Ch.116Awakening (8)

According to old legends, silver and mercury were weaknesses of all kinds of monsters. Whether that was true or not, the vampire seemed powerless against them.

Of course, what creature would be fine after being shot?

“These things are really…”

Rather, the fact that it survived after taking so much damage made it a monster. If it were human, it would have died instantly dozens of times over from that attack.

The vampire uttered an incantation.

“Solidify.”

The blood flowing through the vampire’s body rose against gravity, then rapidly hardened to form a wall. It was a wide and thick wall that completely covered the cross-section of the corridor.

“Playing clever tricks, I see.”

Rat-tat-tat!

The sound of bullets bouncing off came from beyond the wall. The vampire repaired the front side by replenishing blood wherever cracks formed in the wall.

Now was the opportunity, while the monster was distracted with what was in front of it.

When I quietly gestured, Salvira released all her spider webs at once. Then in the next moment, our eyes met with the vampire’s. She frowned and asked.

“…Salvira, what are you doing?”

“Can’t you tell by looking?”

“Ah, betrayal?”

The vampire twisted her lips.

“Even you betraying me… Well, I actually knew. I was planning to kill you right after the ritual was complete, but you’re hastening your death, all four of you.”

I could feel her mana filled with rage. Overwhelming. The vampire was truly a vampire, it seemed.

The three women, freed from their restraints, took out the magic stones they had prepared in advance. When Miyo and Major Adora infused mana into the stones, weapons appeared in mid-air.

The Valkyrie aimed a steel spear, the Holy Maiden a baculus, and Riyo a crossbow.

“Material transfer magic…?”

The vampire gave a hollow laugh and changed the subject.

“Salvira, let me ask you one thing. Where did the old you go? Where is that brave commander who slaughtered hundreds of thousands of humans, and why is only this coward who clings to humans left?”

“I just… realized something. That rule by force will never bring about the era of demon-kind.”

“She must have hit her head.”

Salvira’s expression was complicated.

In contrast, the vampire’s eyes were full of conviction.

After finishing arranging the spider webs, I stepped back. Salvira naturally moved forward to confront the vampire. She said:

“My disciple, leave this to your master and go back.”

“No.”

I answered.

“Why should I go back when I can fight alongside you?”

“Because this is my business. I need to tie up my own loose ends. This has nothing to do with you.”

“Isn’t a master’s business also the disciple’s business?”

Salvira turned her upper body to look at us.

“We haven’t known each other for long. Have you already grown attached? You don’t know this, but in the past, I killed countless people…”

“I have a personality where I need to return what I’ve received. Besides, isn’t the altar right ahead?”

“…I told you that when things get urgent, you need to take the long way around.”

“When it’s urgent, you should go faster, not take detours.”

“What a stubborn disciple.”

Though her tone was scolding, Salvira’s face was smiling gladly. From the beginning, she had wanted us to stay here.

I drew up a fair amount of mana from within my body. If before it felt like pouring water into a cup, now it felt like pulling up a bucket from a well—a much heavier sensation.

We can win.

***

Bepisya was caught in a dilemma.

In front of the altar was Admiral Abraham Dietz, and behind her were Salvira and those human brats.

Both sides had turned into enemies.

What particularly annoyed her was that woman Salvira. Seeing the intended sacrifices now wielding weapons and standing against her made her blood pressure rise.

“You vermin…”

How did it come to this?

How did the Demon King’s army fall so far that one of the only three remaining commanders would betray them?

To end all the questions swirling in her head, she needed that person.

The Demon King.

The supreme being who unified the fragmented demon society with overwhelming power. If only he were here, the world of demons would dawn once more.

“Do you think I’ll give up because of this?”

Though fallen, Bepisya was of the progenitor’s bloodline. Her ability to manipulate blood was on a completely different level from ordinary vampires.

Just by slightly parting her lips, she could elegantly and gracefully grip an enemy’s blood vessels and make them bleed from every orifice.

That’s how it should have been.

“…?!”

Some unknown mana was completely blocking Bepisya’s magic.

Sensing the mana trace, she knew it wasn’t Salvira’s. It felt extremely unfamiliar.

What on earth is this?

Being unable to remotely use blood manipulation, which was practically her greatest strength, was like fighting with one arm cut off.

For a moment, Bepisya’s steps faltered.

“Ha, fine. I’ll tear out your hearts with my own hands.”

Bepisya charged forward like a bullet.

Her priority was to hold the front with a blood wall while quickly dealing with the trash before her.

Bepisya’s mana field and Salvira’s mana field collided.

Slash!

Spider webs cut through blood, and blood soaked the spider webs. Salvira heavily blocked Bepisya’s blood spear aimed at her heart, and in that gap, nets from the ceiling fell onto Bepisya.

There was nowhere to escape.

Unless she could fly.

Bepisya transformed into a bat and quickly escaped the encirclement.

“Ah, neither of us is performing like we used to. Right?”

“…It’s been peaceful.”

“Our bodies have stiffened. This won’t do. With countless more, greater wars to come, we should be practicing.”

“Tsk.”

“I’ll tell him well. That besides myself and the sea dragon Leviathan, there were no loyal subjects who survived until your revival.”

“Your words flow like a mountain stream.”

“Ha.”

Sighing, Bepisya gripped her blood spear. At the same time, Salvira’s fingertips, which had been weaving threads, pointed right in front of her.

“Shoot.”

“Thread.”

The offensives of the two commanders collided.

