Chapter 20
‘Haa… I’m tired.’
The raid on the super-massive S-rank Gate in Europe.
Having continued for a whopping month, the raid had left Baek Eun-seol completely exhausted.
Normally, she would normally avoid raiding a gate in this condition, but because it was such an emergency situation, she had no choice but to step up.
An a-rank gate with a 1-hour time attack and a 2-Person Entry Limit.
Of all times, why did such a massive incident have to break out right after she returned from Europe?
Fortunately, she had managed to recharge her energy a little by healing through a duo game with her friend yesterday.
“Even if my condition is a mess… I can clear an a-rank gate alone, at least.”
It was annoying and tiring, but that was the responsibility of an s-rank hunter.
She planned to sweep it as quickly as possible and hurry home to get a good night’s sleep.
It was an a-rank gate she had entered with such a light heart. But,
What in the world had happened?
“Hmm. Is this the strong one among the humans of this world? This is more disappointing than I thought.”
The monster she ended up facing there was ridiculously strong.
Strength, speed, technique.
It was overwhelming in every aspect.
Even though she, an s-rank hunter, unleashed her full power, she couldn’t keep up.
She had fought a fierce, bloody battle for tens of minutes until she exhausted her vast mana.
‘…I’m no match at all.’
It was only a bloody battle from her perspective; the opponent was treating it almost like a joke.
Like a cat playing with a mouse it was hunting.
That was the difference in their levels.
Her poor condition played a part, but even if she had been in perfect shape, it wouldn’t have made much of a difference.
If it got serious, she would be defeated in just a few moves.
‘This isn’t a-rank…!’
Baek Eun-seol bit her lip.
The classification was wrong, horribly wrong.
That monster was at least s-rank, or even higher.
‘There’s a vampire this strong?’
A High-rank Monster that looks similar to humans. It is also called a vampire.
She was well aware of their existence.
She had even fought them a few times.
But she had never seen a vampire this strong.
It was a being on a completely different level from the ones she had encountered before.
“I will end this now.”
The vampire slowly approached with a wicked smile.
‘…It’s over.’
A situation where both her mana and stamina were bottomed out.
Baek Eun-seol had a premonition of her end.
Working as an s-rank hunter, she had naturally prepared herself to risk her life.
She faced the enemy with cold eyes to the very end.
That was her final pride as an s-rank hunter, the Ice Empress.
However,
What about “Baek Eun-seol”, not the Ice Empress?
‘…I’m scared.’
She was afraid.
It was hard and painful.
It had always been like that.
She just hadn’t shown it on the outside.
Because she couldn’t afford to show weakness.
In truth, the reason she drew a line and acted coldly toward others was this:
It was partly because she was disillusioned by those who approached her only for her outward appearance.
But it was also because she was afraid of showing her inner self.
Because she had grown up in a world where honestly revealing weakness meant being bitten and used.
Even her own parents had tried to use her.
So she acted even colder, and climbed even higher.
Money, fame, authority, strength… She pursued all kinds of power.
But,
By a single monster that popped out of nowhere, all her efforts were trampled far too easily.
Funnily enough, what crossed her mind in her final moments?
It was not the strength she had built up until now.
Nor was it her past flashing before her eyes like a kaleidoscope, or the faces of her family.
“…My friend will be worried.”
It was just a single gaming friend whose face and name she didn’t even know.
If she cut off contact without a word, given her friend’s personality, they would definitely worry.
‘I’m sorry.’
The moment she tried to accept her end, she left a silent apology to that faceless friend in her heart.
Halt-.
The footsteps of the slowly approaching vampire suddenly stopped.
“Hm? What are you?”
The vampire tilted his head and looked behind him.
Following that gaze, Baek Eun-seol also slowly turned her head.
“…Huh?”
A red-eyed woman appeared there without a sound.
“Since when?”
She hadn’t sensed her at all.
Furthermore, an immense aura could be felt from the woman who revealed herself.
