Chapter 233
Chapter 233
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 233
Chapter Title: Miracle
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A desolate wasteland far removed from the heart of the Central Plains, where traces of human presence were scarce.
In the deepest recesses of the Blood Cult's underground headquarters beneath it, Barshutain stared uncomfortably at a massive blood-red sphere.
"...Damn it. Still not enough."
This was no small feat—it was the resurrection of a transcendent being from another world.
It went without saying that an enormous number of lives had to be offered as sacrifices, and knowing that full well, he had been meticulously preparing for it long in advance.
According to the original plan, he intended to process the life force secured from the raid on Mount Hua Sect and its surroundings to create blood essence, then use it to accelerate the ritual.
Calculations had shown that this time, they would gather just enough energy to truly commence the ritual in earnest.
But that presupposed the plan going off without a hitch.
"Useless fools. You swarm in there en masse, and all you bring back is this paltry amount?"
-Crunch!
Barshutain had already transferred the energy from the sphere, leaving only the husk of the blood essence, which he now crushed.
Even if he hadn't gone personally, hadn't a significant portion of Mount Hua's forces been drawn to his side instead?
How could the life force gathered by nearly the entire force—excluding himself—fall short of what he alone had obtained?
'To think I have to deal with trash like this...'
Without him, these very fools would have sunk into the cold swamp of death, yet they offered not a shred of help.
He had always been harsh with his subordinates, but now there was even more reason for it.
Not only had his perfectionist's calculations gone awry, but Erdel's traces had emerged from a completely unforeseen quarter, heightening his anxiety.
During the heat of battle, one might politely call them rivals, but in truth, they were the worst of nemeses, inflicting nothing but wounds and traumas upon each other. For him, who had been preparing his grand undertaking in peace in another world free of such interlopers, this was like fire falling on his feet.
To make matters worse, Barshutain himself had ultimately met his end at Erdel's hands.
Even after resurrection, the weight of the name Erdel Bright carried no less menace than it had in his active days.
'That damned woman... no telling when she'll come hunting me again.'
If he had been oblivious to her existence, that would be one thing.
But now that he knew something connected to that woman existed in this world, he couldn't afford his previous nonchalance.
If calculations had deviated, he'd just have to force things back on track, no matter the strain.
However, launching a massacre in nearby villages on impulse could draw that Erdel woman sniffing around again...
"You there."
"Yes? You called for me?"
"Go fetch those idiots who failed their mission spectacularly yet lounge around swilling wine, oblivious to the gravity of the situation. About thirty should do."
"Understood."
"You have twenty minutes. If not, drag them here by force."
After dismissing Flora, he sent his new attendant to round up the useless lot.
He kept the fellow around partly out of boredom, to listen to chatter and attend him, but the circumstances left little room for idle talk.
Besides, this one wasn't half as entertaining to watch as Flora had been.
'Could've been quite the amusing toy if properly raised...'
But captured as a prisoner without returning, no matter how promising a plaything, there was no value in sparing it.
He'd kept it close thinking it akin to himself, but that very similarity bred its own discomforts.
Even if it had returned safely, he might have disposed of it before long.
As the old human saying went: one doesn't adopt a beast's whelp.
-Tap... tap...
As he closed his eyes and drummed the floor with his straw sandals, the attendant returned, herding a throng of other vampires.
"I've brought them, Lord."
"Seventeen minutes. You keep good time."
"Merely following orders."
"Fine. You're dismissed."
"Understood."
He shooed away the stiff, boring fellow and turned to the dimwits who still hadn't grasped why they'd been dragged here.
"Now, take a guess why I've summoned you lot. Guess right, and I'll consider a reward."
"Hmm..."
"Uh..."
'Idiots.'
In this situation, if I'd called them, any normal creature would feel at least a twinge of危機. But nothing.
Utterly genuine bafflement on their faces.
-Tremble tremble tremble
'At least one with some wits about him.'
Small mercy, perhaps.
Had all these fools, sustained by the very energy he'd bestowed upon them, proven this brainless, he might have unleashed a purge of rage. But at least one had the bare minimum of sense.
"Yes, you there. Seems you have an inkling. Speak it with your own mouth."
"Y-Yes?"
"Recite the reason you just thought of in your empty head."
"H-Hiiik!"
-Whoooosh
Unable to resist toying with the one feigning ignorance despite knowing full well, Barshutain let a sliver of killing intent slip. The fool collapsed flat on the floor, trembling, and stammered in a quavering voice.
"Sp-Spare me! I-It wasn't on purpose, I just wanted a brief rest..."
'Ahh...'
-Splurt!!
"Guh... kuhuk... please, mercy..."
"Annoying pests..."
"H-Hiiiik!!!"
"Ah...?"
No one ever listened properly.
What had he even said?
Beg for your lives? No.
He'd told them to state why he'd summoned them—what thoughts raced through their thick skulls.
"You are a disgrace to vampiredom. Don't sully the name of the night nobles in such a pathetic state. Do you have any idea what I've built that name to be?"
-Thud...
-Poof...
He ground the remains of the fool reduced to dust and life-drained powder underfoot, eyeing the rest who now trembled, finally aware of their plight.
"Don't take it too hard. Your life force will serve to resurrect His Greatness—consider it an honor. Your blood and flesh will meld into His body."
"U-Uwaaak!"
And amid it all, one made the worst possible choice.
Idiot? Or simply unyielding?
-Stab!
"Aaak!"
Did it think it could escape him in its vampire form?
"Why run? Why spurn the glory of offering your body directly for His ritual and melting into Him? Had I not been Lord, I'd have surrendered all to Him long ago. Yet you, beneficiaries of His grace, show no gratitude?"
-Poof...
"Ah... ah..."
Whatever. It mattered not.
Once incorporated into Him, they would feel ecstasy and rapture naturally—no need to force comprehension now.
And his words about wishing to become part of His Greatness were no lie.
From the start, his body was created from nothing by His grace.
Rejected as life by the goddess of life, branded with the ultimate stigma of solar rejection that even other undead shunned, he'd lived thus.
This world's sun might not burn his flesh or mana, but centuries of ingrained revulsion and terror toward it lingered.
Thus...
'...This world shall be offered to Him without fail.'
He would eradicate all living beings claiming the surface and remake the land brimming with death for Him.
For that, he could sacrifice a hundred more of these energy-squandering, resource-wasting kin.
-Poof...
"Ah. Got lost in thought for a moment."
Snapping back to reality, he noted the vampires who'd been quaking before him moments ago were gone.
Fled? Hardly.
-Jingle
"Hm... This should just barely suffice to begin."
They were already ensconced within the gem in his grasp.
Had they fallen short, he'd have had to hunt more while concocting excuses. Fortune smiled.
Too hasty? If anything, this was belated.
Three days behind original schedule.
'No room to delay when we should be accelerating.'
No knowing when that Erdel bitch would come charging with her damned holy lance.
The dead feel no passage of time, so he couldn't gauge how long since his dissipation. But Erdel still drawing breath was warning enough.
Had the living's faction prevailed, she wouldn't be alive.
Possible she'd perished and crossed to another world like him...
'No. If dead, His Greatness wouldn't have left her soul untouched.'
Yet by that logic, his own soul should have fully dissipated, yet here he was.
The more he pondered, the stranger it grew.
How was he even here?
Could a soul's annihilation be undone?
How had he breached dimensional barriers?
The Blood Cult's spells weren't so advanced as to work miracles ignoring all that.
......No clue.
No way to find answers now.
What mattered: whatever the cause, he'd seized a new chance.
For that, he could brush aside such trivial doubts.