Child of Destiny

Chapter 1890: The Mad Alchemist (Part 1)

……

The Professor’s Experimental Laboratory – this was the name of the map that Mad Alchemist Hermes had chosen to be the stage for his round.

It was among the most complex and troublesome maps among all the choices that the players could have in PvP battles.

One of the special features of this map was the multiple sections that it had, which could be unlocked depending on the mode, format, and type of battle that would take place on it.

In one-versus-one battles, this map would have the simplest and lowest section. This section was a cage that looked like an endless maze filled with different traps.

The players did not only have to worry about their opponents, but also had to be wary of these traps as well during the battle. Moreover, these traps were not your ordinary traps, especially when most of them were quite deadly.

The trap that caught Akailu just now was just one of the examples of these traps, which killed him in an instant.

Others might find this unfair, but this was one of the special features of this map, which was why most of the players hated it.

Naturally, this map was a double-edged sword since the same could happen to the person who had chosen this map. They would also be sent to a special room within this section, which could threaten them by a large margin.

If they were not careful, then they would have most likely been killed right after being summoned.

These traps might be fatal, but the players could still survive so long as they reacted quickly enough right after being summoned.

Unfortunately, Akailu had already been mentally exhausted from his previous match against Sheryl, which greatly dulled his senses and somewhat slowed down his reflexes. Adding that he barely had a sliver of health after that intense battle, it was quite a death sentence for him to appear on this map right after finishing that round.

It was quite clever of Hermes to choose this map, which gave him such a desirable result instantaneously.

The other sections of this map could be unlocked in different formats of the match, such as the Survival Battle, Team Competition, Competitive Battle Arena, and Guild Wars. Each mode of competition would unlock an additional section, respectively.

Additional special features would also be unlocked in the process, such as supply points, spawning mobs, boss summoning, and others.

For this particular match, the first section was the only one that had been unlocked given the competition format.

…

Swoosh!

Right after being summoned, Alucard swiftly used one of his Vampire Abilities, summoning a shadow barrier that blocked all the incoming arrows the moment that he appeared on the field.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

What happened to Akailu earlier was already a lesson, so he immediately responded right after being summoned by the system.

He waited for a couple of moments, making sure that no further traps had been triggered, before removing the shadow barrier.

Whoosh!

Right after the veil of shadow was released, Alucard immediately saw the current scene within the room. An array of ballista was sticking out of the walls, facing his direction, while countless arrows were scattered and impaled on the walls and the floor of the room.

“The Professor’s Experimental Lab?” Alucard frowned his brows quite deeply before commenting. “That guy sure knows how to pick a good map.”

“Fortunately, it is not a Survival Battle or a Battle Royale format. I will be in great trouble once he gains access to those supply points,” he added as he calmly walked out of the room.

But he did not immediately step into the corridor after reaching the doorway. Instead, he summoned a bunch of shadow bats first and sent them out to scout the surroundings to gather more information.

At the same time, he also commanded a portion of these bats to randomly touch the walls, the ceiling, and the floor of the corridor, hoping to trigger more traps in the process.

Some of them even tried to destroy the lamps and other things around, making sure that they did not overlook anything.

After all, it was a very tricky and troublesome map. There were always traps scattered and hidden in different parts of this map, making it tricky to deal with.

Most of the people avoided this map for this reason. But since Hermes had chosen this map, he must be confident that he could deal with these traps without facing that much of a problem.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Swoosh!

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Multiple traps were immediately triggered right after the shadow bats touched their triggers. Arrows were shot from walls, the floor opened a pit, the ceiling dropped heavy and sharp spikes, and many more.

Alucard patiently waited for quite a while before finally stepping out of the room. He calmly and leisurely walked through the corridor while constantly summoning more shadow bats to scout for him.

At the same time, he also made sure to activate his Sanguine Eyes, sharpening his eyesight and letting him see through the dark.

He was not carrying his sniper rifle at this moment since he knew that it would be a bit hard to use it in the narrow spaces within this map. It would only be a hindrance for him if he carried it.

But that did not mean that a firearm would be useless for this match. A magic pistol was more than enough to help in this match, along with his rapier.

One of his hands was holding the pistol while the other was resting on the hilt of his rapier, which was sheathed and hung on his waist.

The corridor was quite narrow, only enough for two people to squeeze themselves while walking through it.

These corridors were also not always straight since there were a lot of intersections and curved paths that made it hard for anyone to look ahead.

The number of rooms was also quite numerous, which could be used as hiding places or ambush points. This made Alucard slow his pace, letting the shadow bats do all the scouting for him.

Not long after, he suddenly halted his steps before tightly squinting his eyes.

He did not move for an entire minute before gently adjusting his triangular hat with the muzzle of his magic pistol and slightly tightening his grip over the rapier.

“There is no need to hide. Do you think such an ambush will be enough for me?” he said after keeping his silence for another minute.

No one answered him as expected, but a bunch of glass tubes filled with chemical mixtures flew in his direction in response to his words.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Alucard responded immediately after. But instead of pointing his gun forward and shooting these glass tubes, he commanded the shadow bats flying around to catch the glass tubes before throwing them inside the adjacent rooms.

He knew that it would be foolish to just shoot those glass tubes with an unknown substance within them. Their effects were still unknown, so he did not want to let them explode just like that.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Right after throwing the glass tubes into the adjacent rooms, the chemical substances within them swiftly exploded, creating colorful smoke in the process.

Whoosh!

The smoke filled the rooms almost instantly before swiftly leaking outside and quickly entering the corridor.

Alucard could not help but frown deeply when he saw the smoke, sensing an immense threat coming from it.

Swoosh!

He quickly leaped backwards and swiftly retreated right after, while also keeping his vigilance to the highest level.

At the same time, his eyes were also locked on the darkness across him, trying to find the exact location of his opponent.

Strange enough, he was unable to find any signs of Hermes despite everything. He even tried to heighten his awareness further, trying to find his opponent.

Unfortunately, he was unable to find any traces of the other party.

Raising his brows, he suddenly mumbled. “An extremely advanced Stealth Potion?”

As an alchemist, Hermes would have a lot of strange and highly advanced potions. He was similar to ’Adept Hand’ of the Hand of Midas Trading Firm. He was a player with a lifestyle profession as his main class, but capable of fighting against other combat classes.

He was not familiar with this style yet since he had never fought someone like this, but he was quite familiar with these types of potions since the Empyrean Talons had a very close relationship with the Hand of Midas.

While he was thinking about this, the smoke coming out from the adjacent rooms finally met each other. They suddenly fused and formed a multicolored smoke that could melt anything that it touched.

Aside from the ceiling, the floor, and the walls, everything that this multicolored smoke turned into sticky liquid, showcasing its intense toxicity.

At the same time, the multicolored smoke suddenly took the shape of a monstrous beast before pouncing at Alucard.

Roar!

Seeing that, Alucard swiftly holstered the magic pistol before quickly grabbing the sheathed rapier. He then immediately pulled it out of its sheath before swinging it diagonally and sending a crimson crescent wave forward.

Shing!

’Vampire Ability: Sanguine Sword – Blood Crescent’

Swoosh!

The crimson sword wave instantly split the fog beast in half before continuing to cut through the air and heading straight to the darkness behind it.

Unfortunately, the bloody crescent wave disappeared into the darkness, seemingly devoured by something.

Alucard frowned slightly, sensing that something was wrong.

He was not sure what exactly it was, but he felt that he had already fallen into the trap of his opponent without his knowledge.

……