Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: Blood Mist Ambush
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Indeed.
If Aria had learned how to counter the Black Lions' Heterogenous Powers through her manual,
Vladimir had mastered his methods by devouring the blood of countless mages up to this point.
And unlike Heterogenous Powers, magic was a somewhat predictable ability.
No matter how much of a genius Aria was, she couldn't match Vladimir when it came to raw experience.
"Alright, here's a question for you."
Vladimir's lips split into an even more sinister grin.
"Where did the arm I severed go?"
"!"
Aria's eyes reflexively darted to where Vladimir's arm had been cut off, but nothing was there.
And then.
Shiiieeeek!
"Aaaahhh! M-my body!"
A blood mist rose from Aria's right side, engulfing the attendant mages who had formed a defensive barrier.
To think his power remained connected even after his arm was severed.
"Fireball!"
Aria hurriedly unleashed her spell toward the blood mist surrounding the mages.
But where the mist had vanished, only the mages' mummified corpses remained, dried to husks.
How filthy and grotesque was this power!
Squish, squish!
The blood mist, having sucked dry the mages' blood, was already regenerating Vladimir's severed left arm.
"Th-this...!"
Having witnessed the loss of her loyal attendants right before her eyes,
Aria's furious magic rained down on Vladimir.
Fireballs, lightning, magic arrows...
Amid the barrage of spells, Vladimir defended with his blood mist and laughed.
'This'll be over quick.'
In her rage over her family mages' deaths, Aria failed to notice
that one of Vladimir's left pinky fingers hadn't fully reformed yet.
"Well then, time to end this. That was pretty fun."
Snap!
As Vladimir made a playful gesture, Aria sensed a sudden surge of power from behind her.
"What?!"
Aria whipped around, but Vladimir was faster.
His remaining fingers, now turned to blood mist, ambushed her from behind.
"Too late."
As Vladimir said, the mist enveloped her before she could deploy a defensive spell.
Aria felt wronged.
From their conversation, that man had lived recklessly wielding this dangerous power.
She, born to a prestigious continental house, was bound to uphold order. To end like this, accomplishing nothing...
'Frustrating.'
As Aria unwittingly closed her eyes and bit her lip,
a rock-like man wedged himself between her and the blood mist.
Whoosh!
A heavy sound cleaved the air,
followed by
Boom!
the ominous mist hurtling toward Aria exploded on impact.
Sizzle!
As the burst mist touched Miron's body, parts of his flesh blackened and burned away.
"!"
Confirming the mist's toxicity, Miron didn't panic. He grabbed Aria's waist and swiftly retreated.
Another attendant mage died in the process, but that wasn't his concern.
After all, she was the precious guest of the count's family. Protecting her from even a single hair's harm took priority.
"Are you alright, my lady?"
To Miron, Aria seemed merely startled, with no visible injuries.
"...I'm fine. But you, sir..."
Aria glanced at Miron's wound, drawing his eyes to it as well.
The injury had darkened further since earlier. The skin where Vladimir's blood had touched was necrotizing.
In such a short time, the necrosis was spreading.
Vladimir frowned in dissatisfaction.
"Tch. I had a chance to devour that pesky mage all at once, but the guard dog had to complicate things."
His words were casual, but the ambush was a perfectly calculated move born of vast experience.
From severing his arm to spewing thick mist to hide it on the ground.
Then clearing the surroundings to make everyone think the ambush was over.
It was a killing blow designed to hunt inexperienced mages in one go.
Since it wouldn't work twice, he'd even feigned anger meticulously. Yet
an unexpected guard dog ruined it all. Naturally, he was irritated.
"...Guard dog, huh."
Miron scanned for other threats before stepping forward.
"That's right. I'm a knight of the Carviot count's family. A loyal servant to Young Master Jerome."
A hammer larger than a man's head slowly aimed at Vladimir.
"Anyone who interferes with his affairs—no matter who—will not be spared."
