Chapter 175: Full Moon Night – Part 1 (8)

“I don’t know if saying this will bring you any comfort, but you did well enough.”

Raizein smiled as she lifted Dorothy’s head by the hair.

“Ordinary people can’t even brush past me, let alone hurt me. Most of the time, they end up getting sliced apart by my shadows.

But not only did you withstand that, you even managed to kill me once. That’s quite impressive, more than I expected.

Maybe if we had fought during the day instead of the night, or if you hadn’t let your guard down, thinking you had already dealt with me, the outcome might have been different.

Of course, none of that matters anymore now, does it? ♬”

“Ugh, aaargh…!!”

Dorothy let out a scream that was barely even language.

She was slipping away. The intangible force that had been keeping her alive was rapidly vanishing.

It was as if someone had yanked open a drain, causing everything to be sucked down at an alarming speed.

She wanted to resist, but she couldn’t. Forget pushing the enemy away—just lifting an arm felt impossibly difficult.

The rate at which her energy was being drained was far too fast, likely because she was being touched directly, rather than just through the shadows.

If this kept up, she would…

“This was fun. The power you built up will serve as nourishment for something far more meaningful.

So, farewell. If the opportunity arises, let’s meet again in the afterlife.”

“GYAAAAH…!!”

Dorothy’s body continued to wither, shrinking into something frail—nothing more than a dried-up husk, perhaps even less than that.

At that moment, just as the poor dragon girl sensed death closing in—

Shuuuu, slice!

“!?”

Suddenly, from the distance, a dagger flew through the air, slicing cleanly through Raizein’s right arm.

With the connection severed, Dorothy collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

At the same time, something that looked like a metal canister rolled in from the same direction and erupted with a loud boom.

A blinding flash filled the forest.

“Ugh?! What… is this…?!”

Raizein winced as the searing light, a common weakness of all vampires, struck her.

Seizing that brief moment of vulnerability, three more daggers came hurtling toward her. But this time, she had already recovered and blocked them with a shield of shadow.

She instinctively stepped back, her voice brimming with irritation.

“Who dares to interfere?!”

Of course, there was no answer—only the lingering hum of the flashbang still ringing in her ears.

But then, as her vision began to return, she noticed something.

A figure was moving around Dorothy’s collapsed body, struggling to lift her up.

“So, there you are!”

“!?”

Raizein shot out a tendril of shadow, but the intruder quickly abandoned what they were doing and rolled aside to dodge it.

Before she could launch another attack, they had already grabbed the withered Dorothy and bolted.

Taptaptap!

Their hurried footsteps grew fainter as they ran, no longer bothering to conceal their presence.

Watching them go, Raizein reattached her severed arm with a grimace and muttered under her breath.

“Tch. Whoever that was… they were good. They managed to slip past my senses, rescue the dragon girl, and escape.

Not to mention, they cut off my arm with a single strike…”

Raizein’s natural durability wasn’t vastly superior to that of a normal human, thanks to her high regeneration rather than raw defense.

Still, slicing cleanly through her arm from such a distance with a mere throw wasn’t something just anyone could do.

Yet, the intruder had done exactly that—and even evaded her counterattacks before making their escape.

Whoever they were, they had exceptional skill.

Anatolia’s reputation as a breeding ground for prodigies seemed well-earned.

“Hmm. What should I do? I could chase them… It is nighttime, after all.”

Raizein cast her gaze toward the forest where they had vanished.

Darkness might be an obstacle for humans, but it was nothing to a vampire like her.

Not only was she unaffected by low light, but she could see through the night as if it were her own domain.

Even if she lost ground in terms of speed, she could always track them down with teleportation.

The problem was the spatial interference field she had set up while fighting Dorothy.

She could undo it, of course, but doing so would take time—and by then, her prey might be too far to track easily.

And honestly…

She just couldn’t be bothered.

“I suppose it was just a loyal servant coming to rescue their master.

I’ll let them go this time.

Besides, I’ve already drained most of that woman’s energy.

Even if they managed to escape with her, they’d only get to watch her waste away in starvation.”

More importantly, there was something she needed to do.

Something much more pressing than chasing after some fleeing insect.

She had a father to track down—somewhere within this very school.

Having reached her decision, Raizein turned toward Marianne, who was still frozen behind her.

“Now then, as I promised, that didn’t take long at all, did it?”

“…..! …..!”

“Oh! I just realized—I haven’t lifted the spell yet. Dispel Magic.“

“Gasp…!“

As the enchantment was lifted, Marianne collapsed to the floor, sucking in desperate breaths as if she had been drowning.

