The Unleashed Vampire
A tremendous explosion churned up a massive cloud of thick smoke.
Dizzy from expending so much mana at once, Adria staggered and muttered softly.
"......Did we get it?"
"Hey! Flag!"
"Ah."
As if proving it was the classic national rule flag, the vampire rose from within the smoke.
Its body was covered in wounds, a mangled mess that made you wonder how it was even alive.
Fortunately, it didn't seem to have patterns like full recovery or resurrection for all its injuries.
'Gotta finish it off quick now.'
I gripped my sword again, preparing to charge forward.
Like a final spasm of defiance, the vampire flung its arms wide. Blood spurted psshhht from the wounds riddling its arms and body.
"Kuuuuh......!"
Not mana mimicking blood, but real blood gathered above its head, forming an enormous cloud.
Pzzt, pzzt, pzzzt!
Red lightning crackled across the vampire's body. In that instant, I saw it—crimson threads enveloping its form tearing away.
'Whoa...... they really used a real monster?'
And magically puppeted it like a doll.
But for some reason, those shackles had come undone.
Snap, rip, crack!
Once all the threads were torn free, the vampire's bloodshot eyes turned pitch black.
-GRAAAAAAAH!
"No way, what the hell did they do to make this......"
I felt wronged. I hadn't meant to cut them; I'd just beaten the crap out of it!
But ignoring my side, the vampire roared and raised both hands.
Blood began pouring down in torrents from the crimson cloud. No matter how Ashy and I swung our swords, we couldn't deflect it all.
How do you block rain with a sword? But before I could do anything, a circular magical barrier sprang up, enveloping us.
Current exam terminated.
Current exam terminated. Students, please evacuate the exam area immediately.
Shout "Return" to trigger professors' teleportation magic. Evacuate immediately.
I scowled.
'......Not intentional, huh.'
I'd thought maybe it was a final boss pattern since it wasn't weakened, but apparently they weren't that demonic.
Still, separately from that, it exposed their incompetence.
What the hell were they doing to fail controlling a real monster like this?!
Rumble rumble!
-GRAAH! I'll kill you, devour your bloooood......!
And the vampire was speaking—haltingly, but clearly.
Dangerous. My instincts whispered. Leave it like this, and it'd get seriously annoying, so finish it here.
'Why the hell do they make you say "Return" to go back anyway? Makes no sense.'
Was it on purpose? Whatever, it bought me a window to take it down.
I slowly drew my sword again. Analyzing the vampire's state and movements in my head.
Shh-
Adria, approaching me, froze with a flinch.
Her trembling eyes fixed on my sword.
"W-What are you doing?! E-Even if I trolled, swinging a weapon is...... Kyaa!"
"What're you talking about? Back off. I'm taking that thing down."
"What?!"
Adria cried out in panic.
"Y-You don't think it's because I used resurrection, right?"
"Yeah. It is. So stay back. Don't make it worse."
Normally I'd say no, but it had revived from her last resurrection spell.
Adria nodded glumly and retreated further.
I asked Ashy, who stared at the vampire boss with an unreadable expression.
"Ashy. Got any AoE skills?"
"Hmm, right now the most effective would be...... sharpening and hardening that slash you and I fired earlier even further."
I glanced at my sword. From the fight earlier, once I got the feel, I could control the amplified power.
What if I maxed it out?
'Hard to control, but......'
Wait. Do I even need to control it perfectly, refine it cleanly?
Just hold the slash form for a bit. With the barrier up, who cares if it explodes outside—as long as it hits the vampire.
'That much, I can manage.'
I steadied my breath and assumed position—sword ready for a horizontal swing.
Reactivating War God's Blessing, I poured divine power into the blade.
The two gems embedded in the pitch-black blade hummed, amplifying the divine power I infused.
Vmmm!
First amplification. The first gem glowed.
Manageable so far.
Vmm, vmmm! Vmmm!
Second amplification.
Sh-sh-shake.
But the moment the second gem lit up at max, the divine power ballooned beyond my control, surging massively.
