Chapter 430: With Nothing Left But My Life
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 430: With Nothing Left But My Life
Back in the Abyss, Tyr gave me a drop of her original blood. She handed it over as if doing me a great favor, claiming she had no other treasures of value, and I let my skewer absorb it.
Things got a bit muddled after Tyr lost her dominion, but even though the Regressor's original blood was taken away, the single drop my skewer had absorbed remained.
And the skewer, imbued with that original blood, had luckily remained intact through all the chaos.
No, it was intact because it was that particular skewer.
The skewer shot up from between the broken desks—a move I had kept hidden beneath one during our conversation. Its glowing red tip aimed for Lutric’s arm.
‘Fool. Does he not know how meaningless a blade is against a vampire?’
Far from stopping, Lutric pressed forward with even greater force, intending to power through the skewer’s strike and attack me with the momentum.
‘Vampires don't get injured. Blades that draw blood are meaningless. A shield or a hammer might have been somewhat effective... But if he knew that, he wouldn't have provoked me in the first place. Your foolishness will be your undoing, Consort!’
I’ll return those words right back to you.
No one else is killing you. With the Elder dead and Tyr’s dominion gone, you’ve finally earned the right to die. Or to put it another way, the right to live.
They, who were once the Elder's hands and feet, have finally become human.
The skewer tore into his body. He, who had planned to ignore it and press his attack, faltered at the unusual sensation. There should have been some resistance, but my skewer ripped through his blood-energy-filled body as if it were paper.
“What—!”
No time to hesitate. I flicked my wrist, slashing wide with the skewer. His flesh tore like paper, spilling blood and gore. My old pickpocketing skills hadn't deserted me; I shredded his right arm to ribbons.
But my opponent was a vampire, the kind who frequently discards an arm or two. A loss like this was routine.
“Original blood! So you had an ace up your sleeve!”
‘In that case, how about this!’
He instantly devised a counter, twisting his left arm and right leg for a two-pronged attack. He even deliberately pulled back the point of impact. Now, even if I intercepted his strike, his whip-like limbs would coil around and ensnare me.
It really is like fighting a whip. He’s experienced, skilled, and adept at wearing down human opponents. If this were a one-on-one fight, I wouldn’t have stood a chance in hell.
If it were one-on-one.
Thwip.
Crimson threads enveloped Lutric’s entire body. Behind him, Countess Erte had extended a multitude of Blood Silk, binding him in place.
“Consort! Get away!”
He'd turned his back to an enemy that used threads. That single opening had been his only chance to attack. Countess Erte did not miss the opportunity created by his overextended limbs. She, too, was a veteran of countless battles.
Having restrained Lutric to protect me, Countess Erte shouted.
“I will take responsibility for this traitor's annihilation… Consort?”
“I'll take responsibility.”
I nonchalantly stabbed both of his shoulders with the skewer. It took some effort, but thanks to the original blood, I severed his left arm without much trouble. Lutric thrashed wildly, still trying to kill me, but the Countess merely tightened and loosened her Blood Silk, keeping him firmly in her grasp.
Countess Erte is much better at fighting vampires. It’s as if she’s been training for it her whole life. In any case, after pinning one of his legs with the skewer, I finally had a moment to breathe and let out a long sigh.
“How does it feel? To be brought to your knees by a pet?”
Wounds inflicted by original blood don't regenerate properly. To make matters worse for him, Countess Erte had pierced his severed limbs with her Blood Silk, sealing them. After a few more failed attempts to resist, Lutric muttered in hollow defeat.
“Khh. To think the Progenitor's much-rumored Consort is such a hooligan... The nation is doomed.”
“Says the one who kicked the nation to the curb. How does treason taste?”
“The taste of treason? After you insulted the Ain who lost their Elder? I merely did what had to be done.”
“But when the Elder was alive and Tyr's dominion was intact, you couldn't do what 'had to be done,' could you?”
I said, pressing down hard on the skewer in his thigh with my foot.
“Serves you right. To finally gain your freedom, only to choose suicide as your first act. For the crime of daring to defy the Progenitor's Consort, I'll grant you the death you wish for.”
“…From the day the Elder passed, I was prepared to be abandoned someday, but I never imagined I would be annihilated at the hands of the Consort.”
Having lost both the strength and the will to resist, Lutric muttered self-deprecatingly.
“Annihilate me.”
‘I already considered myself a dead man… but this is a meaningful death. If I die because of the Consort's tyranny, the other wavering covens will surely join our cause.’
Reading his thoughts, I learned that Luscynia's coven was plotting a rebellion. Against none other than the Progenitor, Tyr.
‘Ten years since Elder Luscynia's annihilation. In all that time, we have been nothing. Ain who lose their Elder are fated to disappear. Only the Progenitor could have taken us in... but even she cast off her shackles and abandoned us.’
They were the ones who had most desperately wished for the Progenitor's return. Because the Progenitor could have punished Lyre, taken her original blood, and appointed a new Elder... or even taken them in herself.
