Ch.4545. The Peculiar Fate of the Kingdom of Levia (2)

The circumstances of the incident were as follows.

Immediately after ascending to the throne of the ruined Kingdom of Levia, King Barca XIV was suffering from all manner of absurdities and injustices to a degree incomparable to his current situation.

His claim that Barca XIII was already dead when he arrived was treated as a mere excuse among the public, with the overwhelming opinion being that he had killed his predecessor himself and was now denying it.

Although Barca XIII hadn’t been particularly well-regarded or respected among the people, to the point where some even said his death was for the best…. That wasn’t the real issue.

This suspicion of murdering Barca XIII functioned as a political weakness, leading the great nobles who had kept quiet and either obeyed or cooperated during his time as crown prince to openly challenge him.

Barca XIV, seeking to overcome this, attempted to draw one of them to his side.

In other words, a marriage alliance.

The family he chose ranked third among the five great noble houses, a family whose hereditary business was maritime transport and commerce.

This was because they could help rebuild the naval fleet, and since they often viewed the nation’s interests as aligned with their own, cooperation was more readily achieved.

Thus, he married the eldest daughter of the family head, bringing them in as his in-laws, which had both advantages and disadvantages.

First, he was able to draw on his in-laws’ wealth to somehow rebuild the tattered nation.

A prime example was the barely successful reconstruction of the navy by repurchasing the warships they owned and resolving personnel shortages by placing their relatives in high military positions vacated by those he had executed.

He was also able to thoroughly purge corrupt officials who were on bad terms with his in-laws, but… the problem was that corruption was rampant even among these in-laws, and he couldn’t fix the fundamentally broken aspects of the system.

The nearly collapsed nation had merely risen to a level comparable to a mixture of Heungseon Daewongun’s reforms and factional politics, but in a situation where certain fundamentally broken aspects simply could not be fixed—

It was under these circumstances, while Barca XIV was clutching his head in agony, that the incident occurred.

“…What?”

“I-I’m s-sorry… but, but I was also threatened…!”

The person who had been presented as the eldest daughter of the family head, whom he had married for political reasons, confessed to being merely a servant who had concealed her identity, not even an illegitimate daughter.

He couldn’t understand what kind of mindset would lead someone to commit such an act that could be exposed at any moment, but one thing was clear.

Those who had committed such a deed and still brazenly acted as his in-laws had to be punished somehow.

…But how?

Because he had no close allies and had reluctantly accepted the tyranny of his in-laws through this strategic marriage, that family had infiltrated important positions throughout the country.

To put it bluntly, even if he revealed this truth, these people who weren’t even his real in-laws might shamelessly ask what he intended to do about it… and he would have no recourse.

He tried desperately to overcome this absurd reality.

Somehow, even if it meant sacrificing the kingdom’s future, he thought that if he could just keep things afloat and make repairs, that would be enough. He continued his precarious tightrope walk of a struggle alone.

But… to think that even these desperate attempts had actually resulted in handing the kingdom over to others through deception—what could he do?

“Get out! Move! All of you, disappear!”

Unable to withstand the tempestuous reality filled with absurdity and injustice, he ultimately retreated from reality and secluded himself in his room.

He locked the door and neither ate nor drank anything for about 10 days.

During this long period, he was able to endure because he was a superhuman who had awakened to Aura, but by the tenth day, he could barely hold on and was in a state where he could do nothing else.

He was dying.

No matter how much he had become a superhuman who defied physical laws with the power of Aura, even such a superhuman could not overcome the most basic biological law—hunger.

It was already miraculous that he was still alive despite not eating or drinking anything for 10 days, but it was impossible to endure any longer.

Collapsed in the middle of the room, having finally lost consciousness in reality, he suddenly realized that he was at some kind of crossroads.

Eyes… no, was this truly a scene before his eyes?

Awakening in a place that could only be described as the crossroads between life and death, he belatedly recognized that this was within his own mind.

And then, before his eyes stood a “wolf”—a figure with the head of a red-furred wolf on a human body.

He, no. The “wolf,” the “wolf” was staring at him.

The “wolf” did not speak. Rather, it didn’t even appear to have a mouth capable of human speech.

Yet he could understand what the “wolf” wanted from him.

As if he had thought of it himself, what the “wolf” wanted arose in his mind.

The “wolf” wanted him to accept and drink from the cup it was holding.

Only then did he realize that the “wolf” was holding a cup made from a skull, and as if his reason had been paralyzed, he impulsively accepted the skull cup that the red-furred “wolf” offered with trembling hands.

As he was about to down it in one gulp… somehow he sensed that the “wolf” was suggesting he reconsider before drinking.

No, was that his own thought, or perhaps a final defense mechanism?

Though he couldn’t understand what was happening, he decided this was the right course of action and looked into the contents of the cup that appeared to be made from actual human bone—

In the surface of the contents, which looked like red blood, he could see the image of an evil dragon with red scales.

This dragon, which seemed like the embodiment of rage itself, burned fertile lands, destroyed cities, and shattered into pieces everything precious that he had protected…

And simultaneously, this was the form he would take if he drank the contents.

He thought it was as if the “wolf” was showing him this.

He also intuitively felt that this was his last chance—charitably speaking, to spend his life meaningfully, or less charitably, a choice that would destroy everything he had sought to achieve and all possibilities.

An opportunity to judge those ignorant, foolish, primitive beings who had deceived, mocked, and ridiculed him.

Therefore, having made his decision with his full faculties, he tilted the skull cup and drank its contents—

With the sensation of something like acrid blood flowing down his throat, he felt his consciousness soar as he realized he had somehow changed from his former self.

Yes.

The “wolf” that had come to him was blood, vengeance, and pure “rage.”

※ ※ ※

The first change in Barca XIV’s body was none other than physical recovery.

His body, which had been withering away from starvation after 10 days without food, expanded like a balloon filled with air,

and while his outward appearance seemed to have returned to what it was before his seclusion… it was not at all the same.

Somehow, despite his body regaining its form, his face and skin lacked color, giving him a pale impression, while in contrast, the muscles throughout his body bulged, flaunting the power contained within them.

But… while these changes might still be considered within the category of human variation, what followed was not.

He began to transform into something inhuman.

The color drained from his brown hair as if bleached, turning snow-white; his fingernails changed to become long and sharp like blades; and most critically, his eyes transformed.

The blue eyes of the Levian royal family changed to a blood-red color reminiscent of fresh blood, and the sclera, which should have been pure white, had turned black as the darkness of deep night, contrary to its name.

His eyes, transformed into what media often calls “demon eyes” or “reverse eyes,” seemed to convey endless hatred, anger, impulses for revenge, and bloodlust within their retinas.

Clearly inhuman, a species not yet well-known but with the potential to someday conquer the material world.

As if to prove his current status as a slave to blood, now a vampire (吸血鬼 or Vampire), a pair of black membrane wings sprouted from his back.

These wings, resembling those of a bat, were imbued with a deathly energy (死氣) incompatible with life, enabling flight that should be impossible due to size constraints.

This clearly proved that he had become a being that should be called a monster.

But even though he had fully reached the rank of a Grade 4—the lowest seat of a true-blooded (眞血) vampire—the transformation was still ongoing.

As if responding to his endless hatred, as if resonating with his unfathomable rage.