Chapter 64
Lunar Eclipse.
It was an incident handled quite extensively in the original.
If I had to rank its importance, it would be one of the top ten original story events.
Starting from this point, the peace treaty that had endured between humans and vampires would be broken.
Conflict between the two races would intensify, and signs of war would gradually spread across the continent.
‘Because this is where the game's atmosphere starts getting truly dark.’
Ngeume.
(Ngeume.)
On the surface, it presents itself as a beautiful-girl otaku game, but in substance, it was no different from a dark fantasy game.
There wasn't even anything resembling a romance system.
There were only boys and girls fiercely struggling for the survival of the world.
Vampires, cultists, Purgatory, evil gods, and so on··· all manner of calamities stood in the player's way.
As the story progressed, the continent turned into a sea of fire, and the characters died off one after another with alarming ease.
‘That was part of its charm, too···.’
The Fourth Calamity, Red Night.
The night when the vampires finally dyed the continent bright red.
The event that set that tragedy in motion was this very [Lunar Eclipse].
‘If I stop this one properly··· I can keep the New Kingdom in check for at least a few months.’
Ruining the first step of their plan.
That alone would buy us quite a bit of time.
‘The Lunar Eclipse would be carried out on the one day of the year when divine power was at its weakest.’
The day the moon was covered by shadow.
It was a day when yang energy subsided and yin energy seethed, strengthening the vampires.
The New Kingdom must have painstakingly devised its plan to coincide with today's date.
Having overthrown the old dynasty and laid the foundations for a new one, they would declare war on the humans without hesitation.
‘And··· Jersian.’
Jersian.
One of the key figures in the New Kingdom.
He was the one who planned this [Lunar Eclipse], and would later make a major contribution to ‘Red Night.’
At the same time, he was the close aide who betrayed Carmilla's father and sided with her uncle.
‘What that bastard is planning in this Lunar Eclipse.’
A weapon.
He intended to create a weapon.
While offering humans as sacrifices, he intended to create [something] by mixing in a vampire's power.
‘By sacrificing an entire village, no less···.’
It was an incident in which no fewer than several hundred people would be sacrificed in the human-sacrifice ritual.
The weapon created that way would soon strike a corner of the continent, generating thousands more casualties.
Every victim would undergo ghoulification, attack others, and give rise to more ghouls.
Truly, a great many people would die.
It was a major incident that would produce approximately 3,000 casualties.
With this as its starting point, a red alert would sound throughout the empire, and the atmosphere of full-scale war would descend upon the continent.
‘Of course··· not this time.’
I intended to smash the original story's entire flow to pieces.
That was why I was standing here now.
“······.”
Kuuuuuu-.
A street shrouded in dawn. A view of a remote village.
Other than the rustling grass, not a sound could be heard.
It was peaceful. No—it was a scene anyone could mistake for peaceful.
I quietly walked along the stone path.
“Victor··· Ah, no. Squad Leader Garuric?”
“What is it, Sir Onion?”
Alice, who had been looking around.
We had just reached the village entrance and were slowly looking around the outskirts.
The black-masked girl tilted her head, seeming puzzled.
“Um··· Didn't you say something te, terrible would be happening in the village···?”
“That's right. I also said it was something we had to deal with today.”
“But, no matter how I look at it, it just seems like an ordinary village···?”
Alice cautiously voiced her question.
It was hardly an unusual question.
The village scenery before us looked utterly peaceful.
Not a hint of human presence could be felt, but given how late it was, that was easy enough to dismiss.
It was even more so because there was no smell of blood or sound of screams.
“That's how it looks from the outside.”
However, it was strange that there wasn't a single person in sight.
A village this large ought to have soldiers standing night watch.
Even though we had walked all the way to the village entrance, we hadn't encountered so much as a single ant, let alone a guard.
“······Victor.”
The princess, on the other hand, seemed to have sensed something.
Carmilla gripped my sleeve as though something was bothering her.
Judging by the glimmer in her eyes beyond the mask, she seemed to have noticed something out of place.
‘Perhaps it's because she's a pureblood vampire? She has good instincts.’
I quietly stepped forward.
Then I reached out toward the village entrance.
My hand, which should have continued straight ahead, was stopped by something.
Thump-.
“Huh···?”
Alice let out a stupefied sound.
It was as though an invisible curtain had been drawn around the village, refusing entry from outside.
