Assault (3)
Crack—
No sooner had he knocked away the flying blood-red claws than a kick aimed at the back of his knee came in.
Whoosh!
Beautiful crimson petals bloomed without warning, dazzling his vision, and in that opening, his opponent was already driving a fist in from behind.
“Grrk... What kind of speed is this...!”
Beta One, a Level 7 vampire of the Blood Alliance, gritted his teeth as he blocked the attack.
His entire body had turned red, as though he had been dipped in blood and pulled back out, and he took immense pride in his physical abilities.
He came from a dimension specialized in the body rather than in spells, and even there, he had climbed to a high position thanks to the synergy with his unique skill, 「Indestructible Vajra」.
After returning to Earth, aside from Alpha, he had never lost in close combat.
There had been many times when he had retreated first in clashes with the Guardians, but those had not been one-on-one, and continuing to fight would only have risked making the problem unnecessarily bigger, so those did not count.
That was why he could not understand the current situation.
Boom! Bang!
Every time their limbs crossed, shockwaves that shook the air spread outward.
A brawl unfolding at close range.
His opponent was using martial arts of a higher level than expected.
The way he deflected attacks while using his whole body to aim for vital points was remarkably practiced.
Even so, it was true that he was still lacking compared to Beta One, who had spent decades fighting.
Crack!
After several feints, a clear sensation of impact came from his fist as it slammed into his opponent’s guard.
Beta One, seeing his chance, trusted in his sturdy body and moved to grab the bastard so he could not escape, but at that instant...
Crack— Bang!
“Urk!”
His opponent suddenly accelerated several times faster, kicking him away and opening the distance.
There was almost no damage, but that was not what mattered right now.
“Khuhurk...!”
Whoosh—
In that fleeting moment.
Another Level 6 had his heart pierced through and scattered into ash along with crimson flowers.
After kicking Beta One away to gain distance, he ignored even Beta Sin’s attempt to check him with blades of blood, focusing thoroughly on reducing the number of their subordinates.
From Beta One’s perspective, it was a situation that could only make his blood boil.
“You bastard—! Stop scurrying away and face me head-on!”
He shouted in fury, but his opponent merely let out a light snort.
He swept his eyes over the vampires and smirked again.
He said nothing in particular, but his intent was conveyed clearly.
You’re attacking one person with a group, and you think you’re in any position to say that?
At the mockery in his gaze, Beta One’s already red face burned like lava as he smashed apart an undead that had drifted nearby.
“Grrrr—! Beta Sin! What are you doing! Do something so he can’t run away!”
“I’m doing my best over here! Why don’t you try pinning him down even for a moment! He keeps moving while using our allies as shields!”
Their situation was so poor that even the Betas, having reached their limit, were raising their voices at each other.
The fact that the lower vampires, who were of no help in the battle, were assisting the Beoncheon Society in dealing with Hahoe Mask’s undead had also played a part, as they could not stop the sheer numbers, throwing the battlefield into chaos.
But more than that, the greatest problem was that their opponent’s abilities were far from ordinary.
The vampire they were facing was undoubtedly Level 7, yet even with those of the same level working together, it was difficult to bind his feet.
Speed that even they would lose track of if they did not stay tense, power that could clash with Beta One, who specialized in physical ability, and even throw him back, and on top of that, unpredictable stealth.
They had known from the moment he first infiltrated the villa that he had some talent for concealment, but the sight of him hiding his presence in the middle of a melee and launching surprise attacks was enough to make their livers go cold.
‘These undead are annoying too! And since some point, he’s even started using invisibility! Was that an ability he’d been hiding?’
At first, it had clearly been nothing more than a trick that momentarily avoided attention, but after he dealt with several of their subordinates, he began openly mixing in invisibility.
And most decisively, he was absurdly tough.
They had already landed several attacks, and with coordination with Beta Sin, they had inflicted a fatal wound on him, and yet...
As if time had been turned back, their opponent recovered as though nothing had happened and was rampaging even more fiercely, driving them mad.
On top of that, he saw through and avoided the traps Beta Sin had laid with magic, and used blood magic whenever an opening appeared.
He was the very embodiment of versatility.
‘And that bastard... the more he fights, the stronger he feels...’
Beta One did not know that it was not just his imagination.
***
Heinz lightly caught his breath.
On the outside, it looked as though he was toying with the vampires with ease, but fighting numerous enemies could not possibly be that simple.
After all, there were two Level 7s among them, and more than ten Level 6s as well.
‘Still, it’s more manageable than I expected. Maybe because there are living potions around?’
Since they could not escape because of the barrier, they were unable to withdraw their forces despite the growing sacrifices.
Of course, those who lacked ability had pulled back to provide support from the rear, but there was no way I would just leave that alone.
