Chapter 450: The Trial That Defies Fate - 13
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 450: The Trial That Defies Fate - 13
Plenilune Castle was bustling with unseasonal activity. Visitors who had come for the Night Ebb Tide were staying near the castle. Why those who should have been preparing for the event had come here, even they didn't know, but in any case, those who arrived expecting to make a hefty profit were already spending the money they hoped to earn.
Thanks to them, Hilde and I were filling our hungry stomachs in a lively market alley. Hilde paused mid-bite, glanced toward Plenilune Castle, and spoke.
“Father, a war is raging in the castle. Don't you think we're being a little too carefree?”
“Getting anxious won't be of much help to what's happening inside. For now, let's make the best choice we can, shall we?”
“It's a little disappointing that the 'best choice' is sitting in a restaurant filling our stomachs~.”
Hilde murmured as she gazed at the ancient castle shrouded in darkness.
Something was wrong in the castle where the Progenitor resided. She felt it instinctively, without needing words. Even the drunks were casting uneasy glances at the old castle, where darkness swirled.
But their thoughts didn't go so far as to investigate. After all, major events at the castle were the business of vampires. The humans simply turned their heads and enjoyed their peaceful daily lives.
“There's no need to worry, right? It's a fight Tyrkanzyaka is bound to win. If she wins, that's the end of it. Even if she loses, she can just stop her own heart, dominate the other vampires, and then ask you to revive her heart again~.”
“I can't.”
“What?”
Having scraped my plate clean, I set down my utensils and said, “I wasn't the one who revived her heart. How could a complete stranger revive a heart in the first place? Tyr revived her own heart. I only helped her remember her forgotten past.”
“But in the end, you're the one who did it, aren't you?”
“It's hard to explain, but it's a little different from that. I am the King of Humans, and Tyr is human, so I represent her. Tyr had a powerful will to reclaim her heart. She even made a dangerous attempt to do so once.”
Ordering Finlay to dominate her. At the time, I didn't know if it was the right answer, but it was indeed a valid attempt. Luscynia also escaped his Shackles that way.
“It was almost the correct answer, but whether it was or not didn't matter much to me. As long as she had the will to try, that was enough. And as it happened, I had the means to solve it. I revived her heart on her behalf.”
“Oh? But that means you do have the ability, doesn't it?”
“My ability and will are dependent on Tyr. If Tyr were to give up her heart for the sake of smoother domination, I would respect that choice.”
I downed a glass of water and wiped my mouth with a napkin. Hilde watched my now-clean face and said, “…You're very strict, Father.”
“Me? I'm a lenient person. Especially with myself.”
Have you ever seen an animal live strictly? Just think of Azzy. As long as she had food, she was the most comfortable and happiest creature in the world. Humans are the only animals who constrict their own lives.
“Well, even if I don't help, Tyr could still escape her Shackles using Luscynia's method… but with her Elders in rebellion, that would be difficult now.”
Ordering a retainer to dominate her. How could she try that, now that she knows a rebellion would break out the moment she casts off her Shackles? Ordering an Elder to dominate her is now impossible. As for the Ain or the Yeiling, they simply lack the necessary skill in Bloodcraft.
“If what you say is true, Father, then Tyrkanzyaka will have to give one thing up. Her life or her heart.”
“There's another possibility. Becoming a Divine.”
“A Divine? Is that something you can become just by wanting to?”
“It's because you can't become one even if you want to that it might be possible. Tyr died once, and because she spread throughout the world, the race of vampires was born.”
The birth of vampires was a major event, both globally and historically. But Hilde tilted her head and asked, “But that's not a Divine, is it?”
“Correct. Because she clung to life using her power over blood, and because she continued to live out of intense hatred for the Sanctum, Tyr's power couldn't expand further and remained a power only for vampires. The Bloodcraft that stopped the moment Tyr died was no longer something for all of humanity.”
To become a Divine, that power and knowledge must belong to all humans. Because Tyrkanzyaka lived and led the vampires, her power became a special ability granted only to vampires and their retainers. Specialness cannot change humanity, because 'specialness' is its own reason and power. Only the ordinary can change humanity.
“But now, if Tyr's heart is about to be stopped because of her retainers' rebellion… she might find a way to make it beat again with her own power. After all, she saw and experienced so much while traveling with us.”
