Chapter 458: Is it All or One First?

This is insane.

How did things end up like this?

I expected to be confined for a while, but if that “while” is by vampire standards, then we’re talking years…

I need to find a way out.

“I can’t just sit around doing nothing, right?”

[And what exactly do you plan to do now?]

She flared up the moment I mentioned doing anything.

I couldn’t tell her I planned to go somewhere, so instead I stepped closer and lightly wrapped an arm around her.

I could feel her mood soften slightly.

Back in the day, she would’ve scolded me for touching her so casually.

Tyr really had changed.

“Not like I have anything to do. I’ll just play with a doll or something. And look! There’s a perfect one right here.”

[That doll is yours. Do as you wish.]

“Tried to, but apparently she’s got separation anxiety.”

[It is all in how you use it. Anything has a proper way to be used, does it not?]

I sat Tyr on my lap and gently combed through her hair.

Even for a vampire, it seemed impossible not to get knots after a rough battle.

Each time my fingers caught on a tangle, I carefully untied it and asked, as if confirming.

“Tyr.”

[Speak.]

“You want me to change, don’t you?”

I had already changed Tyr.

Even if she had her own desire for change, it was still I who made that happen.

Granted, it was only possible because I’d lost my strength and become ordinary…

Tyr tilted her head slightly and asked:

[Would you change if I wished it?]

“…I’m sorry.”

The King of Beasts is the voice of all beasts.

It’s not a perfect analogy, but perhaps the King of Beasts is the embodied result of a global opinion poll of all beasts.

Which means they must be strong.

I lost my strength for reasons even I don’t know, but—

Tyr turned her face away again and said,

[You do not need to apologize. Just be who you are, I too act according to my own stubborn will.]

“…Still, I’m sorry.”

[I said you do not need to apologize.]

“Not just for that.”

I finished combing her hair.

With static clinging to my fingers, I wrapped my arms around her from behind and pulled her close.

Even with my hand brushing against her chest, she didn’t resist.

She just accepted it quietly.

｢Shackling Hu like this… is not exactly the kind of relationship others would envy, is it?｣

Tyr laid her hand gently over mine, falling into thought.

｢Still… no matter how unhealthy the relationship might be, it is much better than losing him. I’m sorry, Hu. For making you suffer through my selfishness.｣

“…For using your goodwill like this.”

A Divine is a revelation that brings about great change to the human race as a whole— a manifestation of ultimate knowledge.

And the realization that governs the human body itself… may be insignificant compared to the laws of nature, but for a human, it’s more important than anything.

“Set, Franc.”

Lightning crackled from my hand.

A flashing pulse resonated with Tyr’s heart.

Suddenly, Tyr felt her body freeze.

For a moment, her body was no longer under her control.

Sensing something was wrong, she tried to quickly recover control through Bloodcraft—

But she failed.

The Ace of Hearts.

The card I had embedded into her heart momentarily resisted her Bloodcraft.

Her hand twitched uncontrollably, her body trembling.

I held her tighter, channeling the lightning in my grasp into her.

Tyr’s body was functioning properly.

The problem was that it functioned too well.

｢-!!!｣

“For an ordinary person, this would be far too much. But you’ll be fine, won’t you, Tyr?”

Sensation is the window through which the world flows into us.

The light, sound, temperature, and tremors entering through that window change who we are.

But the window isn’t left wide open.

Every living being is born with the instinct to protect itself.

The world is filled with death after all; disease, insects, blades, sunlight, curses, those things could spell certain death for humans.

Everything that harms or transforms the body comes from the outside.

Life is the act of maintaining the distinction between self and world.

Death is when that boundary dissolves.

To resist change is to be alive.

To cease resisting is to die.

The human body made a window to adapt to external change, but sealed it with glass to prevent that change from coming inside.

The world we perceive is filtered, harmless information.

And that is governed by the law of lightning.

The lightning I held flowed through the path.

That path, carved into Tyr’s entire body, was drawn by me.

She couldn’t resist.

The body was hers, but the pathways, I had etched that.

The window frame, I had carved it with my own hand.

The Homunculus Dilemma.

If you form a body using borrowed power… this is what can happen.

I never wanted to use it.

I feared one day I might have to.

｢-!!!!!｣

Tyr’s thoughts came to a halt.

In the void, a tidal wave of sensation surged in.

Amplified to the extreme, pleasure and pain blurred into one.

Overwhelming presence wiped out her mind and took control of her body.

Last time I touched her, I’d only used the power of a Divine— a spark no bigger than the lightning in my own body.

But now, I was using a Standard Magic.

A weak current not even fit for combat, but if directed into the nerves, it could trigger sensations thousands of times stronger than usual.

Bloodcraft, power, it all required conscious effort to use.

If there was no time to process, no moment to react, then even the mightiest power became meaningless.

If she stopped her heart right now and reverted to an undead body, she might be able to block it.

But Tyr would never choose that method.

