Chapter 163
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 163
Chapter Title: Fuel Efficiency
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Time rewound just a bit, to the moment when Eugene obtained the item called [Fragment of ???] and placed it by his bedside before drifting off to sleep.
As if to prove that this place was not Earth but another world entirely, two bright light sources shone amid the dark night sky dotted with constellations utterly unlike those back home.
A large, round moon glowing with a slightly yellowish light, much like the one on Earth. And a smaller one, illuminating the dark night sky.
The continent's inhabitants called it the 'Red Moon' or the 'Little Moon.' Untainted by modern pollution like exhaust fumes, it scattered its soft moonlight across the pristine land, brightly illuminating the darkened continent.
A faint anomaly appeared in the moon that bathed the world below in gentle light, as if benevolently watching over all living beings.
"Mommy~ I wanna go moon-gazing!"
"Just for a little bit, then bed, okay?"
The human girl, who usually enjoyed gazing at the moon before bed, asked her parents to open the window. Her parents warmly regarded their daughter and, as always, opened it for her sake.
While preparing for the younger sibling their daughter had said she wanted as a birthday gift, they suddenly heard their daughter—who had been quietly sitting on her bed, peering out the window—burst into tears.
"Waaah~~!!"
"What's wrong!!"
The parents, startled by their usually well-behaved daughter who stayed quietly in her room, rushed to her side in a panic and tried to soothe her.
"The moon... the moon... Sniff!"
"What's wrong with the moon?"
Following their daughter's pointing finger toward the window, the parents hurriedly looked outside. But there was only the moon, majestically floating in the sky as always, serenely sprinkling its light across the land.
"Sweetie. What am I supposed to be looking at?"
"Eyes!"
"Hm?"
"Eyes! It looked at me! Scary! Waaah~"
"..???"
Unable to comprehend what had so terrified their daughter, the parents eventually abandoned their plans for the night and had to hold her hand until she fell asleep.
And from that day on, their daughter stopped looking up at the moon at night. No, she seemed to fear it a little.
"Why is she acting like this...?"
"Must've had a bad dream."
The couple lovingly watched over their exhausted, sleeping daughter and, while they were at it, offered a small prayer toward the moon hanging in the sky.
Toward the second moon, said to have been created by the gods for the suffering people of the continent amid the night's pitch-black darkness.
'Ah. I wanna go out.'
After locating even Desty's Life Vessel and giving her discipline a bit, I found myself blankly staring at Batori, who was starting to adapt to life in the ruins. That's when the thought suddenly hit me.
They say humans are creatures who need to go out now and then. I could almost understand why criminals get sentenced to years in prison.
Why can't I go outside... Damn this cursed system.
"Hm. So, you couldn't sense her presence when she was here...?"
"Yes. Do you know how much I turned the continent upside down searching for you, Lady Erzsebet? Yet I never sensed your presence anywhere, so I was certain...!"
"Erze. Stop dumping your work on Batori and do your own stuff."
"No! I couldn't possibly! Hand all of Lady Erzsebet's duties to me instead!"
Feeling a bit restless, I poked at Erze, who was chatting idly with Batori.
Man, she's really working her new maid to the bone now that she has one.
"I told you to clean your own bedroom yourself. That place..."
"I'm staying there now too! I did it!"
"...What about the blood from those demons we caught outside last time..."
"I mopped it up! Me!"
".........The blood from the prisoner camp..."
"That too, I..."
"Enough."
I could see why Erze had lived so lazily. Batori was handling every single task she was supposed to do, which is probably how Erze turned into such a slob.
Erze used to grumble but still get her work done when told. Now she was glued to the bed, not moving an inch...
'...Hard to say anything.'
She'd actually done quite a lot, so scolding her outright felt off. Now that she'd regained her old blood, she was undeniably the ruins' top fighting force, no matter what anyone said...
"By the way, have you fully regained your power now?"
According to what Batori had told me, the being Erze fought in the east this time was none other than another 5-star Hero.
I'd sent her east because she wanted to go, and she comes back having dunked on a 5-star Hero. You have no idea how shocked I was.
"Ahh! I still remember it so vividly. The fearless clown dared to meet Lady Erzsebet's gaze, and he started trembling, dropping to his knees right there..."
As I brought up the story, Batori began describing the scene like some fanatic, but her account was full of exaggerations, so I had to filter it.
Stripping away the hype, from what I gathered, the 5-star Hero had pulled out some trump card, but I'd neutralized it with my staff's [Status Recovery] function. Then Erze, having regained her power, tore the Hero apart...
