Chapter 586: Jealousy is My Power (86)
Chapter 586: Jealousy is My Power (86)
It was a grotesque landscape.
In a world where not a single ray of light reached, only blood-red outlines, settled like a sunset, existed. They were the only boundaries that allowed one to distinguish objects.
And what of the corpses forming low hills?
Every single one was a woman with silver hair and blue eyes. Their features were so similar it created the illusion that the same person had suffered tens of thousands of deaths.
That was why I couldn't bring myself to take a step forward.
The sensation of corpses catching at my feet was chilling, and the aura radiating from the enemy standing before me was formidable.
The 'Vampire.'
She was an opponent I had encountered once before. I remembered her leaving a somewhat youthful impression then, but the atmosphere of the Vampire I faced today was entirely different.
Rather than pure, she felt languid.
Impressions of maturity, composure, and beauty brushed past my optic nerves in succession.
Furthermore, her fragile appearance was enough to instill a strange sense of crisis in anyone watching. It was like looking at a flower that might snap in the wind at any moment.
But I knew.
That being is a monster beyond all measure. My instincts and intuition were incessantly screaming warnings at me.
I’m going to die.
That was the sentence that surfaced along with a single drop of cold sweat.
The Great Witch and Senior Elsie were only alive because of that being's fleeting interest. If I provoked her unnecessarily, not only my life but the lives of the other two could be in danger.
If there was one saving grace, it was that the Vampire didn't seem to have any immediate intention of killing me.
On the contrary, the woman even offered a soft smile as if she were glad to see me.
"Are you very surprised? It seems you've met one of my 'shards' before."
"…'Shards'?"
I had no choice but to echo that suspicious word with a rising inflection.
'Shards.'
Did that mean the 'Vampire' I had met was merely a fraction of her full power?
If so, just how many shards did this Vampire possess?
The Vampire seemed unexpectedly kind—at least enough to slam the Great Witch, whom she had been holding, onto the ground to answer my question.
"Agh!"
As the Great Witch let out a groan and writhed, blood-red chains instantly coiled around her small body.
In many ways, this woman was nothing if not thorough.
"Do you see the shell my pathetic younger sister is wearing? It's a thing called a 'Prosthetic Body.' A 'vessel' that can contain a human soul."
"I've heard of them."
Feeling the cold sweat on my forehead, I slowly gauged the distance between myself and the Vampire.
The important thing was that the Great Witch had been released from the Vampire's grasp. Even if I couldn't, the Great Witch should be able to land an effective blow on that monster.
Furthermore, I still had a trump card left.
Time Stop.
No matter how legendary a monster she was, she shouldn't be able to move freely within frozen time. Even the 'Saint' or the 'Sword Duke' could only move after overcoming many restrictions.
A very brief opening would be enough.
If I could rescue the Great Witch in that moment and launch a pincer attack, there was a chance of victory.
Of course, I didn't think the Vampire was unaware of this.
I drew up my mana while keeping a close eye on the woman. Regardless, she simply continued her explanation in a relaxed tone.
"Originally, it was a technology I was researching. My pathetic sister stepped in midway and stole my idea, but even so, a fake is just a fake… In the end, I was the one who completed the 'Vessel of the Soul' in the truest sense."
"Are all these countless corpses Prosthetic Bodies?"
"Yes, vessels containing my soul. My main body may be unable to move, but what happens if I take the shards containing my soul and power and pull them out one by one?"
She clapped her palms together.
The answer was obvious. The being standing before my eyes was the very embodiment of that answer.
So that was how she escaped the barrier.
To use a metaphor, she had broken the mass known as the 'Vampire' into small pieces. No matter how fine a net is, gaps must exist.
If one could become small enough to slip through those holes…
However, there was still something I didn't understand. For instance, the fact that there were so many Prosthetic Bodies resembling the 'Vampire.'
There were hundreds of them.
Hadn't the Great Witch mentioned it to the Sword Duke? That creating a Prosthetic Body required immense resources and effort.
So how could she have manufactured hundreds of them in secret?
The Vampire cleared up even this doubt.
"In truth, creating a Prosthetic Body requires far too many resources. That was the only obstacle… but I soon reached a new conclusion."
"……You crazy bitch."
Coughing up a handful of blood, the Great Witch spat out those words in a trembling voice. Her lime-green eyes were filled with hatred and fear.
"The reason so many resources are needed to make a Prosthetic Body is that the physical form must be precisely replicated to contain a soul. At the very least, it must be indistinguishable from a real body! You can't make something like that without paying a price!"
"That's why you're stupid."
The Vampire clicked her tongue as she spoke.
She acted as if she truly couldn't understand the Great Witch's way of thinking. Then, with a snap of her fingers, the skin on the faces of the corpses lying before me began to melt away.