[—!! —!]

I cupped Tyr’s face with one hand and gripped her body tightly with the other.

I filled every sense with my own.

Her sensations were amplified not by twofold, but thousands, no, more like tens of thousands fold.

Her soft body stiffened like a log.

Muscles rigidly aligned her posture, her back arched like a bow, and she gasped rapidly as if she were hyperventilating.

Each breath soaked in my scent, sending her trembling even harder.

Right now, all of her senses were in a state of hyper-amplification.

Touch, taste, smell, it was all driving her insane.

Her tongue drooped helplessly from her idiotically parted lips.

[Hahh… huhh… huuh… hngghh…!]

For a normal human, this level of sensory overload would drive them mad.

But Tyr was a vampire, she could regenerate even scorched nerves.

She sobbed and trembled, unable to escape or grow used to the pleasure.

She was already incapacitated, but Tyr was too powerful to let my guard down.

So I pushed her even harder than I should’ve.

This was my first and last chance.

How much time had passed?

When I finally came to, my body was drenched.

Tyr, who had never shed a drop aside from blood, was now soaked with sweat, tears—everything.

From her open mouth spilled a sound halfway between a sob and a scream.

Thankfully, there was no real damage to her body.

I’d only amplified her senses, not caused any real harm.

It wasn’t nearly enough to harm the Progenitor, Tyrkanzyaka.

Remaining cautious, I gently lifted her.

Perhaps due to the intensity, even her clothes brushing her skin made her convulse.

A weak groan trickled from her lips along with saliva.

I laid the exhausted Tyr on the bed and whispered.

“I went easy on you that time, too.”

Tyr stared blankly, unfocused.

For a moment I wondered if she was looking at me, but her pupils didn’t track my movement.

She had lost consciousness completely.

It couldn’t be helped.

If she’d remained conscious, she would’ve caught me.

This was the best I could do.

“Thank you. But even so… I can’t grant your wish for me to change. Because I’m the King of Beasts. If I am to change, it must be when humanity changes first.”

Wanting to change yourself, that kind of wish is fine.

If you have the will and the ability, I can grant that.

Wanting to change someone else, well, sorry to say that’s not my business.

Others have their own wishes, and that’s not something your own will or effort can override.

You have to persuade them yourself.

I won’t interfere.

But if that “someone else” is me, then I will resist.

Because I’m a Mind Reader.

Because someone’s wish really can change me.

That’s why I have to fight it.

Otherwise, I’d be swept away and eventually become nothing and everything at once.

It sounds complicated, but it’s simple.

Say someone wishes for me to die… What? Am I supposed to grant that wish by killing myself?

Protecting myself comes first.

…Even if the wish is just to be loved.

Changing myself for that is still the same thing.

Whew.

Still, I actually managed to beat Tyr.

Well, this is not something I can go around bragging about.

What? A cowardly win?

Then she shouldn’t have brought her Bloodcraft to the ring either.

Anyway, no one was around.

Tyr had chosen a villa outside the castle for the sake of privacy.

That was lucky for me, too.

It would take her a while to regain consciousness and realize what happened.

I turned away from the dark room, opened the door.

As I was about to step outside—

[Do not go.]

It came without presence or thought.

Startled, I looked back— but Tyr was still unconscious.

Even reading her mind, there was nothing.

But her shadow moved like a living human and grabbed me.

[Where are you going? Do not leave me.]

Tyr’s shadow.

A manifestation of Bloodcraft shaped after her own body, moved, and whined like a child trying to cling to me.

I couldn’t read its thoughts.

It wasn’t human.

It was a collective power, a construct Tyr created by reinterpreting her own body.

Too similar to her to be called a mere retainer.

Too altered to be called human.

“…But can I really say it’s not human?”

I reached out to the shadow.

I could feel blood pulsing beneath its skin.

Though I couldn’t read its thoughts, I could sense one thing clearly: a massive concentration of power and Authority surged beneath that form.

A homunculus?

No… it was something different.

A homunculus reproduces the structure of a human, but this shadow reproduced the function of one.

Its red eyes fixed squarely on me, and the blood flowing through that massive body carried its strength.

Its power wasn’t even comparable to a homunculus.

“Humans are beasts. They can do anything. I didn’t think they could do this, though.”

Tyr’s externalized Authority, created solely to fully exercise her power.

And once brought outside her body, it formed something very close to a human.

Of course, being an artificial construct, it differed significantly from a real person.

But one day, this power will reach humanity.

And when that time comes, the line between beast and species will become meaningless.

I shook off the shadow and said.

“Let go.”

[You can not leave.]

“I’m going.”

[You do not like being with me?]

“No, I do. But I don’t want to be only here.”

[I do not like it either. But I do not want to be alone.]

Tch.

I suspected it, but… to think the shadow was acting on its own.

I pulled out the Eight of Spades and stamped it against the wall like a seal.

The wall dented inward, and a stack of cards poured out through the crack.

