Lunar Eclipse (6)
“I have an offer for you.”
“Ugh...”
Thud.
A canteen dropped beside the girl.
It sounded full, liquid sloshing inside.
The man added in a flat voice.
“It’s human blood.”
“......”
To drink human blood.
For a vampire, it was an irreversible choice.
And it was a direct denial of the belief her dynasty had upheld.
“I’ll at least spare you, Princess-nim. That human woman over there would be difficult, though...”
“......”
“What do you say? Just close your eyes, drink it, and spend the rest of your life in hiding. I’ll report properly to His Majesty myself.”
Think of it as old sentiment.
His words curled into a sneer.
Jersian tilted his head as he spoke.
As if he absolutely had to see her reduced to that ugly state.
“Drink.”
“......”
Carmilla did not answer.
She had no strength to answer.
Powerlessness.
Exhaustion.
Resignation.
Those things gnawed at the girl’s heart little by little.
The canteen flickered in her vision, the liquid inside swaying.
“One sip is enough.”
“......”
“With just one sip, you can be free. Not only will I not kill you, I’ll let you escape like this. I’ll speak to His Highness and stop the pursuit as well.”
So just one thing.
He wanted her to give up just one thing.
“That trashy ideal.”
Ideal.
What the Blandir Dynasty had stubbornly refused to let go of.
“Throw that away and it’s over. You walk the same path as us.”
Crave humans, make them your staple food, slaughter in filth and chaos, and drag your life out as long as possible.
What human blood gave.
Blissful ecstasy.
Overwhelming power.
Authority sharpened even further.
He meant for her to enjoy all of it.
“Princess-nim.”
She could make things easier.
From the cracked canteen, the contents leaked drop by drop.
A sweet scent stabbed into her nose.
‘One sip.’
If she only stuck out her tongue and took one bite of that forbidden fruit, it would all end.
She could survive.
She could promise herself a tomorrow.
She would not have to hide like a corpse.
The smell of blood from the canteen felt closer and closer.
‘So if it’s just one sip...’
If she died, it ended there.
But as long as she stayed alive, her story would not end.
Even if she became vile and craven here, if she survived, she could plan for later.
She would get a chance to take revenge on them.
“......”
“Exactly. That’s it. Just drink it.”
At some point, her hand was already gripping the canteen.
Jersian coaxed her as if she were doing well.
She opened the cap and brought the mouth to her lips.
-Carmilla.
This is the end.
-Sometimes you will grow arrogant, waver, and want to give up in the face of temptation.
-No, you certainly will. That is what life is for a finite being.
She tilted the canteen.
The contents poured out in a heavy rush.
-We are a superior species, and that is exactly why we must doubt ourselves and reflect on ourselves.
The girl, the princess, herself, had been this weak.
-Struggle as hard as you can.
-So that you do not become vulgar, so that you do not become craven.
Soon the canteen was emptied clean.
But
Carmilla’s lips were completely dry.
“......”
“......Ha.”
Jersian laughed as if she disgusted him.
Maybe because she had not bent to his will.
Splash.
Carmilla did not accept the offer.
Without a trace of hesitation, she dumped the canteen’s contents onto the floor.
“I...”
The light in the girl’s eyes had not gone out.
Only its brightness had faded. The color was still vivid and alive.
“Did you think I would live by vulgar slaughter? Did you think I would drag out my life in cowardice?”
If life is only what happens to you, can that be called living?
If there is no desperate struggle to live, how can that be life?
“Kgh, haah... what a joke.”
To bloom one flower even in that struggle, in gutter water, in dirt, in blood.
To hold meaning.
To keep living.
That is why life is noble.
“Ptui.”
A short spit of bloody phlegm.
Carmilla’s contempt struck Jersian’s cheek.
Carmilla, in return, wore a broad smile as if mocking him.
“Try killing me.”
“......”
“Go on. Kill me, you lowborn cur.”
The girl’s stance did not break.
Too straight, too tough for a mere traitor to break.
Jersian, who had been standing back, twisted his face in rage.
“Ha... words won’t do, then.”
Slash.
A massive saw blade formed over his clenched palm.
The weapon honed through Blood Manipulation was hideous beyond words.
“If dying like that is your wish, I’ll grant it. I’ll cut your whole body apart while you’re alive, piece by piece. As painfully as possible, as miserably as possible...!”
Step by step.
The man’s shadow approached the girl.
Carmilla only breathed more quietly and watched that merciless violence.
‘I see.’
Was this place to be her execution ground?
She did not regret refusing to kneel.
She did not bend.
Instead of crying and begging for her life, she calmly laid her neck on the block.
Tears ran down in an ugly stream, but even that she took as the remains of a life she had burned.
“Then... I’ll start by cutting off those white hands, one by one.”
