Rungken's charge was not merely destructive; it was apocalyptic. With a single step, heaven and earth overturned and the clouds trembled. Sprinting in a straight line, Rungken clashed head-on against hundreds of armed troops.
The Ure Guardians, as weak humans do, grouped together to face him.
They formed a defensive formation and connected themselves using alchemy. The moment magical power flashed, thirty humans instantly became the bricks of a single massive wall. Between them, spears crackling with electrical currents jutted out. A defensive formation passed down from ancient times was fused with alchemy and brought forth into the world.
"It has to be at least this much-!"
Rungken let out a wild laugh and rammed everything he had into it.
Spears snap. Bodies shatter. Steel breaks.
The boar beastman's charge was several times more powerful than a real boar's. Spearheads snapped, and the Guardians' grips, unable to withstand the force, were torn apart. The defensive formation of thirty men reinforced by alchemy was gradually pushed back.
Of course, Rungken wasn't unscathed either. Spearheads pierced his body, and blood flowed from a blow to his forehead. Smeared with blood like a hunted beast, he looked ghastly.
Even so, he was smiling. As if even the pain was a joy.
One of the Ure Guardians muttered.
"M-Monster...!"
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Rungken bared his teeth and laughed as if pleased by those words. He aimed at the Ure Guardian who called him a monster and tilted his head far back.
And with all his might, he unleashed a headbutt.
The boar beastman's headbutt became a massive shockwave, creating a crack in the defensive formation. Once formed, the crack spread uncontrollably. As Rungken charged into the gap and shook his body wildly, the formation shattered and humans flew in all directions. If they only had a single bone broken somewhere, they were the lucky ones. The unfortunate Guardians in front of Rungken all died instantly.
Rungken, bathed in blood, roared.
"That's right-! I am a monster-! You are not enough to kill me! More! Is there nothing else--!!"
Turning his head this way and that, Rungken finally discovered a giant shadow approaching him.
It was a vehicle created by modifying the Juggernauts of the deceased Sect Masters. Its size and presence were not something a single individual could rival, but Rungken, in his excitement, clawed at the ground.
"Let's fight-!"
Rungken charged at the ironclad vehicle without a second thought. The pilot of the ironclad vehicle panicked. It was a mad act like throwing an egg at a rock, but if it was the enemy's mad act, there was no need to stop them. The Guardian, while flustered, drove the ironclad vehicle even harder.
Boom. The Elder and the Juggernaut collided. Blood splattered and steel crumpled. The one pushed back in the first encounter was, naturally, Rungken. Even an Elder couldn't withstand the power of a Juggernaut. Blood burst from his muscles, and Rungken's legs bent at a grotesque angle, digging deep into the ground.
"Kuh, ugh, aaah-!"
Common sense dictated that he couldn't endure it. However, sometimes common sense exists to be broken.
Rungken shouted and exerted his strength. As he endured, even crushing his own body... the Juggernaut's speed gradually slowed. As blood flowed and Rungken's body soaked in red, his strength grew stronger.
At some point, the Juggernaut came to a complete halt. Its lifted wheels spun in vain. The Guardians piloting the ironclad vehicle were horrified by Rungken's immense strength.
"Blood-soaked...! Is this his level...!"
Even though a Juggernaut without a Sect Master couldn't even output half of its original performance, it still utilized the power of Ure. It was never a tool meant to be used against humans in the first place. It was heavy equipment suited for cutting down trees or excavating the earth.
However, an Elder was less of a human and more of a phenomenon. Just as a single human couldn't face a Juggernaut, a human couldn't face an Elder. Truly a superhuman who transcended humanity... no, a different lifeform altogether. A Ure Guardian muttered in despair.
"...If there are three of such beings. Just what..."
The Blood Weaver Kavila slit the back of her doll. Inside the small doll, bone needles were packed tightly. Kavila divided the needles between both hands and shouted.
"Did you think Cloud Village has been safe all this time because you were so great?! Hehe. Stupidity is only cute in moderation! This is why you can't use livestock once they get too arrogant!"
