As the creature's entire body exploded, spilling its guts all over the forested part of the peak where the group was, Layla and Casey looked at Vicente in shock.

"You..." Layla muttered as she opened her mouth, thinking that Vicente had killed the creature.

As Joseph's body fell lifeless to the ground, stained with his master's mortal parts but also with his own blood, Vicente said to his two nearly exhausted companions.

"I didn't kill him. I just destroyed his body." He said as he walked towards Casey. "Anyway, let's run. He'll need a few hours to recover, but eventually, he'll come after us. If we don't get far enough away, we might have to face him again in a few days!"

Layla and Casey understood the problem since they had both learned the basics about vampires the same way Vicente had.

They knew that vampires had great tracking abilities. Once one of these creatures was trapped by their opponents, they would become much more cautious.

In short, the same strategy as today would not work twice with this creature, and if the group had to face it again in a few days, their situation would be much worse than it was now.

Vicente had used almost everything he had today and still hadn't been able to kill the vampire... If they had to fight again before one of them could advance a level, the result of a new confrontation would be no better than today!

So Casey didn't stop Vicente from attacking him, while Layla soon started running after them, using what little energy she had left to get away from this area.

While she drank a potion, Vicente gave Casey a similar restorative item. "Drink this and recover. I have the energy to move like this for the next 40 minutes. After that, we'll have to take turns moving west."

"West?" Casey asked, not expecting Vicente to want to go in the opposite direction of the Seidel Kingdom and Scott Province.

Vicente quickly explained. "I'm on my revenge mission. I'm going to the Bone Mountains in the northwestern part of the Chutha Dynasty. I will take revenge on one of the two Sovereigns who caused my mother's death and my family's tragedy."

Casey clenched his fists as he remembered Vicente's story and said. "Then let me help you in any way I can. You saved my life today, Vicente, and I hope I can help you with that and much more.

You don't have to worry about our old agreement. After today, I only ask that you give me enough to survive and move on. Other than that, I'll serve you full-time."

After carrying out his revenge because of Vicente's help, Casey was very grateful to this man!

"Hmm, thank you for your intention." Vicente didn't refuse. "Anyway, you and Layla will support me in my goals in this state, but you won't act directly on my side at the decisive moment. That would be too dangerous for you.

But let's not worry about that right now. First, we have to think about our escape from the damned vampire."

Layla sighed. "How are we going to guarantee that? I've heard stories about vampires that say these creatures become stronger when their bodies are injured or destroyed. Won't he be harder to deal with in the future?"

"Most likely." Vicente nodded, having already heard from Torne that it was very likely that this vampire would indeed become stronger when he recovered.

Such a characteristic had nothing to do with the simple fact that the vampire had had his body destroyed. Vampires grew stronger in various ways, including by sucking the blood of their prey. But it took a while for the essence they absorbed to change their strength and give them new abilities.

That happened little by little, but there was one exception that accelerated the speed of the process of becoming stronger by consuming blood. That was when their bodies were destroyed!

When a vampire's body was destroyed, what made it regenerate was the vampire's soul. But when the soul rebuilt the body, it transformed all the essence it had consumed into its power. In other words, if it took the vampire days or weeks to get stronger from his last meals, it would happen immediately after such a huge recovery.

Of course, there was a cost to this. It usually made the vampire more restless and violent, which could make them even stronger. Still, it also made them more careless, which could put them at risk of being discovered by beings capable of killing them.

In short, there were pros and cons that would make vampires avoid such a situation as much as possible, but once it was out of their control, they could only deal with what came their way.

Vicente expressed. "But as well as being able to become stronger, we also have an advantage that we can't ignore. Vampires are hated by most races on the continent. He'll come after us in a few hours but won't be able to use the same routes as us.

While we'll be able to enter cities and operate without hiding, he as us.

While we'll be able to enter cities and operate without hiding, he must take precautions that will waste his time.

That's our advantage, and we must use it as much as possible!"

"Do you want to change our plans?" Layla asked.

So far, they had traveled as much as possible through forested areas, stopping only in towns to rest and shop.

Vicente said. "Yes, from now on, we'll stay among humans as much as possible. That will slow us down a bit, but it will make it much harder for the vampire to reach us.

He'll have to investigate us in cities, which means he'll have to waste time hiding. This will give us the time we need to grow stronger and complete our mission."

"I see... All right, let's do it." She agreed while Casey remained silent, feeling that it all made sense.

But then he sighed and said. "I didn't think we'd have to deal with a vampire in our way... Hell, my damned father had surrendered to that creature!"

"I was shocked too," Vicente commented as he looked at the man he was carrying with one of his swords. "But it's not so strange for a vampire to control a human's mind... Anyway, this is the third monster I've seen in this southern part of the continent."

"It looks like something extraordinary is going on," Layla commented. "I wonder what Jasmine will find out."

Vicente replied. "I don't know, but it could be that in a few years, the continent will be even more agitated... We have to get stronger and increase the strength of the family. Times are changing!"