The Vampire Clan of the Evil Race Nation. Dark Elves, exiled from the central continent due to persecution by the Holy Church brought over from another continent, joined hands with those who had turned into monsters, even though they had been enemies until then, to form an integrated clan.
The number of Vampire Clans was the smallest among the integrated clans because there were no naturally born vampires. However, fellow clansmen who were being hunted by humans gradually joined them, and their high basic abilities made them a prominent presence even within the Evil Race Nation.
However, vampires do not grow physically. It is difficult to improve skills that are based on physical growth, and the basic abilities that the Vampire Clan boasted were also based on the vampire’s original skills, as their abilities improved with the time they lived.
And vampires are not born. Those who are attacked by vampires and survive are reborn as new vampires. Some willingly become vampires, but most are victims, and many abhorred sucking the blood of their former kin.
Those who lost their reason and did not mind this were hunted by the Vampire Clan as members of the Evil Race. In the war with the human race that lasted for hundreds of years, the vampires who had lived for a long time gradually decreased in number, and the vampires gradually declined as a clan, even though they gained peace of mind as Evil Race members.
Vampires are powerful as individuals, but fragile as a species. By feeding on human species with strong souls, they became Undead, but they were always targeted by those they preyed upon.
It is said that vampires who have lived for more than 500 years reach Threat Rank 7, but there are only a few such beings in this world, and all of them have been destroyed by humans.
In the long war with the human race, there were almost no vampires who had lived for more than 100 years. Among them, Clan Chief Scheherazade, who had survived for 150 years, was at a crossroads in the clan’s survival.
“If things continue as they are, our clan will disappear before long. If that happens, those who survive will eventually be hunted down. We need the protection of the Evil King.”
“…Ha!”
Gostola, a friend and subordinate who had lived with her for a century, knelt and bowed his head to Scheherazade, who spoke with a painful expression in the form of a girl in her early teens.
Since they feed on the lives of others, all races could turn against them without the protection of the Evil King, even if they fed on other races. Therefore, in order to gain the protection of the Evil King, they needed to achieve merits that would earn the trust of other clans.
The number of clans was dwindling, and the new members were only lower-ranked species… In such a situation, Gostola, as a member of the Evil Race Clan, planned to weaken the human race nation itself by targeting a capable member of the human race nation’s royalty.
However, this required infiltration into the human nation. Loath to send the few members of the clan on a dangerous mission, Scheherazade herself considered going alone. However, Gostola tried to fulfill the mission by taking the old vampires who remained in the clan, as the clan would be finished if she, the clan chief, were defeated.
Even so, Scheherazade wished for Gostola’s safe return and gave him the clan’s treasure, a dungeon’s secret treasure that held the secret of Spatial Transfer… but what returned was not his comrades, but only Gostola’s silent corpse.
“Why… Gostola?”
According to the letters that had been arriving from time to time, the plan should have been progressing smoothly.
The relationship with the black-haired noble lady who had invited Gostola and the others seemed to have been severed, but they had gained a new collaborator who had betrayed the human race, and they were about to return after kidnapping the Princess of Claydale, who was rumored to be the most talented.
The body of a vampire who has become Undead turns to ash and crumbles away. However, the reason why one of his eyes remained without turning to ash was probably because he had transformed his last Mana into Dark Magic and projected it.
What was reflected there was a single girl.
It was a Pink-Haired Girl burning with ash-gray flames, killing her comrades one after another while exuding a magnificent aura with her lovely appearance.
This girl killed the clan’s warriors—Gostola, who had been by Scheherazade’s side for a century.
“I will kill this woman… I will, without fail!”
However, Scheherazade did not know the girl’s identity. All she knew was her appearance and that she was someone involved with the Kingdom of Claydale.
Will she meet her someday if she attacks people? Will she eventually appear if she starts a war?
Can she single-handedly infiltrate the Kingdom of Claydale, which is said to have 10 million people, and take revenge before one of them dies?
In ten years, the girl will be an adult, and it will be even more difficult to find her. Understanding that there was no time, Scheherazade abandoned her pride as a clan and decided to sell herself to the Yoma Clan, which had a relatively good understanding of monster species, in order to ask for their help.
The Ceremony of Selection—an ancient ritual to choose the Evil King. However, Scheherazade did not stand as the king herself, but supported the Yoma Clan Chief Charleschan and offered to cooperate in avenging her comrades by making her the Evil King.
With only a few members left in the clan, it would be difficult to survive. Scheherazade also decided to set out as a warrior, and some of the remaining clan members wanted to accompany her in order to avenge the comrades who had scattered for the sake of the clan.
