Chapter 205: 109. The Dragon Slayer (Part Two)
Divinity swirled in front of the muzzle, and a piercing ray of light exploded out from the weapon. The holy bullet flew in between the bone dragon’s ribs and accurately struck Raiden’s head.
CRUNCH-!
Half of the Vampire Marquis’s head blew apart, and his maimed body limply dropped towards the bottom of the rib cage, having failed to destroy the bone dragon’s heart that lay right in front of him.
Raiden’s body tumbled down between the rib bones and crashed straight into the ground below.
“Y-you, how dare... interfere in... a sacred... duel...”
Raiden turned his half-remaining head to the side as fury took over him.
The boy, the Seventh Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire, walked leisurely over with a wide grin etched on his face. “A stinking little Vampire is busy mouthing off about a sacred duel and whatnot now?”
He squatted next to Raiden’s wrecked body and smirked derisively at the Vampire.
“Besides, Raiden Behemoth. You’re wrong about something. A duel? Sure, you’re right about that one. This was indeed a one on one duel between you and me. However, here’s the thing...”
The Imperial Prince snapped his fingers, prompting the bone dragon to raise up its front limb high.
“This dragon is one of my summons, making it a part of my arsenal. Which makes sense, considering...” The boy prince leaned in closer and whispered in Raiden’s remaining ear, “...that I’m a Necromancer.”
“...!”
Raiden somehow managed to shift his still-trembling eye.
His opponent was supposed to be a Priest of the Theocratic Empire. Yet, he was also a Necromancer who went against the logic of this world.
An existence of contradiction that worshipped both Gaia and the God of Death Yudai at the same time.
To all the Vampires out there, this boy was ‘fear’ personified.
Raiden abruptly roared out, “You bastard! Could it be that you and the God of Death...?!”
The Imperial Prince stood back up. “Raiden, thanks for the re-enactment of how your legend came to be. However...”
The boy prince shot a cold glare at Raiden on the ground before a wry grin filled his expression in the very next moment.
“It’s all over now.”
The dragon’s front limb mercilessly stomped down on the Vampire Marquis.
**
Marquis Kirum vomited out a mouthful of blood.
‘Urgh, dammit. How many times have I died so far? Things are getting really dangerous here.’
His consciousness was growing fainter, almost ready to black out. His favourite attire had turned into bits of torn rags at this point, and he couldn’t even repair it using demonic energy anymore.
He hastily turned his head and looked away from the forest. He could sense divinity gushing out from the capital city of Lome kingdom from the distance.
Marquis Kirum’s eyes opened much wider at that sight.
‘Oh my god, it can’t be...?’
Did they fail the mission?
The Vampire Marquis’s expression crumpled in an instant. They had to work so hard for this mission, and had even managed to rope in the dragon slayer to their side, yet to think that it all ended in failure...
‘What is the reason? Could it be that the Seventh Imperial Prince is the culprit?’
Marquis Kirum’s eyes quivered.
This could not be allowed.
The Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse, was dying of old age.
The most feared existence to the Vampires and the symbol of the Theocratic Empire was about to kick the bucket, so the emergence of another powerful existence seemingly from out of nowhere to take over that old man’s role couldn’t be seen as welcome news at all.
This was literally the advent of calamity for the Vampires.
‘Now that things have gotten to this stage...’
In that case, he should try to ‘acquire’ the Crown Imperial Prince, at the very least.
Marquis Kirum turned his head back to the forest. White Olfolse could be seen walking up to the Vampire with his bloodshot eyes wide open in anger.
‘Killing him is impossible. In that case...’
The other option would be to win him over.
Kirum quickly disguised his true expression. He now resembled a mischievous clown while playfully cackling away. “Wow, you’re so scary. Dear Crown Imperial Prince, White Olfolse. Let me tell you, fighting is no good, you know? If we can help it, why don’t we hold a civilised conversation and...”
Marquis Kirum assumed the pose of extending his hand for a handshake. But it was at that exact moment a sword of light impaled that very extended hand.
He flinched nastily in surprise and hurriedly withdrew his limb, but at the same time, White materialised yet another sword of light and held it tightly before thrusting it straight into the Vampire’s solar plexus.
“Cough!”
Marquis Kirum vomited out yet another mouthful of blood. His trembling hand reached up and grasped White’s, which was holding the blade.
The Crown Imperial Prince growled menacingly. “Be still and greet your demise, Vampire. For I shall wring out all the pain from you that your comrades would’ve felt if they had been here to share it with you.”
“Hah, haha...”
