Ch-76: Shedia (1)

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"Gah! You still got drunk, hah? Didn't I warn you to drink in moderation? It's going to get in the way of tomorrow's work!"

"Who, Who is drunk?! Don't spout nonsense!"

"Is that something a person staggering like you should say, ah?"

A middle-aged man scolded a youth, making the youth protest and deny, only to stagger off the main road, almost sprawling himself on the dirt ground. The housewives passing by who saw his funny gestures burst into giggles.

View of a peaceful village.

Shedia sat on a random rock, looking around.

Her semi-curly dark hair blanketed one of her eyes, but she didn't mind and continued to stare at the village.

The reason she was doing so was because this village involved the mission given to her by the Ancestor.

The mission was to subdue Cloud, a hero who was staying in a hut in the mountains near this village.

Originally, she was supposed to travel with the Prime Squad.

However, they were displeased at her presence, so she travelled alone and was now waiting for them.

For several days while she waited for the Prime Squad, Shedia mostly blankly stared at the serene village.

Most of her life, she had lived alone in the dark underground, so it was not a bad change to savour in the peace.

"That big brother just likes alcohol too much. Other than that, he's a really good person."

The kid sitting next to Shedia said, swinging his legs two and fro.

The child was attracted to her ever since she first came to this village, clinging to her and chattering whenever he managed to find free time.

Villagers would normally be wary of outsiders, but Shedia's round, innocent-looking eyes easily shattered the vigilance of any onlooker.

Her characteristic blank expression was enough to make others want to take care of her.

So even though the child was attached to an outsider, the villagers didn't bother much.

"Sis. Sis, are you listening to me?"

The child pulled on Shedia's sleeve.

She turned her gaze towards the child. The child had a freckled face.

"Every day I only talk to myself and sister doesn't even answers. Are you also bothered by me like other adults?"

Shedia shook her head.

Had she disliked the child's loud-mouthed blabbering nature, she would have left at once and hid out of the child's sight.

For a fact, she didn't dislike peacefully looking at the village while the child blabbered in the background.

But, it seemed to have been perceived differently by him.

She had to think how to explain what she felt to him.

Contemplating as she tilted her head, Shedia recalled her older sister's warm hand stroking her hair when she was a child herself.

If it was that kind of warmth, her meaning would definitely reach out.

Shedia inched her hand slowly. She was about to stroke the child's head with her palm.

– Aww!!

When a loud scream spread throughout the village, men in black robes attacked the center of the village. They either killed or subdued villagers who resisted.

One of them ripped off his mask and sunk his sharp fangs into the nape of the person who he had suppressed.

Bloodsucking.

For vampires, it was an act that was no different than having dinner or lunch.

"Uh… wha…?!"

The child made a stupid sound at the sudden chaos that unfolded.

However, the child was more hands-on than she expected.

He snatched Shedia's hand, pulling her.

"Run, sis! Come on, let's run away! Come over to my house and we will hide with Dad and Mom… Sis?"

The child felt strange as he looked at Shedia, who stared back at him blankly.

The child, taking a shuddering step backwards from Shedia's arm, thuded back into someone, before mechanically lifting his head up, cowering.

A vampire in black robe was looking down at the child.

"Hiiik?!"

The terrified child stiffened before his body scrambled.

The vampire snatched the child and brought him near his lips.

"Haha, the blood of a pure human child is a delicacy among delicacies. Don't worry, kid. I won't eat you right now. When I'm extra hungry later, I'll devour you then."

The child's complexion turned pale at the vampire's giggling tone. The child instinctively snapped a look at the adult closet to him, Shedia.

Seeing that, the vampire giggled as his body quivered.

"You want that b!tch to save you? But what about it? It doesn't look like she's going to save you."

As the vampire said, Shedia blankly stared at the captured child, she did nothing else. The vampire also did not act hostile to Shedia.

The child questioned in a trembling tone.

"Sister… maybe… n, no, right…?"

His words were incoherent, but meaning clear enough.

Shedia neither affirmed nor denied.

The child's face was hit by a sense of betrayal. Tears like chicken poop fell from the corners of his eyes.

"Traitor! How well aunties and uncles treated you! Evil! Traitor!"

The vampire couldn't hold back his laughter at the little child's swear words, finding them cute. Either way, the child cursed at the overflowing sense of betrayal he felt.

Shedia… she blankly stared at the child.

