Arch-Lich(1)
"Crunch—!
"Argh! How did this happen?"
Vyrrak, in charge of the Brokolak Clan Ajantu division, couldn't fathom the current situation.
The sanctuary in the middle of the city, surrounded by barriers spread throughout the city, had suddenly come under attack.
He could guess who the culprit was.
'It must be the one who hid with the fragment! Their target must have been the fragment we possessed!'
What he couldn't comprehend was how it was possible.
'We were already monitoring the entire city for the fragment. How did they evade our surveillance? And how did they discover the hidden location of the fragment?'
Despite the baffling situation, what mattered now was protecting the fragment at all costs.
Unfortunately, the incident had weakened the defenses due to the daytime attack, taking over 10 minutes to respond to the anomaly.
[Finger of Death.]
Thwack!
"Damn it!"
The bigger problem, however, was the undead horde surrounding the building, preventing entry.
'Just when the sun is out... Of course, it must have been planned. But there's no time to waste.'
Emergency summoning had the vampires swiftly joining the fray, but it was unclear how long the Tiafoll on the inside could hold out.
Kurrrung...
Just then, the clear sky gave way to clouds rapidly expanding to shroud the entire city in darkness.
"Damn it! We're too late!"
Magic defense installed at the headquarters.
Despite the time it took to activate due to the unforeseen attack, Vyrrak, feeling the urgency, couldn't afford to be understanding.
"Charge in immediately! Open the way!"
Krieeek!
"Push through!"
Clatter—Clank!
Following Vyrrak's orders, the vampires banded together solely to enter the interior.
While the clouds in the city's airspace somewhat mitigated the penalty, the vampires, unable to exert their full strength, perished one by one in the hasty onslaught.
[Guidance of the Commander.]
"Urk! Vyrrak, please go ahead!"
With his subordinates sacrificing themselves to fend off the dark magic, he finally managed to make his way into the building.
"I will go inside. You all block the entrance here!"
Upon reaching the entrance to the basement, Vyrrak gave orders to the subordinates who had come with him.
Although there were only about ten remaining half blood, it would be enough to block the basement entrance where sunlight didn't reach.
'Tiafoll! Please hold on!'
Making his way across the basement toward where the fragment was, he prayed earnestly.
This mission had been personally ordered by Clan Lord, Claude.
If anything were to go wrong...
'No! That can't happen! It can't...'
Hastening his pace, he finally arrived in front of the basement where the fragment was stored, but he could go no further and had to stop.
A formidable dark magic emanated from the sealed room.
'It's too late...'
At that moment, as the basement door slowly opened... a gap appeared, pouring out an abyss-like darkness.
His whole body tensed, and his senses sharpened.
The moment the door opened felt like an eternity to Vyrrak.
He found himself short of breath without realizing it.
He couldn't take his eyes off the door.
It was like the gates of hell were opening.
And soon, he would come face to face with it.
Wearing a mask and billowing black robes, the figure approached surrounded by inky flames, akin to a Demon Lord, spreading despair and terror—a calamity.
***
<Entity Information>
-Name: Hans
-Species: Undead (Arch-Lich)
-Common Traits: "Mind Hub," "Myeonggyeong Index"
-Characteristic: "Decayed Heart," "Vile Wisdom," "Forbidden Knowledge," "Immortality," "Affinity for Magic," "Dark Magic."
-Specifics: With the power of the 'Immortal King's Fragment (2/3),' his prowess had increased.
His inherent dark magic had explosively escalated.
He could extract his own source to gain immortality, constantly reviving as long as the stored source wasn't destroyed.
I gathered the absorbed power and opened my eyes.
The blood magic barrier left by the vampires around me couldn't withstand the flow of power and tore apart.
[Wow, this is amazing, isn't it?]
Absorbing the second fragment didn't simply double the strength.
'At this rate, it's at least five times the output... and with the newly acquired skills, it's like the power has increased by ten folds, right?'
The effect of the newly acquired "Forbidden Knowledge" was straightforward.
As the name suggested, it provided access to forbidden knowledge, including dark magic and undead-related knowledge.
'It's like having a vast library in my head.'
It was a collection filled with sinister spellbooks, including spells that summoned demons or sacrificed people.
'And even 'Immortality'... But first, I have to deal with that.'
I opened the door and came face to face with Vyrrak, who was frozen in place.
