Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Bloodied (9)
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Bloodied realized.
This enemy doesn't stop.
This young noble knows no fear.
He lacks the terror of death that every human should naturally possess.
Whether it's from training or something innate, she couldn't say.
One thing was certain: this boy wouldn't stop, even if it killed him.
"Tch-"
Biting her lip, she poured more power into the blood mist.
His momentum was impressive, but it wouldn't break through.
Sorry as she was to the cult leader, she had no choice but to kill the boy.
No—he was practically throwing his own life away.
His entire body was already being shredded by the blood mist.
Even if she left him be, he'd die.
Yet even Bloodied found her own momentum faltering.
It was because Kline's eyes were fixed unyieldingly on her alone.
It was pure will.
No fear, no terror, no hesitation, no regret, no inner conflict—none of it.
The ability to act solely on one's own unadulterated resolve.
A singular, exceptional value that Kline Leonhart had never been permitted before.
As if resonating with him...
The distorted puddles spread around Bloodied began to tremble.
Originally, the Backside World had only seeped slightly into the magic Bloodied had cast.
There was no reason for the Backside World to take any interest in the likes of Bloodied.
It was merely lending her the bare minimum of power granted by the cult leader, the Blood Demon.
But in this moment, the Backside World rejoiced.
The boy defying fate.
The Heaven-Defying Son.
A fate that should never have been unique was drawing ever closer to singularity.
How could it not cheer?
The puddles trembled.
And from them, a power flowed that no one present could perceive.
Not to Bloodied.
To Kline.
The torrent of light regained its momentum.
She had no idea where this power was coming from.
But in this moment, the energy in her sword was unmistakably recovering.
She didn't know why.
A stroke of fortune? Luck? Some hidden ally?
It didn't matter.
This power was only empowering the sword—it wasn't protecting her body.
Her consciousness was fading from excessive blood loss.
Before that happened...
She had to drive this blade into Bloodied's heart.
Bloodied's face twisted in anguish.
Why? Why? Why?
She didn't know. Why was power returning to Kline's sword?
An insurmountable gap. A difference that mere talent could never bridge.
Compared to a 5th Division Captain, how was he overcoming this in a contest of pure strength—?!
"Urgh...!"
Bloodied's eyes shook violently.
Danger. She sensed it instinctively.
That enemy's sword held the power to kill her.
It was piercing even the blood mist.
It could easily slice through her body.
She couldn't cast another spell—not when she was pouring everything she had into this one.
It would be better if Kline went for the altar.
She could regroup her stance then.
But strangely, Kline's gaze was locked straight on her heart.
It was odd. How did he know a vampire's weakness was its heart?
Not that it mattered anyway.
"No...!"
Bloodied screamed.
In response, the Backside World illuminated a distant past.
The Backside World was an enigmatic space where timelines and worldlines mingled chaotically.
Reproducing a memory from ages ago was child's play.
A single girl appeared in the puddle.
Her face was identical to that of the red-eyed woman.
A strange scene unfolded.
The puddles scattered around Bloodied.
From that place connected to the Backside World, a memory was replaying.
"So you're the one? A commoner girl strutting around just 'cause you've got a pretty face."
A girl who looked just like Bloodied trembled violently.
She had been forcibly dragged into some mansion.
A young noble boy stood before her.
He looked down at the girl with a cold smile.
"Insolent wretch. You thought you could get away with spouting that nonsense in lands ruled by my family?"
"I-I didn't do anything wrong! I didn't say anything!"
"Oh? Is that so? Rumors say your beauty could rival even the young lady of this house."
"Th-that wasn't me who said it...!"
The girl slammed her head to the ground and pleaded.
She knew full well what happened to commoners who caught a noble's ire.
Especially when rumors swirled that she was more beautiful than nobility.
She wouldn't leave unscathed.
"So what?"
The young noble laughed cruelly and called for a servant.
The servant held a dagger.
Its blade gleamed white in the light, filling the girl with dread.
"P-please, have mercy. Just once, please. I won't come back here. I'll leave the territory. Please...!"
"We'll see about that. After we carve up that pretty face of yours, of course."
"P-please... Please...!"
The servant's iron grip seized the girl.
That alone sealed off any chance of resistance.
Forcibly prying open her writhing, flailing mouth...
The dagger pressed in.
At the corner where her lips met her cheek.
The blade tore through mercilessly.
"N-no! No, no, aaahhh!"
Blood sprayed.
The girl's beautiful face was ruined.
Her mouth torn from ear to ear—she could never show her face again.
The young noble cackled as he looked down at her.
