Chapter 68
“I have a proposal to make.”
“Ugh···.”
Plop-.
He drops the canteen beside the girl.
A sloshing sound rang out from the liquid filling it.
The man added indifferently.
“It’s human blood.”
“······.”
“Drink it. Then I’ll let you live.”
Drinking human blood.
An irreversible choice for a vampire.
And a direct denial of the conviction her dynasty had upheld.
“I’ll spare Your Highness, at least. The human girl over there will be difficult, though···.”
“······.”
“How about it? Just close your eyes, drink it, and live in hiding for the rest of your life. I’ll make a separate, favorable report to His Majesty.”
Consider it a favor for old times’ sake.
Words spoken with a mocking sneer.
Jersian tilted his head and spoke.
As though he absolutely had to see that ugly sight.
“Drink.”
“······.”
Carmilla did not answer.
She had no strength to answer.
Helplessness.
Exhaustion.
Resignation.
Such things slowly gnawed at the girl’s heart.
The canteen shimmered in her vision, liquid sloshing inside.
“One sip is all it takes.”
“······.”
“With just one sip, you can be free. I won’t just spare your life—I’ll let you escape just as you are. I’ll speak to His Majesty and have the pursuit called off as well.”
So, just one thing.
Just one thing she had to give up.
“That worthless ideal.”
Ideal.
The thing the Blandir Dynasty had stubbornly refused to relinquish.
“Give up just that, and it’s over. You’ll walk the same path as us.”
To crave humans, make them their staple, slaughter them senselessly, and live on for ages.
What human blood bestowed.
Ecstatic pleasure.
Overwhelming power.
Power that grew stronger still.
He was telling her to enjoy all of it.
“Your Highness.”
She could be at ease.
Between the cracks in the broken canteen, its contents slowly leaked out.
A sweet scent pierced her nose.
‘One sip.’
She could stick out her tongue and take a single bite of that fruit, and everything would be over.
She could survive.
She could live to see another day.
She wouldn’t have to live like a dead person, hiding away.
The smell of blood from the canteen grew closer and closer.
‘So, if it’s only one sip···.’
Death would be the end.
But as long as she survived, the story would not end.
Even if she became vulgar and servile here, surviving would let her plan for a later day.
She would be given a chance to take revenge on them.
“······.”
“That’s it. Just drink it down.”
Before she knew it, her hand was gripping the canteen.
Jersian urged her on as though she was doing well.
She opened the lid and brought the mouth of the canteen close to her lips.
-Carmilla.
This was the end.
-At times you may become arrogant, waver, and want to give up in the face of temptation.
-No, you certainly will. That is what it means to live a finite life.
She tilted the canteen.
Its contents poured out with a glugging sound.
-Since we are a superior species, we must question and reflect upon ourselves.
The girl, the princess, she herself, had been this weak.
-Struggle as hard as you can.
-So that you do not become vulgar, so you do not become servile.
Before she knew it, the canteen had been cleanly emptied.
But,
Carmilla’s lips were not wet in the slightest.
“······.”
“······Hah.”
Jersian laughed as though disgusted.
Perhaps because the girl had not gone according to his wishes.
Splish-.
Carmilla did not accept the proposal.
Without the slightest hesitation, she dumped the contents of the canteen onto the ground.
“I···”
The light in the girl’s eyes had not gone out.
Only its brightness had faded; its vivid colors were still alive.
“Did you think I would slaughter so vulgarly? Did you think I would live on in servility?”
If one merely lived as life dictated, could that be called living?
How could a life be called living if one did not struggle desperately to survive?
“Kk, haa··· how laughable.”
To make a single flower bloom even amid such struggles, gutters, dirt, and blood.
To give it meaning.
To go on living.
Thus, life was something noble.
“Ptooey.”
A short spit of bloody phlegm.
The girl’s contempt struck Jersian’s cheek.
Carmilla instead kept a smile spread across her lips, as though mocking him.
“Kill me.”
“······.”
“Go on, kill me, you lowborn wretch.”
The girl’s attitude remained unbroken.
It was far too straight and tenacious to be broken by a mere traitor.
Jersian, who had stood back quietly, twisted his expression.
“Ha··· I see words won’t do.”
Shraaak-.
A huge saw formed over his clenched palm.
The weapon honed from blood-claw technique was grotesque beyond compare.
“If dying like that is your wish, I’ll grant it. I’ll cut your entire body apart while you’re still alive, one piece at a time! As painfully as possible, as miserably as possible···!”
Clomp, clomp-.
The man’s shadow approached the girl.
Carmilla’s breathing grew calm as she watched the merciless violence approach.
‘I see.’
Was this to become her execution platform?
She had no regrets about refusing to submit.
She simply would not break.
Instead of crying and begging for her life, she would calmly lay her neck on the execution block.
Tears flowed grotesquely, but even they were remnants of the life she had burned away.
“Then··· I’ll start by cutting off those white hands, one by one.”
The saw drew near.
Carmilla squeezed her eyes shut.
