Chapter 72
“By now, I don’t care anymore···.”
“Huh?”
“As long as I can··· kill everyone here···.”
Kwoooong-!
Suddenly, a heavy boom split the air beside my ears.
“······?”
The direction of the cathedral.
The sound of something collapsing echoed throughout the village.
I saw the cross atop the cathedral—the tallest structure in the village—fall.
‘The cathedral collapsed···?’
The cathedral’s collapse meant that the Black Knight was about to awaken.
Why all of a sudden?
I had definitely spirited away all the sacrifices meant for the offering ritual.
There shouldn’t have been anything that could summon an apostle of the Evil God.
‘Wait, could it be···!’
I hurriedly examined Jersian.
A pitch-black shadow writhed across his chest.
Through the thick mist, bizarre patterns were etched into the man’s skin.
“Ah.”
Writhing tentacles.
A single eyeball floating within them.
It was an extremely sinister-looking image.
I recognized the pattern at once.
‘A contract with an apostle···!’
Had he really implanted something like this into his body?
A pureblood vampire who prided himself on his lofty pride?
I had never expected this.
Jersian was already sneering as if it were too late.
“Here··· we’ll, all, die··· together···!”
He coughed through his caved-in face.
The contract had already been activated.
Killing this bastard right now wouldn’t solve anything.
Jersian opened his mangled lips and muttered.
“All the ghouls bound to me··· the other vampires, even my life force··· I’ll offer it all··· as sacrifices.”
Was this his last-ditch gamble?
He was pouring substitutes into a ritual that was originally supposed to sacrifice humans.
It would be unstable, but he intended to force the apostle to descend anyway.
“I’ll sacrifice everything I have···!”
I was fucked.
“Answer the contract!”
A desperate shout.
Immediately afterward, the packs of ghouls prowling nearby exploded all at once.
The wild dogs burst apart where they stood, like blood balloons popping.
Kuguuguung-!
The chunks of flesh writhed as though they possessed a will of their own.
They floated into the air and flew toward the cathedral.
Before long, the cathedral, which had barely retained its shape, collapsed.
Kwoong, krrr-.
“Hahaha···!”
Jersian laughed.
What emerged amid the falling rubble was a gigantic suit of armor.
It was a colossal figure painted so black that it looked like a shadow itself.
Krrrk, krrk-!
The grotesque sound of twisting flesh filled my ears.
Fragments of ghouls and vampires stuck themselves all over the Black Knight.
Was the thing supposed to be a centaur? Its lower half had the form of a horse.
“Did··· it work?”
A demonic aura that overwhelmed every living thing inside the barrier.
The pressure was incomparable to the Red Knight I had encountered last time.
If I so much as met its eyes, it felt as though my entire body would be torn apart.
A faint mechanical sound rang in my ears.
Ding-!
[Name: The Corrupted Black Knight(T̶̢͈̘͖̙̥̑͑̂͆͞h̷̨̯̣͙͓̱̠̙̓͛́͌̈́̾͑̂̕ Ç̶̠͉͕̙̩̓̃̄̎̽͊̉͠o̵̡͓̗҇͋̈͑̔͂͑̒̓ṟ̵̨͕͔̥̣̭͖̝͌̐͑͊̕r҉̡̛͔̤̬̫̯͓̽̀̀̑̒̊u҉̨̖͓̄̓́͠ͅp̸̡̝͔͍̆̈͊͝t̵̰̪͍̠̖̪̀͒͜͝e҈̗̙̫̪̯͆̓̂̕͢ḑ̸̛̟̗̪̖̝͍̐̔͋̀͋̌̍ B̴̢̠͉͕̙̩͑̇̽͂̌͊̉̕o̵̡͓̗҇͋̈͑̔͂͑̒̓l̶̝̦̍̌͐͑̀́͊̚͢͠a̶̧̗͍̙͉̣͗̍̕ċ̶̡͇̤͍̏͡k҉̡̱̖̅͛͆͠ K̶̡̬̳͇̳͈̫͙̐͒̏̈͞n҈̢̫͍̰̦̘̯͋̆̇͆̅̌̓͠ǐ̷̗̫͖̜̤͋̎͜͠g҉̢̯̘̤͎̞̀͒͆͡h̴̡͔͔̝̱͉̖͇̒̍͡ţ̴̛͎̬̐̉̚)]
-Species:■■■, ■■
-Description:■■ ■ ■■■ ■ ■■ ■■■.
Jersian had succeeded in the summoning.
It was slightly different from what should have been summoned, but what mattered was that it had succeeded.
Its performance might be inferior to the original’s, but it seemed more than enough to sweep this area clean.
We were already so exhausted that moving even a finger was difficult.
Ding-!
[The Corrupted Black Knight has been summoned.]