Then, Scheherazade, who went to the fortress with the dungeon as one of the warriors, witnessed the Pink-Haired Girl who had declared her participation as a prince’s warrior.
Scheherazade, who was about to lose herself in anger, restrained herself at the last moment. The Killing Intent she released was mixed with the Killing Intent of the other warriors, and no one noticed her feelings.
Why is her enemy, the girl, here? She wanted to kill her right now, but Scheherazade thought that her Desire would not be fulfilled even if she attacked the girl in this place.
If she could meet her here, there would be no reason to participate in the Ceremony of Selection now. However, if she attacked the warriors participating in the Ceremony of Selection in this place, she would not only turn all the clans against her, but the Yoma Clan would also try to kill Scheherazade for the sake of their honor.
And it is difficult to exert her true power as a vampire inside the fortress. That is why Scheherazade and her subordinates, while participating as warriors of the Yoma Clan on the surface, kept watch on the warriors of the Yoma Clan, whom they were likely to encounter in the vast dungeon. Then, one of her subordinates felt a “fluctuation” of high-level Spatial Transfer, and the report was delivered to Scheherazade.
＊＊＊
“I will definitely kill you with my own hands!!”
Scheherazade, the leader of the vampires of the Evil Race whom I had defeated before, dyed her crimson eyes with hatred, as if shedding tears of blood, and bared her bright red fangs.
She looked like a girl in her early teens… Her blood-stained dress and well-proportioned appearance made her look like a Dark Elf princess, but I knew very well that her appearance did not match her strength.
[Scheherazade] [Race: Pureblood Vampire] [Rank 5]
[Mana Capacity: 374/380] [HP: 415/415]
[Overall Combat Strength: 2705]
She looked young, but I felt that she was a vampire who had lived for quite a long time. Her Overall Combat Strength was comparable to Dolton and my master, but considering the vampire’s immortality, she would be an even more troublesome enemy.
“――――ッ!”
A silent “voice” echoed from Scheherazade, and I reacted to the Killing Intent and jumped away. At the same time, a shock wave blew through, and one of the supply corps members behind me spurted blood from all over his face and collapsed.
“What!?”
“Scheherazade-sama, what are you doing!?”
The survivors of the supply corps raised their voices in dismay, attacked by someone they thought was helping them, perhaps because they had a cooperative relationship.
The attack meant that the supply corps would not be used as a shield, and at the same time, I felt her determination to kill me even if it meant turning everyone against her.
“Here I come!”
In that instant, her figure wavered as if it were blurring, and Scheherazade unleashed a kick while spinning like a whirlwind.
Gashin!!
“Tch!”
The steel core of the gauntlet I received on the spur of the moment bent, and the bones in my left arm creaked. Using that momentum, I somersaulted and kicked with the blade on my heel, but Scheherazade raised her leg despite being in close combat and blocked it with her jet-black heel.
“”Haaah!!”
We both exhaled with spirit, and Scheherazade flicked her skirt as she danced, deflecting the barrage of Dagger attacks that I unleashed with her heels. As she was about to kick Scheherazade’s front kick, which was kicked up with enough force to make the sound of the wind cutting through the air, I jumped down as if receiving it with my heel, and threw the Knife that I had pulled out from my thigh while flipping my skirt.
Zusaaaaaaaaa…!
“”…………””
Sliding across the stone floor, we took our distance and faced each other again.
I felt a significant difference in Status between the Rank 5 Vampire and myself. With that appearance, she mainly used leg attacks in close combat. Moreover, utilizing her small body and high Strength, she skillfully unleashed kicks even in close-quarters combat where we were almost rubbing against each other.
Those jet-black high heels that blocked my Dagger were probably made of Magic Steel. In close combat, she has the advantage, but even in Magic combat, 【Phantom Pain】 probably wouldn’t work. As proof, Scheherazade, while glaring at me, casually pulled out the Knife stuck in her eye, and her pupil regenerated in an instant.
However, Vampires aren’t invincible. Their regeneration consumes Mana, and their seemingly Undead bodies will instantly die if the Magic Stone in their heart is destroyed.
Even so, if we fall into a Mana consumption battle, I’ll run out of Mana first. Besides, Scheherazade isn’t recklessly approaching, ignoring defense because she’s overconfident in her abilities, but rather to suppress Mana consumption through Magic and crush me with the physical strength of her regeneration and Strength.
The problem is when to use my trump card.
