Whoosh!
Dracula's figure flashed, vanishing instantly, dodging the black blade that fell from the sky.
The next second, he appeared before the Level 4 guard like a ghost.
Raising his arm, he pointed the cold muzzle of his gun directly at the guard's face and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, and the bullet struck the guard squarely in the head. While it didn't shatter his skull, it did knock off nearly a third of his health.
No kill, no skill reset, and [Fatal Shot] entered its cooldown.
However, the high damage dealt to the guard's head immediately triggered a stun effect.
The Level 4 guard leaned against the ground with his black longsword, his eyes glazed over, completely unable to resist.
How could Dracula miss such a golden opportunity?
A crimson glow emanated from its body, and blood-colored energy burst forth from its body, spiraling toward the Level 4 Guard.
[Crimson Feast: Detonates the target's blood, dealing heavy explosive damage. If the target's health is below 50%, an additional 30% of Dracula's maximum health is added to the target.]
Boom!
The Level 4 Guard's body trembled violently, and a thick blood mist erupted from it. It staggered, and its health dropped to a quarter.
Then, another crimson glow erupted from it.
[If the target's health is below 50%, an additional 30% of Dracula's maximum health is added to the target.]
The additional damage was applied!
Damage exploded!
Bang!
The Level 4 Guard exploded on the spot, scattering black flesh and blood all over the ground.
[Kill a Level 4 Fallen Guardian, +75 Experience]
[Level: Level 2 (193/200)]
Experience skyrocketed! Another Level 1 Guardian is enough to level up.
Gu Chen was overjoyed. He'd expected the leveling to be fast in the early stages of the dungeon, but he hadn't expected it to be this fast.
It seemed that once he cleared the dungeon, he should be able to reach Level 5 smoothly, and then he could contract a second summoned beast.
"Two skills to kill a Level 4 guard!"
"That's amazing!"
Lin Qingqing's eyes widened, as if she were dreaming.
"This is an epic summoned beast! It's absolutely insane!"
Lin Yuan, who was sitting by the flower bed, slapped his thigh and stood up. Two skills dealing nearly 3,000 damage—what else could that be?
"Such terrifying damage! Even Li Wenhui from the key class couldn't do it," Wu Ziyi said with a complicated expression.
"Be more confident. Remove the 'bar'. Didn't you see that Old Gu's last skill already overflowed with damage?" Lin Yuan said with a smug look.
"Li Wenhui is a Retribution Paladin, focusing on burst and sustained damage. Even at level 4, let alone level 2, there's no way he could deal nearly 3,000 damage with just two skills," Lin Qingqing said, shaking her head.
Gu Chen remained noncommittal about the discussion.
Based purely on damage, the skill [Fatal Shot] combined with [Crimson Feast] can only knock off three-quarters of a level 4 guard's health at most.
To kill a level 4 guard directly, there's still a gap.
The reason he was able to kill directly was because Gu Chen's summoned beast, after several evolutions, had a health point of 3,200, practically sweeping its level.
Now, 30% of Dracula's maximum health was nearly 1,000, enough to deal significant additional damage.
That's why he was able to kill the level 4 guard directly.
A regular summoned beast of the same tier would have a maximum of around 700 HP. Even with additional damage, it could only severely cripple a level 4 guard, not kill them outright.
Therefore, the feat just now relied heavily on epic-level summons.
After inspecting the battlefield to ensure no equipment or items had been dropped, Gu Chen led the group deeper into the temple ruins.
After crossing the square, they arrived at the inner courtyard.
Dracula led the way, raising his hand and firing a lightning-fast shot, dispatching a guard lingering in the inner courtyard.
[Kill the Fallen Guardian LV.1, gain +8 experience]
[Level Up]
[Level: LV.3 (1/386)]
[Strength: 37]
[Agility: 36]
[Constitution: 38]
[Spirit: 39]
[Summoned Beast: Dracula LV.3 [Epic]]
[Talent - Currently Gaining a Dark Bloodline]
Gu Chen's eyes lit up with excitement at this prompt.
Currently located between the square and the inner courtyard, with no immediate danger, he activated his talent, and a familiar crimson light appeared in his sight.
[You Have Gained: Dark Bloodline - First Generation]
[Dark Bloodline - First Generation: Can transform ordinary creatures into dark creatures, or fuse bloodlines with first-generation dark creatures for a star upgrade]
Upgrading a summoned beast's star is equivalent to a minor evolution.
Gu Chen didn't hesitate and merged them directly.
[Bloodline Fusion Successful]
[Summoned Beast Star Upgrade]
[Dracula [Epic] → Dracula [Epic★]]
[Level: LV.3 (Follows Summoner Level)]
[Health: 4200]
[Attributes: Strength 58, Agility 62, Constitution 60, Spirit 59]
[Talents: Bloodline Instinct [Epic], Blood Shadow Fury [Epic]]
[Skill I: Deadly Shot LV.10 [Epic]]
[Skill II: Crimson Feast LV.10 [Epic]]
[Talent [Vampire Instinct] Enhanced]
[Vampire Instinct: Blood grants vampires greater strength and recovery abilities. Each time Dracula kills a target, he gains 10 permanent health points.]
Epic One Star, all attributes +20, health surpassing 4,000.
Most importantly, after the star upgrade, the talent [Vampire Instinct] is enhanced.
A single kill grants 10 permanent health points—just looking at the name tells you how powerful this is.
Gu Chen's eyes sparkled with excitement. He was only level 1 now. How terrifying would Dracula's health be by level 10?
What about level 30? Level 50?
Furthermore, the additional damage of [Crimson Feast] is tied to Dracula's maximum health.
In other words, the higher Dracula's health, the higher the additional damage of this skill.
It's a synergy!
It's incredibly powerful!
As you can imagine, this skill will continue to grow stronger as Dracula grows, with no upper limit.
Once his health reaches a certain level, even a one-hit kill of a boss is possible.
After upgrading, Dracula's strength increases, and his normal attacks can instantly kill a level 1 guard.
Using [Fatal Shot], a level 2 guard can also be instantly dispatched.
If you encounter a level 3 guard, it's time for Mozambique's marksmanship: two shots to the chest and one to the head—even a god would shake his head.
As for level 4 guards, aside from the one I just killed in the square, I haven't encountered any more.
We pushed our way through the inner courtyard, killing monsters at an absurd rate.
Killing a level 1 guard gives 8 experience points, a level 2 guard gives 16, a level 3 guard gives 35, and a level 4 guard gives 72.
This is just an average; the actual experience gained will fluctuate around this number, but it's not a big deal.
It took about an hour to fight our way from the inner courtyard to the end of the corridor.
The main reason for the delay was the tedious nature of the map, with stops and starts along the way, and the guards taking time to spawn.
If it weren't for these factors, we could probably finish it in half an hour.
At this moment, everyone was standing at the main hall's entrance.
"Finally, we're going to fight the boss."
Gu Chen, with a serious expression, pushed open the two heavy doors and walked into the hall.