The Subjugation Force (3)
Twenty years had passed since Barbas left the Imperial Knights under less than honorable circumstances. In that time, as a mercenary of Stormhound, he had faced every kind of enemy imaginable.
Human or monster—it made no difference. Every battle where he had leveled a weapon had carved instincts into him, instincts forged of blood and bone.
So the legends of this monster weren't empty boasting after all…
…And those same instincts were screaming danger at him now. Even the slightest stir of the vampire girl's hair made Barbas's hand twitch around the haft of his massive axe.
— I can't move my body…
— Her mana feels completely alien…
— I'm going to be sick…
Even Barbas, a man who had spent his entire life on the battlefield, was breaking out in a cold sweat. His subordinates fared far worse. Every last member of the subjugation force—more than a hundred and fifty strong—had gone deathly pale, crushed beneath the vampire's overwhelming presence.
…At this rate, they would lose before the fight even began.
Sensing the need to reverse the situation, Barbas drew a deep breath and roared at his troops with a voice like rolling thunder.
"All units! Do not falter! Raise your weapons and prepare for battle!"
Two of their comrades had already fallen to magic none of them had ever seen—but they could not afford to shrink back in fear. They had to overcome the terror, somehow, and take up their arms.
— Y-yeah! If not us, then who the hell is going to avenge them!
— Don't freeze up! We can win this!
His thunderous shout struck deep enough to rattle their cores. The subjugation force, which had been floundering in panic, snapped back to their senses and began to reclaim their courage.
…Good.
…Lingering any longer would only mean being swallowed by the vampire's presence. He could not waste this moment—however brief—while his men had recovered their nerve.
"…Clerics, activate your holy magic! Mages, amplify their mana!"
Riding the momentum, Barbas issued orders with the practiced ease of a veteran commander. At his lead, the holy maidens at the rear of the formation closed their eyes and began to pray to the goddess they served—the Goddess of Earth and Heaven, Astira.
— O great Mother of All Things, grant us the power to purge this evil!
— Grant us strength!
At their fervent prayers toward the heavens, a vast blue magic circle began to spread out at the feet of the Progenitor Vampire.
…In the heart of a labyrinth saturated with the wicked aura of monsters, it looked like nothing so much as a single ray of light bestowed by the divine.
Well then—how do you like that, Progenitor Vampire!
Barbas watched with a satisfied smile as the sacred magic circle filled the floor of the deepest chamber.
True, until the moment of Kaira Lockhart's death, they had underestimated the Progenitor Vampire. But that did not mean they had come unprepared, or without contingencies.
Knowing their opponent was a vampire who also wielded necromancy, Barbas had invested both time and coin to hire veteran clerics capable of casting the holy magic that was lethal to both.
…Holy magic unleashed by the finest clerics Elmaile had to offer, their power combined. Even a Progenitor Vampire would be reduced to ash if struck by this technique.
"Hmm…"
Moreover—whether from arrogance or something else—the Progenitor Vampire made no move to block or evade the attack aimed at her. She simply stood in place.
…No resistance at all. That was a stroke of fortune. The clerics seized the opportunity without hesitation and unleashed a wide-ranging holy spell, pouring every ounce of their power into it.
— Here it comes! Purify everything—Eternal Blessing!
Eternal Blessing
The chant ended. The magic circle completed. A pillar of light that seemed ready to devour everything surged up toward the ceiling of the deepest chamber, erupting in a blinding flash.
BOOM!
"Ugh…!"
Even Barbas, standing at a slight distance, felt the intense sacred mana wash over him.
The purifying force was palpable even to a human unaffected by holy magic. The vampire standing at the very center of that pillar of light must have been tasting the agony of her entire body burning away.
— Yes! Direct hit!
— Nothing survives taking that head-on!
His subordinates cheered as they watched the holy magic strike the vampire true. None of them had ever seen a monster endure a holy spell of this magnitude and live. No record of such a thing existed. All one hundred and eighty-eight members of the subjugation force were certain of overwhelming victory.
