Chapter 240
Chapter 240
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 240
Chapter Title: Zepia Republic (3)
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Heinz 2nd's first move was to analyze the barrier enveloping the mansion.
His transcendent senses, fused with Insight, dissected the barrier's structure, and based on that, Blood Mystery began spitting out diagnostic results one by one.
'A composite spell built around blood magic. It's twisted into quite a complex knot.'
Blood Mystery—born from Aauterrica's blood magic blended with the knowledge of vampires from other dimensions.
This all-encompassing power held an overwhelming edge in spells activated through 'blood' as the medium.
And a composite spell like this was nothing special to him either.
No matter how much they scraped together and tangled into complexity, could it compare to the spells on Earth that wove together dimensional-scale mysteries?
'They put some real effort into it, but...'
It meant nothing to him.
Beyond Heinz's gaze, fixed intently on the barrier for analysis, Hans—who had been deep in research on immortality—paused his work and joined in.
With that, skills like Path of the Mage and others swiftly dismantled every detail that Blood Mystery had diagnosed.
'Layered dimensions with reversal mechanics too. Its stability is certainly impressive. To break it...'
Before long, he had grasped the barrier's true nature and how to shatter it.
'The textbook method is targeting the core deep inside, but that's not the only way.'
Destroying the matching interior and exterior points simultaneously where the barrier overlapped.
Inside, communication with the outside was severed, and observing from one side alone made pinpointing the exact spot impossible in theory.
But such trivial issues posed no hindrance to him.
"It'll consume a lot of energy, but... I harvested plenty on the way here, so it should be fine."
Heinz, still utterly composed, casually tilted his head.
And right after, several strands of blood vessels surged up from his palm, raised to chest height and facing upward.
Churuk—
The vivid red fresh blood writhed like a geyser before twisting together into a vortex.
The pure blood essence, forged from Purified Blood Crystal, obeyed Blood Mystery's control. Infused with the miracle he desired, it slowly compressed into a fist-sized blood orb.
It was a medium packed with blood magic power, just like the one he'd sent to Hesperon during the earlier skirmish with the intruders.
'Two more should do it. The raw destructive power might fall a bit short, but this is just the opening shot anyway. This much will suffice.'
With the creation of three orbs complete, the real operation began.
He summoned Hugo—the only avatar currently idle—handed him the orbs, and shoved him inside the barrier.
To pinpoint the strike zone by linking through the sense-shared avatar.
"Hoo."
Hugo, now fully Earth's errand boy, had been honing his mastery of housework through the individual skill Jack-of-All-Trades.
He took the orbs, radiating Heinz's aura, strode boldly into the barrier, and activated one toward a specific point inside.
Kururung—
Just as expected.
A powerful blood magic erupted, shaking the barrier's interior with intense vibrations for a fleeting moment—only to be suppressed and vanish in seconds.
Not even the slightest sign leaked to the outside.
"...Found it."
But for Heinz, who had focused intently on the flow of causality across the entire mansion, that single attempt was enough to lock onto the precise null point.
Goooong—
His right hand extended slowly toward the target spot.
Massive blood poured from his fingertips, mingling with an enormous surge of blood magic power that instantly condensed.
'No need to wait. Straight in.'
A basketball-sized blood sphere formed before his right hand, writhing as if ready to burst, flaunting its presence.
And with the second blood magic detonating inside the barrier as the trigger—
Kwarung— Kwaang—!
It unleashed a jet-black crimson beam, mimicking a dragon's breath, slamming into the precise timing and spot.
Kugung!
Unlike the surroundings wrecked by mere shockwaves, the mansion itself showed no major change despite taking a direct hit.
But through Insight, Heinz vividly sensed the barrier's distortion and the resulting cracks.
"Tough indeed."
The outer layer had shattered cleanly from the earlier strike, but the orb's power fell short for the interior destruction.
He hadn't expected to end it in one blow anyway.
'Can't help it since it's not a direct attack. Right on schedule.'
Unlike the first strike, instantly repaired on impact, this one had inflicted serious damage—the barrier's regeneration hadn't kicked in yet.
He had aimed for this exact moment from the start.
Goooong—
From his left hand, already prepared, an even denser beam than the right's destructive ray sliced through the air toward the same point.
Imbued with the power of causality, it struck the unhealed vulnerability dead-on.
Kwaaaang——!
Resonating with the 'his own blood magic power' bursting inside once more, it warped the barrier both inside and out at the impact zone simultaneously.
The barrier, unable to withstand the shock, finally crumbled.
An earth-shaking explosion, incomparable to before, reverberated everywhere.
'Just as planned.'
He had overexerted a bit manipulating causality to deduce the process, but the result felt deeply satisfying.
As a bonus, a massive hole had been blasted from the front gate—where Heinz stood—straight through the mansion.
'There he is...'
The moment the barrier broke, Heinz sent Hugo back and spotted an old man sitting amid the rubble at the passage's end, his expression dazed. His eyes gleamed.
Instinct told him.
That was Obaifo himself—the progenitor of the Obaifo Clan and one of the first Sacred Bloods.
