The Bloody Valkyrie

Part 1

Two shadows could be seen moving full speed through the forest. They were Shalltear’s servants and concubines; the vampire brides.

They cleaved through the narrow trail laden with sharp branches. Despite this, not a single scratch or blemish could be seen on either of their dresses. Even while wearing high heels, the two vampires moved with unreal speed.

The one in front was carefully carrying Shalltear, while the one bringing up the rear was dragging what seemed to be a shriveled, old log.

Their current location wasn’t that far from where they parted with Sebas. Although they had no way of measuring the distance to their destination, they knew they still had ways to go. Suddenly, a sharp, metallic noise broke out, and the vampire in the front came to a halt.

Because the trail was so narrow, the one following from behind had no choice but to stop as well.

“Why have you suddenly stopped?”

As she was about to answer the voice behind her, a chilling gaze from her mistress she was carrying in her arms washed over the vampire that caused her body to tremble.

The sense of danger crawling up her spine was because she knew her master was neither kind nor forgiving.

Her master, Shalltear, who was now cradled in her arms like a princess, shifted her feet in displeasure.

Sensing the cue, the vampire lowered her arms.

Shalltear jumped, like a bird flying out of its cage. After a brief respite in the air, a delicate pair of legs in high heels landed on the earth. Her dress followed suit and gently flowed over her legs, hiding them from view.

Shalltear brushed aside her long silvery hair in irritation, and tilted her head. Under her icy glare, the vampire couldn’t help but gulp in fear.

“What is the problem?”

The reason Shalltear didn’t run herself was simply because it was bothersome, and because she didn’t want to get her shoes dirty. There was another reason, but no one present would even think it, much less speak it out loud. Even in Nazarick, there was only a handful who would dare say it in her presence.

As her servant, the vampire was acting as her feet, and forbidden to stop unless instructed otherwise by Shalltear herself. Feet that didn’t listen to its owner were useless.

Depending on the reason, she might receive severe punishment.

No, it would be a relief if it only went that far. The vampire could detect killing intent in her master’s question.

Excluding those created directly by the Supreme Rulers of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, the power over life and death over the other minions is held by the Floor Guardians and Area Guardians. To further incur Shalltear’s displeasure past this point would mean certain death.

Realizing that her next words might be her last, the vampire slowly opened her mouth to beg for forgiveness:

“Please forgive me. I stepped on a bear trap.”

Shalltear shifted her gaze to the vampire’s foot and saw that it was indeed caught by a reinforced steel trap.

Rather than humans, the trap was meant for wild animals like bears. If a human were to get caught in it, even if he was wearing greaves, the trap would have fractured the bone. However, a vampire was completely different from a normal human in every aspect.

Although the trap was snapped firmly around her ankles, rather than a fracture, the vampire didn’t even seem to be in pain. In fact, she didn’t even seem to consider it an injury.

A vampire’s natural defenses allowed them to brush off most conventional physical attacks. In order to get around this, one would need to use a magic weapon forged with silver or similar metals. Needless to say, an ordinary bear trap wouldn’t even be able to deal any damage to a vampire, much less leave an actual wound. As soon as the snare was ripped open, the holes in the skin left by its teeth would heal immediately.

However, even when the trap itself did no damage, it was showing its effectiveness as a tool to ensnare its victims. In the first place, the lack of poison made it obvious that the trap wasn’t meant to be fatal. Rather, its purpose was to create a casualty and hinder the opponent’s movements.

“Hurry and free yourself.”

“Yes! Understood!”

Having received Shalltear’s order, the vampire grabbed both sides of the trap with her slender hands and pulled. Unable to withstand the strength exceeding that of a bear, the trap opened its jaws and released its prey.

A beauty prying open a bear trap. For those who don’t know the strength of a vampire, it would have been a surreal scene.

“Seeing as how there’s a trap here, we may not be that far from the scheduled place. Just a bit farther, I believe.”

“Yes. Please give me a moment.”

The vampire in the back flung what she was carrying to the ground.

The object appeared to be a mummified corpse of a human, bled of all its moisture. But they would have never bothered to carry along a simple, ordinary corpse. Sure enough, the body that was sprawled on the ground showed signs of life and began to move.

At the tip of its hands were sharp claws. A red light, much like those belonging to a vampire, burned in its empty eye sockets. Razor sharp canines sprouted from between its slightly parted mouth.

A lesser vampire.

With all of its blood sucked dry, it was one of the bandits that attacked them previously.

“I have a question for you. Are we near your hideout?”

The lesser vampire turned to its master and nodded deeply. It let out a voice that was neither a moan nor a scream.

“—it says we are, Shalltear-sama.”

“I see. Why didn’t they prepare more traps?”

Instead of stopping with a single bear trap, it would’ve been more advantageous for them to have prepared an alarm system or more traps. However, they were nowhere to be found.

Shalltear began to survey her surroundings. Believing that their master was looking for anyone hiding their presence in the area, the two vampire brides followed suit. Only when Shalltear shook her head did they stop.

“… It’s alright. It’s not like you have any searching skills anyway…”

Upon hearing her mutter those words, the vampire realized why she was forgiven.

Including her master, the three of them did not have any skills for finding traps, and thus would not have been able to notice the bear trap before it was sprung. That must have been why she was spared. Her master did not punish others for failing a task that was impossible to begin with.

“It may have been better for us to borrow the girl.”

Solution’s class was one that dealt in assassinations. For her, who possessed skills from the rogue class as well, it would have been easy to detect traps.

“Well, there’s no point in complaining about it now. Let’s hurry to the bandit hideout.”

Before long, they arrived at the vicinity of the mercenary hideout. As they neared their destination, the clumps of trees began to thin out, and eventually disappeared completely. What greeted the party was a stretch of prairie with a few rocks jutting out from the ground.

They had arrived at the land of Karst.

At the heart of a flower-shaped basin, was a large hole dug into the surface. A faint light could be seen seeping out from the hole. From the light, the inside was probably a gentle slope that continued downwards.

The two structures that stood on either side of the cave entrance were obviously man-made.

There stood two wooden barricades, each about half as tall as a person. The craftsmanship was unremarkable at best. It was just a stack of logs held together by rope. Two guards were stationed at the entrance, with each standing behind a barricade. It seems their plan against intruders was to use the barricades as cover against arrows while raising the alarm.

In a normal battle— if they were to advance from here in plain view, without a doubt, reinforcements would come rushing out. The early alarm would allow their opponents ample time to make preparations. A slower approach, hidden under cover, was also impossible. The bandits had cleared the area of any boulders large enough to conceal a stealth approach.

Additionally, the ones stationed outside each had a large bell around their shoulder. Even if a surprise attack on the guards proved successful, the loud chiming would still alert the ones inside.

Their defenses were well thought out.

But there was one way to break through this seemingly hopeless situation.

Magic.

Cast 「Silence」 then kill them, or approach with 「Invisibility」, or lure them out with 「Charm Person」. Destroying the bells directly was also an option.

While pondering which way would be the most enjoyable, Shalltear realized that she was missing a crucial piece of information.

“Is there only one entrance?”

The lesser vampire stiffly nodded its head in affirmation.

Shalltear’s face bloomed into a smile. If that’s the case, then there was nothing more to think about.

A strongly fortified position is strong against surprise attacks, this holds true even when facing a superior number. But it was different for Shalltear and her party.

For those with overwhelming power, there was absolutely no problem with meeting these humans head on. It was a simple matter to crush them like the insects they were. Their only worry would be another exit for their prey to escape.

“Well, we came all this way so there’s no need to hide anymore, is there? It isn’t in my nature to skulk around like a spy.”

“Shalltear-sama is always shining brightly, after all.”

“Stating the obvious isn’t flattery. If you want to flatter me then put more thought into it next time.”

Ignoring her servant that was now begging for forgiveness, Shalltear reached out her hand and grabbed the lesser vampire.

“I’m giving you the important mission of being the vanguard. Now, go.”

With a flick of her skinny arm, Shalltear threw the lesser vampire, and a sound like air being torn apart exploded. The scrawny, corpse-like body spun into the air countless times, and spiraled towards one of the sentries in the distance.

Upon impact, the sentry’s head and chest exploded into a bloody mist. It was a scene that was hard to believe.

The smell of blood was fresh in the air. The other sentry looked at the cruel remains of his partner in a daze, as if he couldn’t process what had just happened.

To the one who did the throwing, it was a delightful spectacle.

“Strike~,”

“Fantastic, Shalltear-sama.”

The two vampires excitedly clapped their hands while Shalltear raised her hands in celebration. Needless to say, the lesser vampire’s body was also obliterated along with the sentry, but no one really cared about that. Since it wasn’t even a member of Nazarick in the first place, there was no need to show concern for the death of a toy.

There’s no way Shalltear would remember a promise made with a human, either.

“Hmm, there’s one more, isn’t there?”

As Shalltear looked around, the two vampires quickly presented a sufficiently large rock.

“Oomph.”

As a bell chimed in the distance, Shalltear grasped the rather large rock in her hand.

Her arm moved at a frightening speed. A moment later, Shalltear happily announced her accomplishment.

“Hmm. This time… we can call that… two strikes.”

Another round of applause.

The sentries inside the cave who heard the bell were yelling that enemies have appeared. They were so loud that the group could hear them all the way from where they were.

Shalltear smiled softly towards the growing noise from within the cave and commanded.

“Now, go. You, climb a tree in the area and watch for anyone trying to run away. And you, get up front and lead the way. But, if a strong one shows up, it’s mine. Be sure to tell me.”

“Yes, Shalltear-sama.”

“Please have a safe trip.”

The vampire that was given the order moved in front of Shalltear. As she slowly walked towards the entrance, the vampire –

The ground gave away, no, it was a trap.

Shalltear may have been able to move out of the way, but a normal vampire’s agility wasn’t enough to react to the ground vanishing beneath their feet.

“Aw~”

The vampire was a low level servant lacking any skills to detect traps. Such an outcome was inevitable. Shalltear knew this, which is why she forgave her for the earlier mistake. But even so, she couldn’t keep the disappointment out of her voice. A laugh escaped her lips; one that was neither awkward nor sweet.

Thinking back, it should’ve been obvious that they would have laid a trap in front of the entrance. Her own foolishness at failing to deduce this beforehand, and the fact that her servant actually got caught in it, was aggravating. These thoughts swirled inside her and were released through Shalltear’s smile.

Most of all, the fact that a servant of Shalltear Bloodfallen, the Floor Guardian in charge of multiple levels of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick got caught by such a pathetic trap was something she couldn’t tolerate.

A voice filled with killing intent spilled out of Shalltear’s scarlet lips.

“I’m going to kill you, so come out immediately.”

With a large leap, the vampire showed herself at the edge of the trap. Except for her dress being dirtied with mud, she appeared unwounded.

“Do not disappoint me any further.”

“Forgive—“

“Leave it. Hurry up and go. Or would you like me to throw you like that trash over there?”

Seeing Shalltear motioning as if to grab her, the vampire understood what her master meant and let out a small yelp. Shalltear watched as her servant scurried into the cave, and slowly followed her inside.

Part 2

Inside a private room, a man stopped maintaining his weapon and focused his ears on the noise.

The bustle of people running, faint screams in the distance.

