Vampire

The existence of Vampires had been anticipated ever since the [Altar of Blood].

While not every fantasy genre features Vampires,

it would feel somewhat unnatural for a Full Dive game like this to not have them.

The Great Devil’s Resurrection was a switch to introduce new monsters.

It was an event that would bring large-scale changes to the game, and Vampires would be the quintessential monster for that event.

Thanks to the priest, their existence could be confirmed.

She talked to Jang Yu-ha and consulted with her.

“Did you know?”

“I wouldn’t know unless you explained it to me.”

“There are Vampires.”

“Really? I didn’t know. It’s hard to know specifics without something to compare it to, even with my intuition. But I did think Vampires might be hiding somewhere in the world. I had a feeling ever since I saw the Altar of Blood.”

“So, Vampires have infiltrated the fortress and are infecting the knights? This is serious, right?”

“…It’s extremely serious.”

Jang Yu-ha looked at her as if asking if she thought it wouldn’t be.

“Besides Amel, who else knows?”

“The Vampire kids.”

“First, could you explain in detail how you found out?”

She explained in detail.

Though there wasn’t much to explain.

“Well, thanks to that priest, we can minimize the damage. It’s a shame he became a Vampire, though.”

“He survived thanks to his faith.”

“I wish we could turn him back.”

Killing someone who helped, even if they were an NPC, felt a bit bad.

She hadn’t killed him yet because she was worried the Vampires would find out if she did, so she decided to pretend she didn’t know about the priest.

“But is it okay for a Vampire to be in the temple?”

“Shouldn’t it be fine? Chocolat was fine even though she was in the shadows. In the first place, the temple only strengthens the priest’s power, right?”

“Did it?”

“Didn’t you know?”

“I didn’t know because I’ve only been indebted for Wishes and Resurrection.”

Jang Yu-ha looked embarrassed.

“Still, shouldn’t he be affected by the morning sun in the temple?”

“He seemed fine.”

“Then there must be some external factor. If a Vampire is fine without any reason, then they’re not a Vampire at all.”

“Like the grace of God?”

“Maybe.”

She didn’t know for sure.

The small temple was dazzling with the morning sun.

Hmm…

One thing was certain: the priest maintained his sanity, and she was able to confirm the Vampires’ scheme… or rather, the scheme they had already started, in its early stages.

Now it was her turn to repay the priest’s efforts…

“Anyway, what are you going to do now? I want to kill those guys right away. I’m asking to confirm whether I can or not.”

After leaving Jang Yu-ha, she planned to go straight to the priest’s room.

She had planned to do so from the start, but the purpose had changed. Conversation or death. Giving death was easier.

“If you go now, you’ll probably meet the Vampire women, right? What does your intuition say? Do you think I’ll win or lose?”

“Of course, you’ll win.”

“Right?”

“If Amel couldn’t win with her skills, they wouldn’t have used such complicated methods. There’s no reason why Death Knight wouldn’t wipe out Pibbslow Fortress now.”

“Reason?”

“You took out the dagger, didn’t you?”

“….”

“Their goal was probably to safely retrieve that Seal. That’s why they didn’t choose such drastic measures, even though they could have annihilated the fortress, to avoid making the security even tighter.”

Death Knight alone could wipe out Pibbslow Fortress.

‘I knocked down all the knights even when I was holding back.’

It was absurd whenever she realized that an individual’s power surpassed that of a group.

There were similar cases in reality, but they were extremely rare.

Even if an Awakened Ability was strong, it could be countered if the opponent also had an Awakened Ability. You could call it compatibility. There was an image that even if an individual’s power was overwhelmingly strong, they could lose if their weakness in compatibility was exploited.

Even if the destructive power was weak, an Awakened Ability was still an Awakened Ability. Any Awakened Ability could produce extraordinary effects.

On the other hand, the knights of Full Dive, who had mastered universal strength, were even more vulnerable to the strength and weakness of power.

“This is quite dangerous.”

“It is dangerous. The Seal… huh?”

“What’s wrong?”

Jang Yu-ha’s expression turned serious as if she had realized something.

“It’s coming.”

“What is?”

“A threat that will wipe out the fortress is coming soon.”

“Did you sense it?”

Jang Yu-ha nodded.

98 percent accuracy.

It was probably real.

Given what she had shown so far, there was no reason not to believe her.

“Considering the Vampires are related to the Altar of Blood, their goal must be the Sealed Artifact…”

Mutter, mutter.

Jang Yu-ha listed all sorts of possibilities, intuitively judging what was right and wrong.

It was an application of the Awakened Ability that triggered her intuition.

It was like foretelling the future.

