Chapter 276: Debt Counts As An Asset (3)

Ignorant human mages often said that blood magic could be done with water-type magic. Water-type magic wasn’t limited to water alone—if it was a liquid, it could be controlled. So naturally, people wondered whether blood, being just another liquid, could be handled with water-type magic.

And in a sense, they weren’t entirely wrong. To water mages, blood was nothing more than water mixed with iron. But the medium of blood magic wasn’t the liquid called blood—it was life force itself.

Blood Essence: called the source of life force, Blood Essence was the basic power used in blood magic. It awakened the life force contained within blood.

A level higher than this was Blood Crystal. This drew out the maximum life force within blood and was a power permitted only to pureblood vampires. Its corruptive force was so overwhelming that even a six-star Grandmaster could be instantly corrupted beyond recognition.

And the power wielded by the True Ancestor vampires was called Blood Soul. Although the common belief was that life force and the soul were separate, Blood Soul pulled out the soul from the blood. That overwhelming power was now flowing out through Issera, the pureblood vampire.

“Ahh... I can feel His omnipotence...!”

She had consumed no more than a single drop of blood, but even that one drop of True Ancestor blood granted her near-omnipotent power. If a human were near her now, they would become her slave without her issuing any command, even if they were a Master-level warrior.

Blood boiled around her. Tens of thousands of droplets rose into the air and swirled like living beings.

“Lady Elise. As someone who has become a True Ancestor, I can feel it. Right now... You are weaker than I am. Hehe, forgive me for saying this, but your current power... is about the same as mine. Has your seal not fully broken? Or perhaps... You haven’t consumed any blood?”

To Issera’s smug confidence, Elise let out a long sigh.

“You need not worry. If you simply follow me quietly, I won’t lay a hand on you.”

“So you will lay a hand on Sefira, then?”

At Elise’s question, Issera laughed as if it were obvious.

“Haha, isn’t that natural? Humans are livestock. Ah, it won’t take long. With the power of a True Ancestor, I can devour every human in Sefira within an hour.”

“I can understand that Ladi didn’t tell you, but... It seems you truly know nothing about me.”

“...Pardon?”

“If you knew why I became a vampire, you would never dare say such a thing in my presence.”

Elise had become a vampire of her own accord, but it was only to protect humans, the race she loved. She chose this existence so she could shield them from the Blood King and prevent their extinction for centuries. Simply put, Issera had just hit a nerve.

“I don’t know what you mean, but... I understand that you intend to stop me. Ahh, I’m so sad. I didn’t want to damage that precious body of yours.”

Pretending to wipe away nonexistent tears, Issera stretched out both hands. The floating blood droplets gathered into her palms.

Bloody Marchen: it was a simple technique that detonated all life force-containing blood, and its destructive power was just as straightforward. It was strong enough to annihilate not just Keter’s residence, but the entire main mansion surrounding it.

Yet Elise simply held her Keter-like doll in her right hand, lifted her left finger, and pointed at Issera.

“Issera, kneel.”

Issera snorted.

“Vampires obey absolute hierarchy depending on the purity of blood. But did you forget? I drank the blood of Lord Vladimir, a True Ancestor, just like you! So your command won’t...”

Thud!

Issera couldn’t finish her sentence, as her knees bent against her will.

Telekinesis? Did she force my legs down with telekinesis?

But Elise corrected that assumption.

“How dare you look at me directly?”

Thud!

Elise hadn’t even given an explicit command, yet Issera’s head slammed into the floor. Her body reacted before her mind could. Her instincts realized that Elise, the being before her, was one she must never defy. Her whole body quivered.

Th-this is impossible!

“What’s impossible?”

H-how is she reading my thoughts?! This... This is dangerous!

“What’s dangerous?”

Without a sound, Elise appeared right before her and knelt down.

Issera wanted to run, but her body would not obey her.

Why... why do I want to run?

“You may not know this yet, but blood remembers—it remembers death.”

Even though Elise spoke alone, the conversation continued because she could read Issera’s mind.

Elise gently stroked her trembling head. Though she threatened death, her touch was warm, like soothing a frightened child.

“Ladi is so cruel. He’s my child... but he sent you here to test me—to see whether I’ve regained my memories, and whether my power remains. You called me a True Ancestor, but that’s wrong. The children who received my blood and became vampires are the True Ancestors. As such, you cannot disobey me.”

And neither can I.

But Elise swallowed that last truth and continued.

“You’re watching too, aren’t you, Ladi? You didn’t give this girl your blood to empower her—you only wanted her to find me. The other children accepted their fate and live quietly... But you alone remained so fervent, clinging to past glory, longing for the era when you ruled over humans. Ladi, don’t come for me. If you do, I won’t have any choice but to do the same to you.”

Elise raised her hand, and a tiny droplet of blood rose with it. It was the Blood Soul—the True Ancestor’s blood that Vladimir had given Issera, and the distilled essence of her vampiric power.

