77 Ch-77: Shedia (2)
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A Hero is a special existence.
They can be a strong warrior, an excellent wizard, and at the same time a faithful priest.
It means you can become anything if you put your mind to it.
And a hero who has experienced a grim world understands it well.
He was not a peak master in one field, but he was an all-rounder who could do anything.
[All Curse]-!
The intangible mana that flowed from Cloud once again enveloped the vampires. The thicker chains of mana significantly lowered the physical abilities of the vampires.
"Wh, What's happening?!"
"Ggrh! It's getting difficult to manipulate the blood..!"
"Captain! Something is strange!"
Confusion spread among the vampires. They were proud of their excellent physical abilities. They couldn't help but panic, feeling their body suddenly becoming heavy and shackled.
In the midst of the chaos, Cloud took a step forward.
""
The weight pressing on the vampires put them at hold.
The moment the word meal box came out of that vampire's mouth, the damage had been done.
Meal box.
A word that refers to a captive human.
Not only vampires but also cannibals, it's a term they casually use.
And Cloud really hated that word.
"You idiots! Come on, calm down! The hero is moving!"
Only when Rowan shouted, the vampires came back to their senses. But when they regained their composure, Cloud had already reached in front of a vampire.
Cloud raised his sword.
Seeing this, the vampire grinned.
'That shit again? Such a simple minded guy, all his patterns are easy to discern.'
The vampire glanced at her comrades on either side. The two vampires recognized her gaze and moved. She will block the attack, and they will flank and attack Cloud from both sides.
""
Every time Cloud rushed in previously, they had done it this way.
But this time something was different.
The vampire realized when she saw her sword being split into bits.
That was the last scene the vampire saw.
Drake-style swordsmanship.
[Tree Cleaver]-!
The vampire was split in half.
The two vampires who came rushing, froze at the hideous appearance of the corpse split in half.
Cloud didn't miss that short pause.
Drake-style swordsmanship.
[Leaf Cutter]-!
The sword strike zipped fast, so much that it became hard to follow its trajectory with naked eye as it swept through the bodies of the two vampires.
"Uh?"
"What?"
It was too late when they realized.
– Aww!
Wounds ripped open and blood gushed out like a fountain.
The two vampires grabbed onto their injuries and collapsed on either sides.
Cloud's sword moved again.
The vampires' head, moaning in pain, fell cleanly.
"Shoot!!"
Cloud turned to scan his surroundings at Rowan's voice.
Spears of blood, larger than before, were flying towards him.
Should he avoid it?
No..?
Cloud placed his thumb and middle finger at the tip of the back side of his handle. He swept through the blade with grace. Red flames rose from where his fingers passed.
Cloud hefted his sword as he faced the spears.
The flames of the sword created a large circle.
Eredna Magic Swordsmanship.
[Sword of Fire]-!
The blood spears melted without getting the pass through the flames of clean mana.
After all the blood spears had melted, Cloud ran towards the vampires. His body, strengthened by two blessings, moved at an explosive speed.
On the other hand, the vampires whose physical abilities were reduced due to the two curses weren't properly adapting to the new changes.
Whenever a tongue of fire was created, a vampire's arm, leg, or head fell.
Rowan doubted his eyes.
'Is he the same guy as before?'
Prime Squad could not harm or defeat Cloud in four hours, but it was the same with Cloud. He couldn't do anything to them either.
What in the blood's name was unfolding before him!?
A man, cold faced, slaughtering vampire elites like venison?!
Rowan, devoured by fear, shook his head and came back to his senses.
If he let the fear override him, everything will go to dust.
'I feel like I want to retreat.'
Even if he confronted Cloud himself, the situation won't change.
Ask any sane man, and he would retreat.
But retreat was not one among his choices.
'If it wasn't for master's orders…!'
For the family, the Ancestor's orders are absolute.
He cannot return to the family until he carries out and completes those orders. Above all else, if he returned in this state, he might get killed by the angered Ancestor himself.
Rowan turned his gaze to Shedia.
"You. I've heard that you are of dirty blood, but pretty good at it. Go, stop the hero."
Rowan didn't know anything about Shedia's abilities.
However, he decided to put her in, thinking that there must have been a reason why the Ancestor sent her with them.
If she was actually capable and did subdue the hero, it would be for the best, but if not, she would atleast buy them some time.
However, a variable occurred.
Even at Rowan's orders, Shedia did not move.
"What are you doing? I told you to move, didn't I?"
"I was told to stay still."