“Vampires are in cahoots with the Undead. Otherwise, there’s no need to infiltrate enemy territory and increase the number of Vampires. The Vampires also know. They know that the Sealed Artifact is in Amel’s hands.”

Therefore, it could be said that the Vampires were connected to the Undead.

“And?”

“The Undead will probably come too. The purpose is different. The sword that pierced Amel’s heart. Is it cursed?”

“….”

She subtly avoided her gaze.

“Yeah.”

“If it’s Death Knight’s curse, it’s probably the Curse of the Seed. It’s a curse that turns you into a Familiar when you die, so they’re probably planning to settle things before it’s lifted.”

Mutter, mutter.

What forces the Undead would deploy to capture Amel.

What plans the Vampires would make to obtain the Sealed Artifact.

The more she muttered, the more concrete it became, as if it were reality. It was so logical and specific that it seemed as if things were really progressing that way.

The reason why she was so believable was,

‘Even if she’s wrong, there’s nothing to lose.’

It was too plausible to calculate the losses.

To summarize,

The Undead are preparing for an attack.

The goal is the manifestation of the curse.

The Vampires are preparing for a covert operation.

The goal is the Sealed Dagger.

“…That’s how we can summarize it.”

“That’s neat. It’s like you’ve seen the future.”

“It’s all speculation, so it might be wrong. There’s a 2 percent chance.”

She was very confident in her predictions.

When she asked if she should tell Beogeureo,

Jang Yu-ha raised her index finger to her lips and crossed them in an X.

“It would be easier on the heart to tell the General, but it’s also easier to get noticed, so it’s better to avoid it for now. Besides, he doesn’t accept new things well without orders.”

“Well, he does look simple-minded.”

“His personality matches his appearance. So, if we recklessly insist that they’re Vampires, he might not believe us.”

“He must have seen the Blood Wraiths, though?”

“It’s different from Vampires, right? The name Blood Wraith has a nuance of being an incomplete Vampire, doesn’t it?”

“Well…”

Since it was a game, the name often indicated a lot.

“First of all, the key is to create a basis for the General to believe us. If we kill them without proof, we’ll just become murderers.”

That was true.

In this world, Vampires were UMAs.

Unidentified Mysterious Animals.

Even if she explained the situation honestly, she didn’t know how much he would believe her.

Being turned into an enemy by having your blood sucked was different from becoming an Undead upon death.

“First, let’s decide how to solve this problem. We know the enemies’ plans in advance, right? Then the response will be completely different depending on whether we avoid it or counterattack.”

“….”

“Ah, of course, Amel will counterattack, right?”

She crossed her arms and nodded.

“Vampires are a threat at this point. It’s better to dispose of them before they increase their Familiars.”

There were some knights she liked.

It would be a little sad if they became Vampires.

Lux or Raymond, or the female knights she was with last night.

“I think so too. If the Vampire bastards targeted the priest first, they might be creating a gate to the Underworld somewhere here.”

“Huh? Really? Does your intuition say so?”

“Even if it’s not intuition, it’s easier to break through the inside of the castle than the outside. If not, there’s a risk in infecting the priests first. Could that priest use Divinity?”

She didn’t know.

“They probably infected him to prevent him from using it. If it becomes known that the priest can’t use Divinity, there will be an uproar. As far as I know, Divinity is that important.”

Jang Yu-ha moved.

She headed towards Beogeureo’s room.

“First, I’ll ask the General to take the knights out into the sunlight. Then the people who remain inside will be Vampires. It’ll be easier to distinguish them, right?”

“That’s fine.”

“..?”

“I can distinguish them anyway.”

“How?”

“If I look at them with the intention to kill, the information window pops up.”

“….”

She didn’t seem to know.

“It doesn’t work on Heroes, but I can display information windows for ordinary NPCs like monsters. That’s how I distinguished that the priest was a Vampire.”

“It must be difficult to change your perception at will. You’re amazing.”

She shrugged her shoulders.

It was the result of self-hypnosis.

“So, there’s no need to send them out. One is enough to persuade Beogeureo, right? Or rather, can’t you do something similar?”

“Me? I can’t…”

“No, with your intuition.”

“Ah… that would be better.”

“Judging from what you’ve shown so far, you should be able to intuitively determine who is a Vampire and who isn’t. Even in this place.”

Isn’t that right?

She looked at her.

The intuition that Jang Yu-ha showed was absurd, like foretelling the future.

“I’ll try.”

[Vampire Hans]

Yellow letters.

She gathered the knights.

Six in total.

One Vampire.

Five ordinary people.

To hide the Vampire who might be watching from somewhere, and also to use them as witnesses, she called in ordinary knights who were resting in the room.

As she showed Killing Intent in her eyes, the knights flinched and took their positions.

