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Chapter 105

A fireball that had formed in the heart of the blade exploded upon creation. Freya’s eyes, nose, and mouth briefly lit up before she disintegrated into ashes along with the explosion. All that was left was the red-hot blade of the dagger and the Sword of Judgment stuck in the ground.

Hiss...

The divine power collected on the Sword of Judgment scattered. Ian, holding the sword\'s hilt, gazed pensively at the ashes. Like before, he wondered if something might spring out again. However, this time, nothing changed—only a blurry notification of quest completion appeared before him.

I guess not all are enchanted with that kind of spell...?

Thinking this, Ian finally retrieved his sword and checked his status. More experience points had come in than expected, almost as much as from the last time with Ascolde.

"Just had a good compatibility, huh? Well, it\'s indeed easier to handle several moderately strong foes than one really strong one."

Ian turned around and started walking, frowning at the sight that met his eyes. The wreckage of the carriage and the horses, now just chunks of meat, had caught his eye.

I liked that carriage...

Now, he had no choice but to proceed on foot.

Swallowing a sigh, Ian approached Charlotte, who was sitting by the roadside leaning on something. Thesaya, lying across her thighs, seemed still unconscious. Charlotte, her chainmail armor torn and covered in blood, was dabbing her own blood on Thesaya’s lips.

"Are you okay?"

At Ian\'s question, Charlotte managed a bitter smile. "It\'s embarrassing. I didn’t expect to do such bizarre things suddenly. And to lose the carriage, too..."

"It happened because I killed the mage first. I should have focused on the vampire from the start," Ian spoke nonchalantly as he rummaged through the remains of the carriage.

His brow furrowed a bit more—the last bottle of liquor had shattered.

I was saving it, fuck.

Charlotte seemed to take his words as consolation and sighed bitterly.

"The world is vast, and there are many strong beings. Without my magical artifacts, I might have been a mere warrior."

"You’re doing something out of character."

Ian, who had returned with the only intact backpack, placed it before her with a sneer.

"You’ve proven enough, so cut the nonsense."

"...." Charlotte twitched her brow as if to say there was no way, but it wasn\'t just empty words.

Ian had often hired mercenaries in the game, and most of them didn’t survive more than two dungeons. They would either die at the hands of a simple monster, get crushed by a boss, or self-destruct due to some bizarre status ailment. The ones who didn’t were the named supporting characters, and even they often died, went mad, or fell into corruption.

Honestly, this is the first time since Mev that he\'s felt this comfortable delegating part of a boss fight.

After wiping the still-hot Ancient Meteoric Dagger with a cloth, Ian examined Charlotte\'s ripped-open side. The leather was deeply indented, showing pink flesh underneath, and broken chain links were embedded all around.

"Your intestines aren\'t damaged. Hang in there."

Ian carefully pried out each chain link with the tip of his dagger. His delicate touch made Charlotte flinch, but she didn’t even moan. Eventually, as he started to wrap a bandage around her waist, she awkwardly spoke up.

"I can do it myself, you know..."

"I’m not doing it because you don’t know how."

I have a first-aid skill, after all.

Based on his experiences so far, the skill effects were clearly working. Especially in terms of preventing the wounds from festering or worsening. After securely bandaging her, Ian then examined her forearm.

"Be careful with your left arm for a while..."

His voice trailed off as he frowned briefly.

"Protect Thesa."

With that, he stood up. Charlotte stiffened her upper body, not understanding why, as Ian’s gaze turned toward the carriage. More precisely, to the mangled remains of the horses.

Squelch, creak—

Flesh and intestines writhed and gathered. Ian hadn’t immediately struck them down with the Sword of Judgment because the amount of corrupt magic performing this disgusting act wasn’t that great. The gathered flesh and intestines soon compacted into a slightly smaller than a basketball-sized oval. It looked grotesquely molded into a face.

The intestines began to twitch shortly after.

"Ah, thank you for waiting. If you had crushed it midway, I would have had to repeat the same spell. It\'s more difficult than it looks."

A voice that sounded like bubbling goo or squelching intestines unpleasantly oozed out.

What the hell? Was that really a head?

Ian retorted, "I was curious. Who would be behind such deeds? Now I know. The Vampire Empress."

"Oh my. Recognizing me immediately and even honoring me with such a title. I also know who you are, Ian Hope. A mercenary from unknown origin, the savior of Agel Lan, and the slaughterer of Bel Ronde."

...A slaughterer? Seems I have a reputation I didn\'t know about.

As Ian snorted dismissively, the Empress added, "I only truly realized your capabilities after you killed two of our adjudicators. I thought Lord Ascold fell due to his carelessness. After all, he was someone who pursued his own aesthetic."

"The ones you sent this time seemed even more foolish."

"Well, I\'ve never heard Freya and her lovers described that way before. Regardless... Freya\'s death means I\'ve failed to convince you."

"So, you\'ve come for revenge?"

