Chapter 159 – The Rift (2)

The King of Death.

Even before the Demon King who devastated half the continent appeared, there had been Demon Kings in Ea.

Every few hundred, or even thousand years.

Among them, there was a grand sorcerer who went mad with magic and declared himself the Demon King, wreaking havoc across the continent. There was also a king who built a vast kingdom, only to lose his mind and set the entire continent ablaze, earning the title of Demon King before being overthrown.

However, a true Demon King was one who emerged from among the monsters.

A monster with intelligence surpassing that of humans, who rallied other monsters to launch a massive invasion—these were the kings of monsters.

There were also kings of the demonic races, who gathered humanoid demons and monsters to attack human lands.

Hundreds of years before the King of Death appeared, the last Demon King was also a king of the demonic races.

Humanoid demons, beastmen like wolfmen who had since disappeared, succubi who remained only in stories, and other humanoid monsters said to have come from different worlds.

At that time, the Demon King sought to gather all intelligent humanoid demons to establish a nation of demons and enslave humanity.

Naturally, this led to a war with all of humanity, and fortunately, humanity emerged victorious.

Thus, the Demon King perished, and the humanoid demons were driven into hiding by humans.

However, not all humanoid demons disappeared.

Tales of humanoid demons occasionally surfaced in fairy tales and rumors.

Among these demons were vampires.

The vampires I had read about in novels in my past life were indeed real.

Monsters who needed to drink human blood to survive, and those whose blood was drained would turn into vampires—undead monsters.

Of course, the vampires of Ea were different from those in novels. They were living monsters, didn’t exclusively drink human blood, and not everyone whose blood was drained would become a vampire.

However, the vampires from the rumors bore a striking resemblance to the vampires from my past life.

None of the party members expected that the vampires, who had only been heard of in rumors, would reappear.

Yet, the vampires had survived, and absurdly, they had become subordinates of the new Demon King, the King of Death.

And now, the vampires had crossed into another world to block the path of their comrades.

Until we arrived at the hidden subway line beneath the meteor crater, passing through abandoned stations and tunnels, no one had obstructed our journey.

In fact, not even a single rat was seen underground, let alone undead.

So, everyone relaxed a bit, feeling a sense of relief.

“It seems things will end more easily than expected. It’s a shame we won’t be able to take much gold, but if we seal the rift, the tentacles in Manhattan might disappear as well.”

As one agent said, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

This was true for Tom, Yerim, and even Yelena, who had little combat experience.

That’s why, when the sudden attack came, no one died—all thanks to Hoffman.

“Enemy!”

With a sharp shout, Hoffman fired an arrow into the darkness ahead.

The arrow, imbued with a faint light, shot forward.

Without Zahina to infuse it with mana, the arrow only carried Yelena’s light magic, which didn’t add much power, but it was enough to serve as a warning.

The arrow extinguished before it could hit the ground or walls.

“Shield!”

Though inexperienced in combat, Yelena, who had been properly trained by her master, immediately cast a shield, blocking the vampire’s first attack.

*Swoosh.*

It was as if a black curtain had collided with the shield before disappearing.

It seemed like an illusion, but the cracks in the solid shield proved it was real.

“Damn it!”

“What the hell is this!”

The agents shouted in panic.

Though they were trained soldiers and warriors, none of them were accustomed to such occult attacks.

An incomprehensible attack in the dark subway tunnel.

While the people from this world were shocked and frightened, Hoffman quickly realized what the enemy was.

“Dark night, underground, black wings spreading to attack—it’s a vampire!”

“So, they really do exist?”

Yelena, a traditional mage who had studied the history of the continent, also remembered.

“Light!”

She created a bright light within the shield, revealing the true state of the long-abandoned tunnel.

The tracks and tunnel looked decades, if not a century old.

The tunnel, supposedly hidden for emergencies, looked more like a forgotten relic.

*Swoosh.*

As the bright light illuminated the tunnel, the darkness covering the walls slowly receded.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

The agents reflexively fired at the retreating darkness, but it had no effect.

“Damn it! What is that!”

The bullets simply passed through, and the agents cursed.

“Shooting won’t work. According to the books, only attacks imbued with mana can harm its true form.”

“Its true form?”

“This is some kind of illusion or transformation made of mana. Anyway, since it’s a humanoid monster, its true form should look human.”

Yelena calmly explained to the agents, but it did little to ease the Americans’ anxiety.

“First zombies, then tentacles, and now vampires? What’s next, King Kong?”

In truth, the northern mountains of Ea were home to giant gorilla monsters, but the two continentals here didn’t know what King Kong was.

In the dark subway tunnel, only the glowing shield provided light.

