Chapter 201
Chapter 201
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Change
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"...Damn."
-Throb throb
The situation had turned sour, so Barshutain had withdrawn first and returned to their hideout. Now, he sat on the jade throne, clutching his pounding head.
It had been a plan destined for success if everything went according to schedule.
He had pitted hastily mass-produced ghouls, blinded by the bait of Xin Tu's secret base, against the humans. In the end, the humans would slaughter each other, while he tied up the variables that could turn the tide of battle.
If the plan had proceeded smoothly, the longer it dragged on, the more advantageous it would have been for him. But too many unforeseen variables had cropped up.
Even the greatest strategist couldn't account for every possibility—but how was one supposed to plan for lightning striking the chessboard and shattering the pieces, the players, and the whole damn field?
-Ache
'...Erdel.'
His grudge against that wretched woman defied words; there wasn't enough paper in the world to write it all down.
From the start, she was the saintess of the Goddess of Life, who had cursed vampires alone with sunlight vulnerability while leaving other undead alone. There was no reason for him to feel kindly toward her.
Without her, the remnants of humanity never would have banded together into an alliance army. There would have been no centuries-long grueling war.
His soul never would have been torn apart and obliterated.
The hero had been a tough nut to crack, but her true core had been Erdel.
That mentally fragile hero had kept rising no matter how many times he broke—because of her.
And yet, as a saintess existing to serve as the goddess's incarnation, she brimmed with divine power and unyielding durability. The number of operations he'd devised and abandoned just to take her down could fill a bookshelf.
He'd spilled rivers of blood in the attempt.
To ensure he could watch her survive against all odds and paint the world in her goddess's image, he'd shattered his own soul into fragments. And that damn woman had hunted down every last piece to annihilate it.
He had vanished before the war's end, so he never learned who ultimately won.
The dead do not experience the flow of time, after all. He had no idea how long had passed since his obliteration.
'...Quite the miracle.'
He still couldn't fathom how he, whose final soul fragment should have been utterly destroyed, had awakened in this other world with a physical body. But that hardly mattered.
What mattered was that he existed now.
As a loyal servant, he needed to fulfill the duties he'd left undone before.
That was the reason for his current existence.
And to that end, he needed to analyze the Erdel-like ripple he'd sensed this time.
If she existed in this world, his chances of victory plummeted.
He hated to admit it, but in his current state, neither he nor his vampires could hope to capture her.
Even on the battlefield, it had taken the First Legion's overwhelming numbers to pin her down. His role—and that of his kind—had been assassinations of human leaders, intelligence manipulation, and guerrilla strikes. Not direct confrontations. Their matchup was fundamentally unfavorable.
'But somehow... that doesn't feel right.'
-Flutter
He scowled and reread the report.
A massive pillar of light, presumed to be Erdel's divine power, had appeared near a village by Mount Hua. None of the clan members sent to investigate had returned alive...
-Tap tap
He drummed his fingers on the armrest, lost in thought for a moment.
He had to assume Erdel had appeared there; it was practically confirmed.
The reports from survivors pegged the divine power as hers with high probability, and he'd felt it from afar. Unless someone else in the world wielded identical holy power, it had to be her.
Next question: Why had Erdel shown up there?
'...Looks like we lost the war, after all.'
If the undead had won, she wouldn't be alive. Humanity must have triumphed and survived.
Even if the details differed, he had no way to speculate further. So he'd settle for that much...
'Does she know I crossed over?'
Generally, crossing from one dimension to another carried immense risk.
Even legendary archmages couldn't conquer dimensional barriers.
They were akin to natural laws, blocking intruders from other realms and preventing natives from fleeing.
To move between dimensions, one had to breach two such barriers: outbound and inbound.
He'd somehow passed through without realizing, but if Erdel remained in their original world, even she couldn't cross in her true body. It bordered on impossible.
Putting it all together, the most likely scenario was...
'...Descent?'
A temporary possession of some host body.
One that consumed an enormous amount of energy.
Dimensional barriers grew stronger with gravitational force—the greater the power, the fiercer the restraint. Her true body breaking through was out of the question, and she wouldn't abandon her beloved world for an unknown one anyway. The conclusion narrowed to one.
'Which means there's some intermediary or communication channel here...'
