As I pressed him, a startled Gamma ran off as if his tail was on fire.
The explosives the Resistance brought are woefully inadequate. They would only be somewhat useful if we drill a hole dead center and bury them. Even applying engineering knowledge to the maximum, it falls far short of destroying this Tantalus, but if luck is on our side, perhaps it might just work out.
Kanisen asked.
"...Hughes. Didn't you say Tantalus won't collapse? Even if it could, if we bring it down, we'll be in danger."
"It can't be helped. The cards we have must be placed in the most dangerous position. If we refrain from using them out of fear of the risk, it defeats the purpose."
"That's certainly true, but..."
'Impressive. To be able to take such action even while knowing...'
This person is good in every way except his thinking is a bit inflexible. You're the nominal captain, so you should be making these calls. Sigh. Why are there only screw-loose people around me.
At that moment, someone who had been waiting for a chance to speak while keeping quiet suddenly shouted.
"We have no choice but to make the Progenitor open her eyes!"
...Phew. Here we go again.
"Shut up, Finlay!"
Alpha pulled the stakes driven into Finlay's limbs. Blood was about to drip from the open wounds... but Finlay freaked out and pulled it back into his body. The droplets of blood that couldn't be returned in time rolled away on their own toward somewhere.
Finlay shouted urgently.
"Pull carefully! Right now, all my blood is controlled by the Progenitor! If a hole opens and blood spills, the Progenitor will take away my very existence!"
I know. That's exactly why we drove stakes into your limbs.
Finlay stretched the chains to their maximum limit and spoke.
"It's impossible with your power. Didn't you see! The opponent is the King of Cats! The King of Dogs is barely shaking him off, but the King of Dogs cannot attack humans! He will fall before long! Without the King of Dogs, you are nothing more than inferior creatures akin to trash. If the Progenitor doesn't open her eyes, you'll die like trash!"
Hmm. Should I just twist them right in while the stakes are still driven in?
As I was seriously pondering that, Kanisen muttered lowly.
"A vampire's power? Unreliable. You couldn't even defeat us and were subdued, weren't you?"
"That's because the Progenitor in eternal slumber is absorbing all the blood in this space! If only I could have properly drawn the blood magic circle, you lot would have been nothing more than a one-meal snack!"
'Is that so? I've never fought a vampire, so.'
Kanisen looked at me as if to confirm, and I shook my head.
"It's not to that extent. Trash like Yirling can be cleaned up as easily as burning food waste as long as you know how to deal with them."
"You bastarrrrd! Cough, hack! Alright! Don't twist the stakes! Surely, compared to the perfect Progenitor Tirkanjaka, the great Elder, or the noble Ayn, Yirling is weak as a bug!"
"You know very well. If you don't speak straight, next time I'll twist it counter-clockwise."
"You bas... I got it! I said I got it!"
To be honest, Yirling is so weak that even I, without a card, could hunt them alone. Even so, it probably wouldn't work bare-handed, but if you roast them in fire or soak them in electrolytes to scatter their control over blood, Yirling is less than a bug. A vampire's immortality is an advantage, but having a clear weakness is also the biggest weakness there is.
Above all, I've also secured the right arm of the Immortal right now. Even if Finlay thrashes about, I can kill him immediately. Honestly, thinking about how much I've harassed Finlay, killing him would leave fewer consequences.
"But the Progenitor Tirkanjaka. The oldest darkness and the Queen of the Night. The root of all vampires! With her power! Not only that insolent human, but even the King of Beasts could be subdued!"
However, there is one reason I don't kill him.
Finlay's proposal to awaken the Progenitor was quite tempting.
Delta muttered anxiously.
"...Will the Progenitor really help us?"
"Hmph! Do you expect to live after insulting the nobility of the night! Argh! S-stop! I will specially tell her! To spare your lives at least!"
With Finlay's screams as his stake was turned counter-clockwise in the background, Kanisen clenched his fists. Once a knight's squire, and a devout, if not zealous, believer of the Heavenly God, he had an instinctive aversion toward vampires.