But the Progenitor who returned after so long was completely different.
‘Revenge on the Progenitor who abandoned us.’
What a grand reason for a rebellion. The only problem is that, for a vampire, it's a perfectly understandable one.
I've read all I need to. Good grief. All I did was free them from their shackles, and this is what it leads to.
Countess Erte gave me a look. It meant, Can I kill him now? But there was still one more thing I wanted to ask.
Pulling the skewer from his thigh, I asked casually, as if it were an afterthought.
“You said earlier, didn't you? That you were sensitive about matters concerning the Consort for... personal reasons.”
“…”
Lutric didn't answer. It didn't matter. A mind reader can get an answer without hearing it.
“Did Elder Luscynia have a consort, too? I heard he was quite cruel to humans... Then again, people like that tend to fall hard when they do fall.”
“…You talk too much.”
“What was she like? He must have cherished his consort more than his own kind, right? You talk a big game about pets and what not, but you're quite used to being treated as less than one, aren't you? I wonder why you decided to pick a fight with me all of a sudden.”
Vampires are not ruled by emotion. They're the type to coolly make plans even on the verge of annihilation rather than feel fear. Still, could he truly have no regrets right before death?
Of course, he wasn't foolish enough to leak the rebellion's plans just because I provoked him. However, he did possess enough humanity to leave me with one last unpleasant remark before he died.
“That bitch is dead. She took Elder Luscynia's grace for granted and acted out, so she was annihilated. By the Elder's own hand.”
Even as his long life came to a close, Lutric sneered at me, his eyes flashing.
“And you will meet the same end.”
He meant it as a curse, but thanks. That was information I really wanted to know. I turned to Countess Erte, who was starting to look strained.
“Countess Erte. Should I step outside for a moment?”
“I would appreciate that.”
“Ah, right. Before I go.”
To help things along, I gave the skewer one last twirl. Gripping it firmly with one hand and steadying it with the other, I aimed for Lutric's heart.
“Farewell, Lutric. The desires of the dominated only gain meaning once they are free from domination. It's both surprising and a pity that the first desire you had upon being freed... was revenge against that very domination.”
‘Such pointless courtesy and nonsense right before killing me. He talks far too much.’
To choose rebellion as his first act after gaining freedom... he must have either despised his domination terribly, or missed it with a piercing longing. It had to be one of the two.
Or perhaps both.
“Since you, too, are human, I will respect that will.”
‘…Will?’
Shunk. I plunged the skewer deep into his heart. Lutric’s consciousness wavered. A vampire wouldn’t die from this alone, but the true-blood-imbued skewer dealt a decisive blow. It had steadily chipped away at his immortality, which would surely help the Countess finish the job.
As his consciousness faded, certain that this was the end, Lutric thought.
‘My long life is coming to an end... but I feel none of the regret humans speak of. Is it because I am a vampire, or because I truly acted of my own will?’
Lutric had been a mere limb, living a life dedicated to faithfully carrying out his Elder’s commands. The Elder’s word was absolute. Trapped within the Blood Shackles, he had moved like a puppet, never even afforded the chance to doubt.
Countless other Ain like him had died as limbs... but Lutric alone died as a human. He wasn't dead yet, but he would be.
As his consciousness broke, his Bloodcraft weakened. Countess Erte released her tight grip on the Blood Silk. She moved to face him and plunged the threads into his torn chest, stitching the wound shut to prevent it from healing as she spoke.
“I will claim the traitor's blood and heart. This may be an unpleasant sight for a human.”
“I'll step out for a bit. Come get me when you're done.”
“Don't go too far. There may be sympathizers.”
“I'll be in the room right next door.”
I dusted off my hands and stepped outside. A quick glance back revealed Countess Erte thrusting her hand into Lutric’s chest. With her hand buried inside him, she seized control of his Bloodcraft and brought it to a halt.
Because she was not a superior Elder, Countess Erte could not claim Lutric's blood for herself. All she could do was release his blood—the very power that had composed and moved him—back into the world.
That was enough. Annihilation, after all, leaves not even a trace behind.
The existence known as Lutric melted into the world. I watched for a moment before leaving.
The hospital where the Doctor Sage had stayed was more peaceful than I expected. I heard little pain or groaning, only the cheerful chatter of recovering patients. Almost none of Luscynia’s coven remained. Instead, the humans whose lives the Doctor Sage had saved were now volunteering as nurses, tending to the sick.
As I walked slowly, a girl in a nurse's uniform cautiously approached and asked me a question.
“Excuse me. I heard a loud noise from over there just now. Did something happen?”
It wasn't hard to tell her. I told her the truth of what happened.
“I just finished purging one of the Ain who dared to be disrespectful to the Progenitor's Consort. I did a good job, right?”
“Father. Have you finally lost your mind?”
What? Why?
Why am I getting this from someone playing nurse here?