#241
Vampire Rise (1)
Pajijijijik—! Pajik—!
Sparks raged with more than twice the ferocity of anything that had occurred so far.
At that ominous reaction, Heinz, who had been pressing his opponent the entire time, took a step back with a stiff expression.
‘I knew it. It was too easy.’
Until just a moment ago, the fight against Obaifo had been progressing more smoothly than expected.
He and Heinz were of the same rank: Sacred Blood.
Even within that rank, if one insisted on dividing higher and lower, Obaifo, who had lived for countless years, would naturally stand above him. But Heinz’s overwhelming specs were more than enough to lightly ignore a difference of that degree.
Putting aside the influence of his various other skills, the difference in their standing as species, elevated through 「Hybrid Evolution」, was so great that it felt embarrassing to place the two of them in the same racial category at all.
Even when compared among Sacred Bloods, the pinnacle of vampires, the gap between them was more than double.
‘At this point, it’d be stranger if I lost.’
Based on that superiority in specs, Heinz had driven Obaifo into a corner with thorough precision.
Will and blood magic clashed without pause, and physical collisions repeated at the same time.
If things had continued that way, he would have been able to subdue the bastard without much trouble before long, but...
Pajijit—! Kwaaang—!
Sparks burst from a place far closer than before, and as the two Sacred Bloods clashed once again, a powerful shockwave swept through the surroundings.
His domain was being pushed back by the will expanding around Obaifo, gradually forcing him onto the defensive.
‘Phase two, huh.’
It seemed the bastard had no intention of giving up like this.
“Krrr— I, Obaifo, am the one destined to become king of all vampires in this world...! I don’t know why the Origin’s ‘Authority of Blood’ does not work on you...”
Even amid their repeated clashes, his power continued to surge.
The old vampire’s entire body writhed, yet he murmured in a low voice with a distorted face.
“No, wait... You couldn’t be...”
Muttering to himself like that, he let out a gasp as if he had realized something, then glared at Heinz standing before him with narrowed eyes.
“...I see. You are a traitor. I have certainly heard of you... They said some fellow who appeared out of nowhere swallowed the ruling authority of the Brokoslak Clan in an instant and rose to the top...”
Another exchange of attacks passed between them.
Even during that, his momentum, which had terrifyingly skyrocketed, had already surpassed five times what it had been before.
His body, strained by the aftermath, was gradually breaking apart, but as if even that was not the end, the increase in power showed no sign of stopping.
“So that was it, was it... I don’t know by what method, but it seems you obtained a way to resist bloodline... And now you intend to use that ability to usurp even this throne...?”
Obaifo muttered incomprehensible words as if possessed by something.
But Heinz, who had been desperately maintaining his domain of will, also realized something from those words.
‘Ah, no wonder I’ve had this ticklish feeling since earlier.’
He had been focused on the fight, and the reaction was so faint that he had thought it might simply be the exhilaration of battle, so he had not paid it any mind.
Thinking about it now, it seemed the thing wriggling within him was the part being affected by the bastard’s so-called ‘Authority of Blood.’
“I see. This aura—there are ten in all? Then that would be all the remaining bloodlines. To think you could use the power of other bloodlines like this.”
“Krrhrr... You only noticed now? Yes, I am the one who inherited the bloodline of the Origin... The master of ten among the twelve bloodlines is none other than this Obaifo...!”
Along with the outrageous momentum continuously expanding from his body, Heinz’s body was blasted backward.
Those powers, which should not originally have been able to be contained in one vessel, were being forcibly drawn up, raising Obaifo’s standing another level.
“...How is that possible? If you forcibly use another bloodline—especially true blood left behind by a Sacred Blood—it shouldn’t end with mere mental contamination.”
Heinz, who had barely recovered his body after being blown away, frowned as he spoke.
Of course, since he himself was immune to mental contamination, he had already ordered his subordinates to search for it long ago.
Though despite quite some time having passed, they had not found even a single one.
‘Was it because this bastard had already collected them all?’
No wonder, even after absorbing all the remnants of the other clans, not one of them knew their whereabouts.
It seemed he had been thorough even in silencing witnesses.
Pajijit—! Swaaaak!
And while they were conversing like that—
Even though Heinz dodged using 「Existence Denial」, a fairly significant effective hit landed on him.
The wound on his thigh, which had nearly been severed, regenerated in the blink of an eye. But with the bastard’s momentum still continuing to rise, this was not a particularly good sign.
“Ahh... Only now do things seem to be flowing properly...! How is it possible, you ask? Is it not obvious...? Because this body is the king who shall stand above all vampires...!”
At that self-praise, Heinz’s expression briefly crumpled before returning to normal.
The bastard did not seem to have any intention of answering properly, but Heinz had a rough idea.
‘The ability I obtained when I drank the blood of an Obaifo Clan vampire was 「Assimilation」. Seeing as it was absorbed into 「Hybrid Evolution」, it must be some similar lower-tier ability. It seems he devised some secret art by linking it with that.’
