Chapter 429: Those With Nothing to Lose Are the Most Frightening.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 429: Those With Nothing to Lose Are the Most Frightening.
There's a saying: "Why use an ox-slaughtering knife to kill a chicken?" A cynical new generation might retort, "Why not?" but that's a naive take. When dealing with something small, a small tool is more useful. Advising someone to use an ox-slaughtering knife on a chicken is to view the world through the lens of a weapon, not a tool.
The ways of the world are no different. Dealing with a single Ain was not a task to ask of Tyr. Even if Tyr, the Progenitor, brought the Ain herself, I wouldn't get the results I wanted. That's why I asked Countess Erte, the one who handles the practical affairs of Plenilune Castle.
…Though this vampire, Countess Erte, was herself a big shot on par with the lord of a domain. Some consort I am. A rolling stone ordering a lord around with a jut of the chin. No wonder kingdoms fall.
Countess Erte, who had disappeared for a moment, returned shortly.
"At present, only one of Elder Luscynia's coven remains near Plenilune Castle."
"One? That's a rather small number."
"The Ain of a coven whose Elder is dormant are busy. They must take on the dormant Elder's duties as well. Elder Luscynia... did not keep many Ain, so this tendency is especially pronounced with his."
'Not that he didn't keep many. He made them often and killed them just as often, as if they were consumables, or test subjects.'
As a mind reader, I had no trouble reading the thoughts hidden behind her vague words. The more I read, the more curious I became about what kind of person the dead Elder had been. He seemed to be no ordinary madman.
"I have sent word. Do you wish to meet him?"
"Yes, let's."
"...Understood."
'It's not that he shouldn't meet him, but in these unsettling times, to specifically seek out the coven of a dead Elder...?'
Despite the doubt in her mind, Countess Erte obeyed without complaint. She was under the Lord Sanguine's order to assist me.
She only hesitated because it was me. Had it been the Lord Sanguine, she wouldn't have even allowed the question to form in her mind. She would have acted as if she were his own hands and feet.
What would happen to Countess Erte if the Lord Sanguine were to die like Luscynia? Seeing Luscynia's Ain would likely provide a rough answer.
From her thoughts, Luscynia had been an atrocious madman, the most shunned among all vampires. And yet, the place Countess Erte led me to was, surprisingly, a hospital.
Three stories. Not tall, but wide. Unlike the Bloodweaver Workshop or Plenilune Castle, which had at least a minimal sense of aesthetics, the hospital was boxy and built with an emphasis on efficiency.
In the hospital ruled by the madman's remaining coven... flowed a surprising sense of relief and joy. The humans who came here, though they might be suffering from pain, felt the relief of knowing they would now live.
As I sat in a guest room where the faint smell of blood lingered, a vampire entered, guided by Countess Erte.
"The Progenitor's consort? What is it? The Elder is gone, as are the Yeiling who claimed to be him and occupied this hospital."
He was a vampire dressed in a peculiar sleeveless gown. He spoke as if my visit were a great annoyance.
"Lutric. Watch your words. This man is a human chosen by the Progenitor herself."
"He's still just a pet, isn't he? It would be troublesome if livestock, promoted to a pet, expected to be treated as an equal."
"I believe I warned you to watch your words..."
A subtle anger emanated from Countess Erte. The faint scent of blood drifting through the hospital reacted to her Bloodcraft.
In the tense, touch-and-go situation, the one who backed down first... was the other party, Lutric.
"Tch. The sorrow of being without an Elder rears its head even here."
Sighing in displeasure, Lutric gave a slight nod and said.
"My apologies. Our circumstances being what they are, I was a bit sensitive regarding the consort. So, what brings the consort here?"
I don't know if a simple 'sorry' cuts it after picking a fight like that, but whatever. With a moment to spare, I quietly read Lutric's thoughts.
Hmm. Aha. Oho.
Even for a mad retainer of a mad Elder, to just throw the word 'pet' at the Progenitor's consort... He'd be in a lot of trouble if that 'pet' went tattling.
