Chapter 14

My blacked-out vision returned. My tongue moved more naturally than before. “Thank…you…for this…” After properly thanking her in her ear as she trembled before me, I dug my fangs into Senli’s proffered neck. “Hmm… Senli isn’t back yet.” “Yeah. What the hell is she doing…? He’s just a monster.” At their master’s words, Nevira glanced at the room’s clock in irritation. It showed that the sun would already be setting soon. Senli had left the room a short time after day had broken. When she’d seen Nevira and the others return, having made sure the sunsentence would have enough time to succeed, she’d understood the situation immediately and burst out before anyone could stop her. Luphrey frowned, recalling her expression—she’d looked to be on the verge of tears. Epe’s group’s mission had been to kill Horos Kamen, second-rank necromancer. They’d already accomplished that. That meant Senli Sylvis would be promoted to first-rank knight, but this didn’t seem like the best time to celebrate. Senli had soft spots. Normal people would call it kindness, but for the Ender Knights, it was unnecessary. The Knights would do whatever they had to in order to carry out their duty fighting the shrewd, deceitful denizens of the dark. And their methods were not always just. Sometimes they tortured, and sometimes they killed in grisly ways as examples. Sometimes they killed humans who supported the denizens of the dark, and sometimes they even ignored hostages. Many of the Ender Knights had personal grudges against the denizens of dark, too. And the world had tolerated all of that. Undead had profane powers the living did not, gaining strength by absorbing death, and regular people could do nothing against them—they were humanity’s fated enemies. This time, Epe had given Senli Sylvis a lie. After telling her he would overlook the harmless undead she said she’d met, he’d sent Luphrey and the others to put him down. But Epe didn’t regret doing it in the slightest. He was sorry that he’d had to lie. He knew it would leave a lasting scar on Senli. But he didn’t regret it. Because…it was the proper thing for an Ender Knight to do. Senli was a tiger cub. As the days passed, her blessing grew stronger, and in what seemed like the blink of an eye, she’d surpassed Luphrey and the others—knights who had joined before her. What she needed to train now was her heart. She utterly lacked the proper attitude to be an Ender Knight. And this would be an opportunity for major growth. Thankfully, she was smart. He knew if he talked to her, she’d understand. For now, she just needed a little bit of time to calm her emotions. Once she had a little more experience fighting undead, she’d get it. There were no harmless undead. They attacked people on instinct. They envied life. Ghouls ate human corpses, and darkstalkers struck from the dark. Vampires sucked human blood. For undead like them, humans were no different than livestock. The state of being undead was a curse. Detestable necromancers had put a curse on them to make them like that. That was why the Ender Knights purified their souls—to grant them an end. “Master, is it really possible for an undead to retain their memories after dying…? I know that vampires have the power to make people into their thralls by sucking their blood, but… That undead certainly wasn’t dominated by instinct. He never attacked us.” Nevira clicked his tongue softly at Luphrey’s question and responded in an intimidating tone. “He didn’t attack us because Thelma shot him in the legs first, idiot. It was coincidence! Have you even been paying attention to anything before this? You can’t talk things out with those bastards!” Nevira was a little rough, but he had more willingness to fight the undead than most others. People like him were necessary for the Knights, too. Epe narrowed his eyes, then, without answering the question, replied, “Nevira is right. They all need to be destroyed.” The existence of the undead who kept their memories from life. It was a secret only told to the Ender Knights—and then only to first-rank ones. Death was a parting from life. It was irreversible, which was why people grieved the deaths of loved ones but kept on living anyway. If it became known that there was even the slightest chance of overcoming it, the world would be thrown into chaos. Many might appear who tried to use necromancy to bring back companions. It wasn’t public knowledge, but they’d actually had members who had done that. No matter how low the chances were—people would still think they’d be all right doing it, even with no proof. Epe then turned to Nevira and said in a criticizing