Monarch of Death

Chapter 56 – Territory of the Black God (3)

A summary of the information received was as follows. He found a place presumed to be the hideout of the wanted man on the outskirts of town. During the day, it was impossible to determine whether he was hiding elsewhere, but at night, he seemed to return there to sleep.

So they should aim for that time and catch it. Throwing information to the bounty hunters and taking their hands off seemed at a glance to be abandoning the lord’s responsibilities. But if he looked at it, it was a natural thing.

A corresponding cost would be incurred if there was an injury or death while moving soldiers in the territory. Why roll soldiers when an outsider could get rid of a nuisance for free? It was an attitude that would have been taken by a lord who ruled the territory.

“If the wanted man really existed.”

Tarman and the others snorted.

“It’s a trap.”

“Even it only appears at night? What is this? It’s confirmed.”

“The cultists in this town seem a bit stupid. Don’t you think we’ll fall for this obvious trap?”

At that time, Karnak refreshed the atmosphere.

“Hey, isn’t that rather a headache?”

“Hmm? Trouble?”

“Let’s think about it from the cultist’s point of view.”

Cultists gave them the information, but what if Tarman and the others ignored it? It was like acknowledging that the real target wasn’t the wanted man. From the standpoint of cults, there was a beautiful reason to pay attention.

What if the party crawled into the trap without thinking? It must mean an ordinary bounty hunter. But it didn’t matter. This was the sound of foreigners without connections coming to places where people were rare. They could get rid of them and get a lot of tasty blood.

What if Tarman and his party were really the King’s Order and fall into a trap on purpose even though they knew it was a trap? They could deal with the King’s Order, which they had to defeat anyway, with an advantageous board in an advantageous place.

“Whatever it is, I don’t think there’s anything to lose from the cultist’s point of view.”

There was silence for a while, and they didn’t even think of that. Karnak clicked his tongue in his heart.

‘I thought these things were moving in a fairly detailed way, but they’re rather careless, aren’t they?’

Well, it had been less than a year since the King’s Order was founded. It was not yet the time to accumulate various know-how.

“Shit.”

As he crumpled the portrait of the wanted man, Tarman made a chewed expression.

“I won’t be able to use the method of finding the wanted person from now on.”

Kald asked with his complexion hardened.

“Then what, chief?”

Should they ignore it? Or should they go knowing it’s a trap? Tarman, who was worried for a while, looked at Karnak and his party and relaxed his expression.

“Come to think of it, we’re pretty lucky.”

Originally, Tarman, Kald, and Alice were supposed to take on this mission. Crawling into the den of vampires, knowing it was a trap with only them?

“It’s not to the point of saying there’s no chance, but you can’t ignore the risk.”

But now there was Karnak and the others, Serati, an Aura user to be precise. As a King’s Order or as an apprentice, a strong man whose actual combat skills were incomparable wherever he went.

“Let’s fall into the trap.”

»»————-　★　————-««
That evening, Tarman and his party gathered in a hut on the outskirts of town. It was the hiding place of the so-called ‘wanted man who did not exist’ that Count Vreeland had told me about. Tarman murmured after sitting on a random chair on the floor.

“Now we just have to wait until the sun goes down.”

Everyone took a break and started preparing for the upcoming battle. Watching that scene, Serati had a question.

“Aren’t you too relaxed?”

No matter how much she believed in her as an Aura user, he seemed too relaxed. They didn’t seem to think at all that they would be in danger.

‘Are vampires so easygoing?’

So she quietly asked Tarman.

“How strong are vampires?”

Tarman laughed.

“It’s not to the extent that Miss Serati should care.”

When someone becomes a vampire, their physical abilities become several times stronger than when they were a human. In addition, if it continued to drink blood and increase its strength, it could use its unique blood magic.

“In other words, it’s all about becoming several times stronger than when you were a human. Those who ate a lot of blood show abilities beyond first-class knights. It is, but……”

Even so, compared to the power of the current party, it was not so much to be wary of.

“It doesn’t matter how many people there are……”

This too could be roughly calculated through the number of missing humans because they would have sucked their blood. It was similar to figuring out the number of people through distribution.

“At most, there were about 10 people, so I judged that they weren’t a big threat. So I was able to make the choice to fall into the trap on purpose.”

Serati was puzzled.

“Aren’t old vampires powerful enough?”

Among the adventure stories she read, some monarch-class vampires lived for hundreds of years. Then, Kald and Alice laughed.

“Ah, that’s how it appears in adventure stories, but……”

“Realistically, there can’t be such a vampire, right?”

A monarch-class vampire who had grown in power by drinking blood for hundreds of years must be a great monster. However, could it be possible to drink blood without being caught for hundreds of years?

“Usually, they are discovered before that and die.”

“Oh, really?”

Vampires were not beings that can grow in strength in a remote place like other monsters. The characteristic of having to drink human blood was bound to leave traces in the living sphere of merchants from time to time.

Infamous Scans

Translator: Anom
Proofreader: Orange
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Suffering for hundreds of years by sucking blood like that every day? For this to be possible, two prerequisites were required. First, vampires themselves would be dismissed as non-existent legends. Second, superhuman abilities such as fighting spirit, magic, and divine power did not exist or were extremely rare.

What would happen if everyone took it for granted that vampires exist, and if there were ways in the world to earn a name higher than that of a vampire even with a human body? What if both hunters and vampires could use similar abilities?

“Aren’t they just blood-sucking criminals who can’t even walk around in broad daylight? It also has to commit crimes from time to time.”

“Even if you can somehow survive for a few years, you can’t survive hundreds of years like that.”

“So all the old vampires are long gone.”

“But it is also difficult to eradicate the vampire itself.”

