Chapter 74 - Good meal
Blood spurted up at regular intervals, one after another.
The monster, which had skipped across the water like a stone, splashed down some distance away.
But only for a moment.
With explosive force, it raised itself upright.
[So you're determined to die in your inferiority?]
The torn mouth uttered those words, and Jin's forehead veins bulged.
"Who the hell is dying?!"
Immediately, he forcefully pushed off the ground with his toes, charging forward.
In an instant, he closed the distance and swung his leg in a kick.
There was no fancy technique name.
He simply swung his leg with all his might, as if to say, "Just die already."
As the monster struck by the kick skidded through the water's current,
red sparks flickered from Jin's body as he pursued.
[Mana Overdrive]
From the very start, he had resolved to stake his life on this.
After all, he was already living on borrowed time.
Saving energy, pacing himself—there was no room for such luxuries.
Thus, as the enemy was sent hurtling at tremendous speed, Jin caught up and stomped down as if placing a finishing touch.
Boom!!
The monster's head was crushed into the pool of blood.
Jin didn't stop.
He grabbed the back of the monster's neck, which was buried deep enough to reach the floor, and forcibly pulled it up.
Then, bam, bam!
He slammed its face repeatedly into the nearest wall, as if stamping a seal.
"Suck! My! Blood! My! Ass!"
With each syllable, he delivered a crushing headbutt.
Blood splattered across the entire wall, like a smashed tomato.
But it was only for a moment.
[Ten minutes left.]
A chuckle seeped from the monster's mangled face.
"…?"
The next instant, Jin felt an ominous shift in the air's flow.
Slowly, he tilted his head upward.
And there it was—a massive, blood-colored tidal wave so vast it couldn't be taken in at a single glance.
Hundreds of thousands, no, millions of crimson foaming bubbles churned, boiling as they cascaded down, casting a shadow over the ground.
---!!
A deafening roar reverberated through his soul as Jin was swallowed by the flood of blood.
His body was swept up by the powerful vortex, spinning wildly against his will.
Blergh—!
Blood surged up through his nose and mouth, staining his lungs a deep red.
At some point, the space around him became filled with countless torn-mouthed red blood cells.
They erupted into mad laughter.
[Accept it!]
[Be reborn anew!]
At the same time, unfamiliar visions flashed through his mind.
A mountain built of corpses.
A grotesque, unified malice born from death.
This was a sacrificial offering to a profane being—"Grant us your blood," prayed the devotees, kneeling desperately.
But even those fervent worshippers had become part of the pile.
At the base of the crimson river flowing from that mountain, a lone boy collapsed to his knees.
He was meant to be one of the sacrifices.
Yet, by sheer chance, he alone had survived.
Haa, haa…
Panting heavily, the child gazed at his reflection in the red liquid.
A deathly pale face—one on the brink of death.
With trembling hands, he touched his own cheeks.
Then, as if resigning himself, he swallowed dryly and cupped his hands to scoop up the blood.
Carefully, he raised his hands and let the thick liquid flow into his mouth.
Thus, he became the first human to ever accept the True Blood.
[Janedin.]
The torn-mouthed blood cells called out his name.
[You can surpass him.]
[You will become the King of Blood.]
As they spoke, the vision changed.
Janedin, now reborn through True Blood, was seen granting his own blood to others, making them his subordinates.
From a single vampire, a bloodline was formed, growing generation after generation.
Thus, the lineage of True Blood came into existence.
Among them, twelve vampires personally baptized by Janedin were granted the title of "Lord."
[You were baptized by a Lord, yet you shall surpass even them.]
[You shall become a being of glory!]
The blasphemous chorus rattled his very soul, dragging Jin deeper into the abyss.
Fwoosh!
A faint flame flickered to life in his chest.
A warmth that illuminated his heart.
And then, a new vision appeared before his eyes.
A long time had passed.
Before the one now called the King of Blood, a man stood tall.
Crimson-haired, his posture relaxed and carefree.
His expression spoke of supreme indifference, as if life itself was a hassle.
Yet, in his eyes burned a fire that seemed capable of incinerating all creation…
[Solard!]
The torn mouths screamed in unison.
As if this was not the scene they had wanted to show.
But it was too late.
The two figures had already begun striding toward each other.
The battle that ensued was on a plane far beyond Jin's comprehension.
