Archlich (1)
Crack—!
“Grah! What the hell is going on!”
Wirak, who was in charge of the Ajantu branch of the Brokoslak Clan, simply could not comprehend the current situation.
The hideout located right in the center of the city had come under a sudden attack—after something had pierced through the wards spread across the entire city.
He could guess who the culprit was.
‘It must be the bastard who fled with the fragment! What he’s after is the fragment we have!’
What he could not understand was how this had been possible.
‘We were already monitoring the entire city to search for the fragment. How did he evade our surveillance network? And how did he discover the fragment’s hiding place?’
It was all one big question mark, but the important thing now was to protect the fragment safely.
Of all times, the incident had occurred in broad daylight when their guard was weakened, so it had taken more than ten minutes to notice the anomaly and launch a counterattack.
[Finger of Death.]
Boom!
“Damn it!”
And the greater problem was those things.
A horde of undead surrounded the building, blocking any entry inside.
‘Of all times, when the sun is out… Of course, this was part of his scheme. But there is no more time to waste.’
Vampires receiving the emergency summons were joining one after another, but there was no telling how long Tiapol inside could last.
Rumble…
Just then, dark clouds formed in the clear sky and instantly swelled to blanket the entire city in shadow.
‘Damn it! We’re too late!’
A city-defense magic installed at the headquarters.
Since it was an unexpected attack, it had inevitably taken time to activate, but Wirak, in his haste, had no leeway to accept that.
“We’re breaking in now! Open a path!”
[Kieeeek!]
“Push through!”
Rattle— Clack!
At Wirak’s command, the vampires huddled together with the sole purpose of getting inside.
The dark clouds above the city offset the penalty to some extent, but unable to exert their full strength, the vampires died one by one in the reckless push.
[Guidance of the Dead.]
“Keuheok! Lord Wirak, go on ahead!”
And through the sacrifice of his subordinate, who threw himself to block the black magic, Wirak finally succeeded in breaking into the building.
“I will go inside. You all hold the entrance here!”
Having arrived at the basement entrance, Wirak gave orders to the subordinates who had entered with him.
The number of Lesser Bloods who had followed was barely a dozen, but it would be enough to block the basement entrance where sunlight did not reach.
‘Tiapol! Please hold on!’
Traversing the basement and heading toward where the fragment was, he prayed desperately.
This was a matter that the Clan Lord had taken a personal interest in and ordered directly.
If something were to go wrong…
‘No! That can’t happen! That can’t…’
Rushing ahead, he finally arrived in front of the chamber where the fragment was stored, but he was forced to stop, unable to advance any further.
Whoosh—
Overwhelming black mana was erupting from the room protected by a barrier.
‘I’m… too late.’
At that moment.
Screech—
The basement door slowly opened…
Through the widening gap, darkness like an abyss seeped out.
The hair all over his body stood on end, his senses heightening.
That brief instant of the door opening felt like an eternity to Wirak.
Without realizing it, his breath quickened.
He could not tear his eyes from the door.
It was.
As if.
The gates of hell were opening.
And soon he was able to face it.
A being wearing a mask and fluttering black robes, approaching wreathed in pitch-black flames.
A calamity scattering despair and terror, like a descended demon king.
***
- Entity Name: Hans
- Race: Undead (Archlich)
- Common Traits: 「Mind Hub」, 「Clear Mirror, Still Water」
- Individual Traits: 「Decaying Heart」, 「Wicked Wisdom」, 「Forbidden Knowledge」, 「Undying」, 「Mana Affinity」, 「Black Magic」
- Special Notes: Its rank increased through the power of the ‘Undying King’s Fragment (2/3)’. Its inherent black mana has increased explosively. It can extract its own essence to obtain immortality, and as long as the stored essence is not destroyed, it will resurrect endlessly.
I opened my eyes, having finished assimilating the absorbed power.
The blood magic barrier the vampire had left around me had been torn apart, unable to withstand the flow of power.
[Wow, this is incredible?]
Absorbing the second fragment hadn’t simply made me about twice as strong.
‘At this rate, just my output is at least five times greater… And if I include the newly obtained skills, my combat power must have increased tenfold.’
The effect of the newly acquired 「Forbidden Knowledge」 was simple.
As the name suggested, it allowed me to gain forbidden knowledge, including black magic and the undead.
‘It’s like a giant library has been installed in my head.’
And a library full of wicked grimoires at that—spells to summon demons or sacrifice people as offerings.
‘Not to mention 「Undying」… But first, I should take care of that.’