"So bright…"
"…?!"
…But a young girl's voice, drifting over from the far side with casual indifference, shattered every last one of their illusions.
"Do all holy spells have to start by blasting light everywhere? My eyes are killing me…"
"Wh…?"
Through the fading pillar of light, they could see the Progenitor Vampire rubbing her eyes, brows furrowed.
The entire subjugation force froze at the sight of the girl standing completely unharmed after taking a direct hit from holy magic that had been further empowered by the mages' mana amplification.
— How is that possible…?
— That's impossible…
— Not even a scratch? After an attack like that?!
Far from any meaningful damage, there was not so much as a speck of dust on the vampire's clothes. The sight of her looking far more intact than anyone had imagined plunged the atmosphere of the subjugation force into sudden darkness.
Impossible. She took a top-tier holy spell head-on and she's fine? A monster?
…The fact that the vampire was still standing after a direct hit from mana-amplified holy magic was enough to make even the cool-headed Barbas show his shock openly.
Did something go wrong…?
Had the formula slipped out of alignment during the casting?
Had the firepower been reduced somehow?
Nothing else made sense. There was no other way the vampire could still be standing on two feet. It had to be that.
…Barbas did not want to believe that the vampire had endured, without a single wound, the technique most fatal to monsters.
"…Clerics! Cast holy magic again!"
— Y-yes, sir!
There was no need for lengthy deliberation. If once was not enough, then twice, three times—keep firing until it worked. At Commander Barbas's signal, the clerics began preparing holy magic once more.
— O Goddess Astira, grant us your power…
Their chant began, and once again a blue magic circle spread across the labyrinth floor. The vampire still made no significant movement, simply holding her ground.
If the target did not move, those aiming at it were spared the effort of tracking—and that meant the casters could pour everything into pure firepower.
— Quietly turn to ash and vanish! Lightning Cyclone!
Lightning Cyclone
This time, a vortex of light erupted from the magic circle and swallowed the vampire along with the undead attending her. The unnatural roar of the whirlwind and its blinding radiance consumed the deepest chamber of the labyrinth.
— She won't survive this one!
Perhaps their pride had been wounded by the vampire weathering the previous holy spell without a scratch—the clerics poured even more of themselves into this casting.
…And as a result, the vortex boasted even greater holy power and destructive force than the attack before it.
Even a human caught in it would suffer shock from the sheer excess of divine energy. It was a holy spell of a magnitude worthy of the history books—and Barbas was certain that this time, the vampire would be annihilated.
"…So that's about the limit of its power."
"…!!"
But once again, the vampire's voice rose from within the dazzling light.
At the center of the fading vortex of light, growing weaker by the moment, they could see a gray-haired girl wearing a look of pure boredom.
"H-how…?!"
Just as with the first attack, the girl did not have a single scratch. Even the undead serving her appeared completely unharmed.
A wave of murmuring spread through the ranks as the force confirmed that their magic had once again produced no effect whatsoever.
— Th-this can't be happening…
— Fuck! We poured almost every drop of holy power we had into that cast! How the hell did she tank it!!
— This situation only makes sense if she's on the same level as the Goddess herself…
…And Barbas's mind was racing just as hard as his panicking troops.
How is this possible? Even for a legendary monster—enduring top-tier holy magic twice? Is that even a real thing?!
Top-tier holy magic that required multiple clerics working in concert. That alone was more than enough to erase any existence whose fundamental nature was "monster," regardless of species.
And the two attacks just now had been that holy magic further enhanced by buffs from top-grade mages. In all of history, there had likely never been a holy spell of greater power—and that vampire had shrugged it off as if it were nothing.
It felt as though decades of common sense were being overturned before his eyes, as if he had just watched a person take flight.
"Mages, clerics—provide support fire! We're engaging directly!"
— Understood!
That said, abandoning the subjugation was not an option. If the teeth would not bite, you fought with the gums. The original plan had been to end it in a single strike with holy magic—but with that failed, close combat was unavoidable.
