CH 39

“That’s…?”

Eugene frowned as he peered through the darkness and observed the templars from a distance.

“Did you see something?”

“The templars all swallowed something that looked like a mana stone. But as soon as they consumed it, they transformed and now they look strange.”

When Eugene explained the appearance of the templars, Romari responded with a sigh. 

“It seems they consumed anti-mana stones.”

“Anti-mana stones? Ah…”

Eugene was familiar with it.

Anti-mana stones were manufactured secretly by some churches and wizards. It was a type of drug created by modifying refined mana stones in a special way. It was supposed to rapidly restore the user’s energy and reveal their untapped potential. However, due to its serious side effects, most churches outlawed the use of anti-mana stones. If found, both manufacturers and users would be severely punished.

“I thought something was strange when three templars talked about defeating a minotaur. It seems that they were long prepared to do this before entering this labyrinth.”

“Yes. Although they won’t be undefeatable, they will gain significant power for a couple of hours. Perhaps they will really be able to kill the minotaur.”

“Well, I don’t think so.”

“What?”

“It’s just a hunch. Anyways, did you find any traces?”

“Ah, one moment.”

Romari searched inside her robe, then took out a red pocket. She placed her hand inside the pocket and started muttering an incantation in an unknown language.

“….. ….. … …… …..”

She pulled out her hand and scattered red sand into the air.

Shhhhhhh!

The red sand started moving towards a place as if it was alive, and Romari followed behind the trail alongside Eugene. Soon, the sand disappeared into the passage where the templars entered.

“The red sand isn’t scattering, but rather gathering into a single place. That means Sir Galfredik and his team headed into that passage as well. Otherwise, the sand would have scattered into two branches.”

“I think raccoon eyes is right. I can only feel the energy of a huge body of water on this side.”

“How interesting.” Eugene spoke to both the spirit and the wizard. 

Romari spoke with a thrilled expression, “Thank you. To tell you a little bit about Blood Shadow School, there are various types of magic that we…”

“Never mind. Let’s get going.”

“…Yes.”

Romari followed behind Eugene with a dejected expression.

*** 

The trail of red sand stretched out for a while. At times, little streams of sand separated and dispersed through other intricately divided passages, but the largest stream always headed towards where the strongest energy of metal was concentrated. 

Eugene was able to track the templars by following the trail of sand. After traveling for about 20 minutes, the group finally escaped from the complex maze into a space as wide as the square from before.

The oval space was brightly lit with fireballs placed along the wall. The balls of fire were no ordinary torches even at first glance, and the space appeared to be an arena of sorts for monsters.

“In the name of God!”

“You vile creatures!”

“Kuaaaaagh!”

The templars were engaged in a bloody battle with monsters surrounding them on all sides. A muscular monster with the head of a bull sat in a large throne of stone located above the arena, looking down at the battle as if it were the master of the space.

However, Eugene’s gaze was not on the minotaur. 

“S-sir Eugene…!”

“Sir! Over there…!”

Several bloody humans were tied up in chains beside the stone throne. One of them was Galfredik.

“…..?”

*** 

The minotaur reigned as a master of the labyrinth for many years. It suddenly felt a strange sensation. It was a different feeling than the young cyclops, who had been cheekily provoking him from the other area of the labyrinth for many years. The minotaur quickly turned its gaze.

A small but intense pair of red lights could be seen in the darkness on the other side of the arena. It felt concerned about the small human standing next to the red eyes as well, but for some reason, the minotaur felt highly offended by the red-eyed intruder.

No being, even the other high-ranking monster that ruled the labyrinth alongside it, ever dared to look at itself with such eyes.

Kuwuuuuuugh!

The minotaur roared with rage.

Kyaahk!  Kekekeng!

The monsters responded to its roar and rushed toward the templars with renewed vigor.

“Keugh!”

“You cursed creatures!”

The templars had been bravely holding their front by relying on the forbidden power of the anti-mana stones. However, they were quickly forced onto the defensive as the monsters rushed at them with even more ferocity than before.

Even after killing many monsters, they were still faced with many times the number. Moreover, their target, the minotaur, simply watched their battle as if it was watching a show. Anger and despair started to outweigh their faith, and as their will weakened, the effects of the anti-mana stones gradually subsided.

“Kuaaaghhh!” One of the templars screamed and dropped his sword.

“Sir Robin!”

“You bastards!”

The two templars cried out as their brother’s limbs were torn apart by dozens of rushing monsters. However, the continued onslaught of monsters eventually led to their own deaths as well.

Kyaaahk! Kekekeng!

The monster started to emit victorious cries.

Tututututututu!

As if God was belatedly responding to the prayers of the templars, the floor of the arena split open with a loud rumble.

Kyaahk?! Kiek!

More than 20 monsters struggled after falling into the cracks. A vampire rushed forward with only his weapons after taking off his armor.

*** 

“Heuk, heuk.”

Romari struggled to breathe after unleashing the strongest earth-based magic she knew. She was currently hiding in a dark place near the entrance of the arena, just as Eugene ordered her to.

Wizards were most vulnerable when they were casting a spell and right after they unleashed a spell. As such, most wizards never traveled alone. However, Romari had been by herself until now.

It was because she was capable of controlling the minds of three or four opponents with magic, whether they were humans or monsters. 

However, she was drained after casting an earth-based spell which she was unfamiliar with. The only thing she could rely on was the Origin Vampire, who, oddly enough, was pretending to be a knight.

‘Please, please. Even if I die, let me die after completing my chimera!’

Romari hid in the shadows and observed the arena with ragged breaths.

“….!”

