Niles forced himself forward, step by agonizing step, toward the place where Pridecula lay pinned to the ground. The overwhelming force pressed down on the vampire, an invisible weight that refused to relent.

  With every step, Niles felt his strength fade. His breath came in ragged gasps, but he kept moving.

  “What’s going on?!” Pridecula’s voice strained against the crushing force.

  Niles gave a faint smile. “You asked me to surprise you.”

  His smile vanished.

  “You hurt my friends.” His voice was quiet. Tired.

  “Release me, mortal!” The vampire snarled, eyes burning red.

  Niles didn’t answer.

  Instead, Finn took his spear and slashed at the creature’s flesh. The sharpened tip barely pierced Pridecula’s skin, and as Finn pulled back, the wound sealed shut instantly.

  “No mere weapon nor mortal can defeat me,” the vampire declared, his voice thick with arrogance. His eyes darkened—scarlet bleeding into obsidian black. His form shifted, stretched, twisted— transforming into a grotesque, humanoid bat.

  Or at least, it tried.

  Pridecula froze mid-shift. His body resisted the change, locked by the same force pinning him down.

  “What?” he muttered, struggling against the unseen shackles.

  Niles crouched beside Finn, whispering something in his ear. The boy nodded and took off running.

  Then, Niles turned back to the vampire.

  “I thought about that.” His tone was casual. Almost conversational. “I also thought about how you got past my barrier… and, more importantly, how to keep you down.”

  He crouched next to Pridecula, his expression unreadable.

  Then, his voice changed.

  “How many of you are there?” Niles asked, his tone cold. “What’s their weakness? Will they leave us alone? Answer me, and I might let you go.”

  Pridecula smirked.

  “You?” He locked his dead gaze with Niles. “Making demands?” His voice dripped with mockery. “As soon as I’m free, I’ll finish what I started. Unless, of course, you let me go right now.”

  Niles nodded.

  “Pridecula,” he said, his tone steady. “Do you know what your problem is?”

  The vampire stared.

  Niles leaned in slightly. “Pride is a luxury that you can’t afford.”

  A hiss—fangs bared, still slick with the blood of his friends.

  “No mortal weapon can slay me,” the vampire sneered. “I will regenerate any wound.”

  Niles nodded.

  “Don’t worry. We’re creative.”

  Finn returned, carrying several jagged wooden pikes—leftover from the palisades—and a sledgehammer. He laid them down.

  Niles raised his voice. “Winston. Vulcan. Come.”

  The two rushed over.

  “Vulcan, sharpen the pike. Use a sword.”

  The old smith got to work immediately.

  “No mortal can slay m—”

  Niles let out a dramatic sigh. “Yes, yes. ‘No mortal can slay me.’ You’ve said it. Twice now.”

  Then—he pulled up the guest protocol.

  Pridecula’s eyes widened.

  Niles smiled. “Turns out, my guest protocol works pretty well with my other skill—Code of Laws.”

  He tapped the air, fingers moving unseen commands.

  “So, besides writing a new rule inside the barrier…” Niles exhaled.

  His smile sharpened.

  “…I gave myself a new title.”

  The screen flashed.

  [Guest Protocol: Monster Hunters – Full Access Granted]

  [Monster Hunters: Niles, Winston, Felix, Tesla, Vulcan, Lina, Finn, Squeaky, Goblin, Wolf.]

  [Guest Protocol: All other beings, alive or dead, inside the Barrier: Identified as Monsters.]

  Niles smiled faintly. “And let’s just say… the first rule of Code of Laws isn’t too kind to monsters.”

  Pridecula’s eyes widened in pure rage.

  “NO! THAT DOESN’T MAKE YOU ANY DIFFERENT! NO HUMAN CAN—”

  Niles sighed and lazily stuck a finger in his ear, twisting as if he were clearing out a bothersome noise.

  “Well then,” he said, “I guess the barrier sees you and me a little differently.”

  Pridecula’s face twisted in horror.

  Vulcan finished sharpening the stake.

  Niles gave a nod. “Place it above where his heart should be.”

  The vampire screeched, a guttural, inhuman sound, meant to terrify—to drive them back.

  Finn didn’t even flinch. He picked up a twig, jammed it into the vampire’s mouth, and patted its cheek.

  “Here, this’ll help.”

  Pridecula blinked. Confused.

  Niles ignored him. “Vulcan. Winston. Hold the stake.”

  The two moved fast.

  Niles picked up the sledgehammer. His grip was firm, his twisted fingers straining to support the weight.

  “Keep it steady,” he said.

  Vulcan and Winston pressed down on the stake.

  Niles lifted the hammer.

  And swung.

  The stake pierced flesh. Just barely.

