Chapter 77
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: Cute Vampire Lord, Ariel (3)
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"Sniff... sniff, sniff..."
Ariel kept crying for over ten minutes.
Her tears fell like rain without stopping. Just watching from the side made my heart ache. If sorrow was contagious, this had to be the moment.
I wrapped Ariel in my embrace and gently comforted her.
"Are you alright, Your Majesty?"
"Ugh... sob, sniff... no... sniff... n-not at all..."
Ariel shook her head and sobbed.
Her face was covered in tears and snot.
"Hang in there. Things like this happen in life."
Hmm, saying that as the culprit behind it all.
Still, it couldn't be helped.
I felt bad for Ariel, but clearing out the cave back then had been the right call.
To make the dungeon entrance deeper inside, I couldn't leave the vampires who'd occupied the cave as they were.
"Sob, hic, sniff... y-yeah... sniff, that's true... but... sniff, sniff... it just makes me so sad, the tears come out on their own..."
Ariel tried her best to pull herself together, but it wasn't working well. Not just with my hands, I wrapped her gently with my wings too, cradling her tenderly.
"Then cry a bit more until you feel better."
"Yeah... sniff... I will..."
Ariel patted my back in return as she shed more tears.
I hugged her small body tightly and patted her back. It really felt like soothing a child.
About ten more minutes passed, and Ariel finally calmed down enough to speak softly.
"Actually... sniff... I had thought something like this might happen someday..."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah... sniff... Mother said it before... losing family is... sniff... just inevitable..."
She wore a distant expression, as if recalling her mother's words.
"Mother said she'd lost family many times before... that losing something isn't a choice, it's inevitable... and even if tragedy strikes, don't grieve too much..."
I could understand what Ariel meant.
The power gap between a lord and regular vampires was like heaven and earth.
In wars, it was common for only the lord to survive while the rest were wiped out.
One lord from the previous game had seen his subordinates as nothing but expendables. Maybe he'd changed that way after too many tragedies.
Ariel desperately held back her tears, then looked at me and said,
"I-I'm feeling a bit better now."
Her eyes were still red. But she wasn't crying anymore.
Ariel's mental strength might be better than I'd thought.
"I'm glad you've calmed down."
I said that and pulled away slightly from her.
Ariel wiped her eyes with her hands and looked at my face.
I gave her a gentle smile.
I wasn't sure what a bat's smile looked like, but I just smiled like usual.
Ariel's face flushed a little red, and she looked at my chest, letting out an "Ah."
"B-but... my tears and snot got all over you... is that okay...?"
"Does that matter? What's important is that Your Majesty isn't sad anymore. This is nothing."
"......"
Ariel's face turned even redder.
She hadn't noticed while bawling, but now that she was done crying, embarrassment set in. She fidgeted for a moment before speaking up.
"D-do you... have a name, by any chance?"
"A name?"
"Yeah... Mother gave me the name Ariel. Regular vampires don't have names, but you seem a bit special, so I was curious if you had one..."
Ariel spoke with a shy face, and I pondered for a moment.
A name, huh.
Come to think of it, I'd been called Lord Tentacle, Tentacle God, Master, hubby, and all sorts of titles, but never my real name.
Of course, I'd never told my wives what it was.
Not because I didn't trust them, but because there'd been no need.
I told Ariel my real name.
"Call me Yujin."
"Yujin?"
"Yes, that's my name."
Cheon Yu-jin.
The first time I'd use it in this world.
But from now on, I might need it more often.
Once I got my human form, it'd be natural to be called by name, and using my real one would feel more comfortable.
"Yujin, Yujin..."
Ariel repeated my name a few times, then looked into my eyes.
"Ah, remember how Mother said not to grieve too much even if tragedy strikes?"
"Yes, right."
"Y-Yujin... I'll make sure no such tragedies happen to you... got it?"
Ariel's cheeks were still red as she said that. Her fingers fidgeted a little.
Watching her reaction, I marveled once more at her innocence.
To think she'd react like this just from me comforting her a bit while she cried. Sure, I'd listened earnestly to all her chatter during the flight too. But for that alone?
Probably no one had ever treated her this way before. She seemed completely immune to romance.
"I'll stay by Your Majesty's side until the end too."
"R-really?"
"Yes."
"Hehe, hehehe... That's a great attitude...!"
Ariel beamed brightly, then stood up. Her expression turned serious at the same time.
She looked resolved for something.
"Your Majesty?"
"I'm going deeper into the cave."
"Deeper?"
"Yeah. Mother said not to grieve if tragedy happens... but I'll still avenge my fallen family!"
