The interrogation didn’t last long.
I didn’t have much time, so my handaxe had to dance mercilessly in a blood-red frenzy. It only took a few minutes for the woman’s limbs to be completely crushed.
And during that process, I realized one fact.
Unfortunately, her resolve was genuine.
The bloodline of vampires was bound by a strong familial bond. No matter how much the woman was tortured, she screamed and even begged, but no meaningful information ever came out.
Annoyingly so.
No matter how resilient a body might be, there is always a limit. Her body and mind, worn down by relentless bleeding and unbearable pain, had become too devastated to sustain life.
The flickering light of life was fading fast; it was no longer something I even needed to concern myself with.
Just as I was about to rise and turn my back.
“Khuh, khukhukh… You, you’ll never… khueck, never win this fight….”
A faint whisper of a curse teased my ear.
It was only natural that my gaze briefly looked back.
The woman’s distorted face was incapable of maintaining even a proper smile. It merely quivered, faintly curving into something resembling a grin.
Even so, she was trying her utmost to mock me.
“You, in these last few days, what have you done? I know… khuh. I once made a choice with no turning back too… I don’t know what decision you made, but looking at you now, I can guess the outcome…?”
Her words caused my eyes to flicker sideways.
Between the pools of blood reflecting my form, though blurred, there was one distinct presence radiating intensely.
My golden eyes, heavy with fatigue, stared back at me.
“Khuh, kuh, khukhukh… Of course, there’s no power without a price… every shortcut has its cost… and soon, you’ll have to pay it…”
“You’re surprisingly full of yourself for someone who’s done.”
“In a way, you and I… we’re the same kind, aren’t we..?”
As she spoke those words, she hacked up a mouthful of blood.
The light in her eyes was fading. Though staring blankly at the sky, most of the functions in those eyes had likely failed.
Even in death, she continued to jeer.
“But even so, you’ll lose… you don’t understand the real power of a true bloodline… ‘Mother’ awaits you… You’re trapped here; our goal is already achieved…!”
With a wet sound,
The handaxe embedded itself deeply into the woman’s forehead. She was already near death anyway, so her demise was as inevitable as ever.
The handaxe spun back into my hand. The haze of fatigue in my mind cleared shortly after.
And then I remembered: Emma?
A bolt of lightning struck my thoughts. My startled body reacted instinctively.
My destination was, of course, the fallen Emma.
Had I administered any first aid? In the heat of the moment, I couldn’t recall.
As I hastily flipped Emma’s fallen body, a soft, steady breath reassured me, and I exhaled deeply in relief.
“It’s a relief…”
My legs almost gave out. Emma’s condition was better than expected, and her abdominal wound had healed significantly.
Had I somehow tended to her during my absent state?
At this rate, her life wasn’t in danger. Although severely injured, with time for recovery, and perhaps some expensive potions, the aftereffects could be managed. I was a man worth tens of thousands of gold now, after all.
I gently cradled Emma in my arms. My plan was to bring Emma somewhere safe, reunite with the Great Witch, and then search for the core of the barrier.
But right then,
An unexpected memory pierced my mind. A sudden and intense pain I hadn’t anticipated caused me to stumble without even the ability to groan.
Fiery red hair, emblazoned with the symbol of truth and immortality. The vivid imagery brought me an intense sense of discomfort.
Why?
I didn’t have long to wonder.
[Are you planning to stand there dazed forever?]
A voice suddenly hit my ear drums. The sound, while melodic and beautiful, had a sticky, mysterious undertone.
My furrowed brow tightened; this voice’s owner was all too obvious.
Of course, the master of this voice was none other than the head of the seven deadly sins of the Dark Cult: Greed.
“I am Greed, by the way. Even from an unfathomable distance, I can reach you.”
My own bloodline, also one of the highest-ranking officials of the Dark Cult, whispered to me invisibly.
[I suggest you get moving. Seriously, it wouldn’t matter where you left that girl. Whatever.]
“You know nothing about Emma…!”
[There’s more than one princess looking for her knight…]
The taunting information made me immediately clam up.
Thinking back, hadn’t the vampire warned me?
Just keeping me here was already a success.
Before my thoughts could finish, Greed’s excited voice continued.
[Okay, okay. Now, listen carefully. I’ll tell you where to run. Originally, I’d want some payment, but hey, special service for my dear brother? Save it for a special reward later. The location is in the Southern Forest…]
Just then,
A deep rumbling quake shook the ground. My eyes turned toward the epicenter of the shockwave.
The Southern Forest.
The frantic flapping of the birds taking flight was desperate. A survival instinct, raw and unyielding.
There was no guarantee the battle was limited to just one area.
The war had already begun.
Even from afar,
I calmed the thumping heartbeat in my chest while fidgeting with the medicine flask in my pocket.
This would be the final battle.
*
Deeper into the Southern Forest.
There stood a trembling young maiden, alone in her distress. With blackish-blue hair reminiscent of the night sky and strikingly pale gray eyes, her hands were firmly clenched, and her eyes tightly shut.
She was trying her best to steel her resolve, even though tears still gathered at the corners of her eyes.
Facing her stood another woman, no less beautiful. With silver hair and azure eyes, the epitome of the vampire bloodline.
The only flaw, perhaps, was the faded light in her once-vivid eyes, now sunken into a gloomy, eerie shade.
The two were well-acquainted.
They had once been comrades-in-arms who trusted each other’s backs.
That relationship was no more.
The prey, trembling before the predator, managed, barely, to choke back her tears as her fragile voice quivered.
“Y-Yuridina Senior…”
“Ian Senior isn’t here.”
Her murmured words were devoid of emotion, empty as a void.
Purely, expressionless.
With neither laughter nor sadness, the silver-haired young woman continued.
“Mother is absent, the Great Witch too… good…”
There should have been no reason for the princess to be this terrified.
The princess herself was one of the esteemed top students of the Academy. Ceria might be known as a prodigy with the sword, but she wasn’t this dominating.
True, that should have been the reality.
The princess discreetly cracked her eyes to assess Ceria. And in her field of vision, there was a ghostly shape enveloping everything.
A demon.
Could there be a better descriptor? That shadow, emanating from Ceria’s back, bristled with malice and greed, lunging toward the princess.
The strength was beyond imagination.
‘The Dragon’s Eye’ was pulsating in searing pain. An unmistakable signal of impending danger.
She couldn’t win.
How long had it been since she realized this?
Ceria’s deliberate step crushed the fallen leaves. Her eyes, which had momentarily dulled, now regained their fierce intensity. Baring her teeth, Ceria gave a cold smirk.
The prominently sharp canine teeth amidst her white teeth caught the light.
Shi-en could no longer hold back her tears.
“…Give me your blood!”
In response to that firm demand, Shi-en tried to negotiate in her trembling voice.
“Can it be… money instead?”
Of course, the answer was obvious.
With a sudden flicker of bright eyes, the beast, now awakened from within her, cried out.
“GIVE ME YOUR BLOOD!”
And then came the strike.
With a thunderous roar, the ground and dozens of trees were obliterated in the first swipe.
The princess narrowly dodged the lethal blow, rolling across the ground, leaving a single tear on the soil.
“Sir Ian…”
How much she missed him.
Today, her unrequited love felt unbearable.
