Blood of the Lion (29)

1.

Duke Bathory looked at the girl standing confidently before him.

The delicate-looking girl was holding a sword.

If she were a Wizard, maybe.

But to call her a Knight, she seemed to lack physical training, and it was astonishing how she could wield that brutishly shaped sword with her small, childlike hands.

However, he couldn’t find any openings in the girl.

Someone who didn’t know better might think she was an easy opponent.

“To escape Yore’s Barrier…”

The round stone floating in the night sky was obscured by clouds.

In the darkness, the Vampire’s crimson Eye light shone.

“I’ve thought this before, but you’re an absurd fellow.”

The girl Knight, Elia, glanced behind her.

Eric, who had been desperately holding back the progenitor of the Vampires until just now, had collapsed with his eyes closed.

She had given him emergency treatment with Divinity, but judging by the extent of his injuries, he would need intensive care.

“You know me?”

“Of course. How could I not?”

Bathory’s face twisted fiercely.

The air vibrated with the Magical power rising above his shoulders.

He showed intense emotional change for the first time.

“How could I ever forget you, Sword Saint?”

“How did you know?”

“The scent of blood is the same. Even though the body has changed, the stench is still as vile as ever.”

“Vile is too much. I wash meticulously with soap every day.”

Elia raised her arm and smelled her own skin.

“Hmm… there’s a bit of a sweaty smell, but…”

It wasn’t as bad as the unpleasant sour smell that the man was exuding; it was just that her skin smelled a bit stronger than usual.

It was closer to the smell of savory milk.

“Still, you used to be grotesque, but now you’ve become quite cute.”

“I know, I know I’m cute.”

Bathory’s brow twitched.

It was mockery about changing from a man to a woman, but Elia happily accepted it as a compliment.

“You really are an annoying fellow.”

“Thank you. What good is it to be liked by a Vampire?”

“I always thought your words and actions were vulgar, but now even your body has become vulgar.”

“Vulgar? Is this what they call a woman’s jealousy? They say a woman’s jealousy is scary, and it really is. Are you that envious?”

Elia supported her left breast with her hand and grinned as if saying, “How about this?”

Her breasts were so full that they were almost too much to hold with one hand.

It might seem excessive, as if filled with desire, but any woman would think that being full and voluptuous is more feminine and beautiful than being flat like a cutting board.

It wasn’t the most suitable body for a Knight, but she had gotten used to it, so she didn’t know.

Now, she would feel empty if she became flat like a deflated balloon.

“How much did you want big breasts that you had to latch onto someone else’s body?”

Elia wore a victor’s smile.

“It’s not that I can’t sympathize. As a fellow woman, I’ll sympathize with you. Your breasts were definitely too flat back then. I thought you were a man dressed as a woman at first, you know?”

Magical power spread out like lightning in all directions.

The form of the Magical power transformed into spears.

Twenty-two spears floated in the air, glaring at Elia. The moment she made eye contact with the blood dripping from the spearheads, the spears rushed towards Elia. They exuded a sense of intimidation like giant arrows fired from a Ballista.

Elia didn’t panic.

She didn’t back down either.

Instead, she ran towards the spears rushing at her.

A spear flew towards her face.

Elia tilted her head to the side to avoid it.

The spear pierced through her golden hair.

-Whoosh!!

She managed to dodge it, but the sharp Magical power surrounding the spear grazed Elia’s cheek.

Blood splattered.

It wasn’t just a graze; the Magical Power Shield and Divine Shield were torn.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

The blood spears continued to pour down.

Elia ran through them, dodging the attacks with agility.

In the process, her clothes were torn and her flesh was ripped.

She charged forward and arrived in front of Bathory.

There was no hesitation.

There was no fear either.

An opponent she had faced once before.

She hadn’t been able to completely defeat him, but she could defeat him.

Elia raised her sword from below.

Bathory lifted his chin and dodged the attack.

