#239 Zepia Republic (2)
An era in which everyone suffered under a worldwide calamity.
Amid it all, the fissures that had formed within the Zepia Republic, a great power, were far more serious than what appeared on the surface.
The Obaipo Clan, which sought to manipulate the entire nation through the upper-level figures they had gotten their hands on.
Various lower factions that had begun to move out of patriotism, seeking to protect the nation from their clutches, or to seize new power by using this as an opportunity.
Even the minor camps, including the organizations of darkness that were slyly rising up in the confusion, aiming for a chance.
It was a dangerous situation—one that might become irreversible if any more time was wasted. ‘As expected, this is the best way.’ Thus, Kayla McClare, the vice president of the republic, had no choice but to make a decision.
This was the only way to calm the situation and put the nation back in order before the current conflict erupted in earnest. ‘...Was this truly the only way?’ But even within that resolve, she could not help feeling skepticism, as though something had settled heavily upon her.
The vampires of Hybrid from the Kingdom of Talia, who had infiltrated the republic with her cooperation.
No matter how she tried to excuse it, in the end, this meant she had failed to resolve her own country’s problems on her own and had brought in foreign powers—no, a race no different from monsters called vampires!
If only she had asked the church for help instead... ‘No, that would have made things even bigger. Besides, they’re already short on resources as it is. It would be better to have monsters tear each other apart like now...’ As she struggled to think up all sorts of excuses, she soon stopped her thoughts and let out a sigh.
After all, even to her, they were nothing more than shabby excuses.
However, it was also undeniably true that she had weighed various matters for the sake of the nation before making this decision.
It was just that, in that decision-making process, a very slight amount of personal desire had been included. ‘Temi...’ Kayla bit her lip as she thought of the only son she had lost over twenty years ago.
What Hybrid had offered her in exchange for her cooperation was the truth behind the incident involving that son—and revenge.
The hierarchy of vampires was an absolute pyramid-shaped system of rule.
A subordinate could not tell any lie to a superior to whom they were bound.
Nor was it particularly difficult to forcibly revive memories that had grown blurred with time by using slightly extreme blood magic, and the minor side effects that came with the process were not a serious problem for sturdy vampires.
In other words, if they got their hands on Obaipo, she would be able to hear the truth of that day directly from those involved and punish them without having to weigh this and that.
No matter how she thought about it, this method was indeed the best for digging up the truth of something that had happened over twenty years ago. ‘...It would be nice if he were still alive somewhere, but even if that isn’t the case...’
Shouldn’t a parent at least know when, where, and how their child died?
Even if it was only the location where the body had been buried.
“Haa—.”
Unable to restrain herself, Kayla let out a deep sigh from the stuffiness in her chest and slowly moved toward the window of the house.
Then, looking up at the night sky beyond it, she prayed that her choice would not prove to be wrong.
The full moon scattered bright light, as if it cared nothing for her complicated feelings.
The light pouring from it merely stroked the earth gently and softly, as always.
Not only the interior of this shabby safe house where she was hiding now.
But also the area near the capital of the republic, where the war between Hybrid and Obaipo over the supremacy of vampire society had begun...
And even the place where High Lord Heinz II had personally stepped forward.
‘...Not a single cloud in the sky.’
It was fitting for the moment a new history began to stir—
A beautiful night.
***
Shwiak—! Crunch!
A stream of blood flew through the darkness like a snake, swerving toward its target’s nape.
“Keuk, as if I’d let you!”
But as if the opponent had predicted it in advance, he twisted his body strangely, thrust out one forearm instead to minimize the damage, and immediately charged at the enemy.
Dense crimson blood mana rose from the bodies of both the one who had struck first and the one who counterattacked.
“You pigs reduced to livestock dare come here of all places!”
“You fools who can’t see reality properly. A new order of blood has already long since arrived, yet you still cover your eyes and ears! He is the king who will lead us to prosperity!”
A battle between vampires, taboo in human society.
Amazingly, this was not happening in some remote, sparsely populated place, but in the city of Uletor, the capital of the eastern great power, the Zepia Republic.
And not just in one or two places, but on a tremendous scale, with clashes breaking out all over the city.
“Emergency! Emergency! They’re targeting the councilor!”
“Stop them! We can’t let the intruders get any farther inside!”
And naturally, fights occurring on that scale could not all proceed covertly as initially intended.
Moreover, this was the home ground where the Obaipo Clan had deliberately built their nest over a long period of time.
Preparations against external attacks had long since been completed, and they used that to quietly withdraw to the rear, pushing their puppet human forces to the front instead.