“――【Shadow Snatch】――”
When I released a lump of Darkness, a small Spatial Transfer array, Scheherazade narrowed her eyes slightly at the unfamiliar Magic.
In that instant, I leaped to the side, running up the Dungeon wall, and threw Hidden Weapons at Scheherazade’s face.
“Think I’ll let you escape!”
This time, Scheherazade didn’t block but deflected the Hidden Weapons with her claws, chasing after me. We both ran up the wall, lost buoyancy near the ceiling, and Scheherazade, while floating in the air, caught the Black Dagger I unleashed with her palm, piercing through it.
“Tch!?”
However, just before my fist was crushed, the Ball-Shaped Pendulum released from 【Shadow Snatch】 slightly earlier struck Scheherazade’s head from her blind spot.
But a Vampire won’t die from just a cracked head. She released my hand, and as I swung the Ball-Shaped Pendulum pulled from the Shadow at Scheherazade’s head, jet-black blood gushed out from Scheherazade’s back at that moment, turning into wings resembling bat membranes to evade the Pendulum.
“Die, Pink-Haired woman!”
Vampires who have aged and gained experience are said to use “Blood Magic.”
If so, those wings are also a product of Blood Magic. And she opened her mouth towards me, separated in mid-air, and fired a shockwave using mist-like blood and voice as a medium.
“――【Weight Up】――”
I released the Dark Magic I had constructed, barely deflecting the shockwave with a slight shift in my center of gravity and a kicking motion in mid-air, but lost my balance like a leaf caught in the wind.
At this rate, I can’t evade the next attack. To buy time until I land, less than a second, I released the Hidden Weapons and Crossbow I took out from 【Shadow Storage】 into 【Shadow Snatch】, attacking with a Slashing Style Pendulum that drew an arc.
“Tch!”
Even without damage, the multiple attacks launched from blind spots hindered Scheherazade’s movements as she tried to follow up.
“――【Shadow Walk】――”
However, Scheherazade, clicking her tongue annoyingly, suddenly deployed Dark Magic.
Even if you use Shadow Walk in mid-air where Mana isn’t connected, you can’t cross the Shadow. But the moment she activated that Magic, several “shadows” emerged from the Shadow of the blood-colored dress she wore.
“You cunning woman! I’ll crush your cards!”
Unlike Spatial Transfer, you can’t cross the Shadow while floating in the air with Shadow Walk. That’s because the Shadow of the clothes on you isn’t large enough to allow a human body to slip through.
But the shadows that crawled out from those small Shadows twisted their bodies, contorted themselves, scattered blood, and appeared while regenerating their bodies.
“GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!”
The nearly ten Vampires that appeared from the Shadows kicked off the walls and ceiling, attacking while emitting inhuman screams.
Having landed on the ground a moment earlier, I evaded the claws of one that leaped at me by leaning back, kicking up at the Vampire’s jaw.
Multiple Vampires attacked relentlessly. The combat power of the Vampires I saw was only around 400, looking like low-level Vampires, but even if their heads were crushed by the Pendulum in the chaotic battle and their faces were slashed vertically, the Vampires continued to attack as long as they lived.
“Those are the last warriors of our clan. To avenge Gostola and their comrades… they offered their blood to me and turned into beasts.”
Thud… One of the supply corps released from Scheherazade’s hand fell onto the stone floor, making a distorted sound at her feet.
In that moment of distraction, the supply corps was annihilated, and the men whose blood was sucked as a substitute for Blood Magic stood up with bestial expressions.
Vampires don’t change immediately even if they suck blood. Those who survive the depletion of the soul sucked along with the blood are reborn as Vampires, and those who can’t overcome it either die or turn into “failures,” mindless humanoid “beasts.”
Scheherazade probably intentionally boosted their power by turning the Vampires into failed beasts.
What’s terrifying is her tenacity… To avenge their comrades, the Vampires willingly became suicide soldiers, and Scheherazade acknowledged it as pride, wanting to kill me together.
“Now, die.”
At Scheherazade’s voice, flapping her huge wings replenished with blood, the Vampires who had become suicide soldiers and the former Rank 3 supply corps men who had newly become Vampire failures took a step forward.
But, at that moment――
BOOM!!
A giant flame like a large serpent burned the Dungeon wall, burning away several Vampires and failures that were about to leap――
Clack…
The sound of heels, clearly unsuitable for the Dungeon, faintly reached Aria’s ears.
How will the sudden flame that burned the enemy change the situation?
Please be patient a little longer for that person!
Next time, the showdown with Scheherazade.