Chapter 30
“Something’s strange.”
The throne room of the ruined castle Mariaca.
Ersebet, who had been gulping down cola and coffee like water as usual, tilted her head.
“Can I speak properly?”
Ah—after clearing her throat, she could feel her voice becoming much smoother.
Ersebet, tense, cautiously took another step.
“Good. Happy—huh?”
The words, the language, were coming out properly!
The sentences weren’t complete yet, but she could express as much as she intended.
What had it been like normally?
Oh, excitement and excitement. Hadn’t that sort of gibberish come spilling from her mouth after passing through the filter?
There was only one thing this could mean.
“The curse has weakened...!”
The curse that had been choking Ersebet had weakened.
“Sob. Sob. Sob. At last.”
Even if it was still clumsy, this was something.
Ersebet recalled the past.
The distant past, when a stake had been driven into her heart—or even earlier, when Mariaca had come alive.
Wasn’t it as if she had returned to that time?
“Cola, coffee. Worked. Weakened curse.”
There was only one way to undo Ersebet’s curse.
Drinking black liquid.
What black liquid meant, naturally, was nothing but blood—the blood of life—and when Ersebet failed to drink it, she felt agonizing pain as her entire body twisted.
Hadn’t she sometimes forced herself to fall asleep because she could no longer endure it?
She no longer needed to.
Because cola and coffee, brought by Head Mod, had taken the place of black liquid.
“So you understand now, right?”
Ersebet looked down with a flushed, excited face.
There were imperial soldiers who had died or been injured and routed, and Frederick, who had lost his mind.
And an old human who dared to face her.
“Cute?”
He was the obnoxious troll Head Mod had mentioned.
Ersebet smiled with her eyes, as if she found him ridiculous.
“Actually, lie. Not cute. Just a joke. You know?”
“...You monster of a bitch.”
“Yeah, reflex. Your face.”
Amid the tense exchange,
Ersebet had just raised her scythe to cut off his breath without giving him any mercy.
Blue Mod vs. Troll
Who will win?
Cast your vote right now!
- I’m voting for Diehard Vampire
- The obvious favorite is always the answer.
- Ah, shit, this is fucking hard.
ㄴ You actually have to think about this?
ㄴ Never gamble for the rest of your life, lol.
- Nope, the underdog’s the answer. Let’s go, Isaac!!!
ㄴ Oh? You little shit?
ㄴ Vote for Isaac...?
ㄴ That’s what I was about to say.
ㄴ Ah, “that’s what I was about to say” is fair.
“...What?”
She ended up seeing that the gallery had opened a poll using her—the very person who had gone out of her way to help—as its subject.
A sullen look settled over Ersebet’s face.
*
“I am so ashamed, Head Mod... myo.”
“I knew it would turn out like this.”
“Hyaaak, Head Mod! Just a little longer!!!”
Several days had passed since I began staying in the rabbitfolk village.
While I let my guard down for a moment, a rabbit mage beastfolk disabled the magical tool and kidnapped me.
Just as I was about to be taken advantage of, tied tightly to a chair in a warehouse behind some quiet field, Myoran appeared.
“Bad chief! So selfish!”
“There are occasionally residents who lose themselves to instinct, and I unfortunately overlooked that possibility, myo.”
“It’s fine, so hurry up and make the ticket.”
The rabbit beastfolk, eyes glazed over and drooling, was locked up in the mill just like that.
Apparently, they were sentenced to work a mortar and pestle for the full-moon rice cakes, the rabbits’ favorite food.
Anyway, I could participate in the poll too.
Apparently, even Head Mod could vote in a poll whose results he didn’t know.
So I invested all the Mana Dumplings I had in Diehard Vampire.
“Even if someone held a gun to my head and threatened me, I’d still bet on the favorite.”
Maybe I could level up again with this?
I desperately cranked up the hopium.
And as I watched the gallery, the fight began before long.
Title: A Dragonkin Has Appeared!!!
(Meme of a human and an elf bumping fists)
Sorry, I baited you just to show you this.
The Blue Mod vs. Troll fight is seriously fucking real? This is a battle between the strongest in the entire world.
- What the fuck is this trend now?
- I really have no idea what’s going on.
- I thought they were finally crawling out of Rare, but what the fuck.
- So who’s winning?
ㄴ Obviously Isaac’s getting one-shot, lol. Why are you even asking?
ㄴ No, no—he’s putting up more of a fight than expected.
ㄴ What?
ㄴ They’re dead even right now.
ㄴ Isaac was the best swordsman in the Empire to begin with, though, yeah.
- Wow, this is genuinely impossible to call.
ㄴ I’ve got 500 floors riding on the underdog.
ㄴ Are you insane?
ㄴ Where did you get that many Mana Dumplings...?
ㄴ If it’s not too much trouble, could I have just one can of cola...?
“What the hell? Why are they fighting so well?”
Watching the animated clip of their fight, I was left staring open-mouthed.
I could barely see anything.
It looked as if wind were whipping past, while the forms of everything around them kept disappearing.
- No, what the hell? Why is the duke fighting so well?
ㄴ He was the genius the Empire had its hopes pinned on when he was young.
ㄴ He turned into a political fanatic as he aged; the problem was that he became an imperial loyalist to the bitter end.
ㄴ Diehard Vampire vs. Diehard Royalist, damn.
- I bet on the favorite.
ㄴ Fuck, is he losing? Am I about to lose everything?
ㄴ Do you think a walking horror story looks like a joke to me?
- But I figured the duke would fight well.
ㄴ Why?
ㄴ It’s called a dying flare—the last burst of strength a person unleashes before death.