It was obvious they were under attack, but the enemy’s strength and numbers were unknown despite the fact that they were trained to shout such crucial information.

There was no way he just didn’t happen to hear them either. Even if he was inside a room, it was just a makeshift hole in the wall with a curtain serving as a door. Although the curtain was thick, it was nowhere near enough to block out voices entirely.

Their mercenary group, “Death Spreading Brigade” had seventy members. Although none of them were as strong as him, some were veterans who had survived many battles.

There was no way men like them would fall into this much disarray from a small party. Did that mean the enemy arrived in force? But there wasn’t enough noise to indicate a large battle, and he couldn’t sense the presence of that many foes either.

“Then… adventurers?.”

Few in number, but powerful in combat, then this uncomfortable feeling would make sense.

The man slowly stood up and strapped his weapon to his waist. For armor, he equipped a chainmail. It was easy to wear and didn’t take too much time to put on. Next, he grabbed a leather pouch containing several ceramic potion bottles and secured it to his belt with a knot. Having already equipped his necklace and ring, which were infused with protection magic, the preparations were complete.

The man threw open the curtains, as if he wanted to rip them from the hinges, and then stepped out into the makeshift hallway.

Lined an equal distance apart, the hallway was lit by plundered 「Continual Light」 lanterns so bright that it was hard to believe it was the inside of a cave.

The light revealed his full appearance. Hidden underneath the clothes, his body was lean but not skinny, and his muscles were tough as steel and tempered through experience, rather than training,

His hair was cut haphazardly, the length was uneven, and it pointed outwards in random directions. His brown eyes glared straight ahead, and a sneer was plastered on his lips. The stubble on his chin gave it the appearance of mold.

Although his appearance was untidy, his movements were smooth and elegant, similar to that of a wild beast.

As he walked towards the entrance where the attack was taking place, another man was heading in his direction. He recognized the familiar face as one of his allies. As soon as the other man spotted him, his face brightened in relief, as if to say victory was now assured.

“What’s going on?”

“Enemy attack, Brain-san!”

The man— Brain laughed bitterly and responded.

“I know that, the attackers? Who are they?”

“There are two of them, both women.”

“Women? And only two? Blue Rose… no, that’s impossible.”

With his head turned slightly in thought, Brain continued to head towards the source of the disturbance.

The strongest adventurer party in the kingdom was called ‘Blue Rose’ and was made up of five women. A while back, he had encountered an old woman who could match him blow for blow and the two had fought to a draw. There was also a rumor that the greatest assassin of the empire was a woman.

Strong women were not uncommon. After all, the difference of physical strength between a man and a woman could easily be filled by magic.

Of course, the strongest body coupled with the strongest magical power would mean that person was invincible.

Brain could feel his heart swell in anticipation at the thought of fighting an opponent strong enough to attack them head on.

“Ah, you don’t have to come with me. Head back inside and strengthen the defenses.”

After telling the mercenary such, Brain put strength into his steps and walked towards the strong opponents from the surface.

Brain Unglaus.

Originally a farmer, he was gifted with what could only be described as a God-given talent in the mastery of the sword. Coupled with his natural talent, he had never lost with a weapon in hand. Even in the battlefield, he was a genius whose worst injury was a scratch.

Having never known defeat with the sword, he had always walked a path of victory.

Everyone around him believed it, and he himself never doubted his skill. However, a dramatic change came into his life at a tournament held in the Kingdom’s palace.

It wasn’t as if he joined with the aim of being the champion. He simply wanted to show his skill to the rest of the Kingdom. He believed that they would kneel to his strength. But the result, he faced an unbelievable situation.

Defeat.

His first loss since he first held the sword, no, possibly since he’d been born.

The one who defeated him was a man named Gazef Strolonoff. He was now serving as the Knight-Captain of Re-Estize, and known to be the strongest man in the surrounding nations.

Both men had won all of their battles almost instantly, but the fight between them was long and drawn out, as if they had been saving all of their time for this one battle.

In the end, Gazef finished the battle using his martial art 「Fourfold Slash of Light」. A battle that was still talked about to this day, no one questioned how a man of the lower class rose to the position of Knight-Captain. It was a fight on a scale where even the nobles who disliked Gazef had to admit that he wasn’t weak.

The victor was showered with glory, but to the loser, it was as if everything Brain had built up to that point had come crashing down. Although the battle was close, Brain realized that his confidence of being the strongest was only a delusion born from the narrow-mindedness of a fool.

For one month, he locked himself away in his own world. A normal person would have drowned away his sorrows in alcohol, but Brain threw his despair aside and pulled himself together.

He rejected countless offers for employment from nobles, and sought strength for the first time.

In pursuit of strength, he trained his body.

In pursuit of magic, he gathered knowledge.

A prodigy was working hard like an ordinary person

His defeat had elevated him to a new level.

The reason he had rejected offers from nobles was because he didn’t want his skills to rust away. In order for him to train his skills to the utmost limit, he needed opponents. Since he didn’t train himself just to show off, Brain needed work that provided ample opportunities to experience real battles while also bringing in money.

It was possible to earn a fortune as an adventurer, but that path was closed to him. An adventurer’s work offered little to no opportunities to fight against other humans. Cutting down monsters wasn’t bad, but Brain’s ultimate goal was to defeat Gazef. For that, he needed human opponents.

With his options limited, he chose to work as a member of the “Death Spreading Brigade”. But in truth, any mercenary group would have suited him just fine.

He had only one goal.

To wipe clean his past shame, to turn his defeat into victory.

In order to gain the strength to accomplish his goal, he needed a weapon. He was willing to throw away everything else for the weapon of his desires.

Magic weapons were expensive, but the one he truly wanted wasn’t any ordinary magic weapon.

Further south, past the Kingdom — was a city in the middle of a desert. Amongst the goods that occasionally flowed out from that city was a weapon that, even unenchanted, far surpassed the cutting ability of ordinary magic weapons. It had a price to match, so much so that people’s eyes would pop out of their sockets upon seeing it. That was the weapon he wanted.

And then, he had finally managed to obtain a 「Katana」.

When he closed his eyes, even now, he could see it clearly, the image of Gazef during their great duel.

He had easily dodged Brain’s attack that no man before him could, and counterattacked with four simultaneous strikes.

He could no longer remember his own appearance the moment he lost. Instead, what burned in his memory was the image of the victor who defeated him.

As Brain approached the entrance, the smell of fresh blood hung heavily in the air. He could no longer hear the screams, meaning that those who had been fighting near the entrance had all been killed. It had only been two or three minutes.

The ten men stationed near the entrance were given the task of focusing on defense, to buy time for the rest to make preparations for the battle. To kill these men so quickly—

“If there are really only two of them, they must be as strong as I am.”

Brain’s face broke out into a grin.

He continued with quick steps and drank one of the potions in his belt pouch. A bitter, strong liquid flowed down his throat and into his stomach. He then downed another bottle.

He could feel the heat from his stomach spread out to every inch of his body. In response, the sound of his muscles expanding and growing stronger reached his ears.

The rapid change was due to the strengthening effects of the potion.

The first one he drank was a potion of 「Lesser Strength」, while the second was of 「Lesser Dexterity」.

It wasn’t necessary to ingest the potion directly for it to work; just spraying the correct dose on the body was enough. But Brain always thought that drinking it seemed more effective somehow. Of course, it could simply be his imagination, but imagination could sometimes draw strength where there was none.

He then drew his katana, and applied oil to the blade. The oil emitted a faint light, and soon disappeared, as if it was absorbed into the katana. The oil was called 「Magic Weapon」, and although the effect was temporary, it infused the blade with magic that further boosted its sharpness.

“Activate 1, activate 2.”

The keywords triggered the necklace and ring he had equipped and a faint magic wrapped around his body.

「Necklace of Eye」, as the name suggested, protected his eyes when activated. Resistance to blind status, night vision, light filtering. A warrior who couldn’t land a hit was useless. Hindering one’s field of vision, or creating distance and attacking with ranged attacks are all common tactics used by adventurers. Brain had once lost to adventurers who used such tactics.

「Ring of Magicbound」 allowed its wearer to bind a low level spell to the item and invoke it with the ring as the catalyst. His ring carried 「Lesser Protection Energy」, which allowed him to block elemental damage.

If there really were just two enemies, then this much preparation was necessary. It would be too late to regret not activating the effects beforehand later on.

With this, the preparations were over.

He gathered the overflowing heat emanating from his body and expelled it in one large breath.

As of this moment, with his strengthened physique, Brain had most likely achieved the peak of human strength. With the arrogance that could only stem from absolute confidence in one’s ability, Brain thought in his head with a sneer.

Since I went through this much trouble, they’d better be worth it.

With each step, the smell of blood grew stronger— and finally, he spotted two shadows.

“You two seem to be having fun.”

“Not at all, I think they were too weak. I can’t fill my blood pool too well.”

It was a response that seemed completely unwary of Brain’s sudden appearance, as if they already knew that he was coming. Brain didn’t make any particular effort to conceal his presence either, so he wasn’t surprised.

He scowled slightly as he looked at the two intruders.

“They told me it was two women, but one of them is just a kid… and she’s wearing a dress…?”

He immediately tossed aside such thoughts. Floating above the girl whose beauty seemed to be without equal, was a sphere that looked as if it was made of blood.

“First time I’ve seen that kind of magic… you’re a magic caster?”

A magic caster would have no need for armor, which would explain why these two would be wearing a dress in a place like this.

“A faith based magic caster, believer of the bloodline of the origin, God Cainabel.”

“Cainabel? First time hearing of a god by that name. Is he an evil god?”

“Yes, he belonged to that category. Well, he was defeated by the Supreme Beings anyways. According to them, he was a ‘weak event boss’. “

Shifting his eyes away from the girl who was going on about some Supreme Beings and whatnot, Brain focused his attention on the woman standing like a servant. This one was also a beauty. Her buxom figure seemed to radiate sensuality.

From the splotches of crimson covering her white dress, she must have been the one who killed the guards.

Brain simply shrugged his shoulders and grasped his katana.

“Well, that’s not important. I’m ready to go whenever. If you can’t say the same, I can wait. What’ll you do?”

Giving him a surprised look, the girl covered her mouth in order to stifle a faint laugh.

“How brave of you, will you really be fine alone? You may call more of your friends, if you’d like.”

“We both know that bringing together a bunch of third-rates won’t work against you two. I will be enough.”

“Are you one of those…? The type that doesn’t understand how high the sky is? Do you think you can touch the stars simply by reaching for them? That type of naivety should be reserved for children like Aura. It’s just disgusting with an adult.”

“What wrong with adults like that? I guess a girl can’t understand a man’s romance?”

Brain drew his katana into a stance. Seeing this, the girl wore a bored expression and glanced towards the ceiling and spoke.

“You can start now.”

The girl gestured with her chin, prompting the woman next to her to dash forward.

Her movement was truly like the wind, but— for Brain, even the speed of the wind was not fast enough.

“Haah!”

With a roar, Brain launched himself with all the strength in his body and struck like a storm. The slash held enough power to easily cleave an armored man in two.

“Kuh!”

“Tsk, too shallow.”

Stopped during the middle of her rush, the vampire gripped her shoulder and was forced to back away. The katana had entered through the collarbone and left a slash across her chest.

Brain narrowed his eyes as he watched his opponent.

