My Villains Episode 237
48. Artist (4)
A strange thing happened right after the artist died.
“…uh?” The blood that spouted from the monster’s neck began to be absorbed into me through the blade.
what? Is it because of ‘looting’?
As soon as he reaped his blood, the bloody blade that was wrapped around Hrunting was scattered in an instant. But the monster’s black blood was still flowing through his fingertips.
What is this X arm?
I took a few steps back in panic, but the black blood relentlessly followed. Now it wasn’t just flowing back and forth, but boiling as if boiling, swallowing Hrun Ting and the right arm holding Hrun Ting.
“Damn it!”
He tried to control the blood by raising the blood he had collected, but to no avail. The blood that quietly obeyed my control while the monster was alive only ran wild after it died. It was incomprehensible.
The incomprehensible things did not end there.
Tsutsutsu.
Like butter on a hot pan, the artist’s corpse began to melt. The sight of a monster resembling me losing its shape after being mixed with black blood was terrifying enough to send chills down my spine.
I was in confusion for a while. It felt like something was filling me.
When I first entered this Dream Mansion, I felt something precious being ripped away. Something that was lost then is now being regained.
Of course, that something was a piece of the soul and, at the same time, an ego as an artist. A cruel and filthy self created by my darkness.
No matter how dark it was or how dirty it was, it was also ‘me’. That is why he cherished the recovered self in his heart.
Is it because of my death? The artist’s ego was shrunk into small pieces. I probably won’t be able to run wild in the future.
I will continue to exist in pain, suffering, and dissatisfaction forever. that’s inside me
The artist and the black blood that melted him disappeared without a trace. No, it was absorbed by me.
In the meantime, there was one annoying thing. Hrunting’s originally milky blade had turned black. As if soaked in the artist’s blood, the black blade pulsated weakly.
This was also something I didn’t know why, but well, it probably doesn’t matter too much.
On the other hand, as I felt myself complete, I realized that I had become the master of this quasi-dimension. The dream territory built by the artist was now wholly mine.
It was then.
A huge unknown intruder has entered the ninth room, ‘Nursery’. It was a feeling I felt thanks to being the owner of a quasi-dimensional space.
Coo-gu-
gu- Then, without any context, a huge figure appeared. It came to me crushing red brick buildings, and its true identity was a snake flicking its tongue.
The air shuddered and the snake’s voice came.
“It’s been a while, descendant.”
“…you are.”
Steel-like scales, burning eyes, bodies that entwine the earth, and fangs that pollute the sea.
“Apostle of the End. A blood-drinking snake.”
It was the snake I met in my inner world when I was in danger of my life fighting Akanku Karamek.
Whether it was because of my muttering or for some other reason, Cerro’s pupil, engulfed in raging flames, was looking down at me with a very satisfied expression.
“Now my soul has become quite hard and weak. It’s great.”
To say that it has become ‘firm and real’. It’s an expression that a grandmother would use…
I looked at the snake while thinking that. Of course, the snake was so huge that I had to bend my neck as much as I could to look up at a 20-story apartment building to make eye contact.
“Are you really my ancestor?”
“Why do you think so?”
“I just killed my alter ego, a monster half human and half lizard.”
“Humans and lizards.”
“It was pretty gross. Now that I see it, the scales look a little like yours.”
The snake was silent for a moment. I couldn’t hear anything, but I could tell she was laughing.
I looked up at the snake for a moment before opening my mouth.
“It’s already the second time we’re meeting, so let’s talk about business soon.”
“occasion?”
“yes. What do you want?”
“It’s hard to fathom.”
“What is difficult? I’m asking why I came here.”
“I was just drawn to the familiar scent. There is no reason
.”
no reason? What is this stupid grandma?
“It’s my job to wait while starving, and it’s my job to take care of my descendants like this.”
The snake gave a puzzled sound and looked down at the Hrunting in my hand.
“The child has grown up too.”
“…Uh, it’s been a little longer, right? The appearance has also changed quite a bit.”
The snake flicked its tongue for a moment. He seemed to be worrying about something.
“good night. Allow me to hatch.” “…hatching? What is that?”
“ruler. The preparations are over.”
Just as I was about to ask again, the snake jumped open and opened its mouth. I was swallowed up by him in an instant.
back to the dark space.
The other party was still struggling on their limbs in a gravity-free space, and Heila, who was nearby, was watching me with her eyes wide open. Looking at it, it seems that the time I disappeared wasn’t that long.
I reached out to meet Heyla, who was waving her arms and legs as if she were swimming towards me. We grabbed each other’s wrists and pulled her into my arms as before.
Then, he began to control the Dream Mansion. Since all nine rooms have collapsed and now only the dark space remains, the structure has become very simple. Enough that even Koreans who are unfamiliar with magic can easily manipulate it.
Whoops.
A shudder began somewhere, followed by the folding of space. That’s how we left the land of dreams.