ㄴ Lol, you’re the worst one here.
ㄴ Are you insulting the duke by saying he’s one hit from death?
ㄴ Are you looking down on him because his hair has no style, his face is covered in wrinkles, and he became a political hack?
ㄴ Or are you all just slapping “why?” onto whatever you want to say? Lol.
- Oh, looks like they’re about to settle it now?
As one gallery user had said, they were nearly at the end.
Isaac looked short of breath, while Diehard Vampire remained calm.
Diehard Vampire unleashed what looked like an area-of-effect spell, and Isaac barely dodged it by contorting his entire body.
Then he closed the distance to Diehard Vampire, who had left an opening, at a speed too fast to see—and Diehard Vampire did not dodge either.
Clang!
Sword and scythe clashed violently.
“Still, the result was obvious, really.”
The match was decided in an instant.
When I came to my senses, the two were standing silently across from each other.
Isaac moved first.
Isaac slowly sheathed his sword.
Thud.
Diehard Vampire’s head slowly fell.
*
- ?
- What the hell??
- Wait, my Mana Dumplings...
ㄴ Your Mana Dumplings have been replaced with my Mana Dumplings.
ㄴ Gulp—thanks for the meal, lol.
ㄴ No, what the hell is this!!!!!!!!!
“Nothing much.”
Isaac slowly wiped the blood from his sword and caught his breath.
He had won his entire life, without losing even once, and had been called a genius.
Among those he had cut down were many magical beasts no one else had ever dared even consider facing.
The fact that half the Empire still remained was largely thanks to Isaac’s strength.
When he glanced behind him, only Diehard Vampire’s body stood there blankly.
“I’ve cut down monsters like you dozens of times.”
This would not be the end of the Empire.
He knew Frederick was an unqualified crown prince.
But Isaac had not forgotten the late emperor’s kindness.
He would kill Head Mod, the threat to the imperial family, and restore its authority above all things.
- Head Mod☆) Tongue...
- Head Mod☆) Bro...
“Are you so terrified that you can’t even speak properly?”
Isaac sneered as he looked at Head Mod’s incomprehensible posts in the gallery.
“You’re next, Head Mod.”
First, he needed to gather his forces.
He was just about to return north, enthrone Frederick as emperor, and hunt down Head Mod to kill him.
That was when Head Mod, who had been saying nothing but incomprehensible things, left a new comment.
- Head Mod☆) Bro, this guy’s smiling?
“What?”
And that was the end for Isaac.
Spin.
Isaac’s vision spun around and around.
Thump. Along with the unfamiliar feel of sand, he sensed all the world’s sensations beginning to shut off.
At that moment, Isaac was able to meet Diehard Vampire’s eyes.
“Ta-da. Fooled you, huh?”
How?!
His widening pupils seemed to say exactly that.
What Isaac saw in his final moments was Diehard Vampire picking up her head and setting it back in place.
- Head Mod☆) Fucking don’t get cocky.
- Head Mod☆) Blue Mod is a god and I’m invincible.
The genius who had made a name for himself throughout the Empire died with his eyes open, wronged to the very end.
*
Title: Tastes Bad...
Author: Diehard Vampire★
(Meme of drinking black blood)
(Meme of slightly sticking out a tongue while making an extremely sour face)
Blood... tastes bad...
I like cola.
I like coffee too.
I like Head Mod, who gives me all this, too.
- Please eat your fill, Your Majesty.
- Your palate is truly refined, Your Majesty.
- Please forgive me, Your Majesty, for acting cocky about betting on the underdog and all that.
ㄴ Diehard Vampire★) Hmm, I’m thinking about it.
ㄴ No!!!!!
ㄴ It’s “되” x “돼” o
ㄴ Lol, farewell.
ㄴ Lol... please spare me too.
“She doesn’t like blood, surprisingly.”
After the fight, Diehard Vampire gathered all the blood together with magic.
Just when it seemed she was going to drink it as it was, she poked at it with her tongue and made an extremely sour face.
- Diehard Vampire) Head Mod, did I do a good job?
ㄴ Head Mod☆) Good.
- Diehard Vampire) Coffee. Cola. Sweet things.
ㄴ Head Mod☆) ?
- Diehard Vampire) Give.
Then she suddenly initiated a trade and began making demands with complete confidence.
“Huh, seriously. Do I look like the sort of person who does whatever she’s told?”
I bought some cola and coffee, sent them to Diehard Vampire, and looked toward the corner.
Vwoom.
There, just as I had seen at home, was the pet lava, along with a Rift.
The Rift had finally affected even the underground.
“It looks like it’s getting bigger and bigger...”
At first it had been large enough for one arm to fit through, but now it was big enough to enter if I bent at the waist.
Naturally, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
Because I knew where the Rift led and what was inside it.
What if all the magical beasts inside came pouring out?
‘The world might really end.’
At that point, everything might truly be over.
Just as I was starting to wonder whether I should begin preparing, the Rift abruptly started expanding.
Ruuuuuum.
“Wait, it’s getting too big?”
The Rift grew large enough for one person to walk through with ease.
Click.
I picked up the shotgun and brought it to the entrance.
To turn every last thing that came out of there into a corpse.
But contrary to my expectations, the Rift began affecting the otherworld in a different way.
- Oh, fuck.
- Where did all my fertile land go???
- (Meme of a lovingly tended field rotting in real time)
- Elfkyaaak! All the trees are drying up and withering!!!
- No, this can’t be happening. I’m starting to get worried.
- I grew them all the way to maturity.
- ●▅▇█▇▆▅▄▇
A food crisis had erupted in the otherworld.