“Vampires are like endemic diseases because no matter how hard you try to eradicate them, they will reappear somewhere.”

Serati was embarrassed by Kald and Alice’s explanation. The story and reality seemed to be a bit different. Still, questions remained.

“What if an aura user or wizard becomes a vampire? In this case, isn’t it strong enough to become a vampire?”

It didn’t look like that again. According to Tarman, in the case of Aura users, wizards, and priests, there is nothing particularly good about becoming a vampire.

“Auras such as fighting spirit and magical power are rather useless when you become a vampire.”

Auras did not mix with each other. No matter how powerful an aura user or wizard was, the moment they become a vampire, they lose their fighting spirit and magical power.

Starting as an ordinary vampire, it had to raise its dark magic again from the beginning. It was not for nothing that their attitude was relaxed.

No matter how old the existing vampires were, no vampires had been around for more than 10 years, and the limit was clear regardless of their strength when they were human.

“Miss Serati, you don’t know a lot about vampires, do you?”

“I’ve only heard about it, but I’ve never met him in person……”

“Then, I should tell you something.”

No matter how easy a vampire was, it could be ignored. Like a senior, Tarman and his party told them a story.

“The most effective thing is, of course, the holy power. Or the holy power of the 7 Goddess Cults that contains the holy power.”

This was a common weakness of all undead as well as vampires.

“The sun’s light is so famous……”

“It is wrong to say that silver is a weakness. To be precise, it is weak against sacred silver. Silver is the metal that is the easiest to contain divine power.”

But one thing they didn’t seem to know.

“As for garlic, it’s ambiguous.”

“Each person I’ve dealt with has a slightly different opinion.”

Vampires were afraid of garlic. Garlic was absolutely useless. The fear of garlic is just a stupid superstition. Vampires didn’t like garlic, but that didn’t really hurt anything, and so on.

“Even within the King’s Order, there is a difference of opinion on this. What is real, won.”

Then, Serati suddenly remembered.

‘Wait, there’s an expert right next to you, right?’

There was no need to be curious. Just ask Karnak.

[What’s real?]

[Well, um…….]

Karnak replied as if it were ambiguous.

[Should I say that if it works, there is, and if it doesn’t, then this?]

[Yes?]

[Vampire hunters smear garlic juice all over their bodies to smell it or wear it around their necks, don’t they? If you change this to a vampire point of view, it will look like this.]

Some crazy guy fought with excrement all over his body. Or, he wore an X(cross) around his neck and wielded a knife like crazy.

[It’s a bit dirty, but you get it right?]

Serati was frightened.

[…I don’t really want to get close apart from strong and weak.]

This was why words were different, even within the King’s Order. Vampires also have different standards of infatuation. Some will avoid it because it is dirty or scary and will just run away; some will try hard to close their eyes and ignore it, and some will get angry and kill more.

[Still, it’s not that it’s not very effective, so there’s nothing to lose by keeping it.]

In fact, Tarman and his party had already stocked up a handful of garlic. If they threw it when they were in a hurry, they could expect to make a gap. Tarman let out a big laugh.

“Even looking at this, isn’t the King’s Order the best of the kingdom? You shouldn’t be vigilant, but you can’t be overly nervous about a group of vampires. There is no need.”

»»————-　★　————-««
The sun went down while they were relaxing. The day passed, and the night cast darkness. The sunset disappears in an instant, and the world becomes dark. Suddenly, Karnak sent a message.

[They are coming. Let them know too.]

Having received the instruction, Serati opened her mouth.

“Shouldn’t we be getting ready soon?”

Tarman, who was meditating, was puzzled. Alice, the priest, hadn’t given any warning yet.

“Did you sense something, Miss Serati?”

“It’s not like that. It just doesn’t feel right.”

Then, the complexion of Tarman, Alice, and Kald changed.

“The feelings of Aura users cannot be ignored.”

“Yes.”

This was the reason Karnak insisted on letting Serati go. It was doubtful that an ordinary mage would notice the approach of a vampire that even a priest could not detect. But Serati didn’t care.

Aura users’ senses were so vague that everyone thought so. Standing up, Tarman grabbed the magic wand.

“Everyone prepare for battle!”

The others also stood on the edge, each holding a weapon. How would the vampires attack? Ceiling? Wall? Window?

Or they could fire something like a fiery arrow from a distance. Vampires fear the sun, not fire. It was a time when she didn’t relax for a long time. Suddenly, Alice’s complexion turned pale.

‘What about this energy?’

At the same time, the cabin exploded!

Aaaaaang!

A tremendous amount of light hit the cabin directly and blew it away. A small but intact house collapsed in an instant.

Thaaaakk…

Dust rose between the pouring wood debris. Between them, six shadows jumped out. It was thanks to Alice spreading her divine protection and protecting everyone.

“What is this?”

“Vampires are this strong?”

Tarman’s party was taken aback. The blow from just now was powerful enough to be seen by quite a few Aura users or high-ranking wizards. Ten red-eyed vampires were standing in front of the group that ran out into the yard. Among them, there was one that stood out.

“As expected, they were the King’s Order guys.”

It was a mature man in his mid-thirties, at the head of the group, aiming at a red-shining blade.

“There’s no way a bounty hunter can dodge this blow.”

Grabbing the fighting sword as red as blood, he slowly moved forward. The red aura shook and vibrated the air, releasing a terrifying roar.

Whoops, whoops!

Serati looked to the side.

“Hey, Lord Tarman?”

Tarman said it would be nothing to see if an Aura user became a vampire. Instead, He would have grown new strength but couldn’t use the existing speculation.

“Then what is that?”

Tarman frowned.

“…What happened to that?”