Chapter 113

“Aaargh! Aaaaargh!”

The mage screamed. He clutched his throat with both hands. But no matter how hard he pressed, he couldn’t stop the blood that escaped between his fingers.

The blood didn’t flow downward. It hung suspended in the air, slowly compressing itself into the shape of an apple.

“Hick! Hiiiii… guh… h-h-vampire…!”

Having lost all his blood, the mage turned deathly pale. He died watching the apple of his own blood float gently toward the beautiful woman before him.

“Vampire? My name is…! Hmm… hmm… anyway! I am the Vampire Lord.”

Drip.

The beautiful woman with black hair and red eyes looked down contemptuously at the dead mage as she took a bite of the blood apple.

“How long have I been asleep? My body feels completely drained of strength.”

She floated the blood apple above her hand, spinning it around as she fell into thought.

“Where am I? And my name was… what was it again?”

Suddenly her bright red eyes elongated vertically.

She jerked her head up and stared at a specific point in the distant battlefield.

A white-haired boy was holding a sword that crackled with brilliant white lightning.

Grrrrrr…

“Huh…? Why is my throat making this sound…?”

The vampire woman was startled by her own voice, but her vertically slit pupils remained fixed on the white-haired boy.

Grrrrrr…

“I don’t really understand, but…”

Her hair stood on end like serpents. Black veins appeared prominently against the brilliant white of her eyes.

“Should I… stab? Is that what I should do?”

Her voice became rough and deep like that of a beast.

“Yes… stab… him!”

Swoosh!

She dashed across the battlefield.

“Kuhk!”

“Aaaargh!”

The heads of the unfortunate mages who happened to be in her path rolled on the ground.

At that exact moment, Rain made a swift decision.

“We’ve achieved our objective! Retreat immediately! Overclock!”

Without any hesitation, he mounted his Stealth Bike. Pushed beyond its limits, the bike emitted bluish electricity as it prepared to accelerate.

“Kuhk! Where do you think you’re going!”

Crackle!

Baek Jun-woo slashed at the Sealing Formation with his Twin Fang Blade, tearing it apart. But he was too late. Not just Rain, but all the knights who had infiltrated the area were mounting their bikes and retreating. The Stealth Bikes spewing bluish electricity were moving away from the battlefield at a speed much faster than when they had charged in.

“Think you can escape?!”

Wind whirled around Baek Jun-woo’s body. He decided to pursue them to the end, even if it took some time.

But Rain’s words stopped Baek Jun-woo.

“You have more pressing concerns right now!”

“What?”

Baek Jun-woo, who had been wide-eyed, finally seemed to sense something and turned around.

Behind him, a crimson mist was surging forward like a tidal wave.

-D…damn it! The magical power is suddenly exploding! It’s not just a vampire! Estimated grade A+! It’s a M-Magician-class calamity! Run!

Refinement’s voice pierced Baek Jun-woo’s ears.

“Th-this is bad…!”

Baek Jun-woo swung his Twin Fang Blade at the crimson mist rushing toward him. The crimson shadow devoured the white lightning.

Rumble!

The ground turned over, raising a thick cloud of dust.

The endless crimson energy and ominous aura resembled a wounded giant bleeding and howling.

Watching this scene, one of the knights said to Rain,

“Senior Knight, wouldn’t it be better to eliminate that white-haired boy in the midst of this chaos?”

But Rain shook his head.

“If we had delayed even a little longer, we’d have been caught up in that too.”

“Ah…”

Only then could the knight see.

The countless calamities being formed by the gathering crimson mist.

Terrifying B to A-grade calamities. They were vampires.

“H-haha… That spell earlier that brought down the sun. I thought it was a terrible spell… and indeed, it attracted tremendous calamities. Serves them right. Sinners. Go to hell.”

The knight mocked the mages, thinking that Rain’s judgment had been wise.

But he couldn’t see Rain’s slightly trembling hands.

‘That white lightning… if we hadn’t retreated, I would have died in one exchange. It would have been a miserable death.’

Rain bit his lip hard.

‘Divine Mage…!’

***

It was like a crimson night.

When the crimson mist engulfed me, the world became damp, dark, and red.

It was different from drowning. A drowning person struggles to escape… but there’s no escaping the night. It was a terror that made me want to close my eyes, curl up, and wish I would simply disappear.

I’m going to die. I’m going to die…! Every cell in my body frantically warned me. Fear instinctively engraved in the human species for thousands… no, tens or hundreds of thousands of years shook me to the core.

