#125 The Yufersh Clan (4)
‘Uh... I think that looks a little dangerous?’
After obtaining draconic traits, including the 「Mad Dragon’s Heart」, Harley had become able to sense external energies with great sensitivity.
Thanks to that, not only had he been able to pierce through Mullo’s barrier cleanly, but his basic detection ability had also increased by leaps and bounds.
Crackle—!
And now, that sense was warning him.
That the flow in the space where the Sacred Bloods were was anything but ordinary.
To be precise, the situation was flowing overwhelmingly against the woman presumed to be a Brokoslak, and of course, that was hardly good news.
At this point, he could no longer just stand by and watch. ‘Can’t be helped. I’m going to need a more extreme method.’
Crack, crunch—!
The instant Harley made up his mind, his body began to change rapidly.
While his body swelled even larger, the density of his muscles and bones, which had already escaped the laws of physics through the power of 「Body Mutation」, compressed even further.
“What is that monster bastard trying to do now!”
“...But isn’t that strange? Is that thing really a dragonkin?”
As the mana around him began to thrash violently, the True Bloods facing him raised their energy without letting down their guard.
It wasn’t as if they were kindly refraining from attacking first like villains waiting for the protagonist’s transformation.
Harley’s change was simply too abrupt for that...
‘If we go in now... we’ll be counterattacked immediately!’
The ominous pressure spreading from him was stimulating their keen instincts and restraining their actions.
“Hrrrr—!”
Perhaps because he was pouring in without restraint the energy he had stored from steadily consuming dragon meat, his transformation happened in an instant.
Crack! Crunch, crunch!
Its framework was clearly based on a dragonkin, but if one looked closely, it was unmistakably a hybrid that had departed from that mold.
Starting with the legs of a mutant minotaur for explosive driving force, all sorts of superior genes he had collected until now had manifested.
“...What the hell is that?”
“He really was a monster. Isn’t he a chimera, not a dragonkin?”
And the changes inside him were just as violent as those on the outside.
The madness controlled by 「Madness Control」 was activated through 「Frenzied Beast」, and that also affected the 「Mad Dragon’s Heart」.
The life force latent within his body activated the 「Chalcos-style Combat Engraving」 and was converted into 「Bio Aura」, and using that as energy, 「Jewel Eye: Coercion」 began to shine.
‘Krr— This is the first time I’ve used my full strength like this since eating the mad dragon.’
But putting everything else aside, the energy consumption was no joke.
A considerable amount had been used up just to transform with 「Body Mutation」, but even now, maintaining this state was constantly burning through energy.
‘On top of that, the overactivated cells are necrotizing on their own, so I have to keep 「Super Regeneration」 active at all times. What terrible fuel efficiency.’
But the effect was just as outstanding.
The violent power boiling up from within and surging in every direction was enough to intoxicate even him.
It was the appearance of what one might call “Complete Form Harley.”
“Khuu— Now then.”
With his vision raised even higher, he swept his gaze around.
The True Bloods glared at him, tense to the limit.
The tension between them gradually heightened.
Harley’s thigh muscles swelled to their fullest, and his body tilted forward as if he would shoot out at any moment.
And then.
Paaang—!
He immediately kicked off the ground—
“Huh? Where is he suddenly going...?”
“S-stop him! That bastard is going toward Lord Visk!”
Ignoring the True Bloods confronting him, he launched himself straight toward where the Sacred Bloods were!
‘If Visk Yufersh is freed now, the whole board collapses.’
The current advantageous situation was only possible because he was bound.
If he became the final victor, then it would not matter at all how the fights beneath him played out.
In other words.
‘Keeping that bastard in check is the top priority. Everything else comes after. And if I can deal with him instead, even better!’
Having succeeded in moving without any interference due to his sudden action, he soon reached the place where the Sacred Bloods were.
Crackle—!
And into that scene, where a deadly flow of magical power and a storm of intent filled the space, sparks bursting nonstop—
Harley shoved his body in without hesitation.
Kkagagagak—!
Crackle!
The moment he entered the domain, his body began to be crushed.
‘Kugh, this is even more incredible than I thought.’
His scales were ground away, his hide was torn, his muscles burst, and blood sprayed out.
His hard body, pursuing the end of evolution, endlessly repeated destruction and restoration, and in an instant, his entire body was drenched in blood.
