CHAPTER 3 The Path of a Vampire The inside of Kai’s mind was a paradise far more wonderful than any I could have ever imagined. “Tra-la-la! They just keep coming and coming! It’s so amazing!” Right to left. My swords cleaved necks, bisecting every monster they touched. Up and down. Left and right. Forward and back. Thousands of silver trails that sliced my foes to ribbons. There were beast-type monsters, plant-type monsters, dragons, oozes, and humanoids. The ones I was fighting right now were a species of undead called Living Armor. Every specimen was an expert swordsman that forced me to demonstrate every last skill in my repertoire. I could just go on slaughtering them all day! Oh, I never would have thought I’d get to fight such a juicy foe! “I’m on top of the world!” I swung my blades with precision and practiced skill. I was so excited! I’d never had to fight like this in all my life! “Yahoo!! Mgrh?!” The next instant, I overextended, and just as I was about to be punished for my mistake… “Stay off him!!” I felt a scorching heat as my foe was burned to cinders behind my back. “Ruuuuugh…” “That’s what you get for messing around!” It was Letty. She kicked the soot-stained armor aside before immediately picking out a new enemy and turning her attention to it. “Whoopsie!” I said. “Nono made a fuckie-wuckie!” “Stay focused. We don’t even know if your regeneration will work in here.” “That’s right!” I replied. “And we wouldn’t want to die for real just when we got to the bonus stage, would we?” Plus, I got to fight these challenging foes alongside my greatest allies! What could have been better than this? The fight went on for a little while longer, and we soon wiped out all the monsters. “Looks like that’s the last of the Living Armors,” said Shuria, after the black suit of armor under her control had cut down the last remaining foe. The room fell silent, and just like in the last one, the chains sealing the door ahead fell apart and disappeared. After watching the black mist disappear, everyone sat down on the floor. Before moving on, it was best to take a break and recover our strength. “Phew. So, how many rooms is that now?” asked Shuria. “Precisely seventy, after that last one,” answered Minnalis. Each time we advanced, a new roomful of monsters would spawn. The enemies would seep up out of the ground like swampmen and only stop appearing once we slew enough of them, at which point we would unlock the door to the next room. The monsters also seemed to get stronger as we went. It was so much fun getting to battle so many different kinds! Glug, glug. “I wonder how much farther until we find Kaito?” asked Mai, polishing off a healing potion and stuffing the empty bottle back in her pocket. Hmm, Mai’s starting to look a little worn out, I thought. She wasn’t weak by any means, but compared to us, she had far less combat experience. Would she be okay? “Probably in six more rooms,” said Letty. “How do you know that?” asked Shuria. “Because I recognize the magical signatures of all the monsters we’ve faced so far,” Letty explained. “They all correspond to one of Kaito’s soul blades. And since each room only contains one kind of monster, it stands to reason that there’ll be as many rooms as Kaito has blades, which is currently seventy-six.” “Hmm, I see, I see,” said Shuria, nodding along as Letty theorized. “But don’t take my conjecture for it,” said Letty. “We’re inside Kaito’s mind now, and there’s no telling what might happen. Maybe after these seventy-six rooms, there will be one more where we have to fight all of them at once, or maybe it’ll take us right back to the start, forcing us to do the whole thing again.” Still, it sounded like we were at least six rooms away. We pondered the possibility it would all be over soon, then got to our feet and continued ahead. I took the lead, eager to see what kind of monster lay ahead. “What do we have in—huh?” In all the other rooms, the monsters started spawning as soon as we’d entered, but this time nothing happened. Not only that, but there was no locked door leading farther on, either. “What’s up? A dead end?” We couldn’t have gone the wrong way…right? I mean, we didn’t have any choice! It’s not like there were different paths to pick from or anything. “Surely there must be some way to proceed…,” muttered Metelia. “If there is, I don’t see it either,” said Letty. “But if this is the end, then where’s Master?” asked Minnalis. Sure enough, as far as we could see from the doorway, the room was completely empty. What was up with that? We all walked to the center of the room and scanned our surroundings, but there was really nothing there. “Well, this I didn’t expect,” said Letty in a disgruntled murmur. “What do we do now?” asked Shuria. At that moment, each of us spotted a bright light underfoot. “Wh-what the—?!” “I can’t see!!” “…Rgh!” “Mrgh?!” “It’s too bright…” All