Chapter 451: Trial That Defies Fate (14)

The blood pooling on the ground slowly settled.

The historic Elder who could once rival the Progenitor herself in sheer strength, Countess Erzsebet, was leisurely approaching us.

Facing an Elder, I spoke with a grimace.

“Madam Erzsebet, isn’t it fate that we met here? How about we simply exchange greetings and part ways with a smile?”

“That would be impossible. It seems the Progenitor holds you especially dear.”

– Snap.

Erzsebet folded her fan and cloaked herself in her overflowing Blood Aura as if it were a gown.

Strength so immense that it would crush any ordinary human with a flick of her finger felt as light as a feather to her.

Yet even with that power, she must have felt inadequate to face Tyr. Now she was targeting me instead.

Chilling, really.

“However, you, her beloved Consort, do not seem to hold the Progenitor dear at all. Fufu. To think you’d charm the Progenitor for the sake of power… Truly, you are a bewitching Consort, but I suspect the Progenitor still harbors some lingering feelings for you. Thus, you would make an excellent shield against her.”

She planned to use me as a hostage.

Well, I’m an open-minded person, so I don’t really have much of a problem with being a hostage in principle.

If the powerless can survive that way, so be it.

But this case was a little different.

Tyr got her wish because of my involvement — and now I’m supposed to ruin her chance by being taken hostage?

Not a chance.

I immediately snapped back.

“Not hold her dear? Says who? Do you know how much I’ve given Tyr and how much she’s given me?”

“Enough of your lies, King of Humans. Don’t think we know nothing. Even if the Progenitor remains unaware, we are not so naïve.”

“And what do you think you know about me? You’re acting like you understand my existence based only on hearsay—are you supposed to be any more special?”

They act like they’re Mind Readers.

Only I get to act like that.

“Listening to you, one would think all humans were equal. The Progenitor Tyr, who with her abilities rose from death, created vampires, slew tens of thousands of humans to drink their blood, and founded a nation — a pure, beautiful, strong woman full of fierce desire. You think she’s less important than me?”

To the King of Humans, maybe.

But I’m only a half-baked King of Humans, meaning I’m quite distant from the grand ideal of the King of Beasts.

I can only read the thoughts of humans near me.

I don’t embody the ideals of an entire race.

Because of that, my priorities are far more personal.

Which is why I can’t help but grow attached to the people near me.

“King of Humans or not, I won’t be your hostage. Maybe if you were helping Tyr, but I have no interest in helping some wrinkled hag who’s only jealous of her.”

“…Jealous? Me, of the Progenitor?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Surely you won’t deny it? Even history books record it.”

Hilde was frantically signaling with her eyes for me to shut up.

But oh well, it’s not like she’ll let us go quietly anyway.

Besides, aren’t you curious?

To see what spills out when you poke a vampire, those creatures who are supposedly devoid of emotion?

“When you were still human, you drank blood from a goblet after slaughtering people, didn’t you? You wanted to be like vampires, drinking blood to become like them. Not just drinking either, you even bathed in blood, filling entire tubs just to envy their flawless, unblemished skin.”

“…You’re making assumptions.”

“When assumptions are supported by centuries of historical analysis, it’s called scholarship. You, an old fossil, were so rigid you ended up being dissected piece by piece.”

Erzsebet snapped open her fan threateningly, hiding her mouth.

A clear sign she was barely holding back an explosion of rage.

Not long now.

So I decided to fan the flames.

“You envied Tyr, didn’t you? You wanted to be like the beautiful, powerful, and terrifying Progenitor. You even led the rebellion, trying to steal her blood and take her place when she disappeared. You’re so transparently rotten to the core. You’re the textbook definition of a fossil drunk on immortality and power.”

“Fufufu. Do you think I would be shaken by such lowly provocation?”

“Why would I be swayed by a dusty relic like you when I already have Tyr? What could you possibly offer? Dandruff?”

I had achieved my goal.

Erzsebet declared.

“I will kill you.”

People say vampires have no emotions, but come on.

Emotions are just the excuses we give for wanting to act.

The only reason vampires appeared emotionless was because the Progenitor, Tyr, had suppressed their blood and emotions through her power.

If she still held her full power, Erzsebet wouldn’t have reacted no matter how much I taunted her.

But now?

“I intended to capture you and present you alive to the Progenitor, but I’ve changed my mind.
I’ll kill you right here and offer your head instead. Even dead, you’ll be enough to disturb her heart.”

Originally, Erzsebet only intended to capture me.

Whether to keep me alive or kill me was just a matter of taste.

And thanks to my little provocation, her “taste” had changed.

To kill me.

Blood seeped everywhere—over the ground, the walls, and everything else—twisting like crimson vines.

It was creepy, like new blood vessels sprouting from the earth.

By forcibly spilling her Blood Aura, Erzsebet asserted her dominion.

Her crimson tendrils wrapped around bricks, streetlights, tables, and chairs, animating them.

An army of one.

Wielding the power that once needed nothing but the sun to counter it, Erzsebet extended her fan.

“Run, King of Humans. Try to escape this world of blood.”

And the entire city tilted toward me.

I’m not joking.