Vampires inherently have several times better physical abilities than humans, so they can usually see and dodge a sword swung by a human with their naked eyes.

“Ugh!”

He dodged the sword aimed at his neck, but then Elia’s fist slammed into Bathory’s abdomen. His useless internal organs were crushed, and his abdomen caved in.

“I’ve already figured you out, you bastard.”

He was an opponent she had fought to the brink of death in her past life.

Decades had passed since then, but that was a long time for humans and a fleeting moment for Vampires. What kind of growth had the Vampire achieved during that time?

Until just a few hours ago, he had only been sleeping in a coffin.

What kind of growth could such a guy have achieved?

And how much more could someone already at the pinnacle of Vampires grow?

As someone who had once been at the pinnacle, she knew well how difficult it was to grow when there was no higher to climb.

Elia raised her foot high.

Thwack!

She delivered a high kick to Bathory’s head.

Bathory’s head separated from his body and flew away.

However, blood connected like a rope, and the head took the separated body. The two reattached.

She confirmed that she could detach his head with a strong impact.

He still wasn’t fully recovered after all.

Elia didn’t give him a chance to rest.

She immediately pursued.

A large snake appeared behind Bathory. The snake opened its mouth wide and rushed to swallow Elia.

And it swallowed her whole.

Bathory clenched his fist tightly.

He would absorb the life force of the creature inside the snake’s belly.

Once the life force was absorbed, only the skin would remain.

If the snake was alive, that is.

“?!”

Bathory’s eyes widened.

The snake’s back split open, and a light as bright as the sun burst out along with blood.

-Boom!

The snake made of blood exploded and scattered.

A girl covered in blood emerged from within.

She jumped up, using the blood clots as stepping stones.

“How…?”

Before he could ponder deeply, a cold killing intent targeted Bathory’s neck.

Bathory separated his head from his body again to avoid the attack.

He had one question since earlier.

How did she escape his Barrier?

Now, another question arose.

How could she tear open the snake’s back and escape outside?

Once trapped in the Barrier, it was over.

Even if eaten by the snake, it was over.

But damn it.

That girl was lifting her chin, staring straight at him, and continuing to charge at him.

He created distance and reattached his body and head.

Bathory spread his arms wide.

The floor rippled.

A red wave that seemed to swallow the castle surged up.

Unable to withstand the power of the wave, the ground shook, and parts of the building collapsed.

Elia threw her sword high into the air.

Amidst the vibrations that made it difficult to stand, Elia used the falling debris of the castle as stepping stones to approach Bathory.

She was fast.

It was as if she was running through the air.

Thwack!

Elia grabbed Bathory by the collar.

“Mosquitoes…”

Elia smiled, revealing her white teeth.

It was the smile of a grim reaper.

“…should be slapped to death!”

Thwack!

Elia delivered a powerful slap to Bathory’s cheek.

Bathory’s head fell off.

His cheek was numb.

It was hot, as if burned.

The regeneration speed of the wound was slow.

The abdomen he had been hit in earlier still throbbed.

“Ah…”

He finally realized.

Duke Bathory realized how complacent he had been.

He had only been thinking of the girl targeting his neck as the Sword Saint he had faced long ago.

He had been foolish.

He had been so focused on the idea of cutting off her neck this time that he had forgotten about the girl’s true identity.

Divinity.

Considering its power.

“Saintess?”

“Too late.”

The waves of blood surrounded her from all sides.

Elia was at the center.

Elia grabbed the sword falling above her head and slammed it down on Bathory’s head.

If there was a weakness for Vampires, or rather, all Demon race, it was Divinity. However, they didn’t greatly fear Divinity on the battlefield.

Because the only humans who could use Divinity were clerics who provided support from the rear.

All Knights train in Magical power to use Sword Aura.

Only the Hero and a very few Holy Knight could convert Divinity into Sword Aura and use it.

Now, one more person had been added.

The Saintess.

The Saintess’s role was to pray to the Celestial God from the very rear and bestow blessings upon allied soldiers.

