180. I'm a True Ancestor! Not a Vampire!
180. I'm a True Ancestor! Not a Vampire!
***
True Ancestor (眞祖).
In other words, it could also be expressed as Vampire Lord, or the First Vampire.
An existence close to being the king and queen of all vampires. No, one could even consider it more special than that.
Because it referred to an existence that had been a vampire from birth, an existence close to the origin of the vast category known as a species.
Their existence was immortal, without a fixed lifespan, and the powerful strength they possessed had reached a level incomparable to ordinary vampires.
That was why the True Ancestor class in Another World occupied a fairly special position as well.
To the point that even among hidden classes, it was called a 'hidden class.'
......
BOOOOM!!!!
As a massive explosion erupted and the distance widened from the aftershock of their clashing forces, Serin absently wiped the corner of her mouth.
The sensation of something flowing from the corner of her mouth felt familiar, yet at the same time, utterly foreign.
"..."
Serin, staring at the vivid bloodstain on her palm, felt an immense sense of dissonance.
'Why?'
Serin wore an expression that said she didn't understand why she was bleeding.
From the moment she had allowed that single strike and taken damage a moment ago, the blood flowing from the corner of Serin's mouth had not stopped.
And that was the effect of the True Ancestor class passive, 'Master of All Blood.'
Once the opponent is wounded, the blood flowing from that wound will never stop until the duel ends.
A passive skill with fraudulent performance, possessing not only the option of continuous bleed damage but also a kind of self-buff.
Louise Tepes's physical abilities were still rising little by little even now, the longer Serin bled.
Because a True Ancestor grew stronger from the moment they damaged their opponent, the classes capable of withstanding a True Ancestor in close combat were few enough to count on one hand among the countless classes of Another World.
Since defeating an opponent without taking any damage at all was only possible when there was a large gap in skill between the two, a True Ancestor in a state of rampage displayed abilities surpassing most melee classes.
This was also the core reason why people avoided facing a True Ancestor head-on.
Among melee classes, the True Ancestor was a class with an overwhelming matchup, comparable to a Gunner class wielding a shotgun.
—Jeolyeon.
Crackle!!!
As the Crescent-Moon Weight carved through the air, firing a massive line of blood-red light, Tepes simply neutralized it with her hand as if blocking it.
Serin frowned faintly at the sight of Tepes approaching while casually shattering even her technique.
Whoosh!!
Tepes's hand gesture, slashing through the air as if her hand had become a claw. In response, five streaks of blood lines surged forth, carving deeply toward Serin.
At Tepes's movements, Serin kicked off the ground, and belatedly began to get a feel for her opponent.
'Vampire?'
She had only encountered one once in Black Ark, and had never seen one since, so it hadn't come to mind immediately.
But the several characteristics she could see now all pointed to that.
She wondered if even that existed as a class—then immediately put strength into her right arm, swinging wide and unleashing a high-destructive-power technique.
—Bloodstained Constellation.
Along the red trajectory beautifully embroidering the empty air, countless red points glittered with blood-red light.
And soon, as if colliding with the five massive blood lines, the blood-red points began to radiate light in countless numbers and surge forward.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!
A chain of impacts exploding as force met force. Amid the continuous roar of explosions, Serin let out a single word.
"...Vampire?"
Tap.
At that, Tepes, who had been about to continue her attack, suddenly stopped in place.
"Did you just say... vampire?"
Tepes's appearance as she pointed out Serin's words looked, even on the surface, greatly angered.
Serin took another look at Tepes, who was glaring at her with eyes wide open.
Pink hair floating in the air while radiating an oppressive aura as if in some kind of awakened state, features like blood lines drawn across her body. Her pupils were dyed crimson red.
-Pale skin.
-Red pupils.
-A body strangely hard.
-Blood that wouldn't stop, along with attacks reminiscent of blood.
The more she thought about each one, the more they resembled the characteristics of a vampire, even upon another look.
Serin twisted the corner of her lips slightly and asked, now with complete certainty.
"Your class is Vampire, right?"
At that, Tepes stomped the ground once and shook her head vigorously.
Thud!
"True Ancestor! Not a vampire!"
At Tepes's appearance, shouting as if demanding to be properly corrected, Serin's eyes widened for a moment.
'True Ancestor?'
As far as Serin knew, a True Ancestor was a vampire called the 'Origin' even among vampires, a special existence whose power reached dozens of times that of an ordinary vampire.
In a sense, they were like vampires belonging to the noble class, but an existence at the very end of the species, belonging to an even higher tier.
