Javier retrieved several storage tanks from his inventory and collected all the samples from the area. He planned to have Alexia and the others study them thoroughly after their return.
After clearing everything, Javier decided to head deeper and take a look around, with Krauser closely following behind. The two soon reached the end of the corridor, where a round hole lay—exactly like the one they had found at the entrance.
Once they entered, they stopped on a platform. Below them, it was pitch black, and a few structures could be vaguely seen in the darkness.
Javier then fired a flare into the air, illuminating the space. When they saw the scene before them, both he and Krauser were so startled that they instinctively stepped back.
It turned out to be the monsters' den. Below them, the creatures were densely packed, piled together to form small hills that vaguely resembled buildings.
Javier looked closely and estimated that there were at least tens of thousands of monsters down there. At that moment, they all seemed to be in a deep sleep.
"Sir, there are way too many monsters here. The two of us won't be able to handle this," Krauser said.
"You've read Professor Claude's notes too. These monsters have survived for thousands of years—maybe even longer. Do you know what that means for us?" Javier asked.
Krauser shook his head, confused.
Javier gave a faint smile and replied, "Eternal life. Wasn't that the ultimate goal of virus research? To create new humans free of disease and death?"
"But if I have to become a monster like this and live in eternal darkness just to achieve immortality, I'd rather die of old age," Krauser said.
"Of course we won't do that. We only need to study them. There are several vampire corpses in this space, but these ones are still alive. We need to capture at least one of them," Javier said as he descended the stairs.
Seeing Javier move forward, Krauser chuckled and followed him.
"We need to be quiet and not wake them," Javier whispered.
The two silently reached the base of the Vampire Mountain, and Javier stored ten of the vampires inside his inventory.
He then checked and confirmed that the vampires were still asleep inside the storage, which brought him a sense of relief.
The two returned to the platform.
"Krauser, we need to destroy this place. If all of these things wake up, we're doomed," Javier said solemnly.
As he spoke, he quickly pulled several C4 charges from his inventory and handed them to Krauser.
"Spread them out. Do it as silently as possible," Javier instructed while retrieving more C4 and incendiary explosives and heading in another direction.
When the explosion went off, the monsters would be burned and blown apart. After placing the last bomb and setting the detonator timer, Javier returned to the platform. Krauser was already back, waiting vigilantly.
"Let's get out of here quickly. Once the explosion goes off, this entire place will be reduced to ashes." With that, both of them ran as fast as they could.
Perhaps sensing the danger, the vampires began to stir.
"Are they waking up?" Krauser asked, confused.
"Forget them, Krauser! We're out of time! The bomb's about to go off!" Javier shouted as he ran.
At that moment, the vampires in the entire nest began to slowly awaken. Some of them spotted Javier and Krauser and started to pursue them.
Only ten seconds remained on the countdown.
With a powerful bang, a massive explosion rocked the vampire nest. Flames spread across the monsters' bodies, igniting them and drawing screams of agony.
The ceiling of the entire nest began to collapse, and huge crystal pillars crashed down, crushing and killing many vampires. The entire structure started to fall apart. The vampires chasing the two men looked back, roared in fury, and resumed their pursuit.
Once the remaining vampires moved out, the entire nest collapsed completely.
All of the vampires had been exterminated by Javier.
Javier and Krauser quickly moved through the corridor, entered the elevator, and began to ascend.
The remaining vampires, still chasing closely behind, continued to pursue them by climbing the stone walls. Javier and Krauser quickly drew their weapons and took down as many as they could, but a few still persisted.
Soon, the elevator reached the top of the deep shaft. The two exited the elevator, but the vampires below caught up to them quickly.
"You go first. I'll cover you," Javier said to Krauser.
"You go ahead," Krauser replied, still firing his weapon.
Javier looked at him and asked, "Can you jump all the way up?"
After hearing that, Krauser realized he wouldn't be able to reach that height with a single jump, so he grabbed the rope and began climbing.
Even though he had taken a strengthening serum, jumping that high was still impossible for him.
Javier, on the other hand, could climb the walls with relative ease.
As Krauser climbed as fast as he could, the vampires had already reached Javier and began attacking him fiercely.
Javier dropped his pistol, pulled out his combat knife, and engaged the vampires in close-quarters combat.
His agility was so high that the monsters couldn't touch him.
There were at least thousands of them charging in his direction. Javier's knife was already slightly worn and soaked in blood.
The ground was littered with corpses.
At that same moment, Krauser finally reached the surface, grabbed a glowstick, and dropped it into the hole. As soon as Javier saw the glowstick falling, he knew his partner had made it out.
Javier quickly turned, ran toward the wall, and in a movement completely unnatural and defiant of physics, sprinted vertically up the wall at high speed while some of the vampires still chased him.
Unfortunately, they had forgotten one thing—it was daytime. As soon as they exited the cave, sunlight struck their bodies, and they began to burn.
(End of the chapter)
"Hmph. If you really want to be useful, then entertain me, try to throw those pathetic power stones at me. Let's see if even your insolence can amuse a king."