Chapter 222: For Elize (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 222: For Elize (7)
Elize stared intently at Karami.
The Slave Reaper.
Her ‘former master,’ who had seen through her ruse of swindling people in the slave market and made her his slave.
His incomprehensible actions.
A man full of mysteries.
A man shrouded in mystique.
Elize was certain there was no one in the world more suspicious than him.
But on the other hand, having spent time with Karami, she had faintly come to realize something: he might not be as bad a person as she thought.
Perhaps I misunderstood him.
He was like a person of inverted black and white.
Not black pretending to be white, but white pretending to be black.
She had even had such a thought before.
That perhaps he was a god in disguise, come to save her.
But it was all a delusion.
He was no divine savior.
He was merely one of the many people who passed through her life.
And that was why Elize hated Karami.
Disappointment is born from expectation.
She was used to people being a certain way, so she was never disappointed by their attitudes.
But with Karami, she had held expectations.
And because she had held expectations, she was disappointed.
Why hadn’t he saved her?
Elize resented Karami.
And now, that same Karami had appeared before her again.
“Even if you drink that, you won't get what you want.”
He flatly denied Elize's wish.
“…Did you come to kill me?”
“I think I've told you hundreds of times that I've only ever liberated slaves, never killed them.”
“Then why did you come back?”
“I came because there is someone here who needs my help.”
“No, there isn't. Go away.”
“For you to say that, your words and actions are quite different. Don't you find it comical yourself, Saint?”
A smirk played on Karami's lips as he scanned Elize's appearance. To say her condition was ‘not good’ would be an understatement.
Elize pressed her lips shut.
Her eyes darted around as she calmly assessed the situation.
Then she noticed something strange.
“Are you alone? Where are the other women?”
Where were the monsters who had neutralized an army of clergy, an apostle, and even a saint? All that was here was Karami, who could do nothing on his own.
“They're probably waiting outside. I've made sure no one can enter, so don't worry. We can have a nice, private conversation.”
“You… left them behind? You came here alone?”
“Is there a problem?”
How could there not be a problem?
Karami was the intruder.
Elize was the head of the Holy Kingdom.
They were leaders of their respective sides.
But unlike Elize, Karami himself possessed no power.
Elize could kill Karami with a mere yawn.
The gap in their power was that vast.
“What on earth are you plotting?”
“Well, I always speak nothing but the truth.”
“Who would believe—!”
Elize shouted, then coughed violently.
Her grip loosened, and the girl she was holding fell to the floor.
But the girl didn't wake up. She was under a spell.
While Elize struggled to support herself, Karami approached the nun-in-training.
“It seems your condition has worsened from not drinking blood. Tsk, tsk.”
Karami gestured in the air. A finger-sized vial appeared in his hand.
He uncorked it and poured the brilliant violet liquid into the girl's mouth.
“What are you making her drink…. Hurry, give that child to me…!”
“Don't worry. I'll hand her over in a moment.”
Shortly after he emptied the vial, the girl, who had kept her eyes closed, twitched and began to wake up.
What Karami had given her was the item [Potion of Invulnerability].
A ridiculously overpowered item that removed all sorts of negative effects.
I'd always felt guilty toward its creator for only using it during drinking contests, but now I've finally put it to good use.
“Umm…. Huh?! Wh-who are you?”
“I'm not a strange person. I'm the Slave Reaper. Rest assured.”
“Eek! The Slave Reaper? But I'm sure I came to the temple to see the Saint?”
“No need to be so surprised. The Saint is right beside you, isn't she?”
Only then did the girl notice Elize.
But what stood before her wasn't the saint revered by all, but a single, blood-starved vampire.
“Hieeeek! A v-vampire!”
The startled girl scrambled backward.
It seemed that even the Slave Reaper was preferable to a vampire, as she clung to Karami.
She kicked desperately at the ground with her legs, trying to get even an inch farther away from the vampire, struggling to press herself deeper into his embrace.
“Ughhhhh…! Sob!”
The girl whimpered, convulsing in terror.
“My, my. She seems quite frightened. Your young follower is trembling. Shouldn't you comfort her, Saint?”
She was about to do just that, even without him saying so.
As Elize, her hand cloaked in divine power, tried to calm the girl, the girl shrieked and violently slapped her hand away.
Smack!
“Ah…?”
Elize's eyes widened as if she'd received a great shock.
Why… why is she making that face?