* * *

"It's over there."

Looking at the old hut in the middle of the forest, Rowan, the leader of the Prime Squad, said. According to the sources, Hero Cloud was staying there.

"He hasn't moved yet? After being hit by the Third Squad? What is he? A pig?"

Did he considered them equal to those Third Squad trash?

Laughters echoed in the silent night.

If he was indeed having such a misunderstanding, it was their duty to correct him, out of politeness, of course. Haha.

"Demolish that shithole."

"Man, we don't need to spend so much effort on this, now do we?"

"Ancestor wants it done."

"All right."

When Ancestor's order was mentioned, the crew members also got silent.

For them, Ancestor was an irresistible existence.

The members of the Prime Squad circled around the shabby hut.

Shedia tried to move accordingly.

But Rowan grabbed her arm tightly, stopping her.

"Where are you going?"

"…"

Shedia stared at him blankly for asking the obvious.

Rowan frowned.

"Don't be silly and be still. We do the work."

"…it's master's order."

"Cut the crap. You know how much I want to tear that disgusting face of yours, master's order being the only reason I'm not."

Rowan was feeling disgruntled at being appointed to the same mission that was to a werewolf and had been to lower blood vermins.

Had it not been for the direct orders of the Vampire Ancestor, Kutcher, he would not have taken this mission.

"Again, we are enough, so stay still. Contradict me, and your safety is no longer of my concern."

To Rowan's glare, Shedia nodded her head with her signature blank expression. Seeing the casual attitude, Rowan clicked his tongue distastefully.

'Why are we still holding on with her? What fucking use is she?'

However, now was the time to do the duty rather than understanding his master's intentions.

"Everyone ready? Activate your blood magic with moderate output. When I give the signal, blast towards the hut at once."

Rowan shouted after confirming that everyone in his squad was ready, and in position.

"Shoot."

Red arrows and spears made of clotted blood poured towards the hut.

– Kugugung.

The hut could not hold longer and collapsed.

Rowan ordered his men to flank any visible figure.

The opponent was a hero, a human who annihilated the Third Squad alone.

They weren't of those mongrel's level, but caution was not redundant.

Rowan's thoughts were right.

Above the collapsed hut, a figure rose from thick cloud of billowing dust.

As the dust dispersed in the wind, his identity was revealed.

A man with flaming red hair and an almost inhuman handsome appearance.

It coincided with the personal information of Hero Cloud they knew.

Rowan squinted.

'He is unharmed?'

He had expected his move to not do much, but he had not expected Cloud would swagger out without a single wound.

'It is not a coincidence that the Third Squad was annihilated, uh?'

Alright. This was gonna be fun.

Rowan chuckled.

"You all are different from those who came before, yes? All they knew was the art of individual assassination, while you all, I think specialize as a group in killing a single target."

Cloud said as he looked around, surveying the vampires surrounding him.

"There is no need to give up on numerical superiority, leading to a pointless melee."

"That's right. A wiser than ever has arrived. This will be fun."

"Fun, yes? That's a little weird. Here I thought you will be tasting despair. No worries, I will let you learn the consequence of running wild without knowing the world is wide."

Rowan snapped his fingers.

Eight squad members located at the rear of the formation used blood magic. Sharp blades of conjured blood flew true, aiming at Cloud.

Cloud deflected the first five blades with his sword, as the remaining three missed him behest of his agile footwork.

Taking a stance, he dashed towards the vampire in front of him and lowered his sword vertically.

Bang!

Kang!

The vampire blocked the [Strike] by laying his sword horizontally. The sword that blocked the attack only wavered a little, yet the vampire's posture wasn't disturbed in the slightest.

The Four Vampire Ancestors of the Zarakh Society sported different specialties.

Gis's adoptive mother, Haley, was good at manipulating blood, while Kutcher was good at strengthening body using blood magic.

So, of course, members of each family were also greatly influenced by their Ancestor's specialties.

And the Prime Squad members of the Kutcher's family were those who dedicated themselves towards strengthening physique through the virtue of blood magic.

Cloud's heavily casted [Strike] was a skill they could block without too much trouble. Cloud turned his body and rotated his sword diagonally.

A slash aiming at the center of the unprepared vampire's body.

Another vampire intervened from the left, blocking it. At the same time, the vampire on the right aimed at Cloud, thrusting his sword.

A refined rendezvous ensued.