six of us leaped back, and Letty and Metelia put up a shield around us. Minnalis and Shuria fired their abilities at the ground, while Mai and I swung our weapons. However, none of our efforts had any effect. The light came so fast, it was impossible to predict, and it was so bright that it knocked me unconscious. Deep in the magical forest, shrouded eternally in mist, dwelled the vampires. It was a small community where time seemed to move as slowly as the people did. It was there that I was born. “Master Nono! Master Nono?” cried a girl, lifting the lid off a wooden box and peering inside. “Heh-heh. Kanya’s so silly! She’ll never find me in there!” I watched her from behind a dresser in the corner of the storehouse. Kanya was a vampire girl a little older than me, and she had been looking after me most of my life. Her bronze hair was light and fluffy, the same color as her eyes. Right now, those eyes of her were filled with tears as she screwed up her face, looking for me. She was wearing her favorite outfit: a set of black clothes woven from spider silk found in the forest, along with a piece of headwear called a “beret.” The clothes were modeled off something called “military uniform” she’d found in an old book, and she had gotten the village’s best mage to enchant it against wear and tear, such that even if it tore it would sew itself back together. She insisted they were the most comfortable clothes she had ever worn. “Come on, Master Nono! You’re supposed to be studying! If you don’t take your classes seriously, I’ll be mad!” “Phooey! See if I care!” I muttered under my breath. Suddenly, my head made a noise it shouldn’t make. “Ow!!” “What are you doing, skulking about back here?” “G-Gaddie! That hurt! I thought my head was going to split!” “Hmph. And you’d deserve it after what you’ve done.” The one who snuck up behind me and chose violence was none other than my big brother, Gadrick Adelheid. He was much older than both me and Kanya, with spiked-up, light blond hair. He was upstanding, tough, and handsome to boot. On top of that, he was an expert swordsman, which more than made up for the difficulty we vampires had when casting magic. I had once seen him cut a dragon in half with just a single swing. “Ah, there you are, Master Nono! I’ve been looking all over for—Wah!!” Our commotion drew the attention of Kanya, who came bounding toward me before proceeding to trip over absolutely nothing and crash to the ground, dragging me down with her. Luckily, the floor was covered in straw, magically dried to absorb moisture from the storehouse, so neither of us were hurt. “Oof! Kanya, you weigh a ton!” “Hey! That’s not a very nice thing to tell a girl!” Kanya said from atop me. “Take this! And this!” But Kanya’s pummeling didn’t bother me in the slightest. “Ha-ha, I’ve been trained on Gaddie’s punches, so yours don’t hurt at all!” “Sigh. How long are you two going to roll about in the hay? You’re getting it all over you.” “Oh.” “Huh?” Gaddie grabbed our scruffs like a couple of kittens and pulled us both to our feet. The straw had gotten into our hair and all over our clothes, and I suddenly felt—and looked—very foolish. “Isn’t Kanya supposed to be teaching you right now?” asked Gaddie. “What on earth are you doing in here?” “Hiding,” I replied. “Kanya’s lessons are too boring!” “H-how dare you! That’s not nice!” “All we do is read boring old books in a boring old language about boring old herbs and alchemy and stuff.” “Th-that may be so,” said Kanya. “But you learn all sorts of things! All that knowledge might come in handy some day!” “Really? When am I ever going to need to turn dead rats into fertilizer? Or know how people in the old days prayed for rain? Or how some extinct monster lived?” “Erm… Well, I don’t know…” Kanya pushed her fingers together and clammed up. “Hey, don’t tease the poor girl; she’s only doing her job. Besides, that’s not the real reason, is it? I bet you’re just moody because there was some vegetable in last night’s dinner you didn’t like, or something along those lines.” “Erk.” “Huh? Is that true, Master Nono?” “…Well, I don’t eat bitter things!” “B-but you must! They’re good for you! I put so much thought into making sure your meals are nice and balanced. You can’t just pick out what you don’t like! No, no, no!” Kanya made a X with her arms, putting on a stern front in contrast to her usual air-headedness. “She’s right,” agreed Gaddie. “You should be thankful you have food to eat, no matter what it is.” “Not you, too, Gaddie… Urgh…” “…Sigh. Don’t look so down, Nonorick. Don’t forget, we have our sword practice later. I’ll take you on in a spar, won’t that cheer you up?” “Y-you really mean it?!” Gaddie’s words turned my mood around immediately, causing him to heave another heavy sigh. “So that’s your price, is it? Besides, you hardly need to train with the sword, given your gift