586 – 7. Jealousy is my strength (86)
It was a bizarre scene.
In a world without a single light, there were only bloody outlines that descended like sunsets. It was the only boundary line that separated things.
What about the corpses that form the low hill?
All of them were women with silver hair and blue eyes. Their appearance is also similar, to the point of misunderstanding that the same person has died tens of thousands of times.
So I couldn’t take a step.
The feeling of being kicked by a corpse was terrifying, and it was also because the enemy standing in front of me had a formidable spirit.
‘Vampire’.
It was an opponent I had met before. I remember giving a rather fresh impression back then, but the atmosphere of the vampire I met again today was completely different.
It feels soft rather than pure.
In addition, the impression of being mature, relaxed, and beautiful passed through the optic nerve in turn.
In addition, her delicate appearance made the viewer feel a strange sense of danger. It feels like seeing a flower that will be broken by the wind right now.
But I knew.
The author is an out-of-standard monster. Isn’t my instinct and intuition constantly sending me warnings?
Die.
It was a sentence that came to mind with a drop of cold sweat.
Both the archwitch and senior Elsie were only keeping their lives alive thanks to that little interest. If I provoked it for nothing, it could endanger not only my life but also the lives of the other two.
If there’s one thing that’s fortunate, it’s that the vampire doesn’t seem to have any intention of killing me right away.
On the contrary, the woman even smiled lightly as if she was glad to see him.
“Are you surprised? Apparently, you’ve met one of my ‘sculptures’.”
“…… ‘Piece’?”
I had no choice but to stick my tongue out at that questionable vocabulary.
Sculpture.
Are you saying that the ‘vampires’ I’ve met are only part of the force?
Then, how many pieces does a vampire have?
The vampire seemed to have a surprisingly kind personality. She was at least enough to beat the great witch she was holding in her hand to answer my question.
“Kyaauk!”
The Archwitch groaned and twisted her body, before long her bloody chains wrapped around her tiny torso.
In many ways, she was a thoroughly thorough woman.
“Do you see the shell my ugly brother is wearing? It’s something called a ‘body’. A ‘vessel’ that can contain the human soul.”
“I have heard of it.”
Feeling the cold sweat on my forehead, I slowly measured the distance to the vampire.
It was important that the Archwitch was freed from the hands of the vampires. Unbeknownst to me, the Archwitch should be able to deal effective damage to that monster.
I also had a spleen left.
Time stopped.
No matter how legendary a monster is, it will not be free from the frozen time. Even ‘saint’ or ‘swordsmith’ could only move after receiving many restrictions.
A very short break was enough.
If he rescued the great witch and pursued her pincer attack, there was no chance of victory.
Of course, it didn’t seem like the vampire was unaware of this.
I looked at the woman as much as possible and raised her mana. Regardless, the woman continued her explanation in a relaxed tone.
“Originally, it was a technology I was researching. On the way, my ugly brother intervened and stole my idea, but at least a fake is a fake… In the end, I have completed the ‘vessel of the soul’ in the true sense.”
“Are all these corpses corpses?”
“Yes, they are vessels containing my soul. Even though my body cannot move, what will happen if I take out the pieces containing my soul and power one by one?”
And while doing so, the palms collided with each other.
The answer was obvious. Because the existence standing in front of me right now was no different from the answer.
Is that how you escaped the barrier?
As a metaphor, it was said that the lump called ‘vampire’ was divided into small pieces. No matter how dense the net is, gaps inevitably exist.
If only I could get small enough to fit through that hole.
However, there were points that I did not understand. For example, it was the fact that there were so many prostheses resembling ‘vampires’.
There were hundreds of shells.
Didn’t the archwitch mention it to the swordsmith? It takes a lot of resources and effort to make the body.
But how was it possible to secretly manufacture hundreds of shells?
The vampire solved even these questions neatly.
“Actually, it takes too many resources to make the body. That was the only difficulty… I soon came to a new conclusion.”
“…… Crazy b*tch.”
Cool, he said while spitting out a handful of blood.
The archwitch let out a trembling voice. Those light green eyes contained hatred and fear.
“The reason why a lot of resources are needed to make the body is because the body must be precisely reproduced to contain the soul. At least to the extent that there is no difference from the real body! Because you can’t make something like that for nothing!”
“That’s why you’re stupid.”
The vampire clicked her tongue as she said that.
It was the attitude that he sincerely couldn’t understand the archwitch’s way of thinking. Soon after, the vampire tapped her hand once, and the skins of the corpses lying in front of me began to melt one by one.
No, to borrow a more accurate expression, it should be called ‘transformation’.
The corpses that looked like vampires were changing into different shapes. The only thing they had in common was that they had silver hair and blue eyes.
