Vampire Overlord's Harem In The Apocalypse-Chapter 60: Adrian’s Base (Part 4)

There was blood.

Blood smeared on the walls, pooling on the floor, and even splattered across the ceilings. It was a macabre tapestry painted by Simon as he marched relentlessly through the halls of the main building.

His crimson sword pulsed with energy, glinting in the dim, flickering lights as it carved through the air and flesh alike. Each step he took left a trail of carnage in his wake.

Simon wasn’t just killing. He was climbing.

The ranking system embedded within him recorded every slash, every death, rewarding him with rankings that soared higher with each kill.

He could practically feel the power coursing through his veins, his place among the ranks of the Apocalypse shifting rapidly. He had triggered a Kill Streak, and the rush of it made his movements sharper, his focus deadlier.

In this blood-soaked room, there was no room for guilt. These weren’t innocent bystanders; they were obstacles. Simon had already decided that survival and ascension mattered more than moral dilemmas.

A door swung open ahead of him. A young man, barely more than a teenager, charged at him with a bat gripped tightly in his hands.

His face was twisted in desperation, but desperation wasn’t enough to stop Simon. The blood sword intercepted the bat with a metallic clang, shattering the wood before a swift slash tore through the young man’s chest.

His body collapsed with a dull thud, and Simon’s ranking climbed again.

The room wasn’t empty. Two more figures lurked in the shadows, clutching makeshift weapons. They exchanged a glance, their fear palpable.

Before they could make a move, Simon extended his hand, and two bursts of blood erupted from his palm, precise and deadly.

The projectiles struck their targets squarely in the forehead, and they crumpled lifelessly to the ground.

Simon exhaled slowly, his chest rising and falling as he surveyed the carnage. The thrill of power hummed in his veins, but a flicker of thought crossed his mind.

’I wonder how the others are doing.’

His gaze drifted to his arm, where bullet wounds had marred his flesh. Without hesitation, his skin tightened, and the embedded bullets popped out with wet plinks onto the floor.

The holes sealed themselves almost instantly, leaving only faint smudges of blood behind.

"It’s just to get some food," he muttered under his breath, his lips curling into a grim smile. "How hard can it be?"

#####

Rita’s breath came in ragged gasps as she ducked behind a crate, her heart pounding like a drum. The bullet grazed her cheek moments earlier, leaving a searing line of pain that she pressed her trembling fingers against.

Blood oozed from the wound, warm and sticky. She clenched her jaw, forcing herself to focus as gunfire erupted around her.

Leo, crouched nearby, raised his pistol and took aim. His hands were shaking, but his determination was unyielding.

He squeezed the trigger, and a single shot rang out. The bullet struck one of the guards squarely in the head, and the man’s body crumpled to the ground.

"One down," Leo muttered, his voice shaky but resolute.

Rita nodded, her hands tightening around her weapon. She couldn’t let her fear paralyze her. Not now.

On the other side of the fray, Bethany was a blur of motion. The green-skinned woman darted forward with inhuman speed, weaving through the hail of bullets with an almost supernatural grace.

Her movements created gusts of wind that rattled the crates and debris around her. She reached one of the guards in an instant, her knuckles slamming into his face with the force of a freight train. His nose shattered audibly, and he collapsed like a ragdoll.

Another guard swung his rifle toward her, but Bethany twisted her body at an impossible angle, avoiding the shot by mere inches.

She lunged forward, grabbing the weapon and yanking it free from the man’s grip before delivering a devastating knee to his gut.

The guard doubled over, gasping for air, and Bethany finished him off with a swift elbow to the back of his head.

#####

Simon strode through another corridor, the echoes of his footsteps mingling with distant gunfire. He’d reached the heart of the complex now, where resistance was stiffest.

The guards here were better equipped, their weapons firing with deadly precision. But it didn’t matter. Simon’s abilities turned every attack against him into an opportunity.

A hail of bullets came his way, and he raised his blood sword in response. The blade shimmered as it deflected the projectiles, sending them ricocheting into walls and ceilings.

One bullet grazed his shoulder, but the wound was already healing before he even registered the pain.

A particularly brave guard charged at him with a combat knife. Simon sidestepped the attack effortlessly, his movements fluid and calculated.

He grabbed the man’s wrist, twisting it with a sickening crack before plunging his blood sword into his chest. The guard’s eyes widened in shock before his body went limp, sliding off the blade and onto the ground.

Simon’s eyes flickered to the other guards. He was deep within the heart of the complex now, but the question lingered: what exactly were they guarding?

His gaze darted to a steel door at the end of the hallway, just as it creaked open. A figure stepped out, and Simon’s breath hitched slightly. Adrian.

The man was a far cry from the confident leader Simon had seen on the video call. Veins snaked across his face and arms, bulging grotesquely against his skin.

He wore a short-sleeved shirt that revealed the stark contrast of his body: half normal, pale human skin and half the mottled, sickly green flesh of a zombie.

Adrian’s eyes burned with fury as they locked onto Simon, his expression twisted with hate.

"So this is the great Adrian," Simon muttered, his voice tinged with mockery as he shifted into a combat stance. "I didn’t expect the Number One to be hiding out in New York of all places. I figured you’d be in some fortified stronghold halfway across the world. You know, someplace bigger... safer."

Adrian’s lip curled in a sneer, his voice gravelly and cold. "And I didn’t expect a two-bit raider to come sniffing around my doorstep. You think you’re ready for this? For me?"

Simon smirked, blood pulsing through his veins with anticipation. "Ready? Oh, I’m more than ready. The question is... are you?"

Adrian let out a low growl, the sound more beast than man, as he stepped forward. The greenish hue of his skin seemed to pulse, veins throbbing unnaturally.

The tension crackled in the air, heavy and electric. Simon flexed his fingers around his blood-forged blade, his crimson eyes glinting with excitement. This was it. The clash he had been waiting for.

Adrian cracked his neck, his grotesque transformation seemingly surging with power. "Let’s find out."

And then they lunged.