Aside from the fact that he had failed to kill her with the first blow, there was another thing that he had trouble understanding. The wound on her shoulder should have been sprouting blood, but not a single drop could be seen.

‘Is it magic?’

While in thought, Brain’s eyes squinted slightly when he saw the wound that her hand had been covering.

The katana wound on her shoulder was slowly but surely, being healed. Although he had heard rumors of the existence of high speed healing magic, this seemed different. Then there was only one other answer.

A monster with the ability to regenerate, the sharp canines sprouting from her mouth, crimson eyes filled with enmity, a human-like appearance…

Brain, whose trail of thought had led up to this point, realized the monster’s identity.

“A vampire…huh. Its special abilities.… high speed regeneration, charm, life drain, spawn vampire minions, resistance against weapons and cold.. I think there was more….

whatever.”

He just had to cut them down. With that in mind, Brain firmly gripped his katana.

The woman widened her eyes and her crimson pupils grew eerily large.

At that moment, Brain’s mind began to cloud over. The enemy in front of him started to seem more and more like an ally. However, with a quick shake of his head, the mist was gone.

“… A charm? My mind isn’t so weak for it to be influenced by something of that level. “

Not only his weapon, even Brain’s heart was like that of a katana. He was easily able to dispel simple charm spells.

The vampire looked at him with hatred and bared her fangs, but it was a look born out of fear. One who was confident in their own strength would have simply attacked. In other words, the vampire had become wary, whether it was because of his attack, or because of the realization that he was a formidable opponent.

“At least you’re smart. But even a wild beast can tell that much.”

Brain shuffled his feet and inched towards the vampire. Matching his advance, his opponent slowly retreated backwards.

How boring.

Brain laughed mockingly, and as if taunted, the vampire stopped her retreat and advanced slightly.

The distance between the two was now three meters. For the vampire, it was a distance she could cover in a single leap. However, her wariness towards Brain’s skill prevented her from stepping forward immediately. Then— a small smile formed on her lips, and the vampire extended her hand in front of her.

「Shock Wave」.

The ground tore in its wake as the shockwave hurtled towards Brain. Easily able to crush full plate mail, for Brain, who was only wearing a chainmail, being hit by such a blast would leave him gravely injured. Not only that, the huge difference in physical abilities between the two meant that taking even a single hit would greatly turn the tide of battle against him.

However— the vampire widened her eyes in surprise.

“Try celebrating after actually hitting your target. Your movements are too easy to read.”

— He was untouched.

Having easily dodged the invisible attack, Brain said with a smirk. The vampire wore a look of surprise and panic and jumped backwards with a large leap. She had realized that it was a mistake to underestimate this human as a lower life form.

On the other hand, although he did not show it on his face, Brain knew he had to rethink his plan of attack. The thought that she could use magic had escaped him completely.

Brain’s ultimate goal was Gazef, and their fight would be settled with their swords. Because of this, his skill in magic wasn’t on par with his skill with the sword. Against such an opponent, he couldn’t predict what she would do next.

The result was a stalemate where both sides glared at each other, waiting for an opening to strike.

Growing weary of the situation, the girl let out a sigh.

“Haa… substitution.”

As the girl snapped her finger to interject, her dry voice caused the vampire to tremble uncontrollably.

In front of his opponent who had completely lost her focus, Brain did not move.

Even when given such an opening, he did not take the opportunity to attack. Instead, he shifted his attention to the girl and stared searchingly.

Her body was skinny and contrasted oddly with her swollen chest. Her arms looked frail enough for Brain to easily snap like a twig.

There were many types of faith based magic casters. Clerics were strong in close combat, while Priestesses and Bishops specialized in magic incantations.

Since she asked to switch, she must be confident enough to fight without a guard. Then—

Brain’s face broke into a smile.

She doesn’t seem to be the type to fight with summons. Another vampire, then.

Judging by her behavior, this one must be a higher level than the other vampire. You can never judge a monster by their appearance. It wouldn’t be strange for her to be even stronger than the one before, especially since she decided to step in after seeing how strong Brain was.

And the vampire’s reaction earlier… was it fear?

The master feared by its vampire servant… she’s strong, someone I can’t take lightly.

While keeping the girl in his sights, Brain furiously racked his head trying to figure out her identity.

A vampire’s master, is she a vampire lord similar to the ones from the legends? If I recall correctly, one of the more famous vampire lords was 「Landfall」, who destroyed a kingdom…I heard it was killed by the thirteen heroes.

If the past heroes managed to do it, then it wasn’t impossible.

Grasping his katana with renewed vigor, Brain readied his stance.

“I am Brain Unglaus.”

Having stated his name to the strong opponent, what came back in response was a look of confusion.

Feeling the awkwardness in the air, Brain asked her.

“… Your name?”

“Oh! You’re asking for my name? Cocytus would have stated his already, but I didn’t see you as an opponent so I was slow to notice. Please forgive me. You should’ve just said so.”

The girl grabbed the skirt of her dress, and, like asking a man for a dance at a ball, gave her greeting.

“Shalltear Bloodfallen. Allow me to enjoy this.”

With a weapon pointed towards her, the girl gave a graceful bow. Did she think he wouldn’t attack? Or maybe, was she confident enough to block his attack completely even if he did? The answer was clearly written in her expression, it was the latter. As if to say, you are not a threat.

— I’ll break that composure of yours.

Brain glared at Shalltear with a look sharp enough to frighten even the most hardened warriors. Honestly, he didn’t like her relaxed attitude, but a part of him welcomed it.

The arrogance of the strong.

It was one of the weapons humans could use to defeat monsters whose physical abilities were far above and beyond their own. In the past, Brain had multiple encounters with such creatures where he won by using this chance.

Most of all— he could mock them after defeating them, teaching the fools that there were opponents in this world you shouldn’t underestimate.

“Will you not be using martial arts?”

— Martial art.

Over the course of a warrior’s training, they push themselves to the limit and learn special skills that draw out all of their strength. Martial arts create unexplainable phenomena that are drawn from the warrior’s own aura. It is the use of magic through weapons.

Against an opponent vastly larger than yourself, 「Fortress」 would allow one to shrug off powerful attacks and fight him head on.

By channeling your aura into your blade and releasing it in a powerful blast, 「Severing Blade」 would allow one to take down strong opponents in a single attack.

If the opponent was heavily armored, using 「Heavy Blow」 with a crushing weapon would prove effective.

Or, by simply strengthening yourself with 「Ability Boost」, one could grasp victory with just their physical body.

Martial arts allowed one to prepare for many different situations, as such, warriors trained to learn various skills and master them in order to truly make them their own. This was especially true for adventurers, who faced dangers far above the norm.

As for Brain—

“Hmph. I won’t need it against someone like you.”

That was a lie. He wasn’t stupid enough to reveal his hand before the battle.

Brain slowly exhaled while lowering his body, and returned the katana to its sheath.

His feet planted firmly.

His breath; narrow and long.

He focused his consciousness to a single point, and upon reaching its limit, released it in an enormous wave. He had created a world where he could sense sound, space and presence. It was the first of his original martial art— 「Field」.

A range of three meters, despite its short reach, it was a martial art that allowed one to instantly perceive everything in their surroundings. It would be easier to describe it as a skill that raised one’s accuracy and evasion to the limit.

When combined with Brain’s trained body, this martial art became incredibly powerful.

Even if a thousand arrows were to rain down on him, he was confident that he could instantly perceive and deflect the ones that would hit him, walking away without a scratch.

What’s more, his body was capable of movements precise enough to split a grain of wheat at a distance.

And—

All life ends when their vitals are cut. That was all he needed.

Instead of learning versatile skills, it was better to focus on just one aspect; a step faster than the opponent, a fatal attack that will always hit. Born from those ideals, was his second original martial art— 「Instant Slash」

Even after achieving a high-speed slash that was nigh impossible to avoid, he did not stop.

‘Difficult’ didn’t even begin to describe his training. He practiced his 「Instant Slash」 hundreds of thousands, no, millions of times, until the calluses on his hands hardened, until the katana’s grip resembled the shape of his palms.

In the endless pursuit of the limit, a new skill was born.

A slash so fast that not even a drop of blood remains on the blade, 「God Slash」, a skill he felt was bordering on the realm of the gods.

Once the blade left its sheath, it was impossible for the enemy to even see it coming.

These two martial arts; an absolute awareness and a godlike slash, an unavoidable attack combining both 「Field」 and 「God Slash」 formed to create his trump card.

The target to aim for was the vitals.

Ideally, the neck.

This was his Hidden Skill— Wind of the Great Forest.

It was named after the sound of blood sprouting shortly after severing the neck.

Even if the vampire didn’t bleed, cutting off her head would secure his victory.

“Are you ready now?”

In front of Brain, in his imposing silence and sharp breathing, Shalltear merely shrugged her shoulders in boredom.

“I’m going to assume you are and start attacking. If you have anything to say, now would be the time.”

After a brief moment—

“—I’m going to crush you.”

With a joyful declaration, Shalltear stepped forward.

Keep talking while you can. Let’s see if you can keep that composure after I separate your head from your body.

He didn’t say it out loud, if he opened his mouth, it felt as if his concentration so far would be wasted.

Shalltear, seemingly without a care in the world, approached him. She walked completely defenseless, as if she was going to a picnic.

Seeing his opponent so full of openings, Brain fought to keep the smirk off his face.

Foolish, would be the only way to describe it. Nevertheless, he won’t give her the chance.

While activating 「Raise Stats」, Brain waited for his adversary to enter his 「Field」. He concentrated everything to the moment when she would enter the range of his blade. These foolish monsters that think they’re the strongest, they’re all the same. They think that humans are weak, that our bodies are fragile, our abilities nonexistent.

But I will teach you how dangerous it is to underestimate us.

Brain swore in his heart. Martial arts were created so humans could fight enemies far beyond them.

— I’ll kill her with one attack.

The prouder they were, the more desperate they become once cornered. If he couldn’t kill her with the first attack, she would no doubt order her servant to join the fight. Then the situation would become two versus one, and even Brain couldn’t be confident against those odds.

That’s why he had to settle it in one blow.

His face unmoving, Brain silently ridiculed her.

Approaching without care, she didn’t understand that she was walking towards a guillotine.

Just three more steps, two steps.

… one.

And then—

— your head is mine!

Thinking so in his head, Brain put everything into his slash.

“Tsuu!”

His breath was sharp and short.

The katana exploded from its sheath and cut through the air towards Shalltear’s bare neck.

The speed was like a flash of lightning. So fast that by the time the light entered your vision, your head would already be falling to the ground. Millions of repetitions had finally resulted in a speed that entered the realm of gods.

I got her.

Brain was certain—

— and couldn’t help but widen his eyes.

The slash that cut through the air had all of his strength behind it. If she had managed to dodge, then he would have been forced to admit that an opponent stronger than even his wildest imagination had finally appeared before him.

However—

Shalltear had caught it with her fingers.

— a slash near the speed of light.

And with a delicate motion like holding the wings of a butterfly—.

The air around him seemed to freeze. Brain exhaled a large breath.

“… I–Impossible.”

His voice carried barely a whisper.

Brain forcefully held back his body that was threatening to tremble uncontrollably. He couldn’t believe the sight in front of him. But without a doubt, resting on his outstretched blade were two fingers, both white as pearls— her thumb and index finger.