The girl groped around in front of her several times, only to stop each time after being blocked by the hard empty air.
“It's a barrier.”
“Ah···.”
Alice let out a sigh, perhaps reminded of the practical exam.
Back then, part of the students' hunting grounds had been isolated by a barrier deployed by the Red Knights.
This barrier was weaker than that one, but its range was far wider, and it was incomparably more discreet.
I lightly tapped the empty air.
Knock knock-.
“The barrier itself doesn't seem to have much binding force. We could break it if we forced our way through, but···.”
“They'd notice. The moment the barrier broke, the people inside would notice something was wrong, too.”
“Right. That would make our plan to infiltrate undetected go up in smoke.”
“B-but··· I don't see any opening in the barrier either.”
“You needn't worry about that part.”
Who am I?
Master of Phasing Through Walls.
Artisan of Floor-Rubbing.
The One Who Mates with Walls.
The walls I've impregnated number in the hundreds, even thousands.
“Give me your hands, both of you.”
“······?”
“So you're planning to do that again.”
“Hehe. Be sure to hold on tight and don't let go, all right?”
Alice still looked bewildered, while Carmilla nodded as though accustomed to this.
I took both their hands and slowly moved toward the empty air.
The yielding wall, and desperate full-body rubbing.
Rub, rub-rub-.
Before long, my body slipped right through the barrier.
At the same time, the two people standing beside me were pulled in as well.
Before we had time to be startled by the sudden entry, what greeted us was a dark crimson ceiling.
“Eek, eeeek···!”
Alice staggered for a moment, then swallowed hard at the intense sight.
Carmilla was just as silent.
“Wh, whaa···?”
“······.”
The village we had seen beyond the barrier.
Above it was a bright-red ceiling, shrouded in thick dark crimson mist.
As though the village scene we had seen moments ago had all been a lie.
“It seems we've arrived at the right place.”
A stench stabbing into my nose.
The smell of rotting corpses.
The smell of blood.
The scent left behind when life dies.
The air stung my nose, deeply unpleasant.
Puddles had collected all around the village, as though it had just rained.
Of course, what had collected in them wasn't rainwater, but something with dark-red chunks floating in it.
“Ugh···.”
Alice flinched and trembled in agitation.
Carmilla, by contrast, wore an impassive expression, as though she had already expected this.
“······As I thought.”
The lips hidden behind her mask murmured.
There seemed to be a faint trace of sorrow in the sound.
Between the two girls, I calmly looked around.
“Hmm.”
A village left in utter disarray.
As expected, there wasn't a person to be seen anywhere nearby.
They must have gathered everyone somewhere in the village center for the sacrificial ritual.
“It seems the vampires have made quite a mess.”
“The humans in the village··· Are they all dead?”
“I doubt it. They would have needed fresh sacrifices for the ritual. Most of them should still be alive.”
“They must have imprisoned them somewhere. Judging by the smell of blood and the traces left on the ground··· the very center of the village?”
“Precisely.”
“L-let's go together, you two···!”
We crossed the red-stained streets.
Perhaps because of the stuffy air, breathing was difficult.
We crept along like that, and were just turning a corner when···.
-Grrr.
A growl came from somewhere.
When we turned our heads, several bright-red wild dogs were glaring at us.
Only, they were clearly not normal, with entrails dangling out here and there.
“Ghouls.”
“Yes.”
Perhaps they had scattered them around as scouts.
They bared their teeth, then charged straight at us.
-Bark, bark!
-Kieeeek!
Their eyes were rolling wildly.
The one saving grace was that every one of them was a ghoul based on a wild beast.
If there had been even one human-based specimen, I might have hesitated for a moment over whether we should save it.
It seemed that because the humans were needed for the sacrificial ritual, they had put wild beasts at the forefront in this regard.
‘Works for me.’
I signaled to the two beside me.
They had both noticed the situation and already finished preparing for battle.
“Miss Onion.”
“Yes! Squad L-leader···!”
At my signal, Alice spread a dark crimson aura.
A black crown settled over the girl's head.
Trump cards sprang out after it.
“A-attack···!”
The soldiers charged straight at the ghouls.
Their basic attack power was about the same.
However, Alice's nightmares were judged not to be affected by physical attacks.
-Krrrk?!
-Yelp!
In the end, the ghouls could only be pushed back one-sidedly.
The trump soldiers swung their weapons, chopping the wild dogs to pieces without letting a single one escape.