But paying it no mind, he forced his way through the torrent of magical power with the combined power of the 「Mad Dragon’s Heart」 and his jewel eye.
And at last.
“Kugh! What the hell are you, you lunatic? What are those idiots doing for you to get all the way here!”
He came face-to-face with Visk Yufersh.
“Kahahaha! You’re the boss of these guys, right? Glad to meet you!”
Harley gave him a refreshing smile, paying no heed to his own body breaking apart.
However, at that benevolent smile that had opened the hearts of Tarak’s citizens, Visk only showed him a rotten expression.
That probably meant his heart had fallen that far into corruption.
‘As the injured party, I came all this way in person, and yet the perpetrator responsible is giving me that attitude!’
Never mind an apology, that reaction was just wrong, wasn’t it?
Harley, who could not tolerate injustice, could never allow such a situation.
“So first, take one punch!”
His fist, carrying a fierce momentum, shot out like lightning.
That hammer of justice, launched from point-blank range, was at a level even a True Blood could not have avoided...
“Kugh! How dare a worm like you!”
Kwaaang—!
But to Visk, a Sacred Blood, it was nothing more than an attack that bothered him a little.
Harley was sent flying like a cannonball by the counterattack delivered at the same time as the evasion.
As his body tumbled backward, a wound like the claw mark of a massive beast was left across his torso.
“Ugh— Cheap shot. You could’ve just let me land one.”
He got back to his feet and frowned as he looked down at his chest.
‘As expected of a Sacred Blood... And the wound he inflicted is regenerating slowly, too. If I fight him head-on, it’ll be hard to win no matter how much energy I have.’
Thanks to his body being far tougher than before, he had not taken a fatal injury, but he was once again able to feel just how troublesome an opponent a Sacred Blood was.
‘Well, I achieved my first goal with this, so that’s fine.’
Because that bastard, too, had to pay the price for being distracted.
Crackle—
Slash—!
Fresh blood once again embroidered the air.
“Kurgh!”
At the same time he counterattacked Harley, half of Visk’s nape was torn away by Bricky’s hand.
His wound also restored itself quickly, but with this, the balance between the Sacred Bloods that had been tilting to one side had returned close to even.
“Lord Visk—!”
“W-what the hell did that bastard just do!”
From Harley’s charge and intrusion to Visk being struck.
As it was a battle between those close to the summit, the entire sequence had taken only an instant.
Enough that the True Bloods of Yufersh, a step too late, were only now arriving with pale faces to surround Harley.
Since the Lord had suffered great damage in an important battle because the opponent had slipped past them while they were off guard, there was no need to even mention how they felt.
They were so desperate that they even considered throwing themselves at Brokoslak’s Sacred Blood as well, but...
“Wahaha! I’ve said hello to your boss, so now let’s play among ourselves again!”
But there was no way Harley would leave that be.
‘This bought time. And in a little while...’
With a meaningful smile, he burst into mad laughter again and charged at them.
***
There were four main battlefields in the war between the two clans.
The Sacred Bloods, whose fight had begun to drag on again due to outside interference.
Harley, clashing against three True Bloods who rushed him desperately.
Frisia, holding back Theodore, Yufersh’s second-in-command.
And the largest battle was here.
The fiercely contested front where the lower vampires led by Mullo clashed with Yufersh’s elite Pure Bloods.
“Kugh, they’re only Lesser Bloods, so why are they this troublesome! Is it the effect of this barrier?”
“Even taking that into account, this makes no sense! The Brokoslak bastards definitely weren’t at this level!”
The more than forty Pure Bloods were people selected for their recognized skill even within the Yufersh Clan, which was already known for its powerful combat strength.
They were all true experts who could handle their own power with maturity and had shown even greater potential beyond that.
And yet such people, though there was one True Blood mixed in, were being helplessly pushed back by opponents who were mostly Lesser Bloods.
For them, who knew nothing about Heinz’s 「Refined Blood Crystal」, they could only think of it as the effect of the barrier.
‘Kugh, was Mullo Brokoslak this strong? To think he can do this much with just a little over ten Pure Bloods and fewer than fifty Lesser Bloods?’
Klein, the red-haired vampire, gritted his teeth as he cut down a Lesser Blood lunging at him.
