25. The Lawbringer of the Wilderness
-Urgh…
A corpse, its wounds blackened and rotting, with maggots swarming all over, staggered around the town. Its shriveled, cloudy eyes searched for fresh flesh. Of course, there was none.
-Urghh!!
A corpse accidentally stepped out of the shadow of a wall into the sunlight. Its skin burned white. Twisting its body in resistance, it eventually collapsed weakly.
The town was desolate. Only dust and dirt moved around, while corpses huddled under eaves or in shadows, avoiding the scorching sun. Then, in the distance, a cloud of dust rose.
A small town on the outskirts of Baron Barbes’ territory. Occasionally used as a trade route along the Widow’s Coastline.
An Inquisition Officer was approaching.
*
“Your Excellency! That town seems to be the right one!”
“Are you sure this time? It’s already the third try.”
Fernandez and Kirhas, covered in dust and exhaustion, rode toward the town. Their horses, severely dehydrated, were half-dead.
“This time, for real, for real!”
“Alright… I hope this time it’s the right one…”
The town was barren. Not even a stray dog in sight—a forsaken place. Fernandez dismounted at the entrance and lightly slapped the horse’s rump. Startled, the horse bolted away.
“Live long!”
“What about when we return?”
“I doubt that thing will survive until then.”
Fernandez slowly entered the town. Kirhas looked around beside him.
“No one’s here, Your Excellency?”
“They’re here.”
Fernandez pointed toward the eaves of a roof, where corpses sat motionless, staring at them. Kirhas’ ears perked up in alarm.
“Are those… corpses?”
“Do you think corpses can sit like that?”
Fernandez scanned the area. Under every roof, every eave, and every shadow—corpses sat, all in the same posture, staring eerily at them.
“Why are they just sitting there? Aren’t Walkers supposed to be mindless?”
“Either there’s a necromancer nearby, or these aren’t Walkers.”
-Swish
Fernandez drew his sword. Kirhas quickly followed suit, readying her stance.
“Not Walkers. Ghouls.”
Damn it. The things you least want to see always show up. Fernandez frowned. An abnormal number of ghouls had appeared.
This meant a mad vampire suffering from Red Hunger was lurking nearby.
Fernandez calmly walked into the shadows. Simultaneously, as if waiting, a swarm of ghouls pounced.
-Slash!
Fernandez’s sword cut through a ghoul’s neck. Before the head hit the ground, another ghoul’s torso, arm, and jaw fell.
-Slash, chop!
“Ugh, Your Excellency!”
Kirhas quickly positioned herself behind Fernandez, cutting down the ghouls attacking from behind.
They were as mindless as Walkers, but while Walkers were infected humans, these were truly dead.
“Kirhas, you need to cut their heads off.”
“Got it!”
Kirhas sliced through a ghoul’s shoulder, then stabbed upward, piercing its jaw and exiting through the crown of its head.
The ghoul collapsed without a twitch. No nerve reflexes—definitely a corpse.
Her movements were flawless, perfectly controlled as she slaughtered the ghouls.
“Your skills have improved.”
“Your Excellency too! You must have been practicing swordsmanship!”
Did I? For Fernandez, swordsmanship was half a hobby, half an excuse to escape Diemonica’s strength training.
As he cleaved a ghoul’s skull, Kirhas blushed and said,
“You’re amazing. With the physique of the Diemonica brothers, martial arts would naturally take a backseat…”
To Kirhas, the Diemonica brothers were beasts. Their superhuman muscle efficiency, reflexes, and senses turned them into literal shredding machines!
But Fernandez was a wolf among sheep. With a body capable of slaughtering dozens, he honed his skills to wield it even more effectively.
Moreover, during Fernandez’s last mission briefing, Kirhas had witnessed his brilliant wisdom. To her, he embodied the bravery of a lion, the strength of a crocodile, and the wisdom of an ibis!
He was like Rutmargar, the legendary hero who swallowed the sun!
“Uh… thanks, I guess.”
Fernandez replied awkwardly, splitting the last ghoul in half. It seemed all the ghouls in this building were dealt with.
Like most undead, ghouls were weak.
In fact, ghouls were weaker than Walkers. Unlike Walkers, which retained muscle and reflexes, ghouls were merely victims of necromancy, raised by vampires.
And knights fell to these? Fernandez, sword still drawn, entered the building.
His vision warned him of the lingering magical resonance unique to vampires.
*
“Don’t vampires usually sleep underground?”
“That’s a myth. They generally sleep in beds. They prefer high places and blackout curtains.”
Fernandez said as he cut down two armored ghouls. They had suddenly lunged from the stairs leading to the second floor.
Already slow and weak, the ghouls were even clumsier in armor.
-Clang!
The headless body fell, its chainmail clattering noisily. Fernandez pushed the bodies aside and ascended the stairs. During the fight, he hadn’t noticed, but his sharp…
A sob caught in the air.
“It’s definitely up there.”
“Yes… they’re crying.”
Well, the Catfolk are famous for their sharp hearing, after all. Fernandez glanced at Kirhas’s pointed ears.
Catfolk, what a fascinating race. Saying this might make me sound like a huge racist, but they have human-like features with furry ears sticking up. Fernandez couldn’t resist the urge and reached out to pat Kirhas on the crown of her head.
“Ah, Your Excellency?!”
-Swish, swish.
Even though the gauntlet-covered hand didn’t convey much sensation, Fernandez often found himself stroking Kirhas’s ears when they were together. Due to Fernandez’s tall stature, Kirhas had to look up at him from around chest level. Her eyes grew moist.
