#283
Advancing into Europe (2)
The outskirts of Paris, just as the day was slowly beginning to darken.
Bastien, an upstanding young vampire who had gone out to spend another dutiful day as usual, found himself faced with something completely unexpected.
While moving about on patrol duty through the clan’s territory, he had suddenly been ambushed by some masked assailant who appeared out of nowhere.
He, a member of Thermidor, France’s largest vampire organization, which ruled the nights of Paris and other major cities!
‘He’s insane! How dare he do something like this on this land, without fear? At night, no less?’
France’s capital, Paris, was a world-famous metropolis, and as such, a golden land where countless interests were concentrated. Naturally, the organization devoted a great deal of attention to this place.
So much so that Bastien, a level 5 vampire who could have held at least a middle-management position in other regions, had been directly assigned to patrol duty, the sort of task usually left to the rank and file.
‘He really is a lunatic. He must be fairly confident in his skills, but even if I die, you will never get away unscathed.’
His body had frozen stiff for some reason, unable even to blink.
As he sensed his end in the cold grip slowly tightening around his throat and muttered a final curse that would not leave his lips—
He realized that he had been terribly mistaken about something.
‘Ah?’
Something surged in like a raging tide from the fingertips digging into his neck.
Before Bastien could even express his shock upon realizing what it was, an enormous presence shook his thoughts.
And a certain entity, as if deliberately concealed, was forcibly stamped into his mind.
‘This is…!’
His breath caught in his throat.
It was an awe beyond words.
High and distant.
Vast and boundless.
Great and wondrous.
Deep and chilling.
The reason his body had frozen was not because his opponent had used some special trick.
It was merely that his instincts, faced with an unfathomable difference in rank, had been terrified before he knew it.
Without him realizing, his limbs were trembling.
‘At least level 7…? Level 8? No, this isn’t a level I can even gauge.’
The strongest vampire Bastien had ever encountered was a level 7 high-ranking executive of Thermidor.
Back then, when he had been standing in inspection with his comrades, he had been frozen for a long while from extreme tension, and only after the distance grew somewhat greater had he finally been able to breathe again…
‘Perhaps even beyond that… Lord-class.’
Compared to now, that time had been no different from being on vacation.
It was impossible to compare from the start.
But he could no longer continue his idle thoughts.
Crack— crick!
Because under the influence of the blood that had entered his body, everything from the top of his head to the tips of his toes had been undergoing a complete overhaul for some time now.
‘Something like this… Something like this is possible…!’
It was an evolution akin to revolution.
In that brief moment, his body surpassed its limits all at once, and his field of vision expanded.
Bastien quietly shuddered, swept up in a sense of omnipotence that made him feel as though he could take on dozens of his former self.
Of course, the reason it felt that way was merely a side effect caused by his hormones being in full overproduction, but already intoxicated to the very top of his head, he did not care about such trivial matters.
Filled to the brim with awe, a sense of belonging, and loyalty that stormed through his mind, Bastien prostrated himself and pressed his forehead to the ground, shouting words of obedience that welled up from his heart.
“Please give me any order you wish! I, Bastien Dubosc, will do everything in my power so that Lord Phantom may find Christine!”
“…”
He already seemed so overwhelmed by that oppressive presence that he did not even know what he was saying.
Heinz’s discomfited gaze landed on the back of his head.
***
‘He’s really hitting me with it like this.’
Heinz looked down with displeasure at the young vampire, Bastien, prostrated before him.
To think he would bring up one little slip of the tongue again like this.
However, the wholehearted cooperation he showed afterward was not bad.
Worshiping him to an abnormal degree, he answered Heinz’s questions with true fervor and confessed everything he knew.
Like a fanatic worshiping a god.
It was certainly not a normal reaction at a glance.
‘So “Temptation” worked here too. I didn’t expect it to be this effective.’
No matter that he had made him subordinate through “Refined Blood Essence,” it did not possess the power to enthrall the target to such an extent.
Perhaps the difference in rank between them had also had a considerable effect.
In any case, since things had become easier, it was a good thing for him.
‘It worked out well, since I was able to save time.’
