I Awakened The Ancient Vampire System

Chapter 79: Chapter 79: Old Ghosts

Vienne City,

The outer districts had been cleared — no shuffling figures in the streets, no guttural moans echoing from broken windows. Military vehicles had passed through at some point, leaving tire tracks in the overgrown roads and spray-painted markers on building walls.

Clara eyes scanned the empty streets. "At this rate, it won’t be long before France and the other countries get rid of this zombie problem entirely."

"The ones in the wild zones are harder to reach," Ryan said from behind them, his wrist display glowing. "Cities are contained. Rural areas and dungeons are another story."

They moved deeper into the city. Familiar landmarks appeared — the supermarket where Lucian had found food during the outbreak. The restaurant where he’d eaten his first real meal in weeks.

Ryan’s detector hummed softly as they walked. No signatures in the outer districts. Just emptiness and ruin.

Then they reached the old town.

The streets narrowed. Buildings grew older — stone facades, wrought-iron balconies, cobblestone roads. And there, on a quiet corner, stood the building.

Dawn’s Light Orphanage.

Ryan stopped walking. His hand found Lumina on his shoulder and stroked the small plant absently.

"Memories," he murmured.

Lucian stopped beside him staring at the building.

"Yeah," Lucian said quietly. "Good and bad memories."

They stood there for five seconds. Then they moved on.

Ten minutes later, they reached the academy.

Starlight Academy. Or what remained of it. The main gate was bent — forced open by something large. The walls were pockmarked with impacts. Scorch marks blackened the stone. The garden zones beyond were overgrown with mutant vegetation that had spread during the months of abandonment.

Clara stopped. Her crimson eyes hardened.

"If I see that Xavier motherfucker," she said, her voice flat and cold, "I’m going to kill him."

Rose nodded firmly beside her. "Me too. He left us to die. If he’s still breathing somewhere, I want to be the one to stop it."

"He’s probably in Paris," Ryan said, checking his display. "The academy transferred all surviving students to the capital after the outbreak. He’d be at the French Regional Academy there."

"Then I’ll visit Paris after this," Clara said.

Ryan didn’t comment. He tapped his wrist display and frowned. "Zombies. Lots of them."

"How many?" Lucian asked.

"431 Neophyte realm. 50 normal. And two Core Realm signatures." Ryan looked up. "They’re concentrated inside the academy grounds. The normal ones are near the entrance — they seem hungry. Probably haven’t fed since the outbreak started."

"Two Core Realm," Lucian repeated.

"One near the training grounds. One near the dormitory district."

Lucian and Clara looked at each other.

They didn’t even wait.

Lucian was already moving — Light Steps carrying him toward the academy gate. Clara sprinted beside him, ice forming around her fists.

Ryan and Rose stood alone on the street.

"They didn’t even wait," Rose said, her voice flat.

Ryan sighed. "Well. We can take care of the other zombies."

"Their competitive natures must be flaring."

"Something like that."

Inside the academy, the zombies came fast.

50 normal zombies rushed from the main building —moving with the desperate hunger of creatures that hadn’t fed in weeks. Behind them, Neophyte variants emerged from the training grounds and classroom windows.

Lucian drew his C-Rank pistols.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Three normal zombies dropped. Headshots. Clean.

Bang. Bang.

Two more.

A Neophyte zombie lunged from the left. Lucian holstered one pistol and punched it in the face. His vampire strength caved in its skull. Black blood splattered across his knuckles.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

Four more normal zombies fell.

Clara was a blur of ice and psychokinesis. She lifted five Neophyte zombies simultaneously — arms spread, fingers curled — and slammed them into the academy wall. The impact cracked stone. The zombies crumpled like wet paper.

More came. A cluster of fifteen normal zombies from the eastern building. Lucian dropped his pistols, raised both hands, and created a dozen Light Blades. They streaked outward like glowing throwing knives, each one finding a skull.

Twelve bodies hit the ground.

Clara froze a group of Neophyte zombies mid-charge. The ice spread from their feet upward, locking them in place. She followed with a Psychokinetic pulse that shattered the frozen bodies into pieces.

Rose and Ryan caught up a minute later. By then, the entrance zone was a graveyard.

"All clear at the entrance," Ryan said, scanning. "Neophyte zombies are deeper in. The Core Realm signatures haven’t moved."

Lucian was already looking toward the dormitory district. "I’ll take the one near the dorms. Clara—"

"Training grounds. I know."

They moved.

Ryan watched them go. Rose shook her head slowly. "They’re insane."

"Focus on the Neophyte zombies," Ryan said. "There are over four hundred of them."