She suddenly stopped breathing entirely with surprise. Eugene’s swordsmanship and javelin-throwing were not as sophisticated as other knights. Only wildness and beast-like instincts could be found in his movements. However, all of his attacks were deadly.

His black nails were elongated to be almost a meter long, and each slash completely demolished several monsters. 

“Kyaaahhh!”

Eugene’s eyes blazed like a torch as he soaked himself in the soaring rain of blood.

Blood and death descended like a storm. The cries and screams of monsters harmonized with red blood and momentarily turned the arena into living hell.

After a while, only two figures stood erect in the oval arena.

Kuwwwwuuugh!

Kyaaaaah!

Minotaur, the lord of the labyrinth, and an original vampire knight rushed toward each other.

*** 

Shing!

The minotaur swung a mace that was almost two meters long.

Boom!

Eugene narrowly avoided the attack, then stepped on the head of the mace and jumped into the air. For a moment, Eugene’s figure disappeared.

Kuwugh!?

The minotaur expressed a mixture of fury and confusion. It activated its Fear. The minotaur firmly believed that the intruder would respond to its Fear. However, the minotaur had long reigned as a master of the labyrinth. It was born and spent its entire life in the labyrinth, and as such, had no idea what kind of being the intruder was. In addition, it was ignorant of the fact that Origins or powerful vampires were unaffected by Fears of even high-ranking monsters.

‘I can do this!’

Eugene’s entire figure was covered in black scales, but he was also transparent. He pushed his abilities to their limits and dug his sword into the monster’s shoulder after overcoming its Fear.

Crack!

The sword contained the tenacity of an unknown dwarf blacksmith. Adding in the incredible strength of a vampire, the blade tore into the minotaur’s tough leather and hard muscles like cheese.

Kuwuuuuuugh!

The minotaur cried out in pain after having its flesh and bones torn apart. Even high-ranking monsters felt fear and pain. In addition, it was the first time the minotaur was experiencing such sensations.

Kuwugh! Kuwuuugh!

The monster rampaged with pain and confusion. It swung its mace towards where its developed sense of smell and instinct indicated, but it only met thin air. Its attacks only resulted in splitting the ground into dozens of pieces.

Kuwugh!?

The instincts of a high-ranking monster alerted it of a small, but sharp danger near its back. Without hesitation, the minotaur turned and swung its mace with all its might.

Thump!

It felt the mace graze over something. However, before it could roar triumphantly, the minotaur felt something thin and sharp digging into its neck.

Crack!

Eugene delved his fangs into the minotaur’s thick neck, then wrapped his arms tightly around the monster’s throat. The minotaur panicked and dived onto the ground.

Crackk! Crack!

The weight of the monster brutally crushed Eugene’s body. It was heavier than any other monster Eugene had faced until now. 

One of his thighs was instantly crushed and a broken rib dug through his intestines, but he did not stop sucking blood. The blood of a high-ranking monster continued to rejuvenate the vampire’s body, which was becoming a bloody rag in every second that passed.

Regardless of how big a monster was, it possessed a limited amount of blood. Eventually, the minotaur gradually lost its strength after having more than half of its blood drained in less than a minute.

Kuwugh…

The giant bullhead monster thrashed around weakly, then stopped moving entirely. After a while, Eugene staggered while standing up. He was less than half the size of the collapsed monster. His entire figure was covered in blood, the body fluids of the monster, and black scales. It was an awful sight.

“Krrrr!”

Eugene’s eyes were dyed bright red. He spread his arms wide open. It was an instinctive action rather than a learned behavior.

Shaaa…

The blood of the numerous monsters pooled around the arena started to boil like lava, then evaporated into a crimson fog. The bloody fog began swirling around in a circular motion around Eugene’s body, then soon permeated his figure.

Crack!

His broken bones started mending and his muscles quickly regained their original appearance. His eyes started to regain their original light, and his solid, balanced body was reformed within the red haze.

“Kuwuggghh!” The awakened vampire roared triumphantly.

There were only two witnesses.

“Horray for Sir Eugene! Count of Blood? Count of Darkness? No! Now we aim to become the Demon King! Kiyahooo!”

“Master Bellopa. This incapable disciple of yours has witnessed a true blood shadow today.”

One was a low-rank spirit of water, while the other was a wizard that inherited the teachings of an Origin Vampire.

*** 

Only the withered corpses of the monsters were left once the blood disappeared. In the meantime, Romari collected the mana stones of the monsters with glistening eyes.

Eugene equipped his armor once again, then lowered Galfredik and the mercenaries from their hanging position. He observed them.

“Is the big bear dead? Hiing!” Mirian pouted, and Eugene shook his head.

“The others are all dead, but Galfredik is still breathing.”

Whether it was due to his persistent vitality or lingering attachment to life, Galfredik had miraculously survived. However, judging by his condition, he would soon die without emergency treatment.

“Romari, come here.”

“Yes, Sir Eugene!”

Romari rushed over.

“Can you save him? What if we feed him something like a mana stone?”

“One moment.”

Romari possessed some knowledge in medicine as a member of a school that dealt with monsters. She looked over Galfredik’s body before speaking.

“I apologize, but there is no hope for this knight. We will not be able to save him even if we had the highest quality mana stone.”

“Hmm.”

Eugene didn’t possess any naïve emotions such as friendship towards Galfredik. However, Galfredik had left a deep impression on Eugene. He was the one who challenged how Eugene viewed knights.

Perhaps that was why he felt somewhat disappointed and uncomfortable to let Galfredik die.

“Excuse me… Could I say something?” Romari carefully spoke while looking down at Galfredik.

“What is it?”

“Although not much is known about the Origins, I’ve heard that Origins can take those who died recently as their thralls.”

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