chapter 182

Vampires: rulers of the night and ranked as high-grade level 4 monsters. They were even of a higher level among regular monsters. They had a high sense of self-regard and considered themselves to be a noble species. However, a dungeon master’s commands were absolute. They raided the humans, injected them with their blood, and turned them into zombies.

If vampires injected humans with the real serum, they would become ‘Demi-vampires’. But the humans had to have the correct aptitude, so they didn’t make them very easily.

The humans that had been made into zombies naturally expired after 28 days, but they had no more purpose other than to plant terror into the other humans. Even though it was one of the lowest monsters, the horror of a person one had known for a long time turning into a zombie and attacking them was astonishing enough to be heartbreaking.

Then there was also the fact that they had to directly deal with the zombies.

Moreover, vampires liked to play cruel jokes.

They would command a person who was turned into a zombie to attack the person closest to them.

“Hey, Seungmi. Don’t do this. Don’t you know me, your older brother? Seungmi! Please!”

“Rawr!”

The screams emanated from an incredibly run-down shack…among siblings, families, friends that couldn’t have lived without each other. Zombies proliferated at an astronomical rate, and even the awakened ones suffered a steep path to recovery.

Emergency meetings were quickly called, but they didn’t come up with any fitting solutions.

Mostly what they did was to gather the greatest number of people in a dark space and make them unable to move. There was a limit to how much even the awakened ones could keep a patrol.

More than anything, the citizens of the city were exhausted. Their stress was rising daily, and they were on the verge of an explosion. As soon as they took on the appearance of forcibly imprisoning people, people who were opposed to this also appeared.

It was a predicament. However, they couldn’t increase their damage anymore.

All the guilds united and began to search out the beings that were attacking the humans, and, not soon after, these meetings bore fruit.

“Our enemies are vampires, and not just one or two of them.”

This was in a meeting where all the guild masters and important guild members were gathered.

Yoo Eunhye went to the front and began the briefing.

Yoo Eunhye was the most prominent among the awakened heroes and was playing the largest role in the upcoming operation.

Because of her appearance, graceful and lively, she was popular among the men. However, on the opposite side of this, she was fully gaining her position as the ‘Magical Swordsman of Thunder’. In contrast with her usual way of speaking and appearance, she was famous as an aloof and iron-willed woman, but this was because of her skill at separating private from public affairs.

Right now was no different.

Although she wasn’t used to standing up in this kind of place, she spoke easily and was conducting things as if she wasn’t nervous at all.

“First, take a look at this vampire we captured alive.”

Smack! As soon as Yoo Eunhye clapped her hands, Kim Yongwoo and Lee Jihye themselves came in, pulling an iron cage with wheels. That Guild Master Kim Yongwoo would take on this level of menial job himself was evidence of how urgent the situation was. Naturally, the other guild members’ focus was heightened.

And many people couldn’t help but marvel at the body of a monster in the cage, hanging limply like a corpse.

“Is that…”

“Isn’t that a vampire?”

Yoo Eunhye nodded.

“That’s right. This is the vampire we captured alive recently. We were only able to capture it at the end of an all-out attack, as it’s such a powerful monster. After…truly a lot of damage. The reason we’ve called you all here secretly is precisely because of this vampire.”

Yoo Eunhye slightly gritted her teeth. The vampire had not gone easily. Tens of the awakened ones had perished in the process of capturing it.

She also took much care in publicly showing the vampire.

She had orchestrated it so that only the important members of each guild could attend.

“Huh!”

“It’s amazing.”

However, the very surprised people were only thinking of the results.

This wasn’t the first time vampires had appeared. These monsters had already been discovered in several countries, and their strength had been proven as a result. Even if it was half-dead, the fact that they had captured it alive was incredibly surprising.

“We interrogated the vampire to find out their purpose in attacking Korea and creating zombies. After we weakened its body, we were successful with the help of different kinds of drugs and skills affiliated with visions and hypnosis.”