It was… quite annoying.

“A Magician-class calamity…”

I muttered, detecting the magical power approaching me mixed with the crimson night.

“Is that you?”

I swung my Twin Fang Blade toward its center. White lightning pouring along the blade turned the crimson night briefly, blindingly white.

Rumble!

With a belated explosion, the ground was torn apart and flipped over. Though I was knocked off my feet by the force, I inwardly rejoiced.

‘It worked…!’

God-Slaying Lightning. Although the power I was using now was pathetically weak compared to when I had wielded it with the help of the magical power singularity before, its essence as a weapon that could kill gods remained unchanged.

The dark red magical power that had been densely gathered and ominously approaching scattered with screams. The crimson mist covering everything was pushed back from around me.

Drip, drip…

A fine rain began to fall from the sky, drop by drop.

In the middle of it all, she stood. A woman with black hair and ruby-red eyes.

She held her forehead and staggered.

‘…A human?’

No. That’s impossible. She was surrounded by red and black magical power. All of it was pouring out terrible curses. All of it was identical to Night Calamities.

But…

‘Her mana pattern looks exactly like… a human.’

It was different from the bizarre mana patterns of Night Calamities I had seen before.

The ginseng-shaped mana with several offshoots. That was clearly the pattern symbolizing a human.

Of course, there were many differences. For instance, the large hexagram surrounding the ginseng-shaped pattern, or the unique patterns I had never seen before filling all the empty spaces.

But… that was within an acceptable range. Even I had undergone significant changes in my mana pattern when I became a mage. My pattern now had a large circle completely encompassing the ginseng shape. Hers just happened to be a hexagram instead.

And above all…

“Kuhk… What’s happening… Why am I…? Why… why so much anger…?”

She spoke.

I had heard that some A-grade or higher Night Calamities could speak.

But… this was too strange.

Her words weren’t something like, “Hehehe. You’re quite skilled to block my attack,” or “Die, human!” Instead, she said, “What’s happening… Why so much anger?” And she was trembling, too.

That’s not the kind of attitude a calamity would show at all.

“What… are you?”

I found myself asking before I realized it.

Startled by my voice, she suddenly looked at me.

But the moment she saw me, her trembling stopped completely. She stared at me motionlessly, like a snake.

Slowly, her ruby eyes elongated vertically, and her lustrous black hair rose into the air. Black and red magical power flowed from her body like heat haze and enveloped her again.

Grrrrrr!

A beast-like howl came from her throat.

“You… why do I… have to…”

Her confused voice grew increasingly thick and rough until…

“Kill… you… grrrr…! Servant… of the upper layer…!”

She charged at me without warning.

Upper layer?

Could she possibly be a being with ancient memories?

But I had no time to think further.

“Kuhk…! Ari!”

Whoosh!

My body shot up into the sky as if pulled by someone.

Crash!

Blood spears formed from the crimson mist surrounding me and pierced through where I had been standing.

Grrrrrr!

The woman, now clearly transformed into a monster, stared directly at me. Endless blood spears continued to form, all aimed at me.

Ping! Whoosh!

‘What should I do? I don’t have any useful spells…’

I was somehow managing to dodge the shower of spears, but I couldn’t see an opportunity to counterattack. God-Slaying Lightning was still flowing along my Twin Fang Blade, but I only had enough energy left to swing it once more. Could I target that monster with just one attack, getting past all these blood spears?

To make matters worse, the ground below was in complete chaos when viewed from the sky. Night Calamity-Vampires were being born one after another from the crimson mist. The barrier, which had barely stabilized after the knights withdrew, was now shaking even more violently than before.

‘Summoning vampires… that woman. She’s not just a vampire but a Vampire Lord?’

How should I resolve this crisis?

I could somehow escape thanks to Ari, but…

Thud!

Huh?

I can’t move my body?

She was extending her hand toward me. Damn… some kind of telekinesis?

Crash!

I was slammed down from the sky to the ground. I quickly tried to get up, but there was a piercing ringing in my ears, and the ground seemed to sway in all directions. My sense of balance was shattered.

Clang!

Her ferociously extended claws aimed for my throat. Fortunately, my protection necklace had regained its function and deflected those claws. Her red eyes flashed.

Rip!

Suddenly, the skin on my nape split open on its own. I recognized that the force tearing my throat was similar to the Gift [Fatal Wound] that Kasha Boronin had used before. Magic that could tear through space and rip apart anything. But…

To tear my skin, which was harder than steel, with just a glance?

‘What in the world is…!’