An Ain is an Elder's hands and feet, and the Progenitor is the lord of those Elders. Like with Countess Erte, if you look at it objectively, my rank is higher. Yet this Ain just called me a pet.
To say he's forgotten his place... would be accurate. With his direct superior, the Elder, gone, his place in the hierarchy has vanished.
But is that all there is to it? Of course not. Lutric intended it, to some extent.
'The Progenitor's consort came in person? He's walked right into the tiger's gaping maw.'
Because behind Lutric's indifferent expression, a tremendous secret shimmered.
'Thank you. Thanks to you being cooped up in the castle with the Progenitor for a few days, it was easy for us to move. Valdamir and the other Elders were all loitering around Plenilune Castle, so they couldn't figure out what we were doing. Your existence is helpful... I'll kill you in front of the Progenitor someday, but for now, I'll let you be.'
Wow. This is the first time I've read thoughts of such blatant rebellion. I'm a little surprised. Plotting a revolt right under the nose of Plenilune Castle? He must be pretty confident in his acting.
Then again, perhaps because he's a vampire, his expression and gestures show no sign of anxiety. That very emotionlessness is unnatural, but because he's a vampire, even that unnaturalness feels natural.
I came to investigate Luscynia's death and ended up reading something this interesting. Should I call this good luck or bad?
One thing's for sure, though. I'm a little pissed off.
"Consort?"
"Haha. No, it's just that I'm a little offended."
I scratched my head and replied with a cold smile.
"A retainer of Tyr's retainer, and a lizard's tail that's even lost its Elder, has the gall to call me a pet? Seriously. Just because you're a vampire, does that mean you wear your liver on the outside? Or should I mince everything but your liver and pickle it for you?"
The one most surprised by my harsh words was Countess Erte. She, who had been defending me against the other's rudeness, now looked at me in a sudden predicament. As expected of a vampire, it didn't show much, but Countess Erte was facing the greatest challenge of her vampiric life.
Surprisingly, Lutric, who had been insulted to his face, remained calm.
"A provocation?"
"You're the one who started it. I am the King of Humans, and even the Progenitor you all worship like a god is mine. I may not be a lord or a retainer like you lot, but I won't stand for some puppet blathering on about me being a pet."
Since ancient times, the model consort was one who borrowed the authority of the powerful to act like a tyrant. As I went from running wild to completely losing control, Lutric, though flustered, was secretly pleased. It gave him a pretext.
I provoked him further.
"Do you want to die? Then I'll kill you. Another one of your kind acted up in front of me and was executed. I'll send one more to keep him company so he won't be lonely."
Unable to bear it any longer, Countess Erte shouted.
"Consort, stop!"
"Oh? Countess Erte, didn't the Lord Sanguine order you to assist me? Why are you telling me to stop?"
"It's for your own good! You're not usually like this, why so suddenly!"
"Why so suddenly? Did he have a good reason to insult me? Is that any way to speak to a guest brought here personally by Tyr?"
While Erte and I argued, Lutric's mind raced.
'I thought he'd know his place since he's with the Progenitor, but I never imagined he'd be this reckless. What should I do? I want to keep the Progenitor off her guard until the big day. If I lay a hand on her consort here...'
What's there to think about? I've even given you an excuse on purpose.
The Elder is dead, and Tyr has lost her dominion. The other vampires are still trapped in their shackles, but Luscynia's retainers have completely escaped the Blood Shackles. Nothing binds you anymore.
Not even the prospect of death.
'...However, Erte witnessed the consort's provocation first. He gave me a reason, so she should understand if I attack him. Whatever the outcome, it shouldn't affect the plan.'
Did he erase the fact that he started it from his memory? How despicable.
'Thank you, consort. You diverted the Progenitor's eyes, took away her dominion, and even gave me a pretext. You are the one who gave us, who should have withered away with our Elder's death, a chance at freedom. Though I'm sure you didn't intend it.'
Still, since you said thanks, I'll let it slide. If you're going to do it, do it quickly.
Because I did intend it.
"Though we have lost our Elder... we have not lost our pride."
