〈 Unknown Threat (5) 〉
“Hmm....”
Diana’s tightly closed eyelids fluttered.
“sister! “Are you awake?”
As my distracted mind slowly came back, I heard my younger brother’s urgent voice nearby.
It seems that he was right next to her, taking care of her, waiting for her to wake up.
“...Ugh, I’m fine.”
Diana mumbled in a subdued voice and slowly raised her upper body.
I felt a little dizzy, but other than that, I didn’t really feel any pain.
Of course, it was only natural that, due to their complete lack of fighting ability, they were unable to put up any resistance and were helplessly subdued.
‘It wasn’t a dream after all.’
As she carefully looked around, a familiar scene of a house came into view.
The home where their family has stayed ever since they settled in this new land.
Of course, as it was right after a big event, the atmosphere was not as peaceful as usual.
“Diana! “You’re awake!”
“I’m so glad. Rafi woke up right away, but she didn’t open her eyes at all, so I guess she was worried that she was going to wake up...”
Her uncle and aunt hurriedly approached her and hugged her and comforted her.
The moment the incident occurred, my aunt, who had gone out to buy groceries at the right time, and my uncle, who was late getting off work, were able to avoid getting caught up in the commotion with good timing.
However, you can’t just be happy and say you were lucky when your children and nephews almost got scammed.
They finally breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Diana wake up.
Fortunately, the youngest Rafi, like Aaron, was protected by magic, so there were no special aftereffects.
Rather, he said he was just a little surprised because he had been unconscious from the beginning of the incident and had no memory of it.
“...thank god. Rafi is still young, so that’s better...”
Diana, who had been nodding her head absentmindedly while listening to the story, stopped talking.
As her thinking ability slowly began to return to normal, a memory suddenly passed through her mind.
“that’s right! Ha grandma! “What about Grandma Miropa?!”
She was startled and jumped up from the bed.
Because she suddenly stood up, her younger brother next to her helped her stumble, but she didn’t have time to pay attention to that right now.
The last image of the old woman she saw then appeared in her mind.
‘no!’
The grandmother next door, who had been doing her best to buy time until the last moment to escape, was seen hugging Rafi and collapsing, vomiting blood.
This was the first time Diana realized that her grandmother was such a strong person.
If it weren’t for her desperate efforts, she probably wouldn’t have been able to see the faces of her family like this.
“Don’t worry too much, sister. “Because your grandmother is safe too.”
“Yes, I am still on my way to see the condition. “Because he lives alone, I brought him to the guest room for nursing care.”
“Draw it, draw it. Moreover, the saint of the main church personally observed the condition! “I never thought I would see the saint with my own eyes while I was still alive...”
Diana, whose strength was weakened by the family’s words, collapsed onto the bedding again.
I let out a sigh of relief at the thought that the worst situation had been avoided.
“A saint...?”
“huh! You haven’t seen it yet, have you? I even saw him tear up the sky and come down! Wow... I’ll never forget that for the rest of my life. After all, he wasn’t a saint for no reason?”
Aaron tells the story using hand gestures and foot movements as if explaining the majestic sight he saw.
A soft smile appeared on Diana’s lips as she looked at him.
However, contrary to what her sister said, the image of Saint Heinrich clearly remained in her memory.
‘I wasn’t in my right mind at the time, so I thought it was just a possibility. As expected, what I saw back then was not an illusion.’
No matter who thought, the description of his younger brother and the person in his memory were the same person.
Heinrich, a saint of the main church, suddenly appeared at the moment when he was barely holding on thanks to his extraordinary mental power in his fading consciousness right after being overpowered by the attacker.
‘But...’
Her expression changed subtly as she listened to the story.
Although I still had some memories of that time, not everything was clear because I was in a state of confusion.
The only information I can recall now are some elements that were impressive.
And the clearest one among them.
Naturally, it was an idea about the sense in which she was most confident.
I felt it in an embrace that was cool rather than warm—a familiar scent mixed with the scent of blood that I couldn’t hide.
It was a scent I hadn’t smelled in such a long time that it gave me a faint, faint feeling that was subtly different from the scent I smelled from Hubert every day.
‘Uncle Heinz...’
It was the first time I encountered him as a vampire again after moving here to Tarak.
However, as she was with Hubert every day, it was not difficult for her to find traces of the ‘uncle’ she knew in him.
I had thought from the beginning that the two were the same person, so it was only natural.
‘But...’
Just one thing.
There was one thing even she couldn’t understand.
That is—.
‘He must be a saint.’
