The Novel’s Antagonist: I walk the path of a Villain - Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Just Great…

BOOM!

A ball of ice met the ground and exploded into a bright wave of light that illuminated the gloomy space for a second before fading into darkness.

[TEAM SCORE: 7000/20000]

“It works,” I said, smiling as I watched our points increase, even though I couldn’t see the vampires myself.

All it took was one of those balls to earn us about three thousand points. This is going better than I expected.

Right now, we were on the floor just below the rooftop—the third floor.

Here’s a breakdown of my plan. Vampires all share one general weakness. While this might not fully apply to those of the Duke class and above, it does apply to the High Bloods and the Ordinary class.

For the Ordinary class, they are completely vulnerable when exposed to sunlight. However, there are stronger versions of them that can endure sunlight for a while. Still, the result is always the same—they eventually succumb to the brilliant rays.

Now, as for the High Blood class, they have considerable resistance to sunlight. However, that doesn’t mean it has no effect on them. It weakens them significantly. Yet, just like with the Ordinary class, there are some High Bloods with stronger resistance to sunlight compared to the average.

For this test, though, we were unlikely to encounter any High Bloods, as they were intentionally made to be few in number.

That left us with the Ordinary class, and it was on that basis that I formulated my plan.

My plan was simple—yet ridiculous all the same. I had this crazy idea to trap sunlight in an orb of ice. Well, it wasn’t entirely my idea. In the novel, there was a certain situation where Lucas found himself trapped in a forest plagued by vampires. He couldn’t directly fight every single one of them, as it would weaken him to the point where he’d be at a disadvantage.

So, he did something instead.

He created balls of ice and stored two distinct explosive potions within them, separating the liquids with a thin ice panel in the center of the orb. The idea was that, when the explosive liquids—already highly combustible—were released and mixed, they’d create an explosion strong enough to take out any vampire the orb was thrown at.

That was what I had in mind as well, though mine was a bit more out-of-the-box thinking.

I wasn’t sure if it would work—I mean, trapping sunlight in a ball of ice? It might have been the most stupid thing I could attempt. However, I recalled a sealing spell Miss Melina mentioned during the last Mana Study class.

According to her, the spell, though a weak one, had the ability to contain mana within a device when utilized properly. The seal, however, wasn’t strong and would break if anything happened to the vessel it was applied on.

Now, if the seal could contain mana, what else could it contain?

Light.

Or at least, I hoped it could.

That was why I asked Shelly to create that orb of ice. I then positioned my blade at an angle to direct concentrated sunlight into the orb. To my credit, it actually worked!

That was a huge weight off my shoulders.

If that plan hadn’t worked, we would’ve had to go with my backup plan, which was far less likely to end well.

With the orb now created and capable of containing light, it led to the second phase of my plan: testing if the sunlight in the ice orb functioned the same as regular sunlight. This part of the plan had me on edge.

There’s a difference between direct sunlight from the sun and an indirect source. First was the intensity. The orb could only contain so much light. If it were forced to hold more than it could handle, it would undoubtedly shatter. This begged the question: how much light would it release, and would the released light be strong enough to harm the vampire in question?

The supermarket had three floors, and on each floor were vampires. I had no idea what they were doing, but if I had to guess, the ones on the third floor were probably waiting for the sun to set so they could attack us. As for the others on the lower floors—if there were any—they were probably waiting for sunset as well, but their motive was likely to head out and hunt for fresh blood.

Those vampires were what I was counting on to pass the minimum required score today.

However, we had to be careful. Extra careful.

Though the sun was still up, the fog had grown so dense that its rays weren’t properly penetrating the building, leaving the place dark. And that… was a problem.

If there’s one place vampires thrive, it’s the dark.

They had more of an advantage in darkness, and the chances of us being blindsided and taken out one by one were high.

That’s why I devised this plan to take them out.

“Alright, Elena, your turn,” I said, keeping my eyes forward and scanning the dim surroundings.

“Got it,” she replied, her voice steady. A moment later, I heard the sound of something hitting the floor. Suddenly, the space around us was bathed in a faint, eerie glow.

[TEAM SCORE: 9000/20000]

But something wasn’t right.

I couldn’t see the vampires. Yet, each time one of the orbs was activated, the points increased. That meant they were here, somewhere in the shadows. But why couldn’t I see them? Were they hiding? Waiting for the perfect moment to strike?

“Shelly,” I called out, not taking my eyes off the darkness.

“On it,” she answered. Like clockwork, another orb collided with the ground, illuminating the area further.

We were in a bizarre, nerve-wracking formation. The four of us stood back-to-back, each clutching a handful of glowing orbs. It wasn’t the most elegant strategy, but it was the best we could manage. The truth was, we didn’t have a chance of surviving for long—not at this level. Hell, I wasn’t even sure we’d make it to the second floor.

But survival wasn’t the goal.

What mattered was hitting the minimum score requirement before we were all wiped out.

The vampires were too fast for us to track with our eyes, and our current abilities were nowhere near strong enough to keep up with them. That left us with this plan: watching every angle at once, ready to react the moment they struck.

“Leon,” I said, preparing the next step.

“This is so stupid,” he grumbled, but I heard him drop his orb onto the floor, its light joining the others.

“Alright, let’s move,” I commanded.

We began advancing cautiously, Shelly muttering the incantation for Eye of the Sun again. The spell had been active since we entered, but I had her reinforce it to brighten the area further. The lack of light was already a problem; after what I’d done yesterday—completely destroying the first floor—the mana bulbs were all obliterated. The sun was already setting, and combined with the dense fog, the darkness was suffocating.

“Ugh!” I heard Elena groan in frustration. Turning, I saw her wiping something viscous off her cheek.

“Wait…” I narrowed my eyes at the sticky liquid. “Where did that come from?”

Her face paled as she followed my gaze upward.

And then we saw it.

No. We saw them.

Thousands of vampires, clinging to the ceiling like grotesque bats, their glowing red eyes boring down on us.

“FUCK!” I shouted, heart pounding. No wonder we hadn’t seen them—they’d been above us the entire time!

“SHELLY!” I screamed.

In an instant, a massive blast of wind erupted, ripping the ceiling apart. Debris rained down, and light flooded the cavernous space.

But…

…she made a terrible mistake.

“RUN!” I yelled, but it was already too late.

The ceiling crumbled, sending stone and rubble crashing everywhere. Thousands of vampires, now dislodged from their hiding place, descended in a chaotic swarm.

“OH JUST FUCKING GREAT!” I shouted, panic setting in as the ground beneath me shook violently.

And then it happened.

The floor gave way.

The entire structure collapsed in on itself, dragging everything into the abyss.

‘RYAN!’ Nelia screamed, her voice muffled by the chaos.

Darkness engulfed me, and the last thing I heard was the deafening roar of destruction.