  Pridecula spat out the twig, screeching like a wounded beast.

  “THE OTHERS WILL COME FOR YOU!” he howled.

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  Niles didn’t even blink. “Again.”

  He raised the hammer.

  Vulcan and Winston held the stake firm. Their hands trembled—not in fear of Niles missing, but from being so close to the twitching, thrashing vampire desperately trying to claw its way out of the barrier’s grip.

  Finn grabbed its legs. Lina seized its wrists. Felix supported as well.

  Slam.

  The stake sank deeper.

  The vampire thrashed, regenerating, pushing the wood back out.

  Niles didn’t hesitate.

  “Again!”

  Another strike.

  The vampire’s eyes burned red-hot, fangs bared in rage.

  “I’LL KILL YOU ALL!” it howled.

  Its body twitched violently. The regeneration fought back, wounds closing, flesh rejecting the stake.

  Niles snarled. “Hold it down!”

  Another slam.

  The vampire’s expression shifted. Fear creeping in.

  It tried again—not threats this time.

  “NO! PLEASE! SPARE ME!”

  Niles’s pulse pounded. His veins burned with adrenaline.

  He tightened his grip.

  With one final motion—

  Like a thunderstrike—

  He brought the hammer down.

  SLAM!

  The impact on the stake crushed the vampire’s heart.

  The body shuddered. Twitched. Then went still.

  Then—a shockwave.

  A violent force erupted outward, hurling everyone to the ground.

  They scrambled back to their feet just as a glowing notification appeared:

  [You’ve defeated Legendary Vampire: Pridecula.]

  Pridecula’s body cracked apart, dissolving into flakes of ash that the wind swiftly carried away.

  Another message appeared.

  [Calculating experience points…]

  Niles, panting, wiped the sweat from his brow. His whole body ached. He glanced around.

  His friends weren’t much better.

  Wolf lay motionless. Felix barely clung to consciousness, his breathing shallow. The others weren’t far behind—battered, bloodied, barely standing.

  Then the system chimed again.

  [Calculation complete.]

  Niles exhaled, relieved. “Hope I got enough to level up. Maybe unlock something that can help us…”

  The numbers rolled in.

  [Experience gained: 33,127]

  A new notification.

  [Level increased: 12 → 32]

  "Nice!"

  [Please select which stats to increase.]

  Niles let out a tired chuckle. “Oh, this’ll be sweet.”

  It would not be sweet.

  It would be horrible.

  [Warning: Rapid growth will occur.]

  Niles frowned. “That’s… a good thing, right? No pain no gain?”

  And then it hit.

  [You’ve reached Level 20. A surge of power is incoming.]

  The raw force exploded inside him.

  Niles dropped to his knees. His chest tightened. His vision blurred.

  Blood dripped from his nostrils. From his mouth. From his eyes.

  He couldn’t breathe.

  A message blinked across his vision.

  [Warning: Experience points still settling. Host body too injured to handle the increase.]

  Panic set in.

  Think fast. Prioritize.

  He gritted his teeth. “Guest Protocol!” he forced out.

  The world tilted.

  He was slipping.

  He had to act now.

  “Allow Gingerbeard and his kid as guests… into the barrier.”

  The notification flickered green.

  [Guest Protocol updated.]

  Accepted.

  His mind spun. He could barely stay conscious, but his sheer will kept him going.

  New stats appeared before him.

  [Name: Niles]

  [Level: 12 → 32]

  [Strength: 8 → ?]

  [Speed: 2 → ?]

  [Stamina: 2 → ?]

  [Magic: 1 → ?]

  [Spirit: 1 → ?]

  “STAMINA!” Niles screamed but it came out as a strangled whisper.

  [Stamina increased by 1.]

  Then the system struck again.

  [You’ve reached Level 30. Another surge of power is incoming.]

  This time—

  His body tore itself apart.

  Joints snapped. Ligaments ripped.

  The whites of his eyes flooded red.

  His muscles shredded under the strain. His veins burst, sending blood seeping from every inch of his body.

  The power inside him—it wasn’t a gift.

  It was a wildfire, consuming him from the inside out.

  His body was breaking. His soul felt like it was fracturing.

  His party members screamed.

  “NILES!”

  Someone shouted, “HE’S LOSING TOO MUCH BLOOD!”

  Another voice, desperate: “WE NEED TO TREAT HIM—NOW!”

  “HOW?!”

  The system flickered again.

  A final choice.

  [Please select an upgrade for Barrier-ish.]

  [Lesser Healing II – Heal 2% per day inside Niceland.]

  [Lesser Expansion – Grow Niceland by 1m2 per day.]

