The Subjugation Force (2)
Barely two days had passed, yet the headache that had been constantly grating on my nerves had largely subsided. My stiff, rigid bones and muscles were softening again; I could feel them loosening up.
Perhaps it was because of Elzerva’s high stats, but my recovery speed was faster than I could have imagined. At this pace, I should be able to leave the labyrinth by tomorrow.
I had already finished my preparations. Everything useful had been packed, and the clothes that had gone missing were clean and properly put back on. My summons, Tina and Alfred, were leisurely spending their time polishing their weapons.
“Good.”
After a solid night’s sleep, I planned to set out tomorrow morning for the nearest city—Elmaile.
There I would enjoy a proper meal, gather the bare minimum of information, and then head for the kingdom’s capital, Lexia, where Lilianel would be.
…It wasn’t detailed, but the broad strokes of my future plans were already in place. As for summoning the soul of the Hero Varius, I decided I would think about that again after I had Lilianel in hand.
“…Tina, Alfred. I’m going to sleep, so wake me at a reasonable hour.”
Drowsiness crashing over me, I closed the map I had been studying, yawned, and spoke to my undead. They answered in bright, lively voices.
“Yes! Master! Sleep well!”
“Sweet dreams, my lady.”
No matter how many times I saw it, their kindness never felt undead-like. I lay down on the makeshift bed of piled adventurer clothes and slowly closed my eyes.
KWA-GWA-GWANG!
—Kyaaaaaaak!!
…And that was when a massive explosion and the screams of monsters reached my ears. Still with my eyes closed, I muttered,
“…We’ve got uninvited guests.”
As a mage-class Necromancer Lord, Elzerva’s detection range was overwhelmingly vast.
What would once have shown as red blips on a tiny minimap on a monitor, I could now feel through pure instinct.
Not far from here, nearly two hundred humans were approaching. They reeked of powerful mana, and from the way they casually slaughtered even the high-rank monsters of the deepest floors, they clearly belonged to the stronger end of humanity.
Was this the second subjugation force following those previous adventurers? Or a rescue party sent after the ones who never returned?
I couldn’t be certain of their identity without seeing them, but the clear hostility I felt told me they weren’t guests to be welcomed with a smile.
“Humans…!”
“…Ill-mannered brutes have arrived.”
Tina and Alfred must have sensed them as well; they seized their weapons and sprang to their feet. The zombie maid, gripping her greatsword, spoke to me with a serious expression.
“Master, please rest here! I’ll go clean them up!”
“No. Just let them come all the way here.”
I shook my head and sat up from the makeshift bed. Normally I would simply send Tina or Alfred, but this situation was special. I looked toward the entrance of the deepest floor, where the unknown enemies were approaching.
“…I want to test my skills a bit.”
I still lacked a proper database on the people of a thousand years later. Since this was a force dispatched to the Dungeon of Immortality—rated the highest difficulty—they would definitely be among the stronger humans.
There seemed to be a lot of them, so I didn’t want to miss the chance to fight them.
“…I’m sleepy.”
Still, I was tired, so I resolved to finish whoever came quickly and decisively.
—This is Elmaile. Do you read me?
“This is Barbas of the subjugation force. Loud and clear, my lord.”
Barbas, supreme commander of the force sent to subjugate the Progenitor Vampire, maintained intermittent contact with Karseron, lord of Elmaile, through a magic orb linked to the outside.
—Do not let your guard down. Whatever else she is, the opponent is the Progenitor Vampire.
…The lord’s voice coming from the blue magic orb was steeped in anxiety. He had poured a fortune into this commission, and if the subjugation failed, his own domain would inevitably become the next target. Barbas could hardly blame him for fretting.
“Rest easy, my lord. Before the day is out, I will bring you glad tidings.”
—…Yes. With you in command, I can entrust the matter with confidence. Show them the true power of Stormhound.
“Yes. Before us, even the Progenitor Vampire is nothing more than a common monster.”
—That puts my mind at ease. I will contact you again later.
“….”
Barbas reassured him with solid, dependable words. Only then did the lord seem to relax a little; he wished them luck and cut the connection through the magic orb.
Hmph…
Barbas handed the now-dim orb back to one of his subordinates. Watching the man carefully tuck it into his coat, he shook his head.
Cowardly brat. A grown man, and he’s a mountain of worries.
