Chapter 452: Trial That Defies Fate - 15
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 452: Trial That Defies Fate - 15
Vines, nurtured on blood, scaled the crimson tide. Having fed on the sanguine energy, the vines spread their branches and unfurled their leaves, blanketing the river of blood.
“Druidism? No, this is from the Tree of Corruption…”
Hilde, once a Crusader and the very person who had stolen a seed from the Tree of Corruption, immediately identified my power.
“Just as I’d expect from you, Father. You can wield all the powers of the Divine.”
“Not all of them. Only the ones I know.”
“Well, you are the King of Humans, after all. I suppose that means you can do anything a human can do, right? Hehe. I think I understand why the Sanctum was so wary of you.”
“I wonder. Was there really a need for such caution?”
Just because you have the knowledge doesn't mean you can use it well, right? I'm the same. The powers of the Divine etched into the world can be used by anyone who has been taught, but their effects vary wildly depending on the individual's skill. I can just use them more simply and effectively; calling my use of them ‘powerful’ would be a bit of an overstatement.
“The vines will try to take root in Erzsebet. Let’s escape while she’s busy dealing with them.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to end it here?”
“Ah, about that. The Tree of Genesis and Bloodcraft don’t mix well.”
Fortunately, I didn’t need to explain. The vines, which had been stretching out as they gorged on blood, suddenly froze. Then, like snakes, they turned their heads toward us.
[Vines that drink blood… Curious, but nothing more. If they are touched by blood, they fall under my dominion.]
Erzsebet’s power of domination spread through the blood, permeating every inch of the vines. Infused with her sanguine energy, the vines began to crawl back toward me, flicking their tips like the red tongues of serpents.
Hilde gasped at the sight of dozens of vines lunging at us.
“What the hell! They’ve become Erzsebet’s soldiers!”
“I told you. They don’t mix well.”
“This is worse than a bad match-up, it’s like pouring gasoline on a fire! What are you going to do about this?!”
Dozens of vines charged. A greatsword couldn't possibly cut them all down. Hilde gripped her Holy Sword with both hands and split it in two. A momentary flash of light resolved into two slender blades, one in each of her hands. Hilde swung the twin swords, slicing through the vines, which burst like fruit, splattering the blood they had absorbed.
“Thanks for cleaning up my mess. I’ve been taking it easy on you until now, but I’m starting to think I really wouldn’t mind having you as my daughter.”
“Shut up! I’m going to jump over that roof, so follow me!”
Hilde kicked off the ground in a single bound, cutting down the vines clinging to the wall as she landed. Then she reached out a hand to help me up.
“Oh? You made it up on your own?”
“Ah, yes. I made the ground rise up a little and used the recoil.”
“…If you had a trick like that, you should have used it sooner!”
“It’s just a minor skill. You can’t change the tide of battle with little tricks like this.”
Dozens of vines pursued us as we dashed across the wide roof. They were no longer vines, but snakes wearing the skin of plants. They lunged, trying to snatch Hilde and me with their dense roots instead of fangs.
I grumbled as I fled from the very vines I had created.
“Does she like controlling them this much? She keeps attacking with the vines. It’s making me, the one who created them, feel rather embarrassed.”
“You need to be more embarrassed, Father! And on top of that, you should feel a lot more sorry toward me!”
“Is just being sorry enough?”
“You think you can get away with just words?! Of course, there has to be compensation… Run!”
We leaped from the roof, shaking off the pursuing vines. Hilde landed lightly using her Qi, while I used what little Qi I had to perform a breakfall, simultaneously using Earth Art to soften the ground before rolling once. It was galling that my shoulder still ached after all that effort.
While Hilde cut down the pursuing vines, I ran ahead. Since I was slower than her, it was my duty to create some distance while she was occupied. It was the best I could do, being the one carried along.
As I bounded forward, using even Earth Art to my advantage, a red carpet unfurled before me. As if to welcome me.
Ah, wait a minute.
“One born a noble cannot stoop to chasing the tail of a beast. It is best to drive it into a trap of its own making.”
I’d thought there were an awful lot of vines. It was a ploy to lure me in.
I looked around. Vines, vines, and more vines. A flow of blood is forced to converge and form a current, but vines have no such constraint. Surrounded by the vines I had modified, Erzsebet folded her fan.
“I quite like the vines. They are not beautiful, but they would look good as wall decorations. I shall make good use of your final legacy.”
“Uh, hey. I have one more gift for you.”
“If you mean your head, I shall take it soon enough. Be patient.”
“No, not that. I tucked a card in among the vines.”