To realize such magic with just a glance… this was cheating on another level. Was this truly the power of a Magician-class calamity?

Slurp!

Blood involuntarily surged from my cut throat. Anemia was setting in. Could I really die like this?

[#%$O@D!!]

Just then, an angry mental wave was heard, and,

Slurp!

Something pulled back the blood that was flowing out.

Huh?

Confused by this incomprehensible phenomenon, she tilted her head, and,

-Well done! Barbaric but well done!

-Impressive! Though a primitive mental entity, you’re quite impressive!

Ari cheered.

[##@$%!!]

It was Iron Blood.

The magical iron that consumed blood, Iron Blood, erupted in rage at the vampire who dared to steal its blood.

Well done, Iron Blood!

Wooosh-

Ari assisted my movements.

“Alright, let’s see what you’ve got! Vampire!!”

Crackle!

God-Slaying Lightning surged through my Twin Fang Blade. I had no other options now. With her telekinesis penetrating even Ari’s protection… if I couldn’t inflict a Fatal Wound on her now, even escape would be impossible.

I’m betting everything on this strike!

Grrrr!

But the vampire’s reaction was swift. She leaped backward, and blood weapons formed and floated in the air before her, blocking my path. From her glancing eyes, it was clear she was wary of the God-Slaying Lightning.

Hmph! Think you can avoid it just by being cautious? Go! Iron Blood!

Slurp!

The blood weapons blocking my path were suddenly sucked away and disappeared. It was an idea I had after seeing Iron Blood protect my body’s blood. Could Iron Blood be effective against vampires? Could it absorb these weapons made of blood?

That spontaneous thought proved correct.

I gripped the Twin Fang Blade with all my might. White lightning stung up to my wrist.

“Your arrogance ends here!!”

Light burst from my hands. A white flash that burned away the thick crimson mist surrounding us. Within that flash, the trajectory drawn by my Twin Fang Blade extended gracefully like the tip of a brush cutting through chaos.

Rumble!

The thunder rolled belatedly once again.

“Kyaaaa-!”

A piercing scream accompanied it.

Shhhhh-

The light drizzle suddenly turned into a downpour.

“Haa. Haa…”

My breath rose to the tip of my chin.

Before me sat a woman clutching her chest. The ominous magical power that had enveloped her was scattered, and her hair, which had stood on end, now hung limply again. Her trembling ruby eyes were once again beautiful like jewels.

‘She’s not dead?’

While I was somehow relieved that she had returned to her normal appearance, it was also disheartening. That strike was meant to finish her completely… I never imagined she would still have all her limbs intact. That attack should have been equivalent to the power of drawing Saíl to about 18cm. I thought at the very least, an arm would have been torn off…

As expected, an A+-grade calamity is terrifying.

If there was any consolation, it was that she no longer appeared as murderous as before.

Twitch.

“Ugh… damn it…”

Her hair twitched again.

I could see her eyes slowly elongating vertically once more.

“Kyaaaa!”

“Graaaah!”

The vampires she had summoned also began to go berserk.

Dozens of vampires charged at me all at once. Seeing this, I finally made my decision.

Let’s escape.

I decided. The situation was now beyond what I could handle alone. I needed to get out of this crimson mist first and talk to Refinement. His message magic hadn’t reached me since I entered the crimson mist.

But…

Thud!

My feet, which were about to kick off the wind, suddenly stuck to the ground.

Grrrrrr…

I could see the vampire woman, one eye completely bloodshot, reaching her hand toward me.

“Ah… damn it.”

Crackle!

I summoned God-Slaying Lightning again.

My overworked Circle creaked, giving me a dull pain, but I endured it. I considered using Saíl, but if that attracted even larger calamities, the situation would only worsen.

“Ari, I’m going to take down that woman first… but I think I’ll collapse afterward? If that happens, please take care of me and my companions.”

Just as I made this grave request,

Flash!

The world suddenly brightened.

Whoosh,

Heat surged from behind me.

Scorching light devoured the crimson mist, blazing intensely. It looked just like…

“The sun?”

Three massive lights merged together and rose up. A majestic cry resonated,

“Bird. Ruby. Wolf! Consume the impure! Shine the light of purification! Sunrise!”

With Pan-Dalus’s cry, the three suns rose low and approached above our heads. The entire world turned white-hot.

“Kyaaaa!”

Although it was hot, it wasn’t fatally so… yet the vampires and all sorts of calamities writhed and turned to ashes.

Finally… Pan-Dalus had tamed the sun.