If Hybrid had formed its assault unit from elites selected from all over the continent, Obaipo had made up for its inferiority in such forces by parasitizing the Zepia Republic. ‘Of course, I anticipated that much.’
Naturally, the vampires of Hybrid brought here had all been selected with that taken into account.
So that, no matter how thorough the enemy’s preparations were, the standing forces stationed in each district would not be enough to respond. ‘They won’t be able to put this out easily. And while they’re busy...’
Leaving behind the commotion he could sense here and there,
Heinz II slowly walked along, leisurely taking in the city as it gradually woke from sleep due to the sudden uproar.
“Stop! You can’t go any farth— Gah!”
“Wh-what? He wasn’t even detected...”
Pishuk.
—Pwahak!
Since he had deliberately concealed his presence to an ordinary level, a few people rushed at him like moths to a flame, not knowing their place. But before they could even get close, they became mere handfuls of blood, and he paid no attention to the small fry as he simply continued forward.
His destination, identified thanks to the ghost intelligence unit commanded by the capable Olivia.
The hiding place where the leader of the enemy, Sacred Blood Obaipo, was concealed.
“Krrgh— What kind of monster is this...!”
“Fall back! We can’t even approach—!”
Pwahak! Bzzzt—!
He had merely cast a light glance at the ones who had gathered around him, yet fountains of blood burst forth with every step, dyeing the path he had passed red.
Of course, that lasted only a brief moment.
The blood that had soaked the ground crawled across the floor as if alive, and through Heinz’s feet, was absorbed in an instant.
The street, which had been a sea of blood, became clean in the blink of an eye without a single drop remaining, as if it had all been an illusion.
It was then that several lines of system messages appeared before his indifferent gaze.
《You have gained enlightenment through the influence of the special skill “Hybrid Evolution.” You have acquired the skill “Assimilation.”》
《The special skill “Hybrid Evolution” absorbs the subordinate ability “Assimilation” and is further strengthened.》
A peculiar light entered his eyes at the notification of a skill activating, something he had not seen in quite some time, and he examined it. ‘Assimilation, huh. I thought the vampires of Auterica didn’t have any clear bloodline abilities in particular, so there was nothing to steal. Was that not the case?’
“Hybrid Evolution,” which collected various vampiric factors to endlessly evolve himself, and as a side effect, stole even the possibilities contained within them at a faint probability.
He had already scraped together as many vampiric factors from each dimension as he could on Earth, and since his own rank had risen too high, the activation probability of stealing from lower-ranked blood had dropped too much. So he had forgotten about it for a while.
Yet somehow, he had apparently managed to break through that low probability and succeed in obtaining a skill. ‘...Well, it doesn’t mean much, since that skill vanished as material the moment it appeared.’
And to “Hybrid Evolution,” the very subject that had unearthed that skill.
At this point, shouldn’t this be called self-sufficiency?
Then again, it was true that having one skill evolved by combining several was far more useful than having multiple half-baked, similar skills.
Just like his other skills.
-Individual Name: Heinz II
-Race: Vampire (Sacred Blood)
-Common Traits: “Mind Hub,” “Persona,” “Clear Mirror, Still Water,” “Monstrous Strength,” “Xenoglossy”
-Individual Traits: “Blood Clan (Sacred Blood),” “Hybrid Evolution,” “Mystery of Blood,” “Refined Blood Crystal,” “Existence Denial,” “Rapid Acceleration,” “Super Regeneration,” “Insight”
-Special Notes: He has risen to Sacred Blood, the root of vampires, and transcended the limits of his species. As the progenitor of the “Hybrid” bloodline, he exercises absolute dominion over his blood kin. Through the influence of “Rapid Acceleration,” he can move even faster, and through the influence of “Insight,” he can see the strands of causality more clearly.
Heinz’s initial skills, “Acceleration” and “Hyperesthesia,” had combined and evolved into “Rapid Acceleration,” while the stolen skills “Discernment” and “Wisdom Eye” had combined and evolved into “Insight.”
Their performance went without saying.
Thanks to that, any vampire at or below pure-blood now turned into a handful of blood with just a glance from him.
Though he could not know for certain, it would likely be quite useful not only against those of lower rank but even against opponents of equal or higher standing.
From now on, it was time to confirm that in actual battle. ‘Hmm, so it’s here.’
After walking for some time with his figure deliberately revealed, partly as a warm-up,
He finally arrived at his intended destination.
The mansion of a senator who had maintained his position in the Zepia Republic for many long generations.
This was Obaipo’s forward base... to put it simply, a place that occupied a position similar to that of the Bright ducal house in the Kingdom of Talia. ‘Well, it’s only common sense to firmly get your hands on part of the ruling class before swallowing a country whole.’