Vampires cannot be fought with mere human skill. What’s the point of practicing your swordsmanship for a hundred days? If stabbing them in the gut doesn’t kill them, it’s all for nothing.
Historically, there were two ways to deal with vampires. Wait for the sun to rise, or borrow the power of magic.
The Three of Clovers. The beginning of humanity, which gifted us light and heat. The fiery mana had finished gathering the surrounding kindling, ready to burn.
What I had modified was a vine that absorbed blood. But that wasn’t all. Since it was obvious they would be dominated if they only absorbed blood, I grafted one more thing from the Tree of Genesis.
Plants burn well. As long as they aren’t waterlogged, every part of a plant can be used as fuel. A plant that has rapidly expended its moisture to grow in size becomes more flammable the larger it gets.
In short, Erzsebet was standing inside a bomb. And I had just lit the fuse.
“Set. Celsius.”
The card responded to my mana, unleashing the power it held within.
The flame was as red as blood, but bright. The fire, erupting as if in an explosion, consumed everything around it. The primeval gluttony, a fire horse that devours all it touches and turns it to ash, raged along the vines. An immense heat washed over me. If Hilde hadn’t arrived just in time to pull me away, I would have been sent tumbling into the distance.
Shielding me, Hilde covered her mouth with her hand and grumbled.
“Ugh. If you’re going to do something like this, give me a heads-up!”
“You must have guessed when the vines were taken over, didn’t you?”
“I thought you’d poisoned them or something! I didn’t think you’d set them on fire!”
It’s not like poison would have worked anyway. What good is poison on a dead body? When all is said and done, the direct approach is best. Besides, fire has always been the most effective weapon against vampires.
…Well. It would have been nice if that had killed her.
“Look out!”
Hilde swung her Holy Sword. Light traced an arc through the air, slicing through the smoke and cutting down a blade of blood that flew toward us. The shattered blood splattered in all directions.
“…Tsk. I wasted too much time in my excitement. At this rate…”
Crackle, crackle. After the initial explosion, Erzsebet emerged from the slightly subsided flames, parting the smoke.
Her clothes, unable to withstand the blast, were tattered and burned away. Yet Erzsebet’s skin was only slightly smudged with soot and reddened. It was still flawlessly smooth.
An explosion of this magnitude was not enough to burn away Erzsebet’s sanguine energy. Blood is a liquid. In a pure contest of power between water and fire, Erzsebet had won a landslide victory.
Still, it should have hurt a little or at least been disorienting. Was it really okay for her to be this unscathed?
“I did not wish to exert myself physically…”
Erzsebet brandished her fan. A cracking sound came from the blood-soaked folding fan, and a tempest erupted from its tip, blowing the flames and smoke far away.
Her monstrous strength was one thing, but her skill in manipulating the wind with a fan was also superb. Erzsebet aimed the fan at Hilde and whispered coolly.
“I have already shown an unsightly form. I shall now kill you without further ado.”
Countess Erzsebet. Even before she became a vampire, she drank blood and filled her bathtubs with it. How was that possible for a delicate noblewoman? Power? Political savvy?
No, it was martial prowess. Even before becoming a vampire, Erzsebet was a skilled Qi Practitioner who had mastered formidable Qi Arts. She simply hadn’t felt the need to use them until now, but her own abilities were considerable.
Hmph. It would have been easier if she’d just kept fighting with the vines. Still, we held out for quite a while.
“Father. Do you have another plan?”
She asks at the right time. I answered Hilde’s question with a confident smile.
“I sent a signal, so reinforcements will be here soon.”
“…I’m actually starting to be impressed. How many moves ahead are you thinking, Father?”
“I didn’t exactly predict this. I’m just the type to scatter bait in every direction. You never know when you might need to reel it in.”
Anyone with business here would come running after seeing an explosion of this scale. Now, all we have to do is hold on until then…
“Madam Erzsebet.”
Are they here? Huh. Wait. An Ain? One of Erzsebet’s?
These aren’t my reinforcements, are they?
“You’ve come, Katalina. What is the situation?”
“The battle is turning against us, my lady. I have come as summoned, but you must proceed to the castle with haste.”
“I will be there shortly, once I have finished here. Lend me your aid.”
“As you command.”
Led by Katalina, five Ain surrounded Hilde and me. We can’t even beat one Elder, and now there are five Ain. Honestly, even if Hilde and I were at full strength, taking on more than three would be difficult.
Where the hell are my reinforcements?
*
Death was descending upon the streets swept by the Elder. Humans lay bleeding everywhere, on the verge of death. The survivors, grateful for their luck, let out sighs of both pity and relief.
