Chapter 2445 – 2445. Dark Moon
The crimson explosion subsides.
It wasn’t a gunpowder explosion, so the buildings didn’t burn or turn to ash. Instead, dust scattered everywhere. That too quickly settled, revealing the scene within the blast.
Most of the buildings were gone. A large crater had formed in the surrounding area.
‘There are survivors.’
Rahul stood before them, hands clasped in prayer. He must have shrunk his barrier to maximize its defense, blocking a Blood Burst comparable to a tactical nuclear bomb.
‘Twelve in total. Three beings with the same appearance as Rahul. Two are clones? The one in the middle must be the real one. The pressure I feel is different.’
The clones weren’t in normal condition.
‘I heard from Aisa before coming here. The use of clone magic isn’t just about multiplying bodies. Its true purpose is as a sacrifice.’
In magic, the most powerful spells are those achieved through self-sacrifice.
One offers oneself to a great spirit. Therefore, it’s a spell that cannot be used for oneself. Clone magic is a spell to compensate for this.
‘If he were alone, he might have endured, but he sacrificed his clones to protect the employees behind him. Those behind him must be that important to him.’
Could those people be Rahul’s weakness? No, probably not. Protecting them was likely for business reasons. One of them must be the project manager.
‘More concerning is the third eye that appeared on the real one’s forehead. It doesn’t seem to be a type of mystic eye, but…’
In this world, special eyes possess special powers.
‘I don’t have any information, so I can’t act rashly. I’ll be cautious for now.’
Blood Orb.
I use magic again. A red orb appears on my palm, absorbing the blood scattered on the ground.
Although it was consumed by the Blood Burst, there was still blood left from the aftermath, as well as newly spilled blood. Absorbing these would be somewhat helpful.
‘The problem is that it takes time to absorb everything. And I can’t wield such massive life force like before.’
I opened my inventory. The space split open, and blood packs poured out. As I unleashed the power of blood, the blood tore through the packs and was sucked into the Blood Orb.
‘Compared to the blood I collected from killing the tribesmen, it’s far inferior in quality and quantity, but… it’s not negligible.’
While I was preparing, Rahul was also casting a spell. He and his clones formed hand seals, creating three stone pillars that floated in the air. They were sharp at the ends, like stakes. Each stone emanated a different kind of power.
“Vampire, I am grateful to you.”
The real Rahul spoke, his hands moving busily.
“I didn’t expect to hear words of gratitude. Did I happen to kill someone you didn’t like?”
“Those were merely sacrifices for transcendence. It doesn’t matter. The reason I’m grateful to you is that you’ve eliminated a troublesome process. Akar promised me transcendence in exchange for your death. If you hadn’t appeared here, it would have taken me at least a few more years to transcend.”
“Are you so obsessed with transcendence that you’d borrow the power of a god that looks so disgusting? Is there any meaning in transcending by borrowing the power of a god?”
“You, who receive the blessings of a god without any cost, do not understand. The pain of not being able to overcome the wall because you lack the crucial talent, the crucial background, the crucial something…! If I can transcend…! I don’t care if I become a slave to a god from another world!”
One of the three stone pillars grew larger and rushed towards me. I changed the shape of the Blood Orb, making it into a large spear.
The completed spear of blood fell towards the rushing stone spear. The two different spears collided in mid-air.
Crack! With a chilling sound, a part of the stone spear was ground away. The blood spear lost its form and fell to the ground, its power spent.
I calmly formed a hand seal with my right hand.
[Blood Lightning]
Crackling!
The blood droplets falling to the ground turned into red lightning. An elemental fusion that blazed using blood as a medium.
This is magic, but it can’t be called pure magic. It’s my way of interpreting the power of lightning and the martial art of Thunder Heaven Style into my own magic.
[Thunder Heaven Style, Lightning Art, Lightning Chain Binding]
The crimson lightning became chains, grabbing the rushing stone pillar. The stone pillar stopped before it could reach my body.
“That’s not ordinary magic. Is it immortal arts? You sure know how to use rare things, vampire.”
“Immortal arts are also a type of magic if you trace their origins. There’s nothing I can’t use.”
Blood Lightning has the appearance of lightning, but its essence is blood.
Therefore, this is also possible.
[Blood Burst]
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The crimson lightning that had been binding the stone pillar exploded, turning the stone pillar into dust.
The Blood Lightning didn’t disappear but wriggled in the air, as if searching for its next prey. Unlike ordinary lightning, it wouldn’t disappear until all of its essence, the blood, was evaporated.
I pointed my index finger at Rahul, as if commanding the lightning. The Blood Lightning fell on Rahul in an instant.
Bang! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The barrier protecting Rahul blocked the lightning without any trouble.
‘Is Blood Lightning not powerful enough on its own? Should I gather it again with the Blood Orb and detonate it all at once?’
Rahul and his two clones began to float in the air. Stone pillars surrounded them. Before I knew it, the number of stone pillars had increased to ten, circling around him.
“You look pathetic, hiding inside a barrier. Are you that afraid of me?”
“Stone is heavy. It doesn’t move carelessly. You will never be able to break these stones.”
He looked at me.
I felt my body becoming heavy. It became difficult to control my mana. Mana suppression. It felt like being in Akar’s sanctuary.
“…You, who have sold your soul to a god from another world, dare to use druidic magic.”
“The great spirit does not distinguish between good and evil. It is not the gods but humans who divide and distinguish between good and evil. Druidic magic can be used by anyone with a bit of talent and the ability to pay the price.”