But due to durability surpassing the level of a Lesser Blood, he failed to kill the opponent instantly, and the follow-up strike also failed because of interference from the side.
In that gap, the wounded Lesser Blood hurriedly retreated to the rear, regenerated quickly, and was thrown back into the battlefield.
This was happening all over the battlefield, so there was simply no way to deal with it.
And on top of that, Mullo, a mage, was supporting his allies and coordinating the battlefield...
Right now, their best option was simply to hold out while praying for Visk Yufersh’s victory.
And to Klein, that was absolutely not good news.
‘No! If that happens, even if we win, the damage will be too great. Then I’ll...’
What was the greatest cause that had led things to this point?
Brokoslak’s Sacred Blood was a problem they could not possibly do anything about, so no responsibility could be assigned there.
But what about that monster currently tangled up with three of Yufersh’s True Bloods?
Who had provided the reason for that man to intrude into this battlefield?
It was Klein himself.
‘If this goes on, I’m finished. I have to do something, no matter what.’
He felt wronged in some respects, since he had merely followed Theodore’s orders as usual, but since the person in question had directly pointed him out, he could no longer make excuses.
He was already at a point where he could not avoid responsibility, but if he wanted to lighten his punishment as much as possible, he had to do something, anything—
‘Huh?’
At that moment, Klein sensed something strange.
He was undoubtedly in the middle of the battlefield, and yet the enemies around him were avoiding him as if they could not see him.
Even his comrades fighting nearby seemed not to notice his situation.
“What is this—!”
Flustered, he reached out toward an enemy passing by him.
But his hand merely brushed through empty air and had no effect whatsoever.
Solitude in a crowd, quite literally.
The moment he realized that he had been cut off from the outside world—
“Yes, it was you.”
An unfamiliar voice reached Klein’s ears.
Someone was speaking to him in a cold tone from behind his back.
Without any presence or energy.
Like a ghost.
‘Kugh, who the hell...!’
He tried to turn around, but now his body would not move, and he could not even open his mouth to make a sound.
The people around him still ignored him and continued their war among themselves.
“How dare you...”
Amid the ominous feeling crawling icily up the back of his neck and the fear of the unknown, the mysterious voice continued.
“...lay a hand on our Hubert.”
With words he had never expected.
‘...Hubert?’
And while he was still bewildered by the familiar name that had once again come from a stranger’s mouth—
Puhk!
Sharp nails protruded through the front of his chest.
“Kuhurk—!”
Blood poured from Klein’s mouth.
His destroyed heart, and the opponent’s vampiric factor spreading through his body like poison.
Because of it, his blood, whose control had been seized away from him, was being sucked entirely into the hand that had pierced his heart.
“De... devouring your own kind...!”
Klein, whose paralysis had been released the moment he was struck, was able to move his body and slowly turned around while stammering.
A vampire with pale skin, black hair, and eyes glowing red.
Only when he faced him could he feel that presence, and even at the very least, it was that of a True Blood.
“Ah...”
Feeling his body gradually drying up, Klein foresaw his own death.
The life he had struggled so desperately through flashed through his mind, and regret, resignation, and questions filled his head.
The identity of the opponent who had appeared inside the barrier without any warning, the devouring of his own kind that he had so calmly performed, the ability that had cut him off from the outside and subdued him.
There were many, many unresolved questions, but the greatest question tormenting him right now was only one.
“J-just... what... kind of human is Hubert...?”
The beginning and root of all of this.
Just who in the world was that merchant bastard, for monsters like these to come one after another!
Was he a prince of some nation hiding his identity?
No, even if he were a prince, did it make any sense for a dragonkin and a vampire of this level to go this far for revenge...?
But unfortunately, he did not have much time left.
His body, which had been slowly turning to ash from the tips of his limbs, finally covered him entirely.
Fwoosh—
And so, together with the anguish that filled his heart, Klein turned to ash and vanished.
Without ever resolving even that final question.
“What kind of human is Hubert, huh.”
But as if answering his question belatedly, the mysterious vampire murmured softly and pondered for a moment.
The conclusion he arrived at was...
“Who knows. A talented man who will one day dominate the continent’s commerce?”
With a playful tone, Heinz II let out a quiet laugh.
Of course, it really was a joke.
For now.