Chapter 503
Chapter 503
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 503
Chapter Title: Harvest Festival (2)
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"Ptooey!"
Rakroki slowly rose to his feet, hacking up a glob of pitch-black dead blood.
Several clashes had followed their initial collision, but the outcome hadn't changed much from the first.
"...You're a monster."
He was the toughest among the nine Clan Lords—bar none—and his pulverized guts had already fully regenerated. But after charging again and again, only to be utterly overwhelmed every time, he had no choice but to admit it now.
That he couldn't take down this being alone.
His face twisting, he scanned the surroundings.
"Gah! What the hell is this?!"
"Block it! We can't let those thorns through!"
"Breaking through the barrier? A large-scale bombardment like this, over such a wide area—what the...!"
"Gaaah!"
The area around him was plunging into utter chaos.
Blood thorns rained down from the sky like a downpour, while the united vampires of the Clan Alliance desperately tried to fend them off.
To a King like him, it was merely a minor annoyance. But that was only because he was special—most of his subordinates were suffering far worse.
'This spell is still holding strong? Even while dominating me in close combat?'
Superior physical might, and no apparent limits on spellcasting either.
Was such a thing even possible?
But blocking the thorns falling from the sky wasn't the end of it.
The vast expanse of earth had been soaked by the blood seeping naturally into the ground, turning everything scarlet.
The environment in this entire region was now fully under the enemy's control—like being smack in the heart of hostile territory.
Kwachik!
Rakroki stomped down on a blood hand erupting from the ground to seize his ankle, crushing it flat as he curled his lip.
Until just moments ago, they had held dominion over this battlefield!
'And above all...'
Of course, there was a far graver issue.
His gaze turned to one of his clanmates, impaled by a blood thorn and now being dragged beneath the crimson earth.
As the pinnacle of the bloodline—a King—he could clearly sense what was happening inside that body.
'...The blood is being corrupted. External blood is being injected, warping the clan's foundational bloodline.'
This was unfolding simultaneously across the battlefield.
Not just his clanmates, but every vampire gathered here.
It was obvious what catastrophe would follow if this continued.
"Heh! This is getting interesting."
He had already heard the reports and grasped the danger.
That was precisely why he had joined this fight in the first place.
But experiencing it firsthand like this, the gravity sank into his bones deeper than he'd imagined.
'I miscalculated. That Irregular isn't something a few Lords can handle.'
To suppress it for sure, all nine of them would need to attack together.
Facing such an overwhelming foe, his heart—which had grown listless over time—began pounding fiercely with the thrill of mortal peril.
'How long has it been since I felt this rush?'
Rakroki gripped his great bloodsword tightly, battle lust igniting in his eyes.
He locked gazes with Heinz, who regarded him impassively.
He knew he couldn't win alone, but he had no intention of giving up.
"Oh?"
He wasn't the only one realizing the gravity of the situation.
Heinz, approaching with an expressionless face, paused with a low murmur of admiration.
"Finally here."
A faint smile tugged at his lips as he twisted his upper body aside.
———!
In that instant, something brushed past where his body had been.
It appeared without sound or presence, leaving only a rift torn in the air before vanishing stealthily.
Gwoooo—!
But the sudden upheaval didn't end there.
A fierce storm erupted overhead, sweeping away the blood thorns pouring down like rain.
Countless dark-crimson beasts burst from the blood mist surging like a tidal wave, tearing apart the blood streams rising from the ground and roaring ferociously.
Trajectories of light shot from afar, slithering like serpents to repeatedly target Heinz's vital points.
Changes erupted simultaneously, as if to reverse the battlefield's momentum now focused in one direction.
At the center were the newcomers who had just revealed themselves in this hellscape.
"My, my. You look a mess, Rakroki."
"So full of yourself earlier. And now you've dragged us into this."
"...Ptoo! Can't even argue. But that guy's no ordinary bastard. The moment you let your guard down, you're done."