'Don't be silly, stay still.' That was what Rowan said to Shedia before the battle began. Rowan, who recalled it, clicked his tongue.
"That order is null from this moment. New order for you. Subdue the hero right now."
Shedia shook her head.
""
"You are not the master. No one can give me orders unless it's master."
"This bitch..!"
Rowan grinded his teeth.
He wanted to educate this cheeky bitch, but he didn't have the time to do it now.
– Whoa!
Even at this moment, his squad members were dying.
'It's impossible to retreat or fight. What should I do…'
Rowan, clenching his fists and simmering in anger, chanced upon an idea.
'Damn, why didn't I think of this until now?'
It was such a simple method that he felt stupid for thinking about it only now. Rowan ran into the woods.
Three daggers came zooming — but he was able to avoid them by rolling around — he had expected them.
Shortly after running, he found the packed meal boxes.
People tied to trees.
Rowan caught the youngest of them all.
"No, nooo! Eat me instead!"
"No, me, me! Eat me! Let go of the child, he's skinny!"
Some of the humans glowered and some cursed, but Rowan ignored them and took the child with him.
He had tried to backtrack as quickly as possible, but…
"Shit. Shit."
The situation was already at its worst.
Only three vampires were left alive.
The rest were now dead corpses lying on the floor, and Shedia blankly staring at it all.
Rowan quelled his boiling anger and shouted at Cloud.
"Halt! Hero, if you don't want to see this bastard face a gruesome death, throw away your weapon right now!"
Cloud turned to Rowan.
Rowan clutched the little boy, bringing his sharp nails next to his tender, fleshy neck.
The boy trembled as he watched sharp nails touch his neck. He eventually burst into tears as the vampire's nails touched his skin, grazing them to draw blood.
"You don't even have the pride of a vampire."
Cloud sighed.
"I need to meet your master someday. How did they train their subordinates? Oh, by any chance, have you heard of a guy named Howl?"
"What bullshit are you spitting? Didn't you hear? Your weapon, down, now."
"Ohkay. Okay, take your nails off him."
Cloud said, lowering his sword.
Rowan confirmed and blinked at the three remaining vampires. The vampires nodded and approached Cloud.
They pounched to tackle Cloud.
Cloud kicked the vampire in front of him and hooked the other two vampires with his arms. The first impacted against a trunk, and the other two hunched over. Cloud put force on the neck of the fallen one with his foot and grabbed the other two's necks with his hands.
It happened so quickly that neither the three vampires nor Rowan had time to react.
"What, what are you doing! Do you want to see this bastard die? Let them go, right now!"
"And do you want these bastards of yours to die? Take in your nails, or give me the option, for I'll break them piece by piece."
The vampires caught by Cloud grunted as he exerted pressure around their necks.
Rowan grinded his teeth.
"Damn it! You are kidding with me!"
"Kidding? Does this seem like a joke to you?"
– Crick. Cluck.
Cloud applied force to his leg, breaking the neck of the vampire he had been trampling on.
"You bastard!!!"
"Relax your voice before I break off the heads of these two."
"…you will let this kid die, huh?"
"If the boy gets hurt, you and these guys die too. Of course, the death won't come easily."
"Fucker…"
Rowan bit his lips.
It's not because of his men he wasn't killing the boy. He knew that if the hostage died, he would die too.
'Stupid bastards! They had to subdue him with blood magic, why did they had to approach him?!'
He knew he had no other choice, so he could only resent his incompetent subordinates.
Taking a deep breath and exhaling, Rowan looked at Cloud and said.
"Great. Then, we compromise…"
"No, there's no compromise."
Rowan frowned.
"What bullshit…"
Before Rowan's words were finished, a sharp blade pierced through Rowan's chest.
"Ugh…?!"
Rowan looked at the sword protruding from his chest in astonishment. He exhaustingly turned his head back, swallowing the blood that came up.
It was Shedia who stabbed the sword from the back.
'When did she got behind my back?'
No, more than that, why…?
Why did Shedia stab him?
All that came to his mind was betrayal. After all, she was of filthy blood, his master's kindness was for naught.
Rowan croaked, his lips trembling.
"You dare betray our master… you won't die a easy death…"
"Dead people don't speak. The master will not know."
"You bitch!"
Rowan squeezed the rest of his strength and tried to swing his nails at Shedia.
Shedia twisted the sword she was holding.
Rowan, whose heart was shredded, could not stand it any longer and collapsed.
Shedia pulled out her sword and kicked Rowan's body aside.
Then, the figure of the boy who he had held hostage caught her eye.