Serin had never encountered a True Ancestor even in Black Ark.
That was only natural, since she had chosen a route that deliberately avoided meeting True Ancestors. A True Ancestor was an existence positioned among the strongest ranks of the world's lore.
No matter how much she enjoyed danger that brushed against death, enjoying danger and outright courting death were clearly different in kind.
She might have possessed nearly equal power by the end, but she had excluded them entirely while progressing through the story.
That was how special a True Ancestor was.
When Tepes stopped her attack, Serin parted her lips with a curious expression.
"A True Ancestor, huh. How many users have that class?"
At the sudden question, Tepes tilted her head, then opened her mouth curtly with an expression that said, how could you not know that?
"Obviously it's fixed at 10. Rin, you don't even know that?"
"10, huh... That's kind of a lot."
Serin, who had been muttering as if fascinated, found something funny.
Because in the world of Black Ark, only one True Ancestor had existed.
Thinking that this world was certainly quite different in this regard, she absently nodded her head.
"10 is a lot? What's that supposed to mean?"
Tepes looked at Serin with a dumbfounded expression.
From her perspective, Serin's words were utterly incomprehensible.
It wasn't a lot. Out of the millions of Another World users, there were only 10.
In Another World, the term hidden class, as if focusing on the name 'hidden,' could only be possessed by an extremely small number even among the countless hidden classes that existed.
As befitting the name True Ancestor, the official Another World position fixed the number at 10.
Tepes, who was among those 10, held immense pride in being a True Ancestor.
A quest that took a full half-year in real time just to change classes.
Having awakened as a True Ancestor at the end of an extremely difficult and arduous quest journey, she was deeply displeased by Serin's words.
'A vampire? Why would she say something like that?'
She had always viewed Serin favorably, and Tepes was genuinely disappointed in her.
"Rin, prepare yourself. I won't go easy on you anymore."
At Tepes's appearance, as if she had been holding back all this time, Serin curled the corners of her lips as if amused and nodded.
"Sounds good. Vampire."
Tepes chewed her lip, then hardened her expression.
—True Ancestor's Mystic Eyes.
Tepes's red pupils blazed with blood-red light once more.
But Serin, as if already prepared, confirmed Tepes's eyes flashing differently, then immediately unleashed a technique.
—Explosive Spike.
The Crescent-Moon Weight, wrapped in blood-red light, struck the ground directly ahead.
BOOOOM!!
Along with the explosion, as her vision was greatly obscured, Serin immediately flung her body backward.
【Trait. 'Indomitable Will' weakens the curse effect.】
—Status effect Confusion applied (0.8 seconds)
Only after flinging her body back did the hologram adorn Serin's vision.
The dizziness from before was relatively reduced, of course. Seeing that even the status effect duration displayed on the hologram had decreased, she wondered if some kind of resistance was building up.
Tepes, who had been watching Serin's response coldly, continued her attack.
—Blood of Death.
A massive wave of blood rose from a fierce hand gesture that seemed to slash across the entire Colosseum, surging straight toward Serin.
FWOOOOSH!!!
At the same time, Tepes stomped the ground once and shot forward like light.
Boom!!
At a speed nearly identical to the surging wave of blood, Tepes began rushing toward Serin.
"...Hoo."
Between her clearing vision as the True Ancestor's Mystic Eyes effect faded, Serin let out a hollow laugh.
The sight of her opponent using a technique while also flinging her own body forward to chain attacks—the difference in level from the opponents she had met before was clearly palpable.
From the movements used to execute techniques, to the chaining of techniques, even the composure—everything about it pleased her.
The level was high enough that it felt nearly on par with a pro player.
Watching that, Serin slowly lowered both hands and calmed her eyes.
With the damage she had allowed and the continued bleeding, her HP gauge bar had already dropped below half.
Over five minutes of battle time, HP below half—the technique.
The conditions for using the technique had now been met.
'To think I'd end up using this in Solo Queue, not even a scrim.'
A technique she had thought she might use in a scrim. She had never imagined she would use it like this.
—Fox Spirit Dance.
In an instant, an eerie, bewitching aura flowed from Serin's form and veiled her body.
Whoosh......
The moment an aura like pale pink mist burst forth as if exploding, veiling Serin.
Swish!
The Blood of Death unleashed by Tepes split the pale pink mist apart.
Clack!
The moment Tepes, who had flung her body forward in pursuit, faced the mist with a wary expression.
Space rippled bewitchingly.