My OP Minion System in the Apocalypse

We continued to scour the forest for our next victim.

There wasn\'t even a need to collaborate in the previous fight, but our group seemed to naturally have synergy. I didn\'t realise how strong Robbie\'s vines were; they were definitely stronger than [Tengen-Ko-Rin]\'s chains since they could permanently immobilise a Baron-ranked vampire.

As we continued to travel through the woods, I heard the sound of footsteps in the distance.

My [Darkness Hatred] ability wasn\'t going off so it mustn\'t have been a vampire.

I led the group and explore the general direction of the sound.

All of a sudden, we were engaged by a group of elves.

"Ah, you guys should\'ve said something!" one of the elves shouted.

In the chaos, I managed to see that it was Elanor\'s group.

Our two groups stared at each other for a little while.

"Are you guys hunting vampires as well?" I asked.

Elanor made her way to the front and began talking to me.

"Kind of, we\'re technically on a reconnaissance mission at the moment."

"Ah, do you want to join our group? It\'d be nice if we could work together."

My hope was that I could bring some ranged support into the group. With our combined strength, we\'d be able to defeat some of the higher-ranked vampires. The stronger the vampire, the greater the rewards, I was hoping that I\'d be able to get some pretty significant rewards with the strength of our current group.

Elanor thought about it for a little while.

"That sounds good to me, a bigger group means more safety."

"Alright."

No one seemed to disagree with the idea so we all formed one large squad. Elanor\'s group had 3 elves with bows, including her and a single swordsman. With them, we were now a group of eight, with a pretty good balance of fighters.

We made our way through the forest together, searching for the unlucky vampire who was going to become our victim. All of a sudden, I felt an intense pressure all over my body. I looked around and everyone seemed to be affected by it.

"What is this?" asked Maia.

"It\'s likely a high-ranked vampire," said Elanor.

[Vampire Detected]

[Rank]: Marquee; [Remaining Blood]: 100%

- Speed: 76 (B+), Strength: 85 (A), Intelligence 57 (C)

Holy.

It was a Marquee.

I had yet to fight a vampire of this strength yet.

I wasn\'t expecting to see one already.

"This is a Marquee-ranked vampire, be careful," I decided to provide some information to the others.

As soon as the vampire appeared, like before, deep green vines penetrated the ground, wrapping themselves around the vampire\'s leg. However, the vampire\'s reaction was quite different to the last time.

"Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting."

The vampire looked at us as if we were cockroaches. His face showed nothing but disgust, almost anger by our presence. Slowly, he pulled his leg away from the vines, tearing them apart as he moved. The vines weren\'t nearly strong enough to keep him stationary. The dirt around him swirled as he planted his foot back onto the ground.

Robbie tried to conjure more vines, but the vampire was much too strong to be substantially affected by them, kicking them away.

"I\'ll be taking you livestock back to where you belong," his voice was raspy, filled with distain.

This was the first time I\'ll be fighting a Marquee-ranked vampire.

I drew [Mayuri-Luc-Ei] and prepared to face off against the threat. The vampire was looking down at his, not even drawing his weapon.

More vines pierced out of the ground, latching onto the vampire\'s leg. However, they weren\'t nearly strong enough to contain him.

"Filthy creatures."

He stamped the ground with his feet. The resulting shockwave destroyed all of the plants on the ground. We all took a step back in anticipation.

Finally, the vampire drew his weapon.

Then, he instantly charged at us.

His speed was immense, dashing like a bolt of lightning.

"Watch out!"

Chloe and Robbie engaged the creature. They traded a few swings before Chloe was sent flying into one of the nearby trees. Leaves rained down as the tree shook violently. As vampire charged at us again, the ground beneath him suddenly changed colour.

All of a sudden, the bottom half of the vampire\'s body was cleanly sliced off. Blood littered the ground as his legs vanished. However, only a few seconds later, the vampire was able to completely regenerate his injuries.

"You little pests, how dare you injure me like that!"

Fuming with anger, the vampire began feeding his sword with blood.

"Sword, drink my blood!"

I quickly jumped back. If the vampire charged at me, I was dead meat. The vampire looked around for a moment before choosing his target. At unimaginable speeds, the vampire dashed directly at Maia. Dust and dirt filled the air as the vampire kicked off the ground.

As fast as he could, Robbie conjured a wall of plants in order to block the vampire. Maia\'s physical capabilities weren\'t great, so in an engagement, she would likely not hold. We needed to work together against this enemy.

The vampire crashed straight through the plants, splattering them into the air. Chloe summoned her [Refined Platinum Shield] and stood in front of Maia. The vampire smashed into her shield causing cracks to form. However, she managed to stop the vampire\'s fury, if only for a brief moment.

Cut him down, Mayuri.

I gathered aura at the end of my blade and launched a shockwave of air. I needed to buy time for the others so they could deal more damage to the vampire.

[Rank]: Marquee; [Remaining Blood]: 85%

From the looks of things, aside from feeding blood to his blade, he had sustained little damage. The trap appeared to have hurt it a little but it was nothing major. The vampire took my blast straight on, falling a little off balance but not receiving any injuries. The vampire truly was strong. Our group was struggling against it.