A deep silence flowed between Amel and the knights.

She looked at the information windows that appeared above the knights’ heads, starting with Hans,

and then closed her eyes.

“Hans, out.”

“W-What do you mean?”

Hans was flustered when he was suddenly singled out.

“You.”

“Yes.”

“What did you do last night?”

“….”

Hans closed his mouth.

Then he opened it.

“Amel, may I speak?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“Amel, you’re a woman, so you might not know, but men have, well, sexual desires. You might find it disgusting, but if we don’t relieve it sometimes, we get sick.”

“….”

Who didn’t know that?

Did she think she wasn’t a man?

But why sexual desire?

The other knights also became restless.

The gazes directed at Hans seemed to have guessed something.

Without having to ask them, the information she had heard yesterday quickly flashed through her mind.

The priest.

Fond of women.

Prostitute.

Woman.

Sexual desire.

Guard duty.

Since they had to go through the door, the women the priest called had to encounter and pass the guards.

She whispered softly to Jang Yu-ha.

“…Was he on night duty?…”

“…I have a feeling that’s the case…”

It was information she didn’t know.

That meant the Vampires had entered during Hans’ shift, and she could understand how they had seduced Hans.

“I called you because of what happened last night, but Hans, I don’t really care about such private matters as to where you relieve your sexual desires.”

“Then why did you call us?”

“Why? Asking why means there’s no hope.”

“Yes?”

“Is there anyone among you who experienced anything suspicious last night? If so, raise your hand. Anyone who experienced something that an ordinary person wouldn’t do?”

“””….”””

There was no one.

Only Hans was trembling slightly, as if he had something on his mind.

If he voluntarily confessed like the priest, she was willing to spare him.

But he wouldn’t do.

Whether his memories were manipulated, controlled, or he was lying, he was the type she couldn’t leave alone.

“First of all, you remember that I have Wish Tickets from you, right?”

“Yes, but can you explain what’s going on?”

“First, I’m going to use those Wish Tickets, so could you follow me for a moment while chained up? Just follow me to the front. If you can just follow me, I’ll let you go and apologize.”

The knights didn’t know what was going on, but they were obediently caught by the Wish Tickets.

And,

The sun.

This was inside the fortress.

She stood before the Rooftop Training Grounds, where the hot sun was shining in the middle of the sky.

Facing the dazzling sunlight,

“What are you doing?”

The knights stopped walking.

No, only Hans stopped.

“Hans, why did you stop?”

“You told us to come.”

“Ah, no, wait a minute.”

It was when Hans was looking at the sunlit floor with a cold sweat.

“He’s here.”

“What’s going on?”

Jang Yu-ha called Beogeureo, who was sweating from exercising in the outdoor training area.

Beogeureo greeted Amel and saw the knights standing at the entrance, not coming out, and then saw the chains wrapped around their waists.

“May I ask what’s going on?”

“I’ll tell you.”

Jang Yu-ha whispered in Beogeureo’s ear.

There is someone who has transformed into a Blood Wraith.

You will know if you expose them to the sunlight.

That’s what she heard him say.

Seeing is believing.

Beogeureo looked incredulous, but he gestured for the knights to come out.

“Could you release the chains?”

“Sure.”

The chains were released, and the knights rushed out into the sunlight.

Except for one.

“Hans, come out quickly.”

“Captain…”

Hans chuckled and stepped back.

Beogeureo’s eyes narrowed.

“I have something urgent to do…!”

As Hans made excuses and tried to turn around and run away,

Beogeureo rushed out and subdued him in an instant.

He still looked suspicious, but with a look that said, ‘No way…’, he silently grabbed Hans’ neck and forcibly dragged him outside into the sun.

Whoosh.

He caught fire.

“Krr…!!!”

Just as he was about to scream,

he quickly cut off his head.

He put his sword away.

Amel asked.

“Are you going to charge me with murder?”

“…It depends on the explanation.”

Beogeureo’s eyes already seemed to have no intention of charging her.

She roughly explained that if you had your blood sucked by a Blood Wraith, you would become a Blood Wraith.

“If you find it hard to believe, would you like to compare it when the next victim appears?”

“No. I’ll believe you. So, this is it. It was my mistake to be careless because the Wraiths weren’t appearing. I was allowing the enemy to infiltrate.”

Beogeureo looked at Hans, who had turned to ashes.

Magical Power began to leak out due to his anger.

Amel placed her hand on his shoulder to calm him down and shared the general plan.

No, in fact, there was no plan.

What was important to Amel was that.

Whether it would be considered murder or not.

She just needed to get confirmation on that.

Beogeureo said with a mournful face.

“I’ll take responsibility. If you can handle it right now, please do so.”

He bowed deeply and received her request.