Chapter 45
Chapter 45
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Rescue
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"D-Damn it! Get up, you test subjects!"
Feeling that his last remaining familiar had perished, Mardin unleashed every single test subject in his laboratory.
They were soldiers he'd prepared for the day when their kind would fully reveal themselves to the world and ignite a war, but right now, Mardin's own life took precedence over everything.
-Clank! Clank!
-Boom!
"Grraaahh...!!"
Hundreds of bloodsuckers, each one packing the power of second-rate to first-rate martial artists, capable of regenerating through blood consumption.
A force that could lay waste to the surrounding area if unleashed right now, but...
"How dare you bare those filthy fangs at me!"
-Kagak!
The matchup couldn't have been worse.
With every swing of the Sword Empress's blade, bloodsuckers lost their heads and crumpled to the ground.
-Whoosh!
Not only that, but the swords scattered around the area began moving on their own accord, slicing into the bloodsuckers as if guided by will.
-Slash! Slash!
"Kraaaah!!!"
"Gaaahk!!"
"Get out of the way!!"
No matter how undead they were, capable of regenerating wounds, losing their heads was beyond recovery. Their numbers began dwindling rapidly.
-Crunch... Cruuunch...
"Damn it... Damn it... How the hell did they track me all the way here...?"
The underground lab that was never supposed to be discovered had been exposed, and now an enraged Sword Master was carving her way through the test subjects toward the lowest level.
Mardin gnawed at his nails, desperately racking his brain for a way out of this mess.
1. Team up with the test subjects and take down the Sword Master.
-Kwaaang!!
The explosions echoing from upstairs made that impossible.
2. Hurriedly call for reinforcements.
Even if he did, there was no guarantee they'd arrive in time.
3. Run away.
For now, that seemed the most viable option.
'Even using the secret passage doesn't guarantee a clean escape. She's got the momentum to chase me to the ends of hell. But activating the warp gate would take too much time...'
A warp gate that twisted space to transport him elsewhere would ensure a perfect getaway, but it needed time to activate.
With the current test subjects buying time, it still wasn't enough.
'Is there any way to stall for even more time...?'
As he pondered collapsing the lab entrance to buy some seconds,
"Wh-What?! What's going on here?!"
The priest he'd handed off to his familiar earlier was thrashing about, bound to a pillar.
Seeing him sparked an idea.
'...A hostage?'
A classic, obvious tactic—but effective.
The priest had claimed no connection to the Sword Empress, but she might still care about him.
Besides, he had no other options.
"Stay still. Move a muscle, and I'll put a hole through you."
"Eek...!"
Blasting the priest with mana to intimidate him, Mardin confirmed the man froze in terror.
"Good. Just like that—stay put."
He activated the magic circle and collapsed the entrance to buy as much time as possible.
It wouldn't delay her much, but every minute, every second counted now.
.
.
.
-Kwaaaang!
"You dare resort to such petty tricks...!"
The Sword Empress blasted through the collapsed entrance with a furious expression, storming into the lab's deepest level.
"Stop right there!!"
The moment she entered, Mardin thrust the hostage he was holding into her clear view.
"Mmph! Mmph!"
"Make one wrong move from where you stand, and this one's life is forfeit!"
"...!"
He pressed a dagger forged from blood against the man's throat and checked the time left until the magic circle activated.
-Whirr...
'Five more minutes... Just a little bickering should buy me enough.'
"I know you can wield swords without touching them! Plant your sword in the ground and raise your hands!"
"Blood Cult scum... Scheming to the bitter end..."
"Do you truly crave bloodshed?"
-Squeeze.
The dagger in Mardin's grip dug slightly into the fortune teller's neck.
"Mmmph!! Mmph!!"
"...This has nothing to do with him! Taking an innocent bystander hostage—have you no shame?!"
"Innocent? You dragged him along into that trap, which tells me you two are pretty close."
"Urk...!"
"Now. One bit more pressure from my hand, and this man's done for. Do as I say."
Mardin spoke with doubt that she'd comply, but her next action made him sneer inwardly.
-Thud.
Her sword plunged deep into the floor, handle barely visible.
Humiliation and rage twisted her raised-hands stance.
'Three minutes left...'
"Good. Stay just like that. A little longer, and I'll let you both go as promised."