way, “But you shouldn’t have given a sunsentence. You should have purified him before he felt pain. It’s a mental weakness of yours, Nevira. I believe we should never use the sunsentence without a strategic reason.” “…Tch.” Luphrey and the others frowned at Nevira. They probably hadn’t been keen on the idea, either. A sunsentence was torture for an undead. Inflicting pain for no reason went contrary to the Ender Knights’ reason for existence—they made it their mission to purify defiled souls. Nevertheless, the method of punishment was allowed within the Knights because it was a sort of salvation for certain ones who had grudges against the undead. They couldn’t survive on platitudes alone. That the Ender Knights had emotions like everyone else was proof. But Epe wasn’t telling Nevira this out of a moralistic reason. He narrowed his eyes, watching Nevira, who had done something thoughtless. “I thought I’d told you to make sure you destroyed him. That was why I immediately sent you there—before the night was over.” “…The sunsentence never fails. A lesser vampire with nothing but a head can’t do anything. You understand, right, Master? There was no rescuing him. He had no companions. If it was possible, even I wouldn’t have used the sunsentence.” “……” “And I made sure he didn’t start regenerating. His power was completely drained. Even if he survived for a time, it was probably only for thirty minutes. Of course, it might have felt like hours to that monster…” “Master, what Nevira says is right. It is true that the sunsentence was not premeditated but emotional, but… That undead was so…so creepy—enough to make Nevira do that.” Recalling the sight, Thelma shuddered slightly. In general, the undead acted on instinct. That led them to attack the living. The sense of self that began to sprout in ghouls was predicated on powerful instinct. But those who had memories of their life… They were different. It wasn’t clear whether it was a unique trait of individual examples who had retained their memories after death or if it was a result of the mixture of their human memories and undead instincts. Regardless, such undead were, in most cases, aberrant. Since undead with their past lives’ memories intact were extremely rare, there were maybe three or four examples to draw from, but records of battles with those aberrant undead did still exist at the Ender Knights’ main headquarters. These undead possessed both the body of a monster and the intelligence of a human. They needed to be killed while they were still weak. Even if they’d never attacked anyone to date, their very existence would bring calamity down on the world. “Nevira, enough of this,” said Epe. “Go look for Senli and bring her back. We can’t afford to stay in this town forever. We have many enemies aside from Horos Kamen.” “Ugh… If she hasn’t come back yet, that must mean she’s still upset. She’s so stubborn… I don’t even know if I’ll be able to bring her back…” “I was the one who sent you on the mission, but you were the one who decided on the sunsentence. It is your responsibility to explain things to her, Nevira. It’ll be fine—she’s a strong one. If you talk things out properly, she’ll understand.” Senli was set to become a first-rank knight at Epe’s recommendation. Once she had, she would be permitted to learn about the undead who kept their memories. And she would learn of the threat they posed. If only their chance meeting had come a day later—but there was no point harping on that now. “…Fine, fine. Time to go get punched by little miss princess, I guess…” Nevira sighed in heartfelt frustration and stood up. And then, as though timed for the moment, there came a knock at the door. Everyone turned to look at once. The presence they could feel from behind the door was extremely similar to Senli’s. Nevira’s expression softened a bit. With an exaggerated gesture, he turned his gaze to his companions and said, “Sheesh, Senli, you’re late! Enough with the hesitation already. The master’s worried, too—” “Ah! Wait, Nevira—” Sensing something wrong, Epe tried to stop him, but it was too late. Nevira unlocked the door and turned the knob. “…Pardon the intrusion. It felt as though I couldn’t enter unless invited—maybe because I’m a vampire, albeit a lesser one.” With a creak, the door opened slightly. Nevira’s softened expression turned to a flabbergasted one, then immediately his face drew back in tension. The slender figure entered the room quite casually. The man, wrapped in the exact same aura as Epe’s pupil, narrowed his crimson eyes as he gave a thin smile. It was better than anything I’d ever felt before. I’d felt