#124
The Yufersh Clan (3)
Since all matters involving coordination with the Hubert Company under Heinz’s orders had passed through his hands, Mullo was able to recognize the identity of Harley, who had suddenly barged in, at once.
Of course, there was also something he was learning for the first time here…
‘That arm looks like dragon scales. Was he a dragonkin? I suppose that’s why he was able to pass through my barrier so naturally. I don’t know how he found out and came here, though.’
On top of that, judging by the situation, he seemed to have come specifically targeting the Yufersh Clan.
Given the circumstances, the sudden support of a powerful figure was something to welcome.
Putting aside his many complicated thoughts, he first began turning over in his head how best to use the current situation.
But at that moment, besides Mullo, there were others who understood Harley’s words and furrowed their brows.
They were Theodore Yufersh, who had ordered the assassination, and Klein, the pureblood vampire who had carried it out himself.
“…Klein.”
“Ah— Th-Theodore-nim! I truly erased every trace perfectly! Please believe me!”
“Are you trying to deny it when the one who chased you here is standing right in front of us?”
“Th-that is…”
Klein, who really had moved as thoroughly as usual, wore an aggrieved expression, but Theodore merely glared at him.
He had already been irritated because the operation had gone awry in various ways, and now things were about to become even more tangled because a subordinate had failed to properly clean up after a mission.
The behind-the-scenes maneuvering he had carried out to make the operation smoother had instead backfired, and his head was already beginning to ache at the thought of how he would make excuses to Visk afterward.
‘Even if Klein was discovered, we came here through a blood gate. How on earth did he figure out that we were here?’
The fact that he had been able to come straight here at this exact timing was no ordinary matter either.
Unless the Brokoslac side had noticed something and prepared a move in advance…
‘Don’t tell me touching Hubert was a blunder? Did that cause our operation to be seen through ahead of time? No, if that were the case, their preparations aren’t that thorough. Even now, we still have the advantage. Then what in the world…’
Naturally, Theodore, who had led every part of the plan, could not help but have his mind grow complicated.
Of course, whatever they thought was not a particularly important issue to Harley.
Crack! Creak—!
Metallic sounds leaked out from muscles compressed to the extreme, and “Bio-Aura” and “Madness” blazed like flames all over his body.
Dark-red dragon scales began to densely cover the glowing engravings, and red and green light burned in his reptilian, sharply slit eyes.
“Haa—.”
Shiiiik—!
White steam mixed with his exhalation spread out thickly.
The cells throughout his body, already in combat mode, had also been activated to the limit, ceaselessly consuming energy and spewing out vapor along with a shimmering haze.
“Khi… Khahahaha—!”
Madness encroached upon his flesh, and laughter burst out of him unconsciously.
At his crazed laughter, which rang loudly through the space, the vampires’ expressions slowly hardened.
The surrounding mana reacted to his emotions and surged violently, while the madness scattered through the air resonated with him.
“The one who carried it out and the one who gave the order… no, all of you who are in the same gang! I’ll make you feel in your bones what the price is for laying hands on our Hubert!”
Receiving all their gazes at once, Harley, the savage berserker, laughed ferociously and charged straight toward the Yufersh Clan.
And so, the war of the vampires, which had paused for a moment,
resumed with a single dragonkin joining the fray.
***
Sacred Blood was called the pinnacle of Auterica’s vampires, but their abilities were not properly known.
That was only natural, as every Sacred Blood was the progenitor of a bloodline, and not many of them remained in the present age.
Clans whose lines had been cut off early had fallen into weak powers, while the clans in which they had remained for a long time had become the current three strongest factions of the vampire world.
Yufersh, Brokoslac, and Obaipo.
Among them, Yufersh was a case that had successfully completed the generational transition of Sacred Blood, and if the other two bloodlines failed to pass on their Sacred Blood…
From the next generation onward, there was a high possibility that their one-sided dominance would continue.
Crackle—!
Of course, now that two Sacred Bloods were facing each other head-on, that was a meaningless assumption.
Because the one who lost here would disappear into the back alleys of history just like that.
Their battle was endlessly still, and at the same time, dynamic.
—Visk reached out and tore at Briki’s throat.
