Chapter 141
Chapter 141
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 141
Chapter Title: Ghoul Knights
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There are many monsters and races called undead.
Vampires are technically one type of undead as well.
The only difference is that vampires possess reason, so they are treated as a race or high-ranking undead nobility rather than mere monsters.
And the biggest reason other races treat vampires as a 'race' is that most undead can't harm vampires at all.
That's why, when undead run rampant in some place, it's often vampires—fellow undead—who step up, rather than humans, orcs, or elves.
Vampires can wipe out undead monsters while suffering only a tenth or twentieth of the damage other races would take.
However, that changes if the undead in question are liches or death knights.
Lichs and death knights are born not from the evil spirits generated by wars or plagues that kill many people, but from demonic energy fueled by artificial magic.
As a result, ghouls, skeletons, and the like created by death knights are immune to vampires' mystique.
Vampires have no choice but to confront them with raw 'power.'
The problem with ghouls, though, is that they retain nearly vampire-level strength and physical abilities, even if their intelligence has been stripped away.
"What do we do?"
Clay panicked.
She had lived as a vampire for decades, but she had never once faced undead like ghouls or skeletons.
"What do you mean, what do we do? Shove your sword in it. Useless."
"Pardon?"
Galpredic looked at Clay with pitying eyes as she gripped her longsword tightly and widened her eyes.
"Is your sword made with silver?"
"Oh, no. I can't use silver weapons."
Only lords or higher can handle silver coins, and they aren't particularly intimidated by silver weapons unless they get cut or stabbed by them.
On the other hand, the vast majority of mid- and low-tier vampires shrink back mentally and physically at the mere sight of silver unless it's nighttime.
"Tsk tsk! This girl seems even more useless than Selena. But even this body fears ghosts, so that's it! Keeeh...."
The spirit clicked its tongue disdainfully, let out a bizarre screech, and slipped back into the leather pouch.
In truth, it was the most useless one among them right now, so Eugene and Galpredic paid it no mind.
"Not silver, and you were gonna do what with that? Don't you have a mace?"
"Oh, yes, I do."
Clay quickly sheathed her longsword and drew the small shield and mace mounted on her back.
As a vampire knight of some renown, she could wield various weapons just like human knights.
"Don't think of killing it—think of smashing it. Best to shatter the limbs, but for now, aim here. Blow the head off, and it won't move for a while."
Galpredic also drew two large, sturdy steel maces from his back.
Clay's eyes wavered at the sight of the hideous blunt weapons, twice as thick as his own and studded with dozens of blunt spikes.
*Does Lord Eugene use something similar?*
Clay's gaze subtly shifted to Eugene.
"Huh!"
She gasped at the sight of Wolfslaughter gleaming eerily in the darkness.
When a vampire is attacked by a silver weapon, it has the same effect as a human getting hit by a normal one.
It's extremely painful, slows regeneration, and can even kill if the wound is fatal. But if it's not a severe injury, it can still heal.
The moment Clay laid eyes on Wolfslaughter, however, her vampiric instincts screamed a warning.
*That's no ordinary silver weapon—it's something else entirely.*
Just looking at it made her dizzy, her breath catch, her body stiffen.
But Eugene, who wielded it, and even Galpredic seemed utterly unfazed.
"Um... Lord Galpredic, doesn't it bother you?"
"I'm fine. Though low-tier vampires do freeze up just looking at it."
"Oh... I see."
Clay wasn't even surprised anymore.
Moreover, knowing these overwhelming figures—who seemed beyond the clan's limits—were with her filled her with courage and pride.
But a few minutes later, those feelings vanished into thin air.
Groooaaar....
A bizarre wail rode in on the damp wind swirling through the sewers.
Splash. Splish. Splish.
The sound of filthy water splashing up to their ankles grew closer, and Clay's tension spiked to its peak.
She gripped her mace tightly.
Even with her cold vampire blood, facing an undead monster she'd never seen before was pressure enough.
But Eugene and Galpredic remained utterly relaxed.
"Master, seems like they're coming from behind too."
"They're trying to surround us, huh. They didn't back off even after I stimulated them with my presence—definitely undead monsters."
One thing he'd learned from previous monster subjugations in the demon realm.
Even monsters, if alive, react to or fear Eugene's presence, but undead are largely unaffected.
Of course, Eugene didn't particularly care either way.
He'd learned something from his encounter with the undead twin-headed ogre before.
*Undead are harmless once you destroy their controller.*
Eugene emitted just enough presence to sense the approaching monsters' movements and raised Wolfslaughter straight.
Groooaaar! Grraaack!
Moments later, monsters emerged from the forked corridors on both sides, clad in the attire and arms of their living foes.
Monsters with bluish skin.
Ghouls.
"F-Filin? Matteo too...!"
Clay cried out in horror at the lead ghouls armed with chain mail and longswords.
With fangs protruding from both sides of their lips, they were unmistakably the vampire knights who'd gone missing on the search party.
The two—ghoul knights now—shambled down the narrow passage and split their grotesque mouths wide.
Grraaaack!
For an instant, an alien aura washed over Eugene's group, and he reflexively thrust his magic shield forward to block it.