And with death, she arrived. A nurse’s uniform with an apron, a wimple on her head. Pale skin and red eyes. The people who belatedly recognized the Elder, Lyre Nightingale, screamed and backed away.
“A vampire…”
“Eek! Run!”
“The Elder is trying to kill us all!”
“We have to fight back…”
Amidst the chaos and fear, Lyre calmly counted.
Thirty-two on the brink of death. Eighty-three dying from blood loss. Including various minor injuries, the total was close to two hundred.
And for this number, Lyre alone was sufficient.
Lyre removed her wimple and pulled out her hairpin. Her hair, like ebony, which had been resting peacefully under the wimple, cascaded down. With the hairpin-knife, she sliced off a lock of her hair.
The scattering strands of hair began to wriggle like threadworms. Lyre used her Bloodcraft with precision to control her hair. The jet-black strands, sensing the scent of blood, moved toward the humans’ wounds.
“Aargh! Get away from me, you monster!”
Terrified humans kicked out, but the finely scattered hairs evaded all resistance and burrowed into their wounds. Just as the horror-stricken humans screamed…
Stitch, stitch, stitch, stitch. The strands crisscrossed the wounds in a zigzag pattern before tying themselves into knots, stopping in place as if suturing the flesh.
If Erzsebet’s power of domination was to gather blood, Lyre’s was to return it. She forcibly seized and controlled the weakening blood flow of the dying. She turned back the blood that tried to escape their bodies and accelerated their circulation to compensate for their slowing heartbeats.
However, because Erzsebet had just collected a vast amount of blood, the absolute quantity was now insufficient. Lyre used her reserved blood to put out the most urgent fires, then shouted to the crowd.
“By the authority of an Elder, I will be collecting an emergency blood tax. Your understanding is appreciated.”
“Wha-what… Ugh!”
Her hair pierced the bodies of the healthier humans and began to suck their blood. The strands, now swollen with blood like mosquitoes, moved busily to those in need.
The amount was small, but a few of the taxpayers wore expressions of discontent. However, Lyre’s actions were to save lives. The taxpayers, having neither justification nor power, held their tongues.
External wounds were easy to deal with. All she had to do was replenish the blood and close the wounds. It wasn’t as simple as it sounded, but Lyre’s power had been honed for this very purpose.
The treatment proceeded in an instant. When it was mostly finished, one of them, a giant of a man with a powerful build, approached her.
“Miss Lyre. Erzsebet attacked us indiscriminately. She gave no reason. She was just hell-bent on collecting blood.”
The people of the Duchy, having lived as livestock for hundreds of years, felt no impulse to rebel against vampires. But refugees from other regions often brought their outside common sense with them. And outside the Duchy, people were generally hostile to vampires.
“The Progenitor’s consort and a paladin are fighting against her. I will lend my aid, so please, lend us your strength. With an Elder on our side, we can win.”
Especially if he was a former knight from a fallen kingdom, he might be willing to fight a vampire. The giant made his proposal to Lyre.
No matter the difference in power, an Elder was an Elder. If their Bloodcraft canceled each other out, Erzsebet would be left with only her delicate body. If Lyre joined the fight, they had a real chance of winning.
However.
“I’m not interested.”
Lyre flatly refused and rose to her feet. Turning her back as if she had no interest in the patient she had just treated or the other Elder, she moved away, following the scent of blood to find another patient.
Stunned for a moment, the giant shouted at Lyre’s retreating back.
“Don’t you work to save people? Stopping Erzsebet is the fastest and surest way to do that!”
“I am not interested. In how they live. In how many Erzsebet takes for sustenance, or how many become her sustenance.”
Lyre paused for a moment.
Her stopped heart showed no emotion, even when looking upon the dying. Not pity, not sorrow, not anger. Lyre could no longer feel them.
Lyre’s parents had given her life, only to take everything else away.
Daughter of an Elder. A created child. Wielded like a tool, she was turned into a vampire before she even became an adult. And her father, the Elder, ordered her to rebel. From that day on, Lyre’s life was a life lived for rebellion.
She had never decided a single thing for herself. To Lyre, emotions and will were no different from a blind man being told a story about a coloring book.
Vampires have emotions. But what if a person had never learned or felt them while living? How could one learn something they had never experienced?
So, after becoming an Elder, when she gained her freedom for the first time, she decided what she would do.
Heal humans.
The reason was simple. It was something she was good at, and no one would interfere.
Just like now.
“The treatment is finished. Well then.”
There were no more patients here. Therefore, there was no reason for Lyre to stay.
Lyre turned her eyes from those who would no longer die and set off to find other patients.