Satisfied with this bold, exhilarating encounter, Heinz stepped forward slowly and spoke.
"Well, we finally meet face-to-face."
At his words, the man's head slowly turned their way.
His initially flustered face had regained a facade of calm, but his lips still twitched uncontrollably, betraying his unsettled mind.
"Sorry if the knock was a bit rough. The homeowner seemed deaf—wouldn't come out no matter what."
The man's mouth spasmed harder.
The taunt had landed perfectly.
Heinz 2nd flashed a cold smile at the blood magic swelling and blazing around Obaifo.
As if daring him to pull out any hidden cards—utterly brazen and unyielding.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The Twelve Bloodlines of Origin.
Long ago—when Sacred Bloods like Obaifo, Uphersh, and Brocoslak first emerged on this land.
They were the only vampires in existence.
As time passed and vampires spread across the world, the clans named after each Sacred Blood began forming rudimentary structures.
Before long, they had become a natural race on the continent, seamlessly blending into society.
'No trace of those memories remains now.'
Obaifo was one of those first Sacred Bloods.
Estimated age: over ten thousand years.
Unlike dragons, who innately possessed immense mental fortitude and intellect immune to oblivion across their lifespans, vampires' mental strength fell short.
Of course, as transcendent beings, they far surpassed mortal limits—but even that had bounds against endless time.
Sacred Bloods maintained their egos for an average of about two thousand years.
From around then, they began deviating one by one, gradually succumbing to time, their numbers dwindling.
Some went mad with slaughter and were exterminated without a thought for the future.
Others died torn apart by enraged dragons after preying on a young one.
Some were hunted down by the Church after failing to cover their tracks.
One even ended their eternal life in despair.
It was no wonder the original twelve had dwindled to this.
'To preserve my ego, I kept only the last thousand years' memories and erased the rest. Brocoslak opted for periodic hibernation like dragons to reduce activity. Uphersh split his power and memories into other bodies to overcome it.'
Thus, Obaifo's knowledge of prior eras wasn't from 'lived' memories but 'later learned' facts pieced together.
Replacing vivid experiences with dry, added lines of info.
That was how he'd endured.
But as the Sacred Bloods' dominance waned with their reduced activity, clans splintered, perished, or rose and fell over time.
Clans bereft of their Sacred Blood collapsed at heartbreaking speeds.
It was then that ambition sprouted in Obaifo, who had witnessed the race's cycles from the start.
...Or so it must have been.
'How pitiful and pathetic. Is there no way to unite these fools? ...Yes, it seems I must step up. I shall become the great king and lead them myself.'
Always erasing all but the latest thousand years, he couldn't pinpoint when the desire began—but it had long surpassed that span.
Even his oldest retained memory revolved solely around achieving that goal.
For eons,
he pursued one aim: reclaiming the essences left by other Sacred Bloods.
Snatching them from minor clans or noble vaults was simple enough.
The trouble was essences in places even he couldn't easily seize...
'The great war with the Immortal King helped immensely there. I recovered ones held by dragons and the Church.'
The Immortal King's uprising was a golden opportunity he'd eagerly awaited.
And through the Oath of Reverse Heaven and the revolutionaries' aid, he finally gathered all Sacred Blood essences except Brocoslak's and Uphersh's!
His long-cherished dream was within reach.
With such confidence, he welcomed Heinz 2nd.
He didn't entertain defeat for a second.
His mind brimmed only with reclaiming Uphersh's essence from this Heinz and Brocoslak's from Thalia Kingdom.
'Why... how...?'
Which made the current situation all the more bewildering.
He was caught off-guard by the unforeseen.
Kwaaang! Kurung—
"Kheuk!"
The mansion, now unrecognizable rubble.
That had been his throne, where he'd confidently awaited the challenger moments ago.
Not this wrecked sickbed.
Pushuk—
Caked in dust, he slowly rose from the debris.
Pajijit—! Pajik—!
Sparks crackled nonstop.
The mental battle had raged dozens, hundreds of times already.
But what he hadn't anticipated was...
'Fast...! Not just his abilities, but the thought speed backing them...!'
Unlike his initial bravado, the opponent's power vastly exceeded expectations.
And inexplicably, his authority as one approaching the bloodline's 'origin' held no sway whatsoever.
He hadn't expected full control over another bloodline's Sacred Blood, but with ten of the twelve in hand!
No effect at all was inexplicable.
'Why? Bloodlines are twelve branches from one origin. He shouldn't be utterly immune.'
It was as if the blood was an entirely separate lineage, unrelated to the origin.
Impossible, of course.
'Did he tamper with something? Or is my research wrong? No, impossible. Then what's happening now?'
His thoughts tangled, shaking his focus.
A single being had limits to absorbable power; more essences didn't mean proportional strength.
Obaifo's limit was barely 1.3 times baseline.
Hardly decisive while being relentlessly pushed.
'...I didn't want to use this. Revolutionary, did you foresee even this?'
He'd trusted his origin control alone would suffice.
Now it felt like being toyed with, but surrender wasn't an option.
Pajijijik—! Pajik—!
And from that moment,
Heinz's leisurely approach hardened into tension.