Chapter 2443 – Dark Moon
I killed the cannibals as soon as I saw them. Their corpses were dried out and chopped into pieces. I didn’t want to kill them easily, so I deliberately cut off parts of their bodies little by little to inflict pain. When they died, I used the Blood Orb to absorb and store their blood.
The fist-sized Blood Orb was glowing faintly with a crimson light.
I looked at the last remaining cannibal. Unlike the others who were naked and armed with crude weapons, he was adorned with jade ornaments. He was different from the other cannibals. It was clear at a glance that he was the one leading them.
Whether he was a great warrior or the chief himself, I would find out by asking.
I flicked my finger.
From the Blood Orb floating beside me, a blood slash sliced through the lower half of the cannibal’s body. His lower body, covered in disgusting mold, was severed. The blood was red.
“Kieeeeeeak!”
“Let’s ask. Why do you practice cannibalism? You can live without it. The Tiat tribe has lived that way.”
“Kieeeek! Kiaaaak!”
The cannibal went berserk. Mold flew off him with every movement. I didn’t know what kind of mold it was, but it was clear he was trying to spread it. Even if I wanted to be affected, I couldn’t allow it. I used wind magic to blow away the mold and flicked my finger.
*Swish!*
A blade of blood severed both of the cannibal’s arms.
“Don’t ignore me like an animal. I know you can speak the common tongue.”
“Kuh, kueeeek… kekeke….”
The cannibal, who had been writhing, suddenly started laughing. His eyes, looking up at me, were filled with madness.
“The reason we eat humans? Because humans are delicious. And the more humans we eat, the stronger we become. The idiots of the Tiat tribe are weak because they don’t eat humans.”
“Does becoming stronger mean evolving? From what I see, you’re not getting stronger, but rather weaker and devolving.”
“Kieeeek…!”
The cannibal ignored my words and thrashed about. He crawled like a bug and tried to bite my ankle.
“Do you want to abandon your intelligence and become a bug, lower than an animal? Fine. Then die like a bug.”
I used a blood blade and telekinesis to fix him in the air, then dismantled his body piece by piece. I manipulated his blood to keep him alive. In less than five minutes, only his head and spine remained. Barely alive due to blood magic, he looked at me with half-crazed eyes and mouthed something. I deduced his meaning from his lip movements.
‘Akar. Are you Akar…?!’
“Akar my ass.”
*Pop!*
The blood that had been barely keeping him alive moved and destroyed his head. After absorbing the blood from his shattered head into the Blood Orb, I turned around.
I could see the burning tribe.
The survivors of the Tiat tribe were gathering towards me. There were few warriors, and most were women and children.
They were looking at Rag, the chief, not me. As if they were begging him to do something.
“What are these pieces of trash looking at? Tiat is finished. You live as you please. Well, you’ll all die soon anyway. The women are a bit better off. If they’re lucky, they might be captured by another tribe and live as slaves giving birth to children.”
“…Honey. What should we do now?”
One of the chief’s wives asked. The chief clicked his tongue as if annoyed.
“I told you, do as you please. If you don’t want to live, then commit suicide.”
“Honey! How can you be like this?! You’re the chief of our tribe! Lead us as you always do! You, who came from the sky, the special one, you can do it!”
“You bitch…. How dare you raise your voice at me? You’re just a test subject!!”
The chief strode towards his wife, punching and kicking her.
Aisa was startled and took out her camera from her chest. To think she would take out her camera instead of stopping him at this moment. I admired her directness.
‘Aisa doesn’t have any affection for the Tiat tribe either.’
She hadn’t stayed long enough to develop affection for the entire tribe.
The chief’s wife curled up, enduring the violence. The other tribesmen nearby only watched the chief, unable to dare to stop him.
“Ga, Garga…! Please help me…!”
The chief’s wife asked me for help. She was the woman who had taken my dead child and disappeared earlier today. I stood with my arms crossed.
The chief eventually killed his own wife.
“Hah, you bitch…. How dare you step forward and make a fuss. You should have just stayed quiet….”
The chief’s eyes flashed as he scanned his surroundings. The tribesmen were frozen like mice in front of a cat, unable to do anything.
“It’s about time they arrived….”
The chief looked up at the dark night sky. He stared intently at the north before smiling broadly.
“They’re here!”
Two transport helicopters were flying towards us. There was no sound.
‘They’ve suppressed their presence with magic. There’s at least one mage.’
The Blood Orb rippled. Then, a spear of blood was fired towards the helicopters. A circular barrier flashed, blocking the blood spear. The weakened blood spear fell to the ground with a thud.
“Hahaha! Garga! No, Eugene! You’re finished! The headquarters’ direct support unit has arrived!”