"Well, we know that. That's why we're stepping in ourselves, isn't it?"
Kings and Queens began appearing one by one, encircling Heinz.
The Lords, unable to stomach their invaluable clan assets dropping like flies, had finally swallowed their pride and taken the field personally.
It seemed they'd need to commit more than a little overkill to reliably take down that monster.
"Seeing it up close, the intimidation is even greater than I thought."
"What the hell is it? We couldn't have missed something like that. An ancient vampire awakened from hibernation?"
The Lords hovering in the air, looking down, clicked their tongues in astonishment.
It hadn't even crossed their minds that it could be from another dimension.
Until now, every otherworlder in Nocteria had been human... and weak ones at that, with pitiful starting stats.
'Let's see. One, two, three...'
As the battlefield shifted into a new phase,
Heinz calmly counted heads.
Taking in each intruder one by one.
"...Nine. Finally all gathered."
With a satisfied nod, he even accounted for the Queen lurking under her concealment bloodline ability.
By putting on a show of dominating Rakroki while plundering vampires left and right, the ploy had paid off—all nine Lords were now assembled here without exception, right on target.
'Just now, he... saw me.'
As he basked in satisfaction,
A chill raced down Queen Ebista's spine.
Her concealment had been casually pierced, and their eyes had met head-on.
An inexplicable dread rang alarm bells in her mind.
Normally, even fellow transcendents couldn't easily detect her when she truly hid.
High vampires could neutralize human detection tools with ease, making her clan the perfect infiltrators into the human world...
'That gaze just now—it was definitely the power of Insight. Could he be connected to the Violet Clan somehow?'
Queen Ebista's Concealment and Queen Violet's Insight—natural counters.
Her mind reeling, she scowled. The ability's owner was thinking along the same lines.
"Hold on! Who the hell are you? How can you use our clan's bloodline ability?!"
Queen Violet, adorned in a lavish dress and jewelry, snarled with a twisted face.
Since revealing herself, she'd been constantly gauging Heinz with her power.
But Existence Denial had yielded nothing, leaving her inwardly frantic—until she witnessed the unbelievable.
The all-too-familiar remnants of that power lingering in the stranger's eyes.
"No idea what you're on about. Bloodline ability or wha—hm? Ah, I see. You mean Insight?"
Meeting the power in the glaring Queen's eyes triggered a memory in Heinz's mind.
Now evolved into Insight, the skill's foundation was a bloodline ability he'd seized from his first kin-devouring on Earth: Insight.
'From Gamma's subordinates in the Blood Alliance hardliners.'
Judging by the situation, that vampire must have been from her clan.
Come to think of it, Concealment—the origin of Existence Denial—was native to this dimension too...
Heinz glanced nonchalantly at Queen Ebista, now relocated and hidden again, quirking a brow dismissively.
At this point, such details hardly mattered.
"Either way, you'll all be under me soon enough."
His arrogant words echoed softly.
Utterly dismissive of them. Killing intent boiled visibly in the gazes fixed on him.
"Unbelievable. You think this situation is a joke?"
"My, could devouring kin have driven you mad? I can't understand it otherwise."
"I see! That's how you could use our clan's bloodline ability! You damn bastard—I'll kill you for sure!"
In truth, that was spot on.
Except it wasn't madness—it was a coldly rational decision.
The storm of auras pouring from those encircling him shook heaven and earth.
Nine transcendent monsters, each capable of toppling nations alone.
If they got serious, turning the entire world into hell wasn't impossible.
"Noisy."
Of course, Heinz paid their chatter no mind.
"More importantly, you lot..."
He calmly brushed off their hostility—the rulers of this world—and quietly spoke.
"...how long do you plan on looking down on me?"
From their lofty heights, oblivious to the sky's vastness.
Toward these impudent pups who knew no better.
His foot lightly pressed against the blood-soaked earth.