It was not quite on the level of a bloodline ability from another dimension, but each bloodline had something like a slight specialty.
The ‘Blood Gate’ that only the Yufersh Clan could use, and the Brokoslak Clan, which had swallowed an entire nation with its exceptional mental-type abilities, were also part of that.
Pajik—! Kwaaaang!
This time, the damage was considerable.
The area around his shoulder, including his clavicle, was blown away entirely before being restored in an instant.
As expected, he needed to hurry and come up with something.
“You, traitor... You who have defied the will of the Origin have no right to become my subject. I shall kill you here and now...”
Obaifo smiled confidently at his obvious advantage and licked the blood from his hand.
Heinz had never intended to become his subject in the first place, yet the old man was getting worked up all on his own.
More importantly, just now, that was...
“Keup! Keheok—!”
Drip— splat!
His face instantly turned pale, and he soon vomited up a heap of blood.
At the same time, the domain of will that had been violently pressing forward staggered, then began shrinking again in an instant.
‘Ah, I knew it. Is that a habit among vampires? Well, it is the easiest and fastest way to understand an opponent.’
He had already experienced it several times, but his blood, unfiltered by 「Refined Blood Essence」, was a deadly poison to vampires... no, it was no different from radiation.
And yet, he had drunk such a thing while in the middle of heavily straining himself to forcibly draw on other powers.
“Puhuk— ptoo! W-what in the world is this...! What are you...? Brokoslak? Yufersh? No, no... A power this far removed from the Origin...?”
Now, blood was streaming not only from his mouth but from his nose as well.
“Ahh— so this was why... the authority of the bloodline did not work...! What impure blood this is...! This goes beyond a traitor. You are a heretic...!”
“That is too harsh. It is merely a little strong in individuality. My roots are still here.”
Just as he said.
Heinz’s foundation as a vampire was the Brokoslak bloodline, and the opportunity that led him to become a Sacred Blood was the true blood he had plundered from Yufersh.
Naturally, those made up the largest portion of what composed him.
If one had to calculate it, about forty percent?
Of course, even most of that had mutated due to various factors, so there was not much pure portion from the initial state remaining.
‘That would be about... maybe five percent?’
Judging by the reaction within his body toward the bastard, it might be even less than that.
‘More importantly, the Origin, huh.’
The great one that encompassed the first bloodline ever born, the bloodline of the beginning.
That was what Obaifo meant by the Origin.
A hypothetical bloodline that formed the foundation of the race known as ‘vampires’ before it split into twelve.
It was a fantastical tale that if one completed it and made it whole, not only would one become the king who ruled all vampires, but one would even obtain power surpassing the Immortal King.
‘Ha!’
However.
From Heinz’s perspective, that could only be laughable.
After all...
‘In truth, it may be the beginning and root of all bloodlines in Auterica, but on a dimensional scale, it is merely one branch among countless vampire factions.’
A race that took the vampire factor as the foundation of its power, grew stronger by plundering the blood of others, possessed a strict hierarchy, and expanded its forces through infection.
Such vampires were treated like plagues or germs in many worlds, but like humans, elves, dragons, and the like, they were also a fairly commonly found race across many dimensions.
‘Though I don’t know whether there is a separate network of godlike beings that exchange information between dimensions.’
And perhaps because of their peculiar ecological structure, among the various races, they were particularly prone to extreme changes depending on the dimension.
As if a real virus had adapted to its environment and mutated.
“You call yourself a king. And yet you cannot even withstand that much?”
“Krrr, you bastard...!”
Heinz lifted his chin and, wearing a contemptuous sneer, threw a taunt as he looked down on Obaifo, who was struggling to compose himself.
If what he called the Origin meant the archetype of vampires, the thing that gathered the many divided branches into one and took all their strengths—
And if the one who became its master was called a ‘king’—
Then what should Heinz be called, having absorbed the strengths of countless vampire lineages derived not only from Auterica, but from all dimensions?
Heinz the Second, a being who had already surpassed the Origin and evolved closer to completion than any other?
In that case, the word that could describe him was...
“Puh— Yes, in that case, I suppose it is only proper that I be called an emperor.”
There was no other.
A single sentence tossed out like a joke.
But it was also a title closer to the truth than anything else.
“Bullshit...!”
Of course, to Obaifo, it merely sounded like mockery aimed at him.
And after trembling with rage for a while as he tried to steady himself, he suddenly stopped moving.
“Krrhrr... Ahh, yes... An emperor, you say...?”
Soon, he began to let out a sinister laugh.
“They were called Hybrids, were they not...? It seems quite a number of your subordinates have entered this city...”
The elites who had first set out with Heinz numbered only around a hundred, but including the additional forces that had come through the Blood Gate, their numbers had swelled severalfold.
