Chapter 242
Chapter 242
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 242
Chapter Title: Vampire Rise (2)
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It was far too chaotic and disordered to be called the mental world of a single being.
'What the hell is...'
In one place, dark red rain poured down like a shower. In another, pools of blood swirled in eddies, while right beside them stretched a barren desert.
A world where fragments of shattered realms seemed forcibly pieced together and jumbled about.
-How could you devour your own kind... My power, my cherished dream...
-I don't want to die... How long do I have to hide and live...
-Research... I must research... Reverse Heaven Society, power!
And swirling through the entire space like a storm were fragments of unknowable thoughts, further disorienting the mind—
[Kuh, what is this...!]
Merely being exposed to this hostile environment was rapidly eroding his soul, hardened over ten millennia, and his sense of self, rooted in a thousand years of memory.
[...No way, are all these the lingering thoughts from devouring kin? Just how many did you consume...! No, more than that, how could you even think straight with your mental world this polluted...?]
He hurriedly wrapped himself in his vastly bloated karma from eons past like armor, protecting his sense of self as much as possible, and muttered softly.
When he first encountered that venomous blood, he'd only thought it was due to some unknown bloodline dwelling in his flesh—he hadn't anticipated that even the mental world would be in this state.
After all, the very person in question, Heinz, had been operating far too normally for that.
[Hoh, truly the primordial vampire? It's a pretty harsh environment, yet you're holding up quite well.]
As he struggled to grasp the situation,
A familiar voice echoed through the storm laden with chaos.
It belonged to the master of this mad world and his target: Heinz.
[Sorry about this. It was such a sudden visit that I haven't had time to clean up. You're the first guest, after all. Well, truth be told, it was such a mess that even I'd given up on it completely.]
Laughter-tinged mockery.
Obaipo scowled and scanned his surroundings.
But nowhere in this twisted, mingled world could he spot Heinz.
'He has no intention of facing me directly, huh... Is this place a trap set up to deal with intruders...?'
As expected, no leader of Sacred Blood rank from a major faction could possibly have a mental state this deranged.
There had to be a safe zone somewhere preserving his intact mind.
'Impressive enough even with just that...'
He gradually heightened his mental power and curled his lips.
'Seems like he's relying on this trap right now...'
A mental world flowed not by physical laws, but by the power of will and thought.
Wandering aimlessly in search of a path would only play into the opponent's hands.
[You've underestimated me too much, Heinz...!]
But he was no ordinary being either.
Obaipo concentrated his mind to the utmost, invoked the unknown authority dwelling in his soul, and took a massive step forward.
With the sole intent of reaching this world's master, Heinz.
Swoosh—
The surrounding scenery changed in an instant, as if he'd used a shrinking spell.
'Phew, let's end this quickly...'
Confident in his success, he proudly lifted his head—
Only to come face-to-face with it.
[...Ha? What the hell is that...?]
A massive rampart rising as if cleaving the world in two.
The inviolable sanctuary born from the Immortal King Hans's contamination incident: 「Soul Firewall」.
'Damn it, is he hiding inside that...?'
Mountain beyond mountain.
The overwhelming grandeur and the distant pressure that seemed utterly impenetrable no matter the method choked the breath from his lungs.
And with the erosion still seeking to devour him even now, he couldn't afford to stand idly by.
[To reach here in one go. Using such proficient power even in someone else's mental world—impressive indeed. And that power just now was surely...]
Heinz's voice resounded once more, but with no time to spare, Obaipo ignored him, marshaled all his capabilities, and charged the castle gate.
This time, pushing the revolutionary's bestowed power to its limits as well.
[...the power of the abyss? No, something different. Not something to gloss over simply, it seems. But how do you even possess such power?]
Yet no matter how many times he slammed into it, the gate showed no sign of breaking.
Heinz, confident the barrier wouldn't fall, showed interest only in other matters.
And that attitude was more than enough to grate on Obaipo, who had been ignored relentlessly even outside.
[Keh, you've been yapping nonstop...! If you're so curious, why not find out yourself? Cowering inside like a coward won't get you anywhere!]
Frustrated by the lack of progress despite his pounding, he spat out the sarcastic remark.
The response was utterly unexpected.
[...Indeed, you have a point. It seems we need a deeper conversation.]
[What...?]
No sooner had the words ended than
The fortress gate, which had shown no reaction to his relentless blows, began to tremble slightly before slowly opening, as if welcoming him from outside.
An anticlimactic opening that made all his prior efforts seem pointless.
[Come on in.]
A profoundly provocative invitation followed.
[If you're confident you won't regret it.]
An arrogant declaration from one who had flung open the very gates protecting himself—yet Obaipo ignored it and strode inside with bold confidence, as if he'd been waiting for this.
After all, it had been his goal from the start, and by now, he had no other options left.
'Idiot... You'll be the one regretting it...!'
And above all, he was confident he wouldn't lose.
'He doesn't know I can draw on another bloodline's power even in the mental world.'
The essences of Sacred Blood he had fused into his heart with his own abilities.
If he unleashed them all at once, along with the revolutionary's authority, in this critical moment he'd held back for...
'Even if temporary, my output will rise at least tenfold.'
