Chapter 530: Jealousy is My Power (30)
Chapter 530: Jealousy is My Power (30)
With every step, blood-red stains left their mark.
Splattered blood and bits of flesh formed a bizarre harmony across the once-pristine white walls. The foul stench of gore pricked at my nose, whispering to me.
Stop now.
I wanted to stop, too.
But what choice did I have?
The monsters lunging at me without end had eyes bloodshot to their limit. I could feel a thick humidity in their glowing, feverish breaths.
This was no way for women to behave.
Their behavior was closer to that of demonic beasts.
"The, the scent... The sceeeeeeeent!"
The woman who shrieked that had her eyes rolled back so far that only the whites were visible.
The vampire kin, who had been crawling on all fours like a beast, suddenly sprang into the air. It was a resilient leap reminiscent of a predatory feline, but it was far from enough to suppress a martial artist who had reached the level of High Expert.
The outcome was obvious.
Thwack!
The hilt of my sword slammed into the woman’s temple.
The blunt end of the pommel served as an excellent alternative to a mace. Pearly white teeth flew through the air, prophesying the future of the struck woman.
The kin’s body slumped to the floor, quivered for a moment, and then lost consciousness.
I clicked my tongue at the sight.
"That damn scent again..."
Just what kind of smell was I giving off that every vampire in the building was losing their minds?
Should I start showering three times a day from now on?
It was around the time I was advancing while mechanically crushing the vampires that rushed me.
"S-Sir Ian...!"
A trembling voice tickled my ear.
Turning my head, I saw the Princess, her face pale with terror, dangling from my side.
I had tried my best to provide a stable ride.
Seeing her face look as if she might vomit at any second, I couldn't help but tilt my head in confusion.
The Princess squeezed out her words haltingly.
"Th-That... things keep splashing on my face. Blood, and something... slimy...!"
"Ah, you mean the bone marrow."
There was no reply. Instead, a series of rhythmic hiccups followed.
Splattering blood and marrow were unavoidable in the heat of battle. Still, the Princess was a comrade who had crossed the line of death with me before; I had assumed she wouldn't be this squeamish. That was my mistake.
She truly was a girl raised in luxury.
Acknowledging my lack of consideration, I sheathed my sword for a moment as a gesture of atonement.
I rummaged through my clothes, pulled out a handkerchief, and even went so far as to wipe her face.
Soon, with a squelching texture, the blood and marrow on the Princess's face were smeared and spread together.
"Eek! Kyaaaaaaaah! S-Stop... please stop!"
"I just need to do a little more..."
"Please, stop!"
In the end, I couldn't overcome the stubbornness of the Princess, who was screaming with a tearful face.
To think the Princess would reject my kindness.
Her stomach was far too weak. A thought flashed through my mind that this would be problematic since we were supposed to travel together in the future.
Just then, another sound rang in my ears.
"W-What... S-Stop... Kyaaaaaah! Someone save me!"
Tsking, I gripped my hand axe.
After that, it was business as usual.
The hand axe flew out with a sonic boom, trailing down the hallway before veering off its trajectory at a dead end.
Soon, a dull thud echoed from the distance.
It was the sound of a skull shattering.
As if it had eyes of its own, the axe retraced its flight path and landed back in my hand. I turned to the Princess, who was still trembling and debating whether or not to touch her own face, and asked a question.
"Can you pinpoint people's locations with those 'eyes' of yours?"
"P-Pardon?"
But the Princess had yet to regain her senses.
Clicking my tongue inwardly, I added further explanation.
"In this building, there are not only the vampire bloodlines but also many women who are simply trapped here because contact was lost last night. I was wondering if you could distinguish between the vampires and the humans who aren't."
"F-For that... the concentration of emotions the vampires hold is too thick! Even now, my vision is dizzy... Hieek?!"
It happened then.
The Princess's body jerked like a live fish pricked in the nerves. A faint fear seeped from her eyes, which looked as if they had been electrocuted.
For even Cien to show such a sensitive reaction...
Naturally, there was no way the cause would escape my Qi sense. The reason I could remain calmer than the Princess was likely because I had known this would happen.
A long sigh escaped my lips.
"......It's already too late."
"S-Sir Ian... O-Outside... s-something is...!"
I had wanted to save as many people as possible.
It seemed the Elder's patience had finally reached its limit. Then again, his own grandniece was trapped inside.
If anything, I should probably be grateful he waited this long.
I shifted the Princess from my side and held her in a bridal carry.
"We're leaving."
"What? Sir Ian, this is the fifth floor—Kyaaaaaaaa!"
Boom!
With a single kick, a section of the wall crumbled away, revealing the sky where the sun was beginning to set. Without hesitation, I threw myself out, beginning our twilight flight.
Gravity's guidance was always perfect.
In a straight line, I landed, slamming my feet into the ground.
The Princess was now on the verge of fainting. After a day stained with blood, flesh, and marrow, she had just experienced an overwhelming wave of energy and a sudden fall. To make matters worse, she had even sustained a light scratch on her skin, likely from a flying fragment when I broke the wall.
As a member of the Dragon's bloodline, she probably hadn't had many days as exhausting as this.
Well, excluding what happened to her during the Homecoming Festival.
I gently set Cien down beside me so she could faint in peace. Then, I slowly shifted my gaze.
At the end of my sight stood a girl.
She wasn't holding a sword. In fact, her posture—looking up at me with her arms crossed—didn't radiate any hostility.
However, the moment I met those blue eyes...
