Ajantu (3)
Several iron doors were installed underground, and in front of them sat a desk and chairs.
And on the nails driven into the wall, keys hung in a row.
‘No one’s guarding. The bastards must’ve slipped out.’
Peeking through the eyeholes in the iron doors revealed that most were empty.
Except for one.
A small boy, crouched in the corner hugging his knees.
He must have heard my footsteps, yet he didn’t stir an inch.
Clang, screech—!
When I opened the iron door with a key and entered, I could feel the small body flinch.
“Ahem… Uh, your sister sent me. You’re Aaron, right?”
When I spoke softly while keeping my distance, he trembled, then slowly raised his head.
His tear-streaked face looked even younger than his age, just like Diana.
“My sister? Really…?”
“Yeah. Diana was worried sick about you. Let’s get out and go home quickly.”
“Huu— hic, uwaaa…”
Hearing Diana’s name, Aaron seemed relieved for a moment and began to burst into tears.
“There, there. Good boy. Calm down. Stop crying—we need to go see your sister now.”
“Hic, sniff… Yes. Mister.”
I soothed Aaron to calm him down, picked him up, and stepped out of the door.
“We’re going outside now. There are scary things behind the door, so close your eyes tight, okay?”
“Yes…”
It wouldn’t be good for a child’s development, aesthetically speaking, so I covered his eyes and headed out.
Just in case, I pulled Aaron’s head into my embrace so he couldn’t see outside.
“It smells like alcohol…”
Aaron muttered softly, but I pretended not to hear.
Better than smelling blood, wasn’t it?
As soon as I exited the stronghold of Varkollak, Diana came running immediately, as if she had been watching from afar.
“Aaron!”
“Sis—!”
Soon the two siblings embraced each other and began to wail.
I couldn’t bring myself to interrupt, but time was of the essence.
“Kids? Sorry, but can we save the crying for later?”
“Sniff… I’m sorry, mister. Thank you for saving Aaron. But are you alright? You weren’t hurt badly, were you?”
Having calmed down somewhat, Diana thanked me while hugging Aaron.
“Yeah. I told you, didn’t I? It’s nothing.”
“But there’s blood on your clothes…”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. This isn’t my blood.”
A lie.
But since I really was fine, I quickly moved to the main point.
“Besides, I still have work to do. Diana, take Aaron and go back home.”
“Huh? You’re not coming with us?”
“I’ll come by after I finish. And until I tell you otherwise, try to act as normally as possible. Got it? Ah! And take these. Use them if you need to.”
I handed over the money I had and a few belongings to Diana. She looked up at me for a moment, then lowered her head as if resigned and whispered.
“…You have to come back, okay? Promise me.”
“Yeah, I’ll definitely come within three days at the latest, so wait quietly. And don’t forget to take paths without people when you go.”
I smiled and sent the siblings off with encouragement, then re-entered the hideout.
The real work started now.
‘The problem still isn’t solved.’
The reason they kidnapped Aaron.
‘A certain vampire specifically named Aaron.’
Information obtained while interrogating an organization member before killing him.
Of course, the guy probably hadn’t known it was a vampire and thought it was some high-ranking person’s order.
‘And it said it would come tonight.’
If that bastard was alive, nothing would be resolved, so I had to kill it.
Fighting head-on, I had absolutely no chance of winning, but fortunately, I had gathered the materials to attempt a certain means.
“Whew… Shall I prepare to greet the guest?”
There wasn’t much time left now.
***
Late at night.
I sat in a chair in the middle of the hideout that had become a complete mess.
Honestly, I didn’t think everything would go according to plan.
I wasn’t some genius strategist; how well could an improvised plan thrown together in just a few hours possibly go?
‘Still, I did what I could. The final unavoidable piece is left to luck.’
I had considered various factors and prepared, thinking the odds were high, but there was definitely a possibility it wouldn’t go as planned.
‘Then it would get a bit tougher, but I’ll have to proceed with Plan B.’
At that moment, while waiting endlessly.
Sensing someone opening the door and entering, I looked over and knew that the luck I had been waiting for had arrived.
‘As expected, people should live kindly! Now everything depends on me.’
Someone walked over calmly, surveying the blood-soaked mess.
