Chapter 140
‘So [Servant Summoning] has been enhanced?’
Then does that mean something stronger will come out now.
Could it be an even stronger servant than Katarina?!
Just as I was thinking that.
“……What is it? I suddenly have a bad feeling.”
Katarina, who had been busily clearing away the bowls I had used, suddenly flinched, her shoulders trembling.
At her reaction, Siyeon quickly looked around with wary eyes.
“Are we under attack, Lady Katarina?”
“Ah, no. It’s not that, but something feels a little strange….”
“Then we must prepare thoroughly.”
Katarina rubbed the back of her neck with an uneasy look, while Siyeon seriously surveyed the surroundings.
‘What? Did she sense a crisis or something?’
I chuckled quietly.
Of course, even if a stronger servant appeared, Katarina would still be my precious servant.
The same went for the others.
In any case, filled with anticipation, I read the description window for [Servant Summoning].
[Servant Summoning (Unique)]
Forges a servant from the Great Blood.
- Cooldown: 30 days
- Blood Power Cost: 400
※ The Blood Power cost increases according to the number of summons.
Everything up to this point was the same as before.
However, a new line had appeared beneath it.
※ When summoning a servant in the True Ancestor’s Domain, you can choose and summon one servant from among three options. (NEW!)
‘Oh?’
A targeted summon?
Originally, [Servant Summoning] was a completely random summon.
So I could never know in advance what kind of servant would appear.
The last servant I had drawn was Dark, the Vampiric Dragon.
At first, I remembered being flustered when a huge egg suddenly popped out of nowhere.
But being able to choose one myself from among the options was incredibly useful.
For example, a combat specialist like Katarina, a crafting specialist like Lili, or a support specialist like Dark.
It meant I could identify whatever role or ability the party lacked and summon a servant tailored in that direction.
‘This is way better than I expected.’
Besides, previously I’d had to obtain and use a separate Enhancement Rune to upgrade [Shared Vision], but this time it was just enhanced for free. What a windfall.
All that force-fed, disgusting blood had been worth it.
‘Good. Then I absolutely have to do this after I get home.’
The description clearly said “when summoning in the True Ancestor’s Domain,” so using it inside the Tower would be a waste.
Of course, it was a little unfortunate that I couldn’t start the cooldown immediately after gathering the Blood Power.
‘The next summon will be at 800 Blood Power anyway, given the progression, right?’
These days, starting the cooldown wasn’t important; the task itself was gathering the Blood Power for the next summon, so being delayed for the moment wasn’t a big problem.
‘After recruiting Namgung Yeonhee, who has S-rank potential, I’ll get to do a targeted servant gacha when I return…!’
This One is rising from victory to victory. Vam-ha-ha!
I closed the status window with a satisfied feeling.
Now that I had finished everything I needed to do at the Namgung Family, should I start heading back to the Blood Cult?
But before that, there was one thing I absolutely had to do.
***
Namgung Cheon, head of the Namgung Family.
He was currently taking a moment to get some fresh air while sunk in deep anguish.
‘Tanghulu. What on earth could it mean?’
One hundred tanghulu, with a variety of flavors.
Was it testing him, as head of the Namgung Family?
Or was some profound teaching hidden within it, like a Zen koan?
The Thirty-Six Heavenly Spirits and Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends, yin-yang and the five elements, the Eight Trigrams, and so on.
He had tried to decipher the Blood Lord’s intentions through various principles, but could not arrive at a clear answer.
Should he try to interpret the word by breaking down its characters (破字)?
‘Tanghulu (糖葫蘆). Hulu (葫蘆) means a bottle gourd, so could it be a metaphor for concealing some profound meaning inside…? Tanghulu, tang hulu… tang tang hulu hulu.’
“Father?”
“Ah, Yeonhee.”
In the end, the time had come for him to send his daughter away, as promised to the Blood Lord.
Namgung Cheon finally gave up on finding the answer and, with heavy steps, went with his daughter to the hall where the Blood Lord was staying.
But then.
“……?”
He cautiously stepped inside, then stopped short at the sight before him.
“Nom nom.”
The Blood Lord was holding one tanghulu skewer in each hand and munching away.
And beside her, the Blood Lord’s subordinates—the ones Yeonhee had told him each bore the fearsome titles of Red Moon Blood Princess and Dark Shadow Assassin—
They, too, were devouring tanghulu as if they were making them vanish before his eyes, each holding five or six skewers in one hand.
Even so, uneaten tanghulu were piled on the table.
It was a scene utterly impossible to believe.
By all appearances, the Blood Lord was an existence unimaginably older than even the Blood Cult of a hundred years ago.
She had described the era when the Blood Cult ran rampant as a time when she had ‘been away for a while,’ making her an inexplicable being whose true age was impossible to determine.
