Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat!-Chapter 331: The Blood King’s Guardians

Ethan came to a halt. A new debuff icon appeared above his head—its duration: infinite.

He stepped back out of the castle gates. Instantly, the Blood Curse debuff vanished.

He frowned. That curse hadn’t been there before. Had it disappeared after the Blood King was defeated? It didn’t matter much. Without hesitation, Ethan turned and walked back into the castle. A twenty percent reduction in all attributes was harsh, but his stats were high enough that it barely made a dent. Any other player would’ve turned and run at the sight of such a penalty.

Inside the towering halls of the castle, four massive werewolves blocked his path. Each stood ten feet tall, hulking and grotesque.

Their skin was a lifeless gray, stretched tightly over bulging muscles. Eyes glowed red with hunger, and their fur was thick, matted, and patchy, almost rotting in appearance. Long, wicked claws shimmered with a cold metallic gleam. They paced back and forth, patrolling the corridor’s entrance like true sentinels.

Ethan quickly scanned the area—twenty-seven werewolves were visible within his line of sight.

He activated Advanced Analysis.

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[Bloodthirsty Werewolf]

Tier: Leader

Level: 55

Health: 550,000 / 550,000

Attack: 5,500

Defense: 5,500

Skills:

Bloodlust – Increases melee, ranged, and spell haste by 30% for 40 seconds.

Bite – Deals 300% physical damage with a vicious bite.

Claw Strike – Basic attack, dealing 100% physical damage.

Rend – Inflicts 200% damage over 8 seconds as bleeding.

Enrage – Boosts attack by 80%, increases crit chance by 20%.

Life Steal – Converts 30% of damage dealt into healing.

Description: Bloodthirsty Werewolves are the loyal guardians of the Blood King. As long as the King lives, they will revive after a set duration.

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Ethan’s eyes narrowed.

Leader-tier? Every single one of them? Their stats were insane—high HP, attack, defense—and with six abilities, two being self-buffs, they weren’t just powerful. They were deadly. The worst part? Life Steal. Thirty percent healing from dealt damage. That alone made them near impossible to outlast.

He almost laughed bitterly. His old self had once considered coming here. What a joke. Even with decent stats back then, a one-on-one fight against these beasts would’ve ended in disaster. His pathetic 3% Life Steal couldn’t compare to their 30%. There wouldn’t have even been a fight.

In his previous life, information about this place had been scarce. All he knew was that a Carnage Faction’s guild leader, IronSeraph, had acquired the Immortality Divine Ability here. That one announcement had been the only clue. No walkthroughs. No detailed guides. They must’ve cleared the castle, slain the Blood King, and stopped the monster respawns—because when Ethan visited in his past life, the castle had been completely empty.

This had to be a one-time instance. And such places always dropped high-tier loot.

But even now, with all his progress and strength, charging in here would be suicide. Thankfully, he wasn’t here to fight werewolves. His target was the Immortality scroll—but Divine Abilities always had a guardian. In this case, it was the Blood King himself, Osloak. Taking that scroll wouldn’t be easy.

First things first—he had to get past these werewolves.

Ethan shifted into a crouch near the entrance, studying the way the creatures moved. Even cloaked in Stealth, he could see a True Sight icon above each of them. That was a problem. It meant they had anti-stealth capabilities. If he got too close, they’d see right through his invisibility.

The corridor ahead was ten yards long and four wide—tight, unforgiving. Twenty-seven werewolves guarded it, and their True Sight ranges overlapped almost completely. No blind spots. No slip-through gaps.

He spent over an hour watching their patrol routes. The alert radius of each werewolf moved with them—circles of detection sweeping across the floor like radar pulses. A few times, he saw narrow gaps and almost made a dash for it—but held himself back. The risk was too high.

It was nearing 3 a.m. in real time. He was running out of patience.

Then, without warning, the werewolves stopped. One by one, they turned toward the right wall and lined up in formation. Ethan blinked. The left side of the corridor was suddenly... clear. No True Sight. Nothing.

His heart leaped.

He got up quickly, ready to slip along the exposed wall—when a new squad of werewolves emerged from the far exit, marching straight toward the entrance.

Ethan retreated in an instant, watching from the shadows.

The two squads—one exiting, one entering—stood in formation facing each other, then bowed in unison. The left-side squad turned right and began walking deeper into the castle.

Ethan’s jaw clenched. Changing shifts? Monsters... actually have a changing of the guard?

It upended everything he thought he knew about monster behavior. Monsters didn’t rest. They didn’t rotate.

But clearly, these did.

He seized the opportunity, tailing the off-duty squad, staying just outside the last werewolf’s True Sight range.

’Faster... come on, move faster, he urged silently, sweat prickling his back.’

He couldn’t outrun them or lag behind. Each werewolf’s detection range brushed past his rear by mere inches. With enemies ahead and danger at his back, it was like threading a needle. Thrilling and terrifying.

His Panther tail was so tightly tucked, it practically curled under him. One wrong twitch and it’d be over.

A Panther, tail tucked in shame—what a sight. If anyone saw the so-called "Druid God" acting like this, it would be headline news in Ethereal for weeks.

Finally, he passed into the inner castle.

Darkness enveloped him. Even deeper than before. Apart from the distant footfalls of the werewolves ahead, the place was dead silent. Now and then, he heard faint dripping sounds echoing from unseen sources.

A heavy, eerie atmosphere clung to the air.

And this was just with his Model XVI-701 VR headset. If he’d been using a full-immersion capsule, the fear would’ve been ten times worse.

He remembered IronSeraph’s announcement—the Immortality scroll was on the sixth floor of Blood Castle. That meant five more to go. And this was just the beginning.

Ethan took only a few steps before danger reappeared.

More creatures roamed the halls—some in Stealth, some crawling overhead. Small bats clung upside down from the ceiling, motionless. They looked harmless, but he knew better. These things were alarms. One squeak, and they’d summon the castle’s defenders.

Last time he came here as a Rogue, he used throwing knives to take them out from afar. A single missed shot had triggered a swarm of monsters. He barely made it out alive. But back then, they were ordinary mobs.

Now? He didn’t want to find out.

Finding a safe spot against the wall, Ethan canceled his Stealth and shifted into Owl Form. He raised a claw and aimed carefully at one of the bats.

Moonfire.

A beam of radiant energy streaked upward.

Whoosh.

The bat was incinerated midair and fell to the ground with a wet splat. One hit. Clean kill.

But Ethan’s face twisted. Crap.

He had completely forgotten—Moonfire emitted light. And dark-aligned creatures were sensitive to light.

He instantly shifted back into Panther Form and re-entered Stealth.

Too late.

All the creatures on the floor snapped their heads upward at once. Their glowing eyes locked onto the ceiling where the light had flared.

Then came the roars. Shrill, guttural, and furious.

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