Chapter 122: The Bewildered Vampire

“Alright, I’ll let you have it,” Vinigo said, stepping back from his role build and idly playing with the statue in his hand as he observed.

The little wolf princess and the little vampire were evenly matched opponents. Yet Vinigo knew this clash was unlikely to yield any decisive outcome.

Their speeds were similar; the wolf princess had the advantage in strength, while the vampire’s twin daggers gave her the edge in skill.

In terms of innate abilities, the wolf princess could sprint and change direction with great speed, while the vampire, though lacking the ability to become mist, had a floating movement that was noticeably faster than other vampires—comparable to the wolf princess's rapid sprint.

Agility, however, clearly favored the vampire’s floating movement.

All things considered, the two were quite evenly matched.

Strangely, the little vampire seemed immune to mental confusion.

“You carry a familiar scent,” the wolf princess said, jumping aside with a frown.

Vinigo narrowed his eyes, his probing gaze fixed intently on the little vampire. The unsettling feeling of being scrutinized clearly angered her; she let out a piercing shriek and lunged fiercely at Vinigo.

“Oh, come on! Everyone thinks I’m easy prey,” Vinigo sighed, waving his hand dismissively.

The gusts expelled by the azure sky, intensified by Hilda’s heat waves, transformed into roaring fierce winds that surged toward the little vampire, forcing her to retreat step by step. She quickly veered aside, attempting to evade.

But Vinigo only needed to flick his fingers for the fierce wind to shift dramatically, forcing the poor little vampire into a desperate chase.

The wolf princess finally lost patience. She suddenly accelerated, decisively appearing in the vampire’s escape path and swiping her down with a paw.

“Her defense and resilience are quite weak,” Vinigo said with a smile. “Grab her.”

“You... villains...” the little vampire mumbled incoherently. “Let go of Suna!”

“Who are you?” The wolf princess poked the vampire’s soft cheek with interest. “You look a lot like Arkana.”

“They’re likely the same... born through gene modification and ancient rituals. You were reborn at the Werewolf Altar as a little wolf; she was reborn through the Grave Soil Bottle as a little vampire. It seems she escaped?” Vinigo mused, his gaze drifting toward the distant Blackmoor Castle.

That place was far too dangerous for Vinigo to attack at his current strength.

“We should retreat,” Vinigo said. “I’m not sure how valuable this little one is to Blackmoor’s Super Sheep Bell Cult, but I’m not ready to face their main force head-on. Let’s pull back.”

“All right.” The wolf princess pinched the little vampire’s cheek again before releasing her grip.

“You’re called Suna?” Vinigo turned to the little vampire. “We’re the Prism Mercenary Group from Free Paradise. We’re not allied with the Sheep Bell Cult inside the castle. Want to come with us?”

Suna’s eyes darted around nervously before she finally nodded. Vinigo didn’t let go but hauled her up and tossed her to Yuri, who had just arrived.

“Keep an eye on her,” Vinigo instructed. “Move out quickly. Arkana, you cover the rear.”

The wolf princess gave a pleased “Oh,” clearly hoping someone would come chasing after them.

“And what about me?” Honey rode up on the big cat, tilting her head.

“Follow Ilyu. If anything happens, Katecy and you come rushing to support me,” Vinigo said to Honey and the cat. “Be careful—this place is dangerous.”

“Sir, look over there… could that be a caravan?” Yuri suddenly called out loudly.

“Fool…” Vinigo scoffed, glancing over and softly murmuring in surprise.

The Sun Circus—a mysterious troupe known for appearing in dangerous places, most commonly the Phantom Swamp, Buttegray Bay, and Black County. Vinigo always found it strange they frequented the Phantom Swamp—as if performing for ghosts.

Yet here it was, this enigmatic circus appearing in this place.

“Let’s go check it out. Yuri, lead them out. Wait for me in the town outside the swamp.”

“I want to go too!” The little vampire, restrained by Yuri, suddenly shouted, struggling excitedly, trying to jump down.

“Oh? Fine, come along.” Vinigo reached out, grabbing the little vampire and pulling her close.