for magic.” “But I don’t wanna be a mage! I want to be a cool swordsman like you!” “…W-well, at least you’ve got the spirit.” Gaddie’s cheeks reddened, and he turned his face away. He’d never been good at receiving compliments. “Wow! Gadrick, your face is bright red!” said Kanya. “Don’t mock me!!” Gaddie cleared his throat. “Anyway,” he said, attempting to change the subject, “it’s best you return to your classes, Nonorick. Once you’re done, and only once you’re done, we can train.” “Okay!” I yelled, and immediately ran out the door, eager to finish my classes and begin sparring as soon as possible. Gaddie often went into the forest on expeditions, and it wasn’t every day I got to train with him. “Master Nono! Wait for me!” cried Kanya, chasing after me. “So, what was today’s class about, again?” I asked her. “Today we’re finishing Introduction to Alchemical Plants.” “Okay! Let’s breeze through it, so I can get to training!” “Breeze through it? You are going to remember it, right? I’ll be testing you afterward!” “I know!” I was an orphaned child found as a baby, deemed worthy of receiving the divine blood and becoming a vampire. That meant that, unlike everyone else, I didn’t have a mother or father. But I had a family. Gaddie and Kanya were my family. My only family in the whole wide world. After that, fifty years came and went. “Oh, Master Nonorick. Out for a walk?” I was stopped by the old lady who ran the orchard. Even in our village of vampires, she was among the eldest. “Yeah,” I replied. “Gaddie’s supposed to be getting back today, so I thought I’d make him his favorite: Couland Fish pie!” “Oh, Gadrick’s back, is he?” said the old lady’s husband, overhearing our conversation. “Been about three years since we saw him last.” It looked like the man had just been in the orchard, because he was carrying a large bamboo basket filled with bright scarlet fruits called yumil fruits. “It’s been four,” I corrected him. “He sent me a letter by bird; apparently he’s been all over the place and has been too busy to visit!” Over the past few decades, Gaddie’s travels had taken him far from the village. Many vampires preferred to stay isolated, but that was only because it made our lives easier; it wasn’t a steadfast rule or anything. There were even some who had cut ties with the village completely to live in human society. In Gaddie’s case, he’d gone traveling to broaden his horizons and learn more about the outside world. “Well, as long as he’s having fun, that’s what counts. Try not to get so angry over it, will you, Master Nonorick?” “I’m not mad! But I do wish he’d stop writing about his new girlfriend all the time!” Apparently, the outside world had become dangerous lately with the appearance of a demon lord. Somewhere along his travels, Gaddie had run into a girl calling herself the hero and had started journeying with her on a quest to slay the demon lord. I’d heard that, quite recently, they had succeeded in their quest and restored peace to the land. According to Gaddie, this hero was quite the looker, and after a long will-they-won’t-they, the two of them finally managed to hook up. “It’s a good thing he’s found someone, isn’t it?” said the old lady. “You should be happy for him, Master Nonorick.” “I never thought we’d see the day our Gadrick got hitched. How time flies,” agreed her husband with a hearty smile. “So, have you just been setting traps for the Couland Fish?” “Nope,” I replied. “Kanya already set them this morning. I’ve just been to check them. Look at this big one we caught!” I opened the sack I was holding, revealing a large fish with scales as pale as snow. “Ohh, he’s a large lad, isn’t he? Oh, I know, take some of these with you; they’re ripe and sweet, and they’ll make a good dessert.” “Wow, thank you!” The husband grinned and began picking out a few of the fruit from his hamper. “Here, take this one, this one, and…this one. These are the best of the lot, so be sure to share them around.” “Wow, can I really have all these?!” “Go right ahead! Take as many as you like! Nothing would make me happier than my fruit being enjoyed by folks with divine blood.” “…Thank you.” The people of the village were always kind to me. They always called me “Master Nonorick,” and I had never once seen them angry. Even when I played pranks, they would laugh it off with a smile. It was all due to the divine blood that flowed in my veins. The only people in the whole village who didn’t treat me differently were Uncle Godrick and his half brother, Gaddie. Gaddie came from a different mother and didn’t have divine blood in him like Godrick and me, but he was still nice to me, and I got along with him well. “Come to think of it, is Kanya not with you?” “Oh, she was, but…” “Ah! There you are! Why do you always leave me behind?! Is it because you hate me? Hey, do you hate me or something?!” I had left Kanya in the river