Chapter 9
Carvin knelt without meaning to, his face on the verge of tears as he stared up at the Lord.
When Banua, King of the Snakes, had first appeared, Carvin had felt a desperate sense of doom. The Wolf King Penrix and the Snake King Banua in collusion? Carvin had never left the Kron Mountains since childhood, and he knew the order of the Demon Realm all too well. The rulers of each territory were supposed to have agreed never to form alliances, in the name of preserving that order.
And yet the one standing before Carvin was unmistakably Banua, King of the Snakes and master of sorcery.
What use were agreements and rules when his life was under threat?
When he saw dozens of wolves and snakes all rush at the Lord inside the cave at once, Carvin had been certain they were all as good as dead.
Lord!!
But once again, the Lord had surpassed even Carvin’s wildest expectations.
Inside the cave, there had been a spell formation suppressing the vampires’ innate power of blood. Even Carvin, young though he was for a vampire, had been able to feel its ominous clarity: the distinct crown, and the symbols of snakes swallowing their own tails.
In other words, it was an impossibly hostile and uncomfortable place for vampires.
Carvin had even tried to use the one technique available to him, Blood Mist, just to be of some help to the Lord, only to fail.
He had thought the Lord, like himself, was unable to use blood as well.
Until Banua intervened directly in the battle, the Lord had fought the enemies using only his sword.
Even so, the Lord’s power had been extraordinary.
“Do not stand there.”
Kiieeek!
When the Lord’s Blood Sword severed Banua’s tail in a single stroke, a cry of agony burst from the snake king’s mouth.
At some point, the wolves and snakes left in the cave had gone completely still, frozen in place as if they could not move another inch.
Thud. Thud.
Watching the Lord cut down Banua’s tail, Carvin felt his heart hammer violently in his chest.
To think that ignorant, miserable little he had dared to doubt the Lord.
The Lord had not been unable to use his power because of the formation, the way Carvin had been.
He had chosen not to.
If Carvin had to guess at the Lord’s intention, perhaps he had simply wanted to test the newly acquired sword.
It was a little strange a reason... but he really is incredible.
Kieeek! Kyaaaak!
After slicing off Banua’s tail, the Lord climbed straight onto the giant snake’s body.
Then he casually slashed at Banua’s flesh again and again.
Each time the Lord’s Blood Sword opened a new wound, Banua twisted and shrieked in agony.
The sight of the massive snake writhing so violently that the whole cave shook with its pain was pitiful beyond words, almost tragic.
But Carvin had no need to understand that pain.
That is the Lord’s true power!
Carvin could not take his eyes off the blood-soaked sword in the Lord’s right hand.
Vampires were, by nature, a race that could freely wield their own blood.
That did not mean every vampire’s abilities were the same.
There were basic techniques anyone could learn and use, of course, but once one delved a little deeper, the matter changed entirely.
Just like the Blood Sword the Lord now held.
Condensing blood as though shaping it into a blade.
In other words, what humans called sword aura, or mana.
It was an impossible feat to imagine, and yet the Lord was accomplishing it with such ease.
That must be the Lord’s awakening ability.
For vampires of the Meyer family like Kael, once the True Blood flowing through their veins was awakened, they underwent an evolution called Awakening.
Once awakened, they gained a unique technique or ability of their own, like the Blood Sword now held by the Lord.
A power engraved into each individual’s blood.
Kieeeek—! Thud.
Banua’s cries grew especially miserable, and then his long body finally lost its strength and crashed to the ground.
It was unclear whether he had lost his life or merely his consciousness, but one thing was certain.
The Lord had won.
It was Carvin who broke the suffocating silence that followed Banua’s fall.
“Lord!!!”
He shouted at the top of his lungs and knelt before the Lord.
When the Lord’s gaze fell upon him from atop Banua’s body, Carvin bowed his head.
Down until his forehead nearly touched the ground.
“Rise, Carvin.”
Carvin was so overwhelmed he could scarcely speak, but at the Lord’s command he hurriedly got to his feet.
Unnoticed, all the wolves and snakes around him had also lowered their heads toward the Lord.
Right now, the Lord looked exactly like the absolute ruler of legend.
“I leave the rest to you.”
“...Yes, yes! Lord!!”
With that, the Lord began walking out of the cave, as though the whole affair had merely been an annoyance.
His steps were neither fast nor slow, but carried themselves with a stately, elegant grace.
Ahhh.
Carvin could not stop the tears from gathering at the corners of his eyes as he watched the Lord’s back.
That man was truly their Lord, their absolute ruler.
Sniff.
Drawing in a shaky breath and forcing back his tears and snot, Carvin kept his eyes on the Lord until he could no longer be seen, maintaining his proper respect.
When the Lord finally left the cave and disappeared from view, Carvin at last turned his head.
The wolves and snakes that would once have terrified him now seemed to be watching his every move.
It was time to handle the Lord’s orders and clean up the mess.
First, he needed to confirm whether Penrix and Banua were alive.
*
“Hoo.”
Stepping outside the cave and feeling the cold wind on my face made me feel much better.
As expected, Banua’s blood tasted very sweet.
Still...
I had long since known I was no longer human.
The taste was good, but my chest felt bitter.
The pleasure I had felt when I severed Banua’s tail and absorbed his blood.
That heat surging through my body was unforgettable, and at the same time, deeply alien.
It was as if the feeling had once again reminded me that I was truly no longer human.
