Chapter 76: Shedia (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 76: Shedia (2)
“Crack! Are you still wasted? See, I told you to drink in moderation, didn't I? It'll mess with your work tomorrow!”
“I’m not that drunk, okay? What do you take me for?”
“Hey, is that something a staggering man should be saying?”
A middle-aged man scolded a youth, who retorted that he wasn't drunk even as he stumbled, unable to walk straight. The village women passing by chuckled at the sight.
It was a peaceful village scene.
Shedia sat on a rock, watching it all unfold.
Her wavy black hair fell over one eye, but she paid it no mind, her gaze fixed on the village.
She was here on a mission from the True Ancestor.
A mission to subdue the Hero, Cloud, who was staying in a cabin on a mountain near this village.
Originally, she was supposed to come with Assassination Squad 1.
However, they had found the prospect of moving with her unpleasant, so she had traveled ahead alone and was now waiting.
For the few days she waited for Squad 1, Shedia simply stared blankly at the village.
Having spent so long living alone in the dark underground, she found that watching such a peaceful scene wasn't so bad.
“That big brother loves to drink too much! If it weren't for that, he'd be a really great guy.”
A little girl sitting next to Shedia spoke, swinging her legs back and forth.
The child had taken an interest in Shedia from the moment she arrived in the village, chattering away at her side whenever she had the time.
Normally, one would be wary of an outsider, but Shedia’s round, gentle eyes easily disarmed people’s suspicions.
Her characteristically dazed expression even made others feel an urge to look after her.
That was why the villagers said nothing, even when the child was so close to a stranger.
“Big sis. Are you listening to me?”
The child tugged on Shedia’s sleeve.
Only then did Shedia turn her gaze to the girl, who was pouting.
“I’m always the one talking, and you never answer. Are you annoyed with me, just like the other grown-ups?”
Shedia shook her head.
If the child’s chatter had bothered her, she would have left in an instant and hidden somewhere out of sight.
She didn't mind it, so she listened to the girl talk while she watched the village.
But it seemed the child felt differently.
How could she explain it in a way the girl would understand?
Tilting her head in thought, Shedia recalled the warm touch of her older sister, who used to stroke her hair when she was young.
Perhaps that warmth would put the child at ease.
Shedia slowly moved her hand. Her palm was just about to touch the child’s head.
“Kyaaaaaaah!!”
A loud scream echoed through the village as figures clad in black descended upon the center of the town. They killed or subdued anyone who resisted.
Tearing off their masks, they sank sharp fangs into the necks of those they had captured.
Feeding.
For a vampire, it was an act no different from having a meal.
“Huh… Wha…?!”
The child let out a stunned cry at the sudden chaos.
But she was a sharper child than she seemed.
She grabbed Shedia’s hand and said, “B-Big sis, let’s run! We can stop by my house and get Mom and Dad and… Big sis?”
The child felt something was wrong when Shedia didn't move an inch, even when she pulled.
Letting go of Shedia’s arm, the girl stumbled backward until the back of her head hit something. She slowly looked up.
A vampire in black was looking down at her.
“Hic?!”
Terrified, the child froze on the spot.
The vampire snatched her up, licking his lips.
“The blood of a pure child is a delicacy among delicacies. Don’t worry, little one. I won’t eat you right away. I’ll save you for when I get hungry later.”
The vampire’s cackling joke made the child’s face turn deathly pale. She instinctively looked toward the nearest adult, Shedia.
Seeing this, the vampire sneered.
“Hoping that bitch will save you? Well, what a shame. She doesn’t look like she has any intention of helping you.”
Just as the vampire said, Shedia merely watched the captured child, making no move to intervene. The other vampires, in turn, showed no hostility toward Shedia.
The child asked in a trembling voice.
“Big sis… no way… it’s not true, is it…?”
A single sentence, laden with so many meanings.
Shedia neither confirmed nor denied it.
A look of utter betrayal filled the child’s face. Fat tears began to fall from her eyes.
“Traitor! The grown-ups were so nice to you! You’re a bad person! A traitor!”
The vampire couldn't hold back his laughter at the little girl’s cute curses. Regardless, the child, overwhelmed with a sense of betrayal, continued to hurl insults.
Shedia…
…continued to watch the child.
“That must be the place.”
