Ch.62Mid-term Exam – 5

I swung Eternal through the blood mist that was trying to infiltrate my respiratory system. The blue slash, mixed with red, pierced through the Vampire Lord’s body, which had transformed into a faint mist.

The pierced area immediately regenerated. This was already an uncountable exchange of attacks. I calmly shook the blood off Eternal. The blade was coated with blood so bright red it seemed to glow on its own.

It was blood drawn from that creature, and its efficiency was quite impressive. Normally, I should have exhausted all the extracted blood and collapsed by now, but I was still going strong.

“How long are you going to keep running? Does a Lord like you have no pride?”

“Don’t run your mouth just because you can!”

I pointed my blade at him and taunted him with a slight movement. He erupted in anger, raising a wave made of blood. A large mass of blood flew at me like a whip. I swung Eternal, slicing it to pieces in one go, and taunted him again.

“Nothing wrong with what I said, is there? You haven’t landed a single effective hit yet, but you’re still trying to save face? Aren’t you embarrassed?”

The creature, who initially tried to confront me head-on, must have sensed the difference in power because afterward, he transformed into a blood mist and focused solely on targeting my blind spots. During this process, I deflected all incoming attacks.

It seemed he was trying to lead me into a war of attrition. For now, I had no way to counter his mist transformation. If I increased the power of my attacks beyond what I’d been using, there was a risk of collapsing the dungeon along with him.

‘He must be getting anxious too. He’s probably wondering when I’ll tire out.’

But the most important difference between him and me is that while he doesn’t know my weakness, I know his.

Transforming one’s body into blood mist is a technique that rapidly consumes blood. If he were just maintaining it, that would be one thing. But to withstand external attacks and restore scattered mist requires a considerable amount of blood.

It was only because he was a Vampire Lord with abundant blood that he could maintain it for so long. In other words, if we continued this war of attrition as he wanted, I would have a much greater advantage.

The Demon King had told me all this. He said that with my skills, I would never lose to this creature, but having more information would still be advantageous. I completely agreed, so I listened attentively.

“You little rat!”

He spread his cape wide. From within, hundreds of blood bombs shaped like bats flew toward me.

Before the bats could reach me, I instantly released mana. The mana burst out from me like a shockwave, exploding all the descending bats. The surrounding air turned red.

In that state, I pushed off with my foot and charged forward. Careful not to inhale the scattered blood, I infused Eternal with mana again.

‘No large techniques.’

The Demon King had cast a distortion spell before leaving, so even if someone were to look in here, it would appear as if I were fighting an ordinary monster. But precisely because of that, I needed to use techniques of appropriate power.

If someone became suspicious about why such powerful techniques were being used, they might investigate this place. This wasn’t for my sake, but for Professor Jeina’s.

‘I have to protect her job.’

I intended to keep what happened here a secret. If monsters started appearing here after the Bellium Forest incident, it wouldn’t be strange if that professor lost her head.

Whether that was a simple metaphor or meant literally.

Professor Jeina hadn’t done anything particularly special for me, but she hadn’t done anything bad either. Even that level of relationship was enough to deserve consideration.

Even the dungeon she created for midterm preparation, designed to be impossible to clear, was out of concern that we might become too arrogant and enter a dungeon beyond our abilities, leading to terrible consequences.

Of course, if things got desperate, I’d have to go all out, but judging by his appearance, that wouldn’t be necessary.

“You seem quite relaxed!”

When I got momentarily distracted, he noticed and immediately attacked. I dodged his swinging arm with a slight twist of my upper body. His claws sliced through the air.

Those claws could tear through steel like paper, but they’re useless if they don’t hit.

Using the information I’d learned from the Demon King, I dodged his secondary attack where he extended his claws, then brought Eternal down hard. His arm was completely severed by my attack.

The severed arm regenerated immediately, but I pressed on even more fiercely. He didn’t just take it passively and tried to counterattack with various techniques.

He scattered blood droplets in the air as traps that would explode when touched, spread blood like fine threads in the air to try to ensnare me, and attempted to bind me with chains made of blood.

But when I didn’t fall for any of them, a hint of anxiety appeared in his expression. It seemed he had made grand promises before the Demon King, but far from showing results, he was being pushed back by me.

‘It’s about time to draw it out.’

I recalled the arrangement the Demon King had mentioned. Even if I didn’t try to defeat him outright and just kept the fight even, his wounded pride would drive him to use the power he had received.

That was precisely the Demon King’s—no, the possessor’s—strategy. After all, what resided in that heart now was an energy as deadly as the most potent poison.

When giving him power, the Demon King had warned, loud enough for the other generals to hear, that it would become poison if his vessel was inadequate. So even if he died from the power going berserk, it would appear as if he was simply incompetent.

“You lowly human…!”

In the blink of an eye, his body was cut into sixteen pieces. Taking advantage of his staggering, I didn’t slash with Eternal but thrust it into his main body and chanted as if giving a command.

