Ch.277EP.61 – The Knight Fear People More Than Ghosts 2(7)

…The arrows fall.

No, would it be more accurate to say they’re being fired?

The arrows were precisely aimed at him, and facing this, Hansel hurriedly protected himself with armor up to the crown of his head.

And this judgment,

PABABABABAT!

Proved to be incredibly wise.

KWAJIK…!

One arrow pierced the bone armor, the exoskeleton.

It didn’t penetrate completely, but the fact that it even partially pierced the vampire’s bones—which even flame scroll explosions couldn’t penetrate—was astounding.

But what was even more astounding!

PABABABABAT!!

The threatening arrows didn’t end with just one, but dozens were flying toward him, which was truly shocking.

KWAJIK!

KUWUNG!

POOK-!

Gradually, more arrows destroyed Hansel’s exoskeleton.

“…Playing cute tricks, are we?”

Hansel muttered under his breath with a sneer.

However, his pupils couldn’t hide his honest feelings as they trembled uncontrollably despite his sneering.

It was inevitable to be perplexed that his exoskeleton, which had never been penetrated by any means, was being destroyed.

However.

‘I just need to regenerate!’

He thought nonchalantly.

Yes, regeneration would solve everything.

After all, he was a vampire.

An immortal who regenerates infinitely and never dies.

No matter how much they attack, he would never die-.

Drip….

“…Huh?”

Dark blood dripped from his nose.

Shudder.

“W-what is this!?”

As soon as the black nosebleed flowed, his head spun as if drunk, and his body trembled.

And Hansel quickly realized the cause of this phenomenon.

‘Poison?’

Symptoms of poisoning.

It was similar to that, and Hansel was dumbfounded despite his dizziness.

An immortal being poisoned?

A passing cat barking would make more sense than this phenomenon.

Drip, drip.

“…Is this for real?”

But whether he believed it or not, the poisoning symptoms were already manifesting steadily, and Hansel felt a bit of urgency.

“I shouldn’t play around anymore.”

HWAAAK!

Hansel chose to charge straight ahead, ignoring the arrows raining down like rain.

Whatever means they were using, taking any more of those arrows would be utterly foolish, so he decided to charge straight through and eliminate them.

“You think you’re the only ones who can attack from a distance…!”

PABABABABAT!

The blood spurting from his body sharpened like porcupine quills and shot straight into the air.

[Blood Thorns].

Coagulated vampire blood could pierce even iron armor with its power.

No matter how they flew through the air, they couldn’t block this-.

CHWAAAK!

“??”

A foul-smelling liquid, oil, covered his body. And the oil wasn’t just ordinary oil.

HWARYUK!

It was oil that caught fire very easily…!

“K-knights using such methods?”

An arrow with a spark flew directly toward him, and Hansel, seeing the flames burning his blood, could only express his astonishment.

“…Playing this game like shit….”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

He ended up uttering praise toward his opponent.

* * *

Typically, when it comes to knighthood entrance exams, most orders test lance skills, physical fitness, or swordsmanship levels, but Tristan was famous for conducting entrance exams differently from other knightly orders.

For example:

– “I’ll give you one dagger, so catch twenty wild boars without using martial arts or any other weapons. Time limit… I’ll give you two days.”

– “Huh?”

Hunting.

– “I’ll give you a bow and three arrows, so use only these to catch a Class 2 (murderer and violent criminal) wanted criminal. Oh, and capture them alive, don’t kill them. Just killing would be too easy, wouldn’t it?”

– “???”

Pursuit.

– “Here’s basic rations for one week. Survive in the forest for a month with just this.”

– “H-how?”

– “Well.”

– “…What bullshit.”

– “Profanity is grounds for deduction.”

Survival.

This was the entrance exam for the Crimson Eagle, conducted in a peculiar way unlike other knightly orders. There were several theories about why such unusual tests were given, with the most credible being that the first head of House Tristan was a knight with a hunting background.

But knights who passed these tests naturally came to realize:

“That there’s nothing in this world we can’t do.”

“No monster we can’t kill.”

“Agreed.”

That they had become not just excellent knights but also “hunters.”

And upon joining, they inevitably became even more extraordinary hunters.

This was because Tristan possessed countless hunting knowledge accumulated over hundreds of years.

From knowledge about hunting magical beasts to the characteristics of various mystical races, and even methods for handling poisons from legendary monsters.

The knowledge and techniques accumulated by the descendants of the first Tristan—who became a Knight of the Round Table solely through archery and hunting skills—to surpass their founder granted them a unique strength that no other southern knight could imitate. Although some might consider the Crimson Eagle inferior to Lionel or Galahad, the Crimson Eagle could proudly declare:

– If we set our minds to it, there’s nothing we cannot hunt.

Even if it were:

“The [Poison of the Jimjo] works well.”

“It’s my first time using it… how did our seniors from the past bring such dangerous poison all the way to the South?”

