Attack (2)
Heinz frowned as he looked around.
The vampires surrounding him, and the unidentified masked group.
He already knew the vampires’ level through 「Discernment」, but the masked group that had gone undetected was, every last one of them, highly skilled as well.
“How did you know?”
Now that their barrier had been activated, his stealth had been rendered powerless, but...
Before that, how had they detected him when he had even used 「Concealment」, and activated the barrier with such perfect timing?
“We put in quite a bit of effort in various ways to catch Hahoe Mask.”
A black suit, hair slicked back with pomade, and even a sly smile.
The man standing on the stairs, openly looking like an executive of some evil organization, lightly shrugged his shoulders.
It seemed he had no intention of kindly explaining.
“Are you the Beoncheonhoe, by any chance?”
Heinz asked, looking over the masked men who appeared to be the man’s subordinates.
Who else would set a trap together with the hardliners of the Blood Alliance but them?
“Hmm, but who are you? I don’t understand why a vampire would be with him. Beta One, Beta Sin, do you know anything on your side?”
Instead of answering, the man in the suit threw the question back at him and turned his gaze toward the Blood Alliance.
“...We have no idea what’s going on either. Judging by his level, he looks to be at least Level 7, but he’s a face I’ve never seen before.”
“His aura itself is extremely unfamiliar. He must have returned recently from some place that was unknown until now.”
The two with the strongest presence among the vampires answered in turn.
‘Both Betas came here.’
From what he had gathered while reading the memories of many hardline vampires, that title referred to their rank.
The leader of the Blood Alliance’s hardliners was Alpha, and beneath him were two Betas.
Gamma was the rank below that, and there had been thirteen in total.
‘Now there are nine, though.’
Since after the first Gamma he dealt with, Do Hansu, he had hunted down three more.
The information about this place had also been obtained from the last Gamma he disposed of.
‘And maybe because the power of 「Concealment」 still remains, they don’t seem to have noticed that I’ve devoured my own kind.’
With 「Concealment」 weakened by the influence of the barrier, he could not maintain stealth, let alone hide his presence.
So with the strength he had left, he was focusing solely on concealing the traces of devouring his kin as much as possible.
That was his most secret card, and at the same time, it would become a trump move that caught them off guard.
‘Two Level 7 Betas. Twelve Level 6s. A few exceptional ones among the Level 6s must have received the title of Gamma, but I don’t know how many of them are here. On top of that, the guards crowding outside the lobby...’
In truth, if he only had to deal with the vampires, it would not be that big of a problem.
The problem was the masked group presumed to be the Beoncheonhoe.
Whatever method they were using, even in this situation he could not properly gauge their aura.
“By the way, how long does Hahoe Mask intend to hide in the shadows? At this point, it’s about time he came out. Or is he still looking down on us?”
Heinz’s eyebrow twitched.
Since there had been no mention of him until now, he had thought they hadn’t noticed.
[Hrrr... What an impudent fellow. If you want it that badly.]
A voice that seemed to echo up from hell vibrated through the space.
If they already knew, there was no need to keep hiding any longer.
Ssssss—
As Hans slowly revealed himself from within the shadow...
The temperature plunged sharply, a chill hanging in the air, and the light illuminating the interior lost its strength.
He had not intentionally released mana in particular, yet merely by existing there, the surrounding phenomena were forced to obey.
The vampires encircling them flinched and unconsciously took a step back.
“...Hmm. This is beyond what I expected. If we had tried to handle this on our own, things could have gone very badly.”
A crack appeared in the face of the man in the suit, who had been so relaxed.
Seeing Hans directly must have shaken his confidence.
“It is beyond expectations, but not to the point that we can’t respond.”
But soon, composure returned to his face.
It seemed he had prepared something solid.
“Dark mana and necromancy. Since they are both extreme powers, their weaknesses are just as distinct.”
Snap—
The sound of his fingers snapping rang through the space.
Woooong—
The barrier enveloping the surroundings trembled.