As if preparing for the pain that would soon arrive.
“Wait.”
Flap-.
But the saw never touched the girl.
A pitch-black robe had come between them.
“Ignition. Mace.”
Baaang-!
A silhouette whose origin was unknown.
The boy, who had suddenly burst from empty air, struck the man’s face head-on.
An unexpected ambush. Jersian clutched his face and staggered backward.
“Kgh, kraaaagh···!”
Blood streamed from his nose.
Regardless, the boy examined Carmilla.
A white clown mask appeared through her blurred vision.
“Your Highness.”
“Vic, tor···?”
“I’m sorry. There was a lot to take care of, so I ended up late.”
“You didn’t··· leave my side··· did you···?”
“How could I leave Your Highness’s side?”
You’re this wonderful, after all.
An added remark.
The boy removed his robe and draped it around Carmilla’s shoulders.
His arms were full of blood packs prepared for emergencies.
A gentle resonance came from beyond the mask.
“You’ve been through a lot.”
“······.”
“Miss Alice and I will finish things from here.”
Warm body heat.
Carmilla found herself reassured.
Strength drained from her entire body, and she soon let go.
“Victor···.”
The boy carefully moved her and propped her against a nearby wall.
He placed blood packs one by one between her delicate lips.
Once he had finished, the mask slowly turned around.
“Was it you?”
“What are you···!”
Even while groaning in pain, Jersian revealed an intense killing intent.
It was a pressure powerful enough to crush the entire area.
Yet the boy showed no sign of intimidation.
“I’m asking you.”
“Ghk···.”
“Was it you? The one who treated my master so brutally?”
The boy’s voice was calm.
Precisely because of that, it gave off an eerie atmosphere.
One hand held a black scythe, while the other tapped the air several times.
Ding-!
[Basic Stats]
Health:D-
Strength:E+
Agility:E+
Mana Sensitivity:E+
[Remaining Good Deed Points: 7020p]
A blue screen rose before his eyes.
He clicked several sections.
Ding-!
[Good Deed Points will be used.]
-The rank of the basic stat ‘Agility’ increases by +1.
-The rank of the basic stat ‘Agility’ increases by +1.
-The rank of the basic stat ‘Agility’ increases by +1.
-The rank of the basic stat ‘Agility’ increases by +1.
-The rank of the basic stat ‘Agility’ increases by +1.
-The rank of the basic stat ‘Agility’ increases by +1.
-The rank of the basic stat ‘Agility’ increases by +1.
[6300 Good Deed Points have been consumed]
[Remaining Good Deed Points: 720p]
Rapidly changing letters.
Bluish light flickered.
Ding-!
[Basic Stats]
Health:D-
Strength:E+
Agility:B-
Mana Sensitivity:E+
The world slowed.
A rank-up that leaped seven stages at once.
The price for saving no fewer than 315 lives.
‘Looks like they’re doing well.’
The ghouls he had turned back into humans.
They were rescuing the other people locked in the cages, one by one.
Even now, points continued piling up before the boy’s eyes.
Ding-!
Ding-!
Ding-!
[You have acquired 20 Good Deed Points.]
[You have acquired 20 Good Deed Points.]
[You have acquired 20 Good Deed Points.]
“Now this should be manageable.”
Victor stared at Jersian, who looked flustered.
Of course, this was not all he had prepared.
The boy rummaged inside his robe and pulled something out.
Ding-!
[Broken Crown]
-Category: Accessory
-Rank: A-
-Condition: Destroyed
-Description: The crown worn by the ‘Black Queen,’ ruler of nightmares. It is currently destroyed, with only her remnants remaining. It can be worn for a maximum of 5 minutes per day. When worn, it allows the user to use the skill ‘Nightmare Transformation’.
[Skill Name: Nightmare Transformation]
-The user’s body merges with the nightmare.
-While the skill is active, the user receives an ‘Invincible’ status.
-The user can fly without restriction and becomes free from all physical force.
A strange object.
A bizarre-looking crown, as though filled with writhing heat haze.
The boy placed it on his head without the slightest hesitation.
Rumble-!
“If you lay a hand on my master··· you’ll have to take responsibility for it.”
An unpleasant aura swirled around him.
The boy stood calmly at its center.
A gleaming crown, a pitch-black honed scythe, and a white clown mask pulled over his face···.
The clown’s presence devoured the surroundings, seeming poised to erase even Jersian’s killing intent.
“Exactly five minutes.”
The corner of his mouth twisted.
“I’ll cut off all four of your limbs in exactly five minutes.”
“You bastard···!”
The next moment.
The boy had already blinked away, swinging his scythe from behind Jersian.
The necktie’s effect was still active, so the man could not hear even the slightest trace of his presence.
“What···!”
Slice-.
Before he had any chance to block, one of the man’s arms flew off.
“Kk, k, kraaaagh···!”
“That makes one.”
Jersian’s left arm floated in the air.
The man staggered backward, screaming.
Blood sprayed through the air.
“Three left, then?”
The corners of the mask stretched wide in a grin.