The True Bloods
Ssssss.
"All this uproar over a single human and one Lich…"
"Kyahaha, see? I told you if I went around kidnapping humans, our tails would get stepped on like this!"
"Shut up. Even if someone comes, we just deal with them and it's over."
"…The building… all collapsed…"
"Moraine. Speak a little faster, will you? You're killing every vampire listening."
Five True Bloods—noble-class vampires—descended while chattering among themselves.
They had been resting well inside their coffins, storing up power, when the sudden chaos finally forced them out.
Tszzzz.
—Do-ha, what are you going to do?
Canteas called to Do-ha through telepathy.
Five True Bloods would make things difficult.
They were the Lord's direct children; each one rivaled a noble-class demon.
Weaker than a Demon King, certainly, yet not a level one could simply ignore.
—What else?
Wooooong!
An overwhelming surge of energy erupted from the smiling Do-ha.
Yeoraesingjang — Tathagata Palm
Kwaaaaaaah!
Do-ha casually swept his arm, and a colossal golden palm blazing with light plummeted from the heavens.
"Just kill them all."
KWA-AAAAANG!
The Tathagata Palm crashed down, shaking the earth and triggering a massive quake.
"This bastard dares—!"
"Moraine! Hey, snap out of it!"
"How dare you… kill our brother! We'll slaughter you!"
The weakest among them, Baron Moraine, had died in a single blow. The remaining True Bloods erupted with killing intent.
Even for a surprise attack, none of them had expected one of their own to fall so easily.
"Anyway, every True Blood right now is in a weakened state. So don't be scared."
"Wh-who said I was scared!"
Canteas barked at Do-ha's words.
Back in the day he used to thrash bat-bastards like these just to warm up.
Zwaaang.
"Come forth, Dullahan!"
Canteas swept his staff and re-summoned the Dullahan he had previously reverse-summoned.
With this one alone, True Bloods were manageable.
"Then you take two."
"Got i— wait? Two… two?"
Canteas, who had been nodding along, suddenly froze with a blank look.
When he said he could handle it, he meant one…
Even weakened, a True Blood was still a True Blood. How was he supposed to face two at once?
"You're the Lich who made an entire continent tremble in fear. Cheer up."
"…The one who made them tremble was you."
He had never inspired terror; the moment his seal broke he had been beaten into the dirt and that was that.
Wooooong!
Baek-bo Myeol-hwang Gong — Third Step: Heavenly Manifest Diamond
Jjeoeong!
As Do-ha shot forward, two enormous arms materialized behind his back.
With his rising realm he could now stabilize his energy far more cleanly; where the forms had once been hazy, they now possessed perfect, solid shape.
Chwaaaak!
Kwang!
Wh-what the hell?!
Ugh, what kind of power…
Helraid and Sephionade each blocked a single fist and twisted their faces in pain.
A Duke and a Marquis, barely managing to stop one punch apiece.
"Hey, half-breeds."
"What, you bastard?!"
"Who the hell are you calling half-breeds!"
"You should've come at me with your wings out from the start."
Zwaaang!
Giga Lighthein
Bajijijijik!
Flash!
Kwarrrrrung.
Two colossal bolts of lightning crashed down upon Helraid and Sephionade.
Grin.
The pair who had been struck merely smiled.
"Stupid fool. We True Bloods possess magic resistance—ordinary magic doesn't work on us."
"Heh, a mere mage thinking he can—"
"Oh, is that so?"
Woooong!
Baek-bo Myeol-hwang Gong — First Step: Cheon-roe
Flash!
Bajijijijijik!
"Keuhk!"
"Uwaagh!"
Struck by lightning born of martial arts rather than magic, the two True Bloods screamed.
What just happened?
Their minds reeled.
The first bolt had left them unharmed, yet the second had flooded them with searing agony.
Had they not instinctively shielded their bodies, they would have been burned to ash on the spot.
Chwaak.
"As expected—you only listen after getting hit."
Do-ha smiled as the True Bloods unfurled their wings.
If they had released their power from the beginning, even Cheon-roe would not have dealt serious damage.
Kung!
Do-ha stamped the ground; several chunks of stone rose into the air.