as a prank. She was such a crybaby, and her eyes were now filled with tears. It was so cute. I could tease Kanya all day and never get tired of it. But I didn’t want to push her too far, because I liked Kanya. She was the only one who got angry at my pranks. It was too bad she still called me “Master” like everyone else, though. “I don’t hate you, Kanya! I love you, I love you!” I ran up to her and met her with a big hug. “Whaa?” “So will you stop calling me ‘Master Nono?’” I asked. “I—I can’t do that!” “Then I do hate you after all!” I pouted. “N-nooo! Master Nono!!” I said good-bye to the orchard owners and walked all the way back home with Kanya. Despite my efforts, she didn’t budge on the “Master” thing even once. When we neared our home, I sensed a presence I hadn’t felt in a long time. “Gaddie!” I cried. “Hmm? Ah, Nonorick. Long time no see.” In front of the house stood Gaddie, looking exactly the same as I remembered him. Beside him was a girl with a stern expression and straight, black hair that came down to her shoulders. She looked delicate enough that a strong gust of wind might knock her over. “And you, too, Kanya. Good to see you in good health.” “Welcome back, Gadrick. And who might this be?” “Allow me to introduce the girl I mentioned in my letters. This is Tsukasa, the current hero and my partner.” I had already guessed as much, but before Gaddie could even finish his introduction, I sensed a strange aura about the girl. It wasn’t hate or disdain, but something else entirely. “…” “…? …? …?” She was looking at me. Staring hard enough to bore holes in me. I could almost see laser beams coming from her eyes. “Um… Gadrick?” said Kanya. “Oh dear, I feared something like this would happen.” I heard the two of them speaking, but for some reason, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from this girl. Wh-what’s her problem? I was going to be nice, seeing as she’ll be Gaddie’s wife someday, but it looks like she already doesn’t like me! “G-Gaddie? D-did I do something to offend her…?” I asked, hoping he could rescue me from this endless staring match somehow, but… “Oh, I can’t take it anymore!!” “Waah!!” She moved so fast, even all my training had nothing on her. In the blink of an eye, I was in Tsukasa’s arms, with her rubbing her cheek against mine. “She’s so cute, it’s not fair!! Look at her little blond bob! It’s so silky! She’s so slender and pale! It ought to be illegal!!” “Gyaaagh!! G-Gaddie?! Help! She’s gone crazy!!” “Sigh. Settle down, Tsukasa.” But Tsukasa didn’t let go. “I can’t believe you were hiding such a cute, sweet girl from me! And she calls you ‘Gaddie’?! That’s just criminal!!” “Who are you calling criminal? I think you ought to take a good, hard look at your own actions before throwing around accusations like that.” “Never! I object! I am prepared to press criminal charges! Gadrick, you are guilty of concealing an adorable little girl with intent to use!” “Just let go of Nonorick already!!” “Never! I’m going to make her my little sister!!” “Listen to yourself! Besides, where’s all this ‘she’ business come from? I already told you before we arrived that Nonorick is a boy!” At this, all the color drained from Tsukasa’s face at once. “…A boy?” Her neck swiveled gratingly like a wooden puppet, and she looked at me with cold, dead eyes. “Erm… Yeah… I’m a boy. Sorry?” I wasn’t sure why I apologized. It just felt like I had to. “…Ohh…” The next moment, she withered like an old lady fainting in the sun. Luckily, Gadrick seemed to predict this and was ready to catch her. “Whoopsie-daisy. You feeling better now?” “An IRL femboy… Too cute… I can’t even…… Erk.” Babbling some strange foreign language, Tsukasa passed out. It almost felt like those were her dying words. “She’s hopeless…” “Erm,” said Kanya, looking concerned, “is she okay?” “Physically, she’s fine,” Gaddie replied. “She just got a little overexcited, that’s all. Mentally… Well, she’s a lost cause, I’m afraid. Better get used to it.” “…She is the hero, isn’t she?” “Yes, that’s what they call her. She can be a little…odd…at times, but she’s truly remarkable.” Gadrick softly combed his fingers through her hair as he said this, and Tsukasa’s sleeping expression turned calm and peaceful. He didn’t have to say anything for me to be able to see how much she meant to him. …Somewhere, deep in my heart, it stung a little. “Well, she must be, to make you fall in love with her!” I teased. “Wha—?!” Gaddie immediately turned red-faced. Well, he’d brought it on himself for so casually flaunting that he’d already reached the age of 200 and was allowed to leave the village. …I wonder, when I leave the village, will I ever meet someone like Gaddie did? Someone like Gaddie or Kanya, who would treat me not as a divine being, but as plain old Nonorick. “Um, might I suggest we go inside?” said Kanya. “We can’t leave her lying here, after