After the light burst forth, the darkness covering the tunnel receded, but as time passed, the darkness began to writhe as if alive.

This darkness was different; even with mana-infused vision, it couldn’t be pierced.

As a new terror, different from the dead coming back to life, slowly approached, Tom urgently asked, “Damn, this seems different from the vampires we know. How do we deal with it?”

At Tom’s words, Yelena fired a fireball into the darkness and sent electricity through the walls, then shook her head.

“Since it’s not the true form, my magic—no, ordinary magic—doesn’t work.”

As she said, the fireball only caused the surrounding darkness to recede slightly, and the electricity only briefly illuminated the area.

“Unfortunately, the history books don’t mention how to deal with vampires. They only say that after the Demon King was defeated, they were never seen again.”

Yelena looked at Hoffman, but he just shrugged.

“There are only rumors of sightings, no tales of defeating them. After all, they’re just rumors.”

The agents, fearfully making the sign of the cross and looking around, Yelena and Hoffman at a loss, and Yerim on the verge of fainting from terror.

Though the shield had temporarily averted the crisis, no one knew how to deal with the vampire.

As time passed and Yelena’s light gradually weakened, the darkness began to creep closer. At that moment, a message flowed into Yelena’s mind.

[Have you arrived? It’s taking longer than expected, and Aegar is worried.]

It was Zahina’s message magic.

Though the area was filled with death energy and obstacles, magic, unlike communication, wasn’t blocked.

Yelena quickly explained the situation.

They had encountered an enemy, suspected to be a vampire, right before their destination and were now focused on defense, unable to proceed, and had no way to deal with the enemy.

[Please wait a moment. I’ll relay the situation to Aegar.]

Unlike Yelena’s hurried tone, Zahina responded calmly.

Still, Yelena wasn’t angry at Zahina’s response.

She had seen the children of the Divine Tree more than once or twice.

Like the curses her master often uttered, she had cursed them many times.

Compared to them, Zahina was quite human.

Especially when dealing with the party members, and when talking to the knight…

Well, that was hard to describe.

In any case, with no other options, they could only wait as Zahina suggested.

The knight, who was oddly familiar with this world, might find a way.

And her expectations were not wrong.

A moment later, Zahina’s message seeped into her mind.

[He says that since ancient times, vampires have been weak to garlic and crosses.]

“Huh? Garlic and crosses?”

However, Zahina’s message was difficult for Yelena to understand.

As she stood there bewildered, the people around her seemed to understand her words.

“Garlic? The cross? Damn, does that really work? Does anyone have a cross?”

“No.”

“Damn it, after the world ended, we threw away all the crosses and rosaries.”

As curses poured from the agents’ mouths, Zahina’s message flowed in again.

[Huh? No? It’s just a story from novels?]

Since the message was in her mind, Yelena could feel Zahina’s incredulity.

Fortunately, that feeling quickly disappeared.

[Fortunately, unlike in novels, holy power might work. He says to have Yerim try it.]

At Zahina’s message, Yelena looked at Yerim.

Yerim, pale and half-fainting, looked back at her with a frightened expression.

“Why?”

“The knight says that since it’s a vampire, you should try using holy power.”

“Oh… right.”

At Yelena’s words, Yerim’s mouth fell open.

Holy power to deal with a vampire.

This was something Yerim, who loved games and fantasy novels, could have easily thought of.

Moreover, as a priestess, she could have tried using holy power without much thought.

But until now, she hadn’t considered it at all.

The reason was simple.

She loved games, novels, and movies, but there was one thing she hated.

Horror games, horror movies, and horror novels.

She enjoyed slasher movies and games with zombies and monsters as action games, but she couldn’t handle scary movies or games with ghosts.

It was the same now.

After entering the dark tunnel, she had barely managed to keep her fear in check, but when the living black curtain spread across the underground tunnel, she had half-fainted.

And upon hearing that “holy power works on vampires,” her spirit returned.

An enemy she couldn’t touch was terrifying, but an enemy she could fight wasn’t scary.

Well, it was still a bit scary, but praying and using holy power wasn’t difficult.

*Hummmmm.*

As the light gradually dimmed, another light spread.

A light different from the magical light source that illuminated the area—a light that seemed somehow sacred.

As the light illuminated the subway tunnel, screams echoed from all directions.

“Kyaaaah!”

Simultaneously, the writhing black curtain disappeared, and with mana-infused vision, the entire tunnel became visible.

And the three party members present could now see the vampire.

Right behind the party, the darkness burning with holy power gathered like a swarm of bats, forming a humanoid shape.

The true form of the vampire, its real body, had revealed itself.