“Ah... Ahhh...!” Issera screamed, clutching her head.

She could feel her vampiric power fading, and her immortality and strength being pulled out from the depths of her soul. Elise placed the Blood Soul extracted from Issera into her mouth and swallowed it whole.

“...Ah?”

Issera had lived for centuries. She had long surpassed the human lifespan thanks to vampiric power. So upon losing it, she should have turned to ash, yet she didn’t die. On top of that, her beauty remained, as well as her stamina. The only changes were her fangs returning to human shape and her pale skin regaining color.

This mercy, of course, was Elise’s doing, because in the end, Elise herself was human.

Elise gently took the panicked Issera’s hand and said, “Ladi will think you’re dead. And you have nowhere to return to, right? Stay with me. My master will accept you without discrimination.”

“...M-master?”

The being Elise called her master terrified Issera. The person whom Elise, someone who easily stripped her of the True Ancestor’s power, addressed as “Master” could only be a god.

Elise could no longer read Issera’s human thoughts, but she still sensed her fear.

“Don’t be afraid. My master is someone who bleeds.”

Gods did not bleed, and that was why they didn’t shed tears. However, Keter bled and cried. Yet the power contained in Keter’s blood was more intricate and extraordinary than anything Elise had ever known. To her, Keter was a god who bled.

“W-what kind of person... is he?”

To this timid question, Elise smiled playfully.

“He’s a little strange, but he’s a good person.”

And Issera, seeing Elise act like a girl who had a crush, couldn’t help but wonder desperately who in the world could be her master.

* * *

Joyful moments and cruel ones all eventually passed. No matter how dark or deep the night was, the sun always rose. The same was true for the Family War between Sefira and Bydent: the day of the final battle, which had felt like it would never come, had finally arrived.

According to the agreed-upon rules, each family could deploy only half of its soldiers and knights. Even so, Bydent’s forces were numerous enough to encircle Sefira’s territory completely. Of course, not all of them were Bydent’s own troops.

Reinforcements sent by other families from the south were included. And on top of that, families from other regions supporting the second prince also dispatched soldiers, bringing the total to over five thousand.

Naturally, not all five thousand were regular soldiers. Most were simply for pressure; simply decorative troops meant to intimidate Sefira. Of course, they were still part of Bydent’s army, so it didn’t change the fact that five thousand people were surrounding Sefira. And Sefira’s strategy against that was exactly what Bydent had predicted.

“They’ve chosen to fortify.”

Bydent’s main force stood on the hill overlooking Sefira. This unit was being led by Jordic, the head of the family.

Jordic turned to his aide, Arbold.

“No suspicious movements?” Jordic asked.

“None, sir. However... We still have no information on what’s happening inside Sefira.”

Bydent’s scouts monitored everything outside Sefira with thorough vigilance, but they couldn’t see inside at all. Even if someone hid physically or with magic, Sefira would still find them and shoot arrows. Sefira had even demonstrated the astonishing feat of shooting down magical surveillance from the sky with arrows.

Even now, though they stood on a hill overlooking Sefira, it was so far away that only the faint outlines of buildings could be seen. Seeing any human figures was, of course, impossible. Jordic felt frustrated that he couldn’t tell what Sefira was doing inside its walls.

Seeing this, Arbold cautiously spoke, “They’ve expanded their watchtowers and reinforced their defenses to the extreme. It’s obvious they’re committing to a defensive battle. Their strategy is once again to place their trust in Keter, is it not?”

“...Haaah.”

Jordic let out a sigh, not even having the strength to reply. That was all he wanted: for things to proceed so simply and conveniently as that.

I will not launch a premature attack. Time is on my side.

Winter was harsh. Hunger set in faster, and no amount of clothing stopped the cold. Warmth from fire would become desperately valuable.

“In a prolonged war of attrition, we cannot lose.”

It was only natural that those under siege would wither away. The besieging side could bring in supplies from outside as much as they wished. But Sefira would obviously understand such a simple principle, and most of all...

“Keter is not the type to stay defensive.”

He would attack. Even if Sefira chose to lock its gates, Keter would come out alone if he had to.

Jordic shook his head.

“No matter how crazy Keter is, he can’t come alone.”

Bydent had split its troops into three divisions: the main army, left wing, and right wing. Each division had two Grandmasters, ensuring that no matter where Keter appeared, there would be two Grandmasters to intercept him.

And that wasn’t all. If Keter appeared, the Grandmasters from the other divisions were ordered to converge immediately.

“If we eliminate Keter, Sefira is just an empty shell.”

Jordic’s entire attention was fixated on Keter. Watching Sefira was, in practice, watching for Keter’s movements.

Then Arbold shouted, “Lord Jordic! It’s him! Keter has appeared!”

“What?! Where?!”

Jordic turned, gripping Gungnir, and his eyes flew wide.

“Right here.”

Keter was standing behind Arbold, hand wrapped around his neck, grinning wickedly.