Chapter 278: Copper Walls, Iron Shields

The group discussed for a long while at Meilige's house.

Luo Jie, as the team's organizer, was in charge of preparing all the logistical supplies; his combat experience was also the richest, having slain countless vampires, repeatedly scrutinizing various details, and finally finalizing the whole plan.

The hunting time was set for tonight's deep night.

Vampires are nocturnal monsters; they hide by day and emerge at night, generally lurking in their lairs during daylight, and only moving at night.

Logically, daytime would be the best time to hunt vampires.

However, Aierui was different from ordinary vampires; Luo Jie had covertly tracked him several times, and he behaved like a normal winemaking merchant, often going out for business during the day and returning to his cellar lair at night.

So they could only act at night.

After eating a sumptuous dinner prepared by Meilige herself, everyone rested in the guest rooms for a few hours, completed their individual combat preparations, and then gathered under the courtyard trees to cool off and chat leisurely.

Tonight the moonlight was bright, and the night was beautiful.

A small round table held delicate fruit pastries and a jug of the finest Hohawen wine, with two or three rattan loungers; a few people lounged lazily around it, chatting aimlessly while sipping the wine and admiring the moon, the atmosphere relaxed and pleasant, utterly delightful.

Yasuke, the fellow who calls himself a bard, was a master at livening the atmosphere.

At times he recited poetry, leaving Lei En both helpless and amused; at other times he discussed romantic tactics, teasing Luo Jie, which kept Meilige repeatedly scolding.

Yisu, who had just emerged from a low point in life, also laughed heartily.

When the mood peaked, Yasuke took out his beloved liute lute and performed for everyone.

His voice was already quite charming, his singing technique very skillful, clearly the result of hard practice; he could handle songs of all styles, especially the latter love song, which he rendered exceedingly moving.

The pleasant lute tones and the winding beautiful lyrics, under the moonlight, seemed like a dream one did not wish to wake from.

Lei En recalled Viola in Winterstorm City.

Meilige looked at Luo Jie with affectionate eyes, and Luo Jie returned the gaze tenderly, their two hands clasped tightly under the table.

Yisu's eyes held a hint of melancholy, as if recalling someone.

When the piece ended, the courtyard fell silent for a moment.

"We should set off now."

Luo Jie looked up at the sky, his expression reverting to a cold demeanor; he said, stood up, sheathed his twin swords behind him, readjusted his belt pouch, and confirmed nothing was missing.

The others also nodded silently, readying themselves.

Yisu pulled up his hood, shading his face in shadow, and his sleeve swords sprang out and retracted several times;

Meilige lifted her hand, changing from casual home clothes into a light‑green robe adorned with golden rune lines, very splendid; a deep‑red staff flew out of the room and landed in her hand;

Yasuke set down the liute, drew a vine rod from his waist, looking as if freshly snapped from a mountain, crooked and bearing a few emerald leaves; he opened his cuff, which contained a hidden compartment divided into dozens of small slots, holding the spell‑casting materials essential to a cultivator—seeds, leaves, fruits, roots, and so on—ready to be drawn for casting.

Lei En also made some preparations.

His mind shifted, and in an instant he donned a set of all‑metal black armor.

Each piece of the armor was cast as a whole, with not a single inch of skin exposed, like a fully sealed canister, leaving only a slit on the helmet's faceplate.

This was Lei En's Extreme Warrior armor, originally over two meters tall, compressed to fit him at under 1.9 m without changing weight; wearing it made his silhouette swell two or three layers, like a moving steel bulwark.

After donning the armor, Lei En produced a heavy large shield.

The shield was rectangular, over five centimeters thick, with a slight curve on its face; nine massive spikes were embedded on the surface in three rows of three, glinting with a daunting cold light.

As soon as Lei En brandished the shield, it drew everyone's side glances.

Meilige, skilled in alchemical enchantments and familiar with metal, recognized it at a glance and exclaimed, "Is this shield forged from Falling Star Iron?"

Lei En's helmet nodded up and down, and a voice from within said, "Yes."

Yasuke envied, "No wonder, Lord Count, you truly are wealthy!"

Falling Star Iron is an extremely expensive metal; its density exceeds that of refined gold, and its hardness is greater, but it lacks conductivity for magical energy, making it unsuitable for enchanted gear, though it is ideal for melee weapons, especially heavy arms for strength‑type superhumans.

The shield in Lei En's hand weighed two thousand pounds and was valued at over fifteen thousand Gold Shields.

He bought so much Falling Star Iron to study weapons exclusive to Extreme Warriors; lacking results for the time being, he temporarily forged the shield from activated metal.

Such a heavy shield would be hard even for a true legendary Iron Guard to wield, yet Lei En lifted it with ease.

Shield in his left hand, a broad single‑handed sword of snow‑white, silver‑bright sheen in his right.

The broad sword was also a temporary forge, wrapped in hard yet lightweight mithril encasing the Song of Azure Sky, appearing unremarkable.

Luo Jie saw Lei En's appearance, shook his head and said, "Your gear is heavy and hard; who would believe you are a Wizard?"

"That's the effect I want," Lei En laughed.

Since he's a tank, he must look like a tank.

If that Vampire Count truly sees himself as an Iron Guard or a Steel Knight, they'll certainly give him a colossal surprise.

Luo Jie looked around and said, "Everyone's ready, then let's set out, Lei En?"

