Chapter 130 – The Saintess and Her Guardian (8)

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Piiiiing!

A sharp, laser-like sound effect—something straight out of a sci-fi creation—echoed, followed by an intense burst of light.

It was a simple attack, just condensed divine energy fired relentlessly, but mixed with bloodlust and demonic energy, it boasted a crude yet overwhelmingly violent destructive force.

The divine energy, which had missed me and struck the dungeon wall instead, shook the entire structure. A few more shots like that, and the dungeon would collapse—yet Vempir showed no hesitation in firing.

The sealing magic circle activated once more, clashing against the holy energy pulsing around Vempir’s body before shattering.

“Divine energy, you say? How fitting for this one.”

Slicing through it with Triceratops wasn’t difficult, but the problem was the subsequent explosions that made it nearly impossible to close the distance.

“You’re really going to get yourself killed like this.”

“Do you still have the luxury to worry about this one’s life?”

Even as her fingers crumbled into ashes, Vempir wore a faint smile, as if intoxicated by the divine energy.

On top of that, the explosions occurring at close range accelerated the rate at which her body turned to ash.

This crazy bitch.

She’s laughing while getting caught in her own explosions?

I teleported directly in front of her, gripping Triceratops tightly before thrusting it straight toward her.

Kwaaaaang—!

The holy energy surrounding Vempir’s body detonated immediately, but I didn’t care. Even if the brutal force tore through my flesh, a witch’s immortality and potions would take care of it.

“Your attacks are lethal… but what use are they if they don’t land?”

Vempir’s mocking voice reached me. Triceratops had once again struck nothing but empty ground—she must have slipped into the shadows again.

I activated a magic circle toward the writhing darkness, only for divine energy to shoot out and nullify it.

If I kept my distance, she bombarded me. If I tried to cast a spell, she countered it with divine energy. And if I got too close, she resorted to suicide attacks with explosions.

No wonder she’s one of the Four Heavenly Kings. Even though this was her first time wielding holy energy—tainted and unstable as it was—she used it flawlessly.

“With power like this… I might even be able to defeat the Black Knight.”

And why has Edel been on her mind so much…?

It had gone from mildly annoying to downright irritating.

It wasn’t like Edel had any history with Vempir. He had always dismissed the weak, even going as far as sacrificing other Heavenly Kings to learn pure love and grow stronger. I doubted there was some grand romantic tale between them.

Even if Vempir had feelings for him, she had a smaller chest, was weak, couldn’t even handle garlic, and probably couldn’t cook either.

From what I could see, Vempir was the furthest thing from Edel’s ideal type. And above all, her stench alone made her utterly unacceptable as a candidate for teaching him about pure love.

Right… I should add more conditions. It had to be a woman who wasn’t overly sweet but carried the scent of fruit as her natural fragrance.

I stretched out my hand, deploying a magic circle—this time not for sealing or light, but a pure mana bombardment.

“Do you never learn? How amusing.”

“Who knows? This time might be different.”

Vempir lunged from the shadows and unleashed another explosion of divine energy, but the magic circle remained intact.

I knew she’d interfere.

That’s why I had stacked five layers of magic circles in advance.

Pink-hued mana swirled violently within the circle, ready to burst at any moment.

Vempir retreated into the shadows again to evade the attack—but her thrall, lying motionless in the corner of the dungeon, couldn’t.

“You sure you want to keep hiding? If your thrall gets hit, you won’t be able to use that precious divine energy anymore.”

“How did you—?!”

There was always a way to counter an opponent who relied on their thralls’ abilities. The simplest solution? Destroy the weakest and most troublesome ones first.

If the thralls died, their abilities would be lost.

“So? Protect him… or abandon him. Choose.”

Would she block the mana blast to keep using holy energy?

Or would she give up her power to save herself?

To ensure she couldn’t think of a third option, I fired the mana directly at the thrall.

“You—!”

Cursing, Vempir reappeared, intercepting the blast head-on.

Demonic energy, blood magic, and holy energy spiraled together in three intertwined strands, barely holding back the attack—but against overwhelming force, she was helplessly pushed back.

Not just her hands, but her entire body was crumbling into ash.

Even if she abandoned the thrall, she wouldn’t die—but it seemed she was either too enthralled by the holy energy or just making foolish decisions.

At this rate, both Vempir and her thrall would be consumed by mana and perish.

“Hold on tight. If you can’t withstand it here, the thrall you’d transfer your soul to will be blown away too. You’ll really die.”

“Grrr…!”

Despite my harsh words, I had already prepared a sealing circle. Killing her wasn’t the goal—containment was.

While the bombardment magic kept her pinned, I teleported closer.

I couldn’t let her detonate more divine energy now that I’d lured her out, so I planned to engrave the sealing circle directly onto her body.

“You can’t run now, can you?”

All that was left was to place the circle on her back.

Just as my fingers were about to make contact—someone grabbed my wrist.

Fingers half-melted, wounds littering his body, two distinct marks on his neck, and an unkempt beard.

Vempir’s only remaining thrall.

