Chapter 475: Don't Panic, It's a Trap
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 475: Don't Panic, It's a Trap
The advantage of traps is that you can accumulate them; their disadvantage is their immobility. Despite their effective and efficient killing power, traps are not favored because one cannot choose the battlefield. Power built on traps never grants initiative.
However, I had the initiative now.
Collie was waiting for nightfall. The vampires’ greatest strength was their immortality, and their winning formula was to leverage it in a war of attrition. But even for a beastkin with fur, she was still a vampire. During the day, her strength would wane and her regenerative abilities would diminish. Now that she realized I was no pushover, she would try to settle things at night, when the advantage was hers.
Their attack would come at night. They had to disrupt my human need for rest and sleep. The moment the sun set, they would seek me out and attack.
Beastkin vampires, invading in the dead of night. Possessing both the foolishness of beastkin and the dulled senses—save for night vision—of vampires, they were the most wonderful audience for my stage. If I set ten traps, they would fall for eleven.
Before night fell, I set traps in a clearing using kudzu vines. A snare trap that would seize an ankle upon contact; a classic pitfall trap with stakes at the bottom, ready to impale anyone who took a wrong step; a trap that launched a sharply carved log; another that would lash out with a heavily bent tree trunk, and so on.
“Whew. That’s one down.”
Vampires wouldn't fall for ordinary traps, but these vines and branches were anything but ordinary. The kudzu vines, ‘improved’ by the power of the Divine, the Tree of Genesis, were incredibly tough and durable. Not just a Yeiling, but even an Ain would have a hard time breaking free if they were careless.
“Heave. Ho.”
“Woof! Ho!”
“Azzy, stop getting in the way. You don't even know how to tie a knot.”
Seeing me tying the vines, Azzy must have wanted to copy me, for she grabbed a poor vine in her mouth and pulled. She wasn't even using her full strength, yet I heard the sound of the ‘improved’ kudzu vine snapping.
“Damn, she’s strong. Not even an Ain is this powerful, right?”
If she could snap the vines just by pulling, the traps were meaningless. Tch. The key to this whole operation was how long I could restrain Collie.
It would be great if Azzy could just dismember Collie and scatter her limbs across different mountain peaks, but she had no intention of doing that. If I ran, she would leave Collie and follow me, and Collie would quickly escape to rescue the Yeiling.
Wasn't there a better way? Just as I was pondering this…
“Woof! Ho! Woof… Woof?”
The thing I feared happened. When the vine couldn't hold and snapped, Azzy, who had been pulling on it, tumbled backward. She got caught in the snare trap and was yanked into the air. As she clawed at the ground to resist, she triggered the stake trap as well. A stake flew toward her. Even with her ankle bound, Azzy easily batted it away, but the broken stake spun around and tangled her up further.
In that short time, Azzy had triggered seven traps and now dangled in the air, entangled with two stakes.
…Of course, my traps were ruined in the process.
“That’s a talent in itself, you mutt! How could you set off all the traps I worked so hard to make?!”
“Woof! It was fun!”
“Don’t have fun! You just caused a huge mess!”
“Again!”
“How can you even ask for more?! That’s it. This useless mutt is getting roasted! Set, Re! Fahrenheit!”
Furious, I lit a branch on fire and approached her. Azzy’s eyes widened.
“Woof? Are you going to cook the hound now that the hunt is over?”
“That hound at least caught a rabbit! You just destroyed all the rabbit traps! And how does a dog like you even know that idiom?!”
It wasn't so bad if I thought of it as a test, but… no, it was bad. She didn't help at all and only wrecked my traps! First, I had to figure out how to untangle this mess. I squeezed my eyes shut and threw the ball.
“Fetch.”
“Woof!”
Snap. Crack. Crunch. After a brief commotion, I opened my eyes to find Azzy sitting before me, wagging her tail with the ball in her mouth. Behind her, snapped vines and broken branches lay strewn about in a pathetic display.
She was a walking disaster. Sigh. I let out a deep breath and took the ball back.
“Thanks. You’ve given me some good inspiration. I shouldn't rely on a single trap, but link several together. The problem is that with so many variables, I'll have to coordinate them myself, but I suppose this much is necessary to bind an Ain.”
“Woof? Thanks? Then, reward me!”
“It was just a figure of speech, you idiot. Stop causing trouble and stay put!”
After scolding Azzy, I decided to create a more intricate and powerful trap. One that, upon capture, would drag the victim, pull at their limbs, and drive stakes into them. Even I thought it was a bit excessive, but my opponent was an immortal vampire, so what did it matter?
“Woof? This one?”
“Don’t touch it. If you touch it this time, you’re going straight into the stew pot.”
Even with the enhanced body I’d gained from the Divine, building the linked trap was exhausting. And it had taken so much time that the sun was already setting. It was about time for Collie to arrive.
“I need to lure her this way, but it can't look too much like a trap. Let’s hide underground, Azzy.”
“Woof…”
“I told you, it’s not a ride.”
I led Azzy to the shelter I had prepared in a thicket. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary hill, but it was my sanctuary, crafted with Earth Art and Druidism. It wasn't unnatural, but it was the kind of place someone tracking me would naturally approach with suspicion. Hiding inside, I peered out.