"Eeek!"
Clay screamed.
Eugene merely twitched slightly—not from surprise or fear, but because it was unexpected.
"Hoo?"
It wasn't presence, but seeing Clay flail about suggested some strange magical force at work.
And that force almost certainly came from the ghouls' master: the death knight.
Grraaaack!
The ghouls charged with another horrific roar. Similar cries echoed from behind, but Eugene ignored them.
"Graahahaha! Even undead have ranks! Take that, you weaklings!"
Thud! Thwack thwack!
Galpredic would handle the rear.
With his curiosity about the ghouls sated, Eugene dropped his magic shield and swung Wolfslaughter.
Clang! Shatter!
The attacks from the once-vampire knights—who had been exceptional swordsmen in life—were fairly threatening, but they shattered against Wolfslaughter the moment they clashed.
No matter how masterful their swordsmanship, they were helpless once their weapons broke.
Wolfslaughter, having destroyed the longswords, proceeded to sever their heads from their bodies.
Black smoke billowed up instead of blood, and the ghoul vampire knights crumpled lifelessly.
"Nothing special."
The mercenary ghouls met the same fate.
Beings who had gained greater strength than before through their horrific transformation into cannibals were mere moving meat before the famed sword forged of wrought iron and pure silver.
Slash slash crunch! Slice!
With each chilling cleave, dark smoke scattered like mist. Already dead, they crumbled and split without a scream.
Amid the otherworldly horror, Clay's lips trembled as she suddenly glanced back.
Thud thud! Boom!
The rear, under Galpredic's watch, was a scene of carnage. He was literally smashing, pulverizing, and mincing the ghouls.
Monsters immune to normal weapons with exceptional regeneration?
When his massive, hideous twin maces hammered at invisible speeds, regeneration meant nothing.
Bones shattered to splinters, skin and muscle mashed to pulp—what regeneration?
Having reduced over ten ghouls to unrecognizable meat piles, Galpredic finally turned around.
"Hehe."
Seeing his red eyes gleaming with bloodlust, Clay felt every hair on her body stand on end.
Strange for a vampire to feel this, but it was true terror—something she'd never sensed from lords or bannerets.
"Here they come again. This one's stronger."
"Y-Yes, sir."
Surrounded by Eugene and Galpredic without lifting a finger, Clay nodded frantically.
But she realized the 'stronger one' Eugene mentioned was the banneret Randolph, now a death knight.
Wooooom...!
A low, heavy wail echoed through the sewers.
Clank! Clank clank!
The grinding of armor grew louder, until a form blacker than the darkness appeared at the passage's end.
Malevolent energy wafted like heat haze from the gaps in armor turned entirely black, its original color lost.
"Ugh...."
It was the essence of corrupt, evil mana—enough to cower even a vampire knight of the Night Clan.
"Black magic?"
Eugene, having faced the black mage who controlled the undead twin-headed ogre, immediately recognized the aura.
"Hmm. No wonder the mercenaries and vampire knights all fell."
Feeling it pierce his plate armor and touch his skin, Eugene gauged the malice the death knight harbored.
At this level, lesser-willed mercenaries would faint outright, and even trained knights would succumb to fear.
"Feels kinda off, huh? Ptui!"
Galpredic spat on the ground.
He still burned with battle fervor.
Eugene stepped aside slightly and said,
"Want to take this one?"
"Oh! For real?"
Galpredic lit up.
Though now Eugene's retainer, his essence was that of a knight. Battle was his lifeblood; fighting the strong was a true knight's fate.
"That thing's presence? No, demonic energy, I suppose. Either way, it won't be easy. So."
Eugene paused, then held out Wolfslaughter to Galpredic.
"As your master, I command you: subdue that damned abomination with all your power."
Galpredic's eyes gleamed at the sword's gleaming blade.
He accepted Wolfslaughter with utmost reverence and bowed his head.
"As you will, Master."
Thud!
One mace hit the floor.
Galpredic—Wolfslaughter in his right hand, mace in his left—slowly raised his head.
Wooooo oom...!
His lips split into a grin as he stared at the death knight, which drew ever closer, spewing demonic energy like a storm cloud.
"Graaaaaaaaah!"
Origin's retainer.
A 'grand duke' in vampire society—an existence even high lords of clans revered and worshipped.
With his master's permission, he unleashed his full power for the first time and charged the death knight.
Rumble rumble rumble!
"Eeek!"
The suppressed presence swirled around Galpredic like a gale, and Clay collapsed on the spot.
"Hic! Hic!"
All of the Night Clan could gauge an opponent's approximate power and status through 'presence.'
Just as with Delmong and Mungard vampires, Clay now knew.
Her soul, imprinted with the 'blood oath,' told her.
"D-Du-Duke! A vampire duke...."
Her unfocused, trembling eyes slowly shifted from Galpredic to Eugene.
Only one clan commanded a vampire duke, fit for the pinnacle of vampire society.
The supreme apex.
The Night Clan's beginning and end.
The sovereign who transcended clans, lording over all.
"Great Origin!"
Graaaaaack!
Clay's cry of indescribable awe and reverence overlapped with the vampire duke's roar at the death knight.
(To be continued)