I Had No Idea It Would Be This Strong

Death Scythe?

A weapon with a ridiculously cool name had appeared.

Mid-grade blood had raised my level by one, and high-grade blood had raised it by three.

But when I consumed supreme blood, instead of leveling up, I got some kind of item.

I immediately opened my inventory to check the information on the new item.

Holy crap, it's EX-class!

An item ranked EX-class, the exact same rank as my class.

Basically, the more Blood Power it consumed, the stronger it got, and if I killed something with it, I could gain blood from it.

But why was the cooldown a whole twenty-four hours?

Even the S-class item Book of the Dead only had a ten-minute cooldown. Did that mean this thing was just that absurdly powerful?

I cautiously took it out of my inventory.

What appeared in my hands was a pitch-black scythe far larger than I was tall.

True to the name Death Scythe, its blade was long and wickedly sharp, like the grim reaper's own weapon. It looked unbelievably cool, unbelievably strong.

But.

There was one problem.

I-it's heavy...

It wasn't so heavy that I couldn't lift it at all, but it was still about all I could do just to hold it up while straining.

A cruel weight for this pathetic little body with a Strength stat of 3.

There was absolutely no way I could fight properly while swinging this thing around myself.

Wouldn't it be better to just hand it to Katarina or Siyeon and tell them to use it?

No matter how much it was technically my weapon, it meant nothing if I couldn't actually use it.

As it happened, my familiars had just finished taking down their respective opponents and wrapping up their training.

I dragged the heavy blade across the floor and made my way toward them.

Heave-ho, heave-ho...

Ow, my arms hurt!

"Come here, all of you."

It was easier just to call them over.

The three familiars gathered around me, looking curious.

"My lord. Did you summon us?"

"I am here, Master."

"Huh? What's that, Master? A new weapon?"

"Indeed it is."

I gave Lili a light nod, then held the scythe out toward Katarina.

"Katarina. Try lifting this."

"Yes, my lord."

I handed Death Scythe over to Katarina.

Naturally, I assumed that if anyone could lift a mere scythe with ease, it would be Katarina, the strongest of the three by far.

I could hold it myself, after all. For Katarina, I figured it would probably feel like handling a feather.

But the instant the scythe fully left my hand—

"Urk?!"

Katarina dropped straight to one knee.

Thud—! The massive scythe slipped from her grasp and crashed onto the training ground floor with a deafening boom.

Huh?

"M-my deepest apologies, my lord! I shall pick it up at once!"

Looking completely flustered, Katarina grabbed the shaft of the fallen scythe and put all her strength into it.

But the weapon didn't budge in the slightest, as if it had rooted itself into the floor.

"Kgh...!"

Even Katarina, putting her full power behind it, couldn't move Death Scythe an inch.

"My lord... forgive me."

After a moment, Katarina bit her lip and spoke.

"This servant's skill is too meager. I lack the strength even to lift my lord's armament."

"......"

What in the world?

I blinked.

Then I had Siyeon and Lili try as well, but the result was the same.

"Nngh...!"

"Gnnnngh, it's super heavy!"

Siyeon staggered the instant I handed it to her and dropped it right away. Lili tried tugging at the scythe where it lay on the floor, grunting with effort, but she couldn't move it even a single millimeter.

It was seriously strange.

I could lift it, heavy as it was.

It obviously can't just be a matter of Strength.

There must have been some special condition attached to it.

Like a personal weapon only the Blood Lord herself could wield.

Whatever the reason, handing it off to my familiars clearly wasn't an option.

"That is enough. It is, to begin with, an object only this True Ancestor may wield, so do not be too disheartened."

"As I thought... so that is the case...."

Only then did Katarina let out a relieved sigh, looking up at me with eyes full of reverence.

Siyeon and Lili nodded too.

"In any case, all of you have worked hard in training. Let us have a snack for a while, then resume."

I closed the training ground and led my familiars back out to the living room.

To reward them for all their hard work, I decided to feed them plenty of fresh blood sausage, plus sweet desserts like macarons and cake.

Both ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I and my familiars instinctively recoiled from foods with garlic in them—apparently a natural vampire trait.

So when it came to ordinary food other than blood, we naturally gravitated toward sweets.

Desserts usually didn't have garlic in them, after all.

More importantly, ever since I got this body, sweet desserts were the most delicious thing after blood.

Lately I'd been eating so much sugar that I was starting to worry I might get diabetes.

Hm. Could vampires even get diabetes?

Anyway, everyone dove into the snacks.

"Yummy!"

"Lili. What disgraceful behavior is this before our lord? Eat more slowly."

Lili was stuffing her face so enthusiastically that crumbs got all over her mouth, while Katarina scolded her even as her own hands sped up just a little. And Siyeon quietly ate with her cheeks puffed full.

Maybe because training had just ended, they all ate with such obvious enjoyment that it was honestly nice to watch.

And then, no sooner had break time ended than—

"My lord. Would it be permissible for us to resume training?"