She was the sort of being who made one wonder whether she was even human—or perhaps some thousand-year-old monster.
And hadn’t he witnessed that tremendous pressure and noble bearing firsthand, to boot?
And yet.
‘…….’
The way she was now munching sweets with her tiny mouth was utterly, unmistakably that of a little child.
“Ah, you have arrived?”
Just then, the Blood Lord noticed Namgung Cheon and Namgung Yeonhee.
“Namgung Family Head, Yeonhee, take one of these each.”
Namgung Cheon found himself accepting the tanghulu skewer the Blood Lord held out to him.
The Blood Lord cleared her throat and put on a slightly apologetic expression.
“Ordering one hundred was a little excessive. I got carried away in the heat of the moment….”
“It is not Blood Lord-nim’s fault. We shall all eat them.”
After speaking kindly to the Blood Lord, the Red Moon Blood Princess
discreetly turned her head away so the Blood Lord could not see.
Burning fiercely—!
Her fiery red eyes stared at the Namgung Family Head and Yeonhee.
‘Eat. Right now!’
It seemed to say.
‘…….’
In the end, Namgung Cheon and Namgung Yeonhee had no choice but to put the tanghulu in their mouths, cold sweat trickling down their backs.
‘What on earth is going on?’
Watching the Blood Lord’s puffed-out cheeks, Namgung Cheon became confused.
Had living too long caused her mind to become abnormal?
Or did the side effect of rejuvenation occasionally make her temperament become childlike…?
The Blood Lord tilted her head as if sensing his gaze.
“Mmm? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“……It is nothing.”
Crunch.
The thin candy coating shattered, and sweet-and-sour fruit juice burst in his mouth.
‘……It is tastier than I expected.’
The family head, who normally never had occasion to put snacks like this in his mouth, absentmindedly picked up another skewer.
***
A short while later. The Namgung Family estate.
Whoosh—.
With the full moon shining brightly and only the wind stirring, I stood facing the Namgung Family Head.
“Namgung will honor our agreement to the letter, so please take good care of Yeonhee.”
He said, performing a solemn cupped-fist salute.
“Hmm. Just trust This One.”
I, too, nodded arrogantly.
“Ah, and distribute the remaining tanghulu among the family members or something.”
“……That tanghulu, you need not worry about. I will take care of it.”
“Hey now. You must not throw it away. Food is precious!”
“Ah, understood. I shall keep that in mind.”
When I admonished him, the Namgung Family Head answered.
…Huh? But did he just let out a little sigh? I must have seen it wrong, right?
Nah. Surely he wouldn’t sigh in front of a fearsome Blood Lord like me.
Okay. In any case, I had successfully finished my business at the Namgung Family.
I recalled the quest objective once more.
[Spread the renown of the Blood Cult among both the orthodox and demonic factions.]
I had subdued the Namgung Family, the most prestigious family of the orthodox faction—well, I hadn’t exactly smashed it.
I had even brought Namgung Yeonhee with me, while the Namgung Family had promised to discreetly leak information about the Blood Cult from behind the scenes.
‘At this rate, rumors will spread on their own among the orthodox faction.’
In fact, officially, the Murim Alliance would be informed that “The Blood Lord subdued the Namgung Family by force and took away the Sword Flower!”—so it was an astounding achievement.
Infamy is still renown, after all.
‘Good. The orthodox side is more or less taken care of!’
Now for the demonic faction….
I had actually been giving this side some thought for a while.
Then let’s return to the Blood Cult.
I set the coordinates through the vision of my other servants staying in the Blood Cult.
Then I reached out and opened [Dark Dimension Portal].
Vwooom—!
Space rippled, and a purple rift appeared in midair.
“Th-this is….”
“Some kind of formation?”
The Namgung Family Head and Namgung Yeonhee stared with wide eyes in surprise.
“Well. Something like that.”
After giving a vague answer, I took a step into the portal with Namgung Yeonhee.
Finally, I gave the Namgung Family Head a light wave.
“This One shall take good care of Yeonhee, so do not worry too much.”
And so, my servants and I moved to the Blood Cult together with Namgung Yeonhee.
***
Fwoosh.
The rift that had opened in midair closed.
The Blood Lord, her subordinates, and even his daughter Yeonhee had all disappeared.
‘Oh my….’
Namgung Cheon felt as though he had seen an apparition.
A technique for traveling by tearing through space…?
‘Could it be the legendary Shrinking Earth Technique (縮地法), said to let one run by folding the earth?’
Perhaps it was an even greater secret art than that.
‘Truly, she is unknowable in so many ways. Just how powerful is she, and what is she hiding?’
He sighed.
However.
A faint smile spread across his lips.
‘Even so, it seems the Blood Lord is not a demonic fiend like the Blood Lord of the past.’
Namgung Cheon somehow found himself thinking that.