The Blood Weaver, Kavila, makes dolls. The materials she handles are bone, blood, and flesh. She shapes them and fills them with blood and darkness to create her dolls.
The most powerful ability of the Progenitor Tirkanjaka was creating subordinates. In that sense, Kavila was the vampire who most resembled the Progenitor. When it came to the power to create and control subordinates, no vampire could match Kavila.
"The reason we ignored the various nations was because their blood tasted disgustingly bad! You are Grade 4! Food scraps that wouldn't be enough even if we discarded them right now! You know we are beyond the fog, and yet you call for angels?!?!"
Kavila shrieked and threw the bone needles. Rungken had created death; the bone needles fell onto it and melted into it. The scattered blood gathered using the bones as a medium and took shape. Skulls harboring ghostly energy rose gruesomely from the dark red blood.
Those bones all belonged to those who were once her vassals. Even in death, they become her subordinates and fight.
"Dragonfang Soldiers! Kill all the obstacles blocking the way between me and my sister!"
Ten Dragonfang Soldiers moved in unison.
Only ten. It was a shabby number to be commanded by an Elder, the terror of the world. Furthermore, subordinates unable to wield Qi were inevitably weaker than their main bodies.
"Do not fear!"
One Guardian bravely leapt into the embrace of a Dragonfang Soldier. Dodging the bone saw struck down by the Dragonfang Soldier by a paper-thin margin, he grabbed its ribcage.
Alchemy did not always develop solely in the direction of creating harder substances. The Ure Guardians also learned combat-oriented alchemy and researched how to weaken their enemies. To such individuals, subordinates were good prey.
The Dragonfang Soldier's ribcage shattered in an instant. Good structures are generally similar, but bad structures each have their own reasons for being so. The Ure Guardian, who easily wrecked the Dragonfang Soldier, shouted proudly.
"Those who cannot distinguish between the outside and the inside are nothing more than materials for alchemy. Everyone, close in and crush them!"
The Ure Guardians charged at the Dragonfang Soldiers. They dodged the bone saws and clung to the Dragonfang Soldiers. There were Ure Guardians who were attacked as well, but thanks to their comrades actively helping, they were able to survive.
Just as the Dragonfang Soldiers were being overwhelmed and collapsing, Kavila, who had been watching quietly, reached out her hand as if conducting an orchestra.
"Stupidity makes good fertilizer. Come, Dragonfang Soldiers. It's time to harvest."
And a dark and dreadful black magic seized everyone.
The injured Ure Guardians who had retreated pressed down hard on their arms to stop the bleeding. Blood was flowing, but the extent of their injuries was minor, and they were expected to return to combat as soon as they were treated.
Yet... the injured Guardians felt a chill down their spines and shuddered. As they searched for the source of the cold, they discovered that their blood was still flowing.
"Bl-Blood..."
"It won't stop..."
Blood flowed. Blood, which is food and the source of power for vampires, slipped out of the humans. Merely by spilling a little outside the body, its owner changed.
If one cannot control their body even after mastering Dark Qi, they are merely prey. However, those equivalent to the generals of a military nation couldn't be that common.
The victims, who had only suffered a scratch, absurdly collapsed one after another, and their blood flowed into the Dragonfang Soldiers. The broken and ruined Dragonfang Soldiers absorbed the blood and resurrected, increasing their numbers among themselves.
Kavila moistened her throat with blood and shouted.
"The virtuous cycle of blood! This is the new generation's farm!"
The Ure Sect Master did not move. No, she could not move.
She knew the tide of battle was unfavorable. That was why she had already made a move. If the defensive function of the Ure Pound activated, they might be able to gain the upper hand against that Elder.
Even so, they probably couldn't kill it. Just as capturing is several times more difficult than killing, capturing an undying being is nearly impossible.
On top of that... a being far more dangerous than all other Elders was right in front of her. The Crimson Blood Duke Vladmir looked at the Ure Sect Master blocking his way and tilted his head.
