I Became A Zompirewolf

Ashton walked out of the portal, along with Griffin to see the destruction the trolls had caused there. The attack might have only lasted for a bit over ten minutes. Still, in those ten minutes, the entire courtyard had been painted reddish-black.

Although the casualties were fewer, a large number of vampires had lost one body part or the other. As a result, their blood had played a major role in remodelling the place.

Several injured vampires were laying everywhere, while those who were in a more fortunate position helped them. The princesses were no exception, hell even Michelle and the royal knight were helping them out, despite werewolves being at odds with the vampires for decades.

"Don't look so surprised, Sir Ashton." Griffin smiled even though he could see how many of his kind were suffering right in front of them, "Suffering is an essential part of one's life. Without suffering, strength cannot exist and without strength, nothing can survive. One day, they'll be thankful because of what happened today."

"You are weirdly calm, Axemaster Griffin." Ashton smiled wanly, "Even if you say so, I just can't get one thing out of my head."

"What will that be?"

"Was the appearance of the dungeon just a coincidence?"

Griffin got silent. He was thinking the same thing. While instance dungeons are known to spawn at random locations at any given point in time, the appearance of this dungeon seemed a bit odd.

Not to mention all the irregularities that they had noticed almost made it seem like it was someone's plan rather than just a case of them being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Just think about it," Ashton continued, "hundreds of important people spread across the continents were gathered here along with the princess of Lycania. No matter how much I try not to think about it, something seems fishy."

"I agree with you," Griffin nodded his head as they walked up to the palace, "it certainly feels odd. But is it even possible to control a dungeon?"

'Of course, it is.' Ashton wanted to say it out loud but held back at the last moment.

After all, he did own two dungeons. First was the cave near the swamps that was filled with Wraith Wolves and the second one was in the form of the Eastern Palace.

That being said, Ashton had no idea whether owning a dungeon would also give someone the ability to create their own instance dungeons. If it was, then the mystery behind the irregular dungeon was solved.

The only thing they would have to look for would be the person responsible for doing something like this. Which was easier said than done.

'I would have to ask Astaroth more about this theory of mine. Only he can say whether what I'm thinking is correct or not.'

"Sir Ashton? Sir Ashton!"

"Oh... apologies I got lost in my thoughts. Were you saying something?"

"I was saying that you should rest. You probably suffered more than us, considering your level."

However, rather than answering Griffin's question, Ashton caught on to something Griffin just said. Something weird, to say the least.

"But I never mentioned my level to anyone here."

Dear in the headlights. That was how the look on Griffin's face could be described as. Nevertheless, the look was merely temporary as Griffin recollected his thoughts fairly quickly. However, before he could answer Ashton, they were quite rudely interrupted.

"Ashton!" Irina and Verina simultaneously yelled while running toward him, "Are you alright?"

Ashton was taken aback by their concern for him. They barely knew each other and yet they were acting as if he had already agreed to their proposal. At the same time, Michelle also approached him.

"It was quite reckless of you to jump inside the portal by yourself." She reprimanded him, but then smiled, "But I'm glad you're back. Are hurt in any place?"

"Not at all." Ashton gave her a short but courteous reply.

Just because everything worked out in the end between them, didn't mean he had forgotten how she screwed him over back in the academy. But then again, she also helped him a bit, so for now, she was off of his 'people to kill' list for a while.

Just then, he could sense the princesses getting a bit... weird because he had completely ignored them. As much as Ashton did not care about them, he could not risk offending them if he was planning on staying there for a while.

"I'm alright, your highness. My deepest apologies for concerning you."

"As our future husband, you do not need to apologies to us, Sir Ashton." The sisters simultaneously replied and jumped to Ashton's side, slipping their arms into his.

"Come, we'll take you to doctor Avalina, she'll heal whatever injuries you might have. Then we can chat freely." Verina smiled while Ashton's arm slipped between her cleavage.

"Hmph, if he gets injured so easily, maybe I should rethink my proposal." Irina turned her face away from Ashton, but tightly held on to his hand. As if she was scared to lose him... or herself.

"... Thanks, I guess." Ashton thanked them while an awkward smile found its way to his face.

Ashton was clearly feeling awkward being sandwiched between them. But upon the mention of his mother, he swallowed the awkwardness and decided to go along with them.

A moment later, Alucard casually walked out of the portal as it closed behind him. The aura around him wasn't tense, but through his high [Perception] Ashton could feel that something within Alucard had changed.

As he was being dragged away by the sisters, he quickly peeked into Alucard's stats again and froze on the spot with what he saw.

'Level 61... grade D... He might just have become the strongest man on the planet.'

By this time, even Griffin had realised something was different with Alucard. Even his appearance seemed different... then it dawned on him.

"You achieved yet another breakthrough?" Griffin asked while smiling through his canines.

"You could say that," Alucard replied with equal enthusiasm.