Who was it? Erdel's eyes in this world.
Capture that person, and he could eliminate her presence.
'There should be traces around whoever she descended into.'
The initial raid hadn't gone perfectly, but confirming Erdel's variable at this stage was a major gain.
If she'd popped up at a critical moment later, everything could have gone to hell. As it was, all he'd lose were some troops, and preparations for the main ritual were unaffected.
'Still, troop losses were significant.'
About twenty vampires hadn't returned.
Each commanded 2-3 thralls at minimum, up to 5-6 at most, so multiply accordingly for the true count.
For vampires, who favored quality over quantity unlike common undead, it was a painful blow.
Still, comfort lay in securing everything truly needed despite the sudden variable.
One of the Nine Great Sects, Mount Hua, had taken heavy damage. Distrust between the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions had deepened, with substantial losses on both sides.
And during the retreat, he'd successfully snatched the Blood Cult's ancient relic—the true purpose of the mission.
When retreat was necessary, one had to accomplish everything possible.
This wasn't the ideal outcome, but it qualified as a middling success at worst.
'If they fell to Erdel, they were obliterated—no prisoners... Hm?'
Cross-checking the roster against blood-linked thralls, he spotted something odd.
One hadn't vanished yet.
'...Flora?'
The plaything he'd kept recently out of curiosity.
Her tenacity and madness appealed to him; he'd thought she'd grow entertaining if raised properly. Apparently, she hadn't returned this time.
'Sent her to Mount Hua, I think.'
Most non-returnees had hit the nearby village, caught in Erdel's attack while assaulting civilians—not those sent to Mount Hua, who mostly made it back.
Couldn't rule out capture by the warriors there.
No matter how primitive the world, peak experts' strikes couldn't be ignored.
But even if captured, something felt off.
All his vampires and thralls bore a curse: upon capture, their bodies disintegrated to dust to prevent leaks.
'...Forgot about that.'
Come to think of it, he'd turned her into a thrall without knowing her reviver, so engraving the curse was his responsibility.
First time dealing with a case like this—he'd overlooked it.
'...Well, not too late now.'
He could just revoke her power.
Unlike other vampires, he was the Lord.
King of all vampires. Progenitor of every bloodsucker.
Their existence after death was his gift, his power.
Meaning he could reduce every thrall to dust on a whim.
They were still useful, so no need yet—but if they outlived their purpose, he'd consider it.
-Snap.
Anyway, he'd just severed his link to Flora.
The next two days would tell if she'd leaked anything as a prisoner, but he wasn't worried.
She'd only been told useless trivia, after all.
Even if she wasn't captured and was struggling to return alive somewhere, it didn't matter.
Playthings should be safe fun; risky ones get discarded.
'Now, for what comes next...'
Top priority: Prepare the ritual for Him using the retrieved blood serum.
Second: Find Erdel's 'eyes' in this world.
'Exciting.'
No leads yet, but someone that connected to Erdel would be easy to pinpoint with even a scrap of clue.
He didn't know who or why yet, but...
Securing them and pondering how to break them before Erdel's eyes would provide enjoyable leisure for the next week.
* * *
"Kyaa, kyaack!!"
Dang Ayoung's scream echoed from morning.
"W-W-What's going on..?"
"...What happened?"
Master and I bolted from deep sleep, rushing from our room toward the source.
"Th-The prisoner we caught..!"
"...Ugh."
The female bloodsucker we'd imprisoned before lay on the hallway floor, head smashed in a massive pool of blood.
A scene straight out of a mystery comic.
"F-First, we need to clean the blood...? T-Towel.."
As Dang Ayoung flailed about, I cautiously approached the body.
Hidden poison, maybe?
'She did ask for a few more days.'
I hadn't minded waiting, but seeing her dead like this... maybe it was just a stall tactic.
Could've been a slow-acting suicide toxin.
"Hey. She dead?"
-Tap tap
With all that blood splattered around, obviously. Just checking...
"...Ugh..."
"?!"
The supposedly dead woman groaned and twitched.
I jumped back in shock. Moments later, she lifted her head and met my eyes.
One look at those eyes, and I knew something had changed.
"...Um.. who... are you...?"
Her irises, crimson just yesterday, had shifted to a familiar blue.