==少年提萝莉中 (Young Boy and Little Girl)==

There were no other guests in the circus tent—of course, the Phantom Swamp held only a few dozen residents, all reclusive. Who would come out just to play with a bunch of skeletons?

Suna, however, showed no surprise. She dove eagerly into the tent, joyfully trying out every game she could find.

Even if Vinigo found these games dull, she played with great enthusiasm.

“Honey, take the charm test. Arkana, you go for the speed test. Ilyu, strength test. I’ll handle the strength test too. Suna, you do the luck test. Yuri, keep watch,” Vinigo assigned. “Bring all the stones and lucky clovers to me.”

The games weren’t complicated. The charm test measured how well participants expressed self-awareness—whether through persuasion, intimidation, or deception—anything that could make the expressionless minotaur sitting across the table show emotion counted as success. The key was how quickly you did it.

Honey took only a second. The moment she sat, the minotaur’s mouth dropped open. She successfully earned a small pyramid.

The wolf princess also succeeded; she had to knock down twenty flying disks in the room as fast as possible. Her rapid direction changes made her perfect for the test, and she set a new record, earning a small pyramid as well.

Pyramids weren’t easy to get—only breaking the previous record earned one. Vinigo’s intelligence test, involving memory and logic challenges, only won him a clover representing excellence.

Ilyu also earned just a clover. Though strong, his power was only notable, not top-tier in the kingdom.

But Suna’s luck test shocked Vinigo—she also earned a small pyramid.

Yuri participated in several tests but only got a handful of stones, which meant “just passable.”

Vinigo snorted and left the circus. In a hidden spot, he employed role building.

Then, using his technician character Meow Meow, he entered the agility test; as the demon warrior cyborg Victor, the strength test; and as the royal knight system witch Daphne, the charm test...

In short, Vinigo alone earned two pyramids and four clovers.

“What’s the use of these?” the wolf princess asked in puzzlement.

Vinigo smiled and produced a stone. “These stones have durability and magical affinity. They’re excellent materials. The clovers, when used in alchemy, become potions—essential for synthesizing the eternal luck elixir. And the pyramids…”

He toyed with a small pyramid silently. These pyramids held a faint divine power.

==少年锻造中 (Young Boy Forging)==

The divine power in the small pyramids was non-renewable. The good news was that this power was purer than the divine power Vinigo extracted from several statues. He used a complicated method to dismantle the pyramids and release the divine power, which was absorbed by the Mist King Crystal.

It was quite a gamble.

After absorbing the faint divine power from the first pyramid, the Mist King Crystal’s color dimmed significantly—Vinigo almost thought he had failed, but soon realized otherwise.

Through his probing eye, Vinigo saw that although the crystal grew dull, its magic and divine power mingled, forming strange ripples that twisted and spun.

He dismantled all the pyramids. Moments later, the Mist King Crystal looked as ordinary as a roadside pebble, but Vinigo could see the strange energy field inside, like a black hole.

It defied logic.

But this mysterious energy was a precious treasure to Vinigo.

A little of it could replace a large amount of mercury, and its compatibility with divine power infusion was higher. This meant a qualitative efficiency improvement in divine power applications.

Simply put, Vinigo’s cost of fantasy construction dropped by a fifth while performance improved by half.

Unfortunately, the Mist King Crystal couldn’t be overused; its recovery speed was limited. So Vinigo still relied primarily on mercury and shapeshifter blood to maintain his fantasy constructs.

When no more gains could be made at the Sun Circus, Vinigo decided it was time to retreat. At that moment, he saw the circus leader standing at the entrance, waiting.

Waiting for me? Vinigo swallowed hard... Of course, anyone seeing the leader would think the same.

The leader was a dragon.

An ancient dragon, legendary and dominant in the material world for millennia—a powerful being capable of assuming human form.

“I say…” Vinigo slowed as he approached but eventually stood before the leader. “Looks like you were really looking for me.”

“Strange brat,” the leader said slowly, voice bearing the distinct cadence of dragons, his fierce draconic head looming. “Every time you enter the tent, your form changes. A shapeshifter?”

“An imitator,” Vinigo replied.