—She cut off his shoulder so that he could not reach out in the first place.
—He moved one step to the side so his shoulder would not be cut, then cut off Briki’s leg as she followed in.
—She delayed her timing of entry by a beat and drove a spear of blood into Visk’s heart.
Crackle—!
Within their mutual intent, the axis of time and cause and effect tangled together, and as their momentum and blood magic power collided, sparks flew ceaselessly at the boundary of perception.
“Oh my, what to do? Your subordinates are being beaten to a pulp by that fine young man. Shouldn’t you go and take a look?”
“Hmph. Even so, your underlings are too shoddy for things to collapse immediately. My subordinates are competent.”
“You took the advantage by barging in out of nowhere, yet you act so proud.”
“Conceal your own openings and strike the opponent’s blind spot. Is that not the way of the world? The fault lies with the side that responded complacently.”
On the surface, it merely looked as though they were standing face-to-face and arguing, but they had already been fiercely exchanging invisible attacks and defenses from the moment they met.
If someone else were to step into that domain without understanding, they would be reduced to dust in an instant without even knowing how they died.
—Briki evaded Visk’s attack and counterattacked, crushing his head.
—He instead burrowed into her embrace and pierced her heart.
—She reached out in time with the moment Visk entered and bound him with blood magic power.
—He did not enter, and instead cut off Briki’s outstretched hand.
—And she…
Throb—
“Ugh…?”
At the sudden headache, she, who had been unfolding her intent, flinched without realizing it.
That moment was an extremely brief instant, but in their battle, it was utterly fatal…
Crackle— Slash—!
And it soon became reality.
Blood scattered, and Briki’s severed right arm rose into the air.
But even that sight did not last long.
As if time had been rewound, the blood sprayed through the air was sucked back into the cut surface, and the severed arm naturally flew back and reattached so seamlessly that no trace remained.
“Tch…”
Regaining her composure, she rubbed her right arm.
Of course, it only looked fine on the outside; there was no way she could be pushed back in a battle between Sacred Bloods and suffer no loss at all.
By allowing that attack just now, she had taken quite a heavy blow not only to a considerable amount of her vampiric factors, but also to her foundations, including mental strength and life force.
The aftereffects would likely have quite an influence on the battle going forward.
“Heh… Brokoslac, I wondered if that might be the case, and it seems I was right. You’re pushing yourself quite hard right now, aren’t you?”
And Visk, who had finally seized the advantage, looked at her meaningfully with a bitter smile.
‘If I were in my prime, something like this would have been nothing…’
Briki, whose weakness had been seen through, frowned slightly.
She had chosen hibernation in order to endure as long as possible, but her lifespan was already close to its limit.
Moreover, because she had awakened from that hibernation abnormally, her current condition was absolutely not normal.
With all sorts of adverse factors overlapping, her overall capabilities had been miserably shaved away compared to her prime…
And so, in the long battle of intent, she had unknowingly revealed an opening.
“Even so, I still have more than enough to deal with a fledgling like you, you know?”
“Khehehe, now that your time to die has come, only your bravado has grown. Do you think that sort of bluff will work on me?”
As he said, there was a limit to compensating for insufficient capability with mature technique.
Mullo’s barrier could have no effect whatsoever on Sacred Bloods like them, so she had to fight solely with her own ability, and with that mistake just now, the scales had tilted greatly.
‘I can hold out for a while, but as time passes, I can’t guarantee anything…’
Maintaining a calm expression on the outside, Briki broke out in a cold sweat inwardly and gritted her teeth.
She resolved that since she could not show the children an embarrassing sight, she would do as much as she could until the very end.
And while the battle between the Sacred Bloods continued in an outwardly extremely static manner,
there was one battlefield more violent than any other—
the place where Harley was running wild in a frenzy.
“Khahahaha! You’re sturdy indeed! There’s some pleasure in tearing you apart!”
“Kuh, what kind of monster is this bastard!”
“Don’t push yourself! That strange energy he uses worsens our regeneration!”
No fewer than three True Bloods were facing him.
Aside from Theodore, all of them had rushed in to stop him alone.
After several purebloods who had recklessly attacked him were torn apart helplessly, True Bloods began joining in one by one, and only when there were three of them did they barely manage to balance the fight.