Rowan, the leader of Assassination Squad 1, said as he looked at the old cabin in the middle of the forest. According to their information, the Hero, Cloud, should be there.
He hasn't moved since his clash with Squad 3? What's with the nerve?
Could he possibly think of us as being on the same level as the likes of Squad 3?
That he can defeat us no matter how many come?
A dry laugh escaped him.
If he was making such a ridiculous miscalculation, it would be only polite to correct him.
“Assume the formation.”
“Is that really necessary?”
“The Master wishes for this to be handled flawlessly.”
“Understood.”
At the mention of the True Ancestor, the squad members accepted the order.
To them, the True Ancestor was an existence they could not defy.
The members of Assassination Squad 1 formed a circle around the shabby cabin.
Shedia moved to join them.
But Rowan grabbed her arm forcefully, stopping her.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“…”
Shedia looked at him as if he had asked the most obvious question in the world.
Rowan’s brow furrowed.
“Don’t do anything stupid. Just stay put. We’ll handle this.”
“…It’s the Master’s order.”
“Shut up. I want to rip that disgusting face of yours apart right now, but I’m holding back because it’s the Master’s command.”
Rowan was disgusted that he, a man of distinguished lineage, had to share a mission with a filthy werewolf.
If it hadn't been an order from Kelidon, the master of his Family, he wouldn't have even taken the mission.
“I’ll say it again: we are more than enough. So you stay put. If you don’t, you won’t get away unscathed either.”
At Rowan’s threat, Shedia nodded with a blank expression. Her nonchalant attitude made Rowan click his tongue.
To think the Master still keeps something like that alive. I don't understand his intentions.
But now was not the time to ponder the Master’s will. It was time to carry out the mission.
“Is everyone in position? Then, all of you, use your Blood Magic with moderate power. When I give the signal, fire at the cabin all at once.”
After confirming that all his squad members had invoked their Blood Magic, Rowan shouted.
“Fire.”
Red arrows and spears, formed from coagulated blood, rained down on the cabin.
Rumble.
The cabin couldn't withstand the assault and collapsed.
Rowan ordered his men to hold their positions.
Their opponent was the Hero, a man who had single-handedly annihilated Squad 3.
There was no way he would fall to an attack of this level.
Rowan’s prediction was spot on.
Atop the collapsed cabin, amidst a thick cloud of dust, a lone figure rose to his feet.
As the dust scattered in the wind, the figure’s identity was revealed.
A man with red hair and an inhumanly handsome face.
He matched the description of Cloud they had been given.
Rowan’s eyes narrowed slightly.
He’s unharmed?
He had expected him to survive the attack, but he hadn't expected him to emerge without a single scratch.
So it wasn't a fluke that he wiped out Squad 3.
Good. That made things more interesting.
Rowan grinned.
“You guys are different from the last ones who came, aren't you? They were trying for a literal assassination, but you all look like you came to professionally fuck one person up.”
Cloud said, glancing at the formation surrounding him.
“There’s no need to be drawn into a chaotic melee and give up our numerical advantage.”
“That’s true. A smarter bunch came this time. How annoying.”
“Annoying? That’s a strange choice of words. You will taste despair here. I’ll make you pay the price for running wild without knowing your place in this world.”
Rowan flicked his hand.
Eight squad members at the rearmost part of the formation used their Blood Magic. The tips of hardened blood spears flew toward Cloud.
Cloud deflected the first five spears with his sword and dodged the remaining three by kicking off the ground.
He then charged toward the vampire in front of him and brought his sword down in a vertical slash.
[Strong Blow]
Clang!
The vampire held his sword horizontally and blocked the [Strong Blow]. The sword that blocked the attack trembled slightly, but the vampire’s stance didn't waver in the slightest.
The four True Ancestors of the Snake Venom Society each had different areas of expertise.
If Gis’s foster mother, Hailey, was skilled in blood manipulation, Kelidon was skilled in body enhancement using Blood Magic.
Naturally, the members of each Family were heavily influenced by their True Ancestor’s specialty.
And Assassination Squad 1 of the Kelidon Family was composed of those who focused on body enhancement.
Even Cloud’s heavy [Strong Blow] was just a technique they could block without much difficulty. Cloud spun, rotating his sword in a diagonal arc.
A slash aimed at the center of the vampire’s body.
