༺ Queen Of The Night (4) ༻
The sun was setting.
And the full moon began to rise in the night sky.
“We’re running out of time.”
Cariote, standing on the rooftop of a building and gazing up at the darkening world, frowned.
Strange shadows began to appear one by one, surrounding the rooftop where she stood. The shapes of those shadows were incredibly sinister.
“Are these the minions? It seems like our location has been compromised.”
Cariote drew her dagger from her waist.
Sling—
The Kodachi slipped smoothly from its sheath, gleaming menacingly in the moonlight as Cariote turned to the mage Brigitte, who had summoned a staff from thin air and shouted.
“It’s only natural since we’ve been moving around like this. And since it’s the time of the vampires, they’re not happy that we’ve come to 61st Street.”
Brigitte looked at the shadows surrounding the building.
Upon closer inspection, she realized that they were vampires draped in cloaks reminiscent of twilight’s dim darkness.
“There are a lot of vampires. Can you handle them, Cariote?”
“They’re only vampire kin, nothing more than underlings to the vampires who serve as their hosts. But that doesn’t make them any less dangerous. Each one of them would warrant a Bronze Level subjugation.”
Bronze Level subjugation.
Considering that the average karma of Pangaea adventurers was between Level 10 and Level 20, these vampire kin posed a significant threat.
-Kyaaaah-!!!
Young female vampires rushed toward the building with sharp metallic-like hisses.
They climbed the walls like spiders, and in an instant, some of them were already lunging toward Cariote, revealing their sharp fangs like sharks.
“….”
Cariote swung her dagger upwards with all her might.
Shaaaak—!
And just like that, she split one of the female vampires in half, and with the same downward motion, she sliced another female vampire from the head to the left side of her waist, splitting her in half too.
-Kkuyaaaak!
-Kkiaaaaaah!
The vampires that were cut in half screamed, leaving behind a pile of ashes.
The skill to kill two vampires at once, when even a single one hiding could wreak havoc in a village.
Brigitte admired it slightly.
“That kodachi, it’s made of blessed silver, isn’t it? They say it has a special effect against beings corrupted by magic. Was it the same sword that killed the Beast King in the 「Ancient City」?”
“……”
Cariote didn’t respond.
She simply swung her sword swiftly through the air, cleansing the vampire blood that had stained the beautiful pure white blade.
Her indifferent eyes were fixed on the constantly approaching vampires.
“We must defeat the origin of their bloodline. If we can’t do that, it will continue to expand its family and eventually devour us too.”
She stated matter-of-factly.
As Cariote recited her words blankly, Brigitte looked at the women surrounding her.
They were dressed in tightly laced corsets and undergarments, with pale skin.
They looked like cheap prostitutes.
“Aren’t you embarrassed to be wearing only undergarments?”
Seeing their vulgar appearance, Brigitte thought she had made the right choice in excluding Judas from this investigation.
━Grrrrr…
━Kahahaahak….
“Looks like they have no minds of their own. Vampires are beings with both human and demon natures. I’d like to take one of them for research, but it seems that I won’t have the luxury to do so.”
Swish— Swish— Swish—
Thud— Thud— Thud—
━Squeak!
━SquekSqueak!
Through Brigitte’s raised gaze, she saw countless bats flying off in a certain direction.
That must be toward the presence that Brigitte and Cariote were looking for.
Wave—
Brigitte channeled her magic into her staff and spoke.
“The Queen of the Night or the Corrupter of Pleasure, Shehrazade. That’s our target. One of the rulers of this 61st district and an evil kidnapper of women.”
After calmly taking a breath, Brigitte continued.
She channeled the destructive magic boiling within her heart.
“Destruction. Explosion. Flames.”
And just as these three words were uttered.
Kwaaahhh—!
Black flames of destructive explosions erupted around Brigitte.
The vampires, caught in the uncontrollable blaze, turned into ashes in an instant.
Witnessing this, Cariote’s eyes, which had been indifferent to everything until now, sparkled slightly.
“This much power with a mere third-grade incantation from the third circle. It seems that you being bestowed the ‘Black’ color wasn’t a mistake.”