Yet, one thing was unmistakably clear.
At the end of that long fight—
The one who emerged victorious was the crimson-haired man.
His battered face twisted as he spat blood into the crimson pool.
And in his hands—
He held Janedin's head in one, and his heart in the other.
[You! How can you wield the Pure Flame?!]
[You were supposed to be Zahad!!]
A voice filled with shock and horror rang out, and Jin's eyes snapped open.
Though his body was still being swept away, strangely, this time, he found it easy to steady himself.
"Tch. So damn noisy."
Before him, countless crimson faces had lost their grins, now spewing curses.
They all shrieked at him, demanding to know who he was, what his true identity was.
Jin sighed.
If he used Polar Radiance, they called him Zahad.
If he used the White Flame, they called him Solard.
Apparently, humans weren't the only ones who saw the world in such rigid terms.
Even in this damned world, even the blood cells were throwing a fit.
Jin let out a chuckle.
The absurdity of it all amused him instead.
"Does it really matter what kind of power I use?"
Jin responded with a sharp retort.
[······!!]
It sounded like a vile curse—or perhaps just the barking of a dog.
"Is that so? I don't really care."
Jin's smile deepened.
Whether it was Polar Radiance or the Ember, they were just tools of power.
What mattered had always been himself.
Not once had he ever entrusted his identity to secret arts.
Even now, after learning that Solard's ancestor had been the one to burn the first vampire, his feelings remained unchanged.
So that's how it was.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Thus, Jin was always Jin.
No matter what others said, he would hold onto his own sense of self to the very end.
That was the only way he had managed to survive in this strange world.
And the moment he reaffirmed that conviction, a line slicing through the world came into view before him.
"Ooh."
With a bright expression, Jin leaped over it.
Then, he took a quick glance around, before raising his gaze to the clear blue sky with a smile.
"What the hell, that was nothing."
At the same time, the sea of rotting blood came to a halt.
No, it was never a sea to begin with.
It was merely cursed blood, rushing through its veins—
a mere 200 milliliters of it, at best.
Seeing this from his now elevated vantage point, Jin scoffed.
At that moment, as he truly reclaimed control over his body,
it instinctively began devouring the impurities within.
[No! No! No!!!]
A fragment of the True Blood let out a scream.
It was the moment his eternally evolving body began its feast.
***
"Guh!"
A muffled groan escaped from Maximo's lips.
He had been kicked in the chest by a vampire.
The sheer force behind the blow sent him tumbling across the ground.
The impact was so severe that even his shock-absorbing vest felt meaningless.
Dazed for a brief moment, he suddenly found himself under attack—
hundreds of winged creatures swarming toward him.
Chichichichit!!
The shrill cries jolted him back to his senses.
Instinctively, he reached into his vest and pulled out a grenade,
hurling it with all his strength.
"Piss off!"
The grenade sliced through the air and exploded in the midst of the bat swarm, emitting a blinding flash.
A flashbang.
Something that merely blurred the screen in a game—
but reality was different.
The explosive sound it produced reached 170 to 180 decibels,
far louder than a fighter jet taking off.
A sound powerful enough to affect the semicircular canals.
For creatures with heightened hearing, plummeting from the sky was inevitable.
Of course, Maximo didn't witness any of it.
Having turned his back the moment he threw it, he had shielded his eyes from the light.
Beeeep—
A sharp ringing filled his ears.
Amidst the chaos, a stray thought crossed his mind.
How the hell did it come to this?
He had come here for an artifact, only to find no artifact—
just the resurrection of some ancient species.
A Vampire Lord, no less.
Just my damn luck.
Should've ignored D'Andre's call!
But regret always came too late.
Maximo quickly snapped back to reality and turned his head sharply.
That's when he saw it—someone flailing in midair.
"...Kehak!"
Choking and gasping for air, it was the chameleon beastman.
A hand had emerged from the blood mist, gripping his throat.
Pain was evident on his face.
"Shit!"
Maximo immediately raised his rifle and pulled the trigger.
His precise shot shattered the pale arm stretching out from the mist.
The beastman collapsed onto the ground, his trembling hands desperately trying to pry off the severed hand still clinging to his neck.
Kwaang!!
Suddenly, the bloated hand expanded and exploded.
Blood splattered across Maximo's face as he rushed over,
only to see the beastman suffering from gruesome injuries.