I opened the door and stepped out, facing Wirak, who stood frozen stiff.
He had somehow managed to break through the undead and come all this way, but he was already a step too late.
[No need for words.]
I raised a hand clad in a leather glove to hide my bones and pointed at him, whereupon hands of shadow burst from all directions and assailed him.
“Kuaaak! Damn it! Where did such a monster come from!”
Wirak roared, tearing apart the shadows attacking him with bloodshot eyes.
Indeed, he was much stronger than Tiapol, whom I had killed earlier.
Unlike Tiapol, who had been specialized solely in blood magic, Wirak actively utilized overwhelming physical abilities while his magical prowess did not lag far behind either.
‘Even so, for now he’s just a good sandbag.’
I only used the black magic I had learned through 「Forbidden Knowledge」.
After all, it’s best to try everything out for yourself.
Sickle-tipped black chains whipped through the space, and hellfire smelling of sulfur scorched the basement air.
The various defensive barriers erected around me did not even permit his approach.
Boom!
He tried several times to exploit an opening and escape, but this vicinity was already my domain.
The darkness on all sides gnawed at the space and crushed him flat.
“Kehek, damn… damn! What the hell is this absurd amount of mana…! You completely absorbed the fragment…?”
[Hainz! I’ll draw his attention, so somehow get out and inform the Clan!]
At the same time as Wirak’s words, telepathy was transmitted to Hainz, who had been hiding on one side.
I had thought I was hidden fairly well, but it seemed I couldn’t completely conceal myself from him—perhaps because we were of a direct bloodline.
I kept still and hidden, so Wirak sent telepathy again.
I felt the binding force compelling Hainz, but there was no longer any reason to obey, so I ignored it lightly.
[Damn, could it be that you too are subdued and unable to move?]
He seemed unable to imagine that his command could be refused.
The resisting Wirak was soon bound by black chains and sprawled on the floor.
Thud!
“Huff, huff. Who… who are you?”
A resigned voice, as if he had sensed his own end.
But his two eyes still blazed, glaring at Hans.
An aggrieved gaze, as if to say he could not die like this.
Looking at that for a moment, I smirked inwardly and opened my mouth.
[My name is Hans.]
There was no reason I couldn’t tell him my name.
It wasn’t even my real name, after all.
[Rest now.]
Before he could become any more of a nuisance, I immediately used black magic to reduce him to a near-death state.
Wirak’s body slumped limply.
Then Hainz, who had been hiding in the darkness, approached and sank his fangs into Wirak’s nape, drinking his blood.
《The entity has met the growth conditions. The special skill 「Bloodline (Weak Blood)」 evolves into 「Bloodline (Pure Blood)》.
Wirak, who had been shriveling up, crumbled like dust.
Only after drinking the blood of a second Pure-Blood could Hainz finally advance in rank.
‘It seems some loss occurs during vampirism. It looks like I’ve barely reached the edge of Pure-Blood now.’
Even though he had drunk Wirak’s blood and become a Pure-Blood, perhaps because he had only just advanced, he seemed weaker than even Tiapol.
“Ugh~ I just became a Pure-Blood, so it can’t be helped. But if I keep drinking blood, I’ll get stronger.”
Since he had decided to make predation upon his own kind his main method, his growth rate would be on a different dimension from other vampires.
Hainz stood up from his place and headed upward.
There were still plenty of remaining vampires here.
Surrounded by undead so that they could not escape.
***
It did not take long for the situation to be cleaned up.
As I grabbed the resisting Lesser Bloods one by one and drank their blood, I could feel the purity of the vampire factor—the source of power within my body—increasing.
“Ptooey, I simply can’t stomach this. Now I understand what Rosilica meant.”
I grumbled, spitting out the Servant’s blood I had been drinking onto the ground.
She had said that Servants and Slaves weren’t even treated as vampires.
They were full of nothing but impure, mutated vampire factor, so drinking their blood actually lowered purity instead.
‘Now I see why they’re so incomplete.’
These were beings created by forcibly mutating the cells in their bodies through the injection of a small amount of vampire factor.
They were easy to make and highly efficient compared to the resources consumed, so they inevitably had their limits.
Hainz looked around.
The destroyed hideout building and the garden turned into a battlefield.
Hans restored the broken undead and also revived the corpses of the underlings that Hainz couldn’t drink.
Thankfully, thanks to Hans’s concealment barrier that still remained, the commotion didn’t seem to be noticed by the residents.
“Now then, shall we slowly get ready to leave the city?”