…Barbas himself leveled his axe at the vampire and prepared for battle.
"Today, we make history! All forces—charge!"
— WAAAAAAAAAAAH!!
With himself at the vanguard, the adventurers and mercenaries of the warrior classes—who made up the bulk of the subjugation force—kicked off the ground and surged forward.
Longswords, greatswords, axes, hammers.
Each brandishing their fearsome weapons, they raced toward her at blistering speed, determined to personally end the legendary monster.
"Oh."
And the vampire watched them with clear interest. Then she extended her palm forward, and a vast, ominous magic circle of dark crimson unfurled before her.
Silent casting again…
Watching the vampire activate magic without so much as a single word of chanting, Barbas felt a headache coming on.
To cast magic, one needed the chant that arranged the corresponding mana formula—skipping that process was something he had never heard of in his life.
Had battles like this been commonplace a thousand years ago, when this vampire still walked free?
…It was something Barbas could not know.
"…Against the likes of you, these should be more than enough!"
"…!!"
The vampire who had spread the magic circle flashed a sly, foxlike smile and snapped her fingers. The very center of the circle swung open like the great gates of a castle, and countless skeletons began to force their way out into the open.
— Clack-clack, clack-clack.
Skeleton soldiers staggered into the living world with the sound of misaligned bone joints. They wore no armor, armed with nothing but cheap swords—the lowest-grade skeletons imaginable.
Nothing but bottom-tier skeletons…
Barbas snorted at the sight. However much the Progenitor Vampire had displayed power and abilities that defied common sense, these weakest, lowest of monsters—not even Skeleton Knights—were something he was confident he could crush with ease.
— What the hell are these pathetic bones!
— Just smash right through them!
"…"
The other members of the subjugation force running alongside him seemed to share the same thought. Barbas tightened his grip on his axe and prepared to dive into the ranks of the skeleton soldiers.
…Crush these frail monsters and drive straight through to the vampire herself.
"DIEEEEEE!!"
— Clack-clack, clack-clack.
Barbas swung his axe at the skeleton soldier blocking his path. The skeleton raised its crude weapon to match.
Something like this…!
He would cleave the skeleton's rusty sword in half with his axe, shatter its ribcage, and split the body clean in two. With that brief plan painted clearly in his mind's eye, Barbas poured every ounce of his strength into a swing from left to right.
"…!!"
— …Clack-clack.
…But the thing that split in two was not the skeleton soldier—it was his own axe.
"Huh?"
The moment the skeleton's blade touched it, a crack raced across his axe-head, and the weapon shattered outright. Barbas stared blankly at the fragments of the blade spinning away through the air, formless and broken.
— Clack… clack!
"…!!"
Then the skeleton soldier closed into Barbas's guard at a speed no one could believe from a low-grade monster and drove its sword into his abdomen.
"Guh…!"
Agony crashed over him. Thick blood surged up his throat and sprayed from his mouth. A thousand thoughts flooded Barbas's mind.
Impossible.
How many times had he repeated that word today?
An ordinary skeleton soldier had shattered his weapon.
A bottom-tier monster had moved at a speed even a veteran mercenary like him could not react to, and landed a critical blow.
That he, of all people, had been brought down by something so insignificant.
"This damned monster…"
In the face of this unbelievable humiliation, Barbas glared down at the skeleton soldier with eyes full of rage.
— Clack-clack.
But the skeleton only made the sound of shifting bone joints. From those empty, pitch-black eye sockets, not a single emotion could be felt.
— …
"…!!"
Whoosh.
The skeleton soldier yanked its sword free of his abdomen and, once again at that astonishing speed, swept its weapon around—this time across Barbas's throat.
"You've got to be fucking…"
A hollow laugh escaped Barbas's lips at the skeleton soldier's speed—speed that would put most S-rank monsters to shame.
"Khuh, kuh…"
Blood sprayed out with the sound of air leaking from his neck, and the strength drained from his legs. Having disarmed Barbas, the skeleton soldier moved on in search of another enemy.