Kkuuk.
Tanji-gong · Jinwon
Teodeodeong!
Swaeaeaeaeaeek!
"These damn pebbles—!"
"D-dodge, Sephionade!"
Helraid shot into the air, shouting to his brother.
He had first intended to wrap himself in his wings for defense, but a chilling premonition had driven him skyward instead.
Pububububuk!
"Keok!"
The storm of stone punched hole after hole through Sephionade's wings; he coughed blood.
If the rocks had simply passed through his body it might have been bearable—but the cursed stones bored only through the wings and then detonated inside him like bombs.
Agony crashed over him in waves.
"Die!"
Chwarararak.
All-melting blood energy surges forth
Kuwaaaaaah!
A torrent of energy that melted everything in its path hurtled toward Do-ha.
Blood Cannon was a homing attack that pursued its target no matter how they moved.
"Interesting."
Snap.
Magic nullified
Paaang!
"What the—?!"
The Blood Cannon vanished in a single stroke; Helraid's eyes bulged as if they would pop from his skull.
What had he just done?
Dispel?
Impossible.
Human Dispel magic could never erase Blood Magic.
"True Bloods really are fun to fight."
Lately he had been holding back so often that he rarely got to pour internal energy this freely.
Against True Bloods, however, he could unleash techniques that burned through energy at a ferocious rate—and his body felt exhilaratingly clear.
"Like sweating it out in a sauna, I guess?"
"What kind of nonsense is that!"
Sephionade restored his body and began casting.
Chwaak!
The earth itself turns against the enemy
Kwadudeudeuk!
As Sephionade's Blood Stone unfolded, the ground began to churn and invert violently.
Even with a shield around the body, the earth would crush and grind its victim like a worm.
"What are you, moles…"
Wooooong!
Mokhon-sura-gong — Third Form: Water King Throne
Chwaaaaaaah!
Do-ha's water arts unfurled; a colossal wave swallowed the churning earth whole.
"You bastard!"
"Keuk!"
The two True Bloods raised Blood Shields against the surging flood.
Jiiik.
J-just a little longer…
We're being pushed back…
Helraid and Sephionade gritted their teeth as they were driven steadily backward.
They were pouring everything they had into simply holding back a flood of water.
Chabak. Chabak.
"Ugh, and these are supposed to be True Bloods…"
Do-ha strolled lightly across the surface of the raging wave.
Even half-baked True Bloods should have better combat sense than this.
They possessed raw power yet had no idea how to use it.
"Even if you were just born, you ought to have basic combat instincts. What exactly are you?"
When water flooded like this, the correct response was not to block it but to open a path and divert the current.
Failing that, simply fly.
Of course, the Lord was sleeping beneath the collapsed building, so flight was off the table—but as he had said, splitting the water into multiple channels would have been enough.
And they were two True Bloods, were they not?
A single flick of the hand could have carved a ten-meter-deep canal. Why stand there like idiots trying to hold it back?
"Shall I wait for you?"
"…"
"…"
"Fine. I'll wait until the flood dies down. So this time, do it properly."
At that exact moment—
Shushuk!
As if they had been waiting for the words, both True Bloods vanished and reappeared behind Do-ha.
"Die!"
Swaeaeaeek!
Pubuk!
Their hands punched straight through Do-ha's body.
In truth, while holding back the water they had already spread a shield around the underground area.
Even if water seeped in, the Lord would take no damage.
They had simply waited for their opponent to approach.
Knowing Do-ha's habit of taunting, they had predicted he would come close and had merely pretended to struggle against the water.
Since magic did not work, they intended to rip out his heart with their bare hands.
"Heh, humans always let their guard down."
Sephionade wore a cold smile.
In that instant—
Hazy.
The body they had pierced blurred and dissolved into nothing.
"Tsk tsk. Idiots."
Do-ha, already standing far away, clicked his tongue and shook his head.
He had used Shape-Shifting Displacement to open the distance long ago—what were they babbling about over there?
Wooooong!
"Let's end this."
Jjwaak!
Do-ha drew up his internal energy and flicked his fingers lightly; yellow threads formed along their path.
