Chapter 96: The Undying and the Vampire
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 96: The Undying and the Vampire
The Undying one was greatly satisfied, feeling full for the first time in a long while. Having devoured an entire can of beans by himself, he smacked his lips and headed for the yard.
“The canned food here is usually foul, but you've managed to make it this good! Delicious ingredients taste great even raw, but turning something bland into a delicacy—that is true skill, the very essence of cooking! With such culinary talent, Lieutenant Colonel, you would make a fine bride!”
Lieutenant Colonel Callis, the Military State officer walking beside him, showed no sign of pleasure at the compliment. She clicked her tongue in annoyance and retorted coldly.
“Tsk. By that logic, the command sergeant major who can make a hundred dishes from a single can of beans must be the bride of the century. Enough with the nonsense. Help me with my mission, Trainee.”
“A hundred dishes! I'm intrigued. Is this command sergeant major as beautiful a woman as you are, Lieutenant Colonel?”
“He's a bald old man with a mustache. He just had a granddaughter this year.”
“Hahaha! In that case, never mind! I shall be content with your cooking, Lieutenant Colonel!”
The officer scowled, her expression twisting so much it was visible even under the low brim of her cap.
“Don't think I'll be cooking for you every day, Trainee. This was a special exception.”
The Undying one looked as if his world had just collapsed.
“Why!”
“Let me ask you this instead. Why should I, a warden, be responsible for a trainee's meals?”
“You could just do it while you're cooking for yourself! I have no talent for cooking, and this country has no decent ingredients! Forgive me for saying so, but as much as I've tried to grow fond of this nation, the mere thought of canned beans makes me shudder! But with you around, Lieutenant Colonel, I think I could manage!”
Looking annoyed by the whole situation, the officer pressed her fingers to her forehead over her cap and replied.
“Just finish the job. Then I'll consider it.”
“Understood! Let's see, you said you wanted to befriend Miss Dog, was it? You must be quite shy, Lieutenant Colonel!”
“Cut the chatter!”
“Haha. Alright. That promise to cook for me—it's a promise between friends, so you'd better keep it!”
Just then, the two of them stepped out of the main building of Tantalus, chatting in a way that was ordinary, almost friendly.
The Undying one, having chattered his fill, spotted me and waved.
“Oh! Teacher! It's been a while... Huh!”
Just as he started to approach me cheerfully, the Undying one's right arm twitched erratically and shot up, poised menacingly as if to strike me.
There was still a considerable distance between us, but the threat was palpable—to me, to him, and of course, to Tyr.
Startled, Tyr’s eyes flashed red.
“Hu!”
Simultaneously, a legion of thousands stirred within the darkness, rising at Tyr's command.
The Abyss is a sunless place. Everything is steeped in shadow.
That is why Tyr’s power can reach everywhere. Her dominion over darkness extends to any place connected by shadow.
The countless shadows of the Abyss were Tyr’s arsenal, her barracks, and her soldiers. The darkness surged as one to protect me.
Tyr cried out in fury.
“Earthener...! How dare you try to harm Hu!”
“Wait! This is not of my own will!”
Even the Undying one, the master of his own body, seemed taken by surprise. He gripped his right arm firmly with his left, as if his very self were divided, and spoke.
He spoke not to us, but to his own right arm.
“Oh, Sacrificial Vessel! Why are you so enraged? Huh? What's that?”
The Undying one, who was conversing with his right arm as if it were a separate being, looked at me with a puzzled expression from beyond the wall of shadows.
“Teacher, my right arm seems to want to clock you one after seeing you! Did you two have some sort of falling-out while I was unconscious?”
“Huh?”
A quick read of his thoughts revealed that he'd had something akin to a conversation with his right arm.
So it can actually communicate? That's fascinating.
Anyway, a falling-out?
All I did was use his right arm like a rag to wipe away blood when I was dealing with Tyr. When it got dirty, I'd scrape it clean and use it again. Occasionally, I'd dig into its flesh with a skewer and scatter the pieces about.
…If the arm was conscious, I suppose it has every right to be angry. Haha.
I laughed awkwardly, trailing off.
“Ahaha. Well... it's a long story.”
“This right arm, which I gained by offering my original one to Mother Earth, is a great hand symbolizing mercy! For it to be this enraged! I must know what happened!”
“Well, I was swinging the right arm around, and it got a bit cursed...”
“Cursed? Hmm. It says that's not the end of it. Did you try to cook the arm, or maybe offer it as a sacrifice?”
The arm has a good memory. Seems even better than the Regressor's.
I wasn't confident I could fool the arm, so I answered honestly.
“A mad vampire named Finlay was on a rampage, so I had to borrow the arm's power. I defeated several familiars made of blood and darkness with it.”
“Wouldn't that count as a sacrifice?”
“Ah, I guess it does?”
I scratched my head and laughed. The Undying one laughed with me and made a boisterous proposal.