My hands, arms, then whole body trembled uncontrollably.
Grit!
I bit my lip hard, focusing my mind. The divine power seeped out, coiling around the blade.
Crimson divine power roiled violently, on the verge of exploding. I clamped down on its attempts to break free, glaring at the vampire with bloodshot eyes.
"Everyone back off! It's dangerous!"
"Huh? Why suddenly......"
"Explanations later! You're Mosik Karma, right? Use every defensive spell you have and protect us."
"Yes. Understood."
Ashy would handle the rest.
I neither inhaled nor exhaled. Any distraction, and my focus would shatter.
Obey me!
Muttering inwardly, I forcibly suppressed the rebellious energy.
This power was mine. Earned through my faith—it had to obey me.
No purpose at first, nothing. But now? Different. Eliminate that thing before it causes more trouble!
Drip!
For an instant, the energy's shaking stopped.
The perfect moment.
"Hraaaaaah!"
I roared, swinging the sword down from above.
The swing itself was silent.
But seconds later.
......Shwooooom!
With a space-rending screech, the crimson slash pierced the barrier and flew.
The vampire hastily gathered clouds to block, but a mid-rank knight-level vampire couldn't stop the insane divine power even I could barely control.
Shraaaash!
The crimson slash cleaved the vampire's body.
-Krrrugh?!
Like a mirage passing, the vampire's form showed no change.
It frantically patted itself down, then bared its fangs in a grin.
-It was a fake!
And that was its last words in its intact form.
Craaaack!
It split in two. From crown to groin, a vertical line gaped wide, cleaving the vampire clean.
Its mana, abilities—useless.
War God's divine power focused on destruction, not healing. No mid-rank knight could recover from that.
-......Why.
Its split mouth couldn't move, but its clear voice echoed in my head instead.
Its two eyes, falling apart, stared at me laden with unmistakable emotion.
-......How is a War God's priest here......
Thud!
Terror.
"......"
"......"
Silence fell. The blood the vampire had shot coated the barrier, trapping us in a blood-drenched sphere.
Whatever. Boss down for sure.
......
......
The alert magic blared in my head nonstop.
I forced my blurring vision to focus, grinding my teeth at the "eyes" watching us.
"Ha. Fuck. I'm seriously lodging a complaint with you bastards......"
One more thing to gripe about. What the hell did they do that even the boss knew of the War God and feared it like that?
Thud.
No time to ponder. I collapsed, blacking out.
* * *
"......"
"......"
No one in the control room spoke.
Or rather, they couldn't.
What had they just witnessed?
A single student's slash—unbelievably massive—had bisected the boss outright.
Even if weakened, astonishing. But at full power...... through the "error," momentarily rivaling high-rank knight level...... and it cleaved it.
"......First, cleanup. Call the medical team urgently, guide those students to safety. Professor Eroy, Professor Jayyan. I'll take command in the vice-principal's stead for now."
Nipella Aoman's words drew nods from the summoned professors.
They rushed out en masse, leaving mid-tier professors in the control room...... among them, Professor Iyeon spoke up.
"......This makes no sense."
"What do you mean suddenly, Professor Iyeon?"
"That vampire just now...... the boss that should have been a 'puppet' had self-awareness."
Professor Nampar scowled.
"What nonsense is that? It's a sophisticated puppet we created, just a program."
"But we never scripted the final pattern. Nor added speech functions."
That wasn't all. The emergency magic—meant to trigger forcibly on "anomaly detected" and student danger—hadn't activated.
Precisely, it now required the student's own will to...... return.
'......Why?'
Iyeon's face paled.
This exam was tailored to give survival-pro Ashy—ex-mercenary—a slight edge for extra points.
Blame would fall on her.
'Master......!'
As Iyeon desperately called her master inwardly, one professor stared at the screen.
'......That boy's dangerous.'
The vampire meant to injure and warn students had died powerless.
The professor's hand twitched.
'Must eliminate him.'
That boy held the potential to thwart his great worshipper.
As if he were...... a god's apostle.