Heinz slowly closed his eyes and focused his transcendent senses even further.
As expected of the enemy’s headquarters, it was plastered with extraordinary barriers, but even so, with his abilities, he could at least indirectly sense the powerful enemy inside. ‘He’s definitely in there.’
He could feel it.
The threads of causality writhing as they collided with the senses he had extended. ‘By the way, as expected, he has no intention of coming out.’
He had deliberately barged in through the front so openly to see how the other party would respond, yet there was still no reaction.
There was no way the enemy had failed to sense his presence, so it seemed certain that they had prepared something separately.
“Hmm. I’m confident I can smash whatever comes out from the front, but...”
Standing before the mansion, Heinz slowly stroked his chin.
The enemy’s headquarters was clearly a trap, his target showed no sign of wanting to come out, and the mansion was surrounded by all sorts of barriers, making it seem difficult to do anything from outside.
In truth, even if he went inside, if there were a truly dangerous trap, he could escape by dismissing the summon, so it did not matter much... ‘Something about this feels unpleasant.’
As he thought that, his stomach began to twist slightly.
If a guest had come to visit, was it not the homeowner’s duty to come out and greet them?
But if the homeowner stayed shut up inside like this, as if saying, “Open the door yourself and come in, or don’t,” how disappointed would the guest who had come all this way be?
As a sound young man from the Eastern Nation of Courtesy, this was a rudeness he could never overlook. ‘It can’t be helped. I have no choice but to roll up my sleeves and step forward.’
A famous phrase he had heard somewhere suddenly flashed through his mind.
If it doesn’t work, make it work.
Whoever the sage was who had said it, it truly was a fine saying.
***
Inside the mansion.
Obaipo, wearing the appearance of an old man, sat leisurely and swirled a teacup.
“A bit earlier than expected... but not bad at all... Since all the preparations are complete anyway... if he comes in person, it only saves me the trouble...”
He was the one who would become the king of all vampires.
When one who would become his subject had come to seek an audience on his own, he had no intention of treating him coldly.
Of course, at present, he seemed somewhat arrogant, so a little education would be necessary.
Reaching this far was also one part of that process.
He had put quite a lot of effort into it, so by the time that fellow arrived before him, he would likely have acquired a tolerable attitude for conversation.
As he was thinking so, he detected something entering the barrier.
The presence he sensed was odd, perhaps because the other party was suppressing his own existence, but the sense of existence and mana he felt from it were clearly those of the one called Heinz.
“I wonder how he will fare... Yes, show me at least enough to call yourself the Vampire King...”
Just as he raised his cup with a faint smile on his face at the anticipated situation,
Ruuumble—
At the faint vibration he felt, Obaipo’s hand, which had been lifting the teacup, paused.
Then his face wrinkled slightly, and his head tilted a little. ‘Hmm, is he unable to accept the trial and throwing a tantrum? But since he has already entered, rampaging inside is useless. If he cannot properly undergo the trial, then even more...’
Kwa-rurung— Kwaang—! Kuung!
However, contrary to his sneer, along with the sound of something collapsing, the space he was in began to shake violently.
“...What? He hasn’t even come to the core of the ‘Overlapping Phase-Reversal Reverse World’... and he is shaking it from inside...?”
It was not as though he was attacking from the outside.
This reverse world, with its phases overlapped and inverted, possessed strong resistance both from within and without. Even if one interfered with space and destroyed it, the intact opposite phase would be overlaid to restore it instantly, making complete neutralization impossible.
If one had to say, it was not as though there was no method of breaking through it, but that was close to a theoretical impossibility...
Kwaaaaaang——!
Before he could even finish that thought,
A violent explosion, as though the world itself were shaking, rattled the space.
And right after that thunderous blast ended,
“Yes, we finally meet face-to-face.”
A voice he had heard much about, yet was hearing directly for the first time, reached his ears.
Obaipo slowly turned his head toward the direction from which the sound had come.
“I apologize for knocking so roughly. The homeowner seemed to be hard of hearing and showed no sign of coming out.”
So he had absentmindedly broken down the door.
With a face that looked not the least bit sorry, Heinz tossed out the apology.
Wearing a brazen expression, as if saying the ventilation would be better thanks to him.
At that, Obaipo struggled to keep the corners of his mouth from twitching and desperately suppressed the words about to spill out.
A king had to remain calm in any situation.
Even if that situation was—
‘...This is not on the level of a door...!’
From near the front gate, all the way through the reception room where he was,
A massive hole had been blasted open, roughly carving through a third of the mansion.