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Act 2 – 18.2 : Striges’ Tower 3
「It seems there’s something in there.」
「Yeah, I also feel an unpleasant presence behind this door.」
Gallios agreed with Stor.
「Here I come.」
Shirone opened the door and went into the room.
「It’s
 bright?」
Someone suddenly uttered.
Different from the tower and its other rooms, the room they were in now was brightly illuminated, its illumination level far surpassing Nimri’s magic that had guided them through the tower.
But, that wasn’t the only difference.
Someone had arrived in this room before them. Standing in the middle of the room was not another zombie as they had expected, but was a living, breathing man.
The man was thin, with bluish pale skin. He wore tattered clothes that seemed to be a worn out mantle. His thin appearance as if there was only skin and bones left in his body was really ugly and sent shivers down everyone’s spine.
「Who are you people? And here I thought that the black flames comrade is back, but apparently I’m wrong
」
The skinny man looked at Shirone and the others.
「LOOK AT HIS EYES! THAT MAN ISN’T HUMAN!!」
Stor shouted to warn his comrades.
That man’s eyes were a deep blood red, a pair of fangs peeking out from the edges of his mouth.
「Vampire?」
Shirone tilted her head.
Unlike the undead they met so far, vampires were of a superior rank; they were undead who retained their will and could use magic, they were not mere puppets.
「No way, the Striges are using
 vampires.」
「No, it might be different in this case, Rember-dono. He might be a Strigoi.」
Nimri explained to Rember.
The Striges race was only composed of females, as such, when they needed to create more descendants, they had to mate with males from another race. If the mixed-race child was female, they would become part of the Striges like their mother, and if the child was male, they would belong to the same race as their father.
Only a tragic fate awaited those who were born male. They would become their sisters’ prey since they are not regarded as the same race, even if they are siblings sharing the same blood.
Normally, most of these male children would die after being sucked dry of their blood by their sisters. However, a small minority of these male children sometimes manage to survive.
Therefore, before long, these children who had dug their way out of death’s door would transform into extremely powerful members of the undead.
Their name was Strigoi.
The Strigoi also drank blood and could use necromancy like their sisters. The only reason they were sometimes confused as vampires was because, similar to vampires, they always chose the neck of their victims as the point of access to blood. They would bite their necks to drink every drop of the red liquid.
However, they were far weaker than vampires as they were still zombies after their blood was sucked dry by their sisters. Being members of the undead, they had lost a lot of basic characteristics belonging to those who were still alive.
In fact, the skinny Strigoi before them looked like he would crumble at any moment.
But maybe, because he was a descendant of the Striges, he had the ability to use magic rivaling that of a vampire.
「Spot on, o magician. In addition, I’m not ordered by anyo– nay, after this, I shall become the ruler of this area, and your blood shall become the foundation for it.」
The Strigoi eyed Shirone while licking his lips.
It seems that man was really thirsty right now.
「My bad though, I have no intention to let you suck my blood. SUNLIGHT!」
""
「Night Robe!」
Shirone’s magic and the Strigoi’s magic clashed, the dazzling light emitting from her palm striking against the dark mist covering the Strigoi’s body.
「It’s great magic but, not strong enough to pierce my defense.」
The Strigoi laughed at Shirone.
「Hee, not bad.」
Shirone smiled too, it seems that she was enjoying this battle.
「Kukuku, evenly matched huh. At first, I thought that you were some sort of spoiled noble’s daughter, but it turned out that you were a powerful priest. But, you’re still too naive, human.」
「You’ve stolen the words right out of my mouth. I don’t know what a Strigoi is, but I assure you, I won’t lose to a fake-vampire like you.」
Shirone lunged forward towards the Strigoi with her sword in hand.
「Haha, you’ll only pay with your life for your arrogance!」
As he finished uttering these words with a sneer, the Strigoi spread his arms, expanding the black mist even further.
The real battle had just begun.
「W-Wait, Shirone-sama!!!」
Nimri suddenly interrupted the battle between the two.
「Uhm? Is something the matter?」
Shirone looked at Nimri with a vexed look on her face, she was annoyed that someone interrupted her battle.
「I
 I want to confirm one thing first.」
Nimri then gazed timidly at the Strigoi.
「What’s the matter, Spellcaster?」
「Mmm
 Are you the one who turned the monsters’s corpses, who died recently around this tower, into zombies?」
Before anything happened to the Strigoi, Nimri needed to confirm that fact. It made sense since their goal for coming to this tower was to confirm the existence of the Striges, who most likely were the culprits behind the zombie outbreak.
Even if the culprits weren’t the Striges, the Strigoi were equally suspicious since they could also use necromancy. Thus, the Strigoi who stood before them could most likely be the culprit.
That was Nimri’s goal.
「AH! COME TO THINK OF IT, I FORGOT THAT WE CAME TO INVESTIGATE THAT INCIDENT TOO!」
Shirone looked at Nimri with a grateful look on her face.
Why did you come to this place then?
Everyone retorted in their mind as they bafflingly looked at Shirone.
「No way, she came just to exterminate some monsters?」
「Well, seeing the way she acted so far, that’s most likely the case.」
Gallios and Stor whispered to each other in secret.
Kuroki, who was looking at the scene before him, could only facepalm as he stood behind the soldiers.