The girl's reaction was perfectly natural, but for a moment, Elize couldn't understand it.
Suddenly, the blood-soaked floor came into view.
A pool of blood reflected her like a mirror.
The image of the saint was nowhere to be seen.
Red eyes.
Long, bared fangs.
Two pairs of wings, something no human possessed.
Staring back at her from within the crimson ripples was a hideous monster.
“—Ugh…!”
She reached out and frantically stirred the pool of blood.
The mirror-clear blood rippled and churned, distorting the reflection. But as the liquid settled, the red eyes stared back at her once more.
Crimson eyes, gleaming with instinct.
Only then did Elize realize.
The monster was her.
“No, no….”
Elize's breath grew ragged. Her hands trembled uncontrollably.
It's not true. It's a misunderstanding. Just listen to me for a moment.
Elize reached out to the crying girl to explain, but her fingertips were already stained with blood.
The girl stared at Elize with eyes full of terror. Elize knew why she looked at her that way.
Because she knew that look.
She, too—had seen it in the past.
The bodies of girls piled up in the corner of the research lab. The nuns-in-training who had died writhing in terror until the very end. And the blue-haired girl, drenched in blood, rendered beyond salvation.
But the one making the girl before her tremble in fear wasn't some wicked researcher. It was Elize herself.
“…Ah, ahhh………”
A sob escaped her lips. Not of sadness, but of disgust.
The very thing she had cursed and hated so much. The beings who had trampled her, killed her friends, and taken everything from her. She had been reduced to a monster no different from them.
Elize was too shocked to think straight.
“It seems the Saint isn't feeling well. Now, little nun. If you go straight that way, you can get out of here. When you get outside, everyone will be prostrated on the ground. Just get down next to them.”
Before he could even finish his sentence, the nun-in-training shot up. She ran, stumbling precariously, and fled through the door Karami had entered.
Karami turned his gaze.
Elize was scrubbing furiously at her hands and clothes, as if trying to wipe away the blood.
It was a meaningless act.
She was already tainted.
No matter how much she scrubbed, no matter how much she wiped, the filthy blood that would never wash away had seeped into her very being.
“That's enough. Doing that won't change anything.”
At his words, Elize's movements froze.
She turned her head toward Karami with a creaking motion.
“…What?”
“You've already faintly realized it, haven't you? That no matter how many days you pray, God won't save you. There's no point in denying it. You are, without a doubt, a vampi—”
Elize lunged at him in an instant.
She grabbed him by the collar and threw him to the ground.
Splash.
Blood splattered in all directions.
Nose to nose, Elize snarled, baring her teeth.
“This is all, all your fault! If you hadn't bought me. If you hadn't brought me here, I wouldn't have had to go through this!”
“It's all thanks to me. Because I bought you, you no longer had to deceive people, you got to be the nun you so desperately wanted to be, and you even rose to the position of Saint.”
“What do you want from me that you torment me like this? What did I do so wrong that you're so eager to make my life a living hell?”
“What I've wanted from the very beginning is just one thing. Elize, your liberation.”
Elize gritted her teeth.
“That's why I'm trying to drink the blood! To drink the blood, become a true saint, hear the divine oracle, and be freed from this monstrous body!”
“Even so, you won't be able to hear the oracle.”
“Then what am I supposed to do?! If I can't do this, and I can't do that, then what the hell am I supposed to do?!”
BOOM!
At Elize's roar, the sea of blood erupted.
A rain of blood pattered down on them.
—You mustn't listen to that man. His words are cunning lies meant to deceive you.
“…”
—Bite him. It's a shame he's not a young girl, but it can't be helped. Bite that man and drink his blood!
“It seems that vampire is saying something to you. I recommend you don't listen too closely.”
It was like two mysterious adults holding a child's hands, each telling her to follow them.
Her mind was in turmoil, torn between the different voices in her head and the one before her eyes.
“…I don't know what's what anymore. I don't know… what I'm supposed to do.”
Elize's head dropped.
A young lamb at a crossroads.
Who would show her the way?
All around her were figures wearing the masks of shepherds.
She had no idea who to follow.
“It seems my true feelings aren't getting through to you. Very well. Then I'll prove it. I'll show you just how much I care for you.”
Fwaaa.
A pure white light spread out from within the sea of blood.
The back of Karami's hand began to glow, and a set of scales materialized.
It was time for proof.