“Aha! So you even planned for her to become a Divine! You're truly amazing…!”
“Well, it's less of a plan and more of a…”
A test.
Just then.
CRASH. A dull, heavy sound echoed. It was the sound of a massive, powerful impact against the castle walls. People on the street startled and looked around.
“What was that?! An earthquake?”
“The sound came from the old castle…?”
“What's going on?”
The answer to their question soon revealed itself.
CRACKLE. CRUNCH. A pitch-black arm burst through the castle wall. A jet-black giant, wearing the old castle like clothing, roared as if suffocating. The darkness surrounding the castle trembled, amplifying the giant's cry.
[KYAAAAAAAAK-!]
A scream filled with enough hatred to tear the world apart. The people, finally terrified, stared at the giant that had broken free from Plenilune Castle as if being born from it.
“Aaaah!”
“What is that? Is it an Elder's power?”
“Sh-should we run?”
The people of the duchy are something else. If it were me, I would've run the moment I saw that thing. I guess living with monsters like the Elders has dulled their sense of crisis.
Then again, it must be hard for livestock in a pen to even consider the option of escape.
“That giant… it strangely resembles Tyrkanzyaka~. Is that the Divine you were talking about, Father?”
“No. That's…”
My murmur was drowned out by a roar from within. As the arm moved violently, the darkness swirled and was sucked in. The sounds of shattering, breaking, and screaming—all sorts of ominous signs radiated from the old castle. A dark red energy surged from the cracks. It was as if Plenilune Castle itself was bleeding.
RUMBLE. Broken pieces of the castle wall fell to the ground. A cloud of dust, different from the darkness, billowed out. A fierce battle was taking place.
If Tyr had simply dominated them all again, this wouldn't be happening. In any case.
“…It seems she intends to remain human.”
“That thing? It doesn't look human at all!”
“You can feel its will to live, can't you? She chose to fight back. Wow, how strange. I thought a Tyr who has wielded only her power for a thousand years would have stopped her heart and reclaimed her power to solve this…”
To think she'd choose to fight back to avoid giving up her heart. She must even be feeling pain right now.
Reviving her heart and regaining her senses was what Tyr had wanted. However, a wish always meets obstacles. I wondered what the outcome would be when the Elders' desires, fanned anew by Tyr's own, collided. It seems Tyr's desire was more precious and intense than I'd imagined.
“She hasn't stopped her heart. She's fighting them herself. Haha. This is unexpected.”
The Tyr I had read was a weaker person than I thought. Having already lost everything, she had only been unrestrained in a world where thoughts alone could solve everything. She longed for something to lean on, something she could cherish.
I granted Tyr's wish. She regained her life, only to be thrown naked into an ordinary world where her body, her strength, and her surroundings didn't bend to her will. In this harsh world, I thought Tyr would make the easier choice… but it was the opposite.
Perhaps it's because it was a heart I helped revive. She may be human, but it's hard to say.
“Father, why are you smiling?”
“Hm?”
“According to you, isn't this a bad thing? Tyrkanzyaka chose to fight with force, and whether she wins or loses, her authority will take a huge blow. Either way, it's a bad outcome.”
“Why? It's great. It's so human.”
Hilde gaped, dumbfounded. Be that as it may, I felt a strange sense of excitement and pushed my plate aside.
Maybe I've become ordinary, just as 'she' said. Even as I read all sorts of thoughts among this massive crowd, even as I blend into the masses… swayed by other desires, a subtle anticipation has taken firm root. My heart is pounding.
This ordinariness is a strange thing. To think I could find a particular human special.
“Father, what should 'we' do then?”
“Is there anything to do besides cheer for Tyr? Go get some snacks over there. We can chew on them while we watch how things unfold.”
“More snacks after eating all that…? Do you have a beggar living in your stomach?”
Despite her rude words, Hilde obediently complied. After paying, she returned with an armful of snacks, and we chewed on beef jerky together.
Just then, an arm extended from the hole in the castle again. This time, the giant shadow with a clenched fist threw something in our direction. The darkness of the night sky seemed to shimmer, and then a vampire fell like a meteor, scattering crimson blood energy.