No matter that this was Heinz's advantageous mental world—he couldn't possibly overturn that output gap alone.
Even if he generously allowed four or five times, the result would be the same.
The situation would end before he could even think of countermeasures.
Harboring such sinister intent, Obaipo boldly entered beyond the open barrier—
[You've come.]
And there, he finally faced the object of his desire: Heinz's soul-body, in the form of a glowing red human silhouette.
However, what he hadn't anticipated was...
[...What is this...?]
That Heinz wasn't the only one awaiting him in the depths of this mental world.
[Kuhuhu— What an intriguing fellow. You've got some curious things attached to you.]
A pitch-black colossal evil, gazing at him with black eyes that seemed to pierce all, as if embodying every impurity of this world.
[That power... It's really bothering me. Looks like the revolutionary pulled some trick after all?]
On the contrary, a pure white saint enveloped in radiant light and blessings, as if favored by the gods themselves, casting bright illumination around.
[Tch, no body, yet I'm strangely hungry. I wonder what it'd be like to eat that in this state? Would it satisfy the hunger?]
[Ah... I can definitely sense an odd aura from him...]
And others besides: a madman seemingly composed of dark red flames of insanity, a green figure exuding leisurely warmth like embracing sunlight...
Before he knew it, nearly ten beings had surrounded Obaipo within the castle.
'When did he call in outside help...! No, wait. That's not it? They're all this mental world's master?')
Well-versed in spells and the mental realm from his long years, he realized at a glance that the situation had taken a gravely wrong turn the moment he saw them.
In a direction utterly unfavorable to him.
'Multiple personalities...? No, there's no way mere alternate personas could have this level of presence! And their natures and calibers are all on different planes—not just a black mage on the level of the Immortal King, but a saint-like figure, even what looks like a high elf... And could that possibly be a dragon...?'
Amid them stood a golden lifeform in humanoid shape, its silhouette starkly distinct from the others.
A mighty being on the brink of extinction that even he hadn't seen in nearly three centuries.
'The most likely scenario is that he summoned heroes' souls via necromancy and sealed them inside via some grand ritual...'
At any rate, one thing was clear.
He was in deep shit right now.
Trump cards? Bestowed authorities? None of that mattered anymore.
'...Fucking hell.'
Cold sweat trickled down Obaipo's back.
Impossible for soul-bodies in a mental world to have physiological reactions, so it must've been his imagination.
[Kuhuhu— Just when my research was making some progress. To think I'd gain another clue to the abyss here! Come to think of it, this guy's from the Oath of Reverse Heaven, right? This could be a great lead in many ways.]
A chilling voice that sent shivers down his spine just from hearing it.
He instinctively glanced back, but the entrance he'd come through was already sealed shut, as if it had never opened.
[Don't worry. Just cooperate a little. I have just the thing for you! It won't hurt much. Or, to be more precise...]
Led by a shadowy figure approaching with some kind of orb in hand,
The extraordinary soul-bodies—even one would have been a handful—began closing in slyly.
And—
[...you won't feel the pain at all. Kuhahahahat!]
That was it.
Just that.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Hmm."
Heinz 2nd slowly opened his eyes and gazed quietly at the stiffened old vampire, Obaipo, before him.
Though a fair amount of time had passed in the mental world, not much time had elapsed in reality.
He slowly raised his hand to brush away the arm extended toward his forehead.
The man dangled limply, moving only as pulled, like a mannequin.
'Even if he'd surrendered, I had no intention of taking him as a subordinate.'
Obaipo had long schemed in the shadows alongside the Oath of Reverse Heaven—a cunning bastard.
The polar opposite of the carefree Briky, and highly skilled in sorcery to boot; even if subjugated, he'd remain a constant source of unease.
"The defeated offer everything to the victor."
Stab—
Without hesitation, Heinz's hand plunged into the hollow shell that was Obaipo's heart.
Unlike the crumbling body, the heart thrashed wildly in his grasp.
"This makes for a fine tribute. I'll gladly accept it."
With those words, Heinz crushed the heart in his fist.
At the same instant, along with Obaipo's blood, nine strands of pure blood—seemingly implanted via some method—were neatly drawn into his hand.
'Mm, not bad as an energy source.'
With most of the continent's vampires now under him anyway, more pure blood just meant a larger pool—nothing particularly special.
As mentioned before, even collected in bulk, it was merely one lineage among many vampire factions. Above all, he possessed its superior counterpart: 「Hybrid Evolution」.
'Not the important part right now.'
No, it was important, of course.
But there was a more pressing issue.
The change that occurred as he absorbed everything from Obaipo.
Feeling steam rising from his feverishly heated body, he regulated his condition, then slowly curled his lips at the notification window floating before his eyes.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Achievement Unlocked! You have become the Vampire Monarch 'Blood King', who unified the fractured and feuding race. You have seized dominion over most vampires in the Outerica dimension. As a reward, the special privilege 「Monarch's Authority」 is granted. You have achieved a feat that greatly impacts the world. Karma additionally increases. Heinz 2nd, who had started as a human, accidentally became a Lesser Blood vampire at the bottom rung, and eventually ascended to the pinnacle of Sacred Blood.
Had finally become a true king ruling an entire race.