Chapter 19: Kill Them, Duh.

The plan was relatively simple, Frank would create a tunnel under the estate and into the building. He would bypass the golems and create an escape tunnel. The passage itself was mostly dirt, with the excavated dirt being packed as tightly as possible and used as supports.

It wouldn't do Frank any good if it collapsed on him after all. Frank also made sure to periodically make a looking hole, which he made use of his handheld mirror to look around. By the time he made it into the mansion, only two hours had passed.

He was moving slowly, but he had to be careful and meticulous. With the escape route made, Frank moved back towards the yard and made another peep-hole. He waited for a golem to get close and tried focusing on it while channeling [Shape Earth].

With a much higher mana cost than usual, taking about a fourth of his total mana, Frank was eventually able to feel a connection to the stone golem. He squeezed his fist and the golem began to shake and visibly compact until the core in the center was destroyed via compression.

[[Shape Earth] has become lvl.7]

Frank evily grinned and made slight changes to his plans with his guess confirmed. He made branching pathways towards the different patrol areas and one by one destroyed each golem. Frank wasn't sure if defeating them gave him any XP, but it didn't really matter to him.

Now that the outer defenses were in ruin, Frank felt much more confident in his raid. He looked behind him and saw Hank give him a bemused smile at his progress. Frank smiled under his helmet and moved past Hank into the main tunnel.

From there he moved back under the manse and moved around till he found an empty room. Fortunately, the first one he checked seemed to be an old kitchen. Frank used his mirror to look around for any possible enemies and once he saw the coast was clear, he entered.

Hank followed shortly after and once both men were in the room, Frank closed the entrance. He looked around and noted that every surface was covered in a layer of dust. Each step left a trace and Frank couldn't help but sigh.

"Let's just hope none of them enter the kitchen for some random reason." Frank whispered and moved towards the door. Taking a moment to inspect it for traps, Frank used the keyhole to look out into the next area once he determined it was safe.

Through the hole, Frank could barely make out a very decorated hallway. It was dark, and his dark-vision wouldn't give him any colors, but he could tell every ornament was expensive. Tapestries covered the side of the hall he could see and suits of platemail lined the way in pairs.

Frank let out a heavy breath as he saw each was animated. His element of surprise would be ruined if he entered the main hall, so Frank decided he would return to his tunnel and continue his battle through trench warfare.

Before he did though, he placed a handful of ball bearings in front of the door. "I'll definitely hear something."

Developing a strategy of looking through the floor every five feet, Frank was able to complete a map of the first floor. What he did find that was interesting was a hidden basement. Frank had also found the regular basement that seemed to double as a dungeon, but off in a corner was another.

Creating a dirt staircase down, Frank spiraled downwards towards his hidden room. He had hoped it was a treasury, but knew it could realistically be anything. Hank didn't comment on his tangent so he continued moving down.

Without using the already made staircase down that could have possibly been trapped, Frank created the same level as the room. He glanced around through another hole and saw something fascinating.

He knew vampires slept in coffins, but through quick glances each and every one he saw looked increasingly ornate. Possibly a symbol of power. This one however, was a simple wooden casket.

Frank strained his eyes to look for traps and seeing a lack, He opened a much larger opening into the room. He took out his 10-foot pole from his bag of holding and began to softly press on the floors and walls.

With roughly 10 feet from his entrance clear of traps and pressure plates, Frank entered. He studied the coffin and noticed how rotted the wood was. It would probably crumble with one touch so whatever was inside was old. Readying Giantslayer and a vial of holy water, Frank attempted to push off the top with his muzzle.

Like he guessed, the wood was rotten and the box collapsed. Frank still held his weapon at the ready and once the mini cloud settled, Frank moved closer. Under tiny bits of wood laid a skeleton.

It was black in color and had a metallic sheen. It screamed cursed at Frank but he was curious about it. Using a skill he really needed to use more, Frank observed the skeleton with [Appraisal].

[??? Skeleton. Curse of Blood Sucking on touch.]

Frank narrowed his eyes and his mind churned with ideas. He got to work on making a third bag of holding and once it was done, he pawed the bag like it was a doggie bag. Without explicitly touching the bones, Frank was able to get the whole skeleton into the bag.

Once it was safely stored, Frank began to turn around. Before he managed to fully face the exit, he noticed something else in the pile of rotted wood. He moved closer and saw a round crystalline object.

[??? Gem]

"Huh. Wonder what this is." It was hard to tell anything about the gem from his grayscale vision, but he always had time to study it more later. Slipping it into his bag using the same method as the bones, Frank gave the room another onceover before leaving the way he came.

From his mapping of the place, Frank had seen multiple coffins, He assumed the vampires were sleeping but was still cautious. He created an entrance into the first populated room and entered.

The room was lavish, the wallpaper had designs and symbols Frank didn't recognize. Before him were two coffins separated by a three foot gap. Taking his bag of dirt, Frank opened it and let out enough dirt and stone to cover and envelop one coffin in a sturdy layer.

It might not fully stop a vampire, but it was enough to buy him some time. As carefully as he could, Frank lifted the coffin and for the first time saw a vampire. It was hard to tell if it was male or female with its androginus face, but it didn't really matter in the end.

Frank let his gun hang by its strap over his shoulder and took out his 10-foot pole. He held it high above the chest of the vampire and without hesitation he brought it down. With a crunch, it broke through the clothes and skin.

The vampire's eyes snapped open and froze as the effect of staking the vampire took effect. While vampires were staked, they had to be asleep, a paralysis effect fell over them. As most if not all vampires in this mansion were asleep, Frank would gladly make use of it to slowly gut each vampire.

Without having to fire a single shot or use his holy water, Frank had managed to kill 32 vampires. He was now approaching the second floor, one he couldn't easily scout out. He traveled through the walls as best he could to avoid the armor golems.

It was difficult, but the silent approach was one that would serve him well. By the time the sun reached its peak, Frank finally made it into a large room. As he entered it, sconces hanging on six central pillars lit up.

Frank was caught like a deer in headlights as the room he was in, a throne room if he had to guess, was covered in a pulse of magic. He gulped and looked towards Hank who just shrugged.

Holding his gun tight, Frank moved out of his recently made entryway and into the center. He was now positive it was a throne room. In the center was a red carpet that led to an elevated platform.

Upon the platform was a golden throne emblazoned with blood red gems. Sitting with her legs crossed was who Frank assumed to be the leader of this lair. Her skin was as pale as we would have expected and her platinum blonde hair cascaded down and around her neck.

She had piercing red eyes and followed Frank as he moved closer. "Stop where you are human."

"You know why I'm here don't you, Vampire?" Frank bent his knees slightly and stretched his trigger finger, keeping it flat against the guard.

The vampire let out a sigh, "Vampire this, vampire that. We would actually prefer it if you called us hemophages." She rolled her eyes and stood up.

Frank took that as a cue and lined up his shot. He quickly moved his finger to the trigger and fired. A blessed round hit the "hemophage" square in the chest before a thunderous roar filled the hall. The woman bit back a curse and held her wound.

She looked like she was about to try and say something but Frank wasn't having it. He fired another two rounds, one hitting her shoulder and the other her neck.

"Fuck! You!" She snarled and her human appearance morphed. She grew a pair of wings and her face elongated and began to change until she looked like a human bat.

"Fuck me? No, you fuck this!" Frank fired off another shot that landed dead center between the bitches eyes. He swallowed as he saw the round only left a searing wound. The bat monster was still standing tall and angry.

She growled and jumped through the air towards Frank. Her jaw unhinged and she opened wide. Frank pointed his barrel towards her and let off another round.

"What would the Vampire Slayer do?"