3 – Vampire Duke

Refusing to ride in the carriage,

I was heading to the next destination.

“Hmm.”

I knew without asking.

Amel turned her head.

She looked in a certain direction.

No one had noticed yet, not even Caria or Glaize.

The faint energy that was being transmitted resembled that of the Bloodstained Dagger.

“You two.”

“What is it?”

“Wait here.”

“Pardon?”

I [Leaped].

As I jumped high, the setting sun came into view, and as I reached the apex of my arc, I looked at the location where I felt the energy and realized.

The location where the right leg had been.

The location where the left leg had been.

The location where the left arm had been.

And the head or heart.

It was forming an equilateral triangle centered around Gospel Castle.

‘(Is it some kind of ritual?)’

Win muttered something.

She was rambling speculations without hesitation, but I didn’t bother to stop her.

Gospel Castle.

Lord’s Castle.

A very unpleasant energy was flowing in from the deep underground of that place.

I landed on the Inner wall.

I encountered the soldiers on the wall, but I lightly waved my hand and pointed at myself.

“You know who I am, right?”

“Y, yes. I’ve seen you passing by.”

“Then that makes things faster. Do you know where I can go to get to the basement of this castle?”

“The basement…”

The soldiers whispered to each other.

“There’s only a prison in the castle’s basement.”

“Then where are the stairs?”

“If you go that way, you’ll find them.”

The sergeant added a detailed explanation.

He said that if I entered the castle, I would find a place to go down to the basement. After hearing everything, I jumped off the Inner wall and landed.

The patrolling soldiers were surprised, but I lightly waved my hand.

The soldiers recognized Amel and lowered their guard.

‘(How long have I been here that everyone knows me?)’

‘You saved the castle, remember? They must have seen you then.’

‘(With your face, they wouldn’t be able to forget you even if they wanted to.)’

Anyway,

‘(More importantly, what’s going on in this basement? Has a Seal been broken? It’s different from what the Vampire Duke was giving off, but it’s similar.)’

Win, who shared Amel’s senses, inferred the context of the situation.

‘That Vampire Duke died too easily. He must have desperately eaten his Progenitor’s heart or something.’

‘(Surely not.)’

‘Never say never. Just as the Progenitor sacrifices Vampires, the Progenitor might become food for a Vampire. The timing is perfect, isn’t it?’

Amel had allowed the letter to reach the second Vampire Duke and even encouraged it.

‘(Bloodia… I thought Vampires had a clear master-servant relationship.)’

There were always exceptions.

Amel asked people she met along the way for directions to the underground prison, and they all kindly answered her questions.

I was newly aware of the [Charm] of 100 points.

No one suspected anything.

“It’s this way.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

The soldiers blushed and turned around to go back to their duties.

There were soldiers guarding the underground prison, but they readily opened it with just a word asking them to let me in.

‘(What’s with the security?)’

Even Win was taken aback by the free pass.

Underground prison.

Amel relied on the dim torches in the underground prison to pass between the prisons on the left and right.

The prisoners in the cells greeted her casually and chuckled, and some prisoners reached out, saying, “It’s a woman, it’s a woman.”

I ignored them and moved on.

Down below the underground prison.

I went down.

I extended my Electrical Ability to find the Magic circle, and soon I found it.

‘A Witch’s Workshop under the Lord’s Castle. Is this what Witches are usually like?’

‘(Of course not. They can’t do it without the Lord’s help. They can somehow hide it inside the Outer wall, but it’s impossible inside the Inner wall.)’

Then that means the Lord intervened.

Miereel is acting as the Lord’s proxy.

‘Is it possible that Miereel is involved?’

‘(If the workshop was created recently, then maybe. But she seemed quite concerned about it. Aren’t you suspecting her too easily?)’

‘She’s the Lord’s proxy.’

Even though she looks young, she’s volunteering as the Lord’s proxy.

She might have made a rational choice or a mistake that was different from her own thoughts and tendencies.

I don’t intend to blame her.

I just accepted it.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Miereel actually allowed the Witch to set up the workshop and brought in the Vampires.

“Haa…”

But why am I so uneasy?

What’s bothering me so much?

I don’t understand my own feelings.

Soon, I found the Magic circle.

I activated it,

And entered the Witch’s Workshop.

The inertia stops.

I stepped on the floor.

A dark workshop.

I heard a sound.

Crunch, crunch.

‘(It’s real.)’

As Amel blinked once, the world brightened, and she spotted the [Vampire Duke] in the middle of the workshop.

The guy was crunching and chewing on a shriveled white lump of flesh.

When he saw Amel appear, he hurriedly stuffed the lump of flesh into his mouth.

Each time he chewed and swallowed, the [Vampire Duke]’s Strength doubled.

[Vampire Duke]

Black letters.

The letters are becoming more and more ominous.

[Vampire Duke]

Ominous black letters.

Untamed Strength exploded from the [Vampire Duke].

“Kahaha! Is this the Strength of the Progenitor!!!!!”

The [Vampire Duke]’s body creaked and transformed as if undergoing Rebirth.