At this rate, the only thing waiting for Marquis Kirum would be his death. That’s why he simply had to sweet talk White Olfolse.
While fighting to stop his consciousness from slipping away, Marquis Kirum pulled White into an embrace and whispered quietly, “White, is the reason why you chase us really for ‘vengeance’?”
“What?”
Marquis Kirum focused demonic energy into his mouth and activated Spirit Speech that melted right into White’s hearing.
“When you met Ruppel again after all those years, what was your first feeling?”
White glanced at Marquis Kirum.
“The emotion you felt, was it really rage? Or could it have been...”
The corners of Kirum’s lips curled up.
“...A type of yearning?”
White’s expression froze up. He pulled out the sword of light and stabbed the Vampire again in the abdomen.
Marquis Kirum vomited another mouthful of blood.
“In that case, let me change the question.” The Vampire gave it his all to pull White into another embrace, continuing to whisper into the latter’s ear despite the danger of his erasure from this world, “What did you feel when you saw Raiden?”
The sword was pulled out before stabbing the Vampire again.
Marquis Kirum screamed in pain, but somehow managed to endure it and continue on, “A wrinkly old man in his eighties regained his youth, as you must’ve seen for yourself. The life of absolute immortality where you won’t die of old age. Don’t you want that too?”
“Don’t make me laugh, you damn...”
“That is true salvation.”
White’s brows shot up.
“Eternal life where even the dead can be revived. That is us, Vampires. We’re death itself! We can even become gods! An existence worshipped by humans! That’s why...” Marquis Kirum held White’s shoulders and stared into the latter’s eyes with a rapturous smile on his face. “You should join us. If you do, you shall receive the gift of eternal li...!”
White grinned before powerfully swinging the sword of light without a shred of hesitation to cut off Marquis Kirum’s head.
The Vampire’s head bounced away, and White stomped on it with his foot.
“You know, I agree with you. Death is indeed salvation. That’s why...” White strengthened his leg muscles. “...Just die already.”
The head exploded into gory bits.
“Hahahaha!”
White turned his head and spotted Marquis Kirum hanging upside on a tree branch some distance away.
‘This is too risky. If I die again, I won’t be able to revive myself anymore,’ the Vampire thought as cold sweat trickled down his body.
All the internal organs in his body had melted into a puddle from all that divinity. It had gotten so much harder to maintain his physique. If this kept up, then...
‘I’ll be extinguished!’
Marquis Kirum had to work hard to hide his inner thoughts. He expertly managed his expressions so that White wouldn’t realise how scared he was.
With an expression fully befitting a clown, he placed a hand on his chest and bowed deeply.
“Let us end our little game here. Our mission is clearly a failure, and it also seems that coaxing you to join our side will be difficult as well. However, I have not lied to you until now.” Marquis Kirum glanced at White before continuing on, “Rose Darina should be in the capital, Lomania, right now.”
White flinched slightly in surprise before furrowing his brows.
The Vampire marquis cackled as if he found that reaction rather amusing to behold. “Once you meet Rose and chat to her, you will realise three things.”
Kirum then raised up three of his fingers.
“Firstly, the ugliness of humans.”
He folded the index finger.
“Secondly, the frailty of humans.”
He then folded his ring finger.
“And thirdly, you who will come to accept those points.”
Lastly, he beckoned with his middle finger while pointing at White. However, his messing around only earned him another impalement by a sword of light.
But then, the Vampire marquis turned into countless bats and scattered away into the night sky. His voice echoed throughout the forest at the same time. “I hope that you don’t forget what I said to you today. We are god-like existences, we are the very concept of salvation itself-!”
White watched Marquis Kirum disappear before spitting out a lengthy groan.
‘Looks like I still have a long way to go.’
To think that he got swept up in his emotions and let the Vampire slip through his fingers...
Still, they must’ve suffered quite gravely from this incident, that’s for sure. Many Vampire nobles got killed and they also failed to amass an army. White believed that the undead would behave themselves for the foreseeable future.
‘Which means that only Rose’s matter requires my attention now.’
While tightly clutching the sword of light, he shifted his gaze over to Lomania in the distance. He gritted his teeth as anger simmered in his heart.
Rose Darina.
The woman he loved once upon a time, but now, she was someone he truly detested.
Only one thing remained – and that was to ‘execute’ her with his own two hands.
< 109. The Dragon Slayer (Part One and Two) > Fin.
(TL: Unfortunately, only one chapter today. However, I’ll make it up with a mini-mass release tomorrow. Pls look forward to it.)