‘I’m confident I could win even if I fought the Betas, but right now, I need to move strategically. Reducing the number of enemies comes first.’
He used the confusion caused by the undead to hide and launch surprise attacks, and even when he overextended himself and took losses, he trusted in his recovery through kin-devouring and focused on reducing their numbers.
As a result... the Level 6s had fallen to less than half, and the small fry below them were almost on the verge of annihilation, except for those staying with the Beoncheon Society.
‘Thanks to that, I even got lucky and obtained 「Invisibility」. And the Paladin Combat Art is helping far more than I expected.’
Heinrich was still diligently training in the Order.
The bare-handed martial arts that were part of the techniques he had learned were now, in Heinz’s hands, proving properly effective against vampires.
Of course, it was not perfect.
Unlike Heinrich’s true 「Paladin Combat Art」, which had to be supplemented with holy power, it had not even become a skill and was nothing more than mimicking the outer form.
But it was also unmistakably a practical martial art.
What was more, it was a combat technique that had been developed and passed down through generations by the Order to face inhuman beings.
With that combined with Heinz’s overwhelming physical abilities, it was only natural that his use of strength became more efficient than before.
‘Though it’s ironic that Heinz, a vampire, is using the Order’s Paladin Combat Art.’
If the Order found out about this, would they not clutch the backs of their necks?
Thanks to Heinz gaining the upper hand while dealing with the vampires like that, Hans was able to study the Beoncheon Society’s spellcraft with far more ease.
[Oho... So this is how they link it together? The method of suppressing dark magic power is interesting too. Each process is different, yet they’ve woven them into one to create synergy.]
Even in the middle of the fierce exchange, Hans analyzed the situation and lightly flicked his wrist.
At his gesture, the black mist that began at the tip of his staff swelled in an instant and covered the masked figures.
A curse scattered across the entire battlefield in a single moment.
It was broken again by the spellcasters of the Beoncheon Society, but shadows surged up to exploit that momentary opening and pierced through their bodies.
But even while their allies were being struck down like that, those facing Hans could not devote their full attention to him alone.
[Kkihihihik...]
“Kraaak! You damn corpses!”
A black wave of undead wrapped in pitch-black aura.
Unless they were completely destroyed, they restored themselves in an instant and charged in, causing the damage to those blocking their path to snowball.
“Damn it! What a monster! Under this much suppression, with that level of consumption, his mana circuits should have collapsed long ago!”
There was no trace of composure left on the man in the suit’s face.
The vampire leadership that had promised cooperation was stupidly tied down by a single bastard, and the capabilities of Hahoe Mask, whom he had thought he had caught in a trap, were beyond imagination.
Even after being directly hit several times by an antithetical energy, he only wavered for a moment before quickly recovering as though nothing had happened.
“What is going on? In a situation where his output is being suppressed, he’s allowed this many attacks, and on top of that, he keeps forcing such reckless mana operation... How can he still be that fine? It would be normal for his mana to have gone into reverse flow ages ago.”
The Beoncheon Society’s dark magic suppression affected not only Hans but also the undead he had summoned.
Without the undead to serve as shields, Hans would not have any breathing room, so summoning them was absolutely necessary.
Yet he also could not allow his precious undead to be helplessly destroyed...
So he had granted the undead more dark magic power than usual, and this reckless mana operation in such a hostile environment should have been a tremendous burden on Hans as well.
If he had been an ordinary human.
The source of his dark magic power was the Immortal King’s fragment located in his heart.
Unlike human mages, he had neither a mana hole nor mana circuits.
He merely drew upon and used the dark magic power of the fragment.
And thanks to 「Immortality」, no matter what damage he suffered, he could quickly restore himself with the dark magic power supplied from his heart.
Immediately after being hit, his magic power temporarily ran low and he wavered for a moment, but it was not a serious blow to him.
‘If anything, keeping my equipment from being damaged was harder.’
After his heart, which was protected by powerful dark magic, the protection of his equipment to keep his identity from being exposed was prioritized.
Because of that, he became vulnerable to shocks transmitted inward, and his bones had been shattered several times.
But even if the arrangements of the Beoncheon Society had lowered the output he could release at once by about half, the dark magic power provided by the fragment was close to infinite.
The longer the battle dragged on, the more advantageous the situation was for him.
Kwaaang!
The antithetical energy that flew in again shook the dark magic barrier and sent an impact inside.
But he immediately reached his hand toward the direction from which the attack had come and repaid it with a ray of death.
[...I think I have a rough idea now. It is still a little lacking, but judging by the situation, it seems I can no longer receive any more help.]
Once he was certain he had gained some results, Hans stopped attacking and slowly swept his gaze around.