"…"
He could feel the flame of his life guttering out. The worse the bleeding grew, the deeper the chill settled into him. Knowing it was meaningless, Barbas still did everything he could to press down on the wound.
"…"
He wrung out the last of his strength and looked around. The landscape surrounding him could have held its own against any vision of hell.
— What the—a skeleton, of all things…!! Graaagh!!
— It's no use! Even if you smash them with magic, they just come back! Kyaaah!!
— R-run for it!!
— Fuck! The escape route's blocked!
"…"
Humans being slaughtered by the undead.
If this was not the underworld, then what was it?
"Vam…pire…"
…And through his steadily clouding vision, he saw a gray-haired girl approaching him. A girl who radiated a cold yet beautiful charm, like dew at the break of dawn.
The Progenitor Vampire.
"You're the commander, right?"
"…"
A girl far too slender for the moniker of legendary monster stood before him and asked. He wanted to answer, but the most Barbas could manage was to lift his head and look up at her.
"…"
Only now, as his life was ebbing away, could he feel it. The vast, nauseating torrent of mana pouring out from behind her.
…If even the lowest-grade wraiths she had summoned could toy with them like this—just what had they thought they were fighting?
Only now did he understand how the finest labyrinth subjugation force, the Red Moon, had been annihilated without being able to put up a real fight.
The legends had not been exaggerated. They had been understatements. Her power far exceeded anything that had been recorded.
"…"
Just how had his ancestors managed to seal this monster? Had they truly been stronger than this creature? Or had they devised some clever scheme?
But with the seal broken, such questions no longer mattered.
"…"
Ah.
There was no being on this earth who could stop this girl. Barbas had spent decades as a mercenary, meeting countless powerful figures. He knew that much.
…Even this generation's so-called mighty Hero would be no match for this vampire.
Calamity was coming to the surface world.
That fool Karseron's territory would collapse soon enough as well.
It was a thought both sorrowful and absurdly laughable.
"…"
His brief stretch of thought came to an end, and now his eyes were truly beginning to close.
Barbas groped with his hand, searching for a weapon that might have fallen nearby.
There was a legend among mercenaries that if you died without a weapon in hand, your soul would wander the nine heavens forever.
But there was no weapon lying near him. His eyes were dim, and he could not move, so he could not reach for anything farther away.
To die without a weapon in his grip.
It was a fate more terrifying even than death's ambush itself—and so tears spilled from Barbas's eyes, and the hand groping around him moved faster.
"…Here."
…And then the gray-haired vampire picked up a weapon from somewhere and pressed it into his hand. The familiar feel of metal against his fingertips.
It was the weapon he had been so desperately searching for.
"…"
Barbas barely managed to lift his head and look up at the vampire who had given it to him. Even at the moment of his death, this vampire was shattering his common sense.
A legendary monster who took their lives so lightly—and yet, at the end, offered mercy. An incomprehensible creature of legend.
Could she have possessed even a shred of warmth?
Could she have held any regard for humanity?
…Had it been like this a thousand years ago as well?
Come to think of it—why had she attacked humans in the first place?
Vampires were monsters, yes, but one of the few intelligent races.
Just what had driven her to make enemies of humankind?
I've lost it.
Having followed his thoughts this far, Barbas smiled. To spare concern for the worst monster who had slaughtered tens of thousands—he must have been thoroughly moved by her act of placing the weapon in his hand.
"N…ame…"
Barbas worked his mouth as he looked at the vampire.
Right. He did not know if a monster even had one—but if she did, he wanted to know her name at least.
A warrior left no regrets only when he knew the name of the one who had bested him.
And who could say?
Perhaps in the underworld he would meet someone who knew her, and they would talk.
"Name…?"
The vampire tilted her head. Air was leaking from his throat and no voice would come, but she seemed to have roughly understood from the shape of his lips.
"…"
Barbas fixed his gaze on the vampire's crimson eyes one last time. Through his steadily darkening vision, her cold yet gentle voice reached him.
"Elzerva."
…And Barbas's world went completely black.