Eliminating the vampires who had ruled the city didn’t mean all problems were solved.
On the contrary, since those who had held the leashes of the criminal organizations had been swept away all at once, public order would deteriorate even further going forward.
Now was the best timing to leave.
Hainz quickly moved his steps toward the place where the siblings were waiting.
The children would have prepared to leave by now and would be waiting only for him.
‘Still, leaving just like this pricks my conscience a bit.’
I had been thinking for a moment, but I soon realized it was a meaningless worry.
Didn’t I have two bodies in this world?
‘That’s right! Hainz is strong enough now anyway. There’s no need to receive Hans’s help, so let’s split up here.’
Hainz would leave the city with the siblings, and Hans would remain in the city for the time being to take care of other matters.
‘As expected, having multiple bodies is convenient.’
Around the time Hainz moved to where the siblings were waiting, Hans used his newly acquired knowledge to turn the vampires into Ghouls and stored them in a subspace within the nether dimension.
[Hmm… If I research this a bit more, I might be able to open it on Earth too?]
The synergy between the newly acquired 「Forbidden Knowledge」 and 「Wicked Wisdom」 was excellent.
Thanks to that, I could proficiently use the black magic I had learned only recently.
The only subspace magic I could use immediately was one that utilized the nether dimension located on the other side of the ‘Auterica Dimension.’
But if I researched new knowledge using 「Wicked Wisdom」, I should be able to create a subspace that could be opened on Earth before long.
[Let’s think about that slowly later. For now, let’s go collect the remaining things.]
There were still many things left to pack away.
Hans, having finished settling all the undead, melted into the shadows and moved quickly.
The destination was naturally the vampires’ headquarters.
‘I’ve gained teleportation too, but it’s still unstable, so I’ll save it for next time. Their mansion probably has an anti-teleportation barrier as well.’
The headquarters he arrived at was already in full combat preparations.
With the emergency summons issued due to the hideout raid, they must have entered a state of emergency.
‘Of course, it’s a meaningless struggle.’
I first covered the entire mansion with a concealment barrier.
Because from now on, I was planning to go on a proper rampage.
[Come out. Come out and sweep them all away.]
Hundreds of undead poured out from the black-stained floor.
I used black magic to strengthen the undead and slowly followed behind them.
Crack!
“Guwaaack!”
[Kieeeek—!]
Battle broke out between the underlings waiting inside the mansion and the undead.
A Slave with a bat face and a frame over two meters, and Ghouls of the same form, bit into each other.
A Servant falling from the ceiling smashed a Skeleton’s skull, then was counterattacked by another undead, collapsed bleeding.
[Hm… there are more than I thought?]
More Slaves kept popping out than the rough number I had gauged when I was Hainz.
I’d heard they had been put into mass hibernation underground in case of emergency, but…
“Eliminate the intruder! If we hold out, Lord Wirak will come!”
“Kueeek—!”
It seemed these guys didn’t know that Wirak was already dead.
From the looks of it, the strongest one here was a single Lesser Blood left behind to guard the headquarters.
‘Then there’s no need to drag this out.’
I slowly spread black mana throughout the entire mansion.
Black shadows crept over the floors, walls, and ceilings without exception.
[Kieee—!]
“Kuk! What is this now?!”
After a brief moment, when the shadows had finally spread across every area.
I lightly tapped the floor with the skull staff I held.
Bubububoom—!
Fwoosh!
“Euheok—!”
“Kuwooook!”
Instantly, a blood mist spread inside the mansion.
Black thorns burst from every surface eroded by the shadows, impaling the vampires.
“Kkeheok… L-Lord Wirak…”
The Lesser Blood, thrashing with thorns stuck all over his body, flailed for a moment, then soon stopped moving.
A momentary silence fell over the mansion.
[Wow… it’s even more amazing than I thought?]
Having committed a massacre of this scale in one go, I could clearly feel how much stronger I had become.
With this much, I wouldn’t be ignored anywhere.
‘No, perhaps that’s only natural.’
Hundreds of corpses submerged in a sea of blood, countless undead standing around emanating a vicious atmosphere.
And in the center, Hans emitting a black aura.
A visual that made one want to flee immediately, let alone ignore him.
‘Like some kind of demon king…’
I looked around for a moment.
Corpses that could be used as undead, and beyond them, expensive-looking ornaments.
There were still many things left to take.
‘I should take everything I can. Now, where did they say they kept the valuables?’
I spread the undead throughout the mansion while humming a tune inwardly.
Since the more money, the better.
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