After the throne was activated and six people, including Phoenix, disappeared, there were only eleven people left in the underground audience room. Excluding the child Alena and the captive Saitz, the power was only nine.
Ponytail Fritz yelled ferociously in front of the iron gate and the entrance where all kinds of junk were piled up.
“fire! Bring the fire!”
“I have a job to make this crazy little raccoon den! No fire!”
“Better to be suffocated than to be bitten by a vampire! So shut up and get the fire, you fucking bird!”
Gidon, the crossbowman, uttered a few curse words beginning with ‘Oh Lord’ and then handed over the torch.
Fire. Thanks to the pre-sprinkled oil, the junk caught fire in an instant. Fritz let out a sputum and stepped back, holding a torch in his left hand and an iron flail in his right hand.
The tight-knit Steedman was lined up with Umberta, a mummy veteran with freckles, a heavily armed dervish, and a heavy prosecutor. He was pounding the Commonwealth plaque with an ax to build up his momentum.
“Once we block the lead, we push on to the first floor! Just kill the topelin or something else and you’re done!”
it was bullshit
Judging from the sound of footsteps, there must have been at least a few hundred vampires. It was not a number that nine people could handle.
Despite knowing this clearly, the mercenaries did not open their mouths.
There was no retreat in the first place. However, it was impossible to surrender to the vampire. Their fate was to wield their weapons until the end and die.
So, the mercenaries thought it would be better to take a breather and prepare for battle while having useless arguments.
Tap, tap, tap—
the sound of dirty bare feet stepping on the cold stone steps. The vampires who had reached the castle were advancing towards the underground.
“El scischa urio (by tearing and burning)…
One-eyed Simos drew a longsword and began to chant. The closer the vampires’ footsteps got, the faster the incantation went, and before she knew it, her left hand was turning blue and sparking.
Finally, the moment a naked man appeared on the stairway where the light shimmered, Simos stretched out his left hand and shouted.
“……Judio-cium (punish)!”
Fall out! There was a roar as if hundreds of sheets of paper were being torn at once. It was ‘arrow lightning’, a spell Simos had recently awakened to.
At most, the palm-sized beams of light were literally shot out at the speed of lightning, leaving long afterimages. The arrow lightning pierced the naked vampire and ricocheted off the stone wall, and from there it started rampaging inside the spiral staircase.
“Turn it off-!”
Just as the arrows and lightning did, the screams echoed loudly through the stone walls.
Fifteen vampires were knocked down, and countless others after them rushed into the throne room, stumbling over or rolling over from the previous vampires. Simos, who had consumed quite a bit of mana, quickly stepped back.
Tung!
With the heavy sound of the string bouncing, Gidon’s long crossbow bolt pierced the two vampires.
“Kyap!”
Umberta exclaimed and threw the javelin that Phoenix had left behind. The vampire in the form of a young man collapsed, clutching his stomach.
The heavy soldier Dervish threw the ax he was holding and knocked an old man down. Then, he shouted as he pulled out the magic sword he had recently obtained.
“Rider of the sun, watch over me!”
Seeking the protection of her patron saint, she held out her shield and swung her magic sword. The gently white blade cut deep into the back of the vampire who had crossed the barrier.
“They are coming over! Throw it into the road flames!”
Confair, who was next to her, pushed the vampire away with a thick heater shield and then slashed the knife. An angled decapitator cut off the head with a single blow, and Conwyer raised his foot and kicked the corpse. The dead vampire tumbled backwards, engulfed in the flames of junk.
At that moment, a corner of the barrier collapsed. It was because dozens of vampires rushed in at once.
Steedman roared in horror as dozens of vampires crawled out of the opening through the flames.
“Stop! Eson holy water-!”
“I am going right now!”
The hand of the chubby man who was waiting in the back swung his arm wide and sprinkled holy water.
“Keeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”
The vampires who rushed furiously while still burning were hit with holy water and screamed terribly. And it shrank, exhaling black and white smoke.
It was Mira and Fritz who plugged the hole afterwards.
The freckled mummy controlled her distance from the vampires with her characteristic light movements and threw the knife. Because her longsword was enchanted, it was several times sharper than a normal sword. Thanks to this, he was able to easily defeat the vampires with light and fast sword strikes.
“Come here, you damned bastards! Stick out your head-!”
Fritz jumped between the vampires while shouting in Gellan. Then, wielding torches and iron flails, they smashed and smashed everything they encountered. Then, when the surrounding vampires hurled themselves at them, they used their armor to drive them away or slash their faces with their elbows or knees.
The mercenaries’ propaganda continued for a while, but it was not enough to overcome the vampires that flocked like ants. The iron gate blocking the entrance collapsed under the pressure. Pounced on the roaring pile of odds and ends.
The vampires lost their reason at the vague smell of blood and threw themselves over the iron gate that was burning with flames.
“Damn it… Eson holy water!” From behind, Esson wielded a pole hammer and said, ‘I’ve used it all before! It’s over!’ Steedman gritted his teeth.
