At their core, Magic Guide Masters are still a mage-type class.
Magic Guide Masters like the Valkyrie-type are, in the end, a minority.
In a way, Vlad wasn't wrong to see him as a 'summoner.'
It's just that 'summoner' is merely one part of what a 'Magic Guide Master' is!
If one truly regards a Magic Guide Master as just a summoner, the final result is often fatal!
In the early days of the rise of Magic Guide Masters, many demons made this mistake and paid an enormous price for it.
...
Vlad's diving speed was undoubtedly extremely fast.
Using a decapitation strike against a summoner is also very effective.
Under normal circumstances, with a summoner's frail physique, there would be no way to avoid such an unannounced surprise attack!
What's more, even before reaching Dark, Vlad suddenly pointed a finger.
The blood-red lines that had been coiling around his body now shot out from his fingertip, instantly targeting the blond-haired boy on the ground!
If this attack hit, the blade-like threads of blood would shred the boy to pieces in the blink of an eye!
But Dark was not the type of person to get carried away at a time like this.
Since he was standing right under the vampire's nose, he was naturally prepared to deal with a surprise attack at any moment.
In the nick of time.
Dark's figure suddenly vanished from Vlad's field of vision!
The deadly blood-red lines pierced through the air, all of them hitting the floor.
Vlad's expression changed drastically.
Following the scent, he whipped his head around and saw the blond-haired boy appear on an empty patch of ground three meters away.
...
Having dodged the fatal sneak attack with a [Blink Spell], Dark watched coldly as Vlad, carried by momentum, came to a screeching halt just before the secret chamber.
"Snap!"
A snap of the fingers.
Hawlucha, hidden inside the secret chamber (the Haunted House), immediately unleashed its one and only special move—[Feather Dance]!
With just a flap of its wings, a large number of feathers scattered out, riding a great gust of wind to surround Vlad.
"Moo!"
Miltank curled into a ball mid-charge, its body taking on a metallic sheen.
Relying solely on the defense from [Defense Curl], it rolled forward, accelerating, and slammed viciously into Vlad!
The moment Vlad landed, he had intended to continue his decapitation strategy, but first his vision was obstructed by [Feather Dance], and then he was hit by Miltank's charge. His entire plan instantly fell apart.
He was forced to turn his attention to Miltank, manipulating the blood-red lines to entangle it before throwing a punch!
"Bang!"
It was an extremely heavy punch, actually knocking Miltank all the way back into the secret chamber!
But after that punch, Vlad felt a sharp pain in his fingers, as if he had smashed them against a steel plate, the bones on the verge of cracking.
He endured the pain and spun around abruptly, only to find that the two Magic Guide Spirits he had forced back had already landed!
...
Gatomon's eyes burned with fury. It was exceptionally enraged that Vlad had gotten past it to attack its master.
The moment it landed, it charged forward, its furious [Cat Claw] aimed straight for Vlad's chin!
If not for the blood-red cape forming a fist to block in time, Vlad's jaw would have surely been shattered!
...
Ditto, however, wasn't thinking that much.
It simply followed close behind Gatomon, pouncing forward to once again team up with it and suppress the vampire!
...
And so.
The battle moved from the sky to the ground.
But the state of the fight had not changed in the slightest.
Vlad was losing ground steadily; his defeat was only a matter of time.
At this point, Betty and Scott, who had witnessed the entirety of Dark's sneak attack, quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Virt and Robert, peeking from the other end of the secret chamber, also noticed that Vlad was completely suppressed. While they felt relieved, they were also exceptionally shocked.
Setting aside the Magic Guide Spirit that could transform, Dark's Gatomon had also appeared in the in-class competitions. Back then, its stats, which transcended its level thanks to the [Holy Ring], had already astonished everyone.
But now, facing a Tier 3 vampire, it could actually fight on even ground?
"Is it the effect of that Field Card?"
Their feelings were a complicated mix.
...
Not long after.
As [Sylveon] was also summoned, the effect of [Paradise] reached its limit.
A total of ten Magic Guide Spirits, and each one's Magic, Attack, and Defense were increased by a full 1000 points!
To gain such a massive boost from a single Field Card—this was utterly terrifying, no matter the era!
But the reason this was enough to suppress Vlad the vampire was because Vlad didn't have many of his memories.
The power of the demon race did not come from nothing; magic was the foundation of their existence.
Using buffing magic to temporarily increase their own strength, speed, and defense, making their already powerful individual stats even greater, was a fundamental element of combat.
But Vlad didn't know how.
If he were given more time to recover his memories, he would become much more troublesome.
But thankfully, he wasn't.
At Dark's command, Sylveon joined the battlefield.
It raised its head high and began to sing a song of enchantment.
"♪♪♪..."
The [Alluring Voice] skill activated, and while dealing minor damage to the vampire, it also spread the charming effect of [Charming Body] in the form of 'sound.'
