The Tyrant glared at the opponent who had grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up, his face twisted grotesquely.
“Kkk….”
Being in such close contact like this, he could feel his opponent’s presence all the more distinctly.
And he was certain that the very instant he had succeeded in punching a hole through the barrier, his tension had unknowingly slackened.
‘Damn it…! He’s completely overpowering me with sheer energy levels!’
If it weren’t for that, it was simply incomprehensible.
To the extent that he couldn’t fathom why he hadn’t noticed sooner—the density of the space his opponent occupied was strikingly, unmistakably different.
He gritted his teeth, struggling to push back the tremendous torrent of blood demon power rampaging through his body and disrupting the use of his supernatural ability.
‘This is a completely different story…!’
He had already heard of his existence.
That a Level 9 vampire newly born in Korea might come looking for him someday.
He had ignored the additional cooperation requests related to the matter, so he hadn’t heard the details, but deep down, he had even looked forward to it, thinking it might be interesting….
‘To think he’d be this much of a monster!’
If he had known this would happen, he should have just accepted their offer.
No, but if he had, there was the risk of them gaining even more influence within Europe….
As the Tyrant’s mind tangled this way and that in that life-or-death situation—
Heinz, gripping his neck while controlling his overflowing energy to the utmost, was finally able to decide how to deal with his opponent.
‘He’s definitely a Transcendent-level vampire, but the proportion of vampire-specific abilities in the power he actually uses isn’t that great. Strictly speaking, I should view him as closer to an esper of a different race.’
After exchanging a few rapid moves with him, he had clearly realized.
That his opponent used most of the power derived from his vampiric factor merely as a means to assist in wielding high-output supernatural abilities.
And even then, aside from what was used for self-reinforcement, he had left the rest sitting unused.
‘He probably intended to save it for emergencies, like rapid regeneration. It’s ironic that in this truly critical situation, something like that isn’t remotely enough.’
But thanks to that, Heinz could clearly make up his mind.
Heinz continued to pour energy through the hand gripping his neck and brought his sharp fangs to the nape of that neck.
“You…!”
The Tyrant’s eyes flew wide in terror, but Heinz paid him no heed.
No matter how much he had temporarily channeled a rampaging power, subduing and capturing an opponent of that caliber couldn’t possibly be easy!
He was approaching his limit as well, so he had to finish things as quickly as possible.
Puk—
Soon, sharp fangs pierced and dug into skin as tough as alloy.
And through that spot, blood began to be slowly drawn out.
Goooo—
Kwa-deuk! Kwa-deuk!
The bastard’s resistance seemed to intensify; shadow-laced energy thrashed violently, raking across his entire body, but with the bloodsucking already underway, the situation was all but over.
‘Don’t worry. I don’t intend to kill you.’
No matter how he looked at it, the man seemed quite useful.
After all, all he needed to grow further was ‘a vampiric factor that had ascended to the upper ranks through an entirely different system.’
Now that all his abilities had explosively increased and his control over blood had risen to the extreme.
Feeding without taking a life was not entirely impossible.
“Kuk! Mad Vamp? What the…! Kuaaaack!”
Of course, bloodsucking was not simply about drinking blood; it was a ritual that plundered part of the opponent in a more shamanistic sense, so from the victim’s standpoint, there was the issue of a considerable amount of his absolute power being greatly reduced, but….
Still, wasn’t that better than dying?
Given his level, even if he fell to the Residual Blood rank, it wouldn’t be that great a loss.
‘Hmm, at this level, you could call it a win-win for both of us.’
And so, the Tyrant who ruled the French underworld was able to keep his life.
The citizens of this nation could enjoy safer nights.
《A new vampiric factor has been collected. Under the influence of the special skill [Hybrid Evolution], the entity’s existence becomes even more distinct.》
Heinz II had achieved his original goal and even gained a European forward base.
It was truly the completion of a happy ending where everyone was satisfied.
“M-my power…! You! What the hell did you…!”
“Hm?”
Though it seemed one person still needed a little time to come to terms with it.