“My giral-!”
He tossed down his shield, ripped off the dangling vampire ears, and chopped off another’s head with his axe. When the blade of the ax stuck in his skull and he couldn’t even move, he let go of the hilt and stepped back, pulling out the ‘sword of slaughter’ hung on his waist.
“Uhhhhhhh-!”
Steedman, who gripped the six-kilogram knife with both hands,
squeezed his strength with a loud shout.
Swish!
With a cheerful sound, the two vampires, who had been split in half at the waist, rolled across the floor.
“Damn damn.”
The iron gate, which had been littered with rubbish, slanted flatter as vampires passed in one after another. Naturally, the number of vampires who jumped over the barrier also increased rapidly.
The moment the mercenaries fell into despair.
The throne that had been placed inside the throne room was shattered. Followed by –
woo woo woo.
-A black disk appeared with a strange metallic sound, like an iron ball rolling on a silver tray.
“…no way.”
By the time Steedman opened his mouth halfway, people poured out of the Dream Gate.
“Kyaaaah!”
The first to jump out was Ellen. Moongchi and Cole Utequai appeared behind her as she rolled vigorously on the floor and landed lightly. And finally, Phoenix appeared with Heila in his arms.
“Phoenix-sama.”
As if responding to Steedman’s trembling voice, Phoenix grinned.
“No one died? Great work these new meals.”
With his usual ferocious smile, Steedman collapsed into place without even realizing it.
“Uh” 丁That.
Utequai took a stride and picked up the ‘Maul of Slonhe’ that was leaning against a pillar.
Ungchi pulled out the ‘Ungeom’ and a silver dagger, and Cole hung a long arrow on the string of his bow.
“…Haha, I’m annoyed. What else is this smoke?”
Ellen grabbed her red, swollen forehead and pulled herself up. She put on a large cone hat and summoned the spirit of dance without a word of incantation.
Whoo!
As the little wind spirit danced, a whirlpool of smoke and flame rose toward the stairs. Vampires suddenly engulfed in flames screamed loudly.
“Are you getting off soon?”
“…huh.”
Slowly, Heila stepped out of Phoenix’s arms and looked back toward the stairs, adjusting her gloves.
Powerful blood based on vast magical energy was seething. The black eyes were dyed dark red, and then the vampires that looked at them exploded! started to explode.
“What kind of technology is that? First time seeing it.”
“Vampires don’t have their own blood source, so they have weak control over their blood.”
“…Could it be that you exploded Fivora inside their bodies?”
“that’s right. With a little practice, you can do it too.”
The vampires crowding the entrance of the throne room turned into bloody clots under Heila’s gaze. When dozens of them exploded in a couple of breaths, the mercenaries who were facing them took a step back with their mouths wide open.
Ellen glared at Heila with her blue eyes and then began to cast a spell. With a rapid-fire murmur, the gray wand sparked, and the flames blocking the entrance to the throne room rushed toward her.
Roaring!
Flames drawn in from all sides embraced Ellen and bloomed like flowers. It was the ‘Fire Cloak’ spell.
“Adobit’sche (Burn it)!”
With a resounding shout, the flame cloak spread its wings. Fierce flames spread out on wings and swept the stairs.
“Oh, how hot!”
“X arm back!”
While the mercenaries hurriedly retreated due to the intense heat, Utequai, who was about to jump in among the vampires, muttered, “I have eased my work,” and put down the dolly. Mungchi and Cole also retrieved their weapons with sluggish faces.
As Heila watched the fire sweep the stairs, she suddenly turned to Phoenix.
“bloodshed.”
” huh?”
“Dagger blood. give it back.”
At her request, Phoenix scratched his eyebrows and picked up the backpack that was lying on the floor. After looking around for a while, he took out a dagger from a luxurious scabbard.
“thank you.”
Heila immediately drew the dagger she received. As soon as the blade made of transparent jewels instead of iron appeared, the blood of the vampires on the walls and floor began to flow to her.
Heyla, wearing ‘The Blood King’s Territory’, slowly moved towards the ground. Not to be outdone by this, Ellen also stepped onto the scorched stairs.
The blond girl raised her eyebrows as the woman in the black minidress looked at her with a black gaze.
“…nothing.”
The two women exchanged glances for a moment, then moved on. Phoenix, who was watching the two from behind, smiled bitterly and followed them up the stairs.
A little less than 900 vampires were wiped out without a trace by two women wearing cloaks.
Topelin, a high-ranking vampire who led them, was hit by a javelin while running away. Shaking her chin, she begged for her life, but was decapitated by the blackened Hrunting.
“…hmm.”
Standing on the ground, Phoenix looked up at the sun showing off its faint presence in the thick fog.
hold on for a while
The mist from the dream land melted away at the command of its owner.
“……Do it.”
“Really. I have to.”
The party who came up later opened their mouths as they looked up at the autumn sky.
It was a clear sky without a single cloud, so that the deep blue admiration came out naturally.