Chapter 117
Chapter 117
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 117
Chapter Title: Premonition (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Sorry about that. Frizia happened to be away from her post. If she'd been here, you could have come straight in without any hassle."
"Oh? No need to worry about that. It's not a big deal."
Mulro guided Briki to the sofa in one corner of his office and leisurely began brewing her favorite black tea.
Of course, that relaxed demeanor was just for show—his mind was more tangled than ever.
'There were supposed to be at least twenty more years until her scheduled visit, but she shows up out of the blue like this.'
And to make matters worse, Heinz was away too, leaving him at a complete loss for how to handle the situation.
Fighting wasn't even an option to begin with.
No matter that this was inside his own barrier, practically his home turf—he couldn't possibly take her on alone.
'Truth be told, I don't even want to fight her.'
Even though he was now bound to Heinz, she was still the one he'd served loyally for ages.
The time they'd actually spent face-to-face wasn't all that long, but that didn't change the fact that she was the progenitor of his bloodline.
Whether she sensed Mulro's inner turmoil or not, Briki casually scanned the blood magic barrier that enveloped the entire area.
And when he carefully placed the freshly brewed black tea in front of her...
Slurp—
She picked it up as if she'd been waiting and took a sip, gazing steadily at Mulro.
"You're the same, aren't you?"
He knew exactly what she meant.
It had to be about the transformed... no, evolved blood.
For the bloodline progenitor 'Brocoslak,' discerning the nature of blood was no great feat.
"I just can't wrap my head around it. You're definitely carrying my blood, yet it's changed this much. I always thought bloodlines were pure and unchanging in and of themselves..."
That had been the common wisdom handed down for hundreds, even thousands of years.
And now, irrefutable evidence had been shoved right in her face, contradicting it outright.
"Lady Brocoslak, well..."
"How many times do I have to tell you? Call me Briki. I don't like that name."
"Ah, yes. Lady Briki."
"That's much cuter, isn't it? We really should have named her something more adorable from the start."
Mulro gave an awkward smile as Briki suddenly changed the subject and grumbled to herself.
He'd nearly ended up with a cutesy surname himself.
He much preferred the one he had now.
"So, where is he?"
She turned back to Mulro with a carefree question, done with her solo muttering.
Her disjointed way of speaking was as scattered as ever, but Mulro—long accustomed to it—immediately grasped what she meant.
"He's stepped out for the moment."
"Hmm—."
Briki just nodded lightly at his answer and took another sip of her tea without a word.
'I'm curious. What kind of person could pull off something like this?'
She'd thought visiting Clan Lord Mulro would satisfy her curiosity, but it turned out he was subjugated too.
'He stole dominion from me, a Sacred Blood. I never imagined such a thing was possible.'
She'd never been one to cling to power in the first place, so there was no displeasure at having her authority usurped.
If anything, her curiosity about the mastermind only grew stronger.
'Bloodline enhancement through evolution, superior blood inheritance. This could lay the foundation for vampires to step into the light.'
That was exactly why she'd endured for so long, desperately trying to leave a successor.
And now, while she'd slumbered, that possibility had come knocking.
"It's been ages since I last had black tea you brewed, Mulro. Feels good."
"Thank you, Lady Briki."
"Oh, right—I don't have anywhere to stay. Mind if I impose here for a bit?"
"...Of course. I'll prepare a room for you to stay comfortably."
Mulro sighed inwardly, racking his brain.
Her attitude didn't seem hostile, which was a relief, but who knew what would happen when Heinz returned.
He hadn't received any prior instructions on how to handle her, nor did he have a way to contact him first...
'No idea. But this is too big for me to decide on my own.'
In the end, all he could do was wait for Heinz to come back.
And so, the former owner who'd shown up at the house that had been taken from her settled in as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The Steel Citadel at the northernmost edge of Tulk Kingdom was still wracking its brains over the endless monster hordes today.
Aonia County had already mustered every soldier it could spare long ago, and reinforcements were steadily arriving from neighboring territories.
If this place fell, the entire northern kingdom would be laid to waste—no one had the luxury of choice.
Troops dispatched from various domains, mercenaries drawn by the massive bounties, priests from the Church of the Main God and mages from the Magic Tower lending support...
"No way... Is that even possible?"
"...Looks like it is."
But the one captivating everyone's attention wasn't the mages unleashing flashy spells or the priests embodying divine mercy.
"I'd heard he was famous in Tar拉克, but I didn't think he was this good."
"...Our boss was always saying he'd smash that guy someday. Good thing he hasn't tried yet. He wouldn't have a head left."
A lone warrior charging into the monster throng was the star of the show.
But calling him just a warrior didn't do justice to his extraordinary prowess as he dominated the battlefield.
A build and muscles overwhelming even orcs, bare-chested with a beast skull helmet instead of a helm.
Tattoos of all shapes glowed faintly across his body, crimson and green light streaming from his eyes.
"Kahahaha—!"
Above all, drenched in blood from head to toe, bursting into laughter at every turn while massacring foes—he seemed more gripped by madness than the monsters swarming him.
"When he charged straight in from the walls, I thought he was some suicidal maniac..."