Jingle— jingle—
And before anyone knew it, the masked men surrounding the second floor were holding all sorts of objects.
Some shook bells that a shaman might use, some took out wooden totems and drove them into the floor, some pulled out yellow talismans and pasted them everywhere, and others held up symbols of all kinds of religions that did not exist on Earth.
Under the force surging in from all directions, Hans’s presence was somewhat suppressed.
A stifling energy tightened around him from every side, mercilessly shaking his impure aura.
[...You prepared quite a lot.]
He could tell for certain that they had thoroughly investigated him and prepared various measures in order to counter him.
Due to the nature of the spell arts, the vampires present also wore uncomfortable expressions, but compared to Hans, who was the direct target, it was a drop in the bucket.
‘And it doesn’t have much effect on Heinz right away. It is a bit stifling, though.’
A massive trap prepared solely to hunt Hans.
If the Beoncheonhoe and the vampires had joined forces and attacked while his power was suppressed on this scale...
Even Hans would have had no choice but to withdraw.
‘If Hans had come alone, that is.’
He understood their thinking well enough.
Since Heinz appeared to be Level 7, they must have planned for one of the Betas to hold him down, while the rest of their forces dealt with Hans.
“Huuup—”
Heinz drew in a deep breath.
His heart began pounding fiercely, and the blood throughout his body started circulating rapidly.
「Bloodflow Amplification」
His pale skin flushed red.
His muscles swelled, and his veins bulged.
“Haaaa~”
He exhaled the air from his lungs.
His senses sharpened, and even the emotions of those nearby felt so vivid he could almost grasp them in his hand.
Unfortunately for them, he was not an ordinary True Blood, not a Level 7 that fit their standards.
The amount of blood mana and the concentration of his vampire factor might have been similar to the Betas’, or perhaps even less.
However...
Kwaaang—!
「Acceleration」
His body kicked off the ground and shot forward like a cannonball.
“What?!”
A Level 6 vampire who had been closest to Heinz, yet failed to react to his movement.
Puuuk—
At the same time as the cry of shock rang out, Heinz’s hand burst out through his back.
“Kh... huk!”
The vampire, whose heart had been pierced in an instant, vomited blood and trembled violently.
But his shock did not end there.
‘My blood... is being sucked in?!’
His blood was being drawn into his heart at tremendous speed.
More precisely, into the opponent’s arm that had pierced through his heart.
‘Devouring one’s kin?! Through his arm? What kind of nonsense is...!’
At the same time Heinz pierced his heart, he wounded his own wrist and sucked the vampire’s blood in through it.
Through the wound on his wrist, fine blood particles mixed with the opponent’s blood, and by retrieving them again, he ignored the opponent’s control.
It was possible because he had become a True Blood and obtained overwhelming blood control.
It was also possible because he had thrust his hand into the opponent’s heart and made direct contact with the center of his bloodstream.
“Ghh... You bastard, kin dev— ghuaaaak!”
The vampire, who had tried to squeeze out his last strength to warn his comrades, screamed.
The blood he coughed up had, at some point, become a beautiful red flower, rippling around his mouth.
The 「Blood Blossom」 that swallowed his head slowly spread across his entire body, vanishing only after turning him completely to ash.
‘It’s a trick to hide the devouring of kin, though.’
He had covered the vampire’s entire body to hide the sight of him drying up after his blood was sucked out and then turning to ash, but what he actually burned was only the area around the man’s mouth.
It was thanks to 「Blood Blossom」, which selected what to burn according to his will.
“......”
All the vampires present froze at what had happened in the span of only a few seconds.
The Betas, who had reacted belatedly, hardened their expressions and glared at Heinz.
Even while he was sucking the vampire’s blood through one arm, Heinz had been constantly keeping them in check and emitting his presence, so they had not dared to find an opening to interfere.
Since they did not know that Heinz was in the middle of feeding, they had quickly given up on their subordinate, whose heart had been pierced and who was burning with no chance of recovery, and had looked for an opportunity.