A sensation washed over me as if the very ground I stood upon was covered in blades. Every time I inhaled and exhaled, a cold sweat broke out at the fear that the air itself might tear my lungs apart.
This one tiny girl.
She was looking down upon the world.
The Sword Duke, wearing a displeased expression, asked, "Are you satisfied now?"
I instinctively knew that my answer would decide many things.
That was why I spoke up more urgently than usual.
"Not yet. Not yet..."
"It seems all the monstrosities worth noting have crawled out, though."
"There are innocent students left inside."
"Hmm," the girl hummed, turning her indifferent gaze back toward the building.
It was a place where screams and monstrous roars were harmonizing in real-time. No expression could be more fitting than 'pandemonium.'
Had the Imperial Intelligence agents inside finished their evacuation?
Suppressing various questions, I decided to do my best to sway the heart of this battle maniac.
"Also, the interrogation isn't over yet."
"Do you intend to have tea with those monsters?"
"My friend was kidnapped."
It was a plea that bordered on a prayer.
I still hadn't found Celine's whereabouts. If there was even a chance of finding my childhood friend, who might be suffering through God-knows-what right now, I was willing to cling to anything.
"And also, among them, there might be a friend of someone precious to me..."
"Do you believe those things can return to being human?"
A sharp counter-question thrown with a flick of her chin.
I had to keep my mouth shut and remain silent for a moment.
Could they return?
To be honest, it was near impossible. Even 'Senior Elsie,' who had conducted related research, had given a negative answer.
But if I gave up, Lady Ruphesia...
Emma would be so sad.
So, I had no choice but to throw out a reckless assertion.
"I will make it so."
"By what means?"
"Somehow..."
"Tsk, tsk... You are young. So young."
Clicking her tongue, the Sword Duke shook her head.
To an outsider, it might look like an immature girl being stubborn, but knowing that the soul inside was the 'Sword Duke,' I couldn't have been more tense.
A legendary martial artist who, in his youth, had leveled a mountain while fighting the Saint of the Holy Kingdom.
Now that I had reached High Expert, I could tell. Those rumors weren't exaggerations or metaphors.
This old swordsman in the guise of a girl was a monster capable of erasing a mountain from the map the moment she set her mind to it.
"Is that how you've survived until now? Through improvisation? Believing that things will somehow work out, that a path will eventually appear... I, too, had a time like that."
"Then, can't you trust me just this once?"
"It was only after I lost the thing most precious to me that I finally realized."
There was a strange loneliness embedded in the Sword Duke's voice as she spoke.
She asserted to me once more.
"It's not just me. The Saint of the Holy Kingdom, the Great Witch of the Great Forest—it's the same for all of us. Those who refuse to discard anything eventually end up losing what matters most."
I had heard those words before.
From the 'me' who came from the future, and from the Great Witch as well.
Taking advantage of my silence, the Sword Duke sighed and slowly raised her hand.
"......Do as I say, kid. This is advice for your own sake."
Just before the Sword Duke's hand could pronounce the death sentence, a thought suddenly occurred to me, and I blurted it out.
"You said you'd help!"
At my gasping words, the Sword Duke's expression contorted.
"Didn't you say you would help me?"
"And?"
"So, just help me quietly."
The Sword Duke seemed to hesitate slightly, perhaps surprised by my spirit.
So, I spoke with an even stronger tone.
"Is this not my business? The one the Great Witch asked first was me."
There was something I had learned while listening to the conversation between the Sword Duke and the Great Witch.
The Sword Duke was surprisingly weak in an argument.
Furthermore, if pushed hard, she often tended to just go along with it. Perhaps her noble birth had given her a temperament that didn't care much about other people's business.
Or maybe that was just her nature.
Regardless, I spoke firmly once more.
"Am I wrong?"
Then, a sigh escaped the lips of the girl who had been hesitating.
"Good grief..."
It worked.
Sensing that my persuasion had succeeded, my face brightened instantly. Though it was still only a possibility, this was a chance to find out about Celine's whereabouts.
It was right then.
"Honestly, you're such a nuisance."
Hup. A gesture so simple it suited that light sound effect.
It was nothing more than a girl's idle hand movement, but the aftermath it brought was far too immense.
A diagonal slash.
In an instant, a fine line appeared, bisecting the world. By the time I blankly turned around, it was already too late.
The entire building was collapsing.
Watching the stone structure slide down the diagonal cut, I finally couldn't hold back the curse that sprang to mind.
"Hey, you... you crazy old geezer!!!"
I immediately dashed forward, grabbed the Sword Duke by the collar, and lifted her up. The tiny girl was left dangling in the air, wearing a bored expression.
"Are you really the Empire's Sword Duke?! How could you slaughter the Empire's subjects so ruthlessly!"
"No, wait... stop shaking... Argh, why is this body so tiny!"
The Sword Duke was now struggling and getting annoyed because her feet couldn't reach the ground. It was an unavoidable physical limitation.
Right then, I felt a presence nearby—someone yawning and rubbing their eyes.
It was the Princess, who had briefly lost consciousness.
"Yaaaawn... Sir Ian... Don't tell me, did my Great-Grandfather arrive already...?"
And so, the Princess was met with a peculiar sight.
A building collapsing from the Sword Duke's gesture, a girl being shaken by the collar, and me, who had just addressed that girl as the 'Sword Duke.'
Silence descended upon the clearing.
I instinctively thought of Senior Elsie and squeezed my eyes shut.
'It's a total mess...'
I didn't know why, but I missed Senior Elsie more than usual today.