No, to use a more accurate expression, it was 'transforming.'
The corpses that had resembled the Vampire were all changing into different appearances. The only thing they had in common was their silver hair and blue eyes.
These were the characteristics shared by a certain bloodline.
"Why pay an expensive price to create a body? You can just use bodies that already exist."
"No matter how much you seek the truth, there are lines that must not be crossed…!"
"I simply granted the children's wishes."
The Vampire's tone as she answered the Great Witch's blood-boiling appeal was perfectly composed.
Only then did I realize the identity of these countless corpses.
The Vampire's kin.
The source of the power they possessed must have been the fragments of the Vampire's soul they had each received.
"Those children wanted power, so I shared a bit of mine with them. Though they occasionally suffered from delusions when the influence of my soul became too great…"
The Vampire trailed off, glancing down at the corpses beneath her feet.
Was the 'Vampire' I had seen also one of those kin lost in delusion?
I quietly moved my hand toward my waist. We weren't close enough for my blood to boil on their behalf, but I couldn't help but ask.
"……They thought of you as 'family'."
"Hmm?"
The Vampire tilted her head as if asking what I meant. I continued, voicing the question that leaked out again.
"Your kin. They called you 'Mother'."
"Ah."
The woman smiled, brushing her bangs back.
It was a beauty that made the heart tremble. But strangely, my chest remained calm.
"Now that you mention it, the number of my children has decreased significantly… Was that your doing? How unfortunate. If only those children were still here, I could have recovered more of my power."
That was it.
Her only sentiment regarding the loss of dozens of 'children' was that.
It certainly wasn't the attitude of someone dealing with family. It felt more like regret over losing useful tools.
I suddenly thought of the enemies I had killed until now.
Guildford, Leoric, and even the Vampire's kin.
What futile lives they led.
This was usually the end for those who contracted with the Dark Cult.
A miserable fate of being abandoned by the world and clinging to the Cult, only to be abandoned by the Dark Cult in the end.
At this point, I realized once again.
As expected, the Dark Cult is an untrustworthy opponent.
"Hehe, but it's fine. I've managed to reclaim about a third of my original power… Since this isn't my main body, I can't increase the output any further anyway. Finally, the time for proof has come."
The Vampire was now so intoxicated with herself that she didn't even pay attention to me.
She merely looked down at the Great Witch with eyes full of deep emotion.
"The day I announce to the whole world, to the entire continent… that I am superior to you!"
Just as the Vampire slowly raised her hand.
Flash! A streak of light dashed forward.
It was a sprint that left no afterimage. Like a hairtail darting through the sea, my movements as I swam through the frozen world were swift.
However, it was slightly short of achieving my goal.
Thump! My body was repelled from the stopped time. Having emerged from the distorted spacetime, I found myself standing before the Great Witch.
Yes, that was the problem.
I hadn't been able to undo the blood-red chains binding her.
As I panted, showing signs of exhaustion, the Vampire smirked as if she had expected this. She didn't show the slightest hint of panic at my surprise attack.
It was as if she had known my limits all along.
"I know, little boy. I know you're very tired… I heard you've used every trick in the book to achieve feats called impossible. Impressive, truly marvelous!"
Clap, clap, clap.
The Vampire showed no sign of trying to stop me as she applauded. Instead, she only exuded confidence, as if daring me to try.
It was the same even when my fierce gaze turned toward her.
"But you see, you've just been lucky until now… I wonder if you'll be so lucky this time?"
Snap. She flicked her fingers.
Simultaneously, a pained breath escaped the Great Witch's mouth. The chains binding her had begun to tighten even further.
"Urgh, aaaaagh…!"
"For your information, those chains cannot be undone even by those called 'Archmages.' They are composed of a formula that complex. No matter how hard a weary fledgling High Expert tries…"
Right then.
Clang! The sound of striking metal rang out in overlapping echoes. It happened dozens of times, at a speed that left no afterimage.
And once again, I was catching my breath with my upper body bent over. My ragged breathing told the story of my poor physical condition.
I suppose she lived up to her reputation as an old monster who had survived for centuries.
The Vampire immediately realized what I had done.
"Hehe. Stopping time and then concentrating your strikes on a single point as much as possible? Not a bad idea, but I wonder how much longer you can keep stopping time…"
Clang, clang, clang!
Clang, clang, clang!
But the Vampire's relaxed speech didn't last long.
Again and again.
Dozens of axe strikes were hammered into the blood-red chains. My hand axe, scattering starlight, was gradually creating cracks in the blood-red chains.
It was around this time that the Vampire's brow furrowed.
A monster of her caliber couldn't possibly fail to realize.
The fact that the number of axe strikes I poured out every time I stopped time was steadily increasing.
"What are you doing…?"
This meant only one thing.