Katarina was the first to rise, eyes blazing with resolve.

"Master. I would like to continue as well. I still feel lacking."

Siyeon chimed in too.

"Me too, me too! Lili wants to do more too!"

Lili threw up her hand and shouted.

Oh. That's my girls for you.

They were seriously motivated.

Spending three million gold to build the Special Training Ground really had been worth it.

I nodded readily and opened the portal for them again.

As soon as we entered the training ground, I summoned each of their practice opponents again, just like before.

For Lili, a horde of low-grade monsters. For Siyeon, two Dark Oculus. For Katarina, the S-class vampire Lachesis.

The clamor of battle soon rang out around us once more.

And I...

...have nothing to do again.

There wasn't even any Wi-Fi in this white space, so I couldn't even look at my phone.

As I stood there blankly watching my familiars fight, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

They're all working this hard. Shouldn't I be doing something too?

Death Scythe.

If I was the only one who could use it anyway, then it seemed like a good idea to try it out at least once.

It wasn't likely I'd ever have to fight in person if I could help it... but at the very least, I ought to practice enough to protect myself.

Having made up my mind, I opened the control panel and summoned a target in front of me.

A single goblin—the kind I'd seen in that C-class gate.

Vrrrr.

A green-skinned goblin materialized before me in all its hideous ugliness.

"Grrrk!"

Eek...

Seeing it up close, clutching its crude little knife, made it way scarier than I'd expected.

I was seriously lucky I'd awakened as a summoner-type class. If I'd gotten a melee class instead, I might've been too scared to work as a hunter at all.

It was scary, but... still, it was fine.

Unless I gave the order to attack first, it was just a motionless scarecrow.

I forced myself to calm my pounding heart and let out a long breath.

I recalled how to use Death Scythe.

You have to swing it with intent infused into it, right?

Intent, huh.

Like... kill the enemy, reap its life.

Something along those lines?

I'm going to kill you!

I glared fiercely at the goblin in front of me and tried to imagine myself killing it.

But for an ordinary modern person, genuinely summoning killing intent wasn't exactly easy.

This isn't really working....

Then maybe...

What if I thought about something that made me absolutely furious?

There was something that came to mind immediately.

That troll ADC from my promotion match...!

That asshole who'd intentionally run it down into the enemy team and then spammed mockery in chat.

I cursed him out, and somehow I was the one who got chat-banned for a week.

I remembered barely restraining myself from asking the Association President to trace the bastard's IP and sending Katarina and Siyeon to go teach him a lesson.

The instant I recalled that unjust, infuriating memory, my head grew hot and anger started boiling up from deep in my gut.

Ahhh—

So this was killing intent.

Good. Now's the time.

With all the strength I could muster...!

I shouted the skill name in my head and swung the scythe with everything I had.

I was aiming for something cool and dramatic, like in an anime—one clean swing to slice the goblin's head off.

But reality and my imagination were two very different things.

Rather than me swinging the scythe, it was more like the scythe swung me.

Whoosh—!

Wah?!

Unable to overcome the weight of the scythe, my body spun right along with it like a top, turning in a full circle.

I didn't come close to hitting the goblin. I just whiffed all by myself in place.

This is so embarrassing...

It was peak slapstick. The girls hadn't seen that, right?

Ugh. They really hadn't better have.

Just as my face grew hot with shame—

Something strange happened to the goblin standing in front of me.

Huh?

Saaaaa—!

A white, smoke-like substance began streaming out of the goblin's eyes, nose, and mouth.

Then, in an instant, its body shriveled up like a mummy drained of all moisture.

With a dry crumbling sound, it turned into a handful ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of ash and scattered into the air.

The pale smoke that had been drawn out of it flowed straight into my body.

T-this is Life Harvest...?!

Since the target was only an illusion, it didn't actually absorb real blood, but I could definitely grasp the rough mechanism behind it.

A weapon that drained life just by being swung nearby, without even making direct contact.

The swing itself had been pathetic, but the result was incredible.

Using up all my Blood Power had definitely been worth it.

Oh. If it's this much...

Even a weakling like me could probably become a pretty threatening existence with this, couldn't I?

If it could instantly kill a goblin even when swung by someone with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a pathetic Strength stat of 3, then it was no wonder this thing was EX-class.

I nodded, deeply satisfied.

And then, in that very moment, I felt something oddly off.

Hm?

The loud sounds of battle that had been echoing all around me had suddenly gone dead silent.

What was that? Had my familiars already finished their training too?

Puzzled, I turned to look around.

And then—

...?!

My eyes went wide, and I froze solid.

The pack of low-grade monsters Lili had been fighting.

The two Dark Oculus that Siyeon had been dodging around while trying to bring down.

Even the illusion of the S-class vampire Lachesis, who had been clashing evenly with Katarina—

Crummble....

All of them.

Every last enemy.

Was disintegrating into dust, just like the goblin had a moment ago.