“Um, uh… Your Excellency. Not here…”
“Ah, right. Sorry.”
Fernandez swallowed hard. A cat… Come to think of it, I had a friend who loved cats…
-Marcus. The Golden Marcus. That guy adored his cat like crazy.
‘Ah, I remember. I heard he screamed when the heroes killed his cat.’
-Heh heh, what a fool. Over a mere animal…
Fernandez slowly opened the door from which the sobbing was coming.
-Creeeak…
*
“Khh… Hhh…”
In a room devoid of even a single ray of light, a man was sobbing in the corner. His uniform, now almost in tatters, still retained a luxurious sheen, and his white, wavy hair shimmered even in the darkness.
“Hey, vampire.”
“Hhh…”
The man’s head lifted slightly, revealing his glowing red eyes. He glared at Fernandez and Kirhas with those crimson orbs.
Red liquid dripped from the corners of his eyes. It was a symptom of the Red Hunger.
“Hey?”
“…Blood…?”
“Huh?”
-Crack!
In an instant, the man vanished. Fernandez swiftly swung his sword in front of him. The man, who had reappeared in front of Fernandez, dodged the blade and lunged for his neck.
“You… bastard!”
-Thud!
“Grrk!”
Fernandez swung the arm holding his shield, knocking the man back. The man clawed at the floor as he was pushed back, regaining his stance.
“Your Excellency!”
“Be careful!”
-Crash!
The man disappeared again. His movements were so fast that even Fernandez’s sharp eyes could barely catch a glimpse.
Fernandez barely managed to follow the man’s movements and extended his arm. The man, who had been charging toward Kirhas, was struck by Fernandez’s shield and sent flying.
“Khh!”
“Hey!”
“Th-thank you!”
Kirhas snapped back to attention, tense. The man’s movements were anything but ordinary. He was truly a monster who had devoured two knights.
“Khh…”
“Hey, Franzrit. Snap out of it.”
Though he still looked somewhat human, he wasn’t completely consumed by bloodlust yet… Fernandez needed to find out why he had ended up like this, wandering outside Franzrit’s territory. And time was running out.
‘If it’s the Franzrit Bloodline, they’ll definitely send an execution squad.’
They had to get out before they arrived. Fortunately, it was still daytime, and there was no guarantee they’d come tonight, but time wasn’t exactly on their side.
“Franz…rit…”
“Yeah, hey! He’s talking!”
“Franzrit!!!!”
“Ah, damn.”
-Bam! Bam! Bam!
The man, frothing at the mouth, swung his arms wildly at Fernandez. His dry, twisted fingers scraped against the shield like blades.
Fernandez could feel the impact even through his own strength. How could such power come from that withered body?
‘He’s a High Noble.’
That was the only explanation. But why would a High Noble starve to the point of suffering from Red Hunger?
Red Hunger was a disease that afflicted vampires who hadn’t fed on blood for a long time, driving them mad with thirst.
Vampires suffering from Red Hunger lose their reason and self-control, beginning to feed indiscriminately.
As a result, they can devour entire towns, even cities. Since such actions pose a threat to the bloodline, most High Bloodlines have execution squads to eliminate those afflicted with Red Hunger.
Once lost to Red Hunger, their reason never returns. In other words, this man would now live only to suck the blood of the living until his death.
Killing him here would be for his own good. And for the sake of this town.
But still, Fernandez needed to know.
(1) In his previous life, Franzrit was a great lord who had devoured not only this area but nearly half of the Dane Kingdom.
(2) Even though such a feat couldn’t be achieved overnight, in this lifetime, he hadn’t yet ventured beyond Serpent’s Isle.
(3) So, Fernandez needed to figure out how the Franzrit Bloodline had grown so powerful and put a stop to it.
(4) Meanwhile, a vampire who appeared to be of the Franzrit Bloodline was starving to death outside the town.
There had to be a connection. It was better to nip this in the bud while Franzrit was still just a regional power.
“Alright, I’ll just hit him a few times!”
“Khh?”
It seemed like a bit of “education” was needed, at least until he regained some semblance of reason. Stimulating his survival instincts might temporarily bring him back to his senses.
Werewolves were like that, so vampires probably were too, right? Fernandez grabbed the man by the collar and slammed him to the ground.
-Crash!
“Khh!?!”
Stomping on the writhing man’s chest, Fernandez’s gauntlet-clad fist began to pummel his face.
The wooden floor beneath the vampire shattered, splinters flying everywhere. Kirhas stepped back, startled by the force.
“The savagery of a bear…”
-Bam! Crash! Bam!
It was a gruesome scene of violence, with blood and wood splinters flying everywhere! Fernandez kept swinging his fist as he spoke.
“If you come to your senses, slap the floor twice!”
“Grrr!!!!”
-Bam! Bam!
Fernandez’s fist didn’t stop. The vampire convulsed, repeatedly slamming the floor. Was that a signal to stop, or just a reflex?
“Ah, I said twice.”
-Bam!
One last time, Fernandez drove his fist into the vampire’s forehead and stood up. Blood dripped from his gauntlet. The vampire, his face a mess, trembled as he looked at Fernandez.
“You bastard…”
“Oh, now he’s talking.”
“The wisdom of the crow…”
Fernandez smiled and dragged a chair from the corner to sit down. The vampire, still convulsing, scrambled to the corner.
He buried his face in his knees, looking at Fernandez with terrified eyes.
“Now, vampire. What’s your name?”
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