"Alucard? …"

He immediately recognized the sound of that weary voice, yet he almost couldn't believe it. The turn of events was utterly unexpected. In fact, Alucard had been the very last thing in his mind, he had almost forgotten about his existence.

Nevertheless, in the situation, looking up tiredly towards that bloodied, black mask of his, he couldn't help but visibly smile and let out an amused chuckle as he spoke.

"Yes! … D—damn right I'm alive! Alive and well! You'd think I'd die in a place like this to mere goblins!? Who do you think... I am..."

"No, I expected nothing less of the leader of the Hollow Slayers."  Slowly, heavily breathing, Alucard bent down towards the crippled Lisvern, tightly grabbing onto his arms before throwing him upon his back where he could easily carry him, his gaze shifting towards the far-off fields where their carriage had initially collapsed.

As Alucard troted, it was made immediately clear to the unmoving Lisvern how injured he must have been, which oddly put his heart at ease.

However, little did he know, that was solely part of Alucard's clever manipulation... masking the effects of the sun under the pretense of injury was a natural excuse he had been waiting long to use…

"How's the poison?" Alucard wondered, looking towards the pulsating black veins spread across Lisvern's face.

"Oh this… It's nothing… I'll be fine… Don't worry about it… It doesn't hurt even a bit…"

"Seems so, fortunately for you, only a small dose entered your system so it shouldn't be anything life-threatening. You should only be incapacitated for the next half hour, the effects will completely wear off by then."

"Oh… That's a relief… You sure know a lot about this don't you…"

"Yes," He nodded. "I've seen it several times before."

"Huh… Is that so…"

"So, should I hurry up to the battlefield with the rest?" Alucard panted, causing Lisvern's smile to further bloom, even despite half his body being paralyzed.

"Nah… It sounds like their fight is already over… You can take your time, you seem tired enough… … … You know… You really do care…"

"Hmmm? Whatever do you mean?"

"Ohh… It's nothing really… Just… Just tell me this… Why was it that you ran away suddenly without speaking a word?"

"Simple, these are Abaska goblins,"

"A— Abaska?" Lisvern confusedly mumbled.

"Yes, they are known for their cruelty and unrelenting nature to see their targets suffer. Once they have their sights set upon a fleeing prey running in fear, they will not cease until they are out of their sight, it will be like nothing else in the world even matters…"

"Wait! … So… so that's why the first few ones I killed didn't even notice me… once you escaped their views by running into the forest, they snapped out and focused on me instead!" Lisvern's mouth half opened in astonishment.

"Precisely so." Alucard nodded.

"Wait… If that's the case… Then why? I understand running away to fool them into thinking you are easy prey, but why not let us know? You had us both worried and confused."

"Abaska goblins have been known to have rare members who could understand the human tongue, I could simply not take such risks. I had to absolutely convince them that I was truly running away like an easy mark."

"A goblin who speaks our language? I've never heard of such a thing! And even still… What you did… It was far too reckless! If I hadn't followed you, then you would have—"

"Yes, but in the end, you did, did you not?"

"Y—yes but—"

"Leader of the Hollow Slayers, listen to me, and listen to me well… I, Alucard, would never take a fight I cannot win. As soon as I ran, victory was within my grasp. I had the utmost confidence you would trust and follow me as you did, Lisvern, and all that was left for me was do my piece, after all, these goblins were exceedingly weak to fire, something I'm rather proficient with…"

"..."

In that instant, Lisvern felt his heart shake. There was no wavering in that man's voice… It was as though the moment he ran, he had already foreseen it all through that mysterious gaze… he was being completely and utterly serious. 'Alucard… What kind of man is he? … ha…'

"He… hehehe… You know! You really are amazing sir Alucard! We would have probably died if you weren't with us! Who knew you were so knowledgeable about Goblins!" Lisvern could not help but burst out laughing. "Where did you learn such things if you don't mind me asking?"

"You give me far too much credit, leader of the Hollow Slayers, these kinds of goblins were very common where I used to live, it's only natural I know how to combat them." Alucard promptly responded.

"Oh…  is… is that so! Lucky us then!" His laughter continued."For a second there I had thought that you had run off and abandoned us… But, talking to you now makes me feel a whole lot better… The others might not believe you, especially Vernon…"

"Then, I'll be counting on you to convince them,"

Lisvern looked up, and although he could not see past the darkness of Alucard's mask, somehow, he knew that he was as well smiling underneath, yet, it was for completely other reasons than what he had assumed.

It was a smile of satisfaction— He had finally definitively confirmed one of his theories.

Certainly, to a seasoned adventurer like Lisvern, Alucard's words seemed rather oddly specific, but in reality, they were mostly truthful. Had he not seen the results with his own eyes, he might have been inclined to not believe a word.

All of this stemmed from Alucard's vast knowledge of Rebirth along with the various monsters that resided therein. For the first time, he had finally met a familiar creature.

Yet, unlike the programmed AI within the game, these goblins acted very differently in a head-on clash. They were far more dynamic and quick-witted, fighting like a true tribe of mad sadists. They did not act like the goblins he had faced in the game in terms of combat, but rather, it was in terms of lore.

Rebirth had a main story, yet it was rather shallow compared to the full world New Era had created. For one to understand the true workings of the world along with the creatures therein, they would have to indulge themselves within the thousands of item descriptions as well as several secret journals hidden in obscure areas, some even the size of complete novels. And even still, despite the sheer volume of material, there were still areas of the story that seemed unexplored, incomplete or up for interpretation that fans had hoped to be answered in the upcoming update. It was truly staggering.

Naturally, like most players, Alucard did not indulge himself very much within the in-game lore beyond the main story, he did not have time to sift through so much and piece things for himself, that was why he let others do it for him.

There were numerous Utubers who documented all the lore and condensed it in a far more digestible mannor, and he was hooked. Every night, before going to bed, he would make sure to always watch at least one lore video, and the library of his game knowledge expanded.

And luckily for him, the Abaska goblins were something especially easy for him to recall, after all, it was well known that they had AI had targeting issues and would follow a fleeing enemy to the ends of the earth unless they hid behind a wall, and instead of the developers attempting to fix it, they instead made it part of their lore.

It further put into question the mysterious origin of this new world and what relation it had with the game he so dearly enjoyed…

For several minutes, they both continued their journey back with ease at heart after the sweet relief of victory. The sun's ambient radiance shined brighter than ever, the chirping of birds along with the hissing winds filled the air and made them forget about their bloodied faces. It was as though absolutely nothing could break their respite.

"Hey Alucard… My eyes are getting more blurry… How close are we to the re—"

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

That was when an earsplitting shriek of pain unlike any other pierced the eardrums. The ground quaked, the wind roared, and the chirping birds fled crying in fear dying the sky with dots of black.

Immiedtly, Alucard's feet stopped moving, and Lisvern's dazed eyes were forced wide awake, with a feeling of unease stabbed deeply within his soul looking towards where that familiar sound rang. It was undoubtedly where his comrades were.

And as his eyes rapidly shifted towards it, his former unease turned into pure dread at the sight he witnessed…

It was a view he never wanted to see in a million years, so unreal that he wanted to deny ever seeing it and erase any trace of it from his memories.

There was an arrow stabbed deeply into the knee of one of his friends. Their entire body was riddled from head to toe with veiny, root-like darkness branching and pulsating so densely to every inch of their core…

"TAYYYYLLLOOOOORRRR!!!!!"