To Barbas, a veteran mercenary of Stormhound, the Progenitor Vampire was nothing more than a common monster. Legends grew exaggerated with time, and he was certain the vampire’s power had been inflated far beyond reality.
Strong enough to wipe out Red Moon—that was about the measure of it.
…Against this force of a hundred and ninety, a coalition of top-tier adventurers and veteran mercenaries, even the Progenitor Vampire would not last long.
On top of that, they had brought a large contingent of Serion’s holy maidens—natural enemies of the skeletons she would summon. There was truly nothing to fear.
“Men! Pick up the pace!”
Full of confidence, Barbas urged the subjugation force onward.
The path to the deepest floor where the vampire waited proved smooth. Given that this was the Dungeon of Immortality, the highest-difficulty labyrinth, Barbas had worried that high-rank monsters would pour out in droves—but Red Moon had already cleared the way once, and they encountered far fewer monsters than expected.
Red Moon, you have my thanks.
Grateful for their efforts and offering a silent prayer for the departed souls, the force under Barbas’s command reached the lowest level of the labyrinth in half a day.
“Hup!”
—Kyaaaaaak….
Casually cutting down the occasional A-rank monsters that appeared, they soon arrived at the entrance to an enormous cavernous plaza.
The deepest floor…!
Barbas knew it at once. This was the heart of the Dungeon of Immortality—and almost certainly the place where the vampire freed from her seal was resting.
He turned and shouted to his force.
“Men! Only one final step remains! Our opponent is a legendary vampire. But there is nothing we cannot overcome!”
…He thrust his massive axe toward the ceiling.
“Give it everything you have! Today we write history!”
—Waaaaaaaaah!!
Human battle cries rolled through a labyrinth crawling with monsters. Confirming that fear had vanished and only confidence filled his men’s chests, Barbas finally stepped into the deepest floor.
“That is…!”
And what met their eyes inside was only three human figures. No—monsters in human form.
“Haaah….”
An ash-gray-haired girl sat in the center of the deepest floor on a crudely made leather chair, stretching out a long, languid yawn. Flanking her stood a woman in a maid’s uniform and a man in a butler’s attire, both perfectly composed.
Undead…
The maid’s pale blue skin marked her as one who had already died once, and the white-haired butler’s protruding fangs marked him as a vampire.
They were monsters of rare appearance and powerful aura, the kind rarely seen outside, yet they were only supporting players.
The true star of this deepest floor was someone else.
The Progenitor Vampire…
The beautiful girl sitting at ease under the protection of the undead maid and vampire butler. That slender girl was the Progenitor Vampire sealed a thousand years ago—Barbas was certain of it.
Murmurs rose from the ranks behind him.
—That’s the Progenitor Vampire?
—No way. A girl that pretty?
—I pictured some one-eyed tentacle monster….
—…What the hell do you think a vampire is?
Everyone looked shaken by how different the Progenitor Vampire was from their expectations. Barbas was no exception. He had been told beforehand that she took the form of a young girl, but he had never imagined she would look so much like a noble young lady.
…It could be a cunning monster’s honey trap. If he let the force stay unsettled, their fighting spirit would drop right before battle.
They needed to execute the plan as quickly as possible.
“Progenitor Vampire!”
Barbas leveled his axe at the legendary monster. The moment their commander spoke, the murmuring behind him fell silent at once.
The veteran mercenary known to the world as the Mad Dog fixed the ash-gray-haired girl with a sharp glare.
“Inheriting the will of our ancestors, we have come to subjugate you!”
“….”
“You will regret breaking free of your seal!”
At his words, the hundred and eighty-nine members of the force behind him drew their weapons as one. Their furious battle cries filled the deepest floor.
—Kill the vampire!
—Avenge Red Moon!
—Kill that one and it’s twenty gold coins! We’re set for life!
This temporary coalition possessed enough power to casually destroy a small nation. Barbas was certain that if these same people formed a permanent labyrinth subjugation force, they would become the strongest in history—surpassing even Red Moon.
“….”
“Hm…?”
But did the vampire not understand their language? The roar was loud enough to make eardrums ring, yet the three strange figures before them did not so much as twitch.
“Haaah….”
…The Progenitor Vampire even yawned while looking their way, as if bored.
“Captain! Why are we waiting? She doesn’t look like anything special up close—let’s just kill her already!”