“Alright! Teacher, just let it hit you once!”
I refused without a second thought.
“Sorry, no. If it hits me wrong, I'm dead.”
“I'll make it go easy on you! My right arm's anger won't be sated otherwise!”
“It's the arm's decision, isn't it? You're not the one throwing the punch, so how can you guarantee it'll be gentle?”
“Is that so? Haha! Well then, you'll just have to be clever about how you take the hit!”
While the Undying one and I were joking around, Tyr, who had taken his words seriously, cried out in outrage.
“Ridiculous.”
Her influence in the Abyss was unparalleled. At her single word, the ground rumbled, the shadows writhed, and the darkness trembled ominously.
Even the Undying one fell silent, intimidated. Tyr warned him in a voice that seemed to rise from the very depths of the Abyss.
“Hu only resorted to such measures to save me! If you must blame someone, blame me, Earthener.”
The shadow legion parted before Tyr. Their movements were organized and perfectly synchronized, like a reflection cast by light.
Leaving the host of darkness behind her, Tyr stepped forward to face the Undying one. Her crimson eyes were fixed on him.
“If you must strike someone, then strike me. If that will satisfy you, I will take his place. But if you intend to harm Hu... I will stop you by any means necessary. Even if that means your complete annihilation.”
A walking legion, the Progenitor of all vampires, the Queen of Shadow.
Her blood was a power filled with dominion. To an Earthener who sustained his undying nature by absorbing vital essence, it was as good as a curse that would prevent his regeneration.
Faced with the legendary Tyrkanzyaka, the Undying one scratched his head sheepishly and let out a loud laugh.
“Haha! It was to save your lover? In that case, I understand!”
The next instant.
“L-Lover?”
The immense pressure that had threatened to consume the entire Abyss vanished without a trace.
The roiling darkness calmed, and the trembling earth fell still. The shadow legion glanced at one another for a moment before melting back into the ground in unison, as if by some unspoken pact.
All that remained was a single girl, flustered and unsure of what to do.
Amid the dissolving legion of darkness, Tyr fidgeted like she'd been scalded, clenching and unclenching her fists.
“W-What nonsense is this? Hu, Hu. Look at this flippant Earthener. Spouting such... such bizarre things.”
While everyone stared dumbfounded at Tyr's behavior, the Undying one nodded vigorously and exclaimed.
“What a cute lover! Excellent! I'll have a word with my right arm and sort this out! Surely it can understand this much! What do you say, my Sacrificial Vessel?”
The right arm, which had been stroking the Undying one's chin, reluctantly made a small 'O' with its fingers. Then it snapped back to his side, falling silent below his shoulder.
The Undying one announced cheerfully.
“My right arm says it understands! You're a lucky man, Teacher!”
I replied dryly.
“You're the one who's lucky. If it hadn't understood, Tyr would have physically beaten some understanding into it.”
“Haha! Can't argue with that!”
“Well, that's that. Please tell your right arm I'm sorry for swinging it around without permission.”
“Your apology is a bit late, don't you think!”
“I didn't know the arm itself was the one I had to apologize to. I haven't quite adopted that level of separatist thinking yet.”
“Hahaha! I understand!”
The Undying one never had any intention of hitting me. If he were truly angry, he would have just charged.
Being one who doesn't die easily, the Undying one is just as insensitive to pain.
Whether he's slashed by a sword, pierced by a skewer, or even has an arm torn off, to him, it's fundamentally no different from any other form of physical contact—one that can't kill him.
In other words, he was a good-natured fellow who would just laugh off a punch or an injury. As long as you didn't insult the honor of him and his tribe, he was probably the safest person in the world to be around.
That's why he could maintain his cheerful demeanor even with the officer.
And that was also why I'd woken him.
“Well then, I have business to attend to, so I must be going!”
“Goodbye. I hope everything goes well.”
“See you later! You two have fun!”
“You too.”
With a grand wave, the Undying one turned back the way he came and approached the officer, who had remained out of sight. His booming voice carried all the way to the yard.
“Oh. A moment ago, I nearly died! It seems passing this way will be a problem!”
As the Undying one replied so casually, the officer glared at him and growled under her breath.
“…Rasch. You can't even withstand a simple threat from the Progenitor?”
“Of course! The Progenitor is absurdly strong!”
“And you say that with such pride!”
‘I knew he wasn't transcendentally powerful like the Progenitor or the Beast King, but I thought he'd at least be somewhat dependable…!’
It was to be expected. In a land inhabited by a Regressor, a Beast King, and the Progenitor of vampires, the single trait of being 'undying' was hardly an impressive calling card. In fact, every one of them was a transcendent being with their own form of immortality.
The Undying one, who had been left abandoned with just a torn-off arm, was simply out of his league.
Of course, the Undying one didn't seem to regret this. Not being stronger than a force of nature was nothing to be ashamed of.