This information was direct to a certain degree. Rather than having it come out later, she had judged it would be better to disclose it all now. If she shared the story openly, there would be no worry of being caught later, too.

“Look at this. The vampire had this bottle containing this white drug.”

Yoo Eunhye pulled a small vial out of her coat pocket. There was a watery white drug inside.

“What’s that?”

The master of the Platinum Guild asked, and Yoo Eunhye calmly replied.

“It’s a drug that discerns something. It is also a deadly poison, which, if a human ingests, will cause them to lose their reasoning.”

“It discerns?”

“Before that… Do you all know of the awakened heroes who went missing after the monster’s attacks began?”

“Because they were overwhelmed in their battles with the monsters.”

“All of us thought that was the case. So it also followed when we couldn’t find their bodies. However, it wasn’t that.”

Yoo Eunhye took a deep breath for a moment, and then spoke.

“He says they are trying to find the Holy Woman, and that this drug is a tool to discern who she is. Unfortunately, that was all we were able to uncover, but it seems clear that there is some kind of demon behind these vampires.”

“A demon!”

“You’re crazy! Didn’t they all disappear?”

The people made a commotion. This wasn’t unreasonable. These were the people who had personally experienced how horrifying the attacks of the monsters had been. They thought they had barely brought it to an end with the appearance of the ‘savior’, but the demons had appeared once again.

Some of them even held themselves tightly and shook. This was because the terror of that time was so great, even though all those present were awakened heroes.

“The important thing is the Holy Woman. I expect that the demon is afraid of the Holy Woman’s coming. And so he is using all his abilities to try to block her in advance.”

“So we just have to find her first, then.”

“Yes. It should be sufficiently possible using this drug.”

“But you said that drug makes people lose their reason, didn’t you?”

“That is limited to ordinary people. He says it doesn’t have that effect on the Holy Woman.”

There was clearly a gap in what Yoo Eunhye said.

All the people in the room realized this.

“Does he know who the Holy Woman is? He doesn’t, of course. Then there’s no need to even use this drug necessarily.”

“Don’t you think it’s strange that, in such an important meeting, the children of the savior and Kirin aren’t showing their faces? Even a few of the guilds are missing.”

“Those people are always so busy, right? And there’s seldom a circumstance when the guilds are all able to attend.”

None of them thought it was especially strange. Roy, Rose, and Kirin missing the meeting was an everyday occurrence.

“I…myself and the Guild of Heaven’s Will are feeling something strange about the activities of those who aren’t here. In particular, it seems that Roy, Rose, and Kirin have recently been commanding people who they think they can trust and searching for someone.”

“My friend, you’re speaking dangerously. Are you suspicious of them?”

At least in Korea, those three are godlike beings. In reality, in Kirin’s case, she was worshipped like a deity; and as Roy and Rose were called the children of the savior, they received that level of treatment.

In Korea, saying that you suspected one of those was tantamount to blasphemy.

However, Yoo Eunhye didn’t hesitate to nod in agreement.

“I am convinced that the person they are looking for is the Holy Woman. And of course, they have much more information than we do. It seems that they are acting with some kind of assurance.”

“Then…then what are you planning to talk about now that you’ve gathered us together?”

“You must cooperate with me. It will be too difficult to put pressure on them on just the power of the Guild of the Heaven’s Will and myself. What I want to talk to you about today is making this an open matter, even to the point of publicizing this information.”

“You’re crazy.”

It was summed up in one word.

This was an insane thing to do.

To assume this stance in a situation like this, not even in a time of peace, was totally inappropriate.

There was no need to necessarily cause a schism among them in a situation where, even if they did join forces, they wouldn’t be powerful enough.

Because of this, turning their eyes even when there was something untoward or suspicious was a formality.

Even if what Yoo Eunhye said was true, it would be better to cover it up.

“I couldn’t agree with that crazy idea any less. I can’t listen to any more of this.”

The guild master of the Platinum Guild stood, and all of his guild’s members were also about to stand and follow their leader.

