Chapter 2432 – 2432. Dark Moon
I smirked, the corners of my mouth lifting as I stood above the pool of blood.
I felt a surge of power. This place was now mine.
“It’s a pain in the neck to look up. Come down first.”
I raised my hand and lowered it. The pool of blood around me resonated and pulsed. My magical power amplified.
[Gravity]
Rahul, who had been floating in the sky, began to fall rapidly. He stopped just before hitting the ground. Luminous stones circled around him, floating in the air. They were similar to the calamity stones Aisa had used.
[Blood Control]
I manipulated the blood.
It was just manipulating blood, but it was different when that blood was from a True Blood Vampire. The blood itself contained immense power.
Blood surged from the pool, engulfing Rahul. My goal was to crush him, but it didn’t work. An invisible barrier, centered on the stones, blocked the blood.
“You’re being bothersome. Simply manipulating blood won’t break through this Earth Shadow Stone.”
The ring of stones around him began to rotate. A powerful wind rose, scattering the blood around.
It wasn’t just a phenomenon caused by the rapid movement of the stones. I realized that each of those stones had an immense mass compressed within them.
One of the stones flew towards me. I raised a wall of blood, but it was easily pierced.
I used one of the True Blood Vampire’s powers, mist form. I turned my body into mist and flew into the sky. My body floated without falling. This was also a power of the True Blood Vampire.
KWA-AAAAANG!
The stone fell where I had been, creating a huge crater with a deafening roar. It looked as if a meteorite had fallen.
[Blood Spikes]
Hundreds of blood spikes targeted Rahul. But this time, they also failed to pierce the barrier around him.
“…The output of the barrier is too strong. Is it some kind of conceptual barrier?”
“You have an eye for things, for a vampire. This barrier is like a giant rock. It’s harder than steel and heavy. Constant dripping wears away a stone, but it takes thousands, tens of thousands of years. Your blood can’t break this rock.”
“What are you talking about? You’re not a rock.”
Cough.
Suddenly, Rahul coughed up blood. Even though it was a clone, it was made of blood and flesh. Precise clone manipulation wouldn’t be possible unless the clone was similar to the original at the cellular level.
Rahul, who had been flustered by the sudden coughing of blood, groaned as if he had realized something.
“Ignoring my barrier… is it a curse?”
“Just because I’m a vampire doesn’t mean I can only use blood magic. Even if it’s not as good as blood magic, black magic is compatible with vampires. It seems you didn’t feel the pain in your clone state until now.”
It wasn’t difficult to secretly take out the Dark Hole from my inventory in my pocket. Using black magic secretly was easier. Fortunately, he didn’t notice.
[Pain Tula]
A level 5 black magic that inflicts a curse that twists the target’s internal organs.
There was one condition for the curse: making eye contact with the target.
Usually, the pain is felt immediately after being cursed, so it’s immediately recognized. If you concentrate, it’s not difficult to remove the curse, even if you’re not a mage. The curse is easy to remove because the conditions are not strict.
I tried it because he said it was a clone, and it was the right answer.
“It’s a clone for use as a weapon. Is there a need to feel pain?”
“Hmm. You’re right. But because of that, your internal organs are now twisted. Even if it’s a clone, you won’t last long, will you? Three minutes at most. I’ll watch you die during that time.”
Even if he removed the Pain Tula, it was already too late. The golden time was gone. His internal organs were already twisted. A normal human would already be dead. The reason Rahul was still standing was because he was a clone.
“Three minutes is enough time to kill you.”
Rahul spread his arms. The luminous stones that had been protecting him scattered in all directions, attacking me from every angle.
There were too many stones flying to dodge. Their power was too strong to block.
‘Mist form.’
I used the True Blood’s power to turn my body into mist.
I could ignore attacks with physical force. But the stones contained the conceptual magic of Earth Shadow Stones. Even in mist form, I couldn’t completely ignore the stones. The damage was accumulating inside me, little by little, but surely.
Rahul, knowing this, didn’t stop the stone bombardment. The fallen stones rose again, repeatedly attacking me.
“The power to turn your body into mist is really annoying. But all you can do is endure, isn’t it? To think I’d have to fight a battle of attrition with the likes of you. I admit it, True Blood Vampire. I’ll remember you. Tell me your name before you die.”
“Do you think I don’t know your intentions? Names are important, both magically and in terms of sorcery. I have no name to give to a mere clone like you. And a battle of attrition? I never intended to fight while enduring.”
I could speak and use magic even while maintaining mist form.
And now, Rahul had abandoned his defense and was pouring everything into his attacks. He wanted to inflict damage on me at all costs, since the clone was already doomed by Pain Tula. I would have done the same.
‘But thanks to that, the annoying barrier disappeared, and a gap appeared.’
I used the level 6 blood magic I had been preparing since I was in mist form.
[Blood Scream]
In the limited space where the pool of blood had spread, a small tidal wave began to surge thousands of times. It was like a storm compressed into a single space.
Rahul was swallowed by the Blood Scream, and the Earth Shadow Stones that had been targeting me lost their power and fell to the ground.