KABOOM! A vampire smashed into a building wall and scraped down its surface. Something red—whether it was blood energy or a bloodstain, it was hard to tell—drew a long streak across the wall.
“Uwaaah!”
“The giant threw something!”
“Run!”
Finally sensing a threat to their own lives, the humans scattered in a panic. Amidst the chaos, the vampire who had crashed through the wall and fallen to the ground pushed through the dust and stood up.
In that instant, Hilde grabbed my face and pulled me close. Shielding my face with her own so I wouldn't be seen, she whispered urgently, “Father, stay still!”
“…How rough!”
A vampire emerged from the rubble. It was the most elegant and noble of the great Elders, Countess Erzsebet.
Her snow-white skin was unblemished, but her dress, having scraped against the building's exterior, was in tatters. As the humans momentarily gulped at the sight of the figure revealed beneath the torn fabric, Erzsebet opened her fan with a chagrined expression. Blood energy rose like a wave, lifting her into the air.
“You must know you cannot face us with such barbaric strength, devoid of any real power... To inflict this humiliation upon me.”
Just as she was about to fly back, Erzsebet suddenly looked around.
The people were just staring blankly at the Elder who had been thrown from the sky, like livestock watching a human who had flown into their pen.
“L-Lady Erzsebet?”
“What happened?”
To livestock, a human is not an object of caution. The vampires, who always cared for and looked after them, rewarding them for the blood they took, were instead beings to be revered and followed. In a way, they were like sheep following a shepherd.
Even though they had been startled and frightened by the sight of her being thrown into a building moments before, they didn't think a vampire would harm them.
But.
“…Since we've already started this, I might as well replenish my strength a little.”
Erzsebet flicked her fan open with a sharp snap. A bead of blood formed at its tip and shot out like a bullet.
The people's curiosity turned into an equal number of screams. The blood bullet pierced through a human, creating a spray of gore. It seemed quite profitable. With just a few drops of her own blood, she had obtained enough to fill a bathtub.
The blood that flowed out of the human bodies was drawn to Erzsebet by her Bloodcraft. With the Progenitor having lost her power, Erzsebet was now the most powerful Bloodcraft user in this land. Even from a small wound, more than half the blood flowing through the victim's veins would be drawn out. Taking in the harvested blood energy, Erzsebet murmured.
“Hmm. It's not enough, but this will have to do.”
“Lady Erzsebet…! Why are you doing this to us!”
An employee, kneeling beside their fallen manager, cried out as they looked up at Erzsebet. She looked down at them as if they were an insect and replied.
“I am taking blood from the livestock I raised to obtain blood. Is there a problem?”
“B-but! We have been faithfully paying our blood tax every month! The manager even paid his yesterday…! If you take it so violently, he might die!”
“Is that something I need to know?”
“W-what?”
As she fed blood to her fan, Erzsebet spoke as if to pass the time.
“One raises livestock to take their blood. Normally, I would consider the livestock's health and take just enough so they don't die… but in an urgent situation, one must be willing to slice open the belly of the goose.”
“That's…!”
“I have gathered enough, but since this isn't just to quench my thirst, I'll need a little more.”
It wasn't that the Elder particularly wanted to kill humans. She simply needed blood. That's why she was usually very kind, but could become far more vicious and cruel when necessary.
Without even glancing at the groaning people, Erzsebet looked at the other livestock with the eyes of a predator.
“U-uugh!”
The humans of the duchy now realized it too. The vampires who had been their masters and protectors were, in the end, beasts that craved blood. Life under them was comfortable and safe, but it came at a price.
The quick-witted and decisive humans had already started to flee. But even their sharp judgment was too slow. Erzsebet fired a spray of blood at all the remaining humans. And among those 'remaining humans' were Hilde and me.
Dammit.
We've been spotted.
I kicked the table over, and Hilde deflected the blood energy with a plate infused with Qi. A mere spray of blood droplets was powerless before her Qi Deflection. The droplets were pathetically batted away.
We had successfully defended against the assault of blood droplets, but in truth, it wasn't an attack. It was merely part of the harvesting process. Her work interrupted, Erzsebet turned in anger toward the humans who dared to resist her… then she saw my face and scoffed.
“I wondered how far you had run… The darkest place is under the candlestick, as they say. To think you were hiding so calmly right under our noses, my dear consort.”