Chapter 104. Because the Sky Was Just Pretty
As dusk deepened and the sun sank, Aster and the group decided to make camp.
“Camping……. Then there is a usable laborer.”
The Archduchess stood and disappeared somewhere. Not long after, she returned—together with Raileigh.
“M-my lord! Have you executed Destrow? As expected! This right arm, Raileigh, never doubted for even a moment—kugh!”
“Criminal, you cannot even read the situation, can you?”
After getting smacked by the Archduchess, Raileigh calmed his excitement and looked over the mood.
Ruined ground. It was to the point you’d doubt this was the middle of Hamelin Great Forest—everything around them had become wasteland.
The earth had died black, to the point even stepping on it demanded caution, yet more gloomy than the rotten ground was Oberon’s face.
‘And somehow, the mage-nim is also…… ah!’
As Raileigh naturally checked Aster’s condition too, he quickly realized there was an empty spot among them.
- Hey, blabbermouth. Shut your mouth, will you?
The Death Knight who called him blabbermouth and flaunted that rough, talkative mouth.
A bastard who was as much of a pain as Aster, and yet somehow a bit oafish—he wasn’t there.
“Th-then I will…… prepare a comfortable sleeping place for you.”
Having grasped the situation at once, Raileigh busied himself and began pulling out camping supplies from the Subspace that Aster had handed over.
Silence that arrived with the falling dark.
Clink, clink.
As only the sound of Raileigh preparing camp echoed softly, none of them opened their mouths.
“…….”
As if he couldn’t shake off Shine’s loss, Oberon stared blankly at the bonfire burning down with hollow eyes.
“…….”
Chew, chew.
The Archduchess chewed jerky so tough it looked like it would make her jaw ache, while studying Aster.
In truth, she had endless things she wanted to ask.
The proof of Sakwol (朔月). By what route teacher had handed that over to that disciple.
How he had faced Destrow. And that enormous pillar of fire she’d seen at the end—what that spell had been.
No—more than that, she wanted to teach that impudent disciple a lesson for not even offering a single word of farewell after seeing his senior disciple.
But though the Archduchess might lack empathy, she was not someone without propriety.
‘In a situation like this, oppressing one’s subordinate is not the way of one above.’
Was it learned social maneuvering?
One might wonder what use “maneuvering” had for someone of the Archduchess’s standing, but with empathy as low as the Archduchess’s, there were times when even status became meaningless.
Because status could not smooth over every mistake.
And……
‘It is not a feeling I cannot understand, either.’
A comrade-in-arms (戰友). The magnitude of grief from losing one was not something anyone could easily guess without being the person themselves, but the Archduchess had lost comrades-in-arms before, too.
- It is an order……! Do not die, do not die. How dare something like you, with me here……!
Because even now, after time had passed, she had not forgotten that day when she shed tears so disgracefully.
‘Still…… he is not entirely hopeless, is he?’
Right after learning a comrade-in-arms had died—
- ……Damn it.
Only one word, but those who have lost someone know. How many emotions can be stuffed into that one word. And how many more emotions, too many to contain, exist beyond it.
And so—
Crackle, crack.
A boy struggled under loss.
Chew, chew.
Clink, click.
A woman who could sympathize chewed on waiting. And as one man tried to read the room in the middle of it all—
“…….”
Aster quietly held the stars floating in the night sky within his eyes.
Without words, silently. He simply looked, as if he might count that countless cluster of stars.
All night. Until the morning sun rose. He kept staring at the night sky endlessly.
Not because of the bastard who died however he pleased, not because he was displeased with the creditor who had saddled him with a debt he couldn’t repay, but simply—
Simply…… because the sky was pretty.
There was no other reason.
Only that.
……And the next morning.
“First, we will head to the Fourth Base Camp. Criminal, guide the way at once.”
“Th-that…… y-yes, yes!”
At the Archduchess’s order, Raileigh quickly packed up, and in no time prepared to depart.
And when everyone had left—
In their place, a single large stone lay there, all by itself, unlike before.
Weakling, sleeping here.
Crooked scribbles with not a shred of sincerity. It was obvious who had left that phrase.
Whiiiiiii—
Over the campsite the group had left behind—where the traces of the bonfire remained—a dry wind swept across the ground.
Quiet silence.