<[♣♣♣!!]>
<[♠♠♠♠!]>
After winning the battle, the soldiers knelt before their queen.
Alice flinched in surprise, but patted the soldiers on their shoulders.
Watching the scene, the princess frowned slightly.
“······As expected, that is an ominous power.”
“It's fortunate that it's on our side.”
And with that, the situation was settled for the moment.
I lightly gave orders for what to do next.
“From now on, hunt every ghoul we encounter. If they escape and return to their masters, the vampires will realize that we're here, too.”
“You mean we should grant them all rest.”
“Correct. Our priority is to reach the center of the village without being discovered.”
After explaining, we started moving again.
A path through which we moved while avoiding the ghouls' surveillance.
We were just crossing the entrance to where the market began.
We were using the space between two walls as a blind spot and were about to move on to the market's next section when···.
-Please help me···!
A faint voice reached our ears.
It sounded young.
“A survivor···?”
“Squad L-leader Garuric? You definitely heard that just now···”
“I heard it, too. It seems there is someone who hasn't been caught yet.”
The source of the sound was a narrow alley.
We slowly stepped inside.
Following the path, we saw a group cornered at the end of the alley.
-Bark, bark!
Ferociously barking ghouls.
In front of them stood a boy and girl who looked about ten years old.
With a wall blocking their backs, they had nowhere left to run.
“B-big brother···.”
“It's okay! Stay behind me···!”
The shoulders of the two frightened children trembled.
And amid the ghouls barking fiercely,
“Heehee, heeheehee··· Who would have thought there were humans still hiding here?”
A man laughed in a deeply unpleasant way.
His entire body was covered in blood.
He was snickering as he approached the children.
The ghouls stood nearby in formation, seemingly tightening the encirclement.
“Don't come any closer! Y-you monsters···!”
“Such lowly livestock, yet you still have the nerve to run wild.”
“What did you do to the villagers? Wh-what about our mom and dad···!”
“Know your place, brat. As mere livestock, you should be honored to become part of a great plan.”
“N-no! Somebody help! Please save us!”
“Hmm··· Such shrill squealing.”
The corners of the man's mouth split wide in a grin.
“Looks like we have enough sacrifices··· Would it be all right if I took a few of these brats to play with?”
Evil seethed in a writhing mass.
Its shadow fell over the children.
His footsteps drew closer, accompanied by all sorts of cruel imaginings.
It was then.
“Sir Onion. Sir Maneur.”
“Y-yes···!”
“I was wondering when you would call.”
Shraaak-!
The ghouls guarding the alley were crushed all at once.
Carmilla's blood-claw technique and Alice's trump soldiers.
Through the surging spray of blood, the vampire's startled eyes appeared.
“What? What the hell is happening all of a sudden···!”
“Activation. Baseball Bat.”
Whoooosh, smack-!
He hurriedly turned around, but my bat had already landed.
The vampire fell as the shape of his face was crushed flat.
Of course, I knew attacks like this wouldn't work against vampires.
They were annoyingly sturdy bastards.
‘A splinter from the stake.’
An item I had picked up to recycle, and was now putting to wonderfully thrifty use.
I swung the splinter I was holding like a dagger.
Slice, slice-slice-.
The vampire's limbs were severed one after another.
Sizzle-!
The severed ends melted at the same time.
“G, gaaah···!”
“Shh.”
Wham, wham-!
He tried to scream, but my clubbing blows forced his mouth shut.
When I turned around, Alice was looking after the children, who had collapsed to the ground.
Carmilla glared at the vampire beside me.
Ding-!
[You have acquired 20 Good Deed Points.]
[You have acquired 20 Good Deed Points.]
[Remaining Good Deed Points: 60p]
A status-window notification floated before my eyes.
I smiled as I watched the number rise.
‘Man, these points are sweet.’
I figured I could save about 300 people here.
What a gold mine of Good Deed Points.
With a sense of satisfaction, I put away the blue screen.
“Hehe.”
“Wh-what···”
Perhaps crushed by pain, the vampire muttered with mangled pronunciation.
It was a situation he couldn't understand. Terror filled his red eyes.
I cheerfully tapped my mask.
“Wh-who are you··· Wh-what are you···”
“You want to know who I am?”
The vampire was ugly, tears and snot streaming down his face.
I gave him a refreshing answer.
“Who knows··· Batman?”
If not, oh well.