—I need your blood.

“AAAAARGH!”

His blood began to be sucked into Eternal. Only when the blade was so saturated with blood that it started to spill back out did he manage to kick away from my body.

“You should have just died quietly. You’re truly irritating, human.”

“After getting beaten one-sidedly throughout the entire fight, your only impression is irritation? Do you lack conscience, or pride? Ah, perhaps both?”

This remark seemed to be the final straw, as his eye twitched violently. The conditions were now met.

“Fine. I wasn’t going to use this on a mere human like you…!”

The Vampire Lord spread his arms wide in a show of power and shouted.

“Behold! This true power bestowed by the Demon King!”

With that unnecessary declaration, an immense demonic energy began to burst from his heart. A red aura, different from blood, enveloped the Vampire Lord’s body.

Even this was as the Demon King had said. He had deliberately arranged for the user to gain tremendous power at the beginning to avoid suspicion, as he couldn’t yet abandon his position.

“Hahahahaha! My Demon King! I shall tear off this one’s neck and offer you his blood when it’s freshest!”

Excited by the sudden influx of power, he charged at me with an intoxicated expression. His speed had clearly increased—enough that I had to wipe the smile off my face and respond properly.

“What’s wrong? Is that all you’ve got? Say it again!”

“Is it because you’re born a demon race? They say those who pretend to be noble reveal their true nature when excited, and it’s really true. There wasn’t a single wrong word.”

His attacks gradually intensified. I was starting to worry about the dungeon walls rather than myself. If any stronger attacks were exchanged, there was a risk of breaking the magic.

I was considering whether to subdue him first, but when I saw the symptoms the Demon King had mentioned appearing in the red aura surrounding his body, I changed my mind. It wouldn’t be long now anyway.

“When I bring your head, the Demon King will surely be pleased! I will receive more favor and become even stronger!”

“No. From what I can see, you’ll die before that happens.”

Sensing something was wrong from my calm demeanor, he looked down at his own body. His face instantly filled with horror.

The red aura overflowing from his body was twisting wildly. The Vampire Lord tried to somehow contain the power running amok, but this only hastened its rampage.

His body began to be completely enveloped by the red aura.

“AAAAGH! How?!”

“When someone without skill tries to consume power beyond their capacity, wouldn’t they naturally choke on it?”

“Nonsense—GACK!”

He collapsed with a thud before even finishing his last words. The Demon King’s distinctive red aura slowly ate away at his body.

It was a pathetically inglorious end for someone who was the 4th General of the Demon King’s Army and a Vampire Lord.

‘That should do it.’

I drew a magic circle to burn the corpse. I didn’t particularly need the honor of having defeated a general single-handedly. That Jeina person would have to go through quite an ordeal as a result.

I looked around. The Demon King was nowhere to be seen. He had said he would watch the battle, so I wondered why he hadn’t appeared yet. Perhaps he had something else to take care of—

‘What’s this?’

Suddenly, I sensed something ominous from the Vampire Lord’s corpse. I canceled the magic circle and stepped back slightly.

The clearly dead body began to twitch again, and something alien was reigniting within it. It definitely wasn’t the Demon King’s energy.

“Hehehe… hehehehe…”

With a chilling laugh, the Vampire Lord’s body, now supported by blood that had turned dark red, began to creak and stand up.

‘…I don’t think I heard anything about there being a phase two.’

While I was having such an idle thought, the Vampire Lord, now perfectly fused with something black, grinned with a terribly distorted expression.

“This proves you’re the one who doesn’t know your place. Look, I have endured it.”

“I don’t think so.”

Even the blood supporting his body had turned black. It was clearly different from the power given by the Demon King, yet he was talking about enduring something.

“Let me show you firsthand!”

He charged at me with a speed incomparable to before. Ominous black mist scattered behind him.

I wiped the smile off my face completely. From now on, I couldn’t afford to be careless.

—CLANG!

“Ugh?!”

As soon as I blocked his swinging arm with Eternal, both my legs lifted off the ground. Even though I had absorbed the shock to some extent, my body was flying backward through the air.

I gritted my teeth. What was this black energy that could make such a difference before and after possession?

“Where do you think you’re escaping to!”

Before I could regain my posture, blood droplets that had clearly turned black flew toward me. I deflected the closest one with Eternal. The recoil sent my body spinning about four times in the air.

This wouldn’t work. I forcibly twisted my body and kicked the air with my left foot. The momentarily created foothold pushed my body away. I fell toward the ground as the blood droplets passed through where I had just been.

—KWAAAAAANG!!!!!!

When the blood droplets, unable to slow down, collided with the dungeon wall, a magnificent explosion occurred. Seeing not just the wall but even the ground shaking, I took a moment to feel sorry.

The infiltration of this third energy, which wasn’t even the Demon King’s, was clearly unexpected, but in any case, this wasn’t a good situation for Professor Jeina.

‘She might really get fired.’

If what’s happening here leaks to the outside, that is.