The muscular body was compressed, and the overall physique became smaller.

‘(Aren’t you going to stop him?!)’

‘….’

Amel just watched it happen.

The high-density energy mass that the [Vampire Duke] was swallowing and digesting in his stomach was being released and absorbed into him.

The excessive Magical Power, following the [Vampire Duke]’s instincts, optimized his body to match the excessive Strength.

The [Vampire Duke] groaned in pain at the change, dripping sweat and making the sound of bones and flesh being crushed.

Crack.

Screech.

But beyond that,

He laughed gleefully.

The exploding Strength gradually subsided, and Amel returned the Bloodstained Dagger to her Inventory and took out the [Mithril Sword].

The [Vampire Duke] also lifted his upper body with a start and rejoiced.

A smaller physique.

A slender body.

Swollen breasts and hips.

Thinner arms and legs.

A slender face and fox-like eyes smiled with rosy cheeks.

‘(Huh?)’

“….”

‘(Wasn’t he a gym rat just now?)’

But it was the appearance of [Blood].

It might be a natural result.

The body most optimized for [Blood]’s Strength was none other than [Blood]’s body.

There was a difference. Inside the loose-fitting men’s clothing. An object of mass that swayed with the slightest movement and revealed its outline through the clothes.

Perhaps because the original bulk had decreased, unnecessary nutrients seemed to have been concentrated in the breasts and buttocks rather than the muscles.

‘(Is that what you’re worried about right now?)’

‘Well, he’s overflowing with Strength.’

‘(That’s all you have to say?)’

‘Then what?’

‘(It’s too much! What are we going to do!)’

‘I can win.’

‘(Winning isn’t everything! This is under the Lord’s Castle! The city could collapse!)’

What a fuss.

Still, I had to be careful about that part.

Amel was distracted by such worries, and then her eyes moved slightly.

───She slashed.

The [Mithril Sword] naturally covered the Blade with [Sword Aura] and cut the [Vampire Duke]’s neck.

But at the same time as it was being cut, the cut surfaces of the neck stuck together, and only the sword grazed his neck as if cutting a ghost.

“Kahaha!!”

The [Vampire Duke] gently touched his neck.

He exclaimed at the amazing regenerative ability.

Electricity sparked in Amel’s hand.

Electricity sparked from her outstretched index finger.

The [Vampire Duke] and the Electricity connected, and a high current burned his body.

He defended against the Electricity by covering his body with Magical Power, and when [Frost] permeated the Electricity, the [Vampire Duke]’s Magical Power froze solid.

In the end, the excessive current turned the [Vampire Duke]’s body into charcoal.

The [Vampire Duke]’s body, which was thrown back as the Electricity was withdrawn, soon broke the blackened shell and returned to its original state.

“Ka, kahaha… Is this the Strength of the Progenitor? Have I become immortal?”

The [Vampire Duke] calmly got up and belatedly awakened his mind, which had been soaked in superiority.

“I’m still not used to the Strength. But I will soon regain my Strength from my prime. An immortal body and Strength beyond my prime! Let me make a prediction.”

The [Vampire Duke] pointed his index finger.

“You will die.”

“….”

So what.

I can just use [Resurrection] anyway.

Besides, this is inside Gospel.

I can use [Resurrection] indefinitely.

“Yeah… go ahead.”

As Amel pointed the [Mithril Sword], the [Vampire Duke] entrusted his body to all his Strength.

He flew like an arrow and, when I dodged slightly, he couldn’t control his own Strength and crashed into the wall. He made a large crater in the wall, and cracks spread from the wall to the ceiling.

“….”

This is a bit dangerous.

Amel finally came to her senses and stopped defending and started attacking.

She stepped in front of the [Vampire Duke] and the [Mithril Sword] cut him into dozens of pieces. Electrical Ability created bridges of Electricity between the pieces, causing an overcurrent.

The [Vampire Duke] became ashes.

But before the ashes even hit the floor.

Immediately after being burned.

The ashes translucently reconstructed his body and gradually became opaque, resurrecting.

Seeing him resurrected, Amel immediately chopped him into dozens or hundreds of pieces again and extended her Electrical Ability to create gravity.

She gathered them into a single mass with gravity and infused Magical Power into the lump of flesh. Frost bloomed on the lump of flesh.

Frost flowers bloomed and soon the entire area turned white.

More and more.

More and more.

Even more.

‘Freeze.’

At that time.

Crack.

The lump of flesh, which had become as hard as glass near absolute zero. The outer part of it broke and a finger crawled out through the crack.

I applied [Frost] even more strongly.

Crack.

Crack.

Snap.

Snap.

The fingers widened the gap and crawled out, and the more they repeated that, the larger the lump of flesh became, and I could no longer hold it with both hands.

Still, direct contact would transmit [Frost] better…

A crack bursts on the hand side.

His index finger brushes Amel’s palm.

“….”

That’s disgusting.

I released the lump of flesh from my hand and distanced myself.

Then the lump of flesh breaks the cooled shell like an egg. The [Vampire Duke] grabs the broken shell and pulls his body out.