‘It’s not over. He’s still holding out in the center of the Blood Scream.’
He was enduring the Blood Scream with his bare body, even though he wasn’t in a normal state. I had to acknowledge his capabilities.
‘But he won’t be able to hold out for long.’
As expected. Rahul died in less than 30 seconds. Although it was a clone, it was my victory.
I released my mist form and descended to the ground.
I wasn’t in a normal state either. Rahul’s Earth Shadow Stones had steadily damaged me. If it had been daytime instead of night, I would have lost.
‘As a vampire, that is.’
The pool of blood on the ground disappeared as if it had evaporated. Some of it returned to me as power, but it wasn’t very satisfying.
I opened my inventory and took out a blood pack.
I opened one of the mana awakener blood packs I had bought for a high price and began to drink it.
‘It tastes bad.’
Even vampires have their preferred blood tastes. In my case, most blood tasted bad. But I couldn’t be picky. For vampires, blood was both food and medicine.
‘Regardless of the taste, I feel a bit better. Maybe it’s because those stones were special, but my recovery is a bit slow.’
When I had finished one blood pack, Aisa approached me. She looked around at the ruined surroundings and found Rahul’s corpse.
“Oh my god. You really fought and won against Senior Rahul’s clone?”
“I fought because I had a chance of winning.”
I turned away from her and approached Rahul’s clone, which had become a corpse.
The corpse was tattered. Only the head and part of the upper body remained. That was enough. I grabbed the corpse’s head and used blood magic.
[Blood Chaser]
The blood remaining in Rahul’s corpse wriggled and then lost its power.
The magic didn’t work.
‘I was going to find the location of the main body with Blood Chaser… but some measures have been taken. Is it some kind of sorcery? It’s impossible to find his location with Blood Chaser.’
“I guess it failed. Well, if it’s Senior Rahul, he would have taken some measures to prevent tracking.”
“As long as we’re here, he won’t give up and will appear again. If you intend to stay here, tell me information about him.”
“Okay. Should we get out of here first? But are you okay? You look even paler than usual.”
“I’m fine. Let’s move.”
Before leaving, Aisa took out a jade bracelet from her cleavage and handed it to me.
“Wear this. It will help you escape Senior Rahul’s pursuit. And others won’t notice anything strange.”
“I feel an alien power. Is it the power of that great spirit?”
“Yes. It’s a bracelet made from blessed jade. A bracelet of nature. If you wear it, you’ll become natural. The effect will last about a week. Unless you deliberately cause trouble, Senior Rahul won’t find you.”
I took the bracelet and put it on.
Honestly, I couldn’t understand druid magic at all, so it was hard to trust. But there weren’t many options.
Aisa seemed so confident, so the effect would be certain.
I put on the bracelet.
I felt a pressure pressing down on my whole body.
“……?!”
“What’s wrong?!”
“What is this…? It feels like my body is being suppressed. It feels like I’m under the sunlight, even though it’s night.”
“…Ah. The great spirit is the nature of this world itself. For druids, all of nature is the great spirit… so the sun is also the great spirit, the sun.”
“In short, the power of the sun is contained in this bracelet?”
“Yes. Haha. It can’t be helped. Just endure it. It’s better than being tracked by Senior Rahul, right?”
“You call him ‘senior’ so easily. He tried to kill you, didn’t he?”
“That’s true. But I’m used to it.”
We moved away.
I was able to get information about Rahul.
Rahul.
Aisa’s senior from the same school, and a level 6 druid.
His specialty was clone sorcery.
The main sorcery he used was rock sorcery. Especially the sorcery of Earth Shadow Stones. A sorcery that projects the power of the earth into small stones.
“Attack and defense. All are excellent sorceries. The power varies depending on the druid’s skill… When I saw it earlier, each of Senior Rahul’s Earth Shadow Stones must have weighed over 10 tons.”
“…What is Rahul’s purpose?”
“I don’t know the details. But I guess… it’s transcendence. Senior Rahul. He’s over 50 years old, even though he looks like that. He was a level 6 druid when I was training as a druid. I heard he’s been stuck at level 6 for over 30 years. Even back then, his desire for promotion was immense. So his goal is probably… to reach level 7.”
“He became corrupted for promotion. Well, that’s a common story.”
It’s not easy to reach level 6. But reaching level 7 is even harder. Most of those who reach level 6 die without reaching level 7.
‘There’s a saying that the reason why level 6 powerhouses go crazy is because they can’t reach level 7.’
Earth Shadow Stone sorcery. A sorcery that projects the power of the earth into small stones. A sorcery that excels in both attack and defense.
Even if I don’t know exactly what Rahul is doing here, as long as we’re here, he’ll try to find us and kill us no matter what.
“It’s become annoying. It doesn’t seem like we’re going back like this…”
“Of course not. There’s always danger in reporting.”
“We can’t do that reporting anymore.”
“We can’t do it openly. Senior Rahul will find out.”
She smiled and raised her hand. She was wearing the same bracelet she had given me.
“Do you know when I use this bracelet? When I need to do undercover reporting! Now is the time to start undercover reporting!”