Not only that, her wrist was bent at a 90 degrees angle while holding the flat side of the blade, instead of the sharp edge. Rather than stopping it head on, she had caught up to the katana’s speed— caught up to his 「God Slash」 from behind.

Although it looked as if she was holding it lightly, no matter how hard Brain pushed and pulled against her, the katana didn’t budge. It felt as if the sword was chained to a boulder hundreds of times his size.

Suddenly, the power exerted on the katana rose, causing Brain to almost lose his balance.

“Hmph. Cocytus has a few swords too, but it seems they’re not even worth being wary about when there’s this much of a difference between the wielders.”

Shalltear peered at the blade while drawing it closer to her face.

Brain, who had no idea what she was talking about, felt the inside of his head turn white.

It was the despair of having his entire way of life denied in front of him.

But it was thanks to his defeat in the past that he could stay standing. Similar to how a broken bone grows stronger after it’s mended; his experience with defeat was what kept him strong.

It was impossible, but he had no choice but to admit it.

She had easily caught his light-speed slash.

Brain looked pale. Shalltear was surprised to see him this way and frowned. She then sighed in disappointment.

“Do you understand now? I’m not an opponent you can beat without using martial arts. If you finally get it, shouldn’t you start getting serious?”

Hearing such cruel words, Brain unintentionally let a single word slip from his mouth.

“Monster…”

Shalltear gave an innocent smile, like a blooming flower.

“That’s right. You just figured it out? I am a cruel, composed, merciless — and adorable monster.”

She released her grip on the blade and jumped back to her original position. It was probably accurate to a millimeter.

“Are you ready now?”

Shalltear said with a playful smile. Hearing the same question as before, Brain flared up in anger. Just how much could she look down on someone?

On the other hand, Brain shuddered as he realized that his opponent was strong enough to make a mockery of him, a human who had reached the highest pinnacle of strength.

— should I make a run for it?

Brain always considered survival to be his number one priority. If it seemed like he couldn’t win, the best plan was to retreat and live to fight another day. Even now, he believed that he still had room to grow stronger. That’s why as long as he survived, the only thing he had to do was emerge as the winner in the end.

But even if he retreated now, the fundamental difference between their physical abilities was insurmountable.

Careful not to make his plan obvious, Brain focused his attention on his new target.

The enemy’s legs; the plan was to cripple her mobility and flee with everything he had.

The idea was to attack where her defenses were weakest, the area where her hands had trouble reaching.

Having decided his next attack, Brain trained his eyes on Shalltear’s neck and returned his katana to its sheath. Once launched, he could accurately hit his 「God Slash」 even with his eyes closed. Then the obvious plan would be to deceive the enemy with his eyes.

“—I’m going to crush you.”

Once again, Shalltear stepped forward with light steps.

The first time, Brain had eagerly waited for her to enter his 「Field」. But this time was different. If possible, he didn’t want her anywhere near him.

How his heart had weakened. Realizing this, Brain furiously tried to reignite his spirit, to no avail. It was like the fire that burned inside him had run out of fuel. Left in such a state, he waited for Shalltear to enter while observing with his 「Field」.

Three steps, two steps, one step—

— she entered his range.

While staring at his opponent’s neck, Shalltear’s face entered his vision.

— he only had one real target, her right ankle in mid-motion.

He slightly dropped his katana, still in its sheath, all in an attempt to accelerate himself even a tiny bit faster.

After breaking his concentration, he confirmed that the speed of this slash would be even faster than the previous one. If he himself were on the receiving end, he would not be able to defend against it.

This could work!

Just barely visible beneath the edges of her skirt, as he was about to blow away the thin ankle that suited the girl so well—

— the katana slipped out from his hand.

Having regained his senses, Brain had no idea what had happened just then. His 「Field」 that blessed him with absolute awareness finally caught up and revealed the katana that rolled onto the ground, with the girl’s heel pushing it into the dirt.

Impossible, but it was reality.

The reason the katana had slipped from Brain’s grip was due to the high heels’ force that was transmitted through the blade.

There was just one reason why he didn’t want to believe.

Even with his concentration raised to the utmost limit, even within the 「Field」 that he was so proud of; Brain could not perceive the moment when she blocked the attack.

From a distance close enough to touch by simply reaching out a hand, Shalltear looked down at him with an icy gaze. Brain felt an incredible pressure that threatened to crush him into the earth.

He was panting now.

Sweat flowed profusely down his body, he felt an urge to vomit. His mind grew dizzy as his vision twisted and turned.

He had been in plenty of situations where he was pushed to his limit, they were commonplace. However, compared to now, they seemed fake— like memories of a children’s playground.

The high heels released the blade, and Shalltear wordlessly jumped back.

“—Are you ready now?”

“!”

The third time hearing that voice, more than anything, he felt absolute despair.

Expecting her next words to be the usual “I’m going to trample you now”, what flowed into Brain’s ears next was something different.

“Is it possible… you can’t use any martial arts?”

Hearing her sympathetic voice filled with pity, Brain inhaled sharply.

He was at a loss for words. No, what could he possibly say in response? That was it just now but you defeated it easily. Could he sound any more like a clown?

While biting down on his lips, Brain picked up his blade off the ground.

“… Were you not that strong, after all? I thought you would be stronger than the ones at the entrance… Oh, I’m sorry. It seems the lowest metric I can use to measure strength is a meter. The difference between one or two millimeter is just impossible for me to discern.”

His unrelenting effort.

His fight with Gazef was when he was confident in his own talent. The man who did not put in the effort lost to the man who did. Because of that, the failure engraved into his heart was channeled into a motivating force.

That renewed earnestness he poured into his training was what defined his existence. Everything he was, this monster before him made a mockery of it.

I must seem pathetic. I, after all the monsters that I’ve killed, the arrogant fools who underestimated me just because they believed themselves to be stronger—

While harboring such thoughts, Brain forcibly suppressed his self-deprecation. Instead—

“—AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!”

With a scream, he charges at Shalltear with his sword raised high. Towards Shalltear, who had been looking at him with a peculiar expression — he swings down his katana with the weight of his entire body.

A slash with the power of all of his muscles would have easily cleaved a human in two, even with the protection of a helmet. Against such a powerful attack, Shalltear stares at him with no intention to move.

This time for sure, he had her; such thoughts flashed through his head.

But his thoughts were soon replaced by the surreal scene that occurred just before. It’ll be impossible for her to catch this so easi—

Immediately after, his worst fears were realized.

A loud noise rang out, and once again, Brain was confronted with an impossible scene.

Shalltear’s left pinky moved at an unbelievable speed — about two centimeters long, her fingernail had repelled his slash. What’s more, her hand looked as if it wasn’t even strained. Her fist was not fully clenched, and her pinky was gently bent against the blade.

With a playful motion, she had stopped Brain’s attack at full power.

The attack that cut through armor, shattered swords and destroyed shields—

His spirit was tattered, threatened to shatter at a moment’s notice. It took everything he had to keep himself together. His hand still shaking from the impact, he channels strength into his grip, raises his katana, and brings it down once more. And— once more, it is casually blocked by Shalltear.

“Fuaaa~.”

A dramatic yawn, as if it was on purpose. Her free hand covered her mouth as if to stifle it. Her gaze now points to the ceiling. All traces of her regarding Brain as an opponent has vanished.

Even so,

Even so— Brain’s katana was still deflected.

By a left pinky.

“UUWWAAAAHHHHHHHH!!”

A battle cry exploded from his throat. No, that wasn’t a battle cry, it was a wail.

Lateral slash— deflected.

Upper left diagonal slash— deflected.

Vertical slash— deflected.

Upper right diagonal slash— deflected.

Rising slash— deflected.

Reverse slash— deflected.

Every attack from every direction on every part of the body, all deflected.

It was as if the katana was being drawn to her nail.

In that moment, Brain finally understood.

An existence that stood in a place reserved only for those possessing true, absolute strength. It was a place that no amount of god given talent or hard work could ever hope to approach, let alone fight.

“Ara? Are you tired? Well anyways, this nail clipper is awfully dull.”

Hearing her words, he stopped his hands that were swinging the katana.

Could one cut a mountain with a sword? Something like that was impossible. Any child would know something so obvious. Then, could one win against Shalltear? Any warrior who fought her would know the answer.

Absolutely impossible.

A human could never beat an existence possessing power beyond human imagination. If, for example, someone could fight her head on, it would be a being that surpassed humans.

Unfortunately, Brain was just a warrior considered to be one of the strongest only amongst humans. Yes. No matter how much effort one put in, being born a human meant that all of it only amounted to an infant swinging a stick.

“…. I …. all that effort….”

“Effort? What a meaningless word. I was created strong so such effort was unnecessary.”

Brain couldn’t help but laugh at those words.

All of his work had been useless. To think he had been so confident, so sure that he was a prodigy.

His limbs felt heavy, as if they were tied down by shackles.

“…..? Ahahahaha, why are you crying? Did something sad happen?

He knew Shalltear was saying something to him, but he couldn’t hear her. It was like she was speaking from a place very far away.

The calluses on his hands formed from blisters on top of blisters, the countless practice swings with the steel rod, they were all meaningless. The endless running while wearing heavy armor, the bare-handed fights against monsters that he narrowly won, all meaningless.

The life he had led until now, everything was for naught.

In front of true strength, Brain was no different from the weaklings he had looked down until now.

“I was a fool….”

“….Are you satisfied now? Will it be alright if I end this?

Shalltear smiled mischievously and approached him with her pinky raised. Seeing this, Brain let out a cry. It wasn’t the battle cry of a warrior that he showed before, but the sobbing of a child.

Brain ran.

With his back turned.

He knew the difference in their abilities, it was engraved in him. Shalltear would be able to catch him in an instant.

However, none of that was in his mind. No, he didn’t even have the time to worry about such things. He simply, with his face stained in tears, bared his defenseless back and ran inside as fast as his legs could carry him.

At this moment, Brain felt on his back the innocent voice of a girl whose breath smelled of blood.

“And now a game of tag? You’re putting in quite the effort, aren’t you? Then I guess I should enjoy myself. Ahahahaha.”

Part 3

Cold air blew into the large hall. It flew between the gaps in the barricade and brushed over the forty-two remaining members of the “Death Spreading Brigade”. Because it was the largest room in the cave, the hall was usually used as the mess hall. However, presently, it had been transformed into a fort.

Located within the deepest part of cave that served as the mercenary’s hideout, the sides of the long and narrow hall were lined with many rooms: living quarters and storage space for weapons and food supplies. Because of this, losing that area meant that the rest would be picked off one by one. In the case of an attack, they would build an encampment in the hall and use it as their last line of defense.

Despite calling it an encampment, the construction was mediocre at best.

First, they placed crude tables on their sides, then stacked several wooden boxes to complete what could just barely pass as a blockade. Next, they stretched numerous ropes at around half a man’s height between them and the entrance of the hall. Their purpose was to prevent the enemy from charging into the barricade.

Just behind these defenses, almost every mercenary held a crossbow and stood ready. They were arranged at the center and at either flank.

Despite being protected by such simple defenses that still allowed them to fight against larger forces, the men’s faces were filled with unease.

The sound of rattling metal rang out as bodies trembled against the chainmail wrapped around them.