It was fine if she came. She would fall into the trap. It was also fine if she didn't. Then I could just wait out the night. I remained vigilant, scanning my surroundings.
A moment later, just as I expected, a presence drew near. I could feel the light yet powerful footsteps of a master.
“…Huh.”
The only problem was, it wasn't the presence I had been expecting.
“Is this the place? Azzy. Are you here?”
Now some other weirdo was here to step on my traps. What? The Regressor? The Regressor came looking for me first?
It had been a while, but the Regressor… hadn't changed a bit. It seemed she had been through a lot while I was gone, but her appearance and attire were identical to when she was in Tantalus. She was approaching, looking around, with a single bee tied to a string hovering near her.
I was somewhat glad to see her, but not enough to greet her with open arms. The encounter was so unexpected that I didn't know how to react.
It felt wrong to ignore her, but in an emergency like this… And with the traps set, should I reveal myself or not…?
“Wait, no! The trap! There's a trap there!”
She was about to step right into the trap I made for Collie! As I shot up and yelled, the Regressor naturally gripped Chun-aeng and took a stance. Just before she instinctively swung her sword, she recognized me and tilted her head.
“Hughes?”
“Not me! Your foot!”
There’s a trap where you’re about to step! By the time I shouted my lungs out, it was already too late. Click. The trigger she’d touched was released, and the kudzu vine snare shot out to grab her ankle.
Heavenly Counter Domain, Terra Firma Arts. Ground Sever.
The moment the vine touched her ankle, Jizan, held in her left hand, trembled. Without even touching the ground, a fissure-like crack appeared in the direction Jizan’s tip was pointing. Simultaneously, the half-buried kudzu vine crumbled and snapped.
She’d severed the vine and all. Her reaction was faster than thought; she had destroyed the trap before her ankle even moved.
“What is this?”
It was a counter made possible by the overpowered Qi Art known as Heavenly Counter Domain, but my linked trap didn't end there. Sharp stakes immediately flew at her. They were wooden stakes fired from a disposable ballista I had made by pulling a sturdy tree trunk taut with Azzy’s strength. It was a weapon designed to pierce a vampire’s body, but the Regressor shattered it with a light swing of Chun-aeng.
But the stakes were a feint. While her attention was drawn to them, slings flew in from all directions. It was an unexpected blow, meant to restrain her, even for a moment—a strike delivered after forcing the opponent to exhaust all their cards.
Heavenly Counter Domain, Skyblade Art. Butterfly Cut.
But she cut through even those. Chun-aeng’s blade blurred, simultaneously slicing through the center of the slings. She casually performed the feat of delivering five slashes with a single swing.
The Regressor, who had dealt with it so calmly that even I, the creator, felt deflated, took a step back. It was an instinctive move, but the spot she stepped on also held a trap of my making. The moment her weight settled on the ground, the entire patch of earth collapsed. Below, sharp stakes I had set with Earth Art awaited their prey like the fangs of a beast.
But the prey never fell. The moment the ground beneath her gave way, the instant her feet felt no weight, she had reacted reflexively.
Skyblade Art, Cloud Steps.
She stood firm, treading on compressed space. It was a technique only possible for the wielder of Chun-aeng. Whether the ground collapsed, something grabbed her ankle, or ropes flew at her, the Regressor responded without a hint of hesitation. It was all thanks to Heavenly Counter Domain, that perverse Qi Art that engraved a tailored response for every situation she had ever experienced.
She seemed more bothered by my presence than the traps I had painstakingly made. Frowning, she pointed at me and said, “What are you doing?”
What was I doing? That was my line. I immediately shot back, my voice filled with indignation.
“What do you mean, what am I doing? What are you doing? These are traps I set to stop the vampire trackers! Now that you've ruined them all, what are you going to do about it?!”
“Vampire trackers? Oh, them? They won't be coming. I ran into them on the way here and took care of them.”
Oh, you took care of them? The Ain? Well, the Regressor could certainly beat an Ain. For once, she did something helpful. That was one less thing to worry about…
Wait a minute. Did she really take care of it? Or has a bigger problem just arrived?
“More importantly.”
Flash.
In what felt like a flicker of lightning, the Regressor’s form was suddenly right in front of me. Her two eyes, now glowing with the Seven Colored Eyes, stared at me, declaring that she would not miss a single one of my movements.
I had no intention of resisting in the first place, but she gave me no chance to. The Regressor slammed Chun-aeng down, pinning my shoulder. Amid Azzy’s surprised ‘Woof?’, the Regressor looked down at me, her gaze cold.
“Wh-what is this? You feel like collecting right arms again?”
“I have one thing to ask you. King of Humans. Answer me honestly. If you don't… I don't know what I might do.”
Power? Needless to say, it was overwhelming.
Skill? With that cheat of a skill, Heavenly Counter Domain, she could preemptively block any surprise attack or trap.
Tools? Unlike me, who only possessed an idol of the Divine, she wielded a relic of the Divine directly.
Even my mind-reading only half-worked on her. Her very existence was my natural enemy. The Regressor pressed Chun-aeng down as if ready to slice through me at any moment and asked.
“Do you want to destroy the world?”