However, his faith wasn't foolish enough to betray even his own life, and he knew that was the only way to survive.
"N-no way! How could you even think of awakening the Progenitor? Will those disgusting vampires who only covet others' blood help us? They'll try to suck all our blood!"
...Unlike some moron who tightly grips a cross every time she passes in front of the Progenitor. Why does she act like that.
"In the first place, even if we die, the Progenitor must not be awakened! For the peace and tranquility of this world, the Progenitor must remain sealed forever beneath this Abyss...!"
"Cindy, calm down for a moment."
Delta quieted Beta down, but the damage was already done. Look at the sparks flying in Finlay's eyes. Even if it were someone else, Beta, you are definitely dead.
"Now, now. There's no point in worrying about it anymore. Let me summarize simply."
...Well, it can't be helped. I can't protect the life of someone who values their faith more than their own life.
I clapped my hands loudly and organized the situation.
"Kanisen, go with Alpha and help Aji. If Aji and Nabi fight one-on-one, Aji wins. You two take on Ebon and his lackeys."
"...I don't want to say this, but my skills don't match Ebon's. Alpha is also no match for the Colonel."
As Kanisen showed reluctance, Alpha spoke up, flaring up.
"Captain! What do you mean! We have combat-type packets and military armaments!"
"Including that. Knight Tracker Ebon; even when he was a soldier, he was a strong man who relentlessly pursued and killed three regular knights. I have also continued to train during that time, but... I simply cannot reach his level."
Still, Kanisen, who knows his place, is the most reliable. I encouraged Kanisen and gave him advice.
"Just buy time. If necessary, take the explosives hostage and hold out as best you can. Thanks to Aji, our overall combat power is superior. If you read the battlefield well, you can definitely buy enough time."
That's what I said, but my thoughts were the exact opposite.
Buying time requires quick adaptation to changing situations. Unfortunately, Kanisen lacks such ability. He probably won't be able to buy much time either.
...Still, it can't be helped.
This is because someone who has only learned up to Qian Qigong and Kun Qigong can be brought down with poison, surprise attacks, or tactics. If it were just the Colonel, I could somehow manage to kill him.
However, Kan Qigong. If one reaches the realm of reinforcing their own body with Qigong... poison, surprise attacks, and tactics are all meaningless. When the bones and flesh itself become hard, what can you pry open and pierce through with? Strangle them? Even if you only learn a little Kan Qigong, you can force your own throat open.
Kanisen didn't reach Kan Qigong. He learned Fantan Qigong, but that is a means of self-protection for those who failed to grasp Kan Qigong. In terms of pure physical ability, Ebon is superior.
Rather, precisely because of that, Ebon must be taken by Kanisen.
Because there's nowhere else to use Kanisen.
"Understood. Leave it to me."
Kanisen nodded firmly, prepared for death. I also nodded back.
Once, driven by petty vanity, I drove these people to their deaths. Deceiving not only the Resistance members but even myself, I sought to gain honor even in death. And through the meaningless method of terrorizing a Tantalus whose prisoners had already disappeared, no less.
I briefly considered just killing him, but fortunately, he realized it himself. Thanks to that, he found a trivial but genuine honor: fighting for the lives of his few remaining subordinates.
...Not that it matters once he's dead.
I turned my head away from Kanisen, who was gathering his military armament, and spoke.
"The rest of us will go to the Progenitor as planned. We go and awaken the Progenitor. Until now, the Progenitor hasn't responded to any of Finlay's calls, but we have a method we haven't tried yet."
Delta, who was about to nod, paused.
"W-wait. Cindy, no, Beta is going too?"
"If you want to leave her here alone, go ahead."
"Ah, no... right. We're dead anyway if the Progenitor doesn't help, so as long as we're careful, it should be fine."
Delta answered reluctantly and coaxed Beta, who was showing extreme reluctance. Without any particular suspicion, they followed my instructions and departed for their respective destinations. Unable to grasp my true intentions.
However, just one person.
'Hughes, he's the most annoying human here... but he's the most outstanding among the humans here. I can't deny it.'