It was true that the temperature inside the cave wasn’t that high; it was enough for summers to feel comfortable. But what seized them was something slightly different from a chill.

Just a short moment before, a loud laughter rang out from the entrance. It was a terrifying laughter that echoed against the walls of the cavern, rendering it indiscernible as to whether the voice belonged to a man or a woman. It was this voice that froze their insides cold.

An enemy that could defeat Brain; someone like that didn’t exist. Even now, they still believed it.

Brain’s strength was in a different league. He was skilled to the point where even the empire’s knights were no match for him; monsters were no exception. He could kill an ogre in a single attack, and could jump into a pack of goblins and cut them down like grass. He was a man who could even defeat all the members of the “Death Spreading Brigade” in a head-on clash. They had no choice but to call such a person the strongest.

A man of that caliber had lost; the implications were severe.

The fact that the opponent had the leisure to laugh during a fight against Brain meant only one thing.

Even when everyone understood, no one spoke.

The best they could manage was to silently look at each other’s faces.

Every single member of the mercenaries had their mouths closed shut, and glared in the direction of the hall’s entrance— the cave’s entrance.

In the midst of the mounting tension—

The sound of someone running could be heard; it slowly grew louder.

One could hear the sound of someone swallowing their saliva. A silence dominated the hall, and was soon broken by the noise of numerous arrows being nocked to its position.

A man completely out of breath ran through the hall’s entrance, under watch by the entirety of the mercenary group. It was a wonder how the arrows didn’t immediately fly in his direction.

“Brain!”

The boss of the mercenaries — their leader yelled aloud. Following shortly, the hall exploded in cheers. It was a roar of celebration for their victory against the intruders.

Each man pounded the shoulder of the one next to him, and shouts praising Brain rang out in triumph.

His name could be heard countless times. Surrounded in cheers, Brain weakly held his weapon in one hand and stood at the entrance of the hall with a blank expression. He suddenly began to search the faces of the mercenaries around him.

No, that was wrong, he was looking for something else.

Seeing Brain act so differently from his usual self, the cheering in the room slowly died down.

Brain ran towards the barricade.

“H, Hey! Just hold on! We’re opening it right now!”

As if he didn’t hear a word, he squeezed his body through. Not wanting to wait even one minute, one second, Brain passed the barricade and ran.

With the confused looks of the bandits following behind him, he threw open the door to a storage room and ran inside.

“What was that about? Did he leave something in there?”

“Who knows? Something was strange about him though… he looked like he was crying… no way, right?”

Amongst them, one man’s face had changed. He understood the truth of the situation that only he, no, with Brain combined; only two at present had come to grasp. However, the man had no time to ascertain whether or not he was correct.

Click, with a quiet sound, another figure had emerged from the entrance.

Needless to say, it was an unfamiliar face. If no one amongst the mercenaries knew who this person was, it meant that she was the intruder responsible for the chaos. The commotion in the hall dried up instantly.

That was impossible, then Brain’s appearance here would take on a completely different meaning. The fact that the intruder was alive meant that he had lost and fled.

There was only one intruder, with a hunched appearance that looked incredibly eerie.

A small body, she looked like young girl. Her hands were hanging loosely at her sides, and her chin was bent all the way downwards. The strange part was that considering the position of her head relative to the base of her neck, her neck looked as if it was at least three times as long as a normal person’s.

With such an appearance, seemingly unconcerned that her long and shiny silver hair was dragging along the ground, she slowly entered the hall. Her fine, pitch-black dress gave her the appearance of being clad in darkness.

No one said a word.

An appearance so queer; a heart stopping chill.

Slowly— her head moved. Behind the thin, silver hair that covered the entirety of her face, two crimson eyes lit up. And slowly narrowed like needles.

Everyone present understood. No— they were forced to understand.

She was laughing.

The frightening girl raised her chin, revealing a graceful face. But to those who saw her appearance just before, there was nothing more disturbing. The face was too elegant; it looked like a mask carved by the hands of a first-rate artisan.

“Hello everyone. I am Shalltear Bloodfallen. Is this the finish line? Is the game over?”

The girl who seemed to be spouting utter nonsense— Shalltear scanned her surroundings. But unable to spot the one she was looking for, her beautiful face frowned. With no one looking to interrupt her, once more, the girl’s voice rang through the hall.

“This time it’s hide and seeeeeeeeeeeek?”

She laughs mischievously. As if she found something irresistibly hilarious, the girl looked down and continued to laugh, her hair covering her face.

With their situation growing more abnormal by the second, the mercenaries inhaled a giant gulp of breath. All the while, Shalltear’s laughter grew louder and louder.

“AhahaaaaahahahaAHAHAAAAAAAAHAHAHA!!”

With her laugh continuing to ring out loud, she raised her head.

The face that entered their vision caused the mercenaries to simultaneously feel as if their heart stopped and their blood froze over.

There was no beauty to be found in that face. The color of her iris spilled forth and dyed the rest of her eyes in a deep crimson. Her teeth, which seemed so white and beautiful just a moment ago, were replaced with rows of narrow, needle-like fangs similar to the jaws of a shark. Her lips, which gave off a bewitching red glint, grew smoother, and a transparent glob of saliva trailed down from the corner of her mouth.

“AHAHAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAAAAHAHAHA!”

Shalltear’s lips tore upwards to just below her ears, and let loose a laughter that sounded like the ringing of countless off-tune bells.

The air in the hall sounded as if it was screaming.

Even considering that they were inside a cave, the reverberation was frightening. It was as if the air itself couldn’t endure the noise and was crying out in pain.

— girl?

— monster?

— beast?

She was none of those.

An avatar of terror—.

Even at this distance, her breath was so overpowering that the stench of blood was plenty apparent. It looked as if even the air around her was dyed red from the smell.

“Uuuuwaaaahhhhh!!”

With a scream, a mercenary completely overwhelmed by terror pulled the trigger on his crossbow.

“—Fire!”

Snapped awake by the voice of their leader, the rest of the mercenaries fired their crossbows with the feeling of wanting to reject their fear. The arrows fell with the sound of heavy rainfall and pierced Shalltear’s body.

Of the 40 shots fired, 31 of them found their mark. Every single one that hit was lodged deeply into their target. It was an obvious outcome, considering that at this distance, the arrows could easily penetrate through iron armor.

There were four arrows through the head, if it were a human, the wound would be fatal.

“We got it…”

Someone muttered.

It was the hope that was on the tongue of every mercenary present. Although she was still standing, the arrows that covered her body made her look like a porcupine. Realistically, she was definitely dead. Although it made sense in their head, a thorn named terror was still lodged deeply in a corner of their heart.

The mercenaries, as if urged by some hidden beasts’ survival instinct, started to nock another arrow into their crossbows.

And— Shalltear moved.

Shalltear laughed. The smile that rose to her face could truly be called foul.

The fear took them, their screams erupted in every direction as once again, countless arrows headed towards Shalltear’s direction.

Through the eyes, the neck, buried in the stomach, lodged in the shoulder. Even in that hailstorm, she treated it like a minor annoyance, a drizzle of rain.

“Thaaaaaaaat wooooonnnn’t wooooorrrrk. You’re trying too haaaaaarrrrrrrd.”

A step. Then— a leap.

The distance to the ceiling was about five meters. A jump high enough to touch the top, easily clearing the barricade and landing on the opposite side. Her heels touched the ground with a click, and the arrows that littered her body all clattered to the floor.

She turns her face around towards the mercenaries still reloading behind her.

And with one foot forward— strikes.

A blow without any of her weight behind it, it was a simple punch that looked as if she was merely placing her hand forward. But the speed and destructive power of that punch was in a league of its own.

Her fist easily passed through a lone mercenary and crashed into the barricade. With an exploding noise, the wood splintered and was crushed, sending chunks of the barricade scattering everywhere.

A heavy curtain of silence filled the hall. The only noise that could be heard was from the pieces of wood falling to the ground.

The mercenaries stood staring absentmindedly at Shalltear, their hands no longer busy trying to reload.

Shalltear proceeded to stick her index finger into the blood orb that floated above her head. As she slowly withdrew her finger, a string of blood trailed behind it and drew a character in front of her. Similar to Sanskrit or runes, it had formed a magic character.

It was a skill called 「Blood Pool」 from one of Shalltear’s classes, [Blood Drinker]. By storing blood drawn from fallen enemies, it allowed the user to create a ball of magical energy that could later be used for other purposes. Also, by drawing its power, one could use magic augmentation skills without spending MP.

[Penetrate Magic: Implosion]

10^th level magic— as the strongest level of magic flew out, the bodies of ten mercenaries suddenly became bloated.

They didn’t even have the chance to scream. As they looked down at themselves in confusion, a face filled with terror was all that was allowed of them. The next moment— the light popping noise of balloons could be heard as their bodies exploded.

“Ahahaaaaahahaahahaha! Splaaaaaaaat! It’s sooooo prrreeeeeeeeeeetttttty—!”

Shalltear motioned towards the bloody mist and laughed happily while clapping her hands.

“Uwaaaahhhh!

With a cry, an estoc flew out and stabbed Shalltear’s chest from the back— through where her heart was. It twisted and turned, trying to widen the wound.

“Die!”

Following suit, a broadsword cleaved halfway through her head and became lodged around her left eye.

“Keep attacking, you guys!”

A mixture of screams and roars, their battle cry exploded as three mercenaries brought their weapons down on Shalltear.

Again and again, their swords slashed through her. However, with the broadsword still stuck in her face, Shalltear stood calmly. As if their attacks didn’t even itch, let alone actually hurt. She wore a smile that only served to infuriate them further.

After countless attacks, the exhausted mercenaries released their grip on their weapons; with a cry of lament, they showered her with punches and kicks. Despite their difference in size, like a huge boulder, Shalltear stood unmoving.

Shalltear tilted her head and stared at her attackers, deep in thought. Then, as if she just thought of something good, clapped her hands together.

“Haaaaauuuuaaaaa.”

As if releasing all of the heat inside her, she let out a massive breath. The stomach-churning stench of blood filled the surroundings.

Shalltear lazily pulled the broadsword out of her head. Needless to say, it didn’t even leave a scratch.

As she was about to swing the sword, Shalltear’s hand stopped in midair. The blade in her hand was gradually crumbling to pieces. In her mind that was hungry for blood, she remembered one of her class’— [Cursed Knight]’s penalties. She tossed the weapon aside in disappointment and lazily swiped with her hand.

Three heads rolled onto the floor.

“R, Run away! Quickly! Retreat!”

“You can’t kill a monster like that!”

Crying out in unison, the mercenaries began to flee.

One of them, who had lost all will to fight, felt Shalltear’s hand close around the back of his head. Crack, squish, with a sound similar to forcefully prying open a shellfish, pieces of his brain flew in every direction as his head exploded.

“Ahahahaaahaha. What’s wrong with his heeeaaaaaaad? How scaaaaaaarrrry! Ahahahahaaaahaha! Wait for me, eveeeeryoooone! Ahahahaaaahahahaaaaaa!”

The mercenaries, overcome with curiosity by the bizarre sound behind them, were greeted with this gruesome spectacle. Like something straight out of a nightmare, the laughing, bloodthirsty queen ran towards them with the determination to not let even one of them escape.