Everything — buildings, market stalls, furniture — was rushing to crush me.

As I turned to flee, walls folded inward, cutting off my retreat.

It’s hard to fight against beings like vampires, those steeped in Arcane.

Psychological warfare?

That’s only useful when the stakes are even.

Against an immortal being like a vampire?

It’s laughable.

Fortunately, I wasn’t fighting alone.

“Damn it! Useless father! I should’ve thrown you on my back and bolted when I had the chance!”

Hilde grabbed my hand and simultaneously kicked the wall hard, infusing it with Qi.

The Explosive Discharge Domain exploded from her leg, blasting the bricks outward.

Through the gap that opened for a brief moment, Hilde and I threw ourselves out.

Fleeing crowds, people screaming, and others looking around cluelessly.

The streets were still packed with people.

Even with Mind Reading, weaving through that chaos would be difficult.

“Should we hide among the crowd?”

“If it’s Erzsebet, she’ll just slaughter everyone and use their blood! We need to find a place with as few people as possible!”

Hilde and I spun around, brushing against the wall.

As we dashed around a corner, something brushed past my heels as if trying to bite them.

A quick glance back showed a rush of crimson blood flooding through the street like a raging river.

[This is the land of vampires. Even the King of Humans is no better than livestock once they step onto this soil.]

Erzsebet’s cold voice echoed out as blood flowed along the walls.

Her power, at least, was faster than ours.

And with blood as her medium of control, it was nearly impossible to block or sever it.

Blood seeped into every crack between the bricks — we had no effective way to counter it.

“Holy Sword, manifest.”

If I’m alone, that is.

｢The enemy is a vampire. Then, the action ‘I’ must take is~｣

Hilde pulled out a rod light from between her breasts.

The flickering light appeared more like a bolt of lightning than a sword at first.

As she focused her mind on shaping it, the Holy Sword compressed into a tangible form.

｢’I’ am a crusader. The blade of God that cleaves the profane. A divine retribution upon the cursed vampires.｣

The form she conjured from her own faith was a massive two-handed sword.

Hilde raised the Holy Sword high and swung it in a sweeping arc.

A great slash cut through the air and sliced into the walls where the blood had been flowing.

The wall itself remained intact.

But the blood flowing along it wasn’t so lucky.

Scorched black by the light, the blood stained the wall and halted.

No more blood could flow through.

[…A Crusader?]

“Only evil is cut by unwavering faith. You will burn under the light, vampire.”

Hilde’s presence shifted.

Standing firm with her two-handed sword raised high, she truly looked like a knight chosen by God.

Even if it felt a little odd with her still wearing a nurse’s uniform.

[To think a Crusader would hide their faith in this land… or rather, that a Crusader would be brought here at all.]

Even a thousand-year-old vampire seemed surprised by Hilde’s unexpected presence.

Pausing briefly to assess the situation, Erzsebet soon resumed her attack.

[I merely have one more to kill now. Faith and Crusaders alike are nothing more than livestock in this land.]

The blood changed direction.

Rather than chasing us, it began swirling around us, trying to consume everything in the area.

A plan to crush us under overwhelming force.

As the blood vortex grew closer, Hilde shone her holy light even brighter and shouted.

“A cursed vampire dares to speak of faith? I will burn you away! Oh Sky God, watch over ‘me’ from the heights above!”

｢Still, it’s nice that my time spent among the Crusaders paid off. Not that it actually makes the situation any better, though.｣

It’s fortunate there’s no real God.

If there were, it would just be some senile old fool showering blessings indiscriminately.

Soon after, the whirling bloodstorm swept up everything — bricks, chairs, utensils — even knives from who knows where, all flying toward me and Hilde.

Hilde fought back with her light, each slash of her blade burning a dark red gash through the torrent.

However, while the blood itself could be burned away, the physical projectiles hidden within it couldn’t be fully neutralized.

Hilde had to bodily take a few bricks to her body, and even though she used Qi to block them without injury, each blow pushed her further back.

Little by little, our space for maneuvering shrank.

Bracing herself, Hilde clutched her sword tightly and offered a final prayer.

“Oh Sky God… is that all you’ve got?! Screw it! Father, this is the limit of what I can squeeze out of the Divine! Got anything else?!”

“Hold on. I’m working on an upgrade.”

“An upgrade?!”

“Breeding.”

Handling druidism is tricky, after all.

That’s why I rarely used it, but now the conditions are just right.

The ground beneath my feet.

The drinkable blood.

And instead of sunlight, we had magic-infused Blood Aura.

In a land down south, there exists a plant that feeds on beasts.

Its leaves shaped like fangs snatched prey, rooting down to suck their fluids.

Before vampires ever existed, there were already plants that drank blood.

The sprawling vines had learned to rely on other plants to survive — covering them, stealing sunlight, and thriving off them.

From those vines, I let a branch grow.

The Tree of Genesis from the southernmost forests of the Great Druid Nevida—

From two branches of different natures, I grafted a new one.

Two overlapping cards: the Nine and Ten of Spades.

I slid the Nine of Spades out with my fingertips.

At the same moment, blood-soaked vines sprouted furiously from the ground.