Among all the mages that Cariote had encountered on countless battlefields and hunting grounds, Brigitte possessed the strongest destructive power.
‘She must have obtained it through unconventional means, likely related to something deserving of the label ‘forbidden’, just like these vampires.’
Cariote decided to remain cautious of Brigitte as well.
Having witnessed numerous bloodbaths in the darkness, she knew all too well about the tyranny of those who reveled in bloodshed.
She was especially aware of how mages were vulnerable to corruption and contamination.
‘But my current priority should be dealing with these vampire kins. The level of the threat within their ranks is at the very least ‘Bronze’. This means that their leader must have surpassed the platinum realm with the use of forbidden arts.’
Probably on par with Al Sahad, the necromancer of the Alubaba Thieves.
No, that vampire seemed to even surpass him in terms of secrecy and cunning.
“It appears to be a vampire who has lived for at least a hundred years. Be careful. The danger posed by elderly vampires is beyond imagination.”
-Eek, w-what is this!
-I got bitten!
Cariote could hear the screams of ordinary people coming from all directions.
It must be because the bloodthirsty vampires, with their nests disturbed, were rampaging through the entirety of the 61st district without bothering to hide their identities.
A city illuminated by the full moon.
Fangs and howls.
Screams.
Death.
All of this began to awaken long-forgotten memories in Cariote.
To mask the dizzying scent of blood, she took out a black muffler from her pocket and wrapped it around her face like a mask. With that, Cariote’s distinctive traits disappeared completely.
Now, only the hunter remained.
“Tonight, Cariote Iscariote joins the hunt.”
* * *
61st Street was always filled with screams.
Especially the screams of women.
But now, everywhere was filled with blood, flames, and the sounds of destruction.
“What a beautiful night for screams.”
On 61st Street, the largest building was the 「Night Garden」.
At the top floor, a woman with red hair looked down upon the world with ruby-red eyes, emitting a seductive gaze.
Her flowing hair fluttered in the wind, and she wore a red evening dress that clung to her body, revealing her curves.
“It was on a night like this that I gained immortality. So, who will be the first to reach here? The hunter? The mage? Or perhaps…”
A vampire.
At least two centuries old, 「Blood Ancestor – Shehrazade」.
She held a glass with blood as red as wine in her hand, swaying it gently.
“When that novice of the Alubaba Thieves’ fell, I thought it was just a coincidence. But no. They really are plotting against our Tenebris. Could it be that they’ve caught on to this lady’s plan?”
Shehrazade murmured to herself, relaxed and calm.
But those who knew her well would have noticed that she was deeply disturbed.
Shehrazade was not the type to talk to herself.
‘This is not looking good.’
In this 61st district, Shehrazade was kidnapping women to use them as sustenance or to turn them into her kin.
She did that very discreetly.
No one suspected a thing.
Women disappearing from the red-light district was a common occurrence.
At least for the past year, they had to gather even more strength.
But now, the timing of the arrival of the Black Mage and the hunter on 61st Street was the worst possible luck for Shehrazade.
‘That hunter, Cariote, is especially the worst to deal with. I’ve heard of her a lot. The hunter who killed the Beast King in the 「Ancient City」.’
The Ancient City.
Once a living hell invaded by demons during the war.
In that place, a hunter single-handedly defeated the ‘Beast King’, the warrior of the Night, with unwavering determination.
The slaughterer, Cariote.
That’s what she was called, wasn’t it?
“But this lady won’t go down without a fight.”
Flap— Flap— Flap—
Countless bats gathered around Shehrazade.
Today, they poured the blood they had sucked from all over the Freesia City-State onto Shehrazade’s body.
Splat— Splat—
The red blood splattered on Shehrazade’s body like a shower.
“Good. My vitality is overflowing. I feel unstoppable right now.”
Power surged from deep within her body.
* * *
━Kyaaah…!
“Oh, holy shh…!”
A woman in only her underwear lunged at me.
If it had been for my pleasure, I would have been fine with her attacking me, but she was charging as if she would tear me apart with her sharp fangs.