Not to hold a sword and fight on the front lines.

“It’s not too late.”

Absorbing the blood that had fallen on the floor was something that would undermine the dignity of a noble, but now was not the time to be picky.

Bathory filtered out one from the surging blood.

The blood that the prince had spilled on the floor.

The blood of the Lion.

“It’s different. It’s definitely different.”

His body regenerated quickly.

His Magical power amplified explosively.

“…I have recovered.”

Torn screams echoed from the waves of blood that soared tens of meters high.

Vampires were screaming and waving their arms.

Bathory’s eyes turned black. His pupils shone clearly like the crimson moon in the night sky.

“Everything is perfect. Blood, flesh, seed, Yore are complete.”

“Is that so?”

Standing on the barely remaining floor, Elia stomped her foot.

Thud!

The waves of blood that had risen so high as to swallow the entire castle disappeared with a single stomp.

“What…”

“The Papal Authority said so. That I was born with the most Divinity among all the Saintesses in history. No matter how much Magical power you pour in, you can’t overcome my Divinity.”

2.

Raging Magical power.

Divinity that blocked all of it.

The Imperial Knights could not go to the castle to provide support. Just getting close to the castle would cause their blood vessels to burst and their bodies to be crushed by the intense Magical power pressure.

They had no choice but to watch from afar.

What on earth was happening?

Magical power and Divinity had been colliding for hours, causing sparks to fly.

-Boom!!

A fierce storm blew, and dust flew.

“Persistent.”

Elia spat out the blood flowing from her mouth.

She had felt it for a long time, but Vampires were really annoying opponents. No matter how many times you cut them, they would quickly recover.

The fight was taking longer than she had expected.

Bathory’s Magical power was weaker than at first. Even if the Magic Tower Lord’s body was mixed with the blood of the imperial family, there was a limit to Magical power.

How could a lake possibly contend with an ocean?

But Elia was also slowly reaching a crisis.

She had an abundance of Divinity, but her Magical power was almost depleted. If she used up all her Magical power, she wouldn’t be able to use Body Enhancement, and she would become a body that couldn’t even swing a sword properly.

From the second half, she had been wearing her sword on her waist and fighting with her bare hands.

Her sword, Extermia, sucked up Magical power like crazy, so she refrained from using it unless it was a really important moment.

It was a race against time.

Whether Elia’s Magical power would run out first.

Or.

Whether the morning sun would rise first.

All of Bathory’s attacks could be defended with Divinity. So, even if her Magical power ran out, she had to somehow hold Bathory’s feet with Divinity.

Until the light of dawn, which Vampires feared the most, pushed back the night.

“Where did that initial momentum go?”

Bathory became more relaxed as Elia only started defending.

“I was surprised, but from the beginning, it was a ridiculous joke that you would kill Yore.”

“Stop talking nonsense and attack.”

“It seems your Magical power is almost gone, and you’re just waiting for the sun to rise while defending. Did you think Yore wouldn’t notice that?”

Bathory shook his head.

“I probably won’t be able to defeat you here anyway.”

Her eyes turned to a distant place.

“It’s almost dawn. It seems I won’t be able to defeat you today. But there’s enough time to feast on those humans outside the castle.”

Bathory turned his body.

He would admit what he had to admit. The Saintess’s Divinity was more vast than her Magical power. No matter how much he amplified his Magical power with the blood of the Lion in the Magic Tower Lord’s body, he couldn’t win in terms of quantity.

“You think I’ll let you?”

Elia drew the sword she had on her waist.

“Ugh…!”

As soon as she grabbed the sword hilt, it eagerly sucked up her Magical power.

Her whole body tingled.

Elia grabbed the Magical power escaping from her body and forcibly fed Extermia Divinity. She could also use Divinity as Sword Aura.

Divinity gathered and gathered and gathered, and the blade began to shine like the sun.

Bathory frowned.

“That’s a really annoying light.”