"Not at all. If that were the case, I wouldn\'t have shown up like this. I merely..." Watching a face made of intestines and flesh smile was not a pleasant experience. "...wanted to have a direct conversation with you."

"...Hmm."

Ian, resting a hand on his sword hilt, nodded as if to say, go ahead. To him, this head seemed nothing more than a means of communication. If it sprouted any nonsense, he could simply slice it in half, returning it to its original mass of flesh.

"I have no hard feelings against you, Ian Hope. It’s quite the contrary. A magic swordsman mercenary shrouded in mystery—quite impressive, right? That\'s why I was quite saddened when I learned we were entangled like this."

"Is that why you sent another adjudicator after me?"

"You should know. I sent them to persuade you. They were only to use force as a last resort."

"They started with magic the moment they saw me."

"Oh dear. Then, I apologize on their behalf. The adjudicators tend to prefer straightforward methods. But even now, I still don\'t dislike you, Ian. There\'s no need for us to fight to the death."

She is subtly calling me only by my first name.

Well, the opponent was a vampire who had lived for at least hundreds of years. In some ways, just showing him respect was quite significant.

Ian snorted again and said, "I don\'t have any grudge against you either. But it seems there are already enough reasons for us to fight to the death."

"Is it because of that child? That child is not that special, Ian. On the contrary. She\'s just an experiment. I don\'t know what you\'ve been promised, but I could offer you that too."

The face formed a sticky smile.

"I can offer you more than whatever the child promised. I can even protect you. Even if you don\'t join us, we support others in such a way too."

Yes, definitely a better offer than what Freya made. Ian nodded.

The Empress whispered, "Think about it, Ian. You can\'t face all of us alone. Even if you manage to kill us all, it wouldn\'t be good for you."

"Because someone backing you would target me?"

Ian blurted out, and the head momentarily froze. The eyes made of intertwined intestines narrowed slightly.

"Do you know something?"

"Just guessing. You wouldn\'t be able to live next to the Empire without some powerful backing. Seeing your reaction, I must have guessed right."

The face seemed bruised in pride for a moment but then spoke.

"That\'s true. But you\'re not wrong. You\'ve already attracted attention. Stirring trouble with us wouldn\'t be good for you."

"Well... That doesn\'t seem like your worry to take care of." Ian chuckled lightly.

He had a rough idea of who their backing was. The Round Table Council.

Often mentioned by corrupt nobles, clerics, mages, and demons. But he didn\'t exactly know who they were or what they wanted. It seemed like he needed specific conditions to encounter them. Perhaps he just hadn\'t progressed far enough in the story yet. Maybe it would have revealed itself in Chapter Four.

"So it seems you won\'t accept my offer after all." Finally, the Empress stated.

As Ian began to walk leisurely toward the crimson head, he said, "You can\'t give me what I want anyway."

"And what do you want?"

Ian whispered, "The experience points and quest rewards I\'ll get every time I kill one of you."

"...What language is that? I can\'t understand it at all."

"I want all of you dead. Thesaya might help with that, but not you."

"I can\'t understand that. Unless we were demons you aimed to kill. But alright, Ian."

The head smiled up at Ian standing before it.

"I\'ll be waiting for the moment you come to us."

Ian lifted his foot.

"Yeah. I\'m looking forward to it too."

Crunch!

Ian had just stomped directly on the face, scattering the intestines and flesh that made up the head. As the stench of decay and blood filled the air, he scrunched up his face, replaying the recent conversation in his mind. Demons knew him, and so did their backers—it seemed they had known about him even before he had killed the adjudicator.

Have I gained some sort of infamy in the underworld...?

It was clear they were aware of him; otherwise, they wouldn\'t have approached so directly and tried so hard to persuade him. Ian shifted his gaze and walked toward Charlotte, who was still blinking in disbelief.

Watching him intently, Charlotte finally spoke.

"What was that all about..."

"Seemed like the Vampire Empress. The master of the bloodline."

It was Thesaya who answered. Ian slightly narrowed his eyes as he looked down at her.

"Were you awake?"

"Yeah, just a moment ago."

Thesaya smiled broadly.

As Ian settled back down in front of Charlotte, Thesaya added, "I\'m deeply touched."

"....?"

Ian, pulling out a new bandage from the bag, frowned and turned back to her.

Thesaya’s smile deepened. "I thought you might sell me out. There was no reason not to."

What now.

"The decision wasn\'t made for you. It was for me. Don\'t delude yourself."

"But from what I see, turning all the vampires against you doesn\'t seem to offer you anything, Ian."

Not offer anything? The experience points to gain and quests to clear are countless.

Snorting, Ian, holding the bandage, retorted, "Stop the nonsense and go gather some firewood. We\'re staying here tonight."

"Okay!" Thesaya sprung up energetically and suddenly glanced back and forth between Charlotte and Ian.

"Thank you. Both of you."

"...?!"

Charlotte turned her head with a look of disbelief. Thesaya was already running off to gather the remnants of the shattered carriage.