An aura equal to the killing intent of the vampire that had been crushing her just moments ago.
“Wait a minute, you… you’re not human.”
It was just as the vampire said.
“Another bloodsucker?”
The aura she felt was somewhat different, but she could instinctively tell.
That woman was also of the bloodsucker kind.
Her mind spun rapidly.
An enemy, or an an allied army? Or simply another variable in this gate?
However,
At the ensuing sight, Baek Eun-seol’s eyes widened in shock.
“Kneel.”
Thud - .
At the woman’s single word, the vampire dropped to his knees on the spot as if crushed by something.
“K-Keugh…!”
He even trembled violently, as if in extreme pain.
“…This makes no sense.”
Baek Eun-seol doubted her own eyes.
That monster who had been toying with her, an s-rank, just moments ago,
had fallen to his knees without even being able to resist, at a single word.
Something like this would be impossible not just for an s-rank, but even for Rankers…!
“W-What is this…!”
The vampire, crushed against the floor, gritted his teeth and raised his head.
Bewilderment was etched in his eyes.
“Controlling me, a [Pureblood]…?! C-Could it be a [Trueblood]…?”
The vampire muttered.
His voice trembled slightly, as if he were afraid of something.
“Pureblood? Trueblood?”
Baek Eun-seol didn’t know the meaning of those words.
She only intuited that it was something signifying a hierarchy unique to those bloodsuckers.
But soon, the vampire’s expression distorted once more.
“No. It’s different. This is…”
It was as if he were groping for the identity of the power crushing him.
“This isn’t their power…?!”
Eventually, as if realizing something, his eyes widened.
Tremble.
His crushed body began to push forcefully off the floor.
It looked incredibly difficult, but he finally stood up.
The vampire glared at the woman with murderous eyes.
“Just who did you receive blood from, you?”
At that question.
The woman replied shortly with an emotionless face.
“It is not someone whom the likes of you are permitted to know.”
“Is there someone that woman serves?”
And that someone seemed to be a being with enough status to bring that monster to its knees with a single word.
“…Just who is it?”
Before she even had time to chew over that question, the fight began.
Paat - !
The moment the woman kicked off the floor, her figure vanished from Baek Eun-seol’s sight.
“…Fast!”
A speed that even an s-rank hunter’s dynamic visual acuity would momentarily lose track of.
Baaang - !!
The next moment, a loud roar echoed.
The vampire had his arms crossed, and the woman’s fist slammed right into them.
“Keugh…!”
The vampire let out a painful groan.
The vampire quickly retreated and opened his palms.
Red blood swirled, turning into dozens of whips that shot toward the woman.
The woman did not dodge.
“Blood Art. [Blood Binding].”
Instead, the same blood-red whips shot out from her hands, meeting the opponent’s attack head-on.
Chwarararak - !!
Red lines tangled and clashed in the air.
“…Skills of the same lineage.”
Baek Eun-seol’s eyes shone sharply.
Both bloodsuckers were using skills that manipulated blood, but…
Even with the same skill, the style was different.
If the male vampire’s style was to release power roughly and violently,
The woman’s was refined to the extreme, with no waste of power.
‘…She’s strong.’
Baek Eun-seol swallowed dry saliva.
Even though they were using the same skill, the woman had the upper hand.
She was fighting on more than equal terms with that monster who had been unilaterally cornering her just moments ago.
Just why was such a being here?
Why in Korea? Why in this gate?
Why, to save her?
Even as Baek Eun-seol’s mind grew complicated, the fight between the two bloodsuckers continued.
Pubububang - !
Dozens of blood-red bullets fired by the woman shattered the vampire’s barrier.
Vwoooong - !!
The blood spear swung by the vampire narrowly grazed the woman’s neck.
It was a fierce contest.
Even so, Baek Eun-seol could instinctively tell.
If this continued, the woman would eventually win.
Composure, speed, the perfection of technique.
The woman was slightly ahead in all those aspects.