  [Lesser Experience Gain – Gain 1 EXP per day inside Niceland.]

  Niles stared at the options.

  Only 2% healing?

  That was it?

  “What kind of bad joke is this?” he thought. “It’s barely better than the 1% we already have. What kind of cruel joke is this, System?!”

  His voice was barely a rasp as he forced out a single word:

  “…Heal.”

  The system acknowledged his choice.

  Or so he thought.

  [Selection acknowledged. Lesser Experience Gain confirmed.]

  Niles’ blood ran cold.

  Winston’s panicked voice cut through the chaos.

  “SIR NILES—WHY?! WHY THAT OPTION?! WHY NOT HEALING?!”

  Niles tried to answer. But his body wouldn’t respond. Not even a whisper.

  Tesla, still paralyzed on the ground, his voice slowly returning as the poison’s grip loosened, shouted.

  “WHAT? DID HE PICK SOMETHING STUPID AGAIN?!”

  Winston, eyes wild with disbelief, snapped back, “YES!”

  Niles desperately wanted to explain. Wanted to scream that he had been bamboozled.

  But the world was fading.

  The system came with another message.

  [Since no exclusive skill was selected at level 20. You may choose two exclusive skills at level 30 instead.]

  Then his gaze met Winston’s.

  A silent exchange.

  Winston had been with him the longest. He would understand.

  Niles lifted a trembling finger, pointing at him. His expression spoke louder than words.

  “I’m leaving the rest to you.”

  Winston’s eyes widened.

  “NILES!” he screamed.

  Then—darkness.

  The pain. The blood loss. The unbearable, uncontrollable surge of power.

  It all won.

  Niles collapsed.

  A new status window appeared.

  [Exclusive Passive Effect Gained: Pride of the Party. 10% increased experience gain for you and all party members. 1% of all accumulated experience from party members is shared directly with you.]

  Then, another window flashed across everyone inside the entire battlefield.

  A message that sent a chill.

  [Global Announcement]

  [Pridecula has been slain by Niles of Niceland.]

  [The Curse of Pride will engulf the world.]

  [Monsters will become more aggressive.]

  Everyone froze.

  The message wasn’t just inside the barrier. It was apparently everywhere and the world would be changed.

  Tesla, still sprawled on the ground, read the announcement. His face twisted in horror.

  “WHAT DID YOU GUYS JUST DO?!”

  Winston swallowed hard.

  Lina, Finn, and Vulcan stared at him, waiting for an answer.

  There was none.

  Winston’s breathing quickened.

  This… this was bad.

  His gaze flickered to Niles. His chest barely rising. His face drained of color.

  Then, realization snapped him like a whip.

  “HE’S DYING!”

  And before anyone could react—

  Felix collapsed, too.

  Winston barely had time to process it.

  Niles and Felix were down. Wolf was not moving.

  “Move! We need to tend to them—NOW!”

  He barked orders, rallying everyone who could still stand. There was no time to waste.

  The global announcement sent shockwaves through kingdoms, empires, and war councils.

  Panic. Urgency. Questions.

  Kings and queens convened emergency meetings.

  Generals pored over maps.

  Vassals whispered in corridors.

  Who was this Niles?

  Where was Niceland?

  The name rang faintly familiar. A mystery territory that had recently appeared on every known map—a place no one could explain.

  And aboard the Xandrian flagship, Bear’s furious roars echoed across the deck.

  “THAT DAMN JESTER! HE JUST DID SOMETHING TO DOOM US ALL!”

  Beyond the reach of any human empire, in a place untouched by mortal hands, two factions clashed.

  They had no peace.

  No allies.

  Only monsters and undying beings.

  Creatures like Pridecula.

  A sultry voice spoke, barely above a whisper, yet it carried through the ashen skies.

  “Pridecula… was it your pride that led to your downfall?”

  The speaker was a vampire, unlike any seen before.

  Her wings, deep violet, stretched lazily.

  Her skin, pale as moonlight, shimmered against the glow of stars in the sky. Long white hair and lips red as roses.

  She sat atop a mound of corpses—their armor golden, their ears pointed.

  Elves.

  With a bored sigh, she reached down, grabbing a half-dead soldier by the hair.

  “Tell me, do you know this ‘Niles’?”

  The elf gasped out something in his native tongue.

  The vampire rolled her eyes.

  “Ugh. Elvish. Why do I even bother?”

  She sank her fangs into his throat, draining him dry in seconds. His body crumpled as she tossed him aside like discarded fruit.

  She stretched, arching her slender frame, then gazed at the stars.

  “I suppose I should get going…”

  Her wings unfurled.

  “Wrathcula will be furious if I’m late.”

  With a single powerful beat of her wings, she vanished into the night.