Apparently angered by the vampire’s attitude, Barbas’s vice-commander—Kaira Lockhart, known as the Princess of Mercenaries—stepped forward. She clashed her gauntlets together and shouted at the ash-gray-haired girl.
“Hey, monster! Too low-class to understand our language, huh? Consider it an honor that I, Kaira Lockhart, am going to take you on!”
True to her aggressive nature, she showed not the slightest fear even before a legendary monster. She was even throwing provocations—Barbas himself had to admire her courage.
“This time it won’t be a seal—I’ll drive my fist straight through your heart!”
When the vampire still gave no reaction, Kaira Lockhart only grew more emboldened and kept taunting. Before long she had advanced even farther ahead of Barbas.
“…Kaira, return to your position.”
“Just a pretty face—are you really the Progenitor Vampire?”
“Kaira! I said return to your position!”
“…You look more like an inn whore. Sure you’re not a succubus instead of a vampire?”
“Kaira! Kaira! Return to formation at once!”
…Barbas called for her desperately, but the Princess of Mercenaries was thoroughly enjoying herself, hurling every insult she could think of at the vampire.
That was both the greatest strength and the greatest flaw of Kaira Lockhart, Stormhound’s strongest brawler. Her ego was massive and she was far too fearless; she rarely listened to others—or to her commander’s orders.
That damn handful…!
Watching her go off on her own yet again, Barbas furrowed his brow. Kaira’s provocations only grew more vicious.
“Come on, if you’re a succubus, why not suck every last one of us dry?”
“….”
“With that filthy tongue of yours, you could easily satisfy—…!!”
And then, suddenly, Kaira’s head exploded. Without the slightest warning or sign, brains and blood sprayed outward, and her head vanished without a trace.
“Ka… Kaira…?”
“….”
Barbas called out to the headless Kaira as she crumpled lifelessly. No answer would ever come. Behind him the force began to murmur again.
—Wh-what? What just happened?
—Did anyone see that? The Princess’s head just…!!
—U-uweeeegh….
No one could process what had just occurred. Leaving his men behind, Barbas lifted his gaze and looked forward.
…And there sat the Progenitor Vampire, smiling, one hand extended toward them.
“Ah.”
A voice as clear as dew, as deep as the sea, and as cold as the rivers of hell reached them. At that unfamiliar sound, the deepest floor fell silent once more. Every gaze locked forward.
“…Sorry. I don’t like noise.”
The Progenitor Vampire herself was speaking to them. Hearing the legendary monster use the same language they did, several of the men behind Barbas fell into panic.
—Th-the vampire speaks our language…?
—Doesn’t like noise? Then Lockhart was… that thing…?!
—Impossible! Instant death without even a chant?!
“….”
Everyone froze. From the vampire’s words it seemed she had killed Kaira—which meant she had used magic that killed without a chant.
It was an unprecedented feat, recorded nowhere in history. Magic that magical engineers had failed to achieve even after centuries of research, that vampire had just used without a single word of incantation.
“You monster! How dare you do that to the Princess!”
…Then one brave mercenary, enraged by Kaira’s death, stepped forward. He leveled his sword at the vampire.
“Stay right there. We’ll take your head this very—…!!”
“…?!”
Just as before, the head of the mercenary who had stepped forward burst and vanished. Sticky, unpleasant blood splattered across Barbas’s face.
“I already told you. I don’t like noise.”
Looking straight ahead, Barbas saw the vampire’s hand still extended, now clenched into a fist, her expression one of clear displeasure. Barbas and the remaining hundred and eighty-seven members of the force all understood at once.
The one who had casually exploded the heads of two veteran mercenaries without any preparation was the vampire sitting there at her ease.
“…So. You came to subjugate me?”
The vampire rose from her seat. That small girl smirked and fixed them with her gaze. Every adventurer and mercenary present felt their legs tremble as if their knees had turned to water.
“Coming to kill someone means you came prepared to die yourselves, right?”
In the pitch-black darkness of the deepest floor, lit only by torches, the legendary vampire’s crimson eyes flared with a chilling light.
—U-uhh….
—M-my legs won’t….
—It’s cold….
Faced with the girl who now looked like a predator with prey right in front of her, the subjugation force that had been brimming with confidence only moments earlier began to edge backward.
…We’re finished.
…More than twenty years as a mercenary. The veteran known as the Mad Dog, Barbas, could feel it in his bones—something had gone terribly, terribly wrong.