Blood surged from one side, threads from the other. The corridor was no longer a corridor. The walls undulated like liquid, and the floor writhed like soft fabric.

This wasn’t easy.

But it was fine. In terms of mana quantity and manipulation, Bepisya was more skilled. Not all commanders were equal in ability. In the mana struggle unfolding with surgical precision, Salvira was gradually being pushed back.

But then.

Swoosh!

An arrow flew by, grazing Bepisya’s left cheek.

“Which one…”

The arrow was a distraction.

From the lower left, a sharp spear tip lunged in.

“Goddess of battle.”

“…Flow.”

Her concentration broke in surprise.

Clang!

Bepisya barely blocked Rachel’s surprise attack. Her nails tingled upon contact with the spear enhanced by holy power. This was humiliating. A woman who would have been instantly killed in a one-on-one fight…!

But even this was a distraction.

“———.”

Divine Word.

The language used by goddesses, and the voice vampires hated more than anything else.

As soon as that voice rang out, a powerful burst of light exploded.

“Ugh!”

Unlike Salvira who had her back to the light, Bepisya had to step back from the pain of her eyes burning.

In this situation, she couldn’t even trust her sight. She had to rely solely on echolocation for combat.

Now, flies from both sides began shooting magic.

Piercing Blue Stone, Fire Sea Stone, Red-flow Stone, Sparking Stone, and more—all combat magic stones used for penetrating, cutting, or setting things on fire. A vampire’s body could withstand this much.

But the next attack was beyond imagination.

“Sea, breathe.”

With a tap, a stone hit her back, burrowed into her white skin, and began to catch fire.

Bepisya’s body was engulfed in flames.

The vampire let out a terrible scream. It was a new type of burn she had never experienced before. She couldn’t tell if she was screaming or if the scream was tearing through her. It just hurt too much.

‘It’s White Phosphorus Stone. Our creation.’

‘We agreed never to use it again. But I felt we had no choice this time.’

The voices of two unidentified men.

‘Ugh, it’s horrific just to look at.’

‘I never want to recall that feeling again.’

Followed by women’s voices.

Now she realized it wasn’t just one person. Hidden souls had emerged to snipe at Bepisya.

It was hot. Unbearably hot. Though she hated flowing water to death, right now she felt she could dive into a river under the blazing sun.

Burning, Bepisya struggled to open her eyes.

“You worms who can’t do anything alone…”

Look at that black-haired, golden-eyed woman. She emanates power equal to the heroes Bepisya had faced before.

Look at the white-haired Lumina. She possesses holy power beyond that of the elf priest from that day.

Look at the fox beastkin. The way she adjusts crossbow bolts on the spot shows more experience than the beastkin scout she fought that day.

The woman with the major’s insignia goes without saying. Possessing mana quantity comparable to Bepisya’s, she was contributing to making the situation even more disadvantageous.

But if it had been just them, it wouldn’t have been a problem.

The man at the center of the women.

“…Erich Lohnstein.”

That man was the most troublesome. In terms of pure power, he was barely on par with the fox woman shooting the crossbow, but he had another invisible power.

The power to lead others.

Leadership.

“You, could it be…!”

Bepisya recalled the face of a man whose family name she didn’t know. A man more detestable than even the heroes. The group of mages he led had completely ruined Hellayer.

His name was.

“Jeriem——!!”

Now that she looked, their appearances were similar. Though time had passed and different blood had mixed in, he still retained that uniquely annoying feeling.

“You, you! I’ll definitely kill you!”

Though her words suggested she would charge right in, for some reason Bepisya was stepping backward. Her instinct was screaming shamefully. Run away, you can’t win…

She was afraid.

They say battle is not about strength but momentum. No matter how strong you are, if your morale is broken, you can’t display your true abilities.

Bepisya was in exactly that state. Though she said she was fine, that day’s defeat was deeply rooted in her unconscious, becoming a trauma.

Jeriem.

A name more terrifying to vampires than even silver bullets, which were like poison to them.

“Shine!”

“Draw eight strokes, and back to the endpoint.”

Bepisya’s blood stream and the man’s mana collided.

That momentum… the man’s side was overwhelmingly superior.

Could it be direct manipulation?

“…You awakened in such a short time?”

No, strictly speaking, it wasn’t awakening.

He was purely controlling mana at all points directly while being aware of them. Now she realized this was what had been interfering with her blood manipulation.

“Annoying bastard!”

The man’s magical skill now was like a chrysalis just before transformation. If he were to break out of the cocoon, if he were to dry his wings… she would be overwhelmed by his mana manipulation skills and finished.

Correction. The young man before her was more dangerous than Jeriem.

She didn’t want to die shamefully here.

Yes, retreat. Let’s choose a strategic retreat. To achieve the great work, sometimes one must endure. After waiting so long, what’s a few more hours?

“I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you—!!”

Bepisya shouted as she ran toward the blood wall.

They say there’s no paradise where one flees to?

“Why won’t this fire go out…!”

As Bepisya rolled in her blood to deal with the other side first, what she encountered were special forces from the National Security Department holding anti-tank weapons.

“Finally you appear. Why is this wall so hard?”

With Admiral Dietz’s smile, a shell was lodged between Bepisya’s eyebrows.

***

Ah, I see, Salvira. I understand why you chose to side with humans.

You no longer need him.

But for demons excluding you, we still need him.

So shouldn’t I sacrifice my life to make the ritual succeed?

“…Sacrificial offering.”

Demon, send down the blood flow that will drown them all.

With Bepisya’s final spell, the corridor leading to the altar became a blood vessel.