"Weren't you trying to deliver a message to me?"
[...Why do you think so?]
"If not, there's no reason you'd be standing face-to-face with me while your subordinates are dying, is there?"
Naturally, it was to buy time, but the Crimson Blood Duke seemed to think otherwise. The Ure Sect Master said.
["Why would I have anything to say to a mere vampire? I am standing here because only I can face you."]
"How interesting."
The Ure Sect Master flinched at even the Crimson Blood Duke's slightest movement, but the Duke didn't pay it any mind and merely leisurely stroked his greatsword.
"Even if the Celestial God openly demands sacrifice, they wouldn't deceive you with lies. How did you make such a flawed judgment?"
[Flawed? It's an appropriate judgment. Because I am the only one who can stop you here.]
"Oh."
The Ure Sect Master prepared to respond at any moment and thought.
The dangerous thing about the Crimson Blood Duke was his brilliance. He utilized his innate strength, accumulated experience, and outstanding political sense at the right times and places. A beast with intellect is more terrifying than anything else.
Keeping him here so he couldn't join the other Elders was her role. The Ure Sect Master had judged it so....
"Now."
The Crimson Blood Duke raised his greatsword. Red Aura flowed from his body into the greatsword. Facing him as he prepared a strike, the Ure Sect Master also drew out lightning and scattered it in response.
Her lightning drew upon the power of the city. Now, when he was using his Aura for an attack, was the perfect opportunity.
Divine punishment rained down on the Crimson Blood Duke. Lightning recklessly tore through his body. His body convulsed. Amidst a vision dyed pure white, the Crimson Blood Duke slowly swung down his greatsword with a trembling arm.
"Blood Gate Master."
The waterfall of clouds split in half.
To a Qi practitioner, distance has always been the greatest obstacle. Even if one could coat their weapon in Qi, if the opponent was far away, they could do nothing but watch helplessly while holding their weapon.
The Crimson Blood Duke overcame that limit in an eccentric, unheard-of way.
The Blood Qi scattered by force transcended space. The red Blood Qi was blood. A part of the Crimson Blood Duke's body. What was thought to be Sword Qi was, in fact, himself condensing on the blade of the greatsword.
A technique possible only because he was a vampire. The humans caught in its trajectory were blown away like trash.
If it catches an arm, the arm is severed. If it touches a leg, the leg is slashed. The sharply refined blood cuts and wounds the human body, harvests the blood flowing from those wounds, and builds even more momentum to strike like a storm. Within the cloud waterfall, a new blood cloud arises.
Over a hundred body parts were swept away by the red wave.
-And the Ure Sect Master clearly watched the sight of the slash that narrowly missed her slaughtering the humans. She hadn't dodged it. The Crimson Blood Duke had intentionally kept her out of its trajectory. As if to mock her.
[You vicious-!]
"Do you understand now? You cannot stop me. Even if I were to stand still."
He was definitely mocking her.
Enduring the Ure Sect Master's attack with his body without resistance, and killing the Ure Guardians right where he stood—it was all purely to prove a point.
Their very way of thinking was different. Beyond tension or fear, the Ure Sect Master felt a profound sense of distance, as if they were staring at each other from across an unbridgeable gap.
"Let us return to the previous topic. If you have nothing to say, I will go attend to my business."
There was nothing.
Having no fear of death, they had no qualms about killing. Even after killing dozens of people right where he stood, he was as nonchalant as if he had simply done a chore. To some, it was a piercing tragedy, but to them, it was merely a routine task.
Even if eons passed, they would never understand each other. The only means of dialogue was blood and fists.
[You damn vampire--!]
The enraged Ure Sect Master charged. Dragging the ground with wings of lightning, she moved like a lightning bolt. In the blink of an eye, the Ure Sect Master rushed near the Crimson Blood Duke and swung a fistful of lightning.
[I'll kill you--!]
Her words were cut off midway. Snatch. Because the Crimson Blood Duke's arm precisely snatched the neck of the flying Ure Sect Master.