"Now you know your place. Don't get cocky. A lowly wretch like you, compared to nobility? Know your limits."
And so the girl was chased from the mansion.
Blood and tears mingled, streaming down her cheeks.
She wandered aimlessly from the territory.
But she couldn't stay.
She had to leave this place too.
If she didn't, who knew what that young noble would do next.
Worse than her torn mouth—she feared that more.
No one helped her anyway.
Everyone shunned the girl who'd crossed a noble.
Some even mocked her.
Said her torn mouth served her right.
Acting all high and mighty with her looks—good riddance.
No need to guess how that sounded to her.
Having fled the territory, the girl collapsed by the roadside.
It hurt.
No proper treatment.
Her beautiful face defiled.
No reason left to live.
Thus, discarded like trash by the road...
A woman halted her steps beside her.
"Hmm."
It was an ambiguous tone—amused, yet indifferent.
A beautiful woman with red eyes, long said to bring ill omen.
She murmured as she gazed down at the girl.
"Another pitiful child. What happened to you, little one?"
"......"
The girl no longer wanted to cling to life.
So if she was going to die anyway, she figured she'd spill it all and go cleanly.
The woman showed no particular sympathy to the girl's tearful tale.
Such warm emotions had long since faded from her.
But...
Revenge and hatred?
Nothing resonated more with her.
"Don't you want revenge?"
"...?"
The girl's eyes widened.
Revenge?
She did.
Of course she did.
She wanted to kill that young noble.
Make that girl who'd ruined her face suffer even worse.
"...I... want... to."
"Good."
The elder vampire smiled.
The Blood Demon dripped her own blood directly into the girl.
Normally, vampires bit to create kin, choosing carefully.
But the Blood Demon was different.
As an elder vampire, she could turn someone without drinking their blood.
"Do as you will."
And so the girl became a vampire.
She tracked down the young noble and repaid her suffering many times over.
"Haha."
Sadly, her torn mouth never healed.
The Blood Demon had said it wouldn't differ much from her human body.
It didn't matter.
The girl's mind had twisted long ago.
That young noble.
Children, and nobility.
Her hatred for both.
And her obsession with hiding and preserving her lost beauty.
That was why she'd crafted her glasses.
And why she dreamed of tearing off Adelheit von Baldrion's face.
"The Third Imperial Princess? Yes, the Empire's most cherished flower."
⟨ Memory of Origin ⟩
"Why! Why?!"
Bloodied screamed.
Her cry bordered on a wail.
Pouring out the misery she'd endured, as if demanding to know if he understood her despair.
"I have to win! Nobles like you are the bad ones! It's all because of spoiled brats who hurt people on a whim!"
With the blade poised to pierce her heart, her mind had snapped.
She threw a tantrum like the child she'd once been.
Yes, it was a lament.
Why did she have to suffer like that?
"No one protected me! So it's fine for me to do this! Fine to make the most beautiful girl's face match mine!"
"......"
It would be a lie to say the sight didn't stir pity.
She had no idea why the Backside World had shown her this memory.
To aid in toppling the enemy?
Or to awaken sympathy, given this past—would he still kill her?
The Backside World was an incomprehensible secondary dimension, just as the prophet had said.
She couldn't judge it now.
But one thing was clear.
Bloodied had wandered too far down a path to ever be forgiven.
"You're right. You're pitiful, just as you say."
"......"
Tears welled in Bloodied's eyes.
To Kline, they seemed like the tears of the girl she'd once been.
It was heartbreaking.
Even so—no.
"But you've got one thing wrong."
The blade pierced the blood mist.
Her body was already a wreck.
Blackout loomed. Bloodied's form blurred in her fading vision.
Just one thing.
She fixed her eyes on her heart.
"...Villain-washing went out of style ages ago."
A bitter smile.
And with all her strength, she thrust the sword into Bloodied's heart.
Her vision blurred.
Ringing filled her ears.
Memories fragmented.
She'd just stabbed Bloodied's heart—or so it seemed—yet now she lay sprawled on the floor.
Hah... hah... Her ragged breaths were pathetic.
"...You! ...Wake up!"
A pink-haired girl sobbed.
Was Bloodied dead?
Somehow, she rolled her eyes to survey her surroundings.
No sign of the monster's guts that had wrecked the altar.
Yes. Dead.
And she would probably join her soon.
From the moment she'd staked her life to the prophet, she'd been prepared.
But without even basic emergency treatment, survival was impossible.
If only she'd bought more time...
Well, no helping it.
Just as her eyes began to drift shut...
In the distance, the elevator doors parted.
A purple-haired girl came running toward her.