all.” “…Rgh. You’re right. Let’s go.” It seemed Gaddie really wanted to quip back at my teasing somehow, but in the end, he could think of nothing to say. A few days had passed since Gaddie came back home. In that time, I became friendly with Tsukasa. She told me embarrassing stories about Gaddie from their time together and stories about the world she came from, and the two of us even cooked together. Right now, I was in a clearing a little outside the village, sparring with Gaddie. “Haaaaaargh!!” Our swords clashed time and time again, emitting an unending cacophony of clangs. “Hey, come now, is that all you’ve got?” “How are you blocking them all?! I’ve got two swords!!” “Ha-ha-ha! Looks like I’ve still got it! If you’ve got twice the swords, then show me twice the number of swings!” I was trying my damnedest, but I still couldn’t land a single hit on Gaddie, who remained as cool as ever. “Mrgh!!” “Still not enough, I’m afraid. Why don’t you try a little harder?” “Grrr!!” I wanted to get him without resorting to tricks, but it looks like I’ve got no choice! “Try this on for size!! Divine Chains!!” “Oh? What’s this?” While I was still fighting, bloodred chains glowing with orange light flew out of my sleeves. They coiled in the air as if alive, then swooped at Gaddie. “Now this is new. Still not enough to get one over on me, though!” My technique didn’t use mana, and it managed to catch Gaddie by surprise. However, if simple tricks were enough to win against my brother, then I would have done so long ago. I could barely keep my eyes on him as he moved this way and that, slicing the chains to ribbons, before spinning around and grabbing two more that sought to ambush him in his grip, then crushing a third underfoot. “Heh-heh,” I chuckled. “You touched it, didn’t you?” “What?” At that moment, the chains Gaddie was holding turned to liquid, and like a large slime, engulfed his hand, sucking the mana and stamina out of him. “What’s this?! I can’t shake it off!” “Got you!!” The power I stole from Gaddie’s body filled my own. Now’s my only chance! Before he recovers! I launched myself at him, funneling all my newfound might into one finishing move. However… “Demongrave Dance!” “W-wah?!” Before my attack could connect, I was blown backward by nothing more than the force of the air displaced by Gaddie’s blade. “Looks like I win again, Nonorick.” “Urgh…” That last blow had knocked me a fair distance into a tree, and before I could clamber to my feet, Gaddie was standing over me, the tip of his blade pointed at my throat. “You and Tsukasa are way too strong!” I complained, falling to my back in defeat. “I can’t even hit you once!” I had sparred against the hero just prior to my bout with Gaddie, and to my utter shock, she was even more powerful than he was. It almost wasn’t a fight at all. Immediately after we’d begun, I’d felt all my power drained away. It was something similar to what I had tried to use on Gaddie, only way stronger. My technique actually had to make contact with the foe in order to absorb their strength, but Tsukasa’s activated merely by being close to me. “Don’t look so down,” said Gaddie. “You’ve improved a lot. Impressively so.” “Yes, yes! Not many people can go on fighting after I use Gluttony on them! Oh, Nonorick! Cute and strong! Is there anything you can’t do? Whatever am I going to do with you?!” “Aww, and now my clothes got dirty.” I looked down at my dirt-stained garb, ignoring Tsukasa, who seemed to be off in a world of her own. “Ah, I see you’ve learned how best to deal with her,” said Gaddie. “So, that move you used earlier; was that using your divine blood?” “Yeah,” I replied. “I read about how to control it in an old book and decided to try it out. It’s quite useful, actually!” I called upon the power again, this time molding my blood into the form of a hand. “I see. Well, be careful how you use it. It very nearly got the better of me. Against someone not so skilled, it could hurt them quite seriously.” “I know!” “I can’t believe you’re both ignoring me! …But that’s not so bad either!!” Just then, Kanya came running over, carrying a large basket. “Hello, everyone! I brought dinner!” I looked up to the sky and saw that the sun was very nearly overhead. It must have been just about noon. “All right!” I said. “Let’s eat!” And just as I let my guard down, it happened. “…Hmm? What’s this…?” “I don’t like that…” “Huh? The sky’s gone dark…” It was so sudden. It came without warning, almost as if it had been there all along. But if it had, then there was no way to explain the sudden and overwhelming sense of dread I felt at that moment. “Ka-kiiii!!” It was a giant, transparent mass about the size of a small hill. Had it been much smaller, I would have had no issues calling it a slime, save for its threatening aura that no slime possessed. It had no eyes, but it was staring at us. Like it