Early morning, heavy fog blanketed the surroundings.
The first vanguard team to explore the Blood Demon Dungeon had been assembled and was ready to depart.
Eight Papal Adjudication Knights, led by the Heretical Inquisition Bureau’s Grand Commander, Meiserine Federich, the Pope’s Left Hand.
Five elite Kingdom Knights, two S-Rank Adventurers, and three ordinary adventurers.
Three Chasing Demon Knights, one Demon-Hunting Nun, and one mysterious Ox Nun.
Altogether, the vanguard consisted of twenty-five members.
The Church faction held fifteen members, the Kingdom five, and the Adventurers’ Guild five.
However, the Kingdom Knights and the adventurers were aligned, so effectively the team was split into two factions. Among them, the Church’s Chasing Demon Knights and Adjudication Knights were especially hostile toward each other, clashing just yesterday.
Yet, despite these internal tensions, these rival groups had been forcibly united into a single vanguard.
But that didn’t really matter. The weakest members were the loudest, while true experts didn’t need coordination because their tacit understanding spoke volumes.
You might think we were playing an MMO, emphasizing teamwork and party synergy.
In truth, it was like an FPS first-person shooter. Real masters knew every angle perfectly, every shot was a headshot, bullets flew in lightning speed, six shots per second, killing opponents in an instant.
Masters didn’t need to say much to each other—execution spoke for itself. That was their unspoken agreement.
The true power of this vanguard lay in the Pope’s Right Hand and the two S-Rank Adventurers; the rest were just along for the ride, essentially offering their lives as a shield.
The Pope’s Left Hand was on another level, an inscrutable monk sweeping the floor silently. His power was unfathomable, and no one could tell what tricks he was playing.
Then there were the two S-Rank Adventurers, whose strength was just a notch below the Pope’s Left Hand and not to be underestimated.
Among countless adventurers, only a few rise to the top as S-Rank.
The number of S-Rank Adventurers authorized by the Adventurers’ Guild was roughly equal to that of the Church’s Violet Archpriests—about twenty—but their value was far higher.
Among the Violet Archpriests, there were also local bishops like the Bald Kaido Bishop, akin to minor nobility, while only four or five wielded real power.
But those twenty-plus S-Rank Adventurers had no weak links. Each was a dragon among men, possessing unique skills and an unyielding spirit—heroes all.
First, let’s talk about the S-Rank Adventurer leading the front.
He was clad in green dragon-patterned armor inspired by traditional Chinese style, standing out starkly among the Western knights.
But that was the look of a true powerhouse—confident smile, tall stature, wild hairstyle, handsome horse-like face. You could tell he was a speed and precision gun expert.
His weapon was an ultra-cool Green Dragon Gun.
We didn’t know his real name; adventurers were usually known by their street names.
His moniker was “Azure Moon Rampaging Dragon.”
Corny! The name was so corny!
But corny was the mark of a true adventurer. The cornier the name, the more fearsome the fighter.
So Samimi fully acknowledged his strength. She had originally planned to take everyone on a solo mission.
This wasn’t a problem solved just because S-Rank Adventurers showed up. Even SSS-Rank Adventurers without the right tools couldn’t handle vampires.
Not to mention, the vampires living in this Crimson Court were no ordinary kind.
And these guys didn’t bring any healers into the dungeon—not a single cleric or priest—ready to tank the tainted blood with bare flesh.
No wonder the Church’s priestesses had defected to her side. The Church currently held no respect for clerics or priests, seeing them as dead weight.
Among the twenty-five, there was only one half-skilled healer.
But truthfully, even one half-skilled healer was enough. Healers didn’t need to be numerous, so the clerics’ status was very low in this world.
In the end, it was still up to me, the Demon-Hunting Nun, to shoulder everything.
Wait, no it wasn’t just me. There was one other who could threaten vampires: the team’s only hidden magic user, the plump Knight Qiqido.
This part wasn’t much different from the original story. Qiqido was the core damage dealer.
Her poison could slay gods, which was why she was still alive.
Moreover, the combined strength of this vanguard far surpassed the original Chasing Demon Knights.
The dungeon difficulty should drop quite a bit. Probably?
Finally done with this long and boring pre-battle analysis.
The twenty-five-man vanguard officially set off, leaving the tripartite joint camp and heading toward the deserted manor shrouded in Blood Mist.
Everyone donned their heavy fog cloaks. It had to be said, the formation was imposing and sharp, clearly a team set for serious business.
They entered the cliff-top castle, finding it deserted and chaotic—evidently, the noble family had fled in a hurry, leaving many things uncollected.
Deeper into the castle, they finally arrived before the Dungeon Gate.
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