Chapter 159
Chapter 159
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 159
Chapter Title: To Protect Everyone (12)
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I’ll protect you for the rest of your life, so that no one can ever harm you.
Vespera’s declaration was a rather tempting offer.
Though her expression was far too light for the weight her words carried.
I could tell that, at the very least, Vespera wasn’t lying.
She was a True Ancestor, vampire royalty whose status rivaled that of a dragon.
And she herself was an overwhelmingly powerful being, having grown strong by devouring life for ages.
Even if Vespera were to have a change of heart and cast me aside someday.
Her promise to protect me from any and all danger was highly plausible.
‘Of course, it seems she’s developed some nasty illness without my knowledge….’
It was likely because Earth’s environment wasn’t so forgiving to metahumans.
For them, mana was one of the components that made up their very bodies.
For a human, it would be akin to a deficiency in vitamins, sodium, or potassium.
That problem would have necessitated securing the World Tree Seed and consuming it.
But now that she had overcome that deficiency, she had surely reached a level where she could fight Tempest.
She had proven as much by dispatching Olvis, one of the Seven Extremes, in a single blow.
‘Right. If I accept Vespera’s offer… unless the Invaders show up someday, my life will surely never be in danger.’
The Vespera of now was like a walking natural disaster.
A run-of-the-mill nuisance wouldn’t even be able to slow her down.
One would have to be prepared for immense losses and draw out their full power just to have a chance at stopping her.
To live freely under the protection of such a transcendent being….
If I accepted her offer, I would never have to worry about being killed by someone ever again.
So perhaps, at this very moment, I had received an offer that could truly change my life.
“Hmm, you’re taking a while to think. Don’t you like my offer?”
“…”
But I couldn’t give her an immediate answer.
If this had happened right after I first fell into this world, I wouldn’t have hesitated. But why now?
The reason was simple.
Greg, Raven, Alice, David, Sabrina….
I now had so many things I held more precious than my own life.
Vespera’s offer could be a promise to protect my life.
But she clearly wouldn’t care much for the people I wanted to protect.
‘Besides, accepting Vespera’s offer means becoming her possession. She’s favorable now… but I don’t know when her mood might change. It’s like placing the freedom of my own life in someone else’s hands.’
After pondering long enough for the atmosphere to turn chilly, I lifted my head and looked at Vespera.
Then, as if to show I couldn’t accept her offer, I slowly shook my head.
But perhaps Vespera didn’t find my answer particularly surprising.
Still smiling, she narrowed her eyes and spoke in an eerie voice.
“I see…. So you give me that answer even though you know who I am? You’re very brave, little one.”
“…”
“Haa…. But what should I do? Now that you’re playing hard to get, I want you even more. Shall I say… I want to dismantle every secret you hold, one by one, and make you entirely mine? Hehe, my apologies. It seems my offer was rather meaningless after all.”
“!”
I flinched.
My shoulders trembled unconsciously under Vespera’s gaze.
Her eyes were like those of a predator before its prey.
To think that refusing her offer would lead to the same result as accepting it.
The answer was already decided, and I was just being forced to choose it—a frustrating situation.
But I had no time to complain. I had to struggle, even if just a little.
I released my psychokinesis, pushing it out in all directions, and immediately reached for the Tesseract.
No, to be precise, I tried to.
If only my wrist hadn't suddenly been yanked upward.
“!”
I frantically looked up at my immobile left hand and saw something coiled around my wrist.
It had a dark red color and a sticky, unpleasant texture. Was this… blood?
It seemed Vespera had sent her blood flying to capture my wrist.
Of all the times to be interrupted, it had to be just as I decided to use the Tesseract.
As I bit my lip in frustration, Vespera chuckled.
“Hmm… I’ve been thinking this for a while. You keep clutching at something inside your chest. Is it some kind of trump card? Little one, if you make something that important so obvious… you’ll be thwarted like this. Understand?”
“…”
“Sorry, am I? Normally, I’d just let you try… but I don’t know much about psychic powers, so I feel like I’d be in big trouble if I let my guard down.”
*Squeeze.*
The line of blood connected to my wrist spread from my arm throughout my entire body.
From my shoulders to my ankles, the dark red lines spread in an instant, robbing me of my freedom.
I needed to make direct skin contact to communicate with the Tesseract….
Unable to move even a finger, borrowing its power was impossible.
Thankfully, Vespera didn’t seem to intend to harm me, so there was no pain.
But since this meant I was about to be abducted by her, that was no comfort at all.
‘I can’t even push it away with psychokinesis. When did she…!’
Given who my opponent was, I hadn’t intended to let my guard down for a second.
But just as an ant can never defeat an elephant, no matter how hard it tries.
It seemed the gap between Vespera and me was so vast that knowing it didn’t help me counter it.
However, unlike magic, my psychokinesis could be used as long as I maintained my concentration.
Ignoring the agony of the binding that squeezed my body, I gripped the scattered debris around me with all my might.
‘Psychokinesis at maximum output…! Take this!’
The area was littered with sharp rock fragments and pieces of wood from the aftermath of the fighting.
A quick count revealed a staggering number, easily in the hundreds.
I would grab all of it and hurl it at Vespera with the maximum possible output!
With her not even using a defensive spell, this was my one and only trump card to change the situation.
“What a cute little tantrum. Is that all?”
“!”
But when the dust kicked up by the impact settled, Vespera was standing there leisurely, without a single scratch on her.
It was an attack that should have been at least somewhat effective against even one of the Seven Extremes if they were caught off guard.