“Hmm, a fine scent. Did you prepare this specially to welcome me? I do like it indeed.”
Smirking as it approached, the vampire soon stopped, hardened its expression, and looked down at me.
“But these bastards look like the servants I employed. You do know what you’ve done, don’t you?”
Perhaps curious about me waiting calmly, it didn’t seem intent on attacking immediately.
I rose from my seat and faced the vampire.
“I entered this city recently. And these bastards tried to shake me down for money, can you believe it? Thinking about it really pissed me off.”
“Oho, so you sought them out and killed them all? Then what’s your intention in staying instead of running?”
“A master’s responsible for his dogs’ mistakes, right? I waited to see your face.”
I spouted whatever; whether it believed me or not.
Honestly, it didn’t seem interested in the context either.
“Yes, but I had these bastards do something for me. This has become troublesome.”
“Oh dear, it seems I’ve caused you trouble unintentionally.”
“It was almost mealtime. Having that disturbed doesn’t put me in a good mood.”
It looked at me as if I were already dead and spoke composedly.
It was ignoring me, but also a talkative bastard.
“So, where did you smuggle the child?”
Damn. Was I found out?
“After thrashing all the guys here, I found a kid locked up and roughly let him go. But why are you looking for him?”
I considered denying it, but it already seemed certain, so there was no point.
Instead, I subtly probed how it had specified Aaron.
It seemed to like boasting, and knowing the cause was important too.
“Hmph, no special reason. I like children’s blood, and I happened to discover a child giving off a delicious scent at the pharmacy, so I simply ordered them to bring him.”
So that was the cause.
Even if Diana had been careful to avoid dangerous places, there must have been limits.
Moreover, the pharmacy was unavoidable since Aaron was sick.
“Sigh… Anyway, I’ll have other fellows fetch him tomorrow. For now, I suppose I’ll have to make do with you.”
The moment it finished speaking, blood tendrils shot from its fingertips toward my arms and legs.
“Huh?!”
I had maintained tension throughout the conversation, so I barely managed to react and dodge.
And immediately drew my weapon and rushed at the vampire.
Clang—!
My swung sword was blocked by red-grown claws.
And as it immediately swung the other claws, my abdomen was cut, and the battered protective vest from the previous battle was torn to shreds.
“Oops, I almost sliced you into pieces by mistake. Still, your body is tougher than I thought?”
“Kuk, I’m a delicate product, so please handle with care!”
I ducked to avoid the sharp claws rushing at me.
At that moment, a fist engulfed in red aura approached right before my nose.
Crash—
I immediately rolled across the floor to avoid the attack, but my blood ran cold for a moment.
“Tch, quite quick.”
Fortunately, it didn’t seem intent on killing me immediately, perhaps planning to drain my blood while I was alive.
Of course, that didn’t mean I had a chance of winning.
Clang—!
I gritted my teeth and swung, but the sword was blocked easily.
At the same time, blood tendrils leaping from its claws cut across my entire body.
It seemed intent on rendering me unable to move, but I wouldn’t fall from just this.
Even though my sword was blocked again, I kept swinging.
“Your regeneration is incredible too. This seems like another new delicacy. I look forward to it.”
The insurmountable gap in physical ability even with my enhanced body, the red claws rising like blades and the blood tendrils fired from them.
If it hadn’t been trying to capture me alive, I would have become a corpse long ago.
“But your recovery is too fast, so your resistance is severe. Even with some losses, I need to trim you up to make you easier to eat.”
Its attacks grew even fiercer.
The red claws swung faster and sharper.
“Kuk!”
I resisted by moving my sword as best I could, but…
My abilities were insufficient to block all of its attacks.
And eventually.
Slash!
Perhaps there was a limit to enduring with [Sturdiness], and my right arm holding the sword was cut off.
‘My right arm got cut off again. Well, it’s over now, so it doesn’t matter.’
Uttering my impressions calmly, I launched a final suicidal charge at it.
Thud—
And the vampire’s arm pierced through my chest.
“What’s this? Delivery service to make eating easier? Good service. I should use you often in the future.”
If I were alive, that is.
The vampire muttered softly and sank its sharp fangs into my nape.