"Hmm."

Lei En produced his Arcane Torrent Staff, activated a portal, and was the first to step through.

On the other side of the portal lay a forest.

One of the Vampire Count's lair exits was nearby.

At that moment, a massive cloud drifted across the sky, blocking the moonlight, rendering the forest pitch‑black.

Lei En stood by the portal, simultaneously activating the Sound of All Things; in his ears came a cacophony of random noises— insects and birds— with no vampire heartbeat.

A few seconds later, the other four emerged from the portal.

Luo Jie debated the terrain briefly, silently gestured, and led everyone through the woods, stealthily to the back of a thicket.

He pointed to a spot not far ahead and made a gesture.

There was a small earthen mound, with several tall trees below forming a blind spot; faintly one could see a deep opening concealed behind it, hard to spot even during the day.

This was the entrance and exit of the vampire lair.

Lei En glanced inside, nodded at Luo Jie, indicating he understood.

This opening, farthest from the White Raven Winery, was the vampires' most frequently used, while the other two were beneath a winery cellar and in a storage house within a vineyard.

Luo Jie's plan is to destroy the entrance and exit of the forest and the wine cellar, then storm in from the warehouse.

"Let's go."

Luo Jie whispered, Mei Lige waved her short staff, granting everyone a group invisibility spell, and they left the forest silently.

A few minutes later, a massive wine estate appeared before them, surrounded by endless vineyards.

Among the thousands of acres of vineyards, there were a dozen or so warehouses.

Luo Jie, familiar with the layout, singled out one, having Mei Lige, Yisu and Ya Si Ke lie in wait outside the warehouse, then led Lei En into the wine estate. First they confirmed that Ai Rui Ting was not in his own bedroom; the two slipped past the guards into the wine cellar, where Luo Jie lifted a concealed wooden floorboard, revealing a pitch‑black passage.

"This is the place," Luo Jie mouthed.

Lei En nodded slightly, letting Luo Jie go first.

He waited patiently in the shadows for a moment, and the crystal in his hand lit up—it was the signal Mei Lige sent at Luo Jie's request, indicating they could act.

Lei En produced the two enhanced "Burst Flame" alchemy bombs.

He thought it over, found it a bit risky, and retrieved a wooden box from his ring, filled with grenades—at least thirty.

These grenades were made incidentally while he forged bullets, and now they proved useful.

Lei En took out two iron wires, using activated metal control; the wires slithered like live snakes, stringing the grenades into two lines, each bound to an alchemy bomb, resembling two strings of large firecrackers.

First, he used his staff to open a teleportation portal, setting the destination within the forest.

Then, Lei En activated the alchemy bomb with spiritual energy, tossed it into the passage beneath the cellar, leapt into the portal without looking back, and flung the other string of explosives into the hidden opening under the tree.

He didn't watch the explosion, reopened the portal, and arrived outside the warehouse.

Luo Jie and the three others all turned to look.

Before they could ask, two massive explosions rang out in succession, coming from the estate and the forest.

Boom!

Boom!

The forest was farther away, so the sound was softer; the estate was close, and flames rose at the wine cellar's location, the ground trembling slightly, waking countless sleepers.

"Begin!" Luo Jie said immediately.

Mei Lige flipped a scroll from her hand, tore it open, and an invisible ripple spread outward, vanishing in an instant.

It was the Seven‑Ring Spell—Spatial Anchor!

The Spatial Anchor's radius was vast; within two li of the casting point, no teleportation‑type spells could be used, lasting half an hour.

Luo Jie paid a steep price to obtain this scroll, to prevent Ai Rui Ting from escaping via teleportation.

After throwing the scroll, Mei Lige immediately granted everyone Acceleration Technique.

At the same time, Ya Si Ke's hands fluttered as he took out five silver‑leaf herbs and began casting; spiritual energy surged, five beams of light descended, enveloping the group, and Lei En felt invigorated, the air he breathed becoming unusually fresh, like grass after rain.

It was the silver‑leaf herb's "Purification Technique," capable of healing wounds and cleansing airborne toxins.

Ya Si Ke then produced iron‑skin stone‑wood, granting everyone a layer of Bark Technique, and additionally, using Shield‑Leaf Lotus leaves, he wrapped himself in a verdant lotus‑leaf shield.

Finally, each person drank the "Black Blood" elixir Luo Jie had prepared, to prevent infection after a vampire bite.

Lei En also downed an extra bottle of "Frenzy Beast Blood Elixir," doubling his strength.

He had many more bottles, but Luo Jie possessed the Element "Combat Frenzy," which conflicted with the elixirs; Yisu also had his own power‑amplifying method and wasn't accustomed to using potions, so they weren't shared with the two.

Lei En felt a surging power throughout his body, as if it would burst his armor.

He raised a massive spiked shield before him, charged at the warehouse, and with a Boom— a hole was left in the wall.

A blood‑colored figure burst out of the passage on the warehouse floor.

The vampire moved swiftly; mid‑air it sensed an approaching enemy but couldn't react, watching helplessly as a shield slammed toward it.

Bang!

Under the terrible force, the vampire's body exploded, turning into a rain of flesh and blood.

When Luo Jie and the others entered through the wall opening, they saw blood everywhere in the warehouse; Lei En blocked the passage exit, waiting for them to follow.

(End of Chapter)