Apocalypse Landlord: My Tenants Are All Beautiful Heroines.-Chapter 38: Rock, Paper, Scissors

The light from the torches should have weakened the goblins, and it did. However, it only worked on the ones in front. For the goblins away from massacre, the light was akin to food.

Humans use light. Humans were food.

It fueled dozens of goblins to forget about the risk and only think of the reward. One such goblin was rushing towards the opposite corridor when it felt something flash before it.

It crossed its arms in front of its head, attempting to block the attack, and waited. It stood there until its body suddenly broke into pieces, scattering across the moldy floor.

"Another one down," Karina murmured, wiping the sweat off her forehead. "But how are so many of them here?"

Unlike humans, goblins cannot survive for weeks without food. At most, they would live for a month without food before perishing.

According to James, the goblins had been trapped there months ago. Even if they horded corpses and cannibalized, there shouldn’t have been this many of them.

Not to mention... they don’t have blood.

Karina thought, staring at the goblin she had just killed. Even though she chopped it into pieces, not a single drop of blood was dropped.

"All flesh and no blood. Shylock would have a field day after suing these creatures," Karina joked, but she wasn’t smiling.

Although the goblins were weak, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was awfully wrong with James’s report.

Just then, Karina felt a shiver. It was the first time she had felt the beast sense going berserk. However, unlike the time she attacked Aiden, the senses weren’t acting on fear, but disgust.

She turned to face the dark corridor. More goblins were there, hiding in the dark. Yet, unlike the other goblins, they didn’t rush towards the light. It almost seemed like they were afraid of it, and that’s why they were huddled into a corner.

[Karina, listen carefully. I need you to transform. Now.]

"Aiden?"

Surprised, Karina began looking around, but other than her and the goblins, no one was there.

[Yes, it’s me. Don’t ask questions. Just transform.]

***

A few moments ago...

Aiden was getting bored out of his wits. He had planned on having some fun with Alisha while the wolves were gone and James was busy. Unfortunately, Lily did not want to leave her side, so he could only lie down on the couch, wondering what to do.

That’s when he opened the [Map] and noticed something was wrong. The wolves and Karina were moving around like they were fighting something, but Aiden couldn’t see anything on the map.

"What is going on there?"

He quickly used [Supervision] and froze. The group was fighting goblins, but they weren’t scavengers. It wasn’t anything he had seen either.

"No blood, pale skin, discolored iris, and the canines are sharper than normal..." he mumbled, analyzing a corpse.

Not satisfied with analyzing corpses, he checked a moving goblin that Glenn was holding off with his shield.

"Fuck."

Safe to say, Aiden wasn’t a fan of what he saw. He finally understood why none of them were visible on the [Map].

It only shows living targets, and these goblins are anything but that.

The goblins had turned into ghouls, and only ’noble’ vampires were capable of doing that.

Unlike popular belief, a vampire’s bite can convert someone into different creatures depending on their body’s constitution.

Scavenger goblins had specially weak constitutions. Hence, after being bitten, they turned into ghouls.

That left him with two questions.

"What is a vampire doing here?" he mumbled. "And why the hell does a noble vampire need to feed on a goblin of all creatures?"

In the Otherworld, Aiden had his fair share of dealings with the vampires. Unfortunately, he also became the reason the racist bunch nearly went extinct.

"Vampires, who viewed even demons as lowly, would never willingly sink their teeth into goblins."

As much as he wanted to look for the vampire, he knew it wasn’t there. Why? Because the flimsy barrier James and his previous survivor group had erected couldn’t possibly stop a vampire.

Besides, the ghouls were acting on their own. A vampire capable of converting others wouldn’t allow that, as they considered it to be a disgrace.

Wait... what if it isn’t a veteran? Everything would make sense then!

If there could be a cursed item that could turn people into werewolves, who’s to say there isn’t an item that turned someone into a vampire?

Aiden’s mind immediately went back to the other signal he had noticed while using the dweller token.

Was the dweller on this floor?

For a moment, Aiden wanted to use another token just to confirm his doubts, but then he stopped.

"I can think about it later. I have to get them out of here first."

The wolves and Karina were his only strike force. Aiden couldn’t afford to lose them so early.

He quickly sent voice notes to Marcus, Glenn, and Damian, explaining the situation to them before ordering them to retreat while making as much noise as possible.

The group didn’t ask any questions. Just unholstered their handguns and fired away.

Once that was done, he turned the focus on Karina.

***

Back to the present...

"What about the others—"

[They are safe. But you need to eliminate these fuckers.]

Karina nodded, but she still didn’t know why it had to be her or why they had to absolutely kill the goblins now. As if reading her mind, Aiden answered her.

[I’ll explain why later. For now, just think of it as a game of rock, paper, and scissors. Those ghouls are the paper, and you’re the scissor. Get it?]

Karina still didn’t get the logic behind it, but she believed Aiden, and so she transformed into a werewolf.

[Good girl, now go kill them. I’ll give you a treat when you get back.]

"Don’t talk to me like a dog!" she yelled, charging at the goblins.

Her claws tore through them with even more ease than before, and her mouth didn’t fall short either.

Thanks to the gunshots, the converted goblins from the lower floors also rushed upstairs. The corridor became overcrowded, making it easier for Karina to deal with them.

As for the ghouls, they were helpless against her. After all, their claws and teeth were their primary weapons. While they could easily tear off human skin, Karina’s thick hide negated all their pathetic attempts to hurt her.

This is why they are paper, and you’re the scissors.

Aiden saw her slaughter the creatures and smiled.

By the time the last ghoul fell, Karina was covered in bits of their flesh.

[It’s not over yet. Now that the minions are dead, their boss should make an appearance soon.]

"There’s more? But I can’t sense—"

As soon as she said it, she felt a strange presence behind her. She turned around, only to see a pale-skinned girl staring right at her.

"It’s alright—"

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" the girl screamed at the top of her lungs.