Despite lacking aura control, Miron's mid-expert knight presence evoked a tale's colossal statue come to life.
However,
Vladimir snorted dismissively, feeling no threat.
"Hah! Hilarious. You think blocking one ambush means you'll ruin my plans, you mutt?"
Judging by the telepathy, that guard dog was a Black Lion wielding Heterogenous Powers too.
But Vladimir wasn't worried at all.
Contrary to his half-mad demeanor, he calculated coldly.
'That hammer and his extremely honed body... His Heterogenous Power is definitely the tempering type. Not like my borrowing-force variety.'
Heterogenous Powers came in all varieties, but broadly divided into two.
The tempering type, enhancing body and mind to push limits.
And the borrowing-force type, manifesting phenomena as primary weapons.
On typical battlefields, tempered physical prowess shone more often.
But in Black Lion duels like this, borrowing-force dominated.
Tempering couldn't surpass physical limits, after all.
With that, Vladimir concluded:
That bulky hammer posed no threat despite appearances.
What did raw physical impact matter? He'd just turn to mist.
'Tch, shoulda dealt with that Wendinel duke's girl first.'
No helping it.
A bit annoying, but time was short before the target arrived.
Flash!
Miron didn't wait for Vladimir's thoughts to finish.
With his insides churning and body poisoned,
dragging it out only favored his foe.
Miron swung his hammer with brutish simplicity.
A straightforward attack, but one solid hit would pulverize bones.
Even as the earth-shattering swing bore down, Vladimir felt no worry.
Unless it carried aura from a knight's strike, it couldn't harm him.
Continental history proved it.
Black Lions weren't revered for nothing.
A power that mocked highly trained humans. That's what Heterogenous Powers were.
'Impressive achievements, but that's it.'
Slash!
Vladimir sliced his regenerated left hand with a dagger, drawing blood.
As the wrist's cross-section thrust toward Miron,
Shrrrrr!
the fallen wrist transformed into a massive blood shield.
'Come on, swing away. Step into my range, and I'll devour you with mist.'
That'd be it.
The brute's body would soak in blood mist, letting Vladimir savor his first taste of a fellow Heterogenous Power user.
'Heh heh heh, can't wait. Wonder what you'll taste like...?!'
But mocking Vladimir's expectations,
Boom!
his blood shield shattered all too easily.
And moreover.
"Gaaahhhh!"
As the shield fragmented, Vladimir screamed in physical agony—the first since gaining Blood Kin.
"M-my wrist! My wrist!!"
Staggering back from the unfamiliar pain, he clutched his bleeding left hand with his right.
"H-how...! Nothing short of an aura-infused weapon should wound me...!"
Self-inflicted cuts were mere illusions.
A ploy to sow confusion and fear in prey.
He could reattach them at will anyway.
But now,
this wrist wound was different.
Perfectly crushed beyond any regeneration.
Blood Kin couldn't heal it. Only conventional treatment might, if at all.
"How should I know? I just eliminate Young Master's enemies with all I've got."
Whether Vladimir panicked or not, Miron had no intention of explaining.
As if his duty was singular, he charged again, hammering relentlessly.
"Kgh!"
Even amid the onslaught, Vladimir bit his tongue, spewing blood at Miron.
The droplets morphed, targeting vitals: swords, spears, axes, arrows...
Weapons to claim Miron's life, laced with poison and malice. He couldn't ignore them.
In that brief delay, Vladimir gained distance.
But his mind remained in panic.
"...You! You're a borrowing-force user?!"
That build with borrowing-force? No longer laughable.
Yet despite Vladimir's wary conviction,
Miron merely scratched his cheek.
He didn't understand the term.
"Borrowing-force...? No idea. Just couldn't stand your smug grin!"
Whoosh!
Miron's hammer plummeted straight at Vladimir's head.
"Shit!"
Cursing, Vladimir dissolved into full blood mist.
'Don't know his power yet—neutralize the attack first.'