euphoria when I’d eaten for the first time after becoming a ghoul, but the moment I’d sucked blood had been something else. Probably because Senli’s blood was of the highest quality. Regardless, I was now keenly aware why vampires would risk being attacked to suck the blood of young women. It was common knowledge that vampires grew stronger by sucking blood. Lesser ones, the pupa of vampires, were no exception. Senli’s blood had completely regenerated my body, including my heart. My physical form had been on the verge of death and would have been destroyed if she’d come only minutes later. I could see it. The powerful positive energy wrapped around the Ender Knights. But I felt none of the despair I had felt last time. In that moment, my power was at its peak. Lesser vampires were a preparatory stage on the way to vampires and apparently weak even among other types of undead, but none of that was even important. My body no longer had the frail physique it did in life. My limbs were toned and muscular, and I even had prominent abdominal muscles. It went without saying how much power was hidden within me. My undead body, which was never supposed to grow or mature, had changed. That, too, was likely proof that I had progressed beyond the curse—beyond what the necromancer had planned. All the Ender Knights were present in the room. The one holding the mace, Nevira—the one who had tortured me—took a step back out of shock. He must have thought I was Senli. “Y-you…!” “How?!” It would have been utterly unexpected for them. But their reactions were still beyond those of normal humans. The female blond-haired knight—Thelma, who had shot me in the legs in the forest—grabbed her silver bow, which had been leaning against the wall, took aim, and fired a silver arrow, all in the blink of an eye. At about the same time, Nevira brandished his mace. But I was calm. If I hadn’t been confident I could survive coming to the enemy’s base, my timidity would have never allowed it. The mace flew at me quickly, and the arrow shot toward my head. But now that I was a lesser vampire and possessed eyesight superior to a human’s, I could see them very clearly. Third-rank knights were certainly strong. Their positive energy produced inhuman physical abilities, and they boasted strength fitting of heroes who had perfected their combat techniques—but they were still only human. They weren’t on my level. Not after I’d reached the pinnacle of a true monster, having gone through the greatest experience of my lives. I took a step forward, then used my left palm to stop the swinging mace. With my right hand, I grabbed the arrow out of the air just before it hit my forehead. Pain shot through my hands, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as my execution during the sunsentence. For vampires, the act of sucking blood wasn’t only to replenish their energy. I tossed the arrow aside. Gripping the mace, I forced it out of Nevira’s hands and threw it to the floor. My smoking palms quickly regenerated, and the smoke disappeared. That wasn’t something you would normally see from a vampire. “Most of what’s below the neck right now…was made from Senli’s blood. And it’s all thanks to your purifying everything but my head.” The Knights were dumbfounded. The only calm one was that sun man—Senli’s master, Epe the Extinguisher. He was strong. Even seeing him again now—he was overwhelming. The energy he possessed went beyond even Senli Sylvis and her talent of blessing, which was very high for a knight. I’d heard the name Epe the Extinguisher in life. He was fairly well-known, even among the first-rank knights. The crazy story of him attacking a vampire king’s castle on his own and extinguishing an army of undead thousands strong in a single strike was a popular subject for theater plays. He was a living legend. I’d been surprised when I’d heard the sun man was Epe the Extinguisher, a childhood hero of mine, but then it made sense that I’d felt like I’d be obliterated by his immense energy just from getting near him. He’d remained seated even after my visitation, probably because he wouldn’t need to stand to wipe out someone like me. He narrowed his eyes and spoke calmly. “What do you need of us, then, lesser vampire—End, was it? Revenge? Do you think you can oppose a group of Ender Knights…just because you recovered the rest of your body? You underestimate us.” I didn’t have any such intention, of course—not a scrap of it. Even now, my heart was pounding quickly at seeing Epe in front of me. He was strong. Too strong. He was a monster wearing human skin. An utterly different creature than the third-rank knights.