Chapter One-Hundred-and-Sixty-One
Adam’s mind was racing. He hadn’t heard anything about the Patriarch showing up this early.
I must’ve triggered this somehow!
Maybe it was finishing the church quest early or killing that second-generation vampire.
To make matters worse, he couldn’t pick up any clues from his blood melody, making it clear the bloodfiend master was actively countering its effect. He also hadn’t spotted any Mana from his illusion, which was concerning, but he thought there might be a way to avoid the Mana-sight of his cowl.
Luo instantly fired his crossbow, blinking to make it teleport right into the Patriarch’s head where it exploded, popping open the side of his face and skull, and knocking him back into the doorframe that he was now too big to fit through.
Adam pulled on Sofia who was clearly in shock. “Get the statue! It’ll hurt him!” he yelled and gestured to the reliquary on the altar.
Kateřina launched forward with a bestial leap using the power of her Chimaera Helmet while swinging her charged-up daggers forward in a thrust. While they dug into the Patriarch’s body, the weakness of the Duellist’s Glove was once again highlighted by the fact that the bloodfiend master had a natural defence from his tough skin, rather than armour which it worked against.
She instantly realised this and hopped back, managing to parry a devastating slash that would’ve unzipped her from groin to neck. A glowing-red weak spot appeared on the Patriarch’s upper torso and she immediately fired her crossbow bracer at it, which dealt more than double damage thanks to her Exploiter evolution and the bonus from hitting the weak point. But it seemed negligible, since the Patriarch hardly reacted, even as a hole was opened in his body.
In response, he lifted the corpse of Father Mathias that he was still holding, and Adam knew he was about to do something with one of his special abilities, so he surged forward and pulled out all the blood he’d collected, along with the flesh of his grafted tail, creating a wall in front of Kateřina, Luo, and himself.