A mercenary who stumbled and tripped over his own feet while trying to run fell to his knees in prostration.

“D, Don’t kill me! Please! I won’t do bad things anymore!”

Seeing the man, his face stained with tears, grabbing desperately onto her leg and begging for his life, Shalltear’s face formed an evil smile that looked like a crack. The mercenary instantly realized what her smile meant, and his already pale face became dyed completely in white.

“Whoooooooosssssssh fllyyy!”

“NO! NOOOOOO!!”

Shalltear grabbed the man, who was still desperately clinging to her leg, on his back and lightly flung him towards the ceiling.

Unable to resist the overwhelming strength that pulled at him, the mercenary was forced to let go. He clenched his eyes shut as he was wrapped by a momentary feeling of weightlessness. Soon enough, gravity took him back and pain shot through his arms as they dashed against the floor.

“Ughh!”

The pain was proof that he was still alive. A moment of relief, the mercenary slightly opened his eyes and soon understood that it was a false hope. With her skinny arms, Shalltear had gently caught him before the rest of his body could crash onto the floor.

He still hadn’t escaped from the clutches of this terrible monster.

No, not only that — his eyes showed a huge, gaping mouth. A stench he had never experienced before, like a condensed mass of blood, stabbed his nose.

“Ahahahahahaaaaha, sooooooo fuuuuuuuun. Did you think you could die so eaaaasiiiilly?

“D, Don’t kill—.“

“Noooooooo waaaaaaay, it’s been so long since I’ve sluuuuurrrpeeed someone uuuuup.”

Her mouth tore open up to her ears, it was wide enough to swallow a man’s head whole.

No one at that place had any idea.

Originally from the DMMO known as YGGDRASIL, the monster known as the True Vampire was a terrifying existence.

Their gaping jaws stretch wide enough to form a semicircle, their canines reach past their chin, and their crimson eyes glint with the color of blood.

Their feet and hands are equipped with razor sharp claws that are over a dozen centimeters long. From the eerie way they move, to how they leap at their target when attacking, the True Vampire was of such an appearance.

A normal vampire was a monster that was both human and bat, and an Origin Vampire had an appearance that was even more monstrous.

Amongst the different vampire classes, the only monsters that could be described as beautiful would be Shalltear’s servants, the vampire brides.

The reason Shalltear herself, who was a True Vampire, had a beautiful appearance was simply due to the illustration and 3D modeling skills of the guild member who designed her.

The present Shalltear was the real appearance of a True Vampire. In other words, her usual form was a lie.

Like a rubber toy, like an ugly, large leech, Shalltear wrapped her mouth around the man’s neck.

With the feeling of countless needles digging into his flesh, the mercenary heard the disgusting sound of huge amounts of blood being sucked from his body.

A chill permeated through him and he felt his fluids being sucked away. It was a frightening feeling that he had never before experienced.

Although the mercenary wanted to thrash about, his limbs grew heavy. He could feel his consciousness rapidly slip away.

Having completely sucked all the blood from the body, Shalltear tossed aside the now dried-up husk and licked the blood trailing from a corner of her mouth with a long, slippery tongue. Seeing the mercenaries who were now running in complete chaos, she broke out into a smile that spanned her entire face.

“There’s sttiiiilll this many leeeeeeeeffffft?

Countless screams, like cries of children, wails of despair tore through the cavern—.

Surrounded by the stillness that now blanketed the hall, Shalltear wore a gleeful expression. The blood orb that hovered above her was now only slightly smaller than a human head. It had grown from the vast amount of blood it had absorbed.

“This is sooooooo muuuuuuucccccccch fuuuuuuuuuun!”

Hearing Shalltear’s jubilant shout, the vampire bride who had been blocking the entrance bowed her head and responded.

“Seeing you happy fills me with joy as well, great master.”

“Maaaaaiiiiiiiiin diiiiiiiiissssh!”

Shalltear headed for the door that Brain had disappeared into, and forcefully yanked it open. The bolts popped out, and the door was ripped off along with its hinges.

The room was small, but filled with numerous sacks and wooden boxes.

There, Shalltear smelled something completely unexpected. Mixed with the scent of dirt— the smell of fresh air, it was coming from the outside wind. At the same time, she felt the presence of the human weaken. Even when she had lost herself in her Blood Frenzy, Shalltear had never once forgotten the mission that was entrusted to her.

“KUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Whether it was from anger or a simple howl, Shalltear screamed in a bizarre voice as she headed to the source of the breeze, flinging aside the junk blocking her way.

Less than a meter away, behind a stack of boxes, was a hole. Although it was mostly covered with dirt, there was a small crack where the fresh air flowed freely through.

“Theeeeey haaaad an emeeergency exxiiitt!”

The lesser vampire did not lie; it merely did not know about the existence of this hidden exit.

What most do not know is that even when under the influence of magic, one cannot reveal information that he didn’t know in the first place. If the person was told a lie but believed it to be the truth, he would be spreading false information when prompted.

Unlike Mare, Shalltear did not have any abilities that allowed her to move the earth. Blowing it away with a shockwave carried the risk of the hole collapsing on itself.

He had gotten away.

The truth dawned on her. Shalltear, whose mind was dyed red, soon realized that she had failed her mission.

Fury twisted Shalltear’s face.

Why, why didn’t this human insect move according to her, Shalltear Bloodfallen, Nazarick’s Floor Guardian’s predictions?

She was going to let him give his worthless life for the good of Nazarick, why didn’t he understand and be happy about that?

As Shalltear was grinding her teeth, the vampire bride who was supposed to stand watch outside the cave spoke to her.

“— Shalltear-sama!”

Her temper flared at the servant that dared to abandon her watch without orders. Shalltear’s vision became momentarily dyed in red as she considered destroying her on the spot. With great effort, she calmed herself; it was important to hear what the vampire bride had to say, it may be important.

“Whaaaaaat iiisss iiittt?”

“A large group is heading this way.”

“Huuuuuuhh? Suuurrviiivooorrs? Thhheeeeen weeeee haaaavvvve to greeeeeet thheeem! Ahaha ahaha ahahaha!”

Part 4

Shalltear leapt forward. Like a bird flying through the dark, she landed on one foot on top of the barricade at the entrance of the cavern. Her servants, the two vampire brides, were slowly following her back up the entrance.

Shalltear wore a smile as she looked at the target.

She spotted a tightly formed group.

Leading the front were three men who looked to be warriors. Each of their equipment was different, but even the shabbiest looking one out of the bunch was wearing armor forged by overlapping many scales together: Scale Armor. Each man held a weapon in one hand and was carrying a shield on his back.

Behind them was a red-haired female warrior wearing banded armor. At the back of the group, protected by those in front, walked a lightly-dressed man holding a staff; most likely a magic caster. Beside him, walking side-by-side was a faith magic caster wearing a bishop’s garb over his armor. The man wore a pendant around his neck in the shape of a flame.

The group of six, despite being surprised by Shalltear’s sudden appearance from the cave, did not fall into confusion and maintained their guard. It was a reaction born from their experience.

“Nooooott baaaaaaadd.”

It wasn’t too bad to kill humans that were as weak as tofu, but having opponents that looked like they could actually put up a fight was much more interesting.

Shalltear smiled eagerly as her two crimson eyes glinted with expectation.

“It talke……!”

A look of shock flashed across the magic chanter’s face, but it was only for an instant. Having immediately regained his composure—

“Hostile might be a vampire! Only silver and magic weapons effective. Victory impossible! Retreat! Don’t look into its eyes!”

He shouted in a voice loud enough to be heard in the whole basin.

Having shouted only the important information, the response from the rest of the party was both prompt and swift. The three warriors at the front equipped their large shields and assumed a defensive stance. They did not stare at Shalltear’s face, instead trained their eyes on either her chest or abdomen. The female warrior behind them took each of their weapons and began to apply a coating. An unpleasant stench wafted to Shalltear’s nose.

Alchemical silver.

A special liniment crafted by alchemists; when coated on weapons, it forms a magical film around the blade that gives it an effect similar to silver.

A silver weapon was expensive. Not only that, they wore out much faster than weapons made of iron and couldn’t be used for very long. That’s why most adventurers choose to buy the alchemical silver instead, to use it when the need arises.

With their weapons now imbued with the properties of silver, the group began their retreat.

Even the way they fled was very impressive. The entire group moved as one, their movements orderly and in sync.

“My Lord, God of Flames—:

“It’s pointless! Focus on defensive magic!”

Having stopped the bishop from using his pendant, the magic caster began to focus his casting to the front of the group. The bishop also followed suit and restarted his chant.

Although it differs by class, in general, bishops use the power of God to suppress, destroy, and dominate beings like angels and demons. However, it was a method only effective against enemies whose magical energy was much lower than the caster’s. In other words, the bishop had attempted to cast a spell to suppress undead just now. The magic caster had instantly understood the strength difference between the monster and the bishop, and told him to not waste his energy and use it for something more effective instead.

Having deduced their leader from the flow within the group, Shalltear decided to follow her orders and capture them. But her heart was still clouded by the impulse to slaughter, to see more blood.

She wanted to kill, to crush them beneath her feet, to tear them limb from limb, to cover them in blood. She couldn’t bear it. Her breathing grew ragged and started to foam at the mouth.

「Anti Evil Protection」

「Lesser Mind Protection」

One by one, the two magic casters cast their defensive spells on the warriors at the front.

Shalltear, who was lost in her excitement, albeit dimly, felt something akin to admiration. Even if it was of the most basic— the 1^st level, the spells they used were the most appropriate for the situation. They were different from the mercenaries with their reckless attacks, from the fool of a warrior who couldn’t even use martial skills and attacked alone.

With that said — a pointless endeavor is, in the end, just that; pointless. Against such a huge difference in strength, none of it had any meaning.

Faced with such a cute resistance, the tiny sliver of self-control that kept Shalltear at bay was cut.

“No more….. I caaaaaaannnnn’t! I caaaannnn’t waaaaiiiit anymooorrrrre!”

With a voice that had its reins cut, Shalltear moved her feet.

It was truly light, like a single step. But to those who saw her, it would seem faster than a gale.

Just like that, her hand stabs forward.

It penetrates the shield, shatters the armor, ignores the magical barrier, cleaves through the skin, flesh, and bone; the hand wraps around the beating heart and in an instant— rips it free. Ignoring the crumpling figure of the warrior, Shalltear bared the dark red, shape shifting lump in her hand for the group to see. The female warrior let out a small scream, and the bishop’s face looked as if he was staring at an abomination.

Glad to have gotten the reaction she wanted, Shalltear giggled in excitement and cast her magic.

「Animate Dead」

The warrior who had lost his heart slowly stood back up. He had become a zombie, the lowest class undead monster. However, it didn’t end there.

Shalltear licked the heart in her hand and stuffed it into the orb floating above her head. When she pulled it back out, in its place was a pulsating mass of blood— it was as if it was mimicking the appearance of the heart from before. She threw the blood clump at the zombie.

Like an insect, the clump twisted and turned, seeping into the zombie’s body. Thump. For an instant, the body trembled. After several convulsions, the zombie slowly began to transform.

As if all the moisture in its body had evaporated, the skin grew dry and cracked. Its nails grew several fold, and sharp canines formed from its teeth. The undead that stood there was no longer a zombie.