The information he possessed about France in this Europe amounted to only what he could obtain from the internet.
For comfortable activity and swift handling of affairs, cooperation from a local was absolutely indispensable.
In any case, subordinating someone at level 5 did not consume much “Refined Blood Essence,” so he was just the right target.
‘And even if I devoured someone at this level, it wouldn’t even register.’
For Heinz II, who had already reached transcendence as Sacred Blood, to complete his own bloodline and break the mold, he needed the blood of a vampire with at least True Blood-class rank.
Even that was only the minimum; for a proper shedding, he would need multiple Sacred Blood-class beings.
‘The Sacred Blood-class… level 9 currently in France is one.’
Heinz’s gaze turned in the direction led by “Bloodline Craving.”
But perhaps because of his opponent’s rank, he could only sense it faintly, and unlike before, he could not grasp the location clearly.
Ever since arriving in Europe, he had coolly assessed the situation while casually ignoring the urge of thirst that kept writhing within him.
‘Charging in blindly in this situation would be stupid.’
This place was enemy headquarters and, strictly speaking, a foreign country.
He did not know what traps might be in place, and if he moved carelessly for no reason, the government could intervene like it had in Japan.
‘I’ll need to shake the board a little.’
So, with Bastien’s cooperation, he immediately set to work.
A little preliminary operation for an easier hunt.
***
Murmur, murmur—
“This scent is rather decent. Quite good taste.”
“Right? It’s hard to obtain, but there’s nothing better than this.”
“Lady Nadia, there is something urgent I wish to tell you…”
One of Thermidor’s bases, located in the city of Versailles near Paris.
“What an absolute mess.”
Inside the lavish mansion, where a frenzied party was in full swing, an icy voice flowed out like a whisper.
It was a sound so small it could have been buried beneath the noise of the party…
“Hm?”
“…Who was that just now?”
Those in this space were not so lax as to miss such a discordant note.
The loose atmosphere instantly pulled taut.
Raising their auras and quickly scanning their surroundings, they soon discovered an uninvited guest who had naturally blended in among them.
“What are you?”
“How did you get in here? No, when?”
With wary shouts, the ferocious energy emitted from them began to cover the surroundings.
But even in that situation, the uninvited guest who had spoken, Heinz II wearing an opera mask, merely looked around slowly with a stiff expression.
The large chandelier hanging from the ceiling, the tableware adorned with all sorts of precious metals, and the works of art that appeared extraordinary at a glance.
It was so splendid that the sight of the boys and girls trembling among it all felt out of place.
Needless to say, there was a dissonance with the blood in the silver cups held by the participants, as well as the blood strewn everywhere as though deliberately used as decoration.
‘…Tsk. It would have been nice if I had come a little sooner.’
Heinz clicked his tongue lightly and looked once again at the vampires who had been holding a party with the fresh blood of their victims.
Before he knew it, they had surrounded the entire party hall, finished all preparations they could make, and were readying an attack.
“Ah, communications are down!”
“What? Since when…?”
Except for spreading news of this situation outside.
From the beginning, even though he could have dealt with them quietly, he had not revealed his presence like this without thought.
“There’s no time, so let’s finish this as quickly as possible.”
Because the situation was already as good as over.
Snap—
Along with the light sound of his fingers snapping.
“Blood Mystery” activated.
The blood that had been scattered everywhere like avant-garde art, as well as the blood in the cups, all at once became a thick mist that began to envelop the surroundings.
“It’s a blood magic barrier!”
“Gather together! Prepare to respond imme—!”
What followed afterward was not a battle.
It was simply one-sided trampling.
Feeling the resentment contained in the victims’ blood and gazing at the causality flowing through the area, Heinz grasped a part of that thread.
And when he decided that it would be so.
—So it was.
Thunk!
Kwaaang—!
The chandelier, severed from the ceiling, fell, and fragments scattered.
Puhwaak—!
Slash—
The sounds of something being torn apart burst out one after another.
“Kuhup!”
“Grrk…”
Within the sunset-colored mist that covered the space, the vampires’ streams of blood scattered like rose petals.
That attack, which transcended perception, could neither be defended against nor evaded.
