Chapter 530: Bloody Requiem (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 530: Bloody Requiem (5)
Getting our equipment back wasn't very difficult.
Basically, the patrols inside the ancient castle were incredibly lax and lazy.
I could tell just by eavesdropping on a patrol team's conversation.
“I don’t get why our castle even needs patrols.”
“True… Now that the True Ancestor has blocked any outside intrusion, who’s going to get in?”
“My point exactly!”
With the patrolling vampires having that kind of mentality, there was no way they were doing their jobs properly.
Well… it wasn't a completely incomprehensible thought.
As they said, this place was situated in the middle of an isolated region.
Wasn't it like a remote island, cut off by a barrier that no one, except for vampires and a few allied humans, even knew how to enter?
Patrolling for an enemy that would never come was something that required an impossible level of discipline.
Thanks to them, things were easy for us.
“Ah, here it is.”
After thirty minutes of searching the second floor while avoiding the slowly strolling patrol members, I finally found it.
The storage room, piled high with the equipment of our captured comrades.
“Wow… they even organized it so neatly.”
Vampires are, by nature, obsessed with cleanliness.
They say that even when they bite into a neck to suck blood, they hate it when it dribbles from their mouths or stains their clothes.
Maybe that was why.
The equipment was organized with impeccable neatness.
It was arranged so tidily by type that I almost felt bad for touching it.
Watching this, Seo-yeon asked.
“But… can we carry all of this by ourselves?”
A very valid point.
The confiscated equipment belonged to several dozen people.
Even for Hunters who could easily lift several hundred kilograms, there was a limit to the size of the load one could carry at once.
“Don’t worry about moving the gear. For now, just find your own equipment and put it on.”
Finding our things wasn't that hard, either.
It was so clearly organized that it was easy to spot everything with just a glance around the room.
“All suited up.”
“What now?”
“What do you mean, what now?”
A magician should move things like a magician.
Just like this.
「Magic Space」
As I chanted the incantation, a pitch-black hole gaped open in mid-air.
Seeing this, the guild members' eyes widened as if they would tear.
“I-Is that… what I think it is?”
“I-I think so…?”
“How can you use subspace?”
Magic Space.
It was a spell commonly known as subspace magic.
One of the secret arts of spatial magic, it was said that within the Merlin family, only a select few who had achieved deep mastery in the field could use it.
It was the core magic behind the Merlin family's million-seller product, the ‘Subspace Series,’ which had allowed them to amass enormous wealth.
So, I could fully understand their surprise.
They had every right to be shocked that I was using spatial magic known to be a secret art of the Merlin family.
I grinned and gave them the prepared answer.
“Old man Merlin taught it to me last time.”
“……”
One by one, their mouths snapped shut.
Their expressions clearly said they had a lot to say but knew it would be useless.
How could an outsider like me learn a secret art of the Merlin family?
Wouldn't the British Royal Family issue an order for my assassination?
They must have had many questions, but this wasn't the time or place for a Q&A.
“Let’s head back now.”
“What about the Volunteer Group?”
“I was thinking we’d meet up with our comrades first and discuss that again.”
“Hmm… will that be okay? If we delay any longer, what if something happens to them…?”
Oh, dear.
They were worrying about nothing.
“It seems you’ve all forgotten something.”
“……?”
“Even if we don’t go rescue them, there’s absolutely no chance they’ll die in there.”
“What do you mean… Ah!”
Mid-sentence, the guild members gasped as if they had just remembered.
The only reason we could pretend to fall for the enemy's trap and get inside was thanks to the Volunteer Group's cooperation.
It was a dangerous path that could have resulted in considerable sacrifices.
As such, we promised them the best protection possible to prevent any unavoidable sacrifices on their part.
So, what was the best protection we could offer?
The answer was simple.
“Francis was with them, wasn’t he?”
“…I’d forgotten for a moment.”
Francis Meyer.
We had placed humanity's greatest hero not with the Raid Team, but with the priests.
To do this, we disguised him with makeup and had him wear a priest's robe.
As if that wasn't enough, we even had him carry a small holy relic to mimic a priest's divine power.
It was to ensure a faint aura of divine power, which vampires instinctively loathed, would emanate from him.
Thanks to that, he was captured along with the Volunteer Group without arousing any suspicion.
The ten Holy Bloods who inherited the True Ancestor's blood most directly?
It didn't matter.
“To put that monster of a man in any real danger, the sleeping True Ancestor would have to step in himself.”
Honestly, even that was debatable.
The True Ancestor, who had been asleep for a long time, versus Francis Meyer, who had grown even stronger since then.
Wouldn't it be a good fight now?
I knew I shouldn't say things like this, but…
“Hmm… I’m getting really curious.”
I wonder who would win.