Sensing the escalating energy, Countess Erte shouted urgently.
"Lutric, don't do something foolish!"
"The foolishness has already occurred. Now it's just a matter of who can go further, and how far! That is all!"
Lutric raised his arm. On the shoulder of his sleeveless gown, torn threads were visible. It must have once been a gown with full sleeves, but someone had ripped them off with immense force, turning it sleeveless.
What could have torn the sleeves? The answer was revealed at once.
Lutric's arm, exposed by the sleeveless gown, twisted. As if it had suddenly grown multiple joints, his right arm bent eight times like a nine-section whip, coiling into a circle. With a grin, Lutric stepped forward and lashed out with his right arm like a whip.
Luscynia was a master of Blood Aura Techniques. The coven of an Elder who researched the very structure of the body uses their bodies as 'tools'.
Jazra learned to use his arms like wings; Lutric learned to use his body like a whip.
It was a strike launched by severing his bones strand by strand, infusing his muscles with elasticity using blood, and combining blood aura with martial arts. The essence of a technique that maximized destructive power, even at the cost of breaking one's own body. The explosive force generated at the tip of the whip surpassed that of Historia's bullets.
The glowing red nail on his right fingertip rushed forward at a speed invisible to the eye. A strike that, if it connected, could neither be blocked nor dodged, not even by a boulder.
Just then, a red line was drawn before my eyes.
Slice.
A red light flashed before my eyes, and when I came to my senses, Lutric's arm had been sliced into five pieces and was scattering in mid-air. The severed fingers and bizarrely shaped joints danced erratically.
As his arm was being severed, Lutric muttered.
"Blood Silk...!"
Five strands of taut red thread had intercepted Lutric's trajectory. The strike, launched with enough force to destroy himself, had ended up wounding him instead. By simply reading the attack and setting up her Blood Silk, Countess Erte had severed Lutric's arm.
Lutric spoke as he regenerated his arm.
"You've learned the technique of another coven. Have you no pride?"
"How dare you attack the Progenitor's consort? Have you lost your mind?"
Lutric's provocation and my response had been problematic, but they were ultimately just trouble. Lutric's attack, however, carried clear killing intent, and that made Countess Erte serious.
"This is treason, Lutric. From this moment on, I shall consider Lutric, Ain of Luscynia, a traitor, and I will annihilate you!"
"This moment? No, you're wrong, Erte."
Lutric grinned.
"From the moment Elder Luscynia died so meaninglessly, we were traitors!"
He shook his shoulder. Blood surged from the severed surface, and the pieces reconnected as if threaded together. The vampire, having regenerated his arm in an instant, charged forward with a ferocious cry.
"Die!"
"You dare!"
Countess Erte stabbed her own body, scattering her Blood Silk. A red spiderweb spread out before me, separating me from Lutric. The Blood Silk woven by the Countess was tough and sharp; if Lutric touched it carelessly, he would be sliced apart.
But even facing the web of Blood Silk, Lutric wore a mocking smile.
"The tauter the thread, the easier it is to break."
There's no need to destroy the entire thread. If you weaken just one spot on a taut string, it loses its tension and snaps.
Blood Silk, too, is a product of Bloodcraft. Though made from Erte's blood energy, Lutric could also exert a limited influence on it. A moment ago, the droplets of blood scattered when his arm was severed had landed on the Blood Silk. Lutric used his own Bloodcraft to move those droplets and eat away at the threads.
Countess Erte was horrified by the unfamiliar sight.
"Bloodleech...! The technique of another coven!"
"Learning techniques isn't the exclusive right of the Lord Sanguine!"
Crash. To avoid having his arm severed again, Lutric slammed into the web with his shoulder. Even the sturdy Blood Silk was no match for the corrosive Bloodleech. The web snapped with only a slight resistance. Now, the only obstacle between him and me was a single table. Countess Erte desperately reached out, but she was too late.
In a moment of mortal peril, I quickly flipped the table. But Lutric's arm, swung like a whip, tore through the table as if it were paper and, continuing on, struck at me like a bolt of red lightning.