Chapter 48 - Amazing Survival Instinct

"If you were going to help, why did you do that!! There's a limit to being tsundere! When someone's life is at stake, at that point─ I'm sorry. I'll be quiet."

I immediately lowered my tail, scared by the glaring eyes. You heard after all. I was so surprised. I thought you had a strange misunderstanding.

Wait a minute.

You didn't misunderstand, so why are you glaring like that. It's scary. I wish you'd stop. Don't tell me it's because of that time I told you to buy bread then went home?

How petty. Forget about that.

"Move. My Seonghoon is waiting."

What's that now. I am not your Seonghoon. At the words 'our Seonghoon' Ishia turned to look at me again.

I don't know why I need to explain, but I shook my head like crazy since it's scary anyway.

Amazing survival instinct.

"Do you want to fly again? Will you move?"

"No. I won't do that now."

Ishia grinned. Then she raised her hand. According to Raphael, she couldn't endure even 3 minutes before flying away earlier, but what guts─

Boom─!!!

As if answering my question, a pillar of darkness appeared without any sign and pounced on Silvia.

Come to think of it, she used that darkness pillar earlier without any chanting too, could this one possibly?

Silvia who came out of the darkness pillar had an unbelievable expression, as if having the same thought as me. She couldn't close her mouth in surprise.

"You learned "Magic Chant Breaking" in that short time?"

Ishia just smiled. I was also surprised with my mouth gaping open. Ishia learning "Magic Chant Breaking" is, according to the original, at the end of 2nd year. That is, just before advancing to 3rd year.

That means about 1 year and 5 months from now. But how now? What happened before I came?

Though I can't know, what's certain is that it's beneficial.

Ishia's master is me now. It means this destruction tank shooting dark magic without any sign is my possession.

With this we can endure enough.

"Ishia."

"...What."

When I called she turned with a sulky face. Eyes narrowed and lips pouting, a typical 'I'm upset' face.

I really wonder why she's acting like this. While questioning this person different from usual, I put on the robe.

"I'll bring Raphael, so fight for a bit."

As the robe fully covered my body, my vision was sucked into darkness. I heard sounds like 'W-wait─' but ignored them.

Ishia now can fight Silvia.

Then Raphael will just be in the way if left alone so I move to put her in the robe. Of course I'm in the way too. Obviously.

[Straight ahead.]

I think I heard the cat sigh? It must be my imagination? I took off the mask on my face while advancing forward.

[Here meow.]

"Just stretch out my arm?"

Nod nod.

With Lachesis's nod I stretched out my arm, and along with a feeling of going outside I felt a soft sensation.

Bingo.

"Eek─?!!"

I pulled in Raphael who was making a strange scream and brought her into the robe.

"I-I don't taste good!! Don't do this?! There are people called Lee Seonghoon and Ishia outside?? They taste much better!! Much better!!!"

"..."

What's with this one? She's acting like this after coming into the robe once before. Plus she immediately sells us out to save herself.

Smack─!!

"Ow!!"

I immediately delivered a chop to her head then turned on my phone light. Raphael who was holding her head with teary eyes brightened for a moment seeing my face, then quickly turned grim.

"At least say something before pulling!! Do you want to die?!"

"It hurts. Wait. It really hurts!!"

"It's supposed to hurt!!"

I explained the situation while pushing away the head of the damn blonde who started headbutting me. But seeming to have no intention of listening, she kept headbutting me like a woodpecker until her anger subsided.

"Phew. Now I feel a bit better. So you're saying Ishia is fighting outside?"

"...Yes."

"You're going to bring her back now? We decided to run away?"

"We're not running away."

Ignoring words like then why are you bringing her, I started walking. Though Raphael didn't want to move, she had to since we're together inside the robe.

"But this robe is really big. Is it because a grim reaper wore it? Looks like 5 people could easily fit?"

"That's why I brought you. Keep the light on. I don't want to get hit by Ishia either."

"Wow. Are you upset? No way?"

I'm not upset. It just hurts a bit. That one even learned magic chant breaking so we could die if we're not careful.

[Here. Stretch out your arm when I signal meow. Your arm will fly off if you stretch it out carelessly meow.]

That's a bit scary. I prepared to stretch out my arm while swallowing dry saliva. I didn't even bother answering sounds like 'I hear prosthetic arms are pretty good these days?' from beside me.

[Now meow!]

Swoosh─

Along with a feeling of penetrating darkness, I stretched out my arm. I felt a different soft sensation from earlier.

Of course I heard the same "Eek!!"

But she's in terrible shape. Battered and wounded all over. It's fortunate she didn't faint.

"Are you okay?"

"Ow ow.. Huh? Where is this?"

"Inside the robe."

Sorry to Ishia with an expression of not understanding, but there was no time.

We need to keep Silvia trapped in this mist. Until 'that person' comes. So we can't run away either.

It means we need to get out of here before she undoes the mist and starts searching for us. Of course Ishia.

"You lost right? Couldn't even fight?"

"H-how did you know?!"

Of course. There's no way the fight with the vampire continued. Though current Ishia could certainly fight, she would have fought with eyes closed or looking only at feet because of the evil eyes.

There's no way she could win. I threw the mask I took off to Ishia.

"A mask that blocks evil eyes. Wear it and fight. Then you can win."

Ishia who received the mask from me looked back and forth between me and the mask then asked casually.

"Can I really win?"

What's with her. Why ask that after even learning "Magic Chant Breaking"? Of course you'll win.

The meaning of Ishia's "Magic Chant Breaking" is different from others' "Magic Chant Breaking".

It's because of her unique magic "Sea of Magic Power", which means she won't run out of magic power no matter how many intermediate or advanced magic she throws with "Magic Chant Breaking".