But at the same time, the door of the meeting room was opened, and a large number of awakened ones showed themselves.

They were all members of the Guild of Heaven’s Will or other guilds in close relation to it.

Yoo Eunhye opened her mouth, her face expressionless.

“Those who agree can leave. Anyone who disagrees…must please wait here temporarily until this matter has been resolved.”

“Oh, so you’re planning to force us! The Guild of Heaven’s Will is truly going crazy, then! Have you become blinded because everyone around you reveres you as the best guild? A war will break out!”

“I’m not afraid of war. What I’m really afraid of is…”

After a brief silence, Yoo Eunhye finished her piece, “That we will go down the wrong path, having given up our own freedoms.”

I was walking on a wire with Martin.

I had taken a position as if I were about to attack the forest but wasn’t doing so yet.

While I did so, Martin had already tried to invade the forest twice.

‘Although he failed both times,’ I thought.

The strategy of using the Great Worm to dig tunnels in the ground and raid the forest was a good one. He could get right to the area of the sacred sword on the first try and present a threat to the angels.

However, the angels reduced the potential damage by forcibly tearing down the tunnels. On the other hand, Martin lost most of the monsters he had deployed.

The second attack had been in the air. His monsters flew, riding Wyburn’s herds. The angels hid in the forest and intercepted this attack from a distance, but didn’t fly. It seemed that in Martin’s thinking, he expected that since the angels have wings, they would meet him and fight in the air.

“This is fun,” I muttered.

This situation was going according to my orders.

I was presently inside the forest. I was in the midst of observing the situation, hidden in the area near the sacred sword. The angels had actually not uncovered where I was located.

But…

Aaah!

Hashi…

This little guy was different.

He had figured out where I was immediately and came up to me.

The baby angel, who hadn’t been born more than a few weeks before, climbed up on my shoulders. My negative mana and his power of godliness clashed and raised great opposition, but it didn’t damage either of us greatly.

Both of us had incredibly pure and powerful energy.

“He’s a unique one.”

For most angels, hating demons is innate. I wasn’t much different. The difference was that my defensive range was merely wider than that of other demons.

I clicked my tongue briefly and opened my Mind’s Eye.

Name: Hashi

Occupation: High-level angel (Cherub)

Titles:

*Authority of Cherub (Legend, All Ability Levels +7)

Ability Levels:

Energy 12 (+7), Intelligence 35 (+7)

Speed 20 (+7), Strength 12 (+7), Mana 44 (+7)

Potential (123+35/548)

Special information: An angel that was born under the care of a fallen angel. With the combination of the blessing of the King of Heaven, the Blessing of Origin, and other isolated points, it cannot be predicted how he will grow.

Skill: Small Arrows of Light (U)

He had the level of potential as soon as he was born that most demons have to surpass their limits in order to achieve. Is this because he’s a highest-level angel? There weren’t many such beings in the Celestial World, so the fact that he possessed such strength wasn’t impossible to understand.

But well…looking at this, I got the strong feeling that demons were weaker compared to angels.

If the true “essence” of a demon, the way that my appearance changed when I used the skill Depravity was that of a true demon, then it seemed like when demons lost this appearance, they also became weaker overall.

“Did Oculus know this, at least through his feelings?”

There was no other demon besides Oculus who had bemoaned about evolution so much.

If he had known, then it would have been possible for me to re-evaluate him as a demon who was merely ahead of his time. He was already dead and gone, but it now made sense just a bit.

Aaah!

Hashi was still young, but he wasn’t truly young. He was growing while being influenced by his environment. He wasn’t afraid of being poisoned, but it was better than him opposing me. In any case, it seemed that my influence even extended to cherubs.

Just as I was pressing my finger into Hashi’s forehead, I heard it.

—My Dungeon Master.

Krithli’s voice rang out from inside my coat. “What is it?”

As soon as I pulled out the small crystal ball, Krithli answered as if she were quite excited.

—I found the Holy Woman.