The saw came closer.
Carmilla shut her eyes tight.
As if bracing for the pain that was about to come.
“Wait.”
Flap.
But that saw never touched the girl.
A pitch-black robe had cut between them.
“Activate. Mace.”
Baaaaam!
A figure from nowhere.
The boy who burst out of midair smashed the man in the face.
A completely unexpected ambush. Jersian clutched his face and staggered back.
“Kgh, kaaagh...!”
Blood streamed from his nose.
The boy did not care. He checked Carmilla first.
Through her dizzy vision, a white jester mask came into view.
“Princess-nim.”
“Vik, tor...?”
“I’m sorry. There was too much to deal with, so I was late.”
“You... did not... leave... my side...?”
“How could I ever leave your side, Princess-nim?”
When you are this magnificent.
He added it lightly.
The boy removed his robe and wrapped it around Carmilla’s shoulders.
His arms were full of emergency blood packs he had prepared.
A gentle voice came from behind the mask.
“You’ve endured enough.”
“......”
“From here, Miss Alice and I will finish it.”
Warm body heat.
Without realizing it, Carmilla relaxed.
All strength drained from her body at once, and she finally let go.
“Viktor...”
The boy moved carefully and leaned her against a nearby wall.
He placed blood packs between her lips one by one.
After finishing first aid, the mask slowly turned back.
“Was it you?”
“What... are you...!”
Jersian groaned in pain, but killing intent still poured out of him.
The pressure was enough to crush the whole area.
The boy showed no sign of shrinking.
“I’m asking.”
“Ghk...”
“Was it you? The one who handled my master like that.”
The boy’s voice was calm.
Because of that, it sounded even colder.
With one hand gripping a pitch-black scythe, he pressed the air several times with the other.
Ding!
[Base Stats]
Stamina: D-
Strength: E+
Agility: E+
Mana Sensitivity: E+
[Remaining Merit Points: 7020p]
A blue screen rose before his eyes.
He clicked several parts of it.
Ding!
[Merit Points consumed.]
-Base stat ‘Agility’ grade increased by +1.
-Base stat ‘Agility’ grade increased by +1.
-Base stat ‘Agility’ grade increased by +1.
-Base stat ‘Agility’ grade increased by +1.
-Base stat ‘Agility’ grade increased by +1.
-Base stat ‘Agility’ grade increased by +1.
-Base stat ‘Agility’ grade increased by +1.
[6300 Merit Points consumed.]
[Remaining Merit Points: 720p]
Letters shifted rapidly.
Bluish light flickered.
Ding!
[Base Stats]
Stamina: D-
Strength: E+
Agility: B-
Mana Sensitivity: E+
The world slowed down.
A rank-up that leaped seven stages in one breath.
The value of saving as many as 315 lives.
‘Looks like they’re doing great.’
The ghouls he had turned back into humans.
They were rescuing the other people trapped in the cages one by one.
Even now, points kept stacking in front of the boy’s eyes.
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
[20 Merit Points obtained.]
[20 Merit Points obtained.]
[20 Merit Points obtained.]
“Now this is finally workable.”
Viktor stared at the flustered Jersian.
Of course, this was not all he had prepared.
The boy reached into his chest and pulled something out.
Ding!
[Broken Crown]
-Category: Accessory
-Grade: A-
-Status: Destroyed
-Description: The crown worn by the Black Queen, sovereign of the Nightmare. Now destroyed, only her remnants remain. Can be worn for up to 5 minutes per day. When equipped, the skill ‘Nightmarification’ becomes available.
[Skill Name: Nightmarification]
-The user’s body assimilates with the Nightmare.
-While the skill is active, the user is treated as ‘Invincible.’
-Unrestricted flight becomes possible, and the user is freed from all physical forces.
A bizarre object.
A strange crown that looked like heat haze was crawling over it.
Without hesitation, the boy placed it on his head.
Ruuumble!
“If you touched someone else’s master... you should take responsibility for that much.”
An unsettling aura whirled around him.
The boy stood in its center, expression calm.
A flashing crown, a pitch-black scythe, a white jester mask pulled over his face.
The clown’s presence swallowed the whole area, enough to erase even Jersian’s killing intent.
“Exactly five minutes.”
His mouth twisted.
“I will cut off all four of your limbs in exactly five minutes.”
“You little...!”
The next moment.
The boy had already blinked away and swung his scythe behind Jersian’s back.
The necktie’s effect was still active, so the man did not hear even a trace of him.
“What...!”
Slice.
Before he could block, one of his arms was severed.
“Ghk, kgh, kaaagh...!”
“One down.”
Jersian’s left arm floated in the air.
The man screamed and staggered back.
Blood sprayed.
“Now there are three left, right?”
The mask’s mouth was split wide in a grin.
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