“Haa, haa...”
“Grrk, you monster bastard...”
As the battle continued, Hans had become tattered as well, but the Beoncheon Society’s situation was even more severe.
More than half of them had already fallen, and the rest were by no means in good condition.
Though Hans had taken research as his main objective, that did not mean he had gone easy on his enemies.
On the contrary, in order to observe his opponents’ reactions against the antithetical energy and the moves they would use to cope in extreme situations, he had pushed them even harder.
One could call it a violent experiment that gave no consideration to the subjects’ safety.
[Well, I can figure out the lacking parts myself. This may actually be faster.]
After that brief reprieve passed...
As the members of the Beoncheon Society fell, the suppression of Hans’s dark magic power loosened in proportion, and he scattered dark magic power even stronger than at the beginning.
[Kihihihek!]
Clatter, clack!
“Damn it! Hahoe Mask—!”
The Beoncheon Society, which had laid their trap with such confidence, was thus neutralized one by one and collapsed...
And the aftermath affected the battle of the vampires unfolding beside them as well.
***
Puk—
“Grrk... Y-you bastard...”
《A new vampiric factor has been collected. Under the influence of the special skill 「Hybrid Evolution」, you have gained enlightenment. The skill 「Blood Magic」 has evolved into the special skill 「Mysteries of Blood」.》
《The special skill 「Mysteries of Blood」 absorbs the subordinate abilities 「Blood Flower」 and 「Blood Flow Amplification」 and is further strengthened.》
‘Oh, this is nice.’
Heinz pulled his mouth away from the nape of Beta Sin’s neck as he gradually turned to ash and scattered, and confirmed his new ability.
Perhaps because devouring one specialized in magic had been worthwhile, the 「Blood Magic」 skill had evolved and become easier to use.
Unlike before, when it had been bound by set rules, he could now perform miracles using blood as a medium with more intuitive intent alone.
Naturally, the efficiency of producing the effects of 「Blood Flower」 and 「Blood Flow Amplification」 had increased compared to before as well.
“Grrrr—! You bastard! To devour your own kin! You were a blood-mad vampire! A blood-mad vampire! No wonder I thought something was strange—!”
While he had been briefly looking away, Beta One smashed apart the undead surrounding him and approached.
His body, gleaming red like lava, and the white steam spewing from every pore of his entire body seemed to show just how angry he was.
Judging that it would be difficult to hunt down the excessively tough one first while there was interference from the surroundings, Heinz had received Hans’s help, now that he had some leeway, and dealt with Beta Sin first.
After all, it had not been difficult to deal with Beta Sin, a typical mage type, while the undead that had received all sorts of enhancements stalled for a short while.
‘Of course, since he’s a vampire, he was different from an ordinary mage, but to me, that’s a meaningless difference.’
In order to deal with him as quickly as possible, Heinz had forced his way closer, and the storm of blood Beta Sin created had torn his entire body to shreds, but...
To Heinz, who had devoured most of the vampires in this place, it was nothing significant.
As long as the accumulated energy was not depleted, he would regenerate endlessly.
“How are you maintaining your sanity? No, have you just gone pleasantly mad? But now that you’ve touched a taboo, you won’t meet a good end either!”
It was truly the very model of hypocrisy.
It was not even worth answering, so he immediately used the newly acquired 「Mysteries of Blood」.
Splash!
Clink, clink—
The blood scattered into the air hardened into chains and surged toward Beta One, while some became thorns and shot from his blind spots.
“Grrk, as if these petty tricks could—!”
And Heinz, who had momentarily concealed himself, approached him in the blink of an eye and drove his nails into the nape of his neck.
Skreeeech!
“Grrk—?!”
The sudden surprise attack bounced off his tough skin, but the impact was conveyed sufficiently.
And without support from the surroundings, to Heinz, he was nothing more than a slightly sturdy sandbag.
Kakak! Skreeech! Kaaang—!
Blood-red chains whipping in from all directions tried to bind his limbs, and Heinz, moving at high speed, hammered his entire body with fingertips imbued with blood magic power.
Every time friction arose, crimson petals mingled in and burned his skin.
Spurt—!
Among them, the spot he had focused on in particular.
Under the continued attacks, the skin at the nape of Beta One’s neck, having reached its limit, tore open and droplets of blood scattered.
It meant that the sturdy durability of that body had finally reached its limit.
And it was the signal announcing Beta One’s end.
‘Maybe because Level 7s have strong control over their blood, absorbing blood from other parts is difficult. I have no choice but to make a hole with my teeth and suck it out.’
Because of that, he had needed to bite Beta Sin’s neck and drink his blood as well, but...
At this point, it did not matter at all.
After all, there would be no witnesses left anyway.
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