Chapter 68

Calus gritted his teeth as the curse flared up again. Then, Face let out a cackling laugh and waved his hand lightly.

"Heheh. Someone has certainly been up to some amusing antics."

Crash!!!

As soon as his words ended, a cracking sound came from Calus's body.

"Such a simple trick, I can easily grant it. Well, this time it's on the house."

"What? What are you? Huh?! That strange crying sound…."

"It won't come out again now that I've taken care of it. Is that not more important?"

"What?"

Normally, the sound of an animal's cry following its mother wouldn't be strange, but Calus realized that the bizarre cry that had been tormenting him had vanished in an instant.

"Contract with me. We will deal with the human you hate."

"Wha?!"

Calus swallowed hard, realizing that Face wasn't just spouting empty words. An intangible pressure squeezed his entire body, making him flinch, and his face twisted in a grimace, turning pale.

"What do you say?"

"You… can kill him? Dave has a sacred scar. Someone is protecting him; he's not an ordinary man."

Despite the truths that shouldn't be spoken lightly, Face shrugged nonchalantly.

"He's just a human, after all."

"You don't sound like a human."

"Perhaps. The results will come soon, as I've already sent my subordinates."

Saying this, he slowly stood up. At the same time, the maid Shari, who had been hanging unconscious on the cross, disappeared into the air.

"By now, they should have taken his head."

His blood-red eyes glinted eerily.

* * *

The ability to harden blood to a metallic strength or to manifest various powers using blood is a unique power of vampires: the power of Blood Aura.

However, the creature that appeared before them was something subtly different from a vampire.

"Who are you! Do you know where you are?!"

"Reveal yoursel… Huh! Elder! Look over there!"

The dwarves, startled by the sudden attack, soon opened their mouths wide in shock as they discovered something.

- A demon… and quite a high-ranking one at that.

'Blood Aura is a unique power of vampires. A demon possessing it…'

The creature was nearly the size of a house, without exaggeration. Its massive claws and sharp, thorn-like fur made it look incredibly threatening.

The blood-drenched darts that had flown in earlier were likely shot by this creature.

Its gaze, which had been surveying us from a high rock as if evaluating prey, soon landed on me.

-Grrr…

At the same time, the creature, with a strange smile, slowly inhaled and began to let out a massive roar.

-Roar!!!

The volume was immense.

"Ugh!"

"Ah!"

The impact was far from ordinary. As soon as I cast a defensive spell on the two dwarves who had reflexively summoned holy power to block my front, a devastating shockwave shattered the surrounding rocks.

Thud!!

The two dwarves, unable to withstand the creature's roar even with my defensive spell, fell to the ground. The creature, seemingly satisfied, began to descend slowly, as if the dwarves had never been of interest to it in the first place.

"Look at this thing?"

Finding it absurd, I let out a hollow laugh. The creature began to circle me slowly, clearly pondering how to play with me.

Demons are beasts that act on instinct. While it was surprising to see a demon using the unique power of vampires, Blood Aura, it was still fundamentally a brute.

A brute thinking?

It was laughable.

"Do you think you're a predator?"

As if understanding my question, the creature's face, which had been exerting a bizarre pressure, twisted in anger.

-Grrr… Roar!!!

The small provocation instantly turned the creature ferocious.

-Blood Aura?

Perseus's voice, filled with surprise, rang out as he noticed the red aura swirling around the creature's claws.

Blood Aura is a unique power of vampires at a certain level. Among them, higher-level individuals can emit a red, sword-like aura.

While both are auras, Blood Aura is sharper than the basic aura.

What do you mean?

This beast possesses the power of an Expert.

The danger level of ordinary demons is manageable even at the highest Expert level, unless they are high-ranking.

In other words, this red creature is a far more dangerous entity than an ordinary demon.

"Phew…"

Crack!!

With no one watching, there was no need to be cautious. I lightly stepped on the ground, sending a powerful shockwave that shattered the earth. I then thrust my hand into the air.