The land, with not a single living thing left because of Destrow, was nothing but lonely.
As only the occasional wind came as a guest and swept through the space—
Geugeuk…….
The earth pulsed, faintly.
As though a heart that had stopped had begun its first beat again, a thin pulse rose.
Thung, thung—after pulsing a couple times, that vibration grew violent right after.
Geugeugeugeugeuk—!
Like an earthquake, the intensified tremor quickly shook the surroundings.
Destrow.
The monstrous thing (凶物) sealed in ancient times—was the existence that had been annihilated by Death Knight Shine’s sword stroke reviving again?
No.
Whiiiiiiing—
The earth trembled, and the Mana thinly spread through the air gathered into a single point.
That center was the ancient ruins. The cavern had collapsed into ruin, yet the presence rising within was not something easily called sagi (邪氣).
A presence red as blood.
Blood Magic Power.
The Mana in the air had been transformed into Blood Magic Power through some form of interference.
And what was Blood Magic Power?
A monopoly of a race that now remained only in records—something that vanished into legend.
Nobles of the night. Rulers of nights when the moon rose. Once, they were treated as wicked and taboo under the slur “vampire” (吸血鬼), but their existence was nobility itself.
Vampire.
Blood Magic Power was their exclusive domain.
But then, why was Blood Magic Power here?
This was a story that could not be recorded in history.
When the Emperor lost Yeokcheon (逆天) and, intoxicated by wicked sorcery, became the impure existence called Destrow.
In that era when all humans trembled in fear, waiting only for death.
The ones who stood against the Emperor were neither humans nor other races.
They were the nobles of the night—Vampires, those blessed by night.
These ruins were a place of exile created by the nobles of the night in ancient times, and a prison that put the Emperor—turned Destrow—to sleep.
So it was not so strange for Blood Magic Power to rise here.
However—
Whioooooo—
Blood Magic Power gathered in the very center of the ancient ruins.
The sight created by that Blood Magic Power was rather…… no—something difficult to understand by ordinary common sense.
Sseumulseumul.
A current that whirled like a vortex, and yet pulsed like a quiet heart.
Each time it expanded and contracted, it shrank a little more. And when it shrank as far as it could—
Paat!
Blood Magic Power, compressed and compressed until it took form.
“…….”
The form carved by Blood Magic Power was—a woman.
Was she around 160 cm? No, she fell just short of that.
Her skin was colorless like Destrow’s, but rather than having no color, it was merely pale like moonlight.
Sseureuk.
The woman opened her eyes and lowered her gaze. A pale hand reflected in ruby-red eyes.
“…….”
As if fascinated, she looked over her body here and there—like someone who had obtained a physical body for the first time.
But was she truly a noble of the night?
Even her bewilderment could not hide the dignity that clung to her.
And yet, what kept her from being seen as purely noble was—this body.
Every time she twisted her body, muscles split in sharp definition. Biceps and triceps. Lats and erector spinae. From abs to glutes. From thighs down further, all the way to the tips of her toes.
Was this the body of a knight shaped by a god?
It was ideal.
Arduous effort. A hundredfold tempering—yet effort alone could never produce it.
Inborn talent. Natural bones and sinews as a foundation—yet talent alone could never produce it.
An ultimate body.
That was why the woman could not be seen as merely noble.
If there was one flaw, it was her small height—under 160 cm.
She measured her height against the nearest wall—using a single character carved densely across it as a reference—then crumpled her face.
“……Damn it.”
One word that shattered nobility to pieces.
Yet the woman didn’t care and chewed out the curse.
“Fu— X. I clearly said it had to be two meters.”
A knight should be a two-meter giant, swinging an enormous greatsword like a toothpick—that was the dream.
And yet, once again, she had gained a body under 160 cm. A short, stubby body.
In truth, height was not that big a problem for her.
Long ago, when she had been human, even with this lacking stature, she had risen to be a Master Knight—the peak of knights—and reached the realm of Transcendence (超越).
And that wasn’t all. She had even cut off the Emperor’s head. Of course, there was no need to mention that before that, she’d slit the throats of the Master Knights guarding the Emperor.
Still, this wasn’t a matter of “need.”
It was a lifelong dream—the ideal she had desired all her life in her living days, born short.
