SSS Awakening: Rebirth of the Strongest Vampire God-Chapter 85: Defend the Outpost!

Nope. It did not work.

"Human greed. It doesn’t change even if you turn into a blood drinker." Lirae smiled, but Damon could tell that the elven woman had become slightly colder towards him. If she was neutral before, she was now definitely leaning towards hostile.

"Look at me. What could I possibly have to give to you?" Lirae continued walking. "I am not the princess you have come looking for. If you need something, you should go and look for the King’s other daughters. I am afraid I have absolutely nothing to give you."

Damon quickly tried to salvage the situation. "My Lady, please forgive me. I did not mean it like that. I only meant I was here to help you if you needed any assistance. It would be my greatest honor to lend you my strength."

"There is nothing I need. Not from you. Not from anyone else." Lirae smiled again, but it was clear that no matter what Damon told her now, it was going to be impossible to gain her favor back.

In fact, she wasn’t even talking to him properly. Damon had never seen a noble NPC behave so informally. It was as if she simply did not care about anything.

What the hell was he supposed to do now? Just attack her and gamble on getting a drop of her blood? All he needed was a drop. So even if he managed to land one attack...

"AHHHHH! They are coming! They are coming!" Suddenly, a soldier loudly shouted and ran towards the small outpost.

The sudden cry shattered the silence like glass underfoot.

Damon turned instantly, instinct kicking in. The soldier, a young man with barely any armor and a sword drawn in panic, was sprinting full speed toward the outpost gates, his face pale, eyes wild.

"They’re breaking through the ward line!" he shouted again. "The undead! They’re coming...AHH!"

An invisible force slammed into him mid-sentence, lifting him off his feet and throwing him like a ragdoll against a tree. He didn’t move again.

Damon immediately conjured two shadow daggers. Blood Reign throbbed in his mind, growling with anticipation. "Something wicked stirs," the weapon whispered. "Ohhh, Damon... this might get fun."

The ground beyond the trees began to tremble. Branches cracked. Shadows stretched where light should’ve remained. And then they emerged, tall, twisted figures with bone-thin limbs, hollow eyes, and armor made from bark and rusted steel. Undead creatures.

Almost 20 of them!

The system chimed again.

[Zone Alert: Elenthil Outpost – Emergency Event Triggered!]

Objective: Defend the Outpost!

Optional: Protect Princess Lirae (High-Value NPC).

Failure Penalty: Severe Reputation Loss / Possible Elenthil Lockdown.

Damon’s jaw clenched. Of course, this would happen the moment he stepped foot here. He had triggered the damn questline. He glanced sideways.

Lirae hadn’t moved. Her face remained calm, but her eyes burned now with something wild and unspoken. Her fingers twitched at her side, faint green threads of mana gathering there.

Still... she made no move to flee.

"I told them the wards wouldn’t hold," she murmured. "But the court never listens. Not to me. Get away from here, Blood Drinker. This is not your fight. This burden is mine and mine alone to carry."

Unlike the others, Lirae did not panic at all. She looked calm and composed, almost as if she had already expected this to happen. There was a look of melancholy on her face that spoke volumes. free𝑤ebnovel.com

Damon let out a sigh and examined the group of undead first. They were between level 50 and level 60. "I should be able to handle this much." He made the decision.

The level difference was not something he was worried about, considering that he had amassed a decent amount of stat points. The main problem was the number of undead. There were twenty of them coming in at the same time, which might make things a little tricky.

Also, he wouldn’t be able to get any blood from them. Farming them was not the best use of his time.

However, Damon was not planning to leave. This could work in his favor. While the undead attacked the outpost and the princess, he could sneakily steal a drop of blood and get the hell out of here.

All he had to do was somehow survive until then.

Let them come, he thought. Let them focus on her or the outpost. All I need is a single moment of distraction. Just one cut.

Blood Reign snickered in his mind, as if reading his intent. "Can’t you act heroic for once and save the damsel in distress? Who knows? Maybe you could get some hidden rewards?"

Damon nodded. "That is the plan. But got to get that drop of blood first. The quest and the chain quest come later. They are not my priority."

Soon, the first of the undead reached the range of the outpost. A few soldiers stationed at the top started releasing arrows to attack the pack from a distance. Lirae also floated to the top of the outpost and started releasing mana arrows at the undead.

The battle began, and everyone’s level became visible to Damon.

Damon immediately clicked his tongue. "Shit. This is worse than I expected." The soldiers and the other outpost attendants were barely level 30, and the princess herself was only level 32. How were they going to face level 50 and above undead?

Maybe his arrival here had triggered this quest way too early. In his last life, the defense of this outpost included multiple rounds of beast hordes, and one of the big guilds managed to clear the waves until the 15th attack, when the outpost finally collapsed.

But now, instead of beast hordes, there were undead, and the NPC who was supposed to be level 100 or so was only level 32. Personally, it was good for him because he would be able to get the drop of blood one way or the other. The quest, on the other hand...

Damon decided not to think too much and dove right into the fight.