* * *
The Raid Team and the Volunteer Group had entered the ancient castle together.
However, once inside, they were separated and taken to different locations.
He had been curious.
On what basis had they so accurately separated the Volunteer Group from the Raid Team?
He found out the answer soon enough.
“Hmm… I feel a disgusting energy from all of these guys. They must all be priests.”
Their method of classification was none other than divine power.
They had separated those who emanated the divine power they were congenitally averse to from those who did not.
“You all, follow me.”
Mingling with the priests and following the vampire from behind, he touched the small holy relic worn under his robe and breathed an inward sigh of relief.
‘Phew… that was a close call.’
To think they would separate and imprison their captives based on the presence of divine power.
If not for the divine power emanating from the holy relic, he, too, would have been separated from this group.
‘Do-jin was right.’
It was Kim Do-jin who had recommended he wear the holy relic.
He had said it was necessary to be perfectly disguised as a priest, just in case.
At the time, he had thought it was a bit excessive, but now, realizing he had been wrong, he smiled bitterly.
‘I’ve learned something new again.’
He was a remarkable young man.
Despite being young and having not even a quarter of his experience as a Hunter, he was utterly flawless.
Skill, preparedness—in every aspect, he surpassed his own younger self.
It made him wonder just how such a monster could have been born.
Perhaps that was why.
‘Thanks to him, I feel at ease.’
Every time he witnessed his excellence, he couldn't help but hope.
That perhaps he could become his spiritual successor.
That even if something were to happen to him, that young man could fulfill his role perfectly.
‘I should start thinking about it.’
He had already entered his fifties.
Even though a Hunter's aging process was much slower, it was time to start considering retirement.
No matter how much he tried to suppress it, the hope he felt for this satisfying individual he had met for the first time in his life would not be quelled.
He was smiling contentedly and following the vampire with the other priests when it happened.
“Hoh… are all of these individuals priests?”
“Yes, my Lord Baron. They are all said to be devout priests from a place called the Vatican Orthodox Church.”
A special vampire with the title of Baron appeared.
‘A Baron…’
He supposed he was worthy of the title.
The man seemed different from an ordinary vampire in every way.
His dignified appearance and gait.
The tuxedo, which, though he couldn't tell what it was made of, perfectly accentuated the wearer's style.
And the immense power coiled within him.
He looked at the priests and let out a laugh.
“Kukuku…! Such outstanding divine power. The Duke will be very pleased.”
Another name was mentioned.
Duke.
A title clearly several ranks above Baron.
The way vampire titles were determined was obvious.
‘He must be stronger.’
The Duke would be far stronger than the Baron.
“From now on, follow me.”
The guide changed.
From an ordinary vampire to a Baron.
They ascended a spiraling staircase without pause, arriving at the 10th floor.
A man was standing there, just one floor below the very top of the castle.
The Baron stood before him and bowed his head respectfully.
“My Lord Duke, I have brought the priests.”
“Good work.”
The Duke.
Francis glanced at the middle-aged man who exuded a dignified air and immediately sensed it.
‘…He’s dangerous.’
The perilous power, perfectly contained within the man's body.
He quickly made an assessment.
What would happen if the Raid Team fought the Duke?
The answer came swiftly.
‘Just one person.’
There was only one.
Among the Raid Team, only one person could stand toe-to-toe with the Duke.
‘Kim Do-jin.’
Besides himself, there would be no one else.
This was bad.
‘To think beings like this have emerged in just ten years.’
The Duke's gaze turned to the priests.
Feeling the utterly repulsive divine power from them, a small smile formed on his lips.
“Baron, you may return. I will escort them myself.”
“…Yes, I understand.”
The Baron left the Duke's chambers with a slightly resentful expression.
Presently, the Duke turned his back.
“You will follow me.”
Another guide led them up the stairs.
Francis was curious.
What lay at the end of this path?
‘From an ordinary vampire to a Baron… from a Baron to a Duke…’
A Duke was originally the highest rank of nobility.
There was only one thing that existed above it.
A king.
‘In that case, could it be…?’
Just as the thought struck him, the Duke, having reached the final, top floor, unhesitatingly threw open a tightly shut door.
And immediately knelt.
“My King. I have brought the sacrifices.”
Then, a clear, melodious voice was heard.
“…You have done well.”
Hearing this, Francis's eyes shot open.
It was a familiar voice.
‘This is definitely…!’
How could he ever forget?
The voice of the enemy against whom he had fought the most desperate and arduous battle of his life.
‘The True Ancestor!’
Beyond the dark space, a clear, crimson gaze shot toward them.
The eyes of a predator looking at its prey.
Feeling the undiminished, fierce hostility, he thought.
‘…It might be today.’
He thought that his retirement, which had seemed so far away, might just come today.