Yet—
“Leaving me with an annoying job…… and you can’t even handle something this trivial?”
She was displeased.
And for good reason.
Destrow.
After cutting that damned piece of trash in half with one sword, she had planned to enter rest.
Honestly, it was a little regrettable.
The soul’s pain as a Death Knight was extreme, but the second life—no, the time she’d spent with companions she met as a dead one—was not so bad.
But everything must end.
‘Farewell, you bastards.’
Thinking that, she delivered the final sword—
And then, what was this?
- Greetings, knight.
A voice suddenly spoke. She didn’t know why.
Her consciousness snapped off and returned, and all she could see was nothing but crimson blood, and in front of her sat some woman.
And what that woman said—
- I watched the entire battle, great knight. I am an Elder of the night folk. Please, grant my request.
Right off the bat, asking her to grant a request.
And what was the request?
- Please restore the night folk.
She was asking her to restore the Vampire clan.
Of course, there had been this and that conversation after that. The Elder’s circumstances, and so on.
‘……Well, it’s obvious.’
It was a story you could see anywhere in a marketplace.
A great villain who threatens the world. A righteous clan defeats the villain, but in the aftermath, they ultimately reach extinction.
However, the clan’s wise one prepares an arrangement……
The “wise one” here was the Elder. And the “arrangement” was this blood-red space.
- If you will only promise…… I will give you a second life. A life of night.
In other words, she’d revive her as a Vampire.
Honestly, it was hard to believe.
How do you revive a dead man? If that were possible, would necromancers be fiddling with corpses? They would’ve died out and vanished long ago.
But……
‘……The Vampire clan can do it, apparently.’
Well…… that was what she said.
Because she didn’t believe it at all, the Elder rattled on and on about the principles of magic engraved across the ancient ruins and the innate characteristics of the Vampire race……
To be honest, she didn’t understand.
She only accepted it as “fine,” because she kept saying it was possible.
It wasn’t a bad story.
‘Lately, it’s been…… pretty fun.’
Still, restoring a clan was a bit annoying, but where was anything free in this world?
In exchange, there was something she absolutely could not give up.
“……Two meters. Why isn’t it two meters?”
She had told her again and again. The new body had to be two meters. Even the monstrous strength to swing a 1.5-meter greatsword (巨劍) like a toothpick!
Yet—
“At this rate, it’s no different from when I was alive, tsk.”
Not “no different”—it was exactly the same.
Ah—if there was anything different……
Pointy.
Fangs—sharp, like an animal more than a human? And this corpse-like pale skin, too.
“Grrng.”
Kicking the floor in displeasure, the woman suddenly launched herself out of the cavern.
Tap.
“Fine. What matters is that I’m alive again.”
Of course, being not human was a bit of a bother, but it wasn’t a huge problem.
Until recently she’d been a Death Knight, and even when she was human, she’d lived like a dog.
“Wahahaha! I am back!”
A voice that boomed across the wide wasteland.
But no one heard it. Aster and the others had left for the Fourth Base Camp long ago.
As if she knew that too, the woman moved on without making a big deal of it.
And then—
Sar-ak. Sak.
Before she even took three steps, a curtain of darkness wrapped around her body. A robe, as if torn from the night sky itself, settled over her.
A dignified stride. Yet because of her height, no matter how generously you looked, you couldn’t find dignity anywhere.
It had been exactly one full day since Death Knight Shine von Lehmann had died.
How long had she walked after leaving the ancient ruins? Something suddenly caught her gaze.
“…….”
A short distance from the campsite.
A clean stone that didn’t match the pitch-black earth at all—who knew where it had been brought from.
Weakling, sleeping here.
“Weakling, sleeping—this piece of trash!”
Shine narrowed her eyes at the stone, then leaped in a single bound and threw her fist.
Bang! …No sound came.
“Argh!”
A single dying scream, and……
Pagak! Kwaddeuk!
Two overlapping cracking sounds.
“Pagak” was the rock splitting apart with a sharp crack, and “kwaddeuk” was Shine’s wrist getting smashed to pieces.
“Y-you— ik…… damn it……!”
Clutching her strangely bent fist, Shine chewed out every word that came to mind.
Most of them being profanity was, of course, something that didn’t need saying.
……Vampire Shine von Lehmann.
It was, without question, a painfully trivial beginning.
