond the wall suddenly stopped. No matter how trigger-happy the vampires were, they wouldn't waste ammunition shooting at solid stone forever. Without bullets striking it, the cracks in his stone barrier began slowly healing, though the process would take at least another minute.
After checking the vampires' positions through the wall, he picked a relatively concealed spot and started digging through. But in the silence, his mining sounds were loud and clear. The entire group of vampires turned toward the noise.
The moment he broke through, Mario didn't hesitate. He pulled out Blade's pistol, aimed at the clustered vampires, and squeezed the trigger repeatedly. In that moment, he didn't care about loot drops or materials, he just wanted to clear the room.
Silver bullets infused with concentrated garlic extract were devastating to vampires. Any bloodsucker hit by the ammunition burst into flames immediately. In just one volley, seven or eight vampires were reduced to ash.
Bang! Bang!
The counterattack was swift. Even though Mario quickly sealed the gap again, multiple bullets found their mark. He staggered backward several steps, his health bar dropping to half.
"Damn, that's some serious firepower!"
These vampires weren't pulling their punches against him. The moment they spotted him, they opened up with everything they had.
BOOM!
The stones blocking the doorway exploded into countless fragments.
A swarm of vampires poured through the breach like water through a broken dam.
"There he is!"
"Kill him!"
"Wait, that's the Daywalker!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Mario rolled across the floor just in time, a string of bullets tearing into the spot where he'd just been standing. These vampires moved, advancing under covering fire, not giving him even a second to dig another escape route.
This is not going according to plan.
"Fuck it!"
He burst from cover with a sidestep, squeezing the trigger as fast as he could pull it. The rounds tore through the leading vampires. But he wasn't unscathed, several more bullets found him, dropping his health to a critical 3 HP out of 20.
He dove behind a support pillar. He'd seriously underestimated both the firepower and discipline of Frost's forces.
"Should've picked them off one by one. When they cluster up like this, they're way too dangerous. And they're not even dropping any loot..."
Suddenly, a green sphere appeared in his vision. In that instant, everything around him seemed to slow.
His pupils contracted sharply. He could see every detail of the object with perfect clarity.
"Damn, they've got grenades now!"
BOOM!
The explosion tore through the archive chamber. The shockwave ripped Mario's body apart, scattering his body across the underground bunker.
---
Mario's eyes snapped open. Above him was a cobblestone ceiling. He was lying on a bed.
Where…?
His head was spinning. Out of the corner of his vision, something flickered. A number dropping? He couldn't make it out before it vanished.
"The hell was that…" he muttered, rubbing his eyes. For a moment it felt like something had been taken from him, but the thought slipped away.
It took him a few seconds to realize where he was. This was his base.
"I'm still alive."
But how had he gotten here?
"So the respawn point switched automatically? Wait... does that mean beds in this world also record spawn locations? I'll have to be more careful about where I sleep."
Mario sat up and immediately reached for his cigarettes, lighting one. He checked his inventory and smiled at the Vampire Blood he'd collected during the raid.
More than enough to upgrade his Hunter class to Level 2, with some left over for future advancement.
"Now that I know exactly where their nest is, this just got a whole lot easier."
"Time to level up, and turn that vampire lair into a grinding dungeon."