‘As expected, [Fascination] doesn’t work properly on an opponent of this caliber. Looks like he’ll need a little education.’
Though that probably wouldn’t take too long, either.
***
While Heinz II was in the thick of his activities in Europe.
Hans and Hahoetal, having returned to Earth after some time, moved busily as if trying to make up for their absence.
‘Since I’ve also learned that the most troublesome leader of Beoncheonhoe has left his seat, there’s no need to hold back.’
One fragmentary piece of information he had obtained through the Yullyeongja was the leader’s absence.
Accordingly, Hans swept across the entirety of the Republic of Korea, which had been his former stomping grounds, and of course also intermittently carried out the work of cleaning up the Japanese archipelago he had left half-finished, while starting to poke at China, which was reacting quite sensitively.
‘No matter how I look at it, China’s reaction is unusual. Just as I thought, it seems most of their higher-ups have already fallen to Beoncheonhoe.’
The fact that Beoncheonhoe’s chaos hadn’t lasted long even after the Yullyeongja known as the East Asian Branch Manager was eliminated was quite impressive.
It wouldn’t have been so easy to settle things if they were simply dispatching a successor.
It meant China was an important enough stronghold for them to care that much.
‘But the situation itself isn’t so bad. Actually, it seems there were quite a lot of people who had already realized Beoncheonhoe’s existence and were on guard against them.’
He had thought he was fighting a lonely battle all this time.
According to the Yullyeongja’s memories, there seemed to be quite a few forces opposing them in various places.
By nature, resistance forces against a powerful enemy were scattered and hidden, operating in the shadows, so he simply hadn’t been able to grasp them all.
‘The reason China has been particularly hardline toward Korea lately is probably because the anti-Beoncheonhoe sentiment has grown stronger.’
After the Seoul terror attack by Alpha, who had belonged to Beoncheonhoe.
Centered around the Returnees Association, Korea had begun to take a more actively hostile stance toward Beoncheonhoe.
Of course, dogsbodies who seemed to be under their influence carried out obstruction operations in various fields, including the political sphere, but….
‘It’s simple to bring down such scum without directly passing judgment on them.’
All this time, Hahoetal had not laid hands directly on key figures, including government officials.
Because it was obvious that doing so would cause all sorts of trouble.
But that didn’t mean he was simply turning a blind eye to them.
“Those with dirty backsides naturally associate with filthy folks.”
Whether they were contractors who did the dirty work, illegal organizations for money laundering, or mercenary gangs that could be easily used and discarded.
If you beat the crap out of such people, evidence against the higher-ups who gave the orders would inevitably come pouring out.
‘From the start, that underworld is already in my hands, after all.’
The aftermath could be easily resolved by mobilizing the Blood Alliance.
In the end, they had no choice but to choose between social ruin and full-fledged cooperation with him.
“However….”
While he felt everything was flowing smoothly—
a certain movement within the country began to grate on his nerves.
As I quietly organized the current situation, I tapped the armrest and furrowed my brow.
‘I was planning to leave it be and watch for now.’
The investigation team of Pantheon, the otherworld religion alliance.
Having also realized that Seo Gigwan, the Beoncheonhoe North American Branch Manager who was said to be in America, had gotten involved, he had intended to watch the situation until he could clearly grasp their purpose.
As long as they didn’t interfere with his daily life.
“But they’re stirring things up too much.”
Obtaining information on the investigation team’s movements wasn’t very difficult.
Since they had nothing in particular to hesitate about, they didn’t think to hide anything either.
From the start, they weren’t hunting criminals, so it was natural.
‘Putting aside how arrogant it is to try to find someone who deliberately hasn’t revealed themselves…’
That was a matter tangled in various interests, so it couldn’t be helped.
The problem was the path they were currently taking.
‘To think they’d try to conduct a full investigation on everyone who was at the hospital then.’
He hadn’t taken any particular action when he heard the news that the investigation team had visited Gang Taesan’s grandmother.