I felt the disgust in his words. A contradiction of using druidic magic while hating it.
“You’ve been on the wrong path from the start. …Enough of the idle talk. Let’s finish this, vampire.”
The five eyes Rahul possessed turned red.
“Kuhhhhh!”
The two clones beside him collapsed, spewing blood. One turned into stone and then crumbled into dust. The other’s skin burst, his flesh swelling up, and he fell to the ground as a lump of flesh.
‘He sacrificed his clones. One to the great spirit, and one to Akar?’
Self-sacrifice magic. I didn’t know exactly what kind of magic he was trying to activate, but it was definitely dangerous. My instincts were screaming warnings.
I tried to turn my body into mist using the power of a True Blood Vampire to escape.
“Ugh?”
I couldn’t turn my body into mist.
“I am watching you. I will not allow any changes in your existence.”
“…He’s blocking the change itself with just his gaze. Annoying eyes.”
Rahul’s barrier expanded, changing the world.
The forest turned into a wasteland, and the night sky turned into a midday sky with a blazing sun.
No, it wasn’t the sun.
It was an eye.
A giant eye was blazing like the sun.
“……!”
My body became heavy in an instant. It was even difficult to stay afloat, and I staggered and fell to the ground.
‘Damn it…. That’s a real sun. That gaze itself has become the light of the sun, pouring down on me.’
As a True Blood Vampire, I can function during the day by blocking sunlight with magic, but there’s a limit to how much I can block such direct sunlight.
Moreover, that gaze contained Akar’s power, which suppressed mana and magic.
‘Magic…!’
I cast a spell as I fell. A crimson aura gathered at my fingertips, then disappeared.
If it were just Akar’s power interfering with magic, I could somehow manage. The problem was the sunlight. Too much intense sunlight was gathering on me.
I gritted my teeth. In the end, the easiest and most familiar magic I could use in this situation was…
[Telekinesis]
Thud.
I fell to the ground. I barely managed to reduce the impact of the fall using telekinesis, but it was difficult to move my body. I could see my hands. They were emaciated, with skin clinging to the bone. The blood in my body was disappearing due to the sunlight.
‘…The magic blocking the sunlight will soon fail. Then, it’ll be the end for me as a vampire.’
I could just release Polymorph.
‘I wanted to release it at a more decisive moment to exploit an opening… but I don’t have that luxury.’
I was about to die.
Moreover, Rahul was preparing for a follow-up attack. The stone stakes floating in the sky were glowing gold, imbued with the power of the sun.
“Most vampires look down on humans. Biologically, vampires are superior. In the food chain, vampires are above humans. And so on. But the weaknesses of vampires are clear. You are showing the reason why vampires cannot become the mainstream.”
“…….”
“Eugen!”
Suddenly, Aisa appeared and pulled my body.
“Aisa, are you interfering? Fine. Die together.”
Rahul dropped the golden stakes towards the ground.
Aisa was faster. With a feeling of being pulled by something, I escaped the wasteland. I was back in the original forest.
“…How did you do that?”
“Senior created a barrier and created a new environment. I just entered the barrier and brought Eugen out.”
Snap!
Three of the stones on the necklace of calamity she was holding flew away. Now there were only two left.
“Two means ten minutes… no, with Senior Rahul as he is now, maybe five minutes. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to escape from Senior Rahul. He’ll catch up in an instant.”
“Thanks for saving me, but I don’t intend to run away either.”
I got up.
I still felt dizzy. My body was lacking blood. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any blood packs.
‘Even if I release Absolute Polymorph and return to human form, the damage I’ve taken won’t disappear. The damage will accumulate in my original body as well. It’s somewhat mitigated, but… if I go back now, it’ll be serious.’
I did have potions. But drinking blood as a True Blood Vampire is much better than drinking a potion in human form. It’s not for nothing that one of the nicknames for vampires is immortal.
“You need blood, right? I’ll give you my blood.”
Aisa ripped open her sleeveless shirt. The buttons popped off, revealing two large breasts that jiggled. Pink nipples and areolas were on top of her healthy, tanned breasts.
“…You’re telling me to eat your breasts, not your blood?”
“Technically, I’m telling you to eat my blood too. Did you know? If there are spells that only virgins can use, there are also spells that only non-virgins can use…!”
“…….”
How should I react? While I was flustered, she gathered her breasts with both hands, not caring about my reaction. Her two nipples touched each other. My gaze was drawn to the feat that was difficult even for someone with large breasts.
Squeeze.
Milk leaked from her stimulated pink nipples.
Gulp. I swallowed unconsciously. The breast milk smelled sweet. Very sweet.
“Since ancient times, mothers have symbolized the earth and abundance. Especially the breasts, which are a symbol of motherhood and life force. Do you know why the Milky Way is called the Milky Way?”
“…It’s said that the breast milk of Hera from Greek mythology was scattered and became the Milky Way.”
“You know it well. And breast milk is made from blood. It would be better if you sucked the blood too.”
Aisa grabbed her breasts and shook them. The overflowing breast milk scattered, releasing a sweet fragrance. I couldn’t resist the temptation and opened my mouth wide, biting both nipples at the same time.
Milk flowed from the large nipples that touched my tongue, and my fangs, embedded in her breasts, sucked blood.
Like a castaway who had wandered through the desert and found an oasis, I drank Aisa’s milk and blood.
