Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Don't Expect a Merciful Death—I'll Tear You Limb from Limb
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Inside the Black Gate where the disciples were gathered.
"...It's been a while since I've felt this pissed off."
"I was going to toy with you slowly... but guess I'll just kill you all."
Tentacle Burst
Tendrils spread in all directions
In an instant, the tentacles of the vampire Dertod exploded outward in every direction.
-Several Disciples Eliminated
Hidden students caught in the attack
Several disciples who had been hiding lost their lives to the assault.
A whirring sound echoed as their energy was absorbed into Dertod's body.
"Alright, shall we have a proper fight now?"
He smirked and crouched down.
High-Speed Charge
Target: Park Hye-yeon
In a flash, he charged straight at Park Hye-yeon.
"C-Careful!"
Kang Eun-byeol, who was beside her, swiftly deployed a defensive spell.
The barrier shattered to pieces with a single gesture from Dertod.
His follow-up attack sliced through the air.
Just before Dertod's razor-sharp claws reached Park Hye-yeon, she defended with magic—Ice Spear. Drawing on external mana, she manipulated dozens of ice spears simultaneously to barely fend off the attack.
"Ho... so even something like this is possible?"
Dertod gazed at the dozens of ice spears still floating in the air, despite having shattered several himself, and spoke in astonishment.
"Humans have advanced in so many ways compared to the old days. Or is it just you who's exceptional?"
Park Hye-yeon ignored him and thrust her hand forward.
Dozens of ice spears hurtled toward Dertod at blinding speed.
But as expected, they shattered under his touch.
Park Hye-yeon shouted to her fellow disciples of Choi Juwon.
"Support me! I'm the one here who can best utilize external mana. That monster can't be killed with ordinary magic."
Seo Chan-woo yelled back.
"I'll fight up front too. It looks like we're all dead if we don't. I can't die like a dog here—I have something I absolutely must do."
Im Sea-a, Min Da-yoon, and Kang Eun-byeol exchanged glances. Speaking for them, Min Da-yoon said,
"We'll provide rear support. Barriers, attacks, and heals— we'll focus on those spells."
Roles were assigned in an instant. In the short time they had, they reorganized their strategy and advanced with practiced coordination.
"Foolish humans. You think that meager number can defeat me?"
Dertod laughed mockingly. He raised his hand to the sky, and blood began to gather in the air.
Targets: Park Hye-yeon, Seo Chan-woo
Blood surged from his fingertips, lancing toward Park Hye-yeon and Seo Chan-woo in the front lines.
"Blizzard"
⟨ Freezing Tempest ⟩
As Park Hye-yeon chanted the incantation, the area instantly turned into a frozen wasteland. Ice lances shot forth—spears fundamentally more powerful than Ice Spear, hurtling toward Dertod.
Dertod swatted them aside with his hand and charged.
"Not so fast!"
Seo Chan-woo stepped up to block the oncoming Dertod. But just as he began to chant a spell...
Dertod grabbed his face and hurled him away.
Seo Chan-woo slammed into the wall. Dertod extended a tentacle to drain his energy.
At that moment.
A chilling slice rang out, inflicting a minor gash on Dertod's tentacle.
He retracted the tendril and turned to Park Hye-yeon.
"Impressive. I thought mages couldn't spam spells like that, but how are you firing them off nonstop?"
Dertod was a monster who hadn't interacted with mages in ages.
The mages of old that he remembered were all pathetic sorts who collapsed from exhaustion after a few casts. Yet this girl before him was unleashing a barrage.
'They don't seem that powerful.'
To a high-ranking vampire like Dertod, Park Hye-yeon's attacks weren't life-threatening. They stung enough not to ignore, though.
'Fascinating.'
Dertod eyed Park Hye-yeon as she prepared another spell.
And just as he extended his tentacles...
A fireball streaked in from a distance.
Im Sea-a had fired it at Dertod, her body trembling uncontrollably.
Even as flames scorched his face, Dertod casually tilted his head and spoke coldly.
"You... want to die, huh?"
A whoosh of air followed as Dertod darted forward.
Just as he lunged to impale Im Sea-a's abdomen...
Kang Eun-byeol blocked it with a defensive spell from the side.
In that instant, Dertod spun his entire body, abruptly changing direction to charge at Kang Eun-byeol.
And moments later...
Kang Eun-byeol Launched
Dertod stomped down on Kang Eun-byeol with his foot, sending her flying far away.
She spat up blood and collapsed unconscious on the ground.
Dertod surveyed the surroundings.
"Looks like, excluding the hiding trash, only three of you can still fight."
The survivors were Park Hye-yeon, Im Sea-a, and Min Da-yoon.
"Hmm... I could handle you lot easily enough, but no reason not to use every advantage when I can."
With that, Dertod unfurled his tentacles once more.
-Multiple Casualties
Screams echo everywhere
Horrific screams erupted wherever the tentacles struck.
Dertod's body grew larger, his demonic energy swelling with ever more murderous intent.
"Ah... what a beautiful sound..."
Dertod smiled as he savored the cries.
His latest attack had killed most of the people in the area.
The trio had blocked tentacles aimed at the unconscious Seo Chan-woo and Kang Eun-byeol, but they lacked the capacity to stop those targeting the others. The weaker Helmont Academy introductory class students became nothing more than fodder for Dertod.
"You have no hope left. Having provided me with so much prey, I'm confident I won't lose to anyone."