Witnessing the birth of a lesser vampire, the shocked voices of the adventurers cried out in unison.

“That’s impossible! I’ve never even heard of a vampire that can freely cast high level magic like that!”

“You’re looking at one right now! Calm down! Keep a cool head!”

“But!”

“—Retreat is impossible! We have to fight!”

“Got it!”

As the bishop fell into disarray, one of the warriors raised his weapon and charged at Shalltear. The remaining warrior attacked the lesser vampire, who had been his ally in the past.

“My Lord, God of Flames. Destroy the foul being before you!”

An invisible divine power radiated from the bishop’s pendant in every direction. Needless to say, Shalltear was completely unaffected.

“Ahahahaaahaahaha!”

One of the warrior’s swords stabbed through the lesser vampire. Its movements had been dulled by the bishop’s divine energy. Because it hadn’t transformed completely, it was still part zombie and thus the bishop’s attack proved effective. Despite knowing this, the fact that her creature lost to some trivial god’s power was enough to offend Shalltear.

While blocking the sword that came at her with her pinky, Shalltear glared annoyingly at the bishop who stood at the rear of the group.

“Baaaaaaccccck ooooooooffff!”

She lazily flicked her right hand. The simple motion slashed the warrior’s neck and he fell to the ground, blood spilling from the wound.

“「Lesser Strength Increase」.”

A powerful spell was cast on the last remaining warrior. A lesser vampire with its movements dulled against a warrior buffed by strong magic. The tide of battle between them was now slightly shifting in favor of the warrior.

Well, they seem to be enjoying themselves so it’d be rude to interrupt. There’s still plenty left to hunt after all.

With her blood thirst still running rampant, Shalltear thought so in her head and turned to stare at the bishop.

As if to block her line of sight, the female warrior stood in her way, with an iron weapon, nonetheless.

It was almost cute, in a way. Even when obviously terrified, her determined appearance as she held her sword— it was like the pitiful resistance of a small animal. Shalltear felt her lower abdomen grow hot as she became enraptured in the pleasures of the flesh.

What sounds will she make if I bite off her fingers? I should cut off her ears and feed them to her. No, before doing anything, I’ll drink her blood. It’s the first female prey since I’ve ventured outside, after all.

“Desssseeeerrrrt, fooouuuunnnd.”

After proclaiming so with her mouth wide open, she jumped.

Shalltear easily leaped over the woman, and landed directly in front of the bishop and magic caster.

Before the bishop could even move, Shalltear gently wrapped her hand over his that was grasping the pendant and instantly crushed it. Flattened by the overwhelming grip, the bones in his hand shattered completely. With nowhere left to go, his skin and flesh burst from Shalltear’s palm.

“GAAAAAAAAHHH!!”

Satisfied with the bishop’s screams, Shalltear kindly gave him a gift; she freed him from his pain.

With a swing of her hand, blood sprouted from the bishop’s headless neck. The girl nodded happily as she watched the blood being absorbed into the orb above her head.

Suddenly, a sword interrupted the scene, penetrating through Shalltear from behind. But like a giant tree, she did not budge. It was as if the blade sticking out from her chest was just a trivial inconvenience.

“No way…. it’s not working! Even though this is silver?!”

Seeing Shalltear unfazed by the blade that had clearly passed through her chest— right through the heart, the woman shrieked.

Just a minute ago, the female warrior didn’t have a silver weapon. She must have picked up the dead warrior’s weapon instead.

The information that the magic caster shouted wasn’t wrong, however, it wasn’t completely correct either. A silver weapon by itself was useless against Shalltear. On top of being forged with silver, it would have to be infused with powerful magic, or made of special metals.

Ignoring the woman behind her, Shalltear stared at the magic caster who was still in shock.

His mouth moved quickly.

“[Magic Arrow]!”

As the magic was cast, two arrows of light hurtled towards Shalltear and— vanished in an instant.

Shalltear’s skill— Magic Nullification had activated. It wasn’t perfect, and could be suppressed by those with more powerful magic. But with this much difference in power, the spell was easily nullified.

In other words, what it meant was that the magic caster didn’t have a single way to fight against Shalltear.

“Boorrrrrriiiiiiiiinnngg!”

Having lost interest, Shalltear swung her hand and instantly cut off his head.

Turning around, the lesser vampire and the warrior were still locked in a heated battle.

Shalltear reached her hands towards the two heads on the ground. Grabbing both by the hair, she wore a bored expression as she threw them at both combatants. A mass weighing at least six kilograms, thrown at a frightening speed, the result was obvious. Both of them slowly crumpled to the floor.

All the while Shalltear was ignoring her, the dessert— the female warrior was relentlessly slashing and stabbing at Shalltears’ body.

But it was useless.

Against Shalltear, who didn’t even feel ticklish, let alone pain from her attacks, it was a meaningless action. The only thing it was doing was filling her dress with holes. But even that, since her clothes were of magic quality, would be repaired as long as Shalltear herself was fine.

“Theeeeeeenn! Deeessseeerrrt! Time to eaaaat!”

A laugh like a child who saved her favorite food for last— even so, it was a gross, evil sound. Shalltear turned to the woman attacking her back and met her gaze.

As her vision met with Shalltears’ crimson eyes, the female warrior realized that she was the last one left. With tears glistening in her eyes, she retreated a step, then another. Then, she fervently searched around her belt pouch, looking for something.

Her world now dyed in red, Shalltear stared at her struggle with a relaxed expression. She felt a tiny curiosity over what the woman was trying to do.

She quickly pulled out a bottle and threw it.

Shalltear peered at the bottle that was spinning midair in her direction and grinned.

Although the woman had thrown it with all her might, in Shalltears’ eyes, it was too slow. It was easy to dodge. However, the arrogance of the strong did not allow it. And equally so, Shalltear wanted to see it; the expression on the woman’s face as her last, secret weapon was destroyed.

The desire to kill was overwhelming.

But Shalltear held herself back. The longer she waited, the greater the bliss will be when she finally has a taste.

As Shalltear watched the bottle hurtle towards her, she thought absentmindedly.

Holy water? Or is it liquid fire? Whatever it is, it’s useless. Such a pitiful resistance. As I thought, I’ll slowly drink her blood first, just enough so she doesn’t die. If she’s a virgin, it’ll be fine if I drink till she’s dead. If not, I’ll play around with her a bit, preferably without spilling her blood.

Having decided, Shalltear lazily knocked the bottle aside with one hand. The impact caused the red liquid to escape from the mouth of the bottle, spilling onto her skin.

And then — a slight pain.

The inside of Shalltear’s head instantly turned white. The previous blood thirst that thrashed violently within her body was nowhere to be found.

She blankly stared at the source of the pain; the hand that blocked the bottle. From where the liquid had touched her, a strong smell leaked out, along with a faint smoke.

Shalltear shifted her gaze down to the ground. The bottle was laid on the ground with its cap open, releasing an aromatic fragrance. It was a smell that she knew well.

It was a potion bottle commonly used in the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

The actual liquid itself was most likely a Minor Healing Potion. Undead are damaged by restoration items. It was the reason why Shalltear’s skin was slightly melted.

“Impossible!!”

An angry voice that seemed to shake the very air.

“Bring that woman to me alive!”

In response to her command, the vampire brides that had been standing aside until now moved. While Shalltear was lost in her thoughts, the woman had used the opportunity to turn and flee. The two vampire brides quickly closed the distance and grabbed her arms from both sides.

Although the woman struggled violently, the difference in strength between a human and a vampire was too different. Too easily, she was dragged in front of Shalltear.

“Look into my eyes!”

Shalltear grabbed the woman’s chin and forcibly brought her eyes to bear on her own. Needless to say, she kept her strength in check, otherwise she would’ve accidently ripped her chin off and ended up in an embarrassing situation. Although Shalltear knew how to use faith magic, as an undead, she couldn’t use the normal healing spells.

Forced to look, the woman’s eyes soon clouded over, and the terrified look on her face was replaced with a friendly expression. It was the charming effect of the 「Demon Eyes of Attraction」. Sensing that she was well under her spell, Shalltear released the female warrior from her grip.

She had several questions to ask her.

But there was only one that needed to be asked before anything else.

Shalltear picked up the potion bottle that fell to the ground and held it in front of the female warrior.

“Where did you get this potion? From who, where!”

“At a tavern, a man in black armor gave it to me.”

Hearing the words that were spoken as if they weren’t that important, Shalltear’s whole body froze solid.

“….Wait…. No, that’s impossible… but… which… which city was it?”

“It was a tavern in Re-Lantier.”

Shalltear was shocked, as if the world was shaking. The man in black armor; it was because she had a feeling that she knew who the female warrior was talking about.

If that was the case, the bigger problem was, for what reason was this woman in possession of the potion. It was difficult to imagine that he would give it to her without reason.

“No way…”

Did he also give this woman some unknown instructions? Or perhaps he gave her the potion to form a connection, or maybe to strengthen their friendship.

The dignified appearance of Ainz Ooal Gown, the absolute ruler of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, appeared in her mind. The possibility that she had ruined some kind of plan that he had devised burned at her heart.

“Why did you come here?! What’s your objective!”

She no longer had the luxury of feigning delicacy with her words. Now that learning as much information as possible became the first priority, Shalltear glared at the woman with bloodshot eyes, with an entirely different feeling from before.

TL Note: Shalltear usually speaks like a geisha that doesn’t come off in English. She drops it here.

“Yes. Our main task was to patrol the roads. But when we heard information that a bandit hideout was somewhere nearby, we came to investigate. It looked as if something happened, so we split into two teams and came here on a reconnaissance mission.”

“You split your team in two?”

“Yes. Since we didn’t know how many bandits there were, our job was to gather their attention and lure them to a trap that was being prepared by the others.”

“So there’s another team.”

Thinking that another annoyance had popped up, Shalltear clicked her tongue.

“So, how many of you are there in total?”

“With me included, those that came here number seven, and—.“

“What? Wait, seven? Not six?”

Shalltear’s gaze moved towards the corpses on the ground. Three warriors, one bishop, one magic caster— and this woman; the numbers didn’t add up.

Against the eyes filled to the brim with questions, the female warrior responded nonchalantly.

“Yes. In case of an emergency, we had a ranger who would travel to Re-Lantier for reinforcements.”

“What…?”

The magic caster’s voice from before was oddly loud. That’s right, loud enough so — the whole basin could hear.

“Kuh!”

Shalltear’s eyes widened as she jumped out of the basin with a speed faster than the wind. Although she had climbed all the way to the top and scanned her surroundings, even her eyes that could see in the dark could not see past the trees. Even when she focused her ears, the only sound that she could hear was the rustling of vegetation caused by the wind.

Shalltear did not possess skills for detection or magic for searching. In the current situation, finding a human in this forest was impossible.

“Damn it!”

She shouted in anger.

She lost them. Honestly, she had been too complacent. With this— it made two. She grinded her teeth.

“Come, my kin!”

Beneath Shalltear’s feet, her shadow squirmed, and several wolves protruded forth. Needless to say, these were not normal wolves. Their dark fur was as black as the night, and their red eyes glinted with a cruel cunning.

Level 7 monster, Vampire Wolf.

Although Shalltear could summon numerous monsters with her skill, 「Raise Kin」, only these wolves could track their enemy.

“Follow him. Kill every human in this forest!”