「N
 No, I wouldn’t take it that far
」
Nimri spoke with a troubled and faint voice.
As I thought, since only Shirone came to this tower, it was probably to vent her frustration through a rampage. But, I hope she doesn’t forget the fact that Rember and the others are with her.
Kuroki felt that, if the situation allowed it and other people weren’t involved in the investigation, Shirone would have ended up rampaging through the tower from beginning to end.
Nevertheless, it still wasn’t clear whether the Strigoi was the culprit behind this incident.
「Humph, though I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m not the one who made those zombies since I just woke up three days ago.」
The Strigoi replied with an annoyed tone.
The Strigoi had been sleeping for a long time, sealed by a powerful magic. He was supposed to be some sort of ace in the hole for the Striges. But, unfortunately, they ended up being exterminated without having the chance to use him. Thus he continued to sleep in his sealed state, but then, his seal was unraveled three days ago.
Kuroki looked at the Strigoi.
From the way he talked, Kuroki knew that the Strigoi wasn’t lying.
Is he not the culprit then? Come to think of it, three days ago is right when I just came to this tower!
For some reason, Kuroki had a really bad premonition.
「Three days ago? So that means no one came to this tower before that. Could it be that you were sleeping all this time in this tower until you woke up three days ago?」
「Indeed. I never expected that those women were all gone while I was asleep in this tower.」
The Strigoi replied with a cheerful smile.
「Huhm, why did you wake up from your sleep then?」
「It just happened so suddenly three days ago. I don’t know about that noble personage’s identity but, that noble personage used dark magic in this tower. It was his dark magic’s waves that awakened me from my sleep. Fufufu, with that kind of overwhelming power, that noble personage might be an extremely famous person.」
The Strigoi spoke as if he was referring to a God.
Hearing that, Kuroki recalled the event that happened three days ago.
Kuroki had erected a barrier around this tower and the power he used was immense since he made a barrier that covered the entire tower.
Though only after he entered this tower did he realize that he used way too much power, far beyond the norm in fact.
And since he was the one who erected the barrier, he knew that no one entered this barrier in the last three days except for today’s expedition team.
Naturally, it was a different story if the one who awakened the Strigoi was a weak person.
「Noble personage
 huh? Well, is that “noble personage” you speak of in this tower right now?」
「Unfortunately, that dignitary has left the tower and went to who knows where. He left his familiar behind though.」
「Humph. That’s unfortunate then. Well, since his familiar is in this tower, do you happen to know what kind of familiar it is?」
「A dragon. Moreover, an extremely powerful Jet-Black Demon Dragon. That’s the identity of that personage’s familiar.」
「「「WHAT?!!!!」」」
Everyone exclaimed in unison.
""
「A
 Dragon. That’s
」
「Moreover, that dragon is JUST a familiar.」
「Can we even win against that kind of person?」
Gallios and the others were really shocked upon hearing that a dragon was residing in this tower.
Kuroki was surprised too
 for a different reason though.
Could it be that the one who awakened this fella is
 me?
He was shocked after he came to know the truth.
「A dragon, huh
 there are many dragons out there but, I guess this makes it a bit more challenging.」
Shirone spoke as if enjoying the situation.
「Unfortunately, you have to defeat me before you can get to meet that personage’s familiar.」
The Strigoi prepared himself for battle.
Both Shirone and Gallios, along with the others, also readied their weapons.
""
「The small fries behind. PARALYZE!」
The Strigoi’s eyes shone a bright red luster.
「GUH!!」
「GEFUH!?」
「UGH!!!」
Everyone who got exposed to the red light fell down except for Kuroki and Shirone.
Kuroki knew what the Strigoi did just now.
Paralysis curse.
Though its effect was weaker compared to instant death or petrification, normal humans without powerful resistance wouldn’t be able to resist its effect. In fact, Gallios and the other Freedom Fighters had already fallen on the floor, groaning helplessly.
「So you can resist it, huh woman? As expected.」
「What are you doing to them?!」
「Fufufu, they’re still alive, I just robbed them of their freedom of movement. The taste of their blood is richer when they’re still alive. I shall enjoy their blood after I kill you, the only one who can resi–」
""
At that moment, the Strigoi’s eyes caught Kuroki’s figure. Since Kuroki could withstand the curse like Shirone, he was also still standing on his feet.
「Uhm? Another one can withstand my evil eyes?」
Kuroki’s line of sight clashed with the Strigoi’s.
Crap!
Even Shirone ended up looking at Kuroki with a puzzled look on her face.
Since Kuroki hid his identity from Shirone and the others, he absolutely couldn’t let them figure out his identity.
「GUH!!」
Kuroki let out a strange groan, then proceeded to fall on the floor.
The way he acted was way too unnatural no matter how you looked at it.
「W-Well, it seems to be just my imagination. Anyway, game on!」
「Y-Yeah, just when I’m getting tired of waiting.」
Shirone and the Strigoi’s gaze met after they confirmed that Kuroki had fallen.
Fyuuh. That was so close 
Kuroki heaved a sigh of relief.
Shirone and the Strigoi, immersed in their battle, stopped paying attention to their surroundings.
I have to use this chance to hide Glorious.
Kuroki crawled sneakily out of the room.
His movements similar to a certain black insect hated by many housewives.