“You... how?”
Beta One muttered lowly through gritted teeth.
His question was filled with wariness.
‘I couldn’t react right away!’
He took pride in his physical abilities, but Heinz’s movement exceeded his imagination.
By the time he reacted, his subordinate’s heart had already been pierced.
Even worse, the subordinate who had been attacked was one of the Gammas, the strongest after the Betas.
No matter how unexpected the surprise attack had been, for such a strong individual to be taken down in only a few seconds.
He himself could not do that.
Heinz leisurely looked over the tense vampires.
‘It would’ve been nice if I could’ve dealt with a Level 7 in a surprise attack... but if they were attacked directly, they would’ve reacted somehow. Of course, I could’ve inflicted a fatal wound, but while the others stalled for time, they would’ve recovered quickly.’
It was better to reliably deal with the closest Level 6 who possessed Gamma-class power.
《A new vampire factor has been collected. Due to the influence of the special skill 「Hybrid Evolution」, the individual’s mana control ability has improved.》
Thanks to that, the enemy’s strength had weakened, while theirs had instead grown stronger.
And there was one more thing they had not expected.
[Kukuku... Impressive. Is this also that? A linkage woven together from the spell formulas of various worlds?]
Hans had been greatly shocked when he discovered the research materials on combining spell arts at the stronghold of the Blood Alliance hardliners.
An idea he had never thought of, and a result that broke common sense he had assumed to be naturally impossible.
Of course, Hans had also referred to black magic from other worlds and reflected it in his own, greatly improving his magical level.
The linkage of 「Evil Wisdom」 and 「Forbidden Knowledge」 provided outstanding analytical and learning ability when it came to black magic.
However, a certain regret had suddenly occurred to him.
Just because the skill granted additional correction only to black magic, had he not relied solely on that and given up on trying anything else entirely?
Had he not pursued only the easy path and become complacent with the present?
「Evil Wisdom」 was said to provide absolute understanding of black magic, but for that to be possible, there was a fundamental insight into magic itself that was given by default.
「Forbidden Knowledge」 was also biased toward black magic, but regardless, it contained countless mysteries accumulated in a single world.
Was that truly the only way to use them?
Had that not been an act of defining his own limits?
Of course, considering Hans had not even been on the path of magic for a year yet, someone might point a finger at him and call it needless greed.
But in deciding on one path and resolving to devote oneself to it, time was not such an important factor.
At least, “Hans” sincerely thought so.
Afterward, Hans continued studying the Beoncheonhoe’s techniques in between attacks on vampires.
He observed the vampires’ magic system, experimented on them, and strove to utilize the skills he possessed in many different directions.
‘It can’t be called much yet, but there has been some progress. And this is actually an opportunity.’
Kuuung—
Hans struck the floor with his staff.
The area beneath his feet turned black and spread outward, and undead began crawling out from within it.
Perhaps due to the influence of the spell arts interfering with him, he could not fill the entire building with darkness as he usually did.
[Let us see just how hard you prepared. That, too, will become the foundation that allows me to grow!]
If he did not know, he only had to experience it directly.
And just in time, wasn’t there a stage meticulously set up by the Beoncheonhoe, who were the most advanced in that field?
It would have been best if they also used black magic, but opposing spell arts were not bad either.
Since they were fatal to him, he could sense and understand those spell arts all the more keenly.
[Krahahat! I look forward to this! Now, entertain me further! If you have anything prepared, you had best use it without holding back!]
As a bonus, it was also an opportunity to identify his own weaknesses.
Facing one’s weaknesses was the first step toward overcoming them.
If he overcame this, he would be able to grow even further.
Wooooong—
Above the Beoncheonhoe’s barrier that surrounded them, the barrier Hans had installed before entering activated.
The villa surrounded by two layers of barriers... No, on this battlefield.
No one would be able to escape easily now.
[Then, let us begin the death match.]
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