He could still block any big attack that came.

Elia grabbed the sword filled with Divinity like a spear and threw it at Bathory.

Bathory dodged the sword by moving one step to the side.

“A Knight abandoning her sword… I’m a Wizard, but aren’t you disqualified as a Knight?”

Elia gathered all her Magical power and ran towards Bathory.

She dodged the flying spells or nullified them with Divinity and approached him.

She threw a punch.

Thwack.

Bathory grabbed Elia’s fist.

“You’re weak. Born as a human, you have a really weak body. Yore will give you a chance. How about becoming Yore’s Vassal, Sword Saint?”

Elia put strength into her shoulder.

It didn’t budge.

-Crack

Elia’s fingers, clenched in a fist, were crushed by Bathory’s grip.

“Choose. Will you remain a mortal, or will you become immortal with Yore?”

“Fuck off.”

“…You really are a foolish fellow.”

Thwack!

Bathory’s hand pierced through Elia’s abdomen.

Bathory felt a refreshing sensation.

If Elia had only defended, he wouldn’t have been able to defeat her and would have retreated. But because she chose to attack instead of defend, he was able to make a hole in her stomach.

Thwack!

Elia grabbed Bathory’s arm tightly.

To pull out his arm?

No.

To hold his arm in place.

“You’re the foolish one, you idiot.”

Elia chuckled.

“Ugh!”

Bathory felt an intense heat as if his arm was melting. It felt like his flesh was burning in the daytime sun.

“I’m a Saintess.”

“This bastard…!”

“Correct yourself. Not bastard, bitch.”

She released Divinity.

Holy Fire engulfed Bathory.

Bathory screamed and struggled.

He quickly regenerated his skin every time it melted.

But the pain remained the same.

“And a very vicious bitch at that.”

Bathory struggled to pull out his arm.

His insides were churned every time his arm moved.

Elia endured the pain with her willpower and focused on releasing Divinity.

“Okay… Cough… If you want to go, go…”

Elia released Bathory’s hand.

Bathory’s body was thrown out by inertia.

“Now…”

Elia grinned.

“Let your comrade send you off with your own hands.”

Bathory stared at Elia, who was saying incomprehensible things, as if she was strange.

“…Thank you.”

A voice was heard from behind Bathory.

It was the Hero.

In the Hero’s hand was Elia’s sword, which Bathory had dodged a little while ago. A sword filled with Divinity.

“No…”

“Rest in peace now.”

The Hero swung his sword.

“Eirene.”

The Saintess’s Divinity was converted into the Hero’s Sword Aura, and white Sword Aura raged.

The storm swallowed Bathory.

“Aaaaaaaargh!!”

Bathory’s scream echoed.

Blood spurted up like pillars from all directions, the floor shook, and the air vibrated. Magical power sparked and blood gushed out like a fountain.

Bathory tried to protect his heart at all costs.

If he could protect even his heart, he could somehow plan for the future.

But.

He couldn’t stop the Divinity from seeping into his body.

How could a cracked dam possibly hold back the full water? It was only a matter of time before the dam burst.

The light of dawn, which drove away the night, burned the progenitor of the Vampires.

He turned to ashes and fell apart piece by piece.

Could he really go so futilely like this?

He had dreamed of resurrection…

No, he had achieved resurrection, but it had become a mess because of that girl.

To think that the most troublesome guy would be reborn as the most troublesome existence.

Before his eyes closed, Bathory saw the Saintess.

The Saintess wiped the blood flowing from her mouth with the back of her hand and pointed her thumb down.

The grim reaper’s death sentence had been handed down.

3.

The Knights were silent.

The night sky was split by white light.

They couldn’t close their mouths at the sight that they couldn’t believe even after seeing it with their own eyes.

The light disappeared.

The sun began to rise in the eastern sky to replace it.

The evil Magical power that had been shaking the atmosphere and the earth melted into the eastern sun.

It was a morning that heralded the extinction of the Vampires in the world.