"Wu… woo…"
He always talked loudly and endlessly, but now he was shivering in fear.
"…"
Shedia reached out her hand slowly towards the child's head.
She was thinking of stroking his hair to calm him down.
But Shedia's hand could not reach the child's head.
"Woah… wow!"
Because the boy cried and ran in the direction where his parents were. Shedia was startled and tried to pursue the child, but then stopped in her tracks. She looked at her own hands.
Her hands were covered in blood.
The cold blood of a vampire.
Those won't make him feel the warmth her sister's caress used to give her.
She wiped her hands on Rowan's pants and started warming her hands with her warm breath.
"…"
Cloud, who looked at it quietly, sighed and used the Ogre's Glyph.
– Cluck. Cluck.
He broke the necks of the two remaining vampires and headed in the direction the boy ran. Even as Cloud passed by her, Shedia concentrated on wiping and warming her hands.
* * *
"Thank you, hero. Thank you so much!"
"Naw. I wasn't of much help."
"Not only you defeated those evil vampires but also saved our lives! How can we not thank our lifesaver!"
"Well, I think, I'm already thanked enough. Be at ease."
Only after that the villagers stopped bowing their heads.
"What do you all plan to do now?"
I said looking at the messed up village.
"…the burial of the dead would come first. Then we would likely move to the closet village. They have space, so they likely won't chase us away. There are also some grain stocks left in the village, so there will be no starvation. You don't have to worry about it."
The man laughed and shook his head.
However, as someone who indirectly led to this, I wanted to help somehow.
I took out a piece of parchment from my backpack, scribbled some words with a pen, and then grazed my palm with a dagger.
"Hero?!"
The villagers were terrified of the sudden self-harm, but I didn't care and took out my Hero's Plaque and doused blood on it. The Hero's Plaque soaked in blood was stamped on the underside of the parchment like a seal.
"Take it."
I handed the parchment to the man.
The man who received the parchment had an incomprehensible expression on his face.
"What did you just… do? What is this?"
"If you take this to any city and show it to the city lord, they will provide you citizenship. They will also provide financial support to help you settle in the city."
"R, Really?!"
The villagers, with their eyes wide open, stared at the parchment.
"Hey, is it really true?"
"Didn't you see hero dabbing his blood on some kind of plaque and stamping on the paper? That will prove that the letter was written by a hero."
A hero's letter.
The man's eyes, who understood the value, trembled.
The faces of the villagers brightened.
Being able to live within strong walls that provided safety was a dream for them.
Especially after they had been through something like this.
"T, Thank you. May Goddess bless you!"
Villagers collectively bowed their heads again.
"Thank you, hero!"
The children, who looked around in a daze, bowed their heads in the same way as adults did.
"You have nothing to be thankful for. After all, the money is what King will pay."
In the document, it was written that the cost of settling the villagers would be paid by the king. Not that I had asked for king's approval, but having saved his beloved son's neck… this much should be acceptable.
I thought so.
I left the village under the warm goodbyes from the villagers.
I walked down the dirt road leading out of the village, before stopping at a distance.
"You didn't say goodbye to that kid. Your hands aren't warm yet?"
"…not yet."
I turned to the direction the voice was coming from.
A woman in a black robe clinging to her figure sat at the top of a tree.
Shedia was blowing warm air on her hands.
"What are you going to do with me?"
"Kill you."
"Why?"
"You saw me killing Rowan."
"Are you sure you want to kill me?"
"Yes."
Shedia jumped from the top of the tree. Although the height was substantial, when she landed, she made no sound. She drew two short swords from her waist.
"It's night."
She sped towards me at high speed.
I took out a necklace, the moonstone hanging on its end.
"This is a moonstone!"
"?!"
Shedia eyes widened.
"Catch!"
I threw the moonstone necklace into the river.
Abruptly slamming her brakes, Shedia turned around and without hesitation jumped into the river.
Shedia swam upstream, aiming for the necklace.
As the distance between them lessened, Shedia's expression brightened, and just before she could clasp the moonstone necklace into her fist…
I pulled the thread that was attached to the moonstone necklace.
The necklace sailed in the air, towards me as Shedia's outstretched hand caught empty air.
She looked at the necklace, moving away from her, her expression as if she had lost her country.
Soon she slipped into the river.
"Haha."
I grabbed the flying necklace and smiled, finding her actions endearing.
Stupid, but adorable.
You can read fully translated chapters, including the last chapter, for $20.
p(a)treon.com/Daoist02