Threads woven of pure qi.
Hwaneum-yeyang-gong — Fourth Form: Song of Forgotten Desolation
Jwararang.
Kwagwagwagwagwagwa!
Do-ha plucked the threads looped around his fingers; trees and earth flipped over and surged forward in a roaring wave.
Deudeudeudeu.
"Kyaaaaaagh!"
"Keureuk."
At the deafening roar the two True Bloods clamped their hands over their ears.
Yet covering their ears did nothing to stop the sound.
Jurreuk.
"Th-this much…"
Blood streamed from Helraid and Sephionade's eyes and noses as they desperately regenerated.
Teop.
Kkirik.
"I told you. Let's end it."
Do-ha pinched three threads between his fingers and drew up his energy.
Ting!
Ttiriring.
Tung.
Biiiiiii.
"Uh…"
"My body…"
For an instant their vision swam; Helraid and Sephionade's faces went blank.
A sudden ringing filled their ears and their bodies simply collapsed.
Jeobeok jeobeok.
Seureureung.
Do-ha drew his sword and walked toward the fallen True Bloods.
"You were idiots, but still fun. Thanks to you I feel refreshed."
He smiled down at the trembling vampires.
It was no lie.
Thanks to the two True Bloods he had enjoyed a truly exhilarating fight for the first time in a long while.
"F-fuck…"
"My Lord…"
Realizing the end had come, Helraid and Sephionade closed their eyes.
"This is my repayment."
Seuk.
Puk. Puk.
Do-ha drove Un-jeop-bi-jang through both of their hearts.
Ureureu.
Kung!
"What's he doing over there?"
Hearing a distant crash, Do-ha shook his head.
Taking this long against a mere Count and Viscount?
Anyone watching would think he was fighting Dukes.
Tadadadat.
Hwik!
Do-ha sprinted forward and soared high into the sky.
"There they are."
Wooooong!
Myeol-hwang Sword Technique — Eighth Form: Heavenly Spirit Flying Swords
Shuwak.
Pibibibibibit!
As the Heavenly Spirit Flying Swords unfolded, dozens of blades forged from pure qi began to embroider the sky like stars.
Then—
Hwik.
Swaeaeaeaeaeek!
More than twenty swords streaked toward the two True Bloods.
Pububububuk!
"Keok!"
"Keueuk."
Teolsseok.
Count Nellamon and Viscount Furial collapsed with swords impaled through their entire bodies.
"Ah?! Hey, what the hell are you doing!"
Canteas shouted at the sight.
He had almost finished them after wearing them down—why show up out of nowhere and steal the last hit?!
"I worked so hard to drain them!"
"No wonder they died so easily."
"You… last-hit stealer…"
"You—no more internet. Where did you even learn that weird talk…"
"Aish."
Canteas grumbled as he collected the True Blood corpses.
Unlike Impure Bloods, True Bloods did not crumble to dust upon death.
"The others?"
"Already all dead."
"I felt a massive surge of energy earlier… you okay?"
"Yeah. Refreshed. Got a good sweat going for the first time in a while."
"…Monster."
Normally, burning that much internal energy would leave one's legs trembling, barely able to stand.
Yet this bastard had just fought a Duke and Marquis simultaneously and still looked perfectly fine.
Seuk.
While Canteas muttered to himself, Do-ha turned his head and stared somewhere far off.
"Canteas. Get ready."
"For what?"
Kugugugugugugu.
The moment the words left Do-ha's mouth, the ground began to tremble.
"Finally, he makes his appearance."
Peoeoeong!
From deep underground something burst through the rubble and shot into the sky.
Peolleok.
Ssssss.
The being floating in the heavens.
Vampire Lord Verneac gazed down with luminous crimson eyes.
"Do-ha. That guy's giving you the stink eye?"
"…You really are banned from the internet. Keep picking up weird phrases."
Do-ha let out a dry laugh.
Yet Canteas was not entirely wrong—the Lord's gaze was fixed squarely on him.
"My Lord."
Cheojeojeok.
At the Lord's appearance, every vampire in the vicinity dropped to their knees as one and pressed their foreheads to the ground.