A roar like command, the ten vampire wolves ran in concert into the forest.

Even as she watched them from the back, she felt that the chances of them succeeding were low. An image of Aura floated in her mind. While probably not at her level, a ranger would probably have a few tricks up his sleeve when it came to covering his tracks.

In other words, it was necessary to assume that he had gotten away and to think of the next move. Shalltear rushed back to her original spot and questioned the female warrior, as if she was going to attack her.

“First, is there anyone besides you who received a potion from the one in black armor?”

“No, there aren’t any.”

“Okay! Then next question. Is there a chance that the ranger will rejoin the remaining team?”

“None. In a situation where our team faced a good chance of being annihilated, his job was to abandon the team and return to the city. This was the path with the highest chance of our survival.”

It was a preparation that accounted for both the possibility of defeat and their surroundings. Because of this, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Shalltear had been driven to a corner. Realizing this, she flared in anger.

“Puny humans, always having so many cunning tricks—. If I ever get the permission to subjugate your kind, I’ll make sure that you’re treated like the maggots that you all are!”

Lashing out in anger did not change the reality of the current situation.

It was almost certain that the existence of a vampire would be delivered to the city.

It was unknown whether or not the ranger was able to see what she looked like. It was the middle of the night, in the corner of the basin nonetheless. It was difficult to imagine that a human’s eyesight would have been able to perceive her appearance under such conditions.

Even so—

“Damn it!”

Shouting curses, Shalltear fell into thought.

Her orders from Ainz—

Your targets this time are criminals. The type that would not inconvenience anyone even if they were to disappear.

If any of the bandits you come across are able to use martial skills or magic, you must capture them at all costs, even if you have to suck their blood and enslave them. If you find any criminals who are knowledgeable about the world’s affairs or wars, they too, you must capture. Also, do not cause a scene. If the movements of Nazarick are made known, there is a possibility that it will interfere with our plans in the future.

— were such.

Then she had already gone against most of her directives

Shalltear suppressed the mounting desire to claw out her hair.

“Still, okay. Still, okay. Still, okay.”

She repeated those words, as if she was trying to hypnotize herself.

Even if the information about a vampire spread to the city, it wasn’t as if her name or anything regarding Nazarick was included.

In other words, there was nothing to connect the vampire that attacked this place with Nazarick. The people in the city will presume that the mercenaries at this hideout were slaughtered by a wild vampire— if such a thing even existed.

Regardless, the story had its fair share of holes, but it was impossible to make any further assumptions without more information.

Once again, Shalltear fell into a whirlwind of thoughts.

The next problem was, with her assumptions as the premise, how to deal with this woman.

Even if she was charmed, her memory would not disappear completely. The safest option would be to kill her. The problem with that method was that she did not know her master’s intentions as to why he gave the woman the potion.

If he gave it to her with some objective in mind, then killing her here would create a problem for her master. That was very dangerous.

If she let her return alive, the others will question why she was the only one spared. Then, all kinds of information — especially Shalltear’s appearance, would be revealed. While that may not pose too big of a problem at the moment, there was no telling what would happen in the future.

The best way was to contact the master, but Shalltear did not know how to use the「Message」spell.

Then what was she supposed to do now—.

“Ahhhhh… I’m going to be scolded by Ainz-sama…”

Muttering in a voice small enough so that no one could hear, Shalltear wrapped her hands around her head.

“If only I didn’t have Blood Frenzy… No, that’s rude to my creator, Peroroncino-sama. If only I could suppress it…”

It was already too late for regrets. No matter how she dealt with the female warrior— it didn’t matter now, a scolding was inevitable. The only thing left was to decide which way would best mitigate the damage.

‘Worse’ rather than ‘worst’.

Shalltear thought about it over and over until smoke rose out of her head, and she made her decision.

Instead of killing her, sparing her would create more options. Killing her was irreversible, but if she let her go, then something could be done about it.

Shalltear decided so. No, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that she was fooling herself.

“Your name?”

“It’s Brita.”

“Okay… I won’t forget it!”

Shalltear had the woman named Brita stand a bit further away. She then called over her two servants, the vampire brides.

“We are going to collect everything here and withdraw.”

She was worried whether there was enough time to pillage. Nevertheless, she had to bet on fooling the others into thinking that this was an attack to steal the loot. Since she had already failed, the least she could do was try to spread false information.

“Shalltear-sama, how shall the women be dealt with?”

Shalltear fixed her gaze on the woman who was standing a small distance away.

“Leave her like that.”

“No, I mean the other women.”

“…What? What other women?”

“Yes, Shalltear-sama. We searched the inside of the cave for survivors and found several women who looked to have been used to relieve their lust. How would you like them dealt with?”

Shalltear frowned.

What the heck.

Shalltear, turned and looked again.

Since they didn’t see my face, it wouldn’t matter even if I let them be. But was that the correct course of action? It’s annoying so should I just kill them? No, then it would be suspicious that I didn’t kill Brita as well.

Unable to decide which way was the most advantageous, Shalltear held her head.

“What should we—.”

“Haaaaa? How should I know!”

Why did you have to ask me something like that, you fool.

Her face said as much. If she didn’t know, she could claim ignorance if it came down to it. But willfully ignoring it after having been told was clear treason against her master.

“Enough already, I don’t know! I don’t know! Leave them here! Stick Brita with those women!”

“Is this okay?”

“Okay or whatever, I don’t know, damn it! Shut up for a minute!”

“I am sorry, Shalltear-sama.”

“We’re leaving! Move it!”

The vampires bowed their heads and began to carry out her order. Meanwhile, Shalltear slowly pulled at her head while crouching.

“…..I’m going to get scolded…. what should I do…. but…….. huh?”

Shalltear raised her face and her eyes stared in the direction of the forest that the Vampire Wolves disappeared into.

“….They found something?”

She felt her kin disappear in the blink of an eye. They weren’t sent back with magic, but instead, killed by someone.

“Throw that woman with the rest and follow! I’ll leave behind a marker!”

Her decision was swift. Having shouted just those words, Shalltear broke into a run at a speed that seemed to cleave through the wind.

Although she was slowed by the forest, even a human on horseback wouldn’t have been able to run from the present Shalltear.

Having cleared free of the forest in a single breath, Shalltear ran towards the area where she last sensed her kin.

At that location were twelve humans.

They each had a different set of equipment.

Their equipment weren’t plain in appearance, and had unique look to them. For the sake of comparison, they were similar to what Shalltear was wearing. They emanated a great power. Needless to say, since Shalltear did not have any abilities that could identify magic items, it was all based on her intuition. Regardless, the feeling their weapons gave off reminded her of legendary class items.

Shalltear burned with questions over who these people were. The twelve men and women had an aura that was hugely different from the humans that she had encountered so far in this world. It was like the difference between a rat and a lion.

While Shalltear’s eyes moved from one person to another, her gaze stopped on a certain man.

That one… is he strong?

Although the surprised Shalltear wanted to gauge how powerful he was, she was not of the warrior class and could not get an accurate handle on his strength. Merely that not only was he stronger than her two vampire brides, but even above Pleiades’ Solution.

Shalltear observed him.

She had described him as a man because of his equipment, but his face was androgynous.

Whether to call him a man or a woman, he seemed to be both and neither at the same time. Short with a youthful face, probably still in the midst of his growth— it only made his gender harder to determine.

His jet black hair was long enough to touch the ground. His sharp, ruby-like eyes held hints of caution as he stared at Shalltear. With his spear which looked plain, unlike his armor, the man charged at her

“—Use it.”

A voice like a cool lake; hearing his command, a rumble of agitation ran through those around him. Shalltear did not understand what that meant, only that he had ordered them to use an item of considerable power. Perhaps even one that rivaled the power of Shalltear’s divine class item.

Although the humans followed the voice and started to move, Shalltear ignored them completely. She was cautious of only one person and everyone else did not pose much of a threat.

At the center of their movements was a woman dressed in strange clothes.

It looked like a one-piece dress for women with a deep slit down the side and a round collar.

The color was a silvery white, with the image of a five-clawed dragon soaring to the skies stitched in gold thread.

In Ainz’s world, it was something called a Cheongsam.

However, the face of the woman in the dress was wrinkled with age. Her exposed legs reminded one of burdocks or dried potatoes. The clothes did not fit with her appearance. It was to the point that one would want to narrow their eyes; to the point that Shalltear looked away.

But that was to be the last small feeling of incongruity.

Everything could have been changed by the smallest of whims.

If Ainz hadn’t captured Nigan, if Ainz hadn’t countered the Slane Theocracy’s information magic so strongly, if the theocracy hadn’t made the mistake of believing ‘the Dragon King of Calamity has resurrected’, if Shalltear hadn’t been distracted— everything would have changed. However, the fact that so many ifs coincided, in other words, meant that it was inevitable.

The name of the dress was ‘Bewitching Calamity, Kei Seke Koku’.

An item left behind by the God who saved mankind, the subject of their worship. It held a power that even Shalltear did not possess.

— shudder

Even as the highest level Floor Guardian of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, Shalltear’s body trembled. It was a warning, almost like a sixth sense.

With her instincts setting off alarm bells, Shalltear moved her eyes and fixed it on the old woman.

This was a human whom she had to kill, no matter what.

Hit with this realization, Shalltear began to move towards her. The man with the spear blocked her way.

“Move!”

Shalltear smacked him in earnest. A normal human’s weak body would have been torn to pieces, but the man was simply blown away and did not die. Not only that, he still retained his fighting spirit.

Shalltear concentrated on the old woman as the focal point and cast her spell.

“「Mass Hold Species」!”

A number of them had their movements constricted. The reason Shalltear tied them down was because she deemed them to be more than enough to make up for her previous failure.

As the thought passed through her mind, Shalltear’s heart became overlapped in white.

The feeling of a portion of her mind falling away. She didn’t know what it was. And when the truth of what was happening dawned on her, an enormous shock passed through her and even the undead Shalltear trembled in fear.

Mind control.

She, an undead with absolute immunity to mind control effects, was having her mind dominated. Shalltear furiously filled her heart, now almost dyed in white, with hatred. As her head swarmed with the countless thoughts of the worst case scenario—

“KUUAAAAAAHHH!!”

— she screamed and resisted, blood pouring down her eyes. This mind control that was trying to dirty her, the Floor Guardian of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, she resisted.

But as if ignoring Shalltear’s desperate struggle, her consciousness continued to be dyed white. She did not even have the luxury of using her teleportation magic. Losing her focus for even an instant would immediately render her completely under the spell’s effect.

Shalltear used her class skill and created a ‘Purifying Javelin’.

A huge javelin imbued with divine energy was still capable of dealing significant damage even if the user had an evil alignment. More importantly, throwing it while using additional MP gave it the effect of never missing its mark.

Shalltear, while resisting with all the strength in her body, glared at the old woman who had cast the spell that was dirtying her.

Her eyes did not even reflect the huge, mirror-like shield of the man blocking her path as a threat.

Then— she threw.

The javelin flew from her hand like it had a will of its own.

It was an attack strengthened by every skill that she could scrounge up from her fading consciousness.

Its aim true, the attack that looked like a flash of light penetrated the man blocking its way along with his shield and struck the old woman.

The two humans throwing up blood, the commotion in the group; this was the last vision of the world that Shalltear saw.