Surviving in my Own Unpublished Failed Novel

According to the original story, "The Forgotten Swordsman of Ruined Star", a Mythical Beast was something that could be sighted in uncharted territories that were yet to be explored by humanity. However, the twelve Vampire Clans, to be specific, every Vampire Lord was in possession of a Mythical Beast that was tamed or subjugated, either in this new world they landed to or from their Old World before coming into this world.

One of the Mythical Beasts, Motressa, was now rampaging at this very moment in the capital of Rainfire, destroying infrastructures and claiming the lives of some Elven Soldiers. What's more, the targets of the Motressa weren't limited to the Elven Soldiers, but it also committed indiscriminate killings by striking the vampire commoners that surrendered at the hands of the Elves. It seemed as though the Vampire Lord Duradel had ordered it or the Motressa just felt that it needed to eliminate the possibility of letting several vampires be captured by the folks of nature amidst the current chaos, which seemed to spread everywhere minute by minute.

<Hey! Can you help me with this one? I mean, just tell me its weakness so I can aim at it.>

Samantha Hall, watching the bloody spectacle transpiring from a distance, asked the mysterious entity in her head for help.

<What are you talking about? Didn't he just tell you to slay it? It just means you're the weapon itself, so do whatever you can to at least hit it. But you have to remember what I've taught you about fighting against something you're not too familiar with – try to find the opponent's nature by knowing its race or what kind of monster it is.>

According to one of the casual conversations, which could be considered as sessions, Samantha was taught that one could at least learn to grasp the possible weakness of something or someone based on their race. These weaknesses weren't limited to the parts of or the physical body itself as they could be sometimes psychological, natural, or elemental. The example of physical weakness, if the opponent's race was a Vampire, was completely destroying the heart, though it depends on how great the attack was or the difference or gap between one and the other.

However, in the current circumstances, when the Motrossa was a being that Samantha had no idea about, what she needed to identify its weakness was to try poking it with several attacks and to see when it would react tremendously based on the part of its body that she would hit. Apart from that, one could also consider where the opponent or the monster came from as it may be possible for the Motressa to be related to whom or where it was tied by bond.

And since they're in the Vampire Lands, one possibility suddenly jolted Samantha's mind.

'Its heart, just the vampire's, should be doable to be its main weakness. But we need to reduce its mobility first.'

Samantha thought before glancing at the leader of the Umbra Mercenary, who just finished engaging with a Vampire Soldier.

"Russell, we need to reduce its mobility or to completely stop it from flying. Do you have any ideas? I mean, obviously, we should aim for its wings, but it has many advantages in the air so it's dangerous and it might be nimble, making it problematic to properly strike it."

"We do have an answer to that."

Russell responded, feeling nostalgic for a moment as he took out something from his Dimensional Inventory.

***

In the middle of this mess, in the rear of the Elven Army, Russell Moon and his companions, except for Ayleen Mayfield who was stabilizing the mental state of the soldiers, and the Princess of Etheria, who was teleporting from here and there to quickly rescue the soldiers that were still breathing, gathered at one of the established temporary shelter or barracks that now served as a foothold in this location.

"I'm surprised you still have that, Oppa. Aren't you quite sentimental?"

Russell Moon's younger sister, Freya Moon, said in a casual manner as the former took out several Bone Harpoons, which were looted from the Tower of Growth during their fight against the Orc Lord Uruga, who could materialize offensive and defensive weapons made of bones.

Russell didn't respond to her younger sister's remark. Instead, he told them the plan of bringing down the Motressa, or one of the many Mythical Beasts that was brought under control by the Vampire Lord Duradel.

"I see… so we need that monster, whatever that is, to stop attacking indiscriminately and make it focus on one of us. It's a pity that we don't have a Tanker yet that can use high-rank taunting skill, so that begs the question, who's going to be the bait?"

After a few seconds, Ken Raven raised his hand before saying:

"I think I can do it, though not directly. I mean, my Unique Skill allows me to create an avatar of myself and since I've tried it before during training, I can convey emotions to my avatar to exude that kind of bloodlust."

According to Russell's plan, as he knew the identity of the Motressa because of his identity as the author of the mysterious book, to garner the full attention of the corrupted Mythical Beast, one must direct an intense bloodlust on it. In this way, the Motressa would feel it as Mythical Beasts were sensitive to an individual's intent, allowing them to pick up signals or emotions of someone from quite a distance.

"Alright. We will assist your avatar from the back."

Russell said, finalizing the plan to lure the attention of the Mythical Beast.

After that, as the invasion against the Vampire Race, at least on this particular land, was raging, Russell Moon had told Thessalia the plan on how to deal with the Motressa, causing the Elven Commander, who was taking the command of the Elven Soldiers in this area, to order most of them to focus on what's about to happen next.

***

<Oppa, do you know the identity of that monster? You know, maybe it's the so-called unknown element that you've told me about previously.>

As the only one, apart from those directly involved behind his reincarnation, who knew the truth about her older brother, Freya Moon couldn't help but query through telepathic communication.