Though he had made his way here, cutting through the undead, he was already a step too late.
[No need for a long explanation.]
Raising my hand, wearing leather gloves to conceal my bones, shadows erupted from all sides and engulfed him.
"Kraaagh! Shit! Where did this monster come from!"
Vyrrak roared, tearing apart the shadows attacking him with his fierce crimson eyes.
He was undoubtedly much stronger than the Tiafoll.
Unlike the Tiafoll, who specialized only in blood magic, he not only actively utilized overwhelming physical abilities but also didn't lag behind in magical prowess.
'But for now, he's just a good punching bag.'
Using only the dark magic newly acquired through "Forbidden Knowledge," I lashed out.
After all, it's better to try everything directly, isn't it?
The scythe-like sword swung, the sulfurous smell of hell's flames scorching the air in the basement.
All kinds of defensive barriers around me prevented his approach.
Kugwung!
He tried to find openings several times to escape, but this area was already within my domain.
The darkness from all sides compressed the space, pressing and pummeling him.
"Argh, damn it... What in the world is this absurd amount of magic! Did he completely absorb the fragment?"
[Heinz! I'll draw his attention, so find a way to escape and inform the clan of the information!]
Simultaneously with Vyrrak's words, telepathy reached Heinz, who was hiding on one side.
I thought I was hiding well, but being a direct kin, it seemed impossible to conceal myself completely.
[Heinz! Can't you hear me? It's an order!]
Even though I continued to hide, he sent telepathy again.
I felt the coercive force of the compulsion, but there was no reason to comply, so I simply ignored it.
[Damn it, are you also in a situation where you can't move?]
It seemed as if he hadn't considered the possibility of defying his own orders.
As Vyrrak resisted, he was soon bound by black chains and collapsed to the ground.
Thud!
"Huh, huh. Who are you?"
A resigned voice, as if sensing his own end.
Yet, his two eyes still glared at Hans with a fiery intensity.
Almost as if refusing to die, a determined gaze.
Watching this for a moment, I smirked inwardly and spoke.
[My name is Hans.]
There was no harm in revealing my name.
After all, it wasn't my real name anyway.
[Just be quiet now.]
Before it got more troublesome, I immediately used dark magic to render him unconscious.
Vyrrak's body slumped heavily.
Then, Heinz, who had been hiding in the darkness, approached and sank his teeth into his neck, sucking his blood.
[The entity has fulfilled the conditions for growth. The special skill 'Bloodline of the half blood' evolves to 'Bloodline of the Pureblood.']
The withered Vyrrak crumbled like dust.
Only after sucking the second Pureblood's blood was Heinz able to advance.
'It seems like there is some loss when feeding. Finally reached the top of the Pureblood, barely.'
Despite becoming a Pureblood after feeding on Vyrrak, Heniz still seemed no match for Tiafoll.
'Well, now that I've just become a Pureblood, there's nothing I can do. But as I continue to feed, I'll surely become stronger.'
Once committed to feeding on the own kind, Heinz's growth rate would be beyond comparison to other vampires.
Rising from his spot, Heinz looked upward.
There were still plenty of vampires left here, surrounded by the undead, unable to escape.
***
It didn't take long for the situation to be brought under control.
As I sucked the blood of the resisting half blood one by one, I felt the purity of the Hemoglyph, the source of power within my body, increasing.
"Ettet, I just can't drink this. Now I understand why Rosillica said that."
I grumbled as I sucked the servant's blood and spat it out on the ground.
Rosillica had said that servants and slaves weren't even treated as vampires.
They were filled only with impure mutated Hemoglyphs, so sucking their blood only lowered the purity.
'I understand why they are so imperfect.'
These were beings whose cells were forcibly mutated by injecting a small amount of Hemoglyphs.
It was easy to make and efficient compared to the resources consumed, so there had to be limits.
Heinz looked around.
The destroyed hideout building and the garden that had turned into a battlefield.
Hans restored the broken undead, reviving the corpses of the servants that Heinz couldn't feed on.
Fortunately, thanks to Hans's concealment barrier that still remained, it seemed that the disturbance had not been noticed by the residents.
"Well, shall we leave the city soon?"
Taking down the vampires who ruled the city didn't mean all the problems were solved.
On the contrary, as those who had been holding the leash of the criminal organizations were suddenly gone, the public order would worsen further in the future.