As a member of the opposite sex, Vlad was unable to completely immunize himself from the charm of [Charming Body].
He suddenly lost focus in the middle of the intense fight.
In that instant, Gatomon's claws pierced through his abdomen, and Ditto's iron fist shattered his arm bone!
"Aaargh!"
Vlad snapped back to his senses amidst a pained scream.
Threads of blood seeping from his abdomen tried to repair the massive wound, but both his blood and his magic were insufficient.
Vlad clenched his fists in agony, veins popping on his brow.
Various emotions—panic, fear, regret—flashed across his face, and his behavior grew increasingly frantic.
But if one looked closely, they would find that deep within his eyes, he was becoming calmer.
Some people lose control when their emotions run high.
Others are the exact opposite.
Vlad belonged to the latter group.
Vampires are not creatures that are so easily killed.
Garlic, crosses, holy water, silver...
Throughout history, humans had devised countless methods to kill vampires, but the vast majority were only effective against blood thralls or blood demons.
A true vampire could even wear a silver cross and eat garlic dipped in holy water.
Furthermore, vampires could transform into swarms of bats.
Every single bat was their clone, containing all their genetic information.
As long as a vampire attached its soul to any one of these bats, it could be reborn.
Vlad himself had been reborn by attaching his soul to one of the bats of the eight-star hidden boss—the Vampire Count.
Afterward, he used the Christmas Day ritual, with blood as the sacrifice, to successfully revive.
As for why his soul appeared in the secret passage, how long it had wandered there, and why it had not dissipated to this day?
Those were things that not even Vlad himself could remember.
...
But the method of his resurrection gave him guidance.
Vlad gasped for breath desperately, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.
Whether it was Dark Demon, who had forced him into a corner, or Betty, Scott, Virt, and Robert, who were hiding nearby with only half their faces showing.
It was as if he wanted to engrave their faces into his very genes; his blade-like stare was so intense it was physically painful!
Scott and Robert subconsciously ducked their heads back.
"Hah!"
A bloody light erupted from Vlad's body, once again forcing Gatomon and Ditto back.
Then, like a licensed, card-carrying villain, he let out a sinister, low chuckle!
"Do you know what a vampire is?"
"We transcend life and death, we surpass eternity. We awaken from corpses, we return from the realm of the dead."
"We were never alive, so how could we possibly die!"
"Foolish humans."
"I, Vlad, will return!"
...
Before his voice had even faded.
Vlad's body suddenly began to swell.
It took only three seconds for him to go from his original lanky build to a round, bloated one!
His limbs bulged, his features distorted, and the ball of blood at the center of his body grew larger and larger, emitting a blood-red light so dense it was overwhelming!
Self-destruction!
The scene was so familiar.
An image flashed through Dark's mind of the Halloween event, of the eight-star hidden boss—the Vampire Count's final curtain call!
The same result.
The same self-destruction!
"Take cover!"
Dark only had time to shout one final warning.
Then, a bloody light dyed the entire world red.
...
With Vlad's body as the epicenter, the shockwave of the explosion radiated wildly down both sides of the secret passage, into the secret chamber, and into every empty space.
The sound of the point-blank explosion was almost deafening.
The scent of blood filled the air.
Betty, Scott.
Virt, Robert.
The four of them instinctively flinched back, just in time to see a crimson tide rush past them, slam violently against the wall ahead, and then splash outward.
"Dark!"
The explosion, which lasted only a few seconds, subsided in an instant.
Scott clutched his heart, gasping for breath.
The other three hurriedly peeked out, wanting to check on Dark's condition.
Just then, hundreds upon thousands of bats suddenly flew past their eyes, disappearing into the labyrinthine secret passages.
"Ah!"
Robert frantically swatted at a bat that flew in front of his face, scrambling backward in fright.
Virt and Betty were also forced to duck their heads back.
And at the center of Vlad's explosion.
Dark Demon struggled to push aside Ditto's body, his heart still pounding with fear.
Vlad's self-destruction wasn't as terrifying as he had expected.
This was perhaps related to the fact that he had focused his final power on creating the bats.
But even so.
Ditto, which had blocked all the damage at the critical moment, still had its MP completely depleted and dissipated in a shower of starlight.
Dark drew the [Magic Beast: Ditto] Magic Guide Card, tapped on its surface, and infused it with magic.
"Thanks."
"Ditto~"
...
Vlad's final self-destruction speech was more like a feint.
He clearly wanted to escape, not take everyone down with him.
The bats scattering into the secret chamber would become the vessels for his rebirth.
But a vampire's rebirth isn't truly that convenient; there are many factors to consider.
However, none of that had anything to do with Dark anymore.
The vampire thought he could escape this way, but he didn't realize this was the territory of St. Marian Academy.
Now that he had left a trail, not a single bat would be able to escape from here!
...
Dark stood up straight, smoothed his messy bangs, and his expression returned to one of elegance.
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