“Haha! Even for a friend, if I can't do it, I can't do it! That beautiful girl may look harmless, but she's the Progenitor of the Bloodfiends! She's not someone a mere warrior like me can hope to defeat!”
Hearing this confirmation from his own mouth, the officer clenched her trembling hands into fists.
‘I suspected as much, but I didn't expect him to tuck his tail between his legs so readily…! This is my so-called ally? He can't even act as a basic deterrent!’
“Well, if I sacrificed my entire being, I might be able to tickle her a little! But then my body would be cursed, and I'd never revive again! Haha, it's best if we avoid her entirely! And that goes for you too, Lieutenant Colonel!”
The Undying one stated the facts calmly. Finally, the officer composed herself and spoke.
“…Fine. I never intended to confront the Progenitor anyway. And I was planning to stay away from that laborer if possible.”
“Laborer? Are you referring to the Teacher?”
“Teacher? A laborer is just a laborer, isn't he? What do you mean?”
“Isn't he a warden? He introduced himself as one. In that case, wouldn't that make him my teacher?”
“That bastard... he's even impersonating a warden...!”
I could feel a sharp glare from beyond the wall. Even though she couldn't see me, the officer was hurling all sorts of curses in my direction.
‘It's infuriating, but as long as the Progenitor is coddling him, I can't touch him. Calm down, Callis. Don't waste your energy on this.’
My vampire shield was as reliable as ever. I knew I wasn't wrong.
The officer quickly composed herself and said to the Undying one.
“As I said, our target is the Dog King. You know of her, I assume?"
“Of course! You mean that Miss Dog!”
“Yes. It's not that the Dog King disobeys me... but for some reason, whenever that laborer calls her, she immediately runs to his side, no matter where she is.”
“Oho! The Teacher has such an ability? Quite an enviable power!”
“This is critical. If the Dog King continues this behavior, our entire plan will be ruined.”
The goal of the Human Regime was to acquire the Beast King. The very reason she had infiltrated Tantalus was to secure Azzy, the Dog King.
The reason she, a mere lieutenant colonel (at least, compared to the other residents of Tantalus), had come as the advance agent was because the objective itself—securing the Dog King—was supposed to be incredibly simple. Coaxing the human-loyal Dog King required little more than making eye contact and speaking. Lieutenant Colonel Callis had intended to put that to the test.
Then she ran into an obstacle: me.
‘Our plan never assumed the Dog King would resist. She is loyal to humans, and given her current covenant with the Military State, she should have complied with our request. But... if that laborer obstructs us to the very end, we'll have no other recourse.’
Forcibly restraining the Beast King and taking her away? That was completely unrealistic. If they had that kind of power, why would they even need to use the Beast King? They could just conquer the world themselves.
The reason they targeted the Dog King was because her immense power was easy to control.
But the world works in universal ways. If she was easy for them to handle, she would be easy for others to handle as well.
“Then why not just tell the Teacher the truth and ask for his cooperation? Explain that you need Miss Dog for this and that, and ask him to step aside!”
If that were an option, the Human Regime wouldn't be a secret society.
When the officer said nothing, the Undying one nodded in understanding.
“Hmm. So you have to overcome the Teacher in the end! I'm always reminded of how hard it is to have to be better than someone else!”
“He himself is nothing. But for some reason... with him now is...”
The Progenitor, Tyrkanzyaka.
The officer recalled her power.
The darkness that blanketed the entire land, and the Progenitor's power to command it. It was a force capable of physically overthrowing a nation.
‘A mere laborer... removing him wouldn't be difficult. But the Progenitor behind him would never negotiate. And fighting the Progenitor...’
The officer concluded her assessment. Unless the Human Regime could project its full power, at least here in the Abyss...
‘Impossible. It might be a different story on the surface, where the sun shines, but fighting the Progenitor here... is a suicidal act.’
Click. Clack.
The officer's jaw trembled.
The mission would fail.
Because I would get in the way. Azzy, already conditioned by the bell and the entertainment I provided, wouldn't just meekly follow the Human Regime if they called.
But to eliminate me, the Progenitor at my back was too terrifying.
Perhaps, if she reported the situation as it was, the Human Regime, realizing the true difficulty of the task...
‘...might treat me as a disposable piece... and abandon this operation altogether.’
She had striven so desperately. As a result, she had managed to secure her father's legacy, which had been on the verge of incineration.
She had joined forces with the Human Regime, survived countless brushes with death, and earned the commendations they offered. She had even received two medals.
And so, the life Lieutenant Colonel Callis had painstakingly built, step by step, toward becoming a level 4 citizen...
...was now on the brink of collapse because of a single stroke of bad luck.
The officer's body trembled. She pulled her service cap down lower, gritted her teeth, and vowed to herself.
‘I will not fall here. I will find a way, no matter what. Even if all I have... is this unreliable ally.’
Her resolve firm, the officer slowly began to move.