I raised my hand and fiercely struck the woman’s neck.
“Ari-rang strike.” (Ari-rang is a Korean song)
The woman’s neck broke with a crack—, and she fell to the ground writhing.
If she had been an ordinary person, it would have been a fatal blow, but she was not an ordinary woman.
━Gyaaa,gaaahh…!
“You’re quite resilient. Are you a vampire’s kin?”
There were countless beings like this roaming the streets.
Humans who were bitten, torn apart, and left to collapse.
Now they were openly roaming around 61st Street.
It seemed like they had no intention of hiding their true identities.
“They must be backed into a corner if they aren’t hiding their true identities anymore. It means Cariote and Brigitte are getting closer to their main target.”
It would be wise to join forces with those guys.
After all, I didn’t have much time.
“Gyaaahh…!”
Naru, perched on my back, made a sound like a ferocious beast.
I was startled and asked.
“Naru, have you already become a vampire?”
“No! I just imitated the crying sound of those sisters! Naru is still fine! If there’s anything special, I want to eat red strawberries…!”
“I see. You really scared me.”
Earlier, Naru had been bitten by a bat.
It was clearly the work of a vampire familiar known as the 「Night Fang」.
-Gyaaahh! The bats are attacking!
-Be careful not to get bitten! When are the guards coming?
-The guards won’t come because 61st Street is not a regular district…
People had been bitten by bats flying around in all directions.
These bats attacked humans indiscriminately in an attempt to collect their blood.
Perhaps the main body, feeling threatened by Cariote and Brigitte’s intrusion, had dispatched familiars and kin in all directions to gather blood.
Thus.
Naru had unintentionally become a victim of the investigation on 61st Street.
“I originally hadn’t planned to interfere in this investigation.”
My intention had been to leave this task to Brigitte, Cariote, and Enkidus.
They were more than capable of handling it on their own.
But that was now no longer viable.
Swooosh—
I raised my head.
It was around 11 p.m.
There was still some time until the morning sun would rise.
If I couldn’t defeat the main vampire by then, Naru might forever become a vampire’s kin. That’s why I couldn’t fully entrust everything to Brigitte, Cariote, and Enkidus.
Not that I doubted their abilities, but there’s always a possibility of failure, no matter how small.
“Naru, if you think you might be turning into a vampire, let me know.”
“Turning into a vampire? Is that bad?”
“Well, being a vampire has its perks. You can hide in the darkness, transform into a bat, and gain superhuman strength by drinking blood.”
“Oh, holy shh…! Vampires are so cool…!”
Naru seemed to really like the idea.
However, I had only listed the positive aspects of becoming a vampire.
“The downside is that you won’t be able to see the sun. That means you won’t be able to go to school or have meals. You’ll have to drink tasteless blood every day.”
“Eugh, not being able to have meals… Now that Naru thinks about it again, being a vampire doesn’t seem so great…! Naru likes the sun…!”
Thank goodness.
If Naru were to become a vampire, She would have to sleep during the day and be awake at night.
She wouldn’t be able to have a normal job and might end up like a shut-in.
━I am Naru Barjudas, a twenty-five-year-old! I don’t go to school and of course, I don’t have a job! I sleep in the morning and play at night! I’ll suck on Dad’s neck! I’ll suck blood! Give me blood!
Oh, holy shh…!
I have to prevent that kind of future from happening!
I urgently spoke.
“Naru, do you sense anything? Even though you still have a long way from completely transforming, maybe you’re starting to connect with the main body?”
“Do I sense anything… I want to eat strawberries?”
“Besides that.”
“Uhuhu… Besides strawberries…”
Naru, perched on my back, fell into deep thought.
After a while, the little girl who had been contemplating finally exclaimed.
“Naru is not sure…!”
“I see.”
“I feel like I hear someone crying softly, but I don’t know where it’s coming from. It feels like someone is calling Naru… Over there? There?”
Naru pointed with her finger to the rooftop of a distant building.
It was the 「Night Garden」, the palace of pleasure in the red-light district, where I had gone to meet the astrologer.
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