Dertod grinned and locked eyes with Im Sea-a.
In a blink, he teleported behind her.
He raised his foot high and slammed it down.
Im Sea-a was embedded into the ground.
Dertod hoisted her up and flung her at Min Da-yoon.
Min Da-yoon stumbled, losing her balance. Dertod thrust his hand toward her abdomen to pierce it.
Min Da-yoon hastily erected a Magic Shield, but it couldn't withstand Dertod, now vastly empowered.
The shield shattered instantly.
Dertod's hand pierced through Min Da-yoon's body—or tried to.
The moment his hand struck, a fireball arrived from afar. Park Hye-yeon stood at its origin.
"Cough!"
Thanks to Park Hye-yeon's intervention, Min Da-yoon survived but was now combat ineffective. Only Park Hye-yeon remained.
"Hellfire" Absorbing ambient mana
⟨ Infernal Blaze ⟩
She absorbed mana from the surrounding air and unleashed Hellfire.
But Dertod tore through the spell and charged at her.
'He tore Hellfire apart?'
Demonic energy that rent even flames—it was calamity-level power at a glance.
Park Hye-yeon Slammed into Ground
Park Hye-yeon was smashed into the earth by Dertod's kick. Trembling, she forced herself back to her feet.
"Ho..."
Dertod looked on in surprise.
"How are you still standing?"
The monster muttered, but Park Hye-yeon ignored him and raised her hand.
"I-Ice... Spear..."
The moment she'd taken the hit, she'd instinctively wrapped her body in mana for defense. But that had pushed her mana to its limit, leaving her unable to cast high-level spells anymore. Still, she chanted.
Several ice spears materialized in the sky. Dertod flicked them away dismissively with a single finger and approached step by step.
"Lightning... Cannon..."
A mass of electricity hurtled toward Dertod.
He effortlessly dismantled it mid-air.
Park Hye-yeon's strength gave out, and she dropped to one knee. Yet she stubbornly refused to collapse entirely.
Blood streamed from her eyes and ears, her mana reserves utterly depleted.
Normally, she'd have collapsed from exhaustion. But by wielding external mana, she'd forced more out even in a near-exhausted state. Her body was now breaking down rapidly as a result.
She didn't care about her condition.
'I... have to survive... If I die here... Father's vengeance...'
She clung fiercely to thoughts of her father—the man who'd do anything for her. The one who'd entered a dungeon to pay her academy fees and met an unjust end.
Park Hye-yeon had lived solely for her father's revenge. She believed it was the last atonement she could offer the father her actions had killed.
"Teleport."
She teleported to a nearby spot.
Coughing up blood in a torrent.
"Huff... huff..."
Gasping raggedly, she tried to recover. But her overtaxed body could barely move.
To make matters worse, Dertod found her in seconds.
He sauntered up to her.
"You fought so fiercely before, now you're running to survive. Pathetic and repulsive, like livestock."
Dertod glanced at his claws.
"Know what I hate most? Weaklings. Even more than that, weaklings who thrash about desperately to live. If you're bold enough to attack someone as noble as me without knowing your place, shouldn't you at least be prepared to be torn apart? And yet you flee like a coward. The weak die—that's the natural order. Why fight it?"
"Sh-Shut... your mouth..."
Park Hye-yeon glared at Dertod with venomous eyes.
[The weak die.]
It felt like he was speaking to her father, and rage boiled within her.
"Filthy monster... I've seen plenty with your same mindset... Every one of them was irredeemable scum. Born with power but utterly lacking basic humanity—brain-dead bastards. Your kind are no different from cattle."
Dertod's eyes flashed with fury.
"How dare a human spew such nonsense."
"Wretched worm. I'll gouge out your eyes and sever your limbs one by one. I'll make you writhe in agony until you're begging to live—no, begging for death. I'll kill you slow and gruesome."
With that, Dertod condensed blood in the air once more, shaping it into a blade.
He swung the blood sword toward Park Hye-yeon's eyes.
'So... this is how I die. Pointlessly.'
Her plea to attend the academy had gotten her father killed. Her mother abandoned her. After that, she'd been used by countless people outside, lived as a homeless beggar scavenging for scraps of food and water. Even after escaping that life, not a single day was peaceful. No one helped her; every day felt like plummeting into an abyss.
No matter how far she fell, the bottom was nowhere in sight. She'd lived a life sinking endlessly into the gutter. To end it without even achieving her final hope—her father's revenge—was cruel beyond measure.
'Someone... just once... please...'
The stoic Park Hye-yeon shed tears as she pleaded inwardly.
'Just once... help me... anyone... just this once...'
She, who never sought others' aid, desperately wished for it on the brink of death.
This cursed life, trapped in pitch-black darkness without a speck of light. Just once would do. She yearned for someone to save her. If gods existed, she prayed for one chance.
But her prayer went unanswered as Dertod's blade sped toward her eyes.
Then.
Something Sliced
"Gaaaaaaah—!"
When she opened her eyes, Dertod was thrashing in pain, clutching his arm.
'Wh-Who...?'
Stunned by the sudden turn, Park Hye-yeon looked toward the spell's origin.
A masked man stood there.
The masked man—Choi Juwon—surveyed the scene.
Numerous people lay battered and broken.
Taking it all in, Choi Juwon whispered coldly to Dertod.
"Don't expect a merciful death. I'll tear your body apart."