Back in the dungeon, things escalated without warning. A monster lunged from Rean's blind spot, and Leona reacted instantly. She shielded him and cut the creature down in one clean motion. Then she casually noted that the monsters felt too big for C-rank, and checked if he was hurt.
Rean said that he was fine and told her to stop talking to him. Even so, it was hard to ignore that something had been off about him for a while now.
Leona noticed it too. She asked again if he was sure he didn't need to rest, then paused mid-thought. There was a new scent in the air, fresh, clean, like a forest with a faint fruity note. Curious, Leona asked if he smelled anything strange too.
When she described the forest-like scent, Rean stiffened. What he was smelling wasn't fresh at all. It was the same overwhelming rose scent, strong enough to make his head spin.
The realization hit both of them at once. This wasn't natural, and it definitely wasn't random. The crazy gods were involved again.
Before either of them could react, a woman appeared. She was a strikingly beautiful vampire, who calmly stated that Leona and Rean were the ones her lord had been talking about.
The angel nearly short-circuited on the spot. A vampire like this had no reason to be here. And the energy coming off her was deeply demonic. The vampire, meanwhile, recognized the angel and casually wondered why she was awake when she was supposed to be sleeping forever.
The angel quickly explained the situation to her companions. Vampires could shapeshift, control animals, and often used beauty as a weapon. They used to be neutral as a clan. But this one was different. The demonic energy was unmistakable. She had defected to the demon king's side. Worse, she wasn't just any vampire. She was a vampire queen.
The vampire queen claimed she was only there to take the two of them back. She also made no attempt to hide her interest in Rean, openly admiring his face like she'd already decided he belonged to her.
Rean, oddly enough, felt relieved, ignoring her entirely. He just thought that at least the scent finally made sense. For a moment, he'd worried this was another prank by the gods with questionable hobbies.
Leona, now fully done with this situation, said that since they knew where the scent was coming from, they should just take the vampire down. She even warned Rean that if he thought he might get charmed, he should stay back.
The vampire queen took that personally. Furious, she declared that no man survived a direct hit from her charm. Her plan was simple. Break Rean first, then use him to capture Leona. She unleashed her spell, commanding Rean to kneel as her slave.
Instead of collapsing, both of them recoiled at the same time and complained about how she smelled like a sewer.
So much for an unstoppable charm spell. A few minutes later, the fight was over. The vampire queen was captured with embarrassing ease, tied up, and forced to walk ahead of them while leading the way to the boundary stone.
There were only two ways out of a dungeon. Either you defeated the boss and let the whole place collapse, or you smashed the boundary stone and escaped before it decided to take you down with it.
As they kept moving, Leona felt heat spreading through her body. It was uncomfortable but manageable. Rean, on the other hand, was very much not okay.
Leona stopped pretending and demanded answers. That scent everyone felt. This wasn't the vampire's trick, was it?
The vampire queen, still tied up and furious, immediately denied it. She was offended that they accused her of producing something that smelled like sewage. Even restrained, her pride was doing most of the fighting. And more importantly, she was right. The scent didn't fade after she was captured. Even the angel didn't know what was causing it.
That narrowed things down fast. So it must be them. Leona silently cursed the celestials. She hated backing off, but this wasn't something she could cut her way through.
A moment later, Rean quietly whispered a prayer to the great spirit, asking for guidance and salvation. That alone made Leona turn sharply toward him. She checked on him again, concern slipping into her voice, but he brushed it off and even yanked his arm away like he'd been burned.
The truth was, Rean was barely holding it together. Looking at Leona, his thoughts went completely off the rails. All he could think about was sinking his teeth into her neck and breathing in that sweet scent until his head cleared. The idea alone scared him enough that he slapped his own face just to stay grounded.
Why did things like this only ever happen to him? But she was fine. He was losing a war inside his own head.
Then chaos decided it wasn't done yet. A massive snake burst into view, and Leona reacted instantly, tackling Rean to the ground so the attack flew over them. The save worked. The position did not. She ended up sitting squarely on him. And unfortunately, her timing could not have been worse. Rean shoved her away immediately, mortified and fighting for his life on multiple fronts.
Meanwhile, the vampire queen suddenly dropped to her knees, her attitude flipping completely. She declared that her lord had come to save her.
A silver-haired man appeared, calm and overwhelming. He introduced himself as the vampire king and apologized for his subordinate's behavior, speaking as if this whole disaster was just a mild inconvenience. Apparently, she was supposed to escort them politely.
The angel went on full alert. The demonic pressure coming off him was no joke, and she immediately suspected ties to the demon king's army. The vampire king dodged the question with ease. He mentioned hearing about a bothersome fly buzzing around the humans who defeated demon beasts, and casually addressed the angel as Sylvian. When she pushed for answers, he laughed and said it was too early for that conversation.
Instead, he decided to leave a friend behind to play with them, introducing a demonic beast of jealousy called Naga. He mentioned Naga had been restless all day. But after seeing Rean, it finally made sense. Apparently, Rean himself hadn't realized what he was feeling yet.
With that unsettling comment, the vampire king vanished.
Naga did not waste time. It opened its massive jaws, clearly intending to eat both of them. Leona assessed the situation in seconds. Rean wasn't in fighting shape, and they wouldn't win head-on. She made the call. He was to shatter the boundary stone while she distracted the monster. Rean hated every part of that plan. But he knew she was right.
After what felt like an eternity, they finally burst out of the dungeon. Nathan rushed to them immediately, checking Leona for injuries before spinning on Rean and demanding an explanation.
Rean told them the vampire clan had appeared, which sent shock waves through the seniors. The vampire clan was supposed to be long gone. Hostile vampires showing up now made no sense at all.
But questions would have to wait. Nathan ordered both Leona and Rean to be transferred back to the temple immediately, and commanded the remaining three rookies still inside the dungeon to retreat. Whatever this was, it was far bigger than a welcome party.