In his defense, he wasn’t actually weak. At the very least, he was strong enough to destroy any member of the Seven Luminaries one-on-one, and he could still win against their number even two-on-one. Things would probably be even if he faced three of them at once, though facing four would be a little tough. However, five would be impossible for him. This was because there were two level 1000 cheaters by the names of Dina and Sol among the Seven Luminaries, and if Luna were to get hurt, Terra would act. That meant four would be the limit for Vlad. At best, he would be able to fight well against the weakest four: Mars, Jupiter, Saturnus, and Mercurius.
Ah, yeah. I really am just weak. Let’s just go home.
“N-No, no. I just happened to come upon some truly incredible people. That’s definitely the case. They were this age’s Fairy Princess and the ruler of all vampires... I’m not weak at all. They’re just too strong.”
The fact that he just admitted that they were stronger than him meant that his pride as a powerful person was one step away from being in tatters. However, he still was not yet ready to believe that he himself was weak.
That was when Vlad hit upon the idea to just pick a fight with the first random person he saw in order to regain his confidence. It was a move completely devoid of pride or honor, but he was totally serious about it. Luckily, he was on a well-maintained road that connected cities together, so as long as he waited, someone was sure to come.
Then, after waiting several minutes, his first unwitting victim came. It was a large man absolutely rippling with muscles. His bright red hair swayed in the wind like a lion’s mane, and his face screamed brutal violence without a hint of reason. His face was human, at least, but it really just looked like someone had stuffed a ferocious beast into the shape of a human somehow, as his expression was warped in a way that said that he hated the entire world. The man was over two meters tall, with dark, swarthy skin that was stretched so taut trying to contain his muscles that it seemed he might burst. The air around the man was distorted like a mirage from the heat he gave off, and it was clear right from the get-go how dangerous he was.
His name: Leon the Lion King, the problem child of the Imperial Thirteen Heavenly Stars.
Vlad’s thoughts stalled for a moment. Nope! The vampire hid. He threw away his pride and hid with all his might. Nope. No way. Totally impossible. He’s obviously incomprehensibly strong.
His judgment was, in fact, correct. Leon was scarily strong, and he was also in a bad mood today. He’d lost the mahjong tournament that had been held on the moon and as a punishment, was forced to wear some clothes Sagittarius used as a disguise to go out and run errands. On top of that, it was a woman’s dress.
Imagine a large, extremely muscular man entering a store in a dress. That was the hilarity that was incoming. Thanks to that, Leon’s stress meter was maxed out. If there were anyone who would pick a fight with Leon at that moment, then they would most likely have been punched out of all of their lives. Thus Vlad bought his safety in exchange for his pride as he let Leon pass.
Others might have mocked him for being a coward, but he’d simply become smarter in exchange for all of his deaths. His actions should be lauded as those of someone smart and prudent. Calling him a chicken was completely unwarranted.
After confirming that Leon was gone, Vlad once again looked forward to his next would-be victim. The next person to arrive was a tiger beastfolk. He was just as tall as the previous passerby and also looked obviously strong. Though Vlad couldn’t feel the peculiar aura given off by the strong, he was sure that this man was indeed a powerhouse and let him pass as well.
This was a chicken move.
The next one to come was a girl who seemed weak. Her rainbow-colored hair flowed smoothly down her back, and her body was as slender and seemingly fleeting as any other girl’s.
Hmm...? She’s...a girl...? At any rate, the chicken was sure he could win. I’ll descend upon this unfortunate passing girl and defeat her, proving that I am not weak! So, he jumped out and blocked the way of the weak-looking sheep.
“Wait right there, young lady! My name is Vlad the True Ancestor! This may be sudden, but I will be taking your blood!” The chicken proudly named himself, and while he was at it, the plan to take some blood popped into his head.
The blood of a beautiful, living girl was a favorite of vampires. That never changed, not even in fantasy worlds. His would-be victim was actually male, though. Rather, he wasn’t even human. However, this chicken had no idea about any of this and was sure of his victory.
“Be at ease,” he continued. “As long as you don’t put up undue resistance, I will not take your life. However, if you attempt to resist me, you should be prepared for death.”
As he spoke, the chicken reminisced on the past. It was better back then. Just mentioning my name like this would put fear in people, and they would quickly offer their blood, just to be saved. But look here. This girl isn’t afraid at all. How sad. I’m sure she’s so pathetically weak she can’t even tell how strong I am, but I suppose I shouldn’t blame her. Having too large a gap in strength makes the gap harder to sense. The girl isn’t too weak; I’m just too strong.
As the chicken glowed with pride at that thought, the girl—rather, Aries—made to hit him lightly.
Aries had figured that he’d just try hitting Vlad for now, since from the way he spoke, he was an enemy. While Aries was rather peaceful as far as the Thirteen Stars went, that didn’t mean he was a pacifist. As long as he recognized someone as an enemy, he would naturally attack them. The Thirteen Stars weren’t to be underestimated like that.
Thus, the chicken was sent flying.
“AAAaaaaAAaaaAAAaaaAAAAAHHH!!!”
The chicken screamed as he flew high through the sky, spinning like a boomerang in his travels.
I’ve been spouting words that would come back to me like a boomerang for a while now. Who knew that I would become a boomerang myself though? Amazing.
Vlad was unlike many people in that he understood what a punch line was. From now on, let’s refer to him as the comedian.
“NOOOOOOOOOO!”
The comedian continued on his flight path, managing to crash into Lufas, who was just on her way from the moon to Mizgarz, and he bounced off into the ground.
However, he hadn’t stopped yet. As long as he still lived, the comedian would continue to roll. He rolled and rolled, continuing through Mizgarz’s soil as if he were tilling a field. Eventually, he stopped after rolling through ten kilometers of earth.
Vlad was speechless. “Huh?” He paused. “What...was that...?”
The comedian cowered. She’s just a thin, frail-looking girl. Why did her punch have all that power?
With that, his remaining lives decreased even further, and he finally lost all confidence. Well, such a thing as confidence no longer existed. However, he still wanted to think he was better than average.
Huh? Wait. Am I possibly...below average? Am I seriously nothing but small fry in this day and age?
“U-Ummm... Are you all right?”
An angel—rather, a heaven-winged girl with pink hair—descended before the poor comedian. She crouched down to be at eye level with the comedian, seemingly worried about him.