Of course, it was a fact that Heinrich had intervened in the grandmother’s swift discharge, but it hadn’t been long since ultra-high-purity holy power had poured down on everyone at that scene.
Would there really be any trace left from long before that, from when his level was lower?
Naturally, they would have had no choice but to withdraw without much gain, but….
If they conducted a full investigation, the story would change.
“Because I was there at that time too.”
From the standpoint of hiding the fact that he was an Awakener, becoming a target of investigation itself was a huge burden.
No, to be frank, it was extremely troublesome.
For now, he was somehow managing to hide it and move around freely, but if high-ranking clergy decided to examine him seriously, it would obviously be exposed eventually.
Sitting in a massage chair, I heaved a deep sigh and scratched my head.
‘If I used the sub-ability of [Entity Projection] to imitate Heinz’s [Existence Negation] and implement it on my main body….’
If he did that, perhaps hiding it would be possible.
But since his proficiency wasn’t very high yet, that too was still a gamble.
Not becoming a target of investigation in the first place would be the surest method.
In the end, I smacked my lips and slowly nodded.
“…It can’t be helped.”
It was truly something that couldn’t be helped.
***
After the hospital terror incident was reported and the existence of Paladin Heinrich was revealed to the public.
Both online and offline, many people were enthralled and eagerly inquired about his deeds.
And for good reason… his splendid debut had drawn so much attention, and news that the conditions of patients who had benefited from his holy power had greatly improved had hit the media in a big way.
Of course, unlike the Saintess, Heinrich’s holy power was specialized in exorcism rather than healing, but such distinctions only held up to a certain level.
Saint-level holy power that had never before appeared on Earth, amplified by a holy sword and with its loss further reduced by [Dimensional Barrier Mitigation]?
‘…It’d be stranger if this weren’t the reaction.’
Those who had been healthy from the start saw minor symptoms they hadn’t noticed disappear, and their condition soared to its peak.
The wounds of those with minor injuries disappeared cleanly as if washed away.
Even patients with severe injuries recovered to the point where they only needed simple treatment.
Even the terminally ill, those who had been at death’s door, saw their conditions improve so dramatically that they could start treatment again and aim for a complete cure.
The fervor derived from that was such that it hardly needed mentioning.
That was probably the biggest reason why the public didn’t express much dissatisfaction even though the joint investigation by Pantheon and the Supernatural Ability Management Bureau had overstepped a bit.
It meant everyone was interested in the identity of the “White Knight,” the one who had brought that miracle.
To the extent that he might even surpass Hahoetal.
‘No, perhaps not? Maybe it’s just a difference in how people can benefit.’
Even without knowing Hahoetal’s true identity, there was no problem benefitting from him, but to receive the White Knight’s grace, one had to know who he was.
That was probably one of the reasons many thought that way.
Clack— Clack—
That was why he was here now.
“Huh? Could that be…?”
“Huh? Huh?”
“No way… really?”
A university children’s hospital in downtown Seoul.
Clack— Clack—
A single knight in white armor who had suddenly appeared at the main gate strode boldly across the hospital lobby.
A faint radiance wafted from his body and slowly began to envelop the surroundings.
The eyes of all in the lobby—patients, guardians, doctors, nurses—dazedly turned toward it.
But that subtle confusion lasted only a moment.
“Oh, it really is him! Sua! Sua! Over here…!”
“Wow~ he’s so cool.”
“Kyaa! Doctor! Doctor, please, my child…!”
“D-Doctor Kim. Could that person really be…?”
Soon, uproar erupted from every direction.
The longing gazes of those who couldn’t dare approach, due to the pressure they felt even within that gentle aura, were concentrated on the Saint (聖人) at the center.
‘This is another subtle feeling.’
If the worry was that his identity would be revealed due to the investigation, the solution was simple.
Make it so there was no need to investigate in the first place.
‘Might as well start proselytizing like other religions while I’m at it. Then the restrictions on the power I can use on Earth might loosen further.’
Thus, the Saint summoned remotely from Auterica.
Heinrich Saint Landgard revealed himself in the heart of Seoul.