But to Vespera, who had regained her prime strength with the World Tree Seed… it seemed to be nothing more than a light massage.
Finally, the moment Vespera closed the distance until she was within arm’s reach.
She leaned in close enough for me to feel her breath as I knelt helplessly, and whispered.
“Well then… shall I leave a mark to show you’re mine?”
“?!”
“Be still, little one. It’ll be over soon.”
Vespera then buried her face in the crook of my neck.
Was she planning to bite me with her fangs and make me her thrall?
If I received her blood and became her thrall… it would be completely over.
Even a common vampire could implant its blood to create a slave. There was no way I could resist the blood of a True Ancestor.
‘I can’t… push her away with psychokinesis…!’
But my feeble struggles accomplished nothing.
Before an overwhelmingly powerful being, my strength was utterly useless.
Just as Vespera’s cool fangs were about to pierce my fragile skin.
A tremendous boom, almost an explosion, suddenly rang in my ears.
It was an unpleasant sound that couldn’t be ignored, one that struck at a creature’s basic instincts.
“Hm? What’s this….”
Vespera, still holding my shoulders, snapped her head up.
Then she suddenly swung one arm wide to the side.
As her blood swished in response to her movement.
Sharp shadows relentlessly battered the crimson curtain.
It was clearly an attack with someone’s intent behind it.
Vespera straightened up, her face filled with annoyance, and muttered.
“An interruption at such a crucial moment…. Is ruining someone’s fun a basic qualification for a Fixer?”
“Ha, I suppose harassing a young girl is a vampire’s idea of fun? What a perverted race. Makes me want to round you all up and throw you in prison.”
The man’s voice that came from deeper in the forest was all too familiar.
No, it was beyond familiar; at this point, I’d feel disappointed if I didn’t hear it.
Still bound by Vespera’s blood, I laboriously turned my head toward the voice.
There stood a black-haired man holding a pitch-black pistol in each hand—Raven.
How in the world was Raven here?
My mind half in a daze, I looked at him closely and noticed a familiar device attached to his shoulder.
‘That’s a military-grade parachute suit…. Don’t tell me that boom earlier was… a plane!’
It seemed what I thought was an explosion was actually the sonic boom from a plane breaking the sound barrier.
And Raven must have jumped from that high-speed aircraft, wearing a parachute suit to cushion the impact of his descent.
Vespera was likely emitting an absurd wave of mana right now.
So it was only natural for Raven to attack her without hesitation.
‘Was I lucky… or what? I never thought I’d be saved by Raven here….’
While I was overjoyed to see the very welcome sight of Raven.
I couldn’t help but watch with a nervous heart as he aimed his guns at Vespera.
No matter how skilled Raven was, the current Vespera was dangerous.
His fighting style was that of a strategist who relentlessly targeted his opponent’s weaknesses.
For Raven, who couldn’t use magic and whose physical abilities were merely those of a superior enhanced human, defeating Vespera was practically impossible.
If Raven fell here, it would be the worst-case scenario for the future.
Quickly suppressing my excitement, I prayed desperately for him to back down.
“That was quite unpleasant to hear. I wonder if a human like you will regret the words you’ve spewed only after your spine is ripped out, leaving you unable to die?”
“Such frightening words. In that case, I’ll pull out those fangs of yours and turn them into custom bullets.”
“Hehe, what a cute imagination.”
But far from retreating, Raven only provoked Vespera further, aiming his muzzles at her head and heart.
He surely had no chance of winning.
Yet his attitude showed a confidence that betrayed no fear of her.
“Well, go on and try. Invidia.”
But Vespera didn’t even bat an eyelash, as if listening to a dog bark.
She casually unleashed her blood magic, meant to tear her opponent to shreds.
Just as Vespera’s power was about to mercilessly rip Raven to pieces.
A flash of pure white light shot out from somewhere, seeming to erase the mass of blood.
A dazzling radiance and heat that even I, with no magical knowledge, could clearly feel!
For the first time in the fight, Vespera’s eyes widened in surprise.
“This light is….”
“That’s far enough, Vespera. To interfere with the sacred Fixer examination—you should be ashamed of yourself.”
A low, baritone voice, reminiscent of a bass instrument.
The owner of that beautiful voice, one that wouldn’t be out of place for a voice actor, was a long-haired man with a unique color scheme of blue and white.
Several lights, like will-o’-the-wisps, floated around him like satellites.
From that unique magic alone, I immediately recognized the man’s identity.
‘That person is… the Single-Digit Fixer… Luke, right?’
He was none other than Luktherion, the master of light magic, ranked 3rd among all Fixers.
His race was a High Elf.
He was a true royal, called a prince among the famously few pure-blooded elves.
A god of magic, praised for having reached the pinnacle of pure magical skill, setting aside his mana capacity.
At this moment, he was also the only one who could stand against the newly empowered Vespera.
And as if Luke was only the beginning.
All sorts of men and women walked out from the direction he had come from and stood beside him.
“Whoa…. We’ve got a big shot here. Hmm… she seems even stronger than the last time I saw her. Am I mistaken?”
“No, she has indeed grown stronger. With that amount of mana… she’s on par with Lord Tempest.”
“A monster, indeed…. Well, she is still alone. She is not an enemy we cannot overcome.”
Fixer ranks 8, 9, and 14.
A staggering three Single-Digit Fixers, monsters whose presence alone could change the tide of a war.
One top-tier Double-Digit Fixer, and Raven, whose skills were at least on that level.
A force that could now calculate its chances of victory even against the empowered Vespera had gathered before her.
The goddess of victory was surely smiling upon us.