Raizein watched her struggle with amusement before finally speaking again.

“That aside, you certainly came up with a cute little strategy, didn’t you?”

“Hahh… hahh… Huh? Strategy…?”

“Oh my, have you really come this far and still insist on feigning ignorance?”

With a bright smile, Raizein’s playful eyes met Marianne’s head-on.

“You deliberately lured me out of the forest and set me up against a dragon, hoping I would be defeated. Surely, you didn’t think I was too much of a fool to notice that?”

“W-What?! What are you talking about?!”

Marianne jumped in protest, feeling utterly wronged.

It was true that she had tried to lead Raizein as far away from the hero as possible, and that she had chosen a path leading outside the forest as part of that plan.

But she had never imagined that Dorothy would be waiting at the end of that path—let alone that her true identity was a dragon.

Wait, the last dragon… Could it be the young dragon from the memoirs? No, now’s not the time for that.

“I swear, I really didn’t know! That’s why I tried to stop the fight at first! It was purely a coincidence that she turned out to be a dragon!”

“Haha, is that so? You’re claiming it was all just a coincidence?”

“A random girl you happened to run into just so happened to be a dragon strong enough to duel me… Quite the convenient coincidence, don’t you think?”

“I-I’m telling the truth! I swear!”

Marianne pleaded desperately, her voice trembling.

If she had to die for something she actually did, she could at least accept it.

But to be falsely accused of instigating a fight? That was too much. The outcome might be the same, but the injustice of it was unbearable.

All she had wanted was to buy some time—she never meant to provoke a battle.

Yet, Raizein gave her a gentle smile, as if to reassure her.

“It’s okay. Whether you deceived me or not, it doesn’t really matter.”

“Huh? What do you mean…?”

“Exactly what I said. Even if you truly did try to deceive me, I would still be willing to forgive you.

I respect the passion you’ve shown for your father. And I admire your unwavering loyalty, even to the point of risking your life for him.

So I have no intention of killing you. After all, between friends, isn’t a little lying to be expected?”

“My… father…?”

Who was she talking about? Sien? Or Sion?

Now that she thought about it, Raizein had been referring to both as if they were the same person. And despite their different genders, she kept calling them both “Father.”

It was strange. Raizein had proudly introduced herself as the “Demon King’s daughter” when they first met.

Did she actually believe the Demon King, the Hero, and Sien were all the same person?

If that was why she had invaded this school, then her reasoning was completely—

“However—”

Before Marianne could finish her thought, Raizein suddenly grinned, revealing sharp fangs.

Then, she grabbed Marianne with both hands and bit down hard on her neck.

Crunch!

“Aaagh?!?!”

The sudden pain shattered Marianne’s thoughts. She stared at Raizein in shock, silently demanding an explanation.

Raizein smiled sweetly and answered her unspoken question.

“As promised, I won’t kill you. But I don’t have time to waste here either.

So, I’m afraid I’ll have to use a slightly more… forceful method to learn Father’s whereabouts.”

“A… forceful method…?”

Now that she thought about it, her neck felt unnaturally hot.

It wasn’t just the sensation of blood trickling from a wound—this was a different kind of pain.

A burning heat, spreading from the bite and coursing through her entire body.

This feeling… this sensation…

“Did you know? Vampires don’t just take blood—we can also give it. And when that happens, something very special occurs within the recipient’s body.

Think of it like molting—shedding an old shell and evolving into a new, superior form.”

“N-No way…”

Marianne’s eyes widened in horror.

As a devout priest, she knew all too well about the nature of vampires.

Vampire Spawn. Or, as they called themselves, “thralls.”

Humans who, after receiving a pure-blooded vampire’s blood, gained enhanced physical abilities and regeneration far beyond normal limits—

At the cost of their very souls, which became eternally bound to their master.

A thrall could never disobey their creator. If ordered to die, they must die. If ordered to live, they must live. If commanded to reveal Sion’s location, they must comply.

No matter how strong-willed they had been in life, once turned into a thrall, their convictions became meaningless.

No matter what they did, they could never resist their master’s will.

In other words, all of Marianne’s resolve had just been reduced to nothing.

“N-No… I can’t… betray them… I can’t…!”

She struggled desperately, trying to fight off the encroaching influence.

But the more she resisted, the faster Raizein’s blood coursed through her veins, tightening its grip.

Her consciousness blurred.

Her soul darkened.

Her memories were being painted over in a deep crimson.

And then, an alien will slithered into her mind like a parasite, eating away at her thoughts—

“Sleep well. When you wake up, you’ll find yourself reborn.”

With those final words from Raizein, Marianne lost consciousness.