A vampire who cut in from the left blocked it. Simultaneously, the vampire on the right thrust his sword at him.
A sophisticated chain of attacks followed.
Cloud dodged the combo while checking for the blood spears flying toward him. He twisted his body just before a spearhead could reach him, evading it.
He had intended to induce friendly fire.
But things didn't go as he planned.
The blood spear, which had flown with deadly intent, lost its shape with a mere touch from a vampire’s hand, returning to a spherical form.
The vampire reformed it into a spear and threw it at Cloud, who was trying to create distance.
Clang!
Cloud parried the spear.
“Passing control of your blood? This is a bit unexpected.”
The vampires he knew were extremely prideful creatures. To them, having another person touch their blood flow was a great insult.
Should he see this as a cultural difference between worlds, or had their identities as vampires been castrated in the process of being raised as assassins?
Cloud pondered.
Meanwhile, Rowan, the leader of Squad 1, mistook Cloud’s contemplation for admiration of their superior skills and burst out laughing.
“This much is a given. We are on a completely different level from Squad 3, which you faced before.”
Watching him, Cloud nodded to himself.
So they were castrated.
Arrows and spears made of blood cut through the air.
Dodging the mercilessly flying arrowheads and spear tips, Cloud exchanged blows with the vampires blocking his path.
Four hours had passed in this manner.
The sun had set long ago, and Rowan’s face was deeply creased with a frown.
What the hell is that guy? Why won't he go down?
This formation was designed for a group to wear down and kill a single powerful individual.
The first line, closest to the enemy, prevents them from breaking the encirclement.
The third line uses long-range attacks with Blood Magic to injure the enemy or force them to keep moving, draining their stamina.
The second line moves fluidly, supporting either the first or third lines.
Just as prey caught by a snake suffocates and dies, an opponent caught in this formation would slowly lose their stamina and eventually collapse.
Rowan was confident that not even Gis could escape this formation alone. He believed that with enough sacrifices, they could even kill him.
That was why Rowan had thought Cloud, trapped in the formation, would fall before long.
But what was this?
Far from being worn down, wasn't he moving around with plenty of energy?
If anything, it was his squad members who were growing tired.
“…Leader. It’s embarrassing, but I’m out of Blood Energy.”
One of the members who had been firing blood spears approached and reported.
Rowan grunted.
“…Good thing we secured a lunchbox on the way. Go replenish yourself.”
“Yes, sir.”
The squad member nodded and was about to turn to replenish his Blood Energy from their "lunchbox."
Rowan kicked him.
At the same instant, a dagger passed through the space where the squad member’s head had been.
Thwack! The dagger embedded itself in the ground.
It had been thrown with such force that the blade was completely buried in the earth.
What was that…
Even Rowan couldn't help but be shocked by that flying dagger.
It was so fast and precise that it couldn't have been dealt with by ordinary means. Kicking his subordinate away was the only thing he could have done in that split second.
“Lunchbox? What the hell did you do before you came for me?”
Rowan wasn't the only one surprised by the dagger. The entire Squad 1 was flustered, halting their attacks on Cloud and raising their guard.
“I’m asking you. What did you do?”
Amidst the chaos, Rowan read the irritation on Cloud’s face. A disruption of emotions was a good sign. In a life-or-death battle, losing one’s composure was no different from wanting to die.
“What did we do? Nothing much. We just killed the humans in a nearby village to replenish our Blood Energy and dragged the few survivors along as lunchboxes for later.”
And so, Rowan provoked Cloud.
He mocked the desperate resistance of the villagers.
Hoping that Cloud would become even more emotional.
And Rowan’s attempt was successful.
Cloud’s gaze turned icy cold.
“The last guys who came were much better people.”
“What?”
Ignoring the frowning Rowan, Cloud quietly chanted.
[All Bless]
A holy blessing settled upon his body.
Strength, Agility, Durability, Magic Power.
All of his stats increased dramatically.
[All Bless]
The holy blessing was layered upon his body.
His stats, which had already increased significantly, were amplified once more.
[All Curse]
An intangible mana flowed from Cloud and settled upon the vampires.
The mana interfered with everything from the vampires’ control of their Blood Magic to the movement of their muscles.
All of their stats were greatly reduced.
Before the vampires could even react to their suddenly heavy bodies, Cloud chanted once more.
[All Curse]