The semi-dimensional space I had forced to manifest, despite its awkwardness, proved helpful.

The spatial magic used by pure mages without any tools is a high-level 7th Circle spell.

Given that my mana circle hasn't reached the 7th Circle, it's difficult to manifest. However, I can create a very small space, which is enough to store two swords.

The best way to deal with this creature would be to use high-level holy magic or the power of a divine sword.

However, I had two better options.

-Roar!!!

The creature's body, as hard as metal, would be difficult to cut even with a Master's Aura Blade.

Nevertheless, I didn't use the Aura, the symbol of an Expert, or the Aura Blade, the symbol of a Master. I simply drew the weapon in my hand.

"Indeed, one must use tools."

I had the best weapon in my hand.

A new car must be test-driven to appreciate its true value.

A slow, soft slash that seemed incapable of dealing any damage.

However, the moment the blade approached the creature's body, dozens of red streaks appeared in the air, moving at incredible speed.

Chapter 28: Omen

My swordsmanship teacher, Dukgo Jun, lived during the peak of the Chinese martial arts world. It was a time when the officials of the righteous factions were corrupt, making it difficult for martial artists to operate, and people were suffering.

While he was just a simple drunkard, the story of how he rose with a single sword and unified the martial arts world is one I've heard countless times.

The 88 techniques he created and left behind are destructive and fierce, each one nearly a masterpiece. They transformed into their optimal form when I met Harese, the sword spirit.

Swoosh!!

With a sound like the air being torn, the creature's form split into dozens of pieces.

"Ah, satisfying."

The sensation was better than I imagined. A sword made specifically for me.

Thus, there was no mismatch between the sword and me.

The massive red demon, which had been charging with a formidable presence, fell. I lightly shook the blood off the blade, and the blood slowly evaporated, emitting smoke as if burning in flames.

"Hongdan is sufficient for this."

Perseus tapped my cheek.

-It's not dead yet.

"I know."

Swoosh!!

As if the blood from the creature's body, which had been sliced into dozens of pieces, had a will of its own, it began to intertwine. I thrust my empty hand into the air again.

At the same time, a blue sword with a sapphire glow began to emerge from my hand.

"Perseus, do you have any ideas about a mere demon possessing the power of immortality, not to mention a high-level vampire?"

"Using Blood Aura itself is already abnormal."

"I want to confirm, but I have no way to do so."

-Grrr… Roar!!!

The pieces of the creature, showing an unbelievable recovery speed, reformed into a patchwork-like shape, reviving the creature. Its eyes rolled back, and it lunged at me in a fit of rage, its sharp claws aiming to slice me.

The speed was the same as before.

Swoosh!!

However, as the red flash once again sliced through the creature's body, its attack lost its power and floated in the air.

"Then… let's see the power of Immortal Destruction."

High-level vampires have a survival skill similar to a Lich. They can hide the source of their immortality in a nearby location.

If the source of immortality is not destroyed, they can revive multiple times. Of course, if they are shattered into pieces that cannot revive, or if they are exposed to a large amount of holy power, they will perish. However, this is easier said than done.

In short, it would be a very troublesome fight.

Of course, as an overpowered ability, they are extremely vulnerable to attacks on the source of immortality or high-level holy magic. Additionally, separating the source of immortality significantly weakens them.

This is a balance patch by the great will known as a god…

However, it is undoubtedly a very threatening ability when fighting an unprepared enemy.

The only drawback is that, unlike a Lich, they cannot place the source far away and must hide it nearby.

Nevertheless, the power of immortality is a high-level ability, granted only to high-level vampires, who are born with the qualifications of a Lord.

Why does such a powerful ability reside in this demon?

For a moment, I considered capturing it to investigate, but the situation was not as optimistic as I hoped.

The demon, which had been brutally sliced by Hongdan but kept reviving, crumbled with a single strike from Qingdan, leaving a subtle sense of anticlimax.

While Qingdan's sharpness was far inferior to Hongdan's, its effect on demonic and immortal beings was excellent.