Ignoring the sensation of blood being sucked out for the first time in my life, I smiled brazenly.
“Customer, you’re impatient. I’ve prepared a fiery service as a first-time customer benefit, so enjoy it to your heart’s content.”
Immediately after speaking, I bit down on the ring-shaped magic tool hidden in my mouth and activated it.
Fwoosh!
Sparks flew and my body burst into flames.
And since it was attached to me, the fire spread to the vampire too.
“Kuhk?! You crazy bastard!”
It tried to shake me off in terror, but I clung like a cicada using my remaining arm and both legs.
I could feel its arm embedded in my body shattering my organs, not to mention my heart.
Its other hand tore off even my left arm, and when I still didn’t fall off, it reached to cut off my legs.
‘But it’s already too late.’
Flames bursting from my body spread to the surroundings, turning everything into a furnace in an instant.
I hadn’t simply started a fire.
“You bastard! You planned this from the start! You intended to die together from the beginning!”
To die with the vampire, I had set the stage before it arrived.
I had placed oil found in the kitchen and warehouse throughout the interior that had become a mess.
No matter how strong the smell of blood was, if I poured it openly the vampire would notice, so I induced combat and broke the oil containers.
It might have smelled oil during the fight, but with a crazy bastard charging to his death while being sliced all over and bleeding profusely right in front of it, how much attention could it spare?
And using a small amount of oil that would be buried under the smell of blood, I had connected the oil containers placed at intervals like fuses.
Fwoooosh! Boom!
Flames spreading from the center touched the oil containers and caused a chain explosion.
The entire building blazed like a pile of firewood at a campfire.
‘Wow~ What a sight.’
With all four limbs torn off, now hanging by biting the vampire’s shoulder with my teeth, I calmly expressed my admiration.
Inside my embrace clinging to it were numerous oil bottles, and as my chest was pierced, the oil soaked my body, making me living firewood.
‘And ignite with the ignition magic tool, and it’s over.’
Afraid the arm equipped with the magic tool might be cut off, I had deliberately placed it inside my mouth.
“Kuaaaaah—!”
I fell away from the bastard flailing about with its whole body on fire and rolled across the floor.
Perhaps my eyeballs were damaged by the roaring flames; I couldn’t see ahead.
Ka-boom!
Explosions created by flames continued everywhere.
My tenacious life force held onto my breath until the very end even in this situation.
‘Still, I’m glad it went according to plan.’
I had been lucky in many ways.
Having fought it directly, the bastard was definitely overwhelmingly stronger than me, but that’s all it had.
It merely used superior physical abilities and blood as weapons; it couldn’t use extraordinary magic.
It must have been a low-class vampire.
‘And something of that level can’t survive this inferno.’
Moreover, fire is one of a vampire’s weaknesses, isn’t it?
‘Though it might not be in this world, with this level of firepower, it doesn’t matter either way.’
Thud—
My eardrums, barely holding on thanks to my regenerative power, ceased functioning after hearing the sound of the vampire collapsing.
Now I only felt the heat and vibrations of this world.
I caught the vampire who ordered Aaron kidnapped, and annihilated the ones who carried it out.
‘Now if I just play dumb and pretend I don’t know anything, everything is solved.’
Actually, the most worrying problem was the vampire not entering the building.
Being a vampire sensitive to the smell of blood, if it noticed something amiss inside the building and turned back, or called others from outside, the plan would have failed before it even started.
‘I had no choice but to leave that entirely to luck, but fortunately, it happened to be an arrogant, cocky bastard.’
Carelessness is one’s greatest enemy, after all.
It was an opportunity for me to reflect once more on whether I had become complacent, absorbed in my ability called [Avatar].
‘Might as well consider this an experiment to see what happens when an Avatar truly dies. I couldn’t properly grasp it with Hans. …By the way, I might be reaching my limit.’
Honestly, it was impressive to have endured this long with my heart shattered.
[Sturdiness] along with [Hyper Regeneration] must have been burning my last life force to heal me.
I felt the impact of debris collapsing on my body and foresaw the end of my life.
‘Still, it was pretty fun. …Success…’
Fwoosh— Crash!
And so, Hainz met his death in the other world together with the vampire.
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