16. The Empire's Three Seats (2)
16. The Empire's Three Seats (2)
It was a night when darkness had completely settled.
A chilly wind blew through the Vain Forest, known for its trees with spreading black leaves.
Kailon, the only vampire among the Imperial Ten Seats, ground his teeth.
"Give up and come back after coming this far? What a cowardly bastard."
Kailon was thoroughly displeased with First Prince Schubertche's attitude. He could only perceive it as the prince losing his nerve.
'I'll finish this in my own way.'
The Sword of the Princess, Yuma.
He was well aware of the bastard's martial prowess.
That he was called the 'God of War.' He now knew it wasn't something achieved through luck or coincidence.
The fact that he had defeated the former 2nd Seat of the Empire, Sword God Kronos.
That had only made him, already someone who prepared quite thoroughly in his own way, take even more perfect precautions.
'That damn succubus bitch.'
Among those he tried to collaborate with, the succubus Nellie, who possessed the ability most likely to get on Yuma's nerves, had for some reason flatly refused his offer.
'Still, I can at least kill that one bastard.'
Kailon looked from side to side at his flanks.
Two other vampires stood tall beside him.
They were top-tier vampires possessing the martial power to rip a Sword Master apart in direct combat, even in broad daylight—himself included.
Three such monsters had gathered.
And now it was fully night. The dark hours when a vampire's power was amplified several times over.
"That bastard is the biggest eyesore to First Prince Schubertche right now. If we just finish him off, we can immediately exert significant influence over the empire."
At Kailon's words, the vampire to his left cocked his head.
"I just need to be able to hold lots of human women."
The hulking vampire, Amton, retorted curtly, as if asking why he kept spouting useless drivel.
Kailon ground his teeth at that.
'...Seriously, a bastard with nothing in his head but that crap. A consistent shithead, that one.'
But Kailon couldn't voice that thought out loud.
Because, just like his outward appearance packed solid with muscle, there was no one in the vampire world he knew who could match Amton in close-quarters bare-handed brawling.
A husky female voice sounded from his right.
"Power games, sounds like fun."
It was the female vampire, Erica.
Her long silver hair fluttered in the wind.
Erica flicked her long, pale purple tongue like a snake.
Kailon nodded emphatically at the words that matched his ambition.
"Right, if we just properly fuck this one guy up, turning the Asthes Empire into a vampire empire isn't impossible either."
***
Yuma asked an employee where the Vain Forest was. They said it was a dense forest a 10-minute walk away.
"There are no monsters now, but it's a place where monsters sometimes come down during winter."
"Thanks."
Yuma walked.
'The night air is nice.'
Step. Step. Step.
And he arrived at the Vain Forest, characterized by its black trees.
After stepping one foot into the brush, Yuma opened his mouth.
"Third Seat of the Empire, come out."
It was a lofty voice.
Yuma had no intention of going deeper into the forest.
Night.
And the race known as vampires.
Approaching any closer didn't seem like a good choice.
Kwa-deudeuk!
The sound of wood warping was heard. Kailon, who had been perched on a branch, kicked off it and leaped into the air.
Peolleok!
And he spread huge wings.
Wings very befitting of a vampire.
Wings that perfectly resembled a bat's, except they appeared to be at least 2 meters in size.
"So you're Yuma."
Kailon, the blond, red-eyed vampire, looked down at Yuma.
Unlike himself, Yuma was a cocky bastard who stood with both feet planted on the ground, yet exuded a lofty aura.
Yuma's ash-grey hair fluttered.
Kailon continued speaking.
"The princess's agent, the Sword of the Princess."
Jjeojeojeojeojeok!
Eight spears of blood materialized behind Kailon's back. Each one was condensed with heavy demonic energy and blood energy. They were spears whose individual destructive power matched the sword of a Sword Master.
"God of War, Yuma."
Kailon's brow furrowed.
He had deliberately prepared his attack slowly to instill fear. Yet the bastard's expression remained unchanged.
The bastard's feet, which he expected to see retreat, hadn't moved an inch. Only then did Yuma's mouth open.
"I don't see why you're the one introducing me."
Suddenly, a tremor was felt from the ground to the left.
Kuuuung-Kung!
"Agreed! Human! That bastard talks too much useless crap!"
A hulking man was charging over. He had pale, purplish skin, and iron-like muscles clad his entire body.
[Lv.122] Amton
Amton thrust his fist forward.
A fist like a hammer.
Yet it was a fist as swift as lightning.
Yuma's eyes tracked that fist.
Yuma's two eyes glowed lividly.
The skill he obtained as a reward for defeating Sword God Kronos, <Hyper-Focus>, had activated.
Amton's fist path was clearly visible.
Even though <Bullet Time> wasn't activated, the trajectory of the attack was clearly visible.
Jjeo-eok!
Amton's fist produced a brutish sound that seemed to burst the very air.
Yuma's two feet moved.
A clumsy weaving that could only be described as slouching.
However, he clearly evaded it.
"Oh ho, he dodges as if he predicted the trajectory."
Erica marveled at Yuma's peculiar walking.
"Khahahahak! Not bad! Human!"
Amton thrust his fist again, this time his left.
Kwaaaaaang!
It was a fist wrapped in a red airflow swirling like a storm.
The effect of <Hyper-Focus> didn't stop at reading the attack's trajectory.
Parry Point.