Whether unconscious or not, his pupils were rolled back as he threw himself between us, shielding her from the sealing spell.

Like a snake lunging for prey, he tackled me without regard for his own shattered bones.

“So you can control your thralls. I hadn’t realized.”

As the bombardment ended, the light in the dungeon faded.

Vempir’s arms had completely turned to ash, yet her smile remained.

“Annoying till the end.”

“This one wagered you’d close in if she endured the attack.”

Her crimson eyes gleamed down at me—no, mocked me—as if certain of her victory.

She let herself get hit on purpose?

“This one’s body will soon fade. But before that… this one will bite you, take your body, and use your power and holy energy to defeat the Black Knight…!”

Her fangs inched closer, though I doubted she could even pierce my neck in her crumbling state.

I could teleport us all outside and let her roast in sunlight before sealing her at death’s door.

Or I could blast her away with mana, just like she did, and then seal her.

There were countless ways to humiliate her now.

But…

Black Knight this, Black Knight that…

Black Knight. Black Knight. Black Knight.

I told her not to forget about him, but now I had no choice but to offer a special bloodletting service.

As Vempir raised her face toward my neck, I met her gaze and smirked.

“Edel.”

Just two syllables.

A surge of demonic energy—far more overwhelming than Vempir’s blood magic or tainted power—flooded the dungeon.

“D-Demonic energy?!”

Violent. Crude.

Vempir staggered. The thrall clinging to me couldn’t withstand the force and was sent flying.

And yet… gentle.

Edel must have controlled it carefully—I remained unaffected, my hair swaying pleasantly in the warm, comforting wave of demonic energy.

Thud. Thud.

From the darkness of the passageway, only the heavy sound of footsteps echoed.

“The Black Knight…?”

Vempir’s gaze fixed on the corridor.

She must have been trying to catch a glimpse of Edel emerging from the shadows—so entranced that she forgot her body was moments away from turning to ash.

“Sorry, but the service ends here. If you’re curious, check back in a hundred years.”

Who said I’d let you see him?

She’d been pissing me off this whole time.

I didn’t miss my chance. My hand, charged with the sealing circle, slammed into the back of Vempir’s head.

 

---

 

“What’s wrong, Estelle? You didn’t seem like you needed help.”

“Just… felt like calling you.”

As I checked if the seal had taken hold, Edel stepped out of the darkness and approached.

I’d told him not to come unless necessary, so now I had to scramble for an excuse.

I couldn’t admit I’d called him out of sheer frustration over Vempir’s Black Knight this, Black Knight that nonsense.

Can’t I just call him because I feel like it?

I did give him his name, after all.

“Is it over? The stench is unbearable—I’d rather not stay long.”

“Mostly? Just wait a bit longer.”

Leaving the grumbling Edel behind, I moved forward.

Vempir was sealed, but her thrall—sent flying by Edel’s demonic energy—was still here.

The soul-transfer ability activated when Vempir was near death or incapacitated, meaning sealing only her wasn’t enough. The thrall had to be dealt with too.

“Oh, right. Edel—do you know someone named Vempir?”

“Vempir? What’s that? Something edible?”

She’d been so fixated on the Black Knight that I wondered if there was some history… but he didn’t even recognize her name.

“Y’know, the vampire among the Four Heavenly Kings. You really don’t know her?”

Why does this bother me so much?

Sealing Vempir should’ve been the end of it, but something felt off.

“Like I said before, I don’t care about the weak. None of the Heavenly Kings are worth remembering. Maybe the Succubus Queen, since she kept pestering me.”

“I see. Never mind, then. Let’s finish this and go.”

Right.

Just like in Venetia, plenty of people adored Edel. Worrying over someone who didn’t meet his standards would be stupid.

“What about the last Heavenly King?”

“Not yet. No traces of demonic energy.”

“You wanted to see the ocean, right? Should we go?”

As we chatted, I approached the limp, doll-like thrall and prepared another sealing spell—

When a light, purer than anything Vempir had conjured, descended upon him.

I checked the magic circle in case the seal had broken—but it was perfectly intact.

Fluttering feathers of holy energy drifted down as a girl landed gracefully amidst the glow.

Semi-transparent wings.

A faintly glowing halo.

A crimson cross-shaped holy mark on her forehead.

And the nun’s habit I’d often seen in Aria Chronicle’s third arc, set in the Holy Kingdom.

Given these traits, the girl—who seemed like an angel descending—was undoubtedly a Saintess.

“Gray…?”

Trembling, the Saintess hugged the thrall—now just a hollowed-out man. Her halo flickered violently, mirroring her distress.

“The Pink Witch… Was it you? Did you kill him?!”

Her tone was far too coarse for a Saintess as she glared at me with venom.

Given how fiercely she reacted, this man must have been her Guardian.

I’d hoped to avoid entanglement with the Holy Kingdom while in the east… but now, sealing Vempir had dragged a Saintess into this mess.

Looks like things just got complicated.

If we were going to the ocean now, it’d have to wait a little longer.