Even in the war-torn environment of the entire continent, many human settlements are still scattered around. The population of each settlement varies, and the one led by Riku is the most populous of them all.
Although many people had mentioned the idea of merging together in the past, after Riku and Su'er's patient explanation, they gave up on this idea and just kept sharing and optimizing the utilization of resources to the greatest extent.
So Su'er was not unfamiliar with the small settlement in front of him, and he could even call out the names of many people in that settlement.
Insisting on visiting with a vampire-like monster behind him would undoubtedly bring great danger to those fragile people. This idea only went around in Su'er's mind for a few times before he gave up with a sigh.
Even though this dhampir had become such a miserable state, it still instinctively craved blood and souls, and was even more uncritical than before. In the darkness around him and Think, Su'er could hear the screams of the beasts when they died, as well as the continuous sucking sounds. If it were still conscious, the blood of the beasts would not be taken seriously by this dhampir.
"Rather than saying that reason is recovering, it is better to say that instinctive desire is gradually overcoming the fear, right?" Think said as she picked up the small stones beside her and threw them into the darkness. "Instead, it has become even more primitive."
The rustling sounds disappeared again in an instant, leaving only the crisp sound of the small stones bouncing and hitting the ground. It was not until a long time after it became quiet again that the fragmented sounds were amplified again.
This situation, which was like a supernatural story he had heard in the past, gave Su'er goosebumps every time he recalled the invisible darkness. He huddled beside the campfire, trying to shrink as close to the flames as possible without being burned.
"How far is the nearest elf city?"
"I don't know~ After all, judging the distance on the ground is something that I, a race that usually travels by flying, could not imagine in the past~, and I can't use magic to calculate~"
"..."
Very good, it seems that today's communication can only end here.
According to the agreement between Su'er and Think, two people will take turns to guard the night to prevent accidents during the rest time. Closing his eyes, Su'er quickly fell asleep.
His sleep wasn't deep. Even if someone was guarding the night, people would instinctively raise the highest alert when resting in the wild. In a sticky dream, Su'er struggled to breathe like a drowning person. The chirping of insects intertwined in his dream, making people more irritable...
It felt like a needle was stabbing him in the back, and he was restless.
Stabbing?
It was like a phantom pain, like a real sharp blade suspended on the surface of the skin.
Su'er suddenly opened his eyes and sat up from the ground. His back was covered with cold sweat. However, Think, who was opposite him, put her index finger on her lips to signal him to be quiet, and then pointed at his back.
Turning around carefully, fearing that his loud movements would accidentally wake up the unknown creature in deep sleep, or that his movements would be considered as aggressive, Su'er tiptoed to look behind him—it was as if an invisible hand was directly grasping his heart and suddenly lifted it up, and even the beating stopped.
His breathing suddenly became heavy, and Su'er stared at the twisted thing not far away from him.
The long scorpion-like tail was rolled up into a ball, covered with snake scales. However, four spider-like limbs extended from the body right after the tail, and even the erected bristles on them could be seen clearly. However, compared with these hair-raising limbs, the support on the other side of this body was two ordinary palms, shaped like humans.
The whole creature was about the size of a washbasin, and in front of it, for vision, was indeed an enlarged bat head. There were densely packed small teeth between the four exposed sharp teeth, shining coldly under the illumination of the campfire. However, compared with this bat head, what made Su'er frown more was a face floating on the surface of the body next to this head—the face of the vampire.
It was as if several different creatures were roughly smashed in a machine and then wildly squeezed into a ball to create a species, which had reached the point where people felt sick and uncomfortable just by looking at it.
"Is this the consequence of the magic failing?" resisting the urge to vomit, Su'er watched all the movements of the unknown creature, and retreated carefully to Think's side and asked.
"No, it should be successful... He is still alive, isn't he?" Unlike Su'er, Think's gaze towards this disgusting creature was indeed full of interest and curiosity.
"... Can this be called alive?"
Su'er endured the discomfort and looked at the vampire's face. Both the eyes and lips were tightly closed, as if he was in a dream, and there was unexpectedly no pain.
"Of course," the curiosity in Think's eyes became stronger and stronger. If the conditions were not really allowed, she would have wanted to take this vampire in a strange state back to her workshop for a thorough study.
"His magic still deceived his existence from the physical world, allowing him to live in this incomplete and twisted state. This weird and disgusting posture is just the result of instinctively eating some debris during the recovery process. When his mind can regain control of his body, he can return to normal." Although she has not yet recovered the ability to use spirit, Think's eyesight has not decreased. She accurately judged the current state of the vampire, which is much better than he looks. The vampire did not react to Think's words. Su'er suddenly found that from the time he woke up to the time he carefully retreated to Think's side, this twisted monster was motionless. He looked at Su'er blankly, as if his soul had left his body. Next to the sharp teeth of the bat head that exposed its lips, a crystal clear sticky liquid was gradually dripping, and when it fell on the rock below, it made a sizzling sound, and the hard rock was corroded into a small pit. Su'er silently raised the danger level of this vampire monster in his mind. He had one more place to guard against.
"How long has he been there?" Suddenly remembering something, Su'er turned his head and asked Think.