It turns out he wasn’t the only one who felt the familiar smell.
“Ah.”
At that time, the sound of everyone dying was heard from below.
His entire body is already covered in blood due to the reaction of the blood flow being forcibly assimilated into his body through his heart.
Heinz also forcibly controlled his body, so he only looked fine on the outside, but inside he was no different from me.
‘If we delay any longer here, there will be no good results.’
All preparations have already been completed.
All that’s left to do is implement it.
“Clench your teeth. “It will hurt a little more this time.”
“What?! “It hurts even more here and now...!”
Temiran, who had not yet finished speaking, let out a frog-like roar, but it did not reach the ears of Heinz, who was already concentrating hard.
As a vampire of divine blood and “lord of blood,” he maximized his control over blood and increased his dominance by directly injecting “purified blood essence” containing the power of “mixed-blood evolution” into the heart.
‘In the end, it is a fight to see which of the two has greater control, the apostle or the vampire.’
If Temiran had been a full-fledged apostle like a revolutionary, usurping control would have been nearly impossible, but fortunately he was not at that level yet.
The disrespect for God that I felt several times during our previous conversation must have been an expression of that inner feeling.
Plop-plop-plop-!
The small body bound by blood chains began to tremble and forcibly evolve.
The bones and flesh were crushed together and reborn little by little as if they were made of clay.
Stronger, tougher, more durable than before... more mature.
“Off! Wow! stop! That’s it!”
Temiran, who had already grown into his mid-teens, went crazy and bright red blood sprayed out, but Heinz did not blink.
I just calmly collect the blood and use the “mystery of blood” to build a blood magic circle around me to assist the ritual.
‘found.’
So, some time passed.
Something foreign to his “insight” was detected.
An unknown divinity that writhes and is rooted in the soul of Temiran, felt through blood, the source of vampires.
The one imprisoned in the abyss was from a human god, but paradoxically, pure humans could not fully accept the power of the apostle.
Not only is the durability of the body that will become the vessel a problem, but the moment it becomes spiritually connected to the being in the abyss, it will immediately begin to deteriorate and become a mindless monster like the White Giant.
‘Now that I think about it, you said it was he who first introduced the elements of vampires and werewolves into Outerica?’
I don’t know if that was intentional, but it doesn’t really matter now.
Anyway, his intentions were meaningless in front of Heinz, who had begun to realize the divinity of blood.
As “denial of existence” was manifested through assimilated blood, the connection with divinity became even looser.
And at that moment, the “Return to the Source” acquired while ascending to the Divine Blood level was activated.
A power that is gradually being perfected as the ultimate and pinnacle of vampires.
As it spread through the blood through Temiran’s heart and throughout the body, a foreign substance that interfered with the existence of a complete ‘vampire’... began to cause a strong opposition to the power of the apostle.
“Kwaaagh—!”
Temiran, now in his late teens, screamed as if his heart was going to pour out.
So Heinz was willing to help with that.
Wow!
By pulling out the whole heart where the finger was stuck.
“Keck!”
“Whew. “You’re giving me a hard time.”
He quietly looked at the heart pulsating powerfully in his hand.
There was no need to worry about Temiran, who eventually passed out.
For him, who became a full-blooded vampire by becoming subordinate to Heinz II and inheriting his bloodline, the heart was just a part that could be regenerated.
It was a small benefit that the faith that had been forcibly tied to it was reversed and became the ultimate match for its object.
‘Now then...’
Heart pounding— pounding— A
bright red heart writhing, filled with the divinity that grants the power of an apostle and the mutated vampire factor inside.
Somehow, I felt like I made eye contact with someone far away through it.
“It’s nice to see you like this.”
Heinz burst out laughing.
This was a power that could not be taken carelessly.
A dangerous item that can turn you into a puppet like Temiran if you are not careful.
‘thank you for this food.’
Of course, that was only in general cases and was of no concern to Heinz II, who was already building his own divinity.
To him, this isolated divinity was nothing more or less than just an easy-to-digest and nutritious tonic.
Phew!
The heart in my hand exploded.
However, the blood did not scatter everywhere.
The blood is instantly sucked back into his fist, as if being pulled by some kind of attraction.
《Collect new blood-sucking factors. Due to the influence of the special skill “Mixed-Blood Evolution,” the individual’s divinity grows further. The skill “Subordinate Domination” is acquired.》 The
corners of Heinz’s mouth drew a satisfying line.
It felt like a scream of anger was coming from somewhere, but it was probably just my mood.
There were only two people here, Temiran and Heinz, who had fainted.