“Keugh…! Damn it…!”
Cold sweat formed on the vampire’s forehead.
That arrogant expression he had worn while acting leisurely just moments ago had long since been erased.
“Keuk, do you think it will end like this?”
Just as the vampire shouted and seemed about to throw a winning move,
An unbelievable thing happened.
“…Huh?”
Kwaaaaa - !
A dark red aura suddenly surged from the woman’s body, and the very energy she exuded completely changed.
‘She wasn’t going all out yet?’
Baek Eun-seol was astonished.
She was already at a level surpassing an s-rank just moments ago, but to think even that wasn’t her full power.
The vampire also seemed to have felt the change.
“…?!”
His pupils dilated massively.
“W-What, what the hell is that power…!”
The woman did not answer his question.
As if it wasn’t even worth answering.
Instead.
She merely swung her hand elegantly once.
The vampire’s right arm was ripped apart.
“Kuaaaagh - !!”
Before his desperate scream could even finish, the woman swung her hand once more.
Chwaaak - !!
This time, the man’s left arm was torn off.
“Huaaaagh!”
“…No way.”
Baek Eun-seol couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
It didn’t look like she was attacking; it looked as if the man’s body was being shattered simply by the movement of her hand.
It was an attack so fast that even an s-rank’s dynamic visual acuity could no longer track it.
The battle that had been evenly matched just moments ago instantly turned into a one-sided massacre.
“W-Wait…! Hold on! Why are you doing this to your own kind!”
The vampire, rendered powerless after losing both arms, shouted urgently.
“I am one of the retainers who directly received blood from one of the Great Ones! Do you think you can kill me, a [Pureblood], and get away with it!”
“A Great One?”
However, the woman snorted as if it were ridiculous.
Her eyes were shining with confidence and pride.
“The only Great One I know is but a single person.”
The next moment.
She was already right in front of the male vampire’s nose.
Pukwak - !!
The woman’s hand pierced straight through his torso.
“Gurgle…!”
Dark red blood gushed out of the vampire’s mouth.
Baek Eun-seol could only watch the sight with bated breath.
The woman quietly pulled her hand out.
The body of the vampire, who had been so strong and arrogant, melted away, turning into a handful of bloody water.
“…”
Baek Eun-seol couldn’t say a word.
She still couldn’t realize what had just happened.
As the woman raised her hand, the vampire’s blood scattered on the floor floated up and flowed into her hand.
Step. Step.
Having collected all the blood, she turned her body and began to walk toward the gate’s exit.
The moment she saw that, Baek Eun-seol’s mouth moved without her realizing it.
“W-Wait…!”
The woman’s steps stopped, and she slowly turned her head.
Emotionless, blood-red eyes looked down at Baek Eun-seol.
As she received that gaze head-on, her breath caught in her throat from the immense intimidation.
But she endured it.
Because she couldn’t let her go like this.
“You… who are you…?”
A voice she barely squeezed out.
“At least let me know my benefactor’s name…!”
Benefactor.
It was Baek Eun-seol, who had uttered a word she had never spoken in her entire life with difficulty.
However,
“Why are you curious about my name?”
The woman merely asked back in an emotionless voice.
“I am merely a servant who moves according to my master’s will.”
“…What?”
“If you intend to serve a benefactor.”
The woman quietly continued her words.
“Offer that feeling of gratitude to my Liege Lord.”
“L-Liege Lord? Who is that…!”
She shouted the question unconsciously.
But the woman did not answer anymore.
Chwareureureuk.
A shadow wrapped around her body.
“W-Wait…!”
Baek Eun-seol urgently reached out her hand.
But the woman’s figure had completely disappeared from that spot.
“…”
She thought as she stared at the empty space, her hand still reached out in a daze.
She had already vaguely guessed during the battle that there might be someone behind that female vampire.
But.
If such a powerhouse called herself a mere 'Servant'.
…Just how strong was that “Liege Lord”?