Moreover, before the lofty rank imbued within it, their paltry regenerative abilities were utterly meaningless.
“Urgh!”
Of course, not everyone was dealt with in that single move.
The strongest one in this Thermidor Versailles branch.
Nadia, a level 7 high-ranking executive who had calmly taken command from the moment Heinz appeared, grabbed the cross-section of her severed left arm and immediately attempted to flee.
‘What is this, what on earth?! Level 9? He’s level 9? How does that make any sense!’
An incomprehensible attack that a lower-ranked opponent could not even oppose.
Leaving behind her subordinates, who had been cut to pieces in an instant and lay scattered about, she gritted her teeth.
‘An opera mask… Just who is he? No, where did he come from? Italy? Germany? Surely not Romania?’
There were not many level 9 vampires in the world.
Even in Europe, where their power was said to be the strongest, they could be counted on one hand.
And as far as she knew, none of them had such an appearance.
‘Could he have come from another continent? America? Asia? …Come to think of it, I feel like I heard a similar story…’
But her thoughts did not continue for long.
Step, step—
Because Heinz appeared right in front of her, parting the blood mist.
“You seem to have a lot on your mind.”
Nadia, who stopped in her tracks at that, chewed on her lip.
Normally, it would not have taken even a second to leave the mansion grounds.
For whatever reason, however, she was still inside the mansion, where the red fog lay thick.
“…Who are you? From where and for what purpose did you—!”
“As expected, the others were severely lacking, but…”
A calm sentence cut off her words, which she had forced out in a raised voice.
“You seem to be fairly nutritious.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a red tongue slipped out from beneath the mask, lightly licked his lips, and disappeared.
At those words and actions that hinted at a taboo, Nadia’s pupils dilated.
“…Don’t tell me you—!”
“Shh—.”
Not that there was anything she could do.
Before long, the blood-colored fog grew even thicker and densely enveloped the surroundings.
《Collecting new vampire factors. Under the influence of the special skill “Hybrid Evolution”…》
And after an unnatural silence passed as though the sound had been muted, only one person remained there.
***
Among the victims dragged to the mansion as part of the party, only about a dozen were still alive by the time Heinz arrived.
All of them were boys and girls of an age where they were barely adults, if that.
“Ugh.”
“Uuu…”
Since those who had been noisy or resisted had become sacrifices first, they did as they had learned, desperately covering their mouths and trembling in fear even as a disturbance broke out during the party.
As ordinary humans, they could not possibly grasp the situation because of the blood-colored fog that densely surrounded them.
This blood mist also had a function that protected the victims, but they had no way of knowing that.
‘Please, please.’
‘Mom…’
Even so, they recognized one thing clearly.
At the very least, it would be hundreds and thousands of times better if the half-masked gentleman who appeared later won, rather than the monsters who had tried to make them into party food.
How long had they repeated only prayers amid that tension?
The blood-scented fog surrounding them soon began to slowly thin.
The sight finally revealed was a vast party hall where not only the vampires, but even a single drop of blood, remained.
“Huh?”
“There’s… no one here?”
With no presence other than themselves, a quiet stillness wrapped around the surroundings.
Several of them turned their heads this way and that, searching for the masked gentleman they presumed to be the victor, but he was nowhere to be found.
For some reason, only the chandelier that had fallen to the floor and shattered drew their eyes especially.
After hesitating for a moment while watching one another, they soon began to move one by one, and later, all at once, they rushed out through the wide-open front door as if running.
‘Hm, the police are nearby too, so this should be enough. Then shall I move on to the next place?’
That surprise visit by the masked gentleman, Phantom, did not end merely with the Versailles branch.
Saint-Denis, Creteil, and others.
He attacked the branches in the cities around Paris as though making the rounds.
Even if it all took place in the darkness of the city, with so many such incidents occurring one after another in a single night, there was no way they could remain unknown forever.
Thanks to that, survivors who had been able to escape continued to appear one after another as well.
And those connected to the Thermidor Clan were able to read a certain message through that situation.
It was a blatant provocation directed at someone.
A demand to stop hiding and come out immediately.
—I am here.
A provocation brimming with confidence.