Chapter 016: The Trap

The Blood Riders were the most elite force of the Roya Empire. Although they numbered only a few hundred, each member was a cavalryman among cavalrymen, capable of sweeping across the battlefield and being invincible.

They were a sharp blade of the Roya Empire.

Time and again on the battlefield, they had played a crucial role, most adept at decapitation tactics. Once the enemy commander's position was confirmed, the Blood Riders would strike, slaying the enemy commander.

To date, the decapitation tactics executed by the Blood Riders had never failed.

And the sole secret to their invincibility was that all Blood Riders were half-vampires with abilities far surpassing humans.

This was a half-vampire unit.

However, when the Blood Riders went into action, they wore blood-red armor, fully armed with only one eye exposed, and all witnesses were eliminated.

Thus, until now, the fact that the Blood Riders were half-vampires had not been exposed.

Half-vampires differed from vampires. They did not possess the vampires' formidable vitality, could not transform into bats, nor could they greatly increase their strength under moonlight.

But they also had advantages that vampires lacked.

For instance, their strength did not wane in sunlight. Both their physical fitness and power far exceeded ordinary humans. More importantly, they did not need to survive by drinking human blood.

They could eat the same food as ordinary people.

Coupled with Vlad III's cover-up, it was naturally impossible for the Blood Riders to be exposed.

Logically, the Blood Riders should have appeared here.

In the mission to expose Vlad III as a vampire, clearing the castle was the first step, and evading the vampire's pursuit was the second. Both steps were passive. Only after surviving the vampire's pursuit could players turn passive into active and truly engage with the mission.

After surviving the vampire's pursuit, the players' fame would spread throughout the capital of the Roya Empire.

Many people would come to know of their existence.

At that point, a mysterious figure would approach them, giving the players a small test. Players who had survived the vampire's pursuit could generally pass this test.

Of course, occasionally a few players would fall into an unexpected trap.

But most players would safely pass this small test, and then the mysterious figure would reveal their identity.

This mysterious figure was actually the First Princess of the Roya Empire, Freya.

Freya would tell the players that she suspected a vampire had infiltrated her country and held a high position. She hoped the players could help her investigate and uncover which vampire had infiltrated her country and usurped a high office.

To give the players a legitimate identity for the investigation, Princess Freya would bestow upon them a legal status.

And that status was... a member of the Blood Knight Order, i.e., the Blood Riders.

Yes, this mission was that treacherous.

Most players, after becoming members of the Blood Riders and just starting their actions, would be ambushed and killed by the Blood Riders themselves.

At first, players didn't quite understand why they had inexplicably failed.

It was only later, as players dug deeper, that they learned the Blood Riders were all half-vampires. And the Blood Riders were a sharp blade in the king's hand.

Thus, players guessed that Vlad III was precisely the high-ranking vampire Princess Freya was looking for.

But exposing the Blood Riders was not that easy.

Players were stuck at this step, having yet to complete the mission.

But now, the Blood Riders, who should only appear in the third ring of the mission, had appeared before Wang Bo, surrounding his group. Even using his rear end to think, Wang Bo knew someone was targeting him.

Who it was, Wang Bo wasn't sure; why they were targeting him, Wang Bo also wasn't sure.

And now was not the time to consider that.

Hundreds of Blood Riders had the castle completely surrounded. Though their strength was inferior to true vampires, they were well-trained, armored, and possessed astonishing mobility, making them far more dangerous than the twenty-five vampires.

Wang Bo believed that if the twenty-five vampires encountered hundreds of Blood Riders, perhaps within minutes, they would be slaughtered by the Blood Riders.

But Wang Bo wasn't too desperate, because he also had an advantage: the castle itself.

The castle was very sturdy, easy to defend and hard to attack. The Blood Riders couldn't leverage their mobility inside the castle; they had to dismount and fight Wang Bo.

Once cavalry dismounted, their strength was reduced by at least half. What difference was there between a dismounted cavalryman and a foot soldier?

So as long as Wang Bo didn't leave the castle, the Blood Riders might not be able to kill him.

But the Blood Riders had their methods. They certainly wouldn't sacrifice their advantage to fight Wang Bo inside the castle, especially since several vampires had already died at Wang Bo's hands.

The Blood Riders weren't fools; they were well aware of Wang Bo's strength.

So they gathered a large number of torches, tied them to arrows, and shot them into the castle.

Seeing this, Wang Bo couldn't help but smile bitterly. These Blood Riders weren't idiots; they knew to set the castle on fire. Soon, the castle was ablaze.

Thick smoke rose, filling every corner of the castle.

If Wang Bo didn't want to be burned to death or suffocated by smoke, he had to leave the castle.

But once he left, the Blood Riders outside would swarm him.

At that point... Wang Bo's fate was self-evident.

But the problem was that Wang Bo had no choice. He could only lead Maltus and Caroline to jump off the castle. Before they could find cover, a torrent of arrows rained down like a storm.

Wang Bo had to roll on the ground, dodging most of the arrows in a very awkward manner.

Maltus and Caroline did the same.

All three were experts. In the real world, they wouldn't bat an eye at hundreds of cavalry, let alone thousands.

But the problem was that in the game world, they were just rookie players.

Even though their reaction and awareness far exceeded ordinary people, facing such a storm of attacks, they still appeared very flustered.

Caroline rolled behind a large tree and fired two arrows in quick succession, precisely hitting the eyes of two Blood Riders. The arrows pierced through their brains, killing them.

Such marksmanship was nothing for a demon.

But the Blood Riders' counterattack was equally fierce. Arrows came like a storm, giving Caroline no chance to react.

In the end, Caroline killed only a dozen Blood Riders before an arrow pierced her heart, and her health bar dropped to zero.

Wang Bo and Maltus took this opportunity to charge out and engage the Blood Riders in close combat. The cavalry's mobility was fully displayed at this moment.

Even though Wang Bo and Maltus reacted quickly, due to their low levels and weak attack power, after the two of them together killed nearly a hundred Blood Riders, they were chopped into meat paste by the remaining Blood Riders.