Cloud evaded the sword, eyeing the spear of blood flying towards him. Just before the spear's tip arrived, he turned, avoiding it.

He was going to induce a team kill.

But things didn't turn how he imagined.

The blood spear that had zoomed by, lost its shape and returned to the form of a sphere when the vampire twirled his hand a little.

The vampire morphed it back into a spear and threw it at Cloud, who tried to widen the distance.

Kang!

Cloud broke the hardened blood.

"Morphing the blood that is being manipulated? That's a bit unexpected, sure."

The vampires he knew were extremely proud creatures. To them, it was a great insult for someone else to touch their bloodstream.

Should this be viewed as a cultural difference between different worlds, or should he consider these vampires castrated for they were raised as assassins?

Cloud turned apprehensive.

On the other hand, Rowan, who mistook Cloud for admiring their superior skills, burst into laughter.

"It's only natural. Because we are qualitatively completely different from the Third Squad you encountered."

Listening, Cloud nodded his head.

They'd had been castrated.

* * *

Arrows and spears conjured of blood zoomed through the air.

Dodging the mercilessly flying arrowheads and spear blades, Cloud flicked away a vampire's sword.

Four hours had passed since then.

The sun had set, and Rowan's face had a frown.

'What the hell is this guy? Why isn't he falling?'

Formations had been created to exhaust and kill strong individuals.

The line closest to the enemy blocked the enemy from escaping the siege.

Three rows of vampires used long-distance attacks to injure or keep baiting their enemy, draining their stamina.

Rest of the columns moved fluidly, helping one or three rows, depending on the situation.

Just as a prey caught by a snake suffocates to death, the opponent who is caught in their Squad's formation gradually loses their stamina and eventually collapses.

Rowan was confident that even Gis wouldn't be able to get out of this formation alone. He believed that he would even be able to kill him if he sacrificed the majority.

Because of this, Rowan thought that Cloud, trapped in the formation, would collapse sooner or later.

But looking here, why was it… so different?

Rather than exhausting and collapsing, why it seemed he was getting quicker?

Rather, his squad members who were dealing with him were getting exhausted.

"…Captain. It's embarrassing to say, but I'm f**king exhausted."

One of the squad members who had been shooting blood spears approached and said so.

Rowan grunted.

"…fortunately, we thought about securing meal boxes on the way. Replenish and come soon."

"Yep."

Just when, the vampire nodding his head, turned to get himself one of the meal boxes they had secured.

Rowan kicked the vampire.

At the same time, a dagger passed through the spot where the vampire's head had been.

Tiiing! The dagger was nailed to the floor, the blade of the dagger was completely embedded into the rocky ground surface.

'What…'

Even Rowan, who woke up from a stupor, couldn't help but be surprised.

It was so fast and accurate, that it was impossible to deal with it in a more amicable way. Kicking was the best option he found at that moment.

"Meal boxes? What did you guys do before you came to me?"

Rowan wasn't the only one surprised by the sudden change. The entire Prime Squad panicked, stopping their attack on Cloud, raising their vigilance.

"I asked. What you all had been doing?"

Meanwhile, Rowan read annoyance on Cloud's face. It was a good omen, a precursor to disturbance. Losing one's composure in a life-and-death battle was no different from wanting to die.

"What we had been doing? Nothing eventful. Just killing the hapless humans populating the surrounding villages to replenish our blood stock, dragging the remaining few to serve as our meal boxes to consume later."

So, Rowan provoked Cloud.

He mocked the desperate resistance of the villagers.

Hoping for Cloud to become a little more emotional.

And Rowan's attempt was successful.

Cloud's eyes turned cold.

"Better had been the vampires I used to face before."

"What?"

Ignoring Rowan's frown, Cloud muttered quietly.

[All Bless]!

A divine blessing rested upon his body.

Strength, Agility, Durability, Magic.

All of his abilities scaled off.

[All Bless]!

The divine blessing superimposed on his body.

The stats that had been greatly increased amplified once again.

[All Curse]!

The intangible mana that flowed from Cloud dwelled upon the vampires.

Mana completely interfered with the operation of the vampires' blood magic to the movement of their muscles.

Imposing shackles on their abilities.

Before the vampires could panick at the sudden increasing pressure on their bodies—

—Cloud murmured once more.

[All Curse]!

You can read fully translated chapters, including the last chapter, for $20.

p(a)treon.com/Daoist02