Chapter 541: Bloody Requiem (16)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 541: Bloody Requiem (16)
My prediction was wrong.
The True Ancestor, whom I had considered the worst-case scenario, was already awake, and his power was beyond imagination.
Even Francis Meyer, hailed as humanity's greatest hero, was outmatched.
At that moment, Francis and I reached the same conclusion.
The chance of everyone getting out of here alive was infinitesimally close to zero.
Someone had to make a sacrifice.
And in this, a fundamental difference that revealed our true natures became apparent.
“Just once.”
He held up his index finger to me and said.
“I will create an opening. That’s when you’ll stab the bastard and kill him.”
Ridiculous.
I shook my head.
It was impossible in so many ways.
Creating an opening meant that for a fleeting moment, all of the True Ancestor's attention would be focused on Francis alone.
That itself seemed difficult enough, but the bigger problem came after.
Killing an opponent in a single blow with one hard-won opening?
“There’s no way that’s possible.”
“No, it is.”
He kept his finger raised and lightly poked my left chest as he answered.
“If you can just stab him right here, in the heart.”
“……”
He wasn’t wrong.
Vampires were a race renowned for their tenacity, but they too had a fatal weakness: the heart.
The moment the heart that supplied blood to the entire body was destroyed, a vampire would lose its power and collapse.
If that happened, even the True Ancestor would be powerless, and we could win.
But how?
My glare conveyed the many words I left unsaid.
Understanding my look, Francis spoke.
“It means I’ll create an opening that certain, my friend.”
He would create an opening so perfect that I could definitively stab the True Ancestor's heart…?
His explanation continued.
“Just once more. His movements and mine will stop. Stab his heart then.”
As I said before, for even a few of us to survive, someone had to be sacrificed.
For that sacrifice, I had chosen everyone except my comrades.
“Through my back.”
He had chosen himself.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
He was truly cunning.
Perhaps he was worried I'd be paralyzed by sentiment and fail to stab him.
He burned his own body and soul to create that opening he spoke of.
Yes.
Francis was about to die.
Whether I stabbed his back or not.
However, the value of his death would change depending on my actions.
If I didn't stab him, he would simply die in vain. If I did, it would be a worthy death to save his comrades.
I couldn't let that happen.
I couldn't die in his place, but I had to prevent the life he offered to save us from fading away into nothing.
I had to stop that.
I ran.
Tatatak!
And I stabbed.
Without a shred of hesitation.
Boldly.
Thrust—!
The sensation of the sword's tip digging into flesh flowed vividly up my arm and into my palm.
It was a feeling I'd experienced countless times as a Hunter, but one I'd never gotten used to.
A sensation more repulsive now than ever before.
I never knew.
That I would be the one to kill the man called humanity's greatest hero with my own hands.
I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut and escape from reality, but I couldn't.
The purpose of this sword was not yet fulfilled.
Shunk!
From his back to his chest.
The blade passed completely through Francis's body and pierced another.
“Keoheok…?!”
The True Ancestor looked down at his chest, his face a mask of disbelief as he coughed up blood.
I stab.
My senses, which had been focused solely on that one act, expanded once more.
“Francis!!”
“You, what have you done…?!”
“N-no!”
I heard them.
Countless waves of hatred, killing intent, despair, and hopelessness sent a chill down my spine.
But their reactions weren't what was important to me.
“Keuk…, keuk keuk…!”
The one I needed to watch was none other than the True Ancestor.
“This is truly… cough! I never dreamed of this.”
He laughed, spitting up blood, as if something was immensely amusing.
I could feel it.
His power, so overwhelming that I could barely sense it before, was diminishing.
But the same was true for Francis.
“I told you, didn't I…? That I'd send you to hell.”
“Hmph… You fool. This can hardly be called your victory.”
“No, it's my victory,” Francis said, shaking his head and refuting the True Ancestor's words.
“Your comrades are all dead… but mine are alive.”
“……”
His tone was one of relief, without a single grain of regret.
Even as his life crumbled away, he truly had no regrets.
Watching him, the True Ancestor squeezed his eyes shut.
His closed eyelids trembled faintly.
“How absurd. To think that my long life would be ended by a mere human like you.”
A bitterly nostalgic reflection.
When he opened his eyes again, they held an emotion I had never seen in them before.
“Hearing you say that… yes, I have a small regret.”
It was regret.
“If I had known I would die like this, I wish I had made an heir.”