Even now, they were continuing to buy time by disrupting the Obaifo Clan and the Republic’s defenders.
“Let us see this emperor’s authority, shall we...!”
Immediately after saying that—
Obaifo raised his head at once and unleashed a roar toward the sky, filled with a strange resonance.
[“Children of Hybrid, come here—! Come, kill your false king, and welcome your true king—!”]
A powerful wave of blood magic that affected only vampires swept across the entirety of Uletor City in an instant.
It carried an absolute control that could not be refused if one was within its range.
‘There is nothing to be done about that mutant-like heretic, but his subordinates should be different...! Now, let us see you kill the subordinates you trusted so absolutely with your own hands...!’
Forcing himself again had twisted his insides once more, but considering the result it would produce, this much was not much of a loss.
Having shouted with such confidence, Obaifo looked at Heinz with a meaningful smile—
And Heinz also met his gaze with an indifferent attitude.
“......?”
The silence that followed.
And while a short time passed—
Not a single Hybrid vampire came to this place.
Truly, not even one.
‘Why...?’
Obaifo’s face twisted strangely.
Having personally come into contact with that blood, he could understand that his control did not work on Heinz.
But the vampires under his command were a different matter, were they not?
‘My orders do not work even on ones of that lowly level?’
By this point, he could not help but doubt whether he truly could encompass all bloodlines as he had calculated.
The foundation upon which his ambition rested, and the faith that supported it, were being shaken from the roots.
“Why? Are things not going as you thought?”
Heinz’s mockery flickered at his ear, but the current him had no leisure to pay it any mind.
‘That cannot be. It cannot be…!’
Just how many long years had he poured into this?
Not only the journey to gather the legacies, but the research needed to make them usable in practice.
He had devoted himself for thousands of years, even going so far as to experiment directly on his own body.
And yet this was the result?
As the thought surged up that the thousands of years he had labored through had all faded meaninglessly, the small despair blooming in his heart swelled and spread like poison.
“Heh… hehehe…”
With his head hanging low, Obaipo kept shaking as he let out hollow laughter.
Regardless of his mood, the power endlessly surging up from within his body was elevating him without limit and protecting his unfocused flesh, but…
‘It is meaningless.’
His body, already collapsing under the excessive concentration of power, was now visibly falling apart under the toxicity contained in Heinz’s blood and the repeated strain of his reckless actions.
If he wished to live, he had to draw down this power and stabilize himself even now, but if he did that, not the slightest chance of victory would remain to him.
Obaipo’s empty gaze, which had been quietly watching his own crumbling body, turned once more toward Heinz.
‘Heinz Hybrid II, monarch of the Kingdom of Talia and ruler of Hybrid, the union of vampire clans.’
A bloodline in which all manner of unknown lineages were mixed.
The body of a heretic who had dared to reject the origin and seek transformation.
And a body possessing a completeness close to the ultimate and the highest grade.
Unlike his own flesh, which was continuing to break apart beneath the raging torrent of immense power, it was truly the most suitable vessel to contain the origin.
‘…Very well, I admit it.’
The grade contained in your flesh far surpasses mine.
A power too burdensome to hold in my wretched body may be something you can handle well enough.
If so, would it not be possible to truly display the authority of the origin?
Yes.
Therefore—
Give me that body!
Bzzzzzzzt—!
The instant sparks stronger than ever before surged violently.
Ignoring his collapsing body, Obaipo charged recklessly at Heinz.
There was nothing that could stand in the way of a man who had disregarded what remained of his life and burned everything he had.
‘I suppose I should be grateful to the Revolutionary.’
That unknown power, which had drawn his “power of assimilation” to its limit, allowing him to bind together the powers of different bloodlines and manifest them simultaneously.
Without that, he would never have even dreamed of a method like this.
From the moment it became unclear whether the “ambition” that had allowed him to endure for ages amid the terror of losing his memories in real time could be achieved, nothing else had been visible in his eyes.
Crunch—!
At last, Obaipo’s hand seized Heinz by the forehead.
Though his body had been left in tatters and was rapidly crumbling from the attacks he had allowed one after another in the process, he paid no attention to the state of his own flesh and smiled brightly.
“Khehehe! Emperor, let us make a wager…”
Of course, there would be a slight risk involved in the process.
But this time, he was certain of his victory.
“The stakes are everything each of us possesses…”
He was one who had lived for ten thousand years, constantly repeating his cultivation.
On top of that, no matter how many memories he had erased, the memories that remained still exceeded a thousand years.
There was no way he could lose to an opponent who, at most, had lived a few hundred years with a somewhat special body.
“The victor takes everything from the loser… That flesh, and even the soul!”
And so.
Borrowing the unknown power, Obaipo boldly and confidently infiltrated Heinz’s mental world.
[What… is this?]
Faced with a situation that was a little… no, vastly different from what he had expected, he could not help but let out a deflated voice.