Thud, thud—
Determination burned in her eyes.
It didn't quite match her pure, innocent face, but it didn't feel out of place.
Ariel was a lord. Having inherited the ruler's blood, a combative aura suited her naturally.
I positioned myself right beside Ariel.
"I'll go with you."
"Hehe, thanks."
Ariel told me to stick close behind her, then headed deeper into the cave.
I followed, admiring her back view, while Ariel cautiously navigated the cave, alert to her surroundings.
"But... no monsters at all..."
No monsters emerged from deeper inside.
She'd thought there were tons because one had popped out suddenly at first, but that was just a misconception.
I'd pulled back all tentacles except N-5, so the depths were empty now.
No need to lose combat units by running into Ariel unnecessarily.
When tentacles die, their experience, memories, and all nutrients return to me, but I didn't need to watch my near-clones perish.
Plus, I'd have to remake them.
"Let's go a bit further in."
"Yeah, let's."
Ariel seemed puzzled by the monster-free cave but pressed on toward the end.
It was a deep cave, taking quite a while, but when we finally reached the far end, Ariel's eyes widened hugely.
"Th-this is..."
"It's a dungeon."
Woooong—
At the deepest part of the cave sat the dungeon I'd created.
More precisely, the portal to the dungeon I controlled.
The swirling white and black energies emitted an ominous aura anyone would sense.
"Those monsters from before... came from in there?"
Ariel swallowed hard, staring at the portal.
"Yeah, probably."
"Mother did say dungeons are dangerous inside..."
Monsters knew about dungeons too.
Low-intelligence ones might not, but for high-intelligence lords like Ariel who ruled their kind, knowing dungeons were perilous was no surprise.
"What will you do?"
"Well..."
Ariel seemed to recall her mother's words but soon steeled herself.
"Of course I'll go in."
"Even though it's dangerous?"
"Yeah... otherwise, I wouldn't be worthy of being a lord...!"
With that, Ariel stepped into the dungeon portal.
"Yujin, stay here. It might be dangerous, so I'll go alone."
"How could I? I'll go with you, Your Majesty. I said I'd stay until the end."
"R-really?"
Ariel looked touched, and I nodded before entering with her.
Whoosh—
The scenery shifted to a barren, foreboding forest.
'Nice.'
Just the surface appearance, of course—for me, it was home ground. The moment my foot touched the dungeon floor, all my stats rose, and power surged through me.
On the flip side, Ariel suffered debuffs: all stats down, HP draining continuously.
"Ugh, Y-Yujin... you okay? This dungeon environment is harsh..."
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Phew. Feels like I can't stay long... let's hurry ahead."
Ariel walked through the forest, and I followed behind.
"Stay on high alert from now on. No telling what monsters might show up."
"Yes, I underst—Huh? Your Majesty, monster over there."
"Huh? A monster?"
"Yes, up in the air there."
"Ah...!"
Ariel looked where I pointed and spotted S-1 flying in the sky.
S-1 menaced with countless tentacles wriggling from its back.
The strongest of my minions, but still no match for Ariel. Even so, the sheer presence of a special tentacle unit like S-1 would feel incredibly threatening.
Ariel shoved me behind her at the sight.
"Hide behind me—it might be dangerous!"
"Okay."
With me at her back, Ariel prepared for battle.
Just like when she'd killed N-5, she extended her hand, gathering crimson energy.
"Blood, heed my will."
She hadn't chanted when firing the red orb at N-5, but now she was.
She clearly saw S-1 as a greater threat than N-5. She must've judged that chanting would boost her magic's destructive power to take it down.
"Red wrath, devour its form and twist its flesh! Condense into the heart of destruction that rends all laws!"
⟨ Heart of Ruin ⟩
Ariel poured all her focus into the spell and S-1. She wasn't watching me at all.
"I'll erase that thing without even leaving ashes—"
In other words, now was the chance.
Stab—
Mid-chant, I struck Ariel's side from behind in an instant. In my transformed state, I extended a bloodsucking tentacle from my body and injected paralyzing venom before she could react.
Squelch—
"Ah?"
Ariel's concentration broke, and her prepared spell vanished.
She staggered from the stinging pain and dizziness in her body. She didn't seem to grasp what had happened at first, but soon turned to me with a confused face.
I didn't hide the bloodsucking tentacle extending from my body, wriggling it openly as I stepped back a pace from Ariel.
Her eyes shook violently. With an expression of utter disbelief, she spoke in a trembling voice.
"Y-Yujin? What have you... done...?"