“I guess they wanted to hunt immortals too.”

Even if it were an immortal.

A poison extracted from a peculiar bird.

Called the [Jimjo] in the Eastern Continent?

It was poison from a bird called the King of Poisons, and records showed that even immortal-class magical beasts became nothing but bloody pulp when poisoned by it.

Three hundred years ago, the Crimson Eagles who learned of this poison’s existence succeeded in crossing mountains and seas to bring back the Jimjo’s poison, and it took about 50 years to research and artificially mass-produce it.

All to prepare countermeasures against immortals.

“Everyone, enough chatter. The target hasn’t been neutralized yet.”

[Yes, Lord Vale!]

Though he was the vice-captain of the Crimson Eagle, he was currently fulfilling the role of acting captain as he coldly observed the burning vampire.

It would be nice if it died from this, but…

HWUUK!

‘As expected, is this not enough?’

Vale had read the records about vampires before coming here.

There had been no sightings for 400 years, but according to records from that time, they couldn’t be killed by any means, and only sunlight was the sole answer.

However…

‘It’s active even in broad daylight, meaning even sunlight isn’t its enemy.’

Vale sensed that this was a far more troublesome opponent than the vampires recorded in history.

However,

‘Well, it’s a good opportunity to test the records accumulated over 400 years.’

Vale decided to make full use of this opportunity.

KUGUGUGUGUNG!

“Lord Vale!”

“I see it.”

A massive shock centered around the vampire.

The vampire was causing ominous changes, and Vale ordered arrows to be fired.

PAT!

These were arrows made of obsidian with a special coating technique and infused with martial energy.

Not only were they sharp, but their penetrating power was unparalleled in strength.

However,

CHWAK! CHWAAK!

As if saying ‘don’t underestimate me,’ crimson tendrils shot up and deflected the arrows.

CHWAK! CHWAK! CHWAK!

The tendrils weren’t just one; countless tendrils emerged from the ground, multiplying like they were reproducing.

“Vampire tentacles…”

They appeared to be tentacles made from a mixture of vampire blood and exoskeleton, seemingly the vampire’s trump card.

PUHWAK!

…But was this also a hasty judgment?

[KAAK!]

[KAAAK!]

[KRURUK!]

What emerged from beneath the ground wasn’t just the vampire’s tentacles, but also the miserable results of those who couldn’t return to the earth.

“…Ghouls.”

Ghouls.

Magical beasts born from corpses or humans who absorbed vampire blood.

According to records, they typically possess five times the strength of a human and are known to carry powerful corpse poison.

And the number of such ghouls was approximately:

GOOOOO…!

“10,000, no, close to 20,000.”

It was an overwhelming number of ghouls pouring out, so many that one couldn’t tell where they had been hiding.

Truly…

“Playing this game like shit.”

[Thanks for the compliment.]

Vale ended up returning the exact words that had been said earlier, and the voice of the abominable monster was heard.

[I’ve heard a lot about Tristan, and you’re quite impressive. But aren’t your methods rather cruel for a knightly order?]

The vampire, protected by tentacles and hiding in something like an egg sac, spread its insidious voice.

A voice somehow sticky and unpleasant.

Vale’s brow furrowed involuntarily.

“What fool would fight honorably against a monster like you?”

-Mind control.

This monster was using despicable methods to the end, and Vale showed nothing but contempt.

He felt strong contempt and anger at the thought that this monster, who knew nothing of honor, believed it could manipulate knights with such tricks.

“I will eliminate you without fail!”

[Oh my, I don’t like that. A man being so persistent won’t be popular, hehe.]

“…It’s even more disgusting hearing a male creature talk like that.”

[You bastard!]

“…Lord Ihan’s words come to mind.”

Click.

“Truth hurts, doesn’t it?”

Vale silently took up his lance and sword.

It wouldn’t be bad to continue fighting with arrows from the air, but…

“It wouldn’t be bad for us to shoot ourselves like arrows either.”

PAK-!

Even without Vale giving a signal, the knights had already taken up their lances and charged toward the ground just like Vale.

Their targets were the vampire and the army of 20,000 ghouls.

Well, to some, this might seem like a desperate situation, but…

“Isn’t it better than sparring with Lord Ihan?”

“Agreed.”

“It’s ten times better than fighting that man.”

“Puhahaha!”

They could laugh heartily because they regularly fought a far more formidable opponent under the name of sparring.

It was the beginning of a great battle that would leave its mark in the history of Wales.

*

*

*

KUGUGUNG…!

THUD!!

“…Is a war breaking out?”

Ihan blinked as he confirmed the earthquake.

However, Ihan quickly decided to disregard the earthquake.

Whether a war broke out outside or not, he first needed to…

TAK!

[GRRRR!]

“…What breed of dog are you?”

[KWANG!]

“A Chihuahua?”

He seemed to need to wrestle with the two-headed dog first.