This was a characteristic shared by certain blood relatives.
“Why pay a high price to build a body? You can use the body that already exists.”
“No matter how much you pursue the truth, there is a golden road you must not cross…… !”
“I just granted the children’s wishes.”
The tone of the vampire responding to the archwitch’s bloody appeal was calm and self-assured.
It was only then that I realized the identity of these numerous corpses.
Blood relatives of vampires.
The source of their power must have been the fact that they received a little bit of the vampire’s soul.
“They wanted power, so I gave them some of my power. Then, when the influence of my soul became too great, I often showed signs of delirium…….”
The vampire slurred her words and glanced at the corpses at her feet.
I wonder if the ‘vampire’ I saw was also one of the blood relatives who were so delusional.
I quietly put my hand on my waist. It wasn’t a particularly close relationship that made blood boil, but I couldn’t help but think of these questions.
“…… I thought it was ‘family’.”
“Huh?”
As if asking what that meant, the vampire tilted her head. I continued to ask questions that leaked out again.
“Your kin. I called you ‘Mother’.”
“Ah.”
A woman smiles as she brushes her bangs back.
It was a beautiful figure that made my heart tremble. But oddly enough, my heart was still.
“Come to think of it, the number of my children has decreased a lot… What did you do? It’s a pity, if only those children were there, I could have recovered more power.”
That’s it.
The sentiment of losing dozens of ‘children’ was at most that much.
At least it wasn’t his attitude towards his family. Rather, it is a feeling of pity for losing a useful tool.
I suddenly remembered the enemies I had killed.
Gilford, Leoric, and even the blood relatives of the vampires.
Aren’t these really meaningless lives?
The words of those who signed a contract with the Dark Church were usually like this.
Abandoned by the world and clinging to it, the unfortunate fate of being abandoned by the Dark Church in the end.
I realized once again at this point.
As expected, the Dark Church is an unreliable opponent.
“Whoops, it’s okay. I was able to regain about a third of my body’s strength… Unless it’s the body anyway, you can’t increase the output more than this. Now, the time for proof has come.”
Now the vampire didn’t even care if I was intoxicated with myself.
I just looked down at the Archwitch with a gaze filled with deep emotions.
“The fact that I am superior to you… The day will be announced to the entire continent!”
The moment the vampire slowly raised her hand.
Pak, a beam of light runs.
It was a run that did not even leave an afterimage. Like a swordfish wandering in the sea, my body movements were swift as I was swimming in the frozen world.
However, it fell slightly short of achieving the goal.
Empty, and my body protrudes from the stopped time. After escaping from the distorted space-time, the Archwitch was standing in front of me.
Yeah, that was the problem.
Because I couldn’t untie the blood-colored chains that bound the Great Witch.
When I gasped and showed signs of exhaustion, I sneered as if I knew what a vampire would do. Even at my surprise attack, I didn’t show any signs of panic.
As if I already knew about my limits.
“I know, kid. The fact that you are very tired… I’ve heard that you’ve done everything you can to achieve an achievement that is said to be impossible. That’s great, that’s great!”
Clap clap clap.
There was no sign of restraining me from the vampire who clapped his hands like that. On the contrary, there was only a glimpse of confidence, as if to try it.
My ferocious gaze was the same for the woman.
“But, you know, I’ve only been lucky all this time… Will it be possible this time too?”
At the same time, the sound of snapping fingers.
At the same time, a painful breath escaped from the Archwitch’s mouth. For the chains that bound her archwitch to her began to tighten tighter.
“Ahhh, uhhhhh…… !”
“By the way, that chain cannot be broken even by the so-called ‘great wizards’. It’s made up of such a complex formula. No matter how hard the exhausted newbie High Expert tries…….”
From noble mtl dot com
Just then.
Kang, the sound of hitting metal overlapped and echoed. It was a speed that did not even leave an afterimage, dozens of times.
And I was catching my breath again with my upper body bent. The sound of panting breathing told me that I wasn’t feeling very well.
Should I say that he is like an old monster who has lived for hundreds of years?
The vampire immediately realized what I had done.
“Whoops. After stopping time, collect the hitting points as much as possible? Not a bad idea, but how many more times can we stop now…….”
Kang, Kang, Kang!
Kang, Kang, Kang!
However, the vampire’s relaxed tone did not last long.
Many times, many times.
It was because dozens of ax strikes were locked in bloody chains. My hand ax, which scattered starlight, was creating cracks in the bloody chain little by little.
It was also around this time that the gap between the vampire’s eyebrows became narrow.
There’s no way that a monster her size wouldn’t notice.
The fact that the number of ax strokes that I stop time and pour out is increasing.
“What did you do…….”
This meant one thing.