I was dumbfounded.
The blood spear I had just fired was an introductory attack. Like a jab in boxing. If it knocked them out, they were idiots, and if not, it didn’t matter. The amount of blood stored in the Blood Orb right now was enough to fire hundreds of blood spears.
‘Let’s see how great these guys who are coming are.’
It was fortunate that the blood spear was blocked. If they died far away, I wouldn’t be able to recover their blood.
‘I need to gather more blood to kill Rahul.’
He had been here for years. He must have prepared quite a lot. To fight him, I also needed to prepare.
The helicopters stopped in the air. The doors opened, and soldiers armed with guns and battle suits descended to the ground.
*Thud! Thud! Thud!*
A heavy sound, like iron pillars falling, spread out. Immediately after, the soldiers opened fire. Not at me, but at the surviving Tiat tribesmen.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
The short screams ended, and the smell of gunpowder and blood filled the air.
Then, the soldiers protected the chief and were wary of me.
“Why did you kill them?”
The answer came from the chief. He must have thought it was safe, as he had a deep smile on his face.
“They were disposed of. Rather than gathering the survivors and rebuilding the tribe, it’s easier to start over from scratch.”
“I see. Aren’t you guys going to attack?”
“That’s right! Kill that vampire! I almost died because of him! I was even tortured! He’s an enemy of our company!”
The soldiers completely ignored the chief’s words.
The one who seemed to be the leader of the soldiers stepped forward.
“A message from Director Ott. We’ll make a deal. The condition is to keep silent about what you’ve seen here. The price is 10 billion credits. Or something equivalent. What do you say?”
Instead of answering, I looked at Aisa. Aisa gave the soldier the middle finger.
“I wouldn’t do it even if you gave me 1 trillion credits. People’s right to know the truth is more important than money!”
“So that’s what she says.”
“…You’ve made a foolish choice.”
Some of the soldiers activated mana wave devices. Then, a barrage of bullets poured out.
Blood erupted from the Blood Orb, forming a barrier to protect me and Aisa. Machine guns mounted on the transport helicopters fired, supporting them. Even missiles flew and struck the blood barrier.
“Don’t stop attacking! His blood is gradually decreasing! Don’t give him a chance to counterattack!”
The leader of the soldiers shouted.
Indeed, as the blood barrier was taking damage, the stored blood was also being consumed.
“Is this… a crisis? Should we dig a hole and run away?”
“No. I was just measuring the situation.”
“…Measuring?”
“Look. They’re gradually gathering, aren’t they? They’re planning to concentrate their firepower to break through the blood barrier. Even the helicopters are gathering.”
“They’re going to focus fire on one part of the barrier. …It looks dangerous.”
“…Not yet. A little more.”
“Huh?”
“When I grabbed that guy’s neck earlier, I injected my blood into him. I planted it to track him if he ran away… but I’m going to use it like this.”
The soldiers began to gather as if protecting the chief.
“Is it now?”
[Blood Burst]
The chief’s face, which had been so arrogant, hardened. Immediately after, his face contorted in pain. Veins popped out all over his face and body, writhing. Some of the soldiers, sensing something was wrong, turned to look at him.
*KWAHAAAAAAAANG!*
The chief’s body exploded. A powerful shockwave swept through the surroundings. The helicopters, which had been flying low to attack, were also swept away, losing their balance and falling.
I removed the barrier and walked towards the fallen soldiers. Of course, it was to absorb their blood.
The leader and a few other soldiers survived. Their state-of-the-art battle suits had temporarily saved their lives.
“Huk… Huk…! I can’t die like this…!”
“Even if I die, I’ll get one hit in!”
“Damn it…. I don’t want to die….”
With their bodies already in tatters, they squeezed the last bit of power from their broken battle suits and stood up. They slowly aimed their guns at me.
“The chief’s blood is all over them. I can use it one more time.”
“……Damn it?”
[Blood Burst]
*KWAHAAANG!*
The explosive power was less than before, but it was enough to finish them off. Their corpses were scattered. I only absorbed the blood from them.
Once the situation was somewhat under control, I turned to look at Aisa.
“Aisa. I’m going to wipe out everything here. Whether it’s Alpha Tier or a tribe, I’m going to destroy them all. You get out of here. It doesn’t matter if you consider the escort mission a failure.”
“No. I’ll stay with you until the end.”
“Is it because of the story?”
“…Well, that’s one of the reasons. I promise I won’t hold you back, Eugene.”
“I might not be able to protect you.”
“Hey. I’m not just some weak woman, you know? I’m a 5th-grade druid. Maybe there will be a situation where I can help you.”
“Okay. I’ll ask for your help when the time comes.”