Then, as someone who swore to himself to at least tell his younger sister the details she was curious about, Russell responded, satisfying her curiosity.

<Yes. It's a Mythical Beast, but it's corrupted by the Vampire Lord of this land. Usually, Mythical Beasts live in secluded areas like deep mountains, deep waters, or even deep caves, but this one was captured and turned into something like that.>

<Eh… then it means that it's possible that's not the monster's true form?>

Freya asked as they took their pace, nearing the place where the Motressa was rampaging.

<Yes. Anyway, it's called Motressa. Also, be careful even though we're aiming for it to focus on us…>

As they strode forward, Russell told his younger sister about what he knew about the Mythical Beast. He then also included that every Vampire Clan possessed one such creature.

<Alright. Oppa! Thank you for telling me. Let's go.>

Even though they were talking in their heads as if they were not in the middle of the battlefield, smiles or any expressions of positivity weren't painted on their faces due to the bloody scene that turned this capital into a river of blood, as dead bodies of the Elves and some bodies of the Vampires, who didn't dissipate, littered around as if their lives were withering leaves of a fallen, ancient tree.

***

"SHRIEEEK-!"

The deafening cry of the Motressa or the Mythical Beast, which now looked like a stone gargoyle, reverberated throughout the area. Its bloodshot eyes only contained malice against the living as crimson blades flew out from its wings and destroyed everything in its wake – lives, and infrastructures, where, at this moment, were used by Russell and company to hide as they were getting closer.

'It's just like the Harpy Queen we fought on the Tower of Growth, but thinking about what Oppa said, the so-called Motressa is going easy, even though its intelligence deteriorated over time.'

Freya thought, looking at the avatar of Ken Raven, who was running discreetly to approach the flying stone gargoyle.

After some time, as the battle in the area continued with screams of agony and resolve, the avatar of Ken Raven stood in the middle of the road of this now-ruined city and stared at the monster flying atop the spire of the castle of the Vampire Lord.

At that moment, the boiling emotions stored in his heart, and engraved in his soul, remembering the first Vampire he encountered and fell in love with, Tanya Drusilla, Ken Raven then shared those emotions with his avatar as he intended for it to glare at the creature above.

In just a few seconds of releasing his hatred that seemed to become palpable, the attacks of the Motressa stopped before it gazed toward the direction where the avatar of Ken Raven was standing. This avatar's expression contained nothing but rage and regret because if not for Russell and his companions at that time, Ken Raven's parents would have died due to their medical condition.

"SHRIEEEEK-!"

The intensity of the cry of the Mythical Beast seemed to be amplified as Ken Raven's avatar exuded a bloodlust that wanted nothing but to slay the beast. From its seemingly comfortable spot of firing crimson blades that were larger than an average human, the Motrossa then flapped its wings wildly and started to hover from its position.

Within a second or two, the battlefield that caused both sides to temporarily come to a halt, the Motressa reached the skies further, but it leveled itself to Ken Raven's avatar. Then, at that short moment, living in the name of the Rainfire Clan and this land called Rainfire, the Mythical Beast or the Motressa breathed out something from its mouth.

It was a meteorite.

***

A few moments earlier, before Russell and company engaged in combat against the Mythical Beast named Motressa.

"Russell, since we don't know the monster's identity, and since it's not showing the information about its Status Window, what should we do if its form of attack is something we would never expect?"

Samantha queried. Although she trusts herself and the voice of the entity in her head, she couldn't help but feel concerned about striding toward the unknown enemy.

"If it stays still in a fixed location, Amelie's firepower could catch it off-guard. After that, we can bombard it with Bone Harpoons. But… always be prepared for the unexpected. With that said, we need Elizabeth for teleportation for various purposes such as positioning Amelie in the right spot.

"Amelie, you still have that, right?"

Russell asked the person with a rather crucial role aside from Samantha in subjugating the Mythical Beast.

"Yes. It's not like I have the opportunities to utilize it."

Amelie replied with her casual cheerful smile, somewhat neglecting the deadly battlefield.

***

Presently, as the enormous fiery meteorite from the sky lunged itself to hit and destroy everything on the ground, excluding the castle of the Vampire Lord, which was now covered in a thick crimson barrier, Elizabeth grabbed Amelie by her waist and then disappeared from the spot where they were hiding earlier.

At that moment, the two of them appeared in the air, and Elizabeth used her Unique Skill, giving her various buffs and allowing her to hover in the air for its duration. Then, Amelie took out a deck of cards from her Dimensional Inventory.

After that, picking at least four random cards, Amelie threw them to the burning meteorite, hitting it at its sides. A second or two later, these four cards turned into gigantic, dark crosses and pierced the meteorite into smithereens.

Without admiring the fireworks, Amelie, utilizing the Attribute: Nihility, was assisted again by Elizabeth as they teleported and floated above the Mythical Beast.

Repeating the previous action, Amelie threw two cards this time, and the Spade Cross of Penitence struck the back of the monster and was pushed to the ground due to the weight and pressure of the dark cross.