The next instant.
Kuuguugwang—!
The entire kilometer-wide radius sank abruptly into the ground.
"Kyaa!"
"Guh?!"
The haughty Clan Lords floating arrogantly were slammed down by the sudden gravitational surge.
No chance to react to the massive mystic that warped the world's laws without warning, as if reality itself had twisted.
"Ngh! What is this?!"
"Impossible. This aura is..."
But they too were transcendents who had shed the world's constraints.
Quickly steadying themselves and rising, they looked up at Heinz in shock.
The absolute being now emanating an utterly different aura.
"...You've been holding back this whole time?"
Rakroki's eyes twitched at the profound presence.
An opponent unscathed despite repeated assaults.
Not an eternally unreachable foe, but now...
Eududuk—
Grinding his teeth savagely, he stood.
The blood vortex swirling around his greatsword doubled its size and thickness.
"Heh heh, I don't know what's going on,"
Blood vessels bulging across his body, he burned red-hot as his bones cracked.
A trump card Lukin Berno had once unleashed: burning accumulated blood energy at once to forcibly surpass limits.
"If you want to make me submit, force me to my knees with that power!"
The moment he took a step forward,
Cause and effect snapped.
All that remained was the result: his swung sword cleaving everything.
A distant mountain was bisected diagonally, triggering a massive landslide.
"Very well."
Standing unmoved at the epicenter of destruction, Heinz nodded slowly, acknowledging his resolve.
Clutching his torn collar—sliced neatly by the sword strike—with one hand.
And plunging the other deep into his chest.
"Gahk!"
"If that's what you want, I'll gladly oblige."
For example: proof of qualification.
To fully tame these arrogant beasts and collar them, he'd need to demonstrate commensurate power.
"Phase Displacement!"
But just before his fingertips reached Rakroki's heart, the massive figure before him vanished cleanly.
"Damn it!"
"Die!"
Surging in his place: the transcendents' killing intents in a coordinated assault.
The Clan Lords, snapped alert by Rakroki's opener, launched a full barrage.
Heinz deflected it effortlessly with fluid movements, a faint smile playing on his lips.
'Not bad? This might be a golden opportunity.'
Proof of qualification wasn't just for superiors.
To utilize subordinates optimally, proper ability assessment was essential.
In that sense, this stage was perfect for gauging the Clan Lords' limits.
'Time to educate them thoroughly while I'm at it.'
Best not to leave future troubles—instill proper etiquette deep into their souls.
And so, Heinz 2nd's solo performance unfolded, all seals unleashed.
A grand finale of fireworks heralding the close of the raucous Harvest Festival that had engulfed the world.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ S.O.D. Central Branch, Amelia Continent.
"Status?"
"No change, Chairman."
High-ranking vampires from across the world had suddenly converged on one spot.
Humans, naturally, had entered a state of emergency.
"What the hell is happening?"
The Chairman sighed deeply, staring grimly at a photo on the situation room's large display.
A satellite image taken from beyond the atmosphere, high in the sky.
It showed a blood-red vortex blanketing a point on the ground, exuding an ominous aura.
"Hoo. We'll have to assume the worst and prepare."
A massive earthquake felt across the Amelia Continent had originated from that exact spot.
The damage alone was astronomical.
The best they could do was prepare as much as possible for swift response, whatever happened.
"Chairman! The clouds have cleared! Printing the latest satellite image now!"
Then, an operator delivered fresh news.
The mysterious clouds that had obscured visual, camera, and telescopic observation had parted.
All eyes, including the Chairman's, turned to the large display.
"......!"
The moment the new image appeared,
Their faces stiffened in unison, as if scripted.
"Ha!"
The Chairman recovered first, letting out an incredulous laugh despite himself.
The freshly transmitted satellite photo depicted the site of their forward base until moments ago.
"...We'll need to redraw the continental map."
——An immeasurable expanse of utter, colossal devastation.