His mist body split, evading the hammer.
Kaboom!
The ground strike radiated menace.
Shrrrr!
Reforming, Vladimir screamed again.
"Gaaahhh! You damn dog!"
Grazed by the hammer on the ground? His left foot now crushed too, he writhed.
Vladimir couldn't comprehend.
'N-no energy felt at all...!'
Not covert borrowing-force.
He'd sense it.
Not aura either.
He'd devoured countless knights.
Conclusion was obvious.
'The hammer!'
"It's over!"
Miron, breathing roughly from spreading poison, closed in for the finish.
But Vladimir slammed the ground.
Then,
Plop plop.
Scattered blood droplets coalesced into small orbs,
then
Shwoooosh!
shot toward Miron.
Thinking blood weapons again, Miron raised his hammer—
Splatter!
"?!"
But the orbs stretched like taffy, binding the hammer solid.
Miron, mighty as he was, couldn't fully shake it free.
Seizing the gap, Vladimir approached to spray mist—
but Miron twisted, kicking hard with his bound hammer fixed.
Thud!
Vladimir burst again, but
Sizzle!
Miron's leg blackened like the first mist contact.
"Hah hahaha! Now I get it, you! It's the hammer!"
Vladimir cackled.
No aura, no Heterogenous Power.
What else?
'Obviously tampered with the weapon.'
Elated at his deduction, he shouted.
"Heh heh, surprised me for a sec. But that's the end."
As he bound the hammer and sprayed mist again,
Fwoosh!
scorching energy surged beside him.
Aria and the Wendinel mages unleashed flames and lightning en masse.
"Think we're just decorations?!"
They'd waited for openings while Miron pressed, but jumped in as tides turned.
"You damn wench!"
Vladimir's irritation peaked.
Trivial alone, annoying together.
"Fine! If you wanna die first, I'll oblige!"
Still binding the hammer, he lunged at Aria.
"My lady, evade!"
Miron shouted urgently, but Vladimir ignored him now.
Without that hammer, the brute was harmless.
No breaking free meant abandoning it to move.
Thus, no threat.
Aria and mages fired lightning and fireballs again.
Assuming blood weak to heat, perhaps.
"Useless!"
Missiles posed no threat.
Straight-line flames? Shift form to match—no issue.
Wrist and foot throbbed, but coldly closing in,
a sudden killing intent from behind forced him to dodge.
Kabooooom!
Eyes falling on the knight whose hammer he'd bound.
"Broke my blood bind? How?"
Hardened blood rivaled steel. Not easily torn.
And if possible, why wait?
The mystery cleared fast.
Grrrrr...
A guttural growl from apex predators devouring prey.
The hammer's impact site cratered like a meteor strike.
The menace chilled even Vladimir.
"Pro...tect... ing... la... dy..."
Killing intent fiercer, but Miron's half-mad state twisted Vladimir's expression.
"...I see. That's your Heterogenous Power."
Amid agony, Vladimir's feast-craving eyes cooled.
"Looks like it trades mind for power... Tch, boring. The one who scarred me wields such trash. Not even worth tasting."
Vladimir ranked high among Turbid Flow branches.
His power excelled.
But Miron's frenzy? The lowest, most despised: beastly, inhuman rabble.
"...Done playing. You, the mage wench—both."
Rumble rumble!
His hand rose; scattered blood formed a massive orb aloft.
"Wanted intact meals, no wounds... but no more."
Lowly power users, and Wendinel lady—interest gone.
Delay more, and the Carviot young master joins. Messier.
"...Not my favorite—too ugly."
Hand descended.
"But I'll devour you all at once."
Rooooar!
Like playtime till now, the potent blood orb sought to engulf Miron and Aria—
"Who decided that?"
BOOOOM!
The blood orb shattered mere feet out.
Behind the exploding crimson,
"You think I'd let his perverse meal claim her?"
a cool, weighty voice rang—serene yet laced with grace and resolve.