“Uhaha! Where do you keep trying to run off to! Come here!”
“…Damn it!”
They had tried to keep Harley in check without clashing with him head-on as much as possible, but there was a limit to evading an opponent with his speed.
In the end, the True Blood who had been put in the vanguard because he supposedly had the best durability and recovery gritted his teeth and once again drew up his blood magic power.
His entire body was already covered in blood that absorbed impact, but having clashed with Harley several times already, he knew from experience.
Crunch—!
“Kuh!”
That all these defenses would not last long against those merciless hands.
The armor of blood, hardened solid to block external impact, shattered, and the flesh within it was crushed as blood sprayed out.
But at that moment.
“Now stop… and stay still, you monster!”
The blood that burst from his body instantly became several strands of vines, wrapping around Harley’s body and firmly anchoring him to the surrounding space.
‘Considering his strength, this won’t last long either, but…!’
Even if it was only for a few seconds, that was enough time for his comrades.
“Die!”
“……!”
A large red devil’s hand aimed its sharp fingertips at Harley’s back, and a silent hidden strike cut sharply at his neck.
Crack! Spurt—!
Hard dragon scales shattered, and blood scattered.
The all-out attacks of the True Bloods inflicted fatal damage even on his body.
A large wound appeared on his back deep enough to expose bone, and his neck was cut about halfway through, causing blood to pour out like a waterfall.
If it were an ordinary opponent… no, even if the opponent were a dragonkin, this level of injury should have inevitably caused a considerable loss of combat power.
Crrrunch—
But Harley’s body, which possessed “Hyper Regeneration,”
was restored in an instant, as if time itself had been reversed.
“…Were dragonkin always that fast at regenerating?”
“How would I know if I’ve never seen one? …Damn it.”
At that sight, the True Bloods of Yufersh caught their breath and gritted their teeth.
Regenerative power at that level surpassed even them, True Blood vampires.
The dragonkin race was so rare that not much was known about them, but even so, they had understood that it was not to this extent.
“Dragonkin blood. Let me check it once… Kugh! Ptoo! Ugh.”
The True Blood who licked Harley’s blood, which was thickly smeared over his hand, frowned and gagged.
“What is this? Is dragonkin blood normally like this? This is filthier than monster blood!”
He had been looking forward to rare dragon blood that one could not easily taste, but Harley’s blood, mixed with all manner of things and altered, was utterly impossible to drink.
Wasn’t monster blood actually preferable to this?
“Filthy, you say! That’s rather harsh!”
At that poor evaluation, Harley, who had already finished regenerating, grumbled in dissatisfaction.
Where else would one find someone as healthy and clean as himself!
Of course, due to the nature of his body, which consumed a great deal of energy, he ate only meat, but…
‘In any case, as expected, three True Bloods are still a bit tricky. Even if my efficiency has improved, I still haven’t digested the Mad Dragon’s Heart one hundred percent, so I suppose it can’t be helped.’
On top of that, the True Bloods of Yufersh were generally stronger in combat than those on the Brokoslac side.
If he had not been strengthened with “Refined Blood Crystals,” he would not even have been a match for them.
‘Now that I’ve been strengthened… I can take a slight advantage. Still, I didn’t expect the difference in level to be this big. I understand why Brokoslac, despite being one of the three strongest, holed up in the borderlands.’
Even then, one could say they had barely saved face by swallowing up a small kingdom through long preparation.
Lightly loosening his body, Harley once again calmly swept his gaze around.
Beyond the three True Bloods who tensed under his gaze and prepared for battle, he checked the other battlefields as well.
Thanks to him holding down multiple True Bloods, the remaining battlefields were unfolding much more smoothly.
Frisia, who had come to face Theodore Yufersh one-on-one, was putting up a fairly good fight against an opponent who, before, she would not even have been able to fight properly.
And Mullo was leading the clan members under him and steadily pushing back more than forty purebloods.
He could see the assassin who had been his first target mixed in among them, but he would have to postpone his revenge for now.
However.
‘Huh, but… is that place all right?’
In the battle between the Sacred Bloods, which could be called the most important of all,
a crack was forming that would decide the course of this battlefield.