The advance of the vampires who had escaped the rift and formed an army ended here.
The True Ancestor, the only one who could increase their numbers, was about to die.
Just as I thought everything could finally go back to the way it was…
“Ah, you don't have to worry about what comes next.”
A voice suddenly rang out, sending a chill down my spine.
The source of the voice… was behind the True Ancestor.
Behind him, the mist that had been scattered into tiny particles rapidly gathered to form a single shape.
The first thing to appear was an arm with long, sharp fingernails.
“For I shall carry on your legacy.”
A familiar voice.
As if not giving me time to even think who it was, the arm that appeared pierced through the True Ancestor's back.
Thwack!
“……!”
The True Ancestor convulsed.
The arm that had hastened his death soon pulled back out of his body.
Splatter!
In its blood-soaked hand was the True Ancestor's heart, still beating faintly.
Then, the rest of the figure connected to the arm began to reveal itself, piece by piece.
A black tuxedo with red accents on the cuffs and collar.
The face revealed above the pale neck was enough to shock everyone.
As if he had already guessed, the True Ancestor's lips, now even more gaunt, parted.
“…You were alive, Duke.”
As he said, the one who had appeared out of nowhere was none other than the Duke.
I couldn't understand it.
How?
Hadn't he died right before our eyes?
The Duke, now holding the True Ancestor's heart, gave a bitter smile.
“I had quite a bit of trouble, thanks to you. I almost didn't make it in time.”
“In time…”
His lips twisted.
“You were after my heart from the very beginning.”
“Kukuk. Yes, that's right.”
The moment I heard that answer, I realized.
We, and the True Ancestor…
Had all been dancing in the palm of his hand.
“To achieve my long-cherished wish, I absolutely needed your heart. But you were far too strong.”
I cut into their conversation.
“…Is that why you summoned us?”
“Yes, that's right. I predicted that with your power, you would be able to chip away at the True Ancestor's strength in one way or another.”
From the moment we entered the ancient castle until now, one question had remained unanswered.
Why did we want to come here?
Wasn't our objective to subjugate the Apostle of the Seven Deadly Sins and his minions who had made their base here, not to fight the True Ancestor?
And yet, the only enemies we had fought so far were vampires.
We hadn't seen a single minion, let alone the Apostle of the Seven Deadly Sins.
At first, I thought they had fled as soon as we arrived, but it seems that wasn't the case.
“…It was you.”
Vlad Tepes.
No, Viktor Vadim.
If he was the Apostle of the Seven Deadly Sins, everything made sense.
And as if to confirm my hypothesis, he was smiling.
A very deep, dark smile.
“You're as sharp as ever.”
It must have been deliberate.
Revealing his identity to the Guardians member who was scouting this area.
It was all a ploy to lure us here and make us fight the True Ancestor.
“Ha… haha…”
Francis laughed, utterly defeated.
“What is this? We were… completely played.”
For the first time, regret was etched on the face of the man who hadn't shown a shred of it even when throwing his life away for his comrades.
“I didn't save my comrades… I drove them to their deaths.”
He was the one who had led this operation. Realizing he'd been played from the start, he seemed to think this crisis was his fault.
I pull back the now meaningless sword.
Splurt!
At the same time, I freeze the gaping wound solid with ice and support his falling body.
“Don't blame yourself, Francis.”
“I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…”
I carry him as he repeats his apologies, heading toward our comrades.
They are frozen, stunned by the series of shocking events.
I lay Francis down in front of Ju-yeon.
“I'm counting on you. Just do your best, whatever you can.”
Then, Ju-yeon shakes her head.
“…I can't. If I do that, all my divine power will be gone.”
Depletion of divine power.
The reason she was worried about this was because of me.
She was probably concerned she wouldn't be able to heal me in time if I got injured later.
“I'll be fine.”
“You… you don't know what will happen.”
Ju-yeon bites her lip and looks away.
Pleading with her was pointless now.
“…I promise.”
“……”
“I will absolutely not die.”
That's right.
I will not die.
And I won't let anyone else die, either.
Because I was pissed.
At the fact that we had been so thoroughly played by one single bastard.
So I will live.
By any means necessary.
As I finished speaking and turned away, Ju-yeon spoke in a low voice only I could hear.
“I've felt this for a while, but… you're a real fool, Brother-in-law.”
A small laugh escaped my lips.
“I know.”
I agree.