was a hungry wolf, and we were its unfortunate supper. “Ka-kiiiiiiii!!” Whatever it was, it was bad. I could feel as much in my bones, long before my rational mind reached that conclusion. For the first time, I felt a primal dread for my very life. That moment of hesitation proved to be fatal. Hundreds, thousands of tentacles erupted from the mass. There was nothing I could do against a creature so determined to wipe out its prey. “Godsgrave Dance: Kagura!!” Just when I thought it was all over, Gaddie unleashed a flood of blades. “Roooaaaaahhh!!” The sound of slicing air came as the chime of a bell to my ears. “It’s so…beautiful.” At that moment, I saw just how much Gaddie had been holding back when fighting against me. For all their graceful beauty, his sword strikes were no less devastating. “Ka-kiiii!!” The monster growled like a dog denied its food, emitting an air-trembling noise. However, just then, it began to lose momentum. “Glutton’s Domain, Activate!” As soon as Tsukasa spoke those words, the hunter became the hunted. “Ka-kii? Ka-kii?” The air suddenly felt thick and weighty. It was the same move she used against me in our earlier bout. “You can’t absorb us. That’s my specialty.” The usual disappointing Tsukasa was nowhere to be seen. In her place stood a fearsomely impressive woman. “Become as the trees, devouring all they touch. Forest of Hunger.” She crouched and touched the ground, and a gray mold, like lichen, spread out beneath the monster. From out of the mold, green mushrooms appeared, and the monster’s see-through body began to take on a strange shade of gray. As it did, the slime’s movements began to grow sluggish. “Y-you’re amazing, both of you…” Kanya and I backed away, trying not to interfere. At first, we could barely think straight, but once we put some distance between us and the monster, we began to regain our composure. I could sense that this monster was way stronger than the dragons we usually found in the magical forest. However, Gaddie and Tsukasa were stronger still. They were overwhelming it. If I left things to them, surely everything would be just fine. “W-we should go back a bit farther, Kanya. We might get hurt if we stay here… Kanya?” But Kanya was muttering something to herself, watching the monster. She was so focused on identifying the monster’s characteristics that she didn’t even seem to hear me. “It came suddenly and without warning,” she said, a serious expression on her face. “The skies blacken with its approach… Its giant form, transparent like slime… C-could it be?!” The more she thought, the paler her face went. “Wh-what’s the matter, Kanya?” “Th-this is bad! Very bad!” she cried. “Ka-kii!!” Just then, the monster began swelling in size. “Grh! He might taste bland, but there’s a lot of him!” “Then let’s cut him into bite-size chunks!” Gaddie and Tsukasa immediately responded to this development by channeling more mana into their spells. But when Kanya saw what the monster was doing, she lost her mind. “W-we have to get out of here! Run away!!” The monster released a blinding glow. Kanya grabbed me and leaped aside. I didn’t know what was about to happen, but I summoned my blood. “Divine Barrier!!” I surrounded us both with a magical shield, but my impromptu defensive measure quickly began wearing down in the face of the immense power it was up against. S-so much mana! I can’t hold it off any longer!! “Waaaagh!!” The opposed forces created a mana explosion, tearing my barrier apart, ripping me from Kanya’s soft touch, and sending a thundering impact reverberating through my entire being. And, like a show curtain falling, I was rendered unconscious. I don’t know how long I was out for. When I finally awoke, the first thing I smelled was dust…then blood. One, two, three four… Countless people’s, all mixed together. A sweet, luscious, irresistible temptation. Not like my normal blood-drinking urges, but something far more powerful. Far more…instinctual. “Krrrh… Wh-what…happened…?” I looked around and discovered I was lying amid ruins. The trees were blasted and splintered, while the ground was cracked and hard as stone, littered with the bodies of my fellow vampires. “Ka-kii!!” “Unified Step: Shinra!!” “Glutton’s Dominion: Dining Beast!!” “It’s not over yet! Keep it going, you two! Show them the might of a true vampire!!” “Those with divine blood will never be overcome!!” “It’s just a slime! Get him!” I saw them fighting on, even now. “H-huh? Why is everyone…fighting…?” “Ha-ha, there you are, Master Nono. You woke up just in time…” “Kanya!! Are you okay?!” Hearing her voice, I spun around. I still recalled how she had jumped in front of the blast for me. “Kanya!! Y-your arm!!” “H…ha-ha, I guess I’m more cut out for my books and not all this fighting stuff… Don’t worry, it hurts way less than it looks…” Kanya was missing her left arm. Her severed shoulder, meanwhile, had