And that had been close.
Whether it was the bitterness and self-disgust that came with realizing I was no longer human, or the familiar, comforting sword in my right hand, I had not been completely swallowed by the vampire blood.
To be precise, I had been able to hold out a little longer.
But if a little more time had passed, I probably would have lost my reason and gone berserk like before.
Clutching the sword hilt still in my right hand, I squeezed it hard.
The blade, which had glowed red and writhed, wrapped in blood, had already returned to an ordinary gray sword.
Crack.
Hm?
Crack-crack-crack—clang!
Just as I thought it had returned to normal, I heard the sound of something splitting, and then the sword shattered into pieces.
It was completely broken, except for the hilt still in my hand.
So it couldn’t withstand the force.
I knew very well why a sword broke so helplessly under pressure like that.
I had experienced it often enough in the past.
The blade simply wasn’t sturdy enough to endure the energy forced into it.
It was a phenomenon that often occurred when an ordinary knight first reached the stage where mana could be poured into a sword.
I chose the best-looking one, too.
It had been an urgent situation, but the sword I’d grabbed had clearly looked like the best one in the cave.
As a former commander who had seen hundreds, even thousands of blades, I could tell at a glance which one was good.
It wasn’t as good as the sword I usually used, but it had been balanced well and made with skill.
So that means the energy was that strong.
Thud.
As soon as I thought of blood, my heart pounded fiercely, broadcasting its presence.
Or rather, it was not my heart itself, but the blood flowing through it.
Swish...
The blade itself had already been destroyed, but blood slowly began to gather around the hilt I was holding.
Blood Sword.
Without a blade, only the hilt was stained red with blood, yet even that alone radiated tremendous pressure.
It was completely different from gathering mana into sword aura.
It was difficult to put into words precisely, but the Blood Sword felt heavier, and sharper.
So I can control it now?
The blood gathered around the hilt would appear and vanish at my will.
My heart still pounded, and my whole body still felt as though it was being swept along whenever I moved the blood, but it was within a controllable range.
Whoseh...
As soon as I realized I could control the blood, my thoughts naturally drifted back to what had happened earlier.
In the forest, I had tried to flick my fingers and shoot a drop of blood toward Penrix as he rushed at me, only to fail.
I extended my hand and snapped my index finger, just as I had then.
Tap.
“Mm.”
The result was exactly the same as before.
I had thought that once I could form the Blood Sword, this technique would be possible too, but that wasn’t the case.
There was still no response from the finger I had flicked.
Even though I had pictured blood forming and firing away in my mind.
For now, all I could do was make the sword I was holding into a Blood Sword.
That is enough.
I set the thought aside and idly turned the broken hilt in my hand.
Even if the sword I was holding had shattered, there were plenty of others inside the cave.
None of them looked better than the broken one, but all that mattered was that I could still hang a sword at my hip.
And what I had gained from this incident was not only the Blood Sword.
Before I could even use the blood ability, before Banua’s crude tricks had done away with me, I had clearly felt the edge of what one might call the pinnacle of the sword.
It was swordsmanship driven only by the body, by the flow of the heart.
It wasn’t perfect, but perhaps because I could now handle blood, I had also managed to suppress much of my bloodlust.
Then all that remained was to hang up my sword and go meet Sylvia.
After all, the reason I had come here in the first place was to stop by briefly and take a sword with me before going to Sylvia.
“Lord!”
Just then, Carvin’s voice rang out from inside the cave.
His tone was far brighter and more spirited than before.
“Hm?”
“The cleanup is finished! I’ll bring out the Wolf King Penrix and the Snake King Banua soon as well.”
Carvin did not simply walk out.
Riding on the back of a wolf, he emerged from the cave with the rest of the wolves and snakes following behind him.
As he had said, Penrix, half dead and barely hanging on, and Banua, who still had not awakened, were hauled out after him.
“I thought there might be some intention behind the Lord’s actions, so I did not end their lives myself. What would you like me to do with them?”
Carvin seemed to think there was meaning even in my failure to kill Penrix and Banua.
In truth, it had just been coincidence.
Penrix had survived because his hide was tougher than I’d expected, and Banua I had only cut down enough to stop myself from losing control after tasting too much blood.
“First...”
I had originally planned to ride Penrix out of the mountains, but that was clearly impossible now.
Penrix was gasping with only his eyes barely open.
Killing someone who was already too badly injured to even hold themselves together went against my own principles.
That said, healing a bastard who had already betrayed me once was hardly pleasant either. Either way, it was the betrayal of my former comrades that had led me to death.
“Lo... Lord...”
While I was hesitating, Penrix must have sensed the danger and finally managed to speak, struggling for breath.
“I... I will be loyal...!”
“What?”
Penrix let out a painful groan and barely managed to move his body before collapsing face-down at my feet.
Then, though still panting, he spoke with firm resolve.
“E-even if it means becoming bound to the Lord’s blood, I will give you my body and my heart and beg your forgiveness!”
At Penrix’s cry, all the wolves behind him bowed their heads toward me as well.
Only Carvin, seated atop a gray wolf, lifted his head with a moved expression and looked around.
Mm.
I hadn’t been asking for loyalty, though.
And what was this about being bound to blood?
Whatever the case, these were monsters of the mountains that had endured the Empire’s pressure for a very long time, so there was clearly something here I did not know.
Well, Carvin can probably explain it for me.
So I nodded and walked into the midst of the defeated.
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