"...How exactly do you plan to 'let us go'?"
"Do you think you're in a position to question me?"
It was a bluff.
A bluff he couldn't pull off if she didn't value the hostage's life.
But for now, with the hostage in play, he held the advantage.
"Don't worry. The Night Clan doesn't lie lightly."
"...If you don't release him unharmed, I'll scour all of Central Plains and kill you."
'The more she says that, the more she's handing me information...'
The hostage-taker always benefited from such reactions.
It proved the hostage's value.
'Two minutes left...'
The magic circle etched into the floor glowed, humming with energy.
'Fuck fuck fuck fuck.'
What the hell is even happening right now?
"Don't worry. The Night Clan doesn't lie lightly."
"...If you don't release him unharmed, I'll scour all of Central Plains and kill you."
The vampire pressing a blood-red dagger to my throat from behind was locked in a standoff with the Sword Mistress, both radiating killing intent.
'I was just here on a trip, damn it?!'
He'd only come to Anhui Province for travel, so how the hell did he get dragged into this?
The thought that he might die here sent chills down his spine.
Sure, he lived each day without regrets, but that didn't mean he was okay with dying.
He still had plenty he wanted to do in life.
'Wh-What do I do?'
But he had no idea how to escape this.
The power gap was obvious, and with a blade already at his throat, resistance was futile—his survival odds near zero.
'Do I just... die like this...?'
The Sword Mistress and the kidnapper(?) were still glaring at each other, but he knew better.
In situations like this, hostages rarely survived.
-Whirr...
An ominous hum rose from the floor beneath him.
He couldn't inspect it properly with the blade at his neck, but it looked like one of those fantasy magic circles from games, glowing and buzzing forebodingly.
No doubt it spelled trouble for him.
No way the kidnapper was throwing a party with floor lights at a time like this.
'You damn sky bastard—always refusing to show me my future even when I begged on my knees, but now you're hiding it just to send me off like this?'
-Whirr...
'So petty and stubborn, giving me headaches every divination session, discriminating against me—I even grabbed your collar about it, but no sign of fixing that twisted personality. Now you twist the knife to the end and kill me like this... At least warn me when I'd die so I could prepare mentally. What the hell is this?!'
-Rumble.
'Always "Leakage of Heavenly Secrets" this, mood-dependent nonsense without clear standards because of your whims. Considering all the suffering you put me through, even in death I'll curse—'
-Rumble...!!
At that moment, a thunderous roar echoed deep underground.
"Wh-What was that?"
"...That sound...?"
The noise startled even the vampire and Sword Mistress.
To him, it was all too familiar.
A chill washed over him from head to toe, like ice water dumped on his skin.
And as that cold sensation crept through his body...
'Shield!'
The rosary tucked in his bosom activated, enveloping him in a translucent barrier.
"You bastard, playing tricks...!"
As the vampire drove the dagger—now flush against his throat—through the barrier toward his neck...
-Kwajijijik---!!!
His vision flooded with blue lightning.
Vision drowned in azure thunder
"Kraaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!!"
The last things he registered before blacking out: the vampire's agonized scream of pain, and
"Yuseong!!!"
The Sword Mistress rushing toward him, calling a name he'd never shared.
-Whiiirrr!!!
The magic circle erupting in blinding light.
And
-Splash!
The bone-chilling sensation of cold water engulfing his entire body.
-Meanwhile, in Shaanxi Province—
"Hm~ Hmm~"
-Bubble bubble.
Dang Ayoung hummed a tune as she tossed herbs into a cauldron emitting sinister sounds.
As a junior of the Tang Clan of Sichuan, it was a fine display of her dedication to crafting her own poisons, but
Anyone who knew what those words scrawled on the box beside her meant would hesitate to speak up.
Containers around her bore incomprehensible labels like Awakening, Recovery, Duration, Mild, Hypnotic, and more,
One vial in particular, etched with especially chilling warnings, stood out.
"Um, miss... You planning to use that one too?"
"Huh? Oh, that? Nah, why would I? I just made it once 'cause it was in a book."
"Then maybe just dispose of it..."
"Waste the materials? I'm just keeping it. I wouldn't use something like that on someone I trust, right?"
'I don't know what you've cooked up, but please don't betray him.'
For that man's sake, he prayed she meant it.