turned to black stone. On her face, she wore the same worried smile as always. It wasn’t just her, either. The villagers who’d stuck up for me were either lying on the ground bleeding, or they’d been turned to stone, just like the land itself. “Wh-what happened? Why is everything so…?” “I think that monster is called Elphenterius,” Kanya explained. “It looks like a giant slime, but it’s actually a kind of wraith. It’s a magical life-form that only seeks to absorb as much mana as it can from its environment. I read about it in an old book. Whenever it appeared, the land would turn to rock, then to dust, and finally sink into the ocean.” “Wh-what?! What is it doing here?!” “Unfortunately, we don’t know why and how the monster appears,” Kanya went on. “It’s like a force of nature… Ah!” Just then, the monster emitted a concentrated projectile of light right at me. “Ka-kii!!” “Not if I can help it!” “Master Nonorick!!” By the time I realized it, it was already too late. And so, the two vampires threw themselves in the projectile’s path, taking the hit meant for me. “A-are you okay?” I yelled, but they both slumped to the ground. I ran forward to check on them, only to be held back by magical chains. “Wh-what’s this??” “I’m sorry, Master Nono, but I can’t let you interrupt the ritual.” The chains had come from a magic circle inscribed in the ground beneath my feet. I’d never seen anything like the magic circle before, but I could tell the chains were keeping me trapped within it. “What do you mean, ritual?! Let me go! We have to help the others!!” “Don’t worry, Master Nono, it’ll be okay. You’ll be safe, I promise.” “I’m not worried about me! It’s the others! They’re still fighting!” “They’ve been fighting for about three days now,” said Kanya. “The blast knocked you out for that whole time.” “Three days?! We need to retreat and patch everyone up, or they’ll die!!” “I’m afraid we can’t retreat. Elphenterius traps its prey in a magical realm, so that nothing can get in or out. That’s why it’s so dark even though it’s the middle of the day, see?” Sure enough, I could see the sun in the sky, but it was like the whole world was covered in darkened glass. “We can’t even use teleportation magic in here,” said Kanya. “So there’s no way to retreat and regroup. We can get supplies in through the border, though. That’s the only way we’ve lasted this long.” “Th-then…I’ll help too! We can all fight this thing together!! All we have to do is beat the monster, and then we can carry everyone to safety!” I could see from the devastation all around me that it wouldn’t be that easy. I could feel the monster’s strength radiating off it, too, but there wasn’t any other option. “I’m sorry, but Elphenterius has another ability. When it dies, it releases all its stored-up energy in one big blast. Because of that, even if you manage to kill it, everything inside its feeding grounds will be turned to stone.” “Th-that’s not fair…” Then how are we supposed to save everyone?! “…B-but…if we’re going to die anyway, then at least let me fight by their side! We might not be able to save ourselves, but we can at least make sure nobody outside the barrier has to be harmed!” “…You’re a kind boy, Master Nono. But I’m afraid that is not your role in this. Like I said, you’ll be safe, I promise.” At that moment, the magic circle began to glow. “K-Kanya? Wh-what are you doing? What’s this magic circle for?” “It counteracts Elphenterius’s petrifying ability,” said Kanya. “Eh-heh-heh, I’m always bad at putting things into practice. It took me this long just to set it up.” “But…if you can do that, then why not save everyone?!” “I’m sorry, but it only works on one person, and it requires a lot of setup. Right now, I’m the only person who can cast it.” “…Grh… In that case…don’t waste it on me. Save Gaddie or yourself instead!!” “I can’t cast it on myself,” said Kanya. “That’s not how the spell works. And if I seal Gadrick away inside it, we won’t be able to defeat Elphenterius.” “W-wait, Kanya! Wait! Wait, wait, wait! What do you mean, ‘seal’? What are you going to do to me?!” “You never know what books might teach you. For example, a great ritual that can freeze an individual in time, completely isolating and protecting them from any outside influence. All it costs is the caster’s life, and even if we don’t kill the monster, you, at least, will be safe.” “The caster’s life?! No, no, no! What are you saying?! Everyone’s going to die except me?!” “I’m afraid so, Nonorick.” “Gaddie!!” After unleashing a powerful move that made Elphenterius reel back, Gaddie landed near me. He was covered in blood from fighting for so long, but his eyes still burned with determination. “We must safeguard the divine blood… That was your mother’s dying wish.” “What? What are you talking about?” “Nonorick… It was fun sparring with you. At last, you’ll be able to watch me