Now was the best time to leave.
Heinz quickly headed to the place where the siblings were waiting.
The children would have prepared to leave first and would be waiting for him.
'Still, it's a bit bothersome to just leave like this.'
As I pondered for a moment, I soon realized it was a pointless worry.
Didn't he have more than one body in this world?
"Right! Now that Heinz has become strong enough, and I don't need Hans's help anymore. Let's split up here."
Heinz will leave the city with the siblings, while Hans will stay in the city for a while to take care of other matters.
'It's convenient to have multiple bodies, after all.'
As Heinz moved towards where the siblings were waiting, Hans used the newfound knowledge to turn the vampires into ghouls and stored them in a lower-dimensional space using the dark dimension.
[Hmm... If I research this further, I could even open it on Earth, couldn't I?]
The synergy between the newly acquired "Forbidden Knowledge" and "Vile Wisdom" was excellent.
Thanks to this, I could proficiently use the dark magic that I had recently learned.
For now, the only spatial magic I could use was to utilize the lower-dimensional space in the Outerica Dimension.
However, by using the "Vile Wisdom" to research new knowledge, it will soon be possible to create a lower-dimensional space that could also be opened on Earth.
[Let's think about that slowly, and for now, let's go and collect the remaining things.]
There were still many things to gather.
After handling all the undead, Hans seeped into the shadows and moved quickly.
The destination was, of course, the vampires' stronghold.
'Even though I can use teleportation this time, it's still unstable, so I'll use it next time. There should also be a transportation prevention barrier installed at their mansion.'
The stronghold I moved to was already in the midst of battle preparations.
It must have been because an emergency summons had been issued due to the raid on the hideout.
'Of course, it's just meaningless resistance.'
I first placed a concealment barrier around the entire mansion.
Now that I was ready to go on a rampage.
[Come out. Come out and sweep them all away.]
Hundreds of undead creatures poured out from the darkened floor.
I used dark magic to strengthen the undead and followed them slowly.
Creak!
"Kwuwaak!"
[Kieek—!]
A battle broke out between the servants and the undead that had been waiting inside the mansion.
A slave with a bat face of over two meters and a ghoul of the same shape tore each other apart.
A servant that had fallen from the ceiling destroyed a skeleton's skull but was counterattacked by another undead and fell, bleeding.
[Hmm... There are more of them than I thought.]
More slaves than the rough estimate I had when I was Heinz kept popping out.
I had heard that they had put a large number of them in hibernation in case of emergency, but...
"Get rid of the intruders! If you hold on, Lord Vyrrak will come!"
"Kuaaak!"
It seemed they didn't know that Vyrrak was already dead.
It seemed that the strongest one left here was only one half blood left to guard the stronghold.
'Then there's no need to delay any longer.'
I slowly spread dark magic throughout the entire mansion.
The black shadows spread slowly, covering the floor, walls, and ceiling.
"Kieeek!"
"Grr! What's this now?!"
After a moment, when the shadows finally spread throughout all the areas, I lightly tapped the ground with the skull staff I was holding.
Phoobubook—!
Phoohwaak!
"Ooheok—!"
"Kwuwoeok!"
Instantly, a mist of blood spread inside the mansion.
From every surface engulfed in shadow, black thorns sprouted and pierced through the vampires.
"Kkeuheok... W-Vyrrak, Lord..."
The half blood, writhing with thorns all over its body, momentarily struggled before ceasing all movement.
A momentary stillness fell over the mansion.
[Wow... That was even more impressive than I thought.]
After committing mass slaughter in one fell swoop, I could clearly feel how much stronger I had become.
With this level of power, I wouldn't be ignored wherever I went.
'No, that's to be expected.'
With hundreds of corpses submerged in a sea of blood and countless undead emanating a sinister atmosphere around, Hans stood in the middle, exuding a black aura.
Rather than being ignored, it seemed like one would need to run away immediately from his menacing appearance.
'Who does he think he is, a demon lord...?'
I looked around for a moment, taking note of the corpses that could be used as undead and the expensive-looking decorations visible beyond them.
There were still many things that could be salvaged.
'I have to gather everything that can be salvaged. Where did they say the precious items were stored here?'
I spread the undead throughout the mansion and hummed to myself silently.
The more money, the better, as the saying goes.