Only Finlay, whose body was pierced by stakes... saw through my true intentions. A blood-red smile forms on his pale face.
'That's right. I must use that wench as a sacrifice. A judgment upon that insolent bitch who dares to call upon the Heavenly God before the Progenitor!'
The battle took place indoors, a terrain Kanisen was familiar with. Still, Kanisen knew how to use the terrain to his advantage and could take relatively tactical movements. While a complex battle raged indoors, Finlay and I, along with Beta and Delta, headed to the underground armory where the Progenitor resided.
In front of the grim and massive iron doors of the underground armory. It was originally a place that should have been tightly packed with weapons painstakingly created by the Military Nation, but Tantalus is different. Inside there sleeps an existence far more terrifying and mighty than even the most dreadful weapon.
The Progenitor Tirkanjaka.
The Progenitor of all vampires. The Queen of Shadows.
An eccentric and a monster who half-voluntarily entered the Abyss because it was quiet and sunlight rarely reached it.
The loneliness, darkness, and hunger that kill humans. All the reasons humans fear the Abyss do not apply to her. Because she, too, is a fear comparable to the Abyss.
It seems fears really do resemble each other after all.
Beta, with the primordial darkness right before her eyes, spoke with a trembling voice.
"This is the cursed vampi... mmph."
Delta hastily covered Beta's mouth. He seems to know what kind of person his girlfriend is capable of being. Delta held Beta's hand and pleaded earnestly.
"Cindy. I'm begging you. Please watch your words. You must not say a single word in front of the Progenitor."
"Yeah, I got it. If Elsie asks."
'...Yeah. I'm not betraying my faith. I'm just following the request of my beloved Elsie, that's all.'
I clicked my tongue as I read Beta's thoughts.
There are people who need a justification to begin doing something. It's not just Beta's story. The Resistance members before they compromised and survived were similar to Beta.
They acted merely because they were dissatisfied with reality, but they packaged it as if it were for a greater cause. Then they gradually became entrenched, reaching a point where they couldn't do anything without orders. As a result, they followed Kanisen into the Abyss below, not even of their own will.
How did it come to this? Well, there are various reasons, but if I had to pinpoint it, it would be because the unseen became gods.
That's why I became the one to uncover gods.
I intended to hold out until Jiseon arrived, but sighing at the fact that the only ones I could rely on were the Resistance dregs. So I let out a sigh and spoke.
"If we write letters with blood, she might react. Ideally, blood similar to the Progenitor's would be good. She'll probably prefer women's blood over men's..."
"Y-you're going to give my blood?! To a vampire?!"
"...I'm going to write with my blood first, and if that doesn't work, I'll borrow Beta's blood."
Is it because she doesn't want to hurt her own body? Or is it because providing blood to a vampire is a religious taboo? There's no need to distinguish. Because those two reasons ultimately converge on a single result.
The conclusion that she will not give her own blood.
I bit my finger. Blood oozes from the slightly torn skin. The blood that should naturally spread on the ground instead beads up like a pearl, rolls away, and seeps into the crack of the door. As if to say that once outside the body, it's no longer yours.
As I watched this surreal scene, Finlay spoke to me.
"Using blood as ink to write letters? Quite a novel idea. But the Progenitor reclaims all blood outside your body. How do you intend to write with fleeing ink?"
"Originally, ink is made by charring something over a fire."
Replying briefly, I used ritual magic with the finger dripping blood.
"Set, Ri. Fahrenheit."
Whoosh. A feeble flame rose up, seemingly reflecting my magical power. The blood slowly blackens and chars in the flame, which has a high temperature but low caloric value.
"If you coat it in blood and burn it with fire, it will scorch and stick. This way, the letters can preserve their shape."
"Oho... I see."
"I'll write diligently until I induce anemia. Wow, a blood letter written by tearing one's own finger and charring it in fire. Even the Emperor of the Empire probably hasn't received a letter with this much devotion. How grand."
"Our Progenitor is far greater than some human emperor, so it's not that grand."