fight at my full potential. To that end…I’ll need to borrow some of your blood.” “G-Gaddie?!” While I was still immobilized, Gaddie came over and sank his fangs into my neck. The blood oozed out. I heard him swallow. “This blood,” he said, “always seems so ill-fitting in my veins.” Gaddie’s hair turned blood-crimson, and I felt the concentrations of mana in his body shoot up. Excess mana spilled from his open wounds like steam, yet even so, the amount that remained inside seemed too much for his skin to contain. “Don’t look so sad, Nonorick. We’ll make sure you survive.” “Gaddie…” “If you cry like that, you won’t be able to see my new techniques, will you?” Gaddie roughly tousled my hair, and then… “Kanya. Begin the ritual, if you please.” Kanya nodded. “…Forever and ever and ever and ever. Let sorrow’s tear wet the vessel, and forlorn hope be fulfilled. Secret Art: Eternal Crystal.” “K-Kanya?!” As she chanted, Kanya embraced me tightly. The ring at my feet glowed brighter, and a warm, green crystal began to form around me. “Ka-kii!!” “Keep it up! Just a little longer!” “Don’t let any attacks through until Kanya’s spell is done!!” “We must protect the divine blood!” Over Kanya’s shoulder, I could see the others still fighting for my sake. “Gadrick!!” cried Tsukasa. “Hurry up and get back into the fight!!” “Give me time! This blood is not fit for me; I’m not used to controlling it!! …But this should be more than enough.” With that, Gaddie returned to the front lines with blinding speed. “Ka-kii!!” With his newfound power, the balance of the fight slowly shifted in our favor. Each of his blows seemed more powerful than the last. But to me, he looked like a firework on the verge of snuffing out completely. “Why?! Why do you have to do this?! I don’t want to! I don’t want you all to die just so that I can survive!!” “That is our duty,” said Kanya. “That is the duty of all the vampires who live here.” “What do you mean?! I don’t understand what you mean, Kanya!! What’s the point in me surviving if all of you are gone?!” “Except for Gadrick,” Kanya explained, “each and every one of us owe our lives to your ancestor. Her dying wish was to protect the divine blood. Our only purpose is to keep you alive. That’s all we’ve ever lived for. So…it’s okay, Master Nono.” “No, stop!! I don’t care about the divine blood! I don’t care!!” “I won’t tell you not to be selfish,” said Kanya. “After all, I’m the most selfish one here.” Her breath was becoming more and more ragged, and her face was growing pale. As the crystals formed around me, so too did Kanya’s body turn to crystal and crumble away. “Master Nono,” she said. “When I’m gone, remember to eat your vegetables, okay? There’s nothing left for me to teach you now. Go out into the world, and see what’s out there for yourself…” “Why are you saying this?!” My prison was warm and soft, like it was made of Kanya herself. But in turn, the warmth I always felt was rapidly fading away. “…I’m glad we got to talk, one last time, at the very end…” There was almost nothing left of her now, but still she smiled at me. “Kanya…!” “Please don’t look so sad… I’ll always be by your side, Master Nono. Always…” It was a beautiful, radiant smile, free of any regret whatsoever. “I’ll always love you…Nono…” Then, the last of her transformed into crystal, leaving me with only those words. The moment my prison sealed around me, I was completely cut off from the outside world. My new world felt peaceful and warm, as though Kanya were right there with me. I was conscious and awake, yet try as I might, I was unable to free myself from that place. No matter how loud I screamed, or how hard I pounded my fists against the crystal walls, they wouldn’t budge. All I could do was watch. Outside my world, the fight continued. I watched as Tsukasa used some kind of ability to fuse with Gaddie. She launched herself at the monster, taking it and herself out in a massive explosion. After the dust settled, all that remained were stone statues of Elphenterius, Tsukasa, and Gaddie. The tragic sight left a hole in my heart. A hole that was soon to be filled with a different emotion. A few days after the fight, some people showed up who had apparently summoned Elphenterius with forbidden magic. I overheard them saying they had done this to kill the hero, and I watched as they kicked the statues of Gaddie and Tsukasa, smashing them to pieces and laughing all the while. One of the men called himself the new king of the world. I felt a hatred grow in my heart. With that animosity fueling me, I used my time in my prison to train. I swung my sword repeatedly against the inside of the crystal in the hopes of escaping it. For days and days, I trained as if it was my only purpose. I don’t know if my training paid off, or if the spell wore off on its own, but one day, my crystalline prison dissolved away.
Chapter 117
36 min read