Who could block continuous advanced "Magic Chant Breaking" magic? It's not for nothing I called her a walking destruction tank.

Yet what's with that expression. Not even testing me.

"Of course you'll win. Crush her completely."

At my words Ishia hurriedly put on the mask. Then she says things like 'H-how do I get out?!' while flustering.

"Just go out."

I pushed her out with my foot since there was no time. Her ears visible through the mask seemed bright red, is it hot inside the robe?

"Raphael. Is it hot?"

"No? It's comfortable?"

Hmm. Maybe her blood circulation is bad.

"More importantly can't we watch? Let's eat the popcorn snacks I gave you to put in your inventory last time?"

Is this crazy. Eat such things while fighting with their remaining life at stake?

"I have cola too."

***

I forgot to say. Just endure for 10 minutes. Some time has passed so about 6 minutes now?

Anyway, if you endure that much someone who can catch Silvia will come.

Now it's Ishia's role to endure until then, so I have one job.

"She's fighting well~"

"That's right."

To watch the fight with just my face sticking out of the robe. How comfortable since I can just pull my face in if it's dangerous. This is what intuition is.

It would be really scary for others seeing just a floating head, but it's fine since they're focused on fighting anyway.

I can't hear what they're saying since I'm watching from a bit far, but it seemed like they were having an intense psychological battle. Especially Silvia looked a bit angry.

"When did Silvia even see me to act like that towards me? Do you know?"

"I don't know~ Maybe it's that? Idiots recognize idiots─ Why are you hitting me!"

"You're talking nonsense."

Ignoring the angel holding her head and whimpering, I was watching Ishia, but the power of her magic was a bit strange.

Usually "Magic Chant Breaking" halves the power since it skips the technique construction-magic chanting process. But Ishia's magic has power similar to normally chanted magic.

Even Silvia is gritting her teeth and fighting as if unable to believe the situation. She can't do anything as magic is poured out based on magic power gushing from the unique magic "Sea of Magic Power".

She can't do anything - no chanting, no approaching, no escaping - against the pouring intermediate magic. She can't summon her wolf authority, and even if she tries to use evil eyes the [Skull Mask] I gave blocks it.

It was a one-sided battle.

To the point the name true ancestor seems meaningless. Silvia seems to be waiting for Ishia's magic power to run out, but it would take at least a full day of deploying magic for magic power to bottom out.

She's pouring out 4-6 line intermediate magic, not even 10-line grand magic. It will absolutely never run out.

"It should be about time soon."

And though she can win, she can't kill. Silvia is a true ancestor. Normal vampires have life force to live even with heads cut off, so a true ancestor? No need to explain in words.

She returns to mist even if her head is crushed. It's close to impossible to crush in the first place. Even now Ishia is pouring out magic but all it does is seal movements.

Then who can catch such an existence?

The answer to that question is quite simple. What can catch a true ancestor existing in a higher dimension than humans. Only those standing at the pinnacle among humans.

Taking sword wielders as an example, sword saints called the extreme of swords, the end of swords.

Taking magicians as an example, grand magicians of which only 5 exist in the world.

I think you'll roughly know if I've said this much, but there are two such people currently at Justitia.

I failed to meet one, no I couldn't meet either of them. But I met the key to call her.

I estimated about 3 minutes for her to meet, 10 minutes including time to come.

"Why isn't she coming."

"What?"

"The deus ex machina to resolve this incident."

"I don't know when you use difficult words like that."

"There is such a thing."

As Raphael made a strange expression saying things like what is it─!!

Boom─!!

The mist resonates. Simultaneously, the two people's movements stop as they were shouting and fighting.

But that didn't stop the sound.

Boom─!!!

A louder resonance than earlier. And cracks start appearing in the mist.

"Wow. Does vampire mist normally break like this?"

"She's someone common sense doesn't apply to."

With another resonance and cracking sound, the other side of the mist shatters.

What's visible in the rushing light─

─Dad. I told you to hurry!! I said it was urgent!!

─Okay. We came quickly. Those kids will be fine.

─They better be!!

A middle-aged man wearing a fedora, and a brown-haired girl.

Well to explain simply, a daughter-obsessed father and that daughter.

This would be the owner of a guild gathering only monsters.

***

A building in Justitia.

Red lights dazzle eyes as alarms blare like crazy announcing an emergency.

But nothing comes out.

The reason is simple.

Because there's nothing left to come out. The place is an isolation room inside Justitia.

Usually it's a space for temporarily confining Mines or criminals caught in Justitia.

There's a man in such a place. He walks inside covered in blood.

He enters one place. A room with a nameplate [Park Shinwoo].

He naturally enters and sits in the chair in front.

"What's this? A rescue operation instead of cutting tails typical of 'Anti-Magic'? I thought I was completely abandoned and was going to suck up to the Association."

"The situation is bad."

At those words the man bound all over, Park Shinwoo, snickered.

"Bad enough to borrow vampire hands? I heard it all, join quickly because apostles appeared."

"We just had the same goal as the Night Clan. Thanks to that we came this far. We need your sleep magic. The headquarters is close to annihilation so we have no choice. Have to borrow even tiny hands."

"Tiny. Hmm. Won't I get slapped first when I return? For being interfered with by some strange kid."

Maybe─ The man snickered and undid Park Shinwoo's restraints. When he flicked his fingers the restraints were torn to shreds.

Park Shinwoo whose body was freed smiled showing his teeth. Then he gets up without hesitation and walks.

He has no choice. He was grinding his teeth from the start. Against the one who made him like this─

"Lee Seonghoon. It's my condition for returning. Let me kill that bastard."

"Later. That's for later."

"Of course~"

Park Shinwoo whistled as he followed the man out of the red corridor.