Lucian moved through the dormitory district at full speed. Light Steps carried him between buildings. His Eyes of the Eternals swept the area, tracking the bright Core Realm signature.

It was on a main street.

Smaller zombies scattered as Lucian approached — normal and Neophyte variants that fled from his mana pressure. He didn’t bother chasing them. Light Blades flicked from his fingertips as he ran, each one finding a straggler.

Then he reached the street.

The zombie stood in the center of the road. Seven feet tall. Grey muscle wrapped in what looked like metallic scales — not natural armor, but something the virus had created. Its eyes were black. Its jaw was distended.

Lucian stopped as a smirk spread across his face.

"You again."

He recognized it. The Early Core Realm zombie from Vienne City. The one that had kicked him through a building. The one he’d run from because he couldn’t match it.

That was months now.

Eyes of the Eternals activated.

Early Core Realm Zombie (Peak Stage)

Ability: Metal Skin — B+ Rank

Threat Level: Very High

Note: Approaching Mid Core Realm transition. Physical defense exceeds standard Early Core parameters.

Weak Points: Joints (reduced metal coverage), eyes, auditory canals

Peak stage Early Core. Almost Mid Core. And Metal Skin on top of that.

The zombie charged.

Lucian met it head-on.

Light Steps carried him inside its guard. The Moon Shattering Blade came down in a diagonal arc aimed at the zombie’s shoulder. The blade hit metal-scaled flesh and sparked. The cut was shallow — maybe an inch deep.

Tough.

The zombie counterattacked with a straight punch. Lucian Phantom Walked through it and appeared at the zombie’s flank. Light Chains — thin beams of solidified light — wrapped around the zombie’s right arm and left leg, binding them together.

The chains couldn’t bind it as the zombie’s muscles bulged. The metal scales shifted as the chains snapped.

Lucian was already swinging. Crescent Moon Slash caught the zombie across the ribs. The mana arc cut deeper than the physical blade — two inches into grey flesh before hitting a dense layer of metal-scaled muscle beneath.

Black blood sprayed.

The zombie roared and grabbed Lucian’s arm. Its grip was crushing — metal-scaled fingers digging into his flesh. Pain flared.

Lucian drove a blood-clawed fist into the zombie’s elbow joint — one of the weak points. The claw punched through the thinner metal coverage and severed the tendons. The zombie’s grip loosened.

Lucian ripped free. Backed up. His arm was already healing — Eternal Regeneration knitting the torn muscle in real time.

The zombie flexed its damaged arm. The tendons reattached slowly enough to restore partial function.

It can partially heal too. Not like me, but it’s quite annoying.

Lucian circled. The zombie tracked him. Its black eyes were focused — more intelligent than the factory zombie.

The fight continued.

Lucian’s mana was dropping. His BE was holding steady, but the Blood Eclipse Art was expensive to maintain.

Need to create a real opening.

Lucian immediately formed a hand sign as he quickly chanted a spell.

Blood Clone.

The duplicate materialized beside him — identical, armed with a blood sword, crimson eyes gleaming.

The zombie’s black eyes flicked between them.

----------

Clara moved like a winter storm.

Her Core Realm zombie was a former academy instructor — a big man with arms like tree trunks, now warped into a seven-foot mass of grey muscle and exposed bone. It had no special ability beyond raw physical enhancement. Each of its punches cratered the training ground’s stone floor.

Clara didn’t let it touch her.

Ice formed beneath her feet with every step — not for traction, but for control. She skated across the frozen ground with Psychokinesis amplifying her speed, circling the zombie like a predator. Ice shards hovered around her in a rotating ring — twelve of them, each two feet long, pointed inward.

The zombie charged. Clara ducked under its swing and launched three shards into its ribs. They pierced two inches deep. Black blood sprayed.

The zombie roared and turned. Clara was already behind it. A Psychokinetic grab seized its right ankle and yanked. The zombie toppled backward. Before it hit the ground, Clara drove an ice spear through its knee.

Crack.

The joint shattered. The zombie fell.

It tried to stand. Clara froze its remaining leg to the ground — ice spreading from the frozen knee up the thigh, locking it in place. The zombie thrashed, its arms swinging wildly.

Clara caught both arms with Psychokinesis. Held them apart. The zombie was spread-eagled on the frozen ground, unable to move.

She raised both hands above her head.

The air temperature plummeted. Moisture froze instantly. A massive ice shard materialized above the zombie — six feet long, three feet wide, pointed at the base like a stake.

Clara brought her hands down.

The shard dropped like a hammer. It pierced the zombie’s chest, drove through its torso, and pinned it to the frozen ground.

Clara exhaled. Wiped frost from her forehead.

"Fifteen seconds," she murmured. "Lira’s training is paying off."