Yuma twisted his right foot to dodge the massive fist, then deflected the exact center of the vortex shrouding the fist with <Black Dragon Bernak's Fang>.
Kaaaaaang!
A golden burst of light exploded, signifying a successful parry.
"Huh?"
Amton's eyes flew wide open.
Kwaaaaaaaa!
He faced the red storm flying right at his own head.
His main skill, <Red Storm>, had returned with 10 times the damage.
Amton's body went limp.
His head was gone.
It wasn't just his head. Half of his upper body had been swept away by the blood storm.
Kuuung!
Amton's massive frame slammed into the ground.
Silence hovered over the Vain Forest.
"Swept away without even a chance to recover, that pig bastard."
Erica twisted her lips grotesquely.
The vampire race possessed tremendous regenerative power. Even the lesser vampires, their underlings, had wound recovery abilities that humans would find appalling. The top-tier vampires were beyond mention.
Even the supreme Sword Aura of a Sword Master couldn't instantly kill them unless it pierced the head or heart; they could recover from wounds immediately.
But the bastard who possessed such regenerative power had been ripped apart in a single strike.
In Erica's eyes, Yuma's clumsy evasive posture now began to appear as footwork containing profound martial learning.
"Is he truly the God of War...!"
A flush rose on Erica's cheeks.
Pleasure outweighed fear.
Kailon gulped dryly.
"...We'll attack together. Erica, spread the night."
He had intended to attack simultaneously with all three from the beginning.
But that impatient bastard Amton had rushed in first and died.
However, it wasn't entirely fruitless.
He had confirmed that the bastard's martial power wasn't just inflated rumor, but genuine.
And he confirmed that, as his investigations indicated, he was an arrogant bastard who wouldn't strike first.
Yuma confirmed that another pair of eyes lurked behind [Lv.123] Kailon.
[Lv.121] Erica
'There's one more.'
If time dragged on, variables would only increase.
Yuma arrogantly raised his chin.
"You two, I'll let you have the first strike."
And he took a step forward.
A clear provocation.
"I'll enjoy the spectacle of how well you struggle."
What he possessed was 'Parrying.'
What he trusted was also 'Parrying.'
Yuma stood still and took a deep breath.
In a posture so sloppy it looked utterly defenseless to others.
"Kyahahahahahap!!"
A witch-like laugh burst from Erica's mouth.
"I like strong humans...!"
Erica spread her wings just like Kailon had.
"Making that strong human my servant is even better...!"
Black smoke began to billow from Erica's mouth as she soared up. That black smoke created a domain.
A domain of pitch-black darkness, literally impossible to see anything in.
<Dark Heaven>
It was Erica's specialty.
Yuma faced a situation where he could see nothing, as if he had squeezed his eyes shut.
"Always conceding the first strike, that arrogance of yours! Curse that arrogance! Yumaaaa!!"
The eight blood spears that had been floating behind Kailon's back poured down toward Yuma.
"Kyahahahahahap!!"
Before she knew it, a giant red scythe was in Erica's hand. Erica charged straight at Yuma, wielding the scythe.
Yuma stood still, like a man who had accepted death.
He stood still, because he could see everything anyway.
<Hyper-Focus>
The skill Hyper-Focus had completely chewed through and negated Erica's Dark Heaven.
Erica's position or Kailon's direct position weren't visible.
But instead, the techniques were visible.
The blood spears pouring down at him.
And Erica's scythe, scattering red energy as it rushed in like a lightning flash.
Faith in himself.
The confidence held by the Parrying authority known as <Don't Screw Me Over>.
That confidence utterly ignored any hesitation.
Yuma had already possessed an innate talent for reading attack trajectories.
And <Hyper-Focus> enhanced that further.
The eight spears appeared to rain down simultaneously, but in reality, there were individual differences in their falling speed. He grasped that perfectly.
Yuma's right arm moved.
Without an inch of hesitation.
Kagagagagagang!
He parried all eight blood spears that fell like lightning in an instant.
Kkwaaaaaang!
He met Erica's scythe attack—condensed with high-intensity blood energy equivalent to a Sword Master's Aura Blade—head-on and struck it back.
<Absolute Counter>
He did not crumble.
Similarly, the skill acquired by defeating Sword God Kronos, <Indomitable Will>, allowed him to withstand Erica's attack.
Erica's <Dark Heaven> lifted.
Yuma's darkened field of vision cleared.
He saw the sight of Erica, her breath cut off by a single blade.
"...Kkeueooeok! Kkieeeek!"
And the sight of the Third Seat of the Empire, Kailon, dying with his body pierced by his own spears, met his eyes.
"W-why... am I not regenerating?! Kkieeeek!"
Kailon didn't know that his upper and lower body had been separated far apart, and that his heart had already been completely skewered by a spear and had ceased functioning.
Soon, the breath of the Third Seat of the Empire, Kailon, was cut off.
"...Tiring."
Having killed three top-tier vampires, Yuma felt extreme fatigue.
When he turned around, a Cat Tribe woman with scarlet hair was slumped on the ground before him.
[Lv.67] Hestia.
'That Cat Tribe I saw at the restaurant a few hours ago.'
The Cat Tribe woman's mouth slowly opened.
"I-I! I d-didn't see anything! Really! Ah! The night sky is so nice! Isn't iiiiit!!"
A Cat Tribe completely unused to polite speech was struggling to survive.
As Yuma stared blankly at her.
"Huaaaaang! Please spare me!"
She got a little more honest.