No matter how many rushed him head-on or what massive beast blocked his path, he paid it no mind.
He simply smashed through them with his body.
The massive axe in one hand looked like mere decoration.
Boom—!
"Kuwek!"
"Kik—!"
His strength was absurd; just barreling into them sent monsters flying like ragdolls hit by a carriage.
Kicking off the clingy ones launched them through the air like cannonballs, crashing into others and toppling them in heaps.
He tore tough hides with his bare hands, shattering skulls effortlessly with his fists.
"Hard to tell who's the real monster now..."
"...Yeah. Is that even human fighting?"
Even as those holding the walls stole glances despite themselves, Harley scanned the battlefield diligently amid the fray.
Naturally, he hadn't jumped in just for attention.
'Found one! A variant Minotaur this time.'
A bull-headed beast with metallic hide gleaming black and sharp double horns.
Its eyes roiled with savage red light, flaunting madness beyond reason.
The moment Harley spotted it, he bolted straight for it.
Crunch! Bang! Smash—!
"Kiiik!"
"Kek!"
Countless collisions occurred along the way, but he shrugged them off like hit-and-runs, accelerating further.
"Uahaha! Come on, you bastard!"
Monsters higher in the northern mountains' food chain amassed far more madness over time.
Once it crossed a critical threshold, their hyperactive life force mutated...
Into these madness-soaked variants.
'Meaning every one is a nutrient-packed meal brimming with rich madness! Plus, each has uniquely evolved traits.'
Of course, his draconic factors were well-rounded across the board, but specialized genes had their own uses.
That was why Harley prowled the field, hunting them personally.
"Kuwaaah—!"
By the time he bulldozed, shoved, and kicked through to reach the Minotaur...
It glared back with blazing eyes.
Alert to his presence, yet undaunted—the apex predator of the mountains showed no fear.
"Grrr..."
Boom—!
It simply kicked off the ground, thrusting all four horns at him in a charge.
The over-four-meter behemoth closed in at speed belying its bulk.
His reflexes could dodge easily, of course.
"Bring it! Let's throw down!"
But real men like Harley didn't dodge!
Squelch—Boom!
His thigh muscles ballooned in an instant, stomping heavier and propelling forward.
Both hurtled at each other, distance vanishing rapidly.
"Hup—."
Just before impact, Harley inhaled deeply, clenching his right fist.
His right arm pulled back like a loaded arrow.
And from his hyper-compressed muscles...
Screeech—Screeech!
A sound no human body should make echoed out—not organic, but metallic, like heavy construction machinery on a site.
Simultaneously, dark red scales enveloped his arm.
Right after.
"Kahahaha—!"
"Kuwaaah—!"
KABOOM——!
The Minotaur's thick skull clashed head-on with Harley's right fist.
Woooong—!
The shockwave made surrounding monsters stagger.
From the dust cloud, Harley emerged, pushed back with deep gouges trailing from the impact point.
The Minotaur halted before him, head extended.
And then...
Thud!
It collapsed face-first, utterly still.
"Whew—Man. Got pushed back more than I thought."
Even with his heavier build, the mass difference with a four-meter monster was unavoidable.
Especially charging at full speed—frontal collision meant getting repelled.
Of course, its skull was pulverized in trade, dying instantly.
Harley shook out his scale-covered right arm and plunged it into the beast's chest.
Tough hide protected it, but it couldn't withstand Bio-Aura, madness, and all else infused.
Like a victory rite, he extracted and devoured the mana stone.
'This method really packs the punch.'
Madness Control seized the influx, dominating it in seconds.
Far more efficient than slowly absorbing ambient madness.
And the new genes? Plenty useful.
Its sprint-specialized leg muscles were prime for immediate integration.
"Woo! Onward!"
He sent the four variant Minotaur horns to Hubert via Avatar Cloud in a flash, then charged back into battle.
Situation didn't allow leisurely farming, but he snatched promising core materials on the fly.
'Howard might craft gear from these later.'
Hubert, the merchant handling storage, was tied up for now, but with no urgent tasks beyond the workshop setup, it was fine.
As Harley targeted high-risk monsters, the citadel defenders could fight far more comfortably.
And unlike other powerhouses, he fought endlessly without tiring.
His influence grew inevitably.
Proving it: when battle lulled and he returned...
Awe, admiration, fear—reverent gazes poured toward him from within.
No one dared approach his fierce, madness-lingering glare post-battle.
Even without that, blood-soaked and steaming, few would venture near.
"Oh! Harley! Another big one down, eh? Good work!"
His comrades, accustomed to the sight, were the exception.
The dwarf who'd bonded with him escaping the northern mountains waved as he approached.
His involvement had ended with contacting Aonia Count's house here.
Harley naturally joined the defense after; Zaonik handled gear maintenance, from what he'd heard...
"Ah, got a message to pass on this time! They figured it'd be best coming from a friend."
Scratching his head, the dwarf casually dropped that someone wanted to meet Harley.
"Said to rest now since you just finished fighting, and come when you're free later."
Of course, anyone worth sending him wouldn't be a nobody.
Tarmin Aonia.
The count of Aonia County—the very one who'd first commissioned Zaonik's rescue.