[The Apocalypse begins.]
Those messages cruelly passed by.
While I stood frozen for a moment, Jersian’s spiteful sneer reached my ears.
“It’s··· inferior to the original plan, but··· it’s enough··· to slaughter everyone··· here···!”
The price of offering up all his life force.
Jersian looked emaciated, as though he had even let go of his authority as a pureblood.
He was turning into a wheezing, dying chicken before my eyes, looking ready to crumble into dust at any moment.
Did he think I had been overwhelmed by the Black Knight’s imposing presence?
Even as he died, he couldn’t hide his delight.
“You··· human bastards··· How dare you, h, haha···!”
I did not answer.
I merely operated the status window, pressing its controls in silence.
Ding-!
[Executioner]
-Classification:Title
-Grade:A
-Description:You slaughtered the Nightmare Queens indiscriminately. Courage toward the unknown has taken root within you. When this title is equipped, damage dealt to Ghost-type enemies increases by 500%, and critical hit chance increases by 500%.
The apostle of the Evil God.
One of the species values displayed in the status window was ‘Ghost’.
From now on, all damage I dealt to the Black Knight would be multiplied fivefold.
“······.”
I quietly walked toward Carmilla.
She leaned against a nearby wall and looked up at me through hazy eyes.
“Vic, tor···.”
Her eyes were trembling.
Her wounds had healed considerably after I had given her plenty of blood packs.
However, she still sat there helplessly, seemingly unable to recover the strength to stand.
“Your Highness.”
“······.”
“Don’t worry.”
I gently stroked her head.
That alone made the trembling in her pupils subside a little.
I reached into the robe I had wrapped around her and searched inside.
“I’ll take care of everything.”
Tap-.
Something caught against my hand.
I pulled it out without hesitation.
An item I had stored away after acquiring it, but had never once actually used.
“You know···”
A gigantic shape emerged from the robe.
Clunk-.
“You didn’t really think you won with just that, did you?”
“······What?”
It was a gigantic crossbow.
Jersian’s eyes widened when he recognized the weapon.
‘The Godslayer Bow (神殺弓).’
A weapon made by braiding cord and silver, bearing the name of something that could even kill a god.
A weapon that had been kept by the Blandid Dynasty for generations.
An arrow was nocked at the end of the taut string.
Vwoong, vwoooong-.
Silver honed with holy power for 100 years, then left to bask in sunlight for another 100.
It took 200 years just to carve a single arrow.
Even veteran vampire craftsmen could barely make two in their lifetimes.
‘Stake.’
The crossbow was called the Godslayer Bow because it could kill a god.
The arrow was called a stake because it pierced the soul.
Ding-!
[The Godslayer Bow (神殺弓) and Stake]
-Classification:Weapon, Holy Relic
-Grade:SSS
-Condition:Excellent
-Description:This weapon was used for generations by the Blandid Dynasty as a symbol of peace. In the past, when humans and vampires ended their long war and forged a peace treaty, the human side gathered 20,000 masters from across the continent and spent no less than five years crafting it. The humans gifted this weapon to the vampires, laying the foundation for peace.
The Godslayer Bow and Stake.
Among weapons of purification and exorcism, it stood at the very pinnacle.
It was powerful enough to grind down a mere apostle of the Evil God with a single click.
Ding-!
[Number of Stakes in Possession: 1]
One shot would be enough.
The stake’s large, imposing form flashed and illuminated the surrounding area.
Jersian stood there with his mouth hanging open, so I gave him a wink.
“Do you have anything else prepared?”
“······.”
Yeah, everyone has a plan that sounds convincing.
Until they get the shit beaten out of them.
Click-.
My finger pulled the trigger.
A distant roar erupted, and the entire village flashed brightly.
-----!
The Black Knight, which had stood so tall it seemed to touch the ceiling.
The next moment.
Half of it was gone.
It hadn’t been pierced or blown apart.
Its body had simply vanished along the exact path the stake had traveled.
“Bull’s-eye.”
Annihilation (掃滅).
It was impossible to describe the scene with any other word.
The Black Knight scattered into a mass of pure white light without even being able to twitch.
Ding-!
[You have cleared the sub-quest!]
-Title: Lunar Eclipse (月食)
-Content: Defeat the boss monster ‘The Corrupted Black Knight’.
[You have achieved an impossible accomplishment!]
[You defeated an enemy that could not be defeated!]
[A special reward will be provided. Please check your inventory.]
Notifications from the status window popped noisily into view before my eyes.
I lowered the Godslayer Bow, which was giving off clouds of steam, with a faint smile.
“Hehe.”
“······.”
Jersian stared blankly, as if his soul had left his body.
I dramatically spread both arms in front of him.
“Ta-da~ A disappearing magic trick!”
It was time for some exhilarating teabagging.