'How strong is she?'
Not long ago, fighting another 5-star Hero, the Hero of Brilliance, had required all our core forces piling on, dumping every point we had, just to barely take him down. If Erze could maintain that level of power consistently now, there might be nothing left to fear...
"Hm... About that..."
Catching the expectant look in my eyes, Erze scratched her cheek lightly and turned her head away.
"...? What. Did you not regain your power?"
"No, my memories haven't returned, but my power should be about the same as before, no major difference. It's just..."
"Just?"
Erze avoided my gaze as she spoke.
"Well... the blood consumption is a bit heavy now."
"Is that all?"
I'd braced for something serious, like using the power shortened her lifespan or required sacrificing lives or whatever.
"Blood was always consumed in large amounts anyway."
Erze's power was immense, but its fuel efficiency was poor.
At full throttle, even without support, she could rival a 5-star Hero like Lumen for a short time. But she could only sustain it briefly. Once the blood was depleted, no regeneration, no proper attacks.
To output that much, she habitually drained blood from the ruins' minions and prisoners, plus bought blood from various races via the Dungeon Merchant...
"Should be manageable enough now, right?"
Even though she said consumption had worsened—meaning fuel efficiency tanked—I replied confidently.
After all, we had the Saintess Jeanne now. Someone who could heal blood-draining demons quickly, a unicorn with high-grade blood, and worst case, my [Status Recovery].
No matter how bad the efficiency, we could handle it...
"How much worse?"
"About 2..."
"2 times? That's still manage..."
"20 times..."
"......"
Uh. That's rough.
Erze regaining her power was undoubtedly great news. Even with the high cost, having a force that could overwhelm a 5-star Hero—an asymmetric powerhouse—was a win. A win, but...
"Hoo..."
Erze tossed Lilith aside like a used rag after draining her blood and let out a small sigh.
Lilith, who had been stuck as Erze's blood bag while constantly healed by the Saintess at her side, looked miserable... No, why was she faintly blushing?
Anyway, after guzzling a ton of blood from the ruins' resident with the tastiest blood—as certified by Erze herself—she took a deep breath, her eyes flashed, and she unleashed her blood.
"Ooh..."
"This is...!"
The demons who'd come to watch Erze's power demonstration all shivered, faces taut with tension.
Those who'd become her kin through her blood knelt in tears, and beside them, Batori knelt too.
'What are you doing.'
I gave Batori a dumbfounded look, then signaled Erze as her aura settled. She floated above, red halo of blood overhead, crimson wings flapping.
-Swish.
Erze raised her hand toward the undeads prepared for the test.
"Damn it. Treating my subjects like this...!!!"
Why are they yours? I 'collected' them, so they're mine.
I ignored Desty's sudden outburst of rage from the side and focused intently on Erze's display.
-Pop!!
"...Huh?"
But even though I'd widened my eyes not to miss a second, I wondered if I'd blacked out for a moment.
Just a blink. The ferocious undead horde was enveloped in blood and evaporated in an instant.
'What the...'
The undead I'd just summoned were Desmond's creations—another of the Seven Deadly Sins had made them personally. Other demons knowledgeable in undead said each one surpassed mid-tier monsters.
Their leader-class, like the Death Knights, rivaled high-tier monsters...
'How long did it take? 1 second?'
In the blink of an eye, all wiped out. Erze, having shown this briefly, panted and her halo vanished, form reverting.
"Hoo... That's the limit with the blood I just drank."
"Tch... Fuel efficiency really sucks."
The amount from Lilith and the unicorn she brought was probably over 100L. For humans, that's blood from 20-30 people. And that's just for that short burst?
With lower-grade blood than Lilith's or the unicorn's, efficiency would drop even more.
'Still... damn strong.'
Still, I decided to stay positive. Efficiency was transcendentally bad, but the payoff was real. If we supplied enough blood for 3 minutes at full power, Erze could solo a 5-star Hero.
"What if she drinks Lilith's blood daily? Assuming we add Jeanne too."
"Not enough. Even that dream demon's high-grade blood falls short compared to the essential blood I used against that clown. But it'd handle 5-star Heroes comfortably."
"Really?"
So she couldn't quite reach that transcendent power to utterly dominate the clown. But with enough of Lilith's blood, she could comfortably match 5-star Hero level?
"Tch. If only we had refined essential blood, concentrated over ages, or even dragon blood..."
Erze grumbled dissatisfied with her own display. I felt the same...
"Hm? Wait. Dragon blood?"
...Come to think of it. What was the race of the last remaining Seven Deadly Sin again?