"Haa… Haa…"
He was still breathing—barely—but the situation was hopeless.
Too much blood had already been lost.
"S-save me…"
A desperate plea for life.
Maximo bit his lip.
Even knowing it was too late, he reached for a dose of morphine.
But before he could administer it—
Numerous hands shot out from the blood mist, dragging the beastman away.
Then came a sickening crunch, his body crushed into a puddle of blood,
absorbed into the mist.
"Fucking hell!"
Maximo yanked on his rifle strap and opened fire,
backing away rapidly.
This is supposed to be him at his weakest?
They said he was starved for a thousand years!
Even if he had devoured the Underheart bastards,
this was ridiculous.
Another ally was lost in the meantime.
The cybernetic mercenary—modified from head to toe.
With his tireless body, he had put up a decent fight.
But as the mist seeped into his implants,
layer upon layer,
his movements gradually slowed.
Until, at last, his neck was ripped clean from his spine.
At that moment, an enraged roar erupted.
"You filthy bastard!"
Then came a thunderous clap—a deafening shockwave tearing through the blood mist.
It was Damir.
His aged eyes gleamed with vengeance.
"How dare you touch my kingdom! Everything I built over thirty years!"
The old mage's fury blazed as he watched his paradise, painstakingly crafted in exile, come under attack.
His withered body was a far cry from its prime, but his aggression remained undiminished by time.
His relentless barrage of explosive magic was steadily dealing effective blows to the vampire.
As expected of a Rank 2 being.
Even if he raved about being a king, it didn't change the fact that he was the only one here capable of standing against the vampire.
Well, there was one other person who could…
But they had been unconscious since the battle began.
"Natasha! What about Jin?!"
Maximo shouted, still firing his shotgun at the swarm of bats.
"Not yet!"
"Damn it, seriously!"
Maximo was on the verge of tears.
Jin hadn't looked well ever since they started searching for the missing people, but for him to completely lose consciousness at such a critical moment?
Having seen Jin fight before, the loss felt even heavier.
Watching the survivors—who had barely managed to band together—get slaughtered so easily made his stomach churn.
If only Jin were awake, they would actually stand a chance.
And then—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A chain of dust explosions swept through the underground space, followed by a shockwave that cleared the blood mist.
Could it be?
Did that old bomb maniac actually pull it off?
Maximo turned his hopeful gaze toward the blast's epicenter—And immediately, his face fell.
There, in the midst of the destruction, stood a vampire with its flesh sizzling and melting—its arm impaling the old mage's abdomen.
The creature sneered as it memorized the agonized look on its opponent's face.
"If you weren't so old, you might have been dangerous. I acknowledge you. You are worthy of becoming my servant."
Just like it had done to Jin earlier, the vampire dispersed into a swarm of bats, leaving only the arm embedded in Damir's stomach.
The old mage collapsed, gritting his teeth.
"Servant? Don't be ridiculous! I am a king! A king!"
Perhaps the wound to his pride was greater than the one to his body.
While Damir screamed in defiance, Underheart's swordsman swung his blade at the swarm of bats.
Natasha—both of her—joined the fight alongside Maximo.
Three against one.
At first, it seemed like a fair fight.
But as the blood mist, displaced by the explosion, began creeping back in, the fragile balance shattered.
The swordsman's blade snapped, sending him tumbling to the ground.
One of Natasha's copies had its throat torn out.
And Maximo lost a chunk of flesh from his shoulder.
"…Nothing ever comes easy, huh?"
The remaining Natasha, who had been guarding the unconscious Jin, slowly got to her feet.
She racked her shotgun—just as a voice spoke from behind her.
"Phew. That was a good meal."
Her head turned—slowly.
The vampire approaching with a cruel grin did the same.
"At last, you have been reborn—"
Something felt off.
The excitement in the vampire's expression froze.
Its fangs bared as it growled.
"…How did you consume the True Blood?"
Jin didn't respond at first.
He simply stared into space, blinking slowly.
Testing the vampire's patience without meaning to.
Then, at last, his lips parted.
"I swallowed it."
As he spoke, a long-forgotten sight appeared before his eyes—
A status window.
「???」━━━━━━━━━━━
NEO ?? ??? Zahad
??? ?? One Who Consumed the True Blood ????
?? ??? ?? ?? Someone's Flickering Ember
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