They were just thin scraps of metal, barely card-like.

Too pathetic to be called the Authority of a Divine.

But… the Golden Lord’s Authority began with these scraps.

Alchemy—cards flowing with mana capable of transforming all things.

I swiped a few and drew them together.

The alchemical glow sparked, binding the cards together.

The cards were raw material.

The Golden Lord’s enlightenment began from the fact of diversity is born not from differing components, but from differing structure.

The essence is the same.

So what matters is not the origin, but how you put things together.

Cards that should’ve remained scattered were now a single sabre.

I pointed the makeshift weapon at the shadow and said.

“I have to go.”

[Go where?]

“To catch up with humanity.”

[Why?]

“Because it keeps moving farther away. And if I don’t run hard to keep up… a being like you, who stands on the edge of humanity, will be left behind.”

Can I beat the shadow with my strength?

Not likely.

If I used all of a Divine’s power, I might barely manage to escape…

Let’s save the sword for a last resort.

The shadow didn’t seem threatened, but it understood my intention.

Tyr’s shadow withdrew slightly and said.

[You are trying to abandon me.]

“I never have. I haven’t abandoned Tyr, or you.”

[You really will not leave me?]

“I haven’t. I know Tyr. I know you, her power. I’ll never forget you.”

Vampires have studied and refined Bloodcraft for more than a millennium.

Tyr’s Authority and power were the culmination of all of it.

A shadow of a Divine, with the full function of a human.

It lacks just one, tiny thing to become a true Divine… though I don’t know what it is.

I suspect it’s about the specificity of her power.

Tyr used her Authority for herself, and so her enlightenment was never directed at all humanity.

Because she was special, she couldn’t become a Divine.

Because it wasn’t for all humanity, I can’t use it either.

Just like Qi Arts or mana.

A shame, but even this is a valuable insight.

[Then…]

It happened then.

The shadow suddenly lunged at me.

No presence. Not even a hint.

It hit me how pathetically weak I was when I couldn’t read my enemy’s mind.

I tried to react and swing my sabre, but the shadow had already engulfed me.

Darkness wrapped around my arm and sucked me in.

Its head met mine, pressed a kiss to my lips, and vanished like smoke.

Through every pore, the darkness invaded my body.

It was as if the shadow had merged with me.

My vision darkened. My body floated.

Enclosed in this darkness, without even Mind Reading to rely on, I felt… nothing.

The only world left to me was the pitiful shell of my own body.

As I was bracing myself for the worst, a cold sensation flowed through my veins.

Thinner than thread, a chill trickled down my blood vessels.

The coolness seeped into my bloodstream, declaring, I am now part of your blood.

The blood that had traveled from fingertip to toe now returned to my heart.

As it did, my heart convulsed, and the cold surged into my lungs like a crashing wave.

And then, the darkness retreated from my body.

My vision returned.

I staggered back, disoriented.

Before me, the shadow shimmered.

Tyr’s human-shaped shadow— after leaving something inside me, it had detached and stepped away.

The shadow spoke.

[Take it with you.]

“What? What did you put inside me?”

The shadow didn’t answer.

It faded like mist into the darkness, returning to Tyr’s side.

I couldn’t read its mind.

I would have to figure out what it did on my own.

That’s troublesome, since my entire life has been one big act of cheating.

Fortunately, what the shadow left behind wasn’t all that difficult to figure out.

Which made it all the more bewildering.

“This is… me?”

The body Tyr knew best was her own.

From how the shadow spoke and acted, I could tell how deeply she understood herself.

And the second body she knew best was mine.

I’m not a vampire.

Tyr never even had control over my blood.

But she’s the Progenitor.

She lived beside me, watched me, shared bodies with me.

She observed me in silence, felt the blood flowing beneath my skin, sensed the warmth my body emitted, listened to my heartbeat.

She had the means, the time, and the desire to learn about my body.

Even if it wasn’t deliberate, Tyr came to understand me as well as I understood her.

What the shadow gave me was a recreation of my body, shaped by Tyr’s love and attention.

But…

“…But this isn’t just any human’s body. It’s my body.”

It’s a knowledge too personal, too specific, to belong to humanity as a whole.

As the King of Humans, I can’t use it.

That’s why I supposedly can’t use Qi Arts or mana either.

Those two forces are the peak of individual cultivation, and I, the King of Beasts, was never allowed to have them fully.

So as thankful as I am for Tyr’s gift, it’s ultimately…

My left wrist suddenly burned.

Something had entered the Bio-receptor engraved on me in the Military State.

When? How?

I didn’t have time to think.

Despite the sudden sharp pain, I carefully pulled out the thin card that had been inserted.

It was a familiar card, one I’d seen countless times.

That made it feel all the more out of place.

It clearly wasn’t a Divine’s card… so why was it here?

I slowly flipped it over.

The Six of Spades.

The idol of the Divine engraved on it glowed red.