In the battlefield where the atmosphere vibrated and intense heat swirled.
“Khahaha!”
Kwaaaang!
With Harley’s fierce roar, another shockwave erupted.
Those facing him shouted desperately, trying to turn the situation around, but the circumstances continued to deteriorate without giving them a chance to react.
The only thing they could believe in was that while they held on as long as possible, additional support would arrive from elsewhere…
Kugugugung—
Due to the continuous explosive sounds coming from the outskirts of the forest, they had no choice but to abandon such hopes.
Unlike the central battle, the effects of the widespread firepower clearly indicated that the intruders had the upper hand.
And all of this was a situation that one person had aimed for from the very beginning.
‘It’s going smoothly.’
In fact, it couldn’t be helped.
That was the reason why both Harley and Harris had been summoned here.
Although the enemy’s strength was not to be underestimated, the force they had mobilized was clearly beyond that.
‘No matter how transcendent we are, there are always differences in rank.’
And this applied to the final avatar present at the scene, the vampire king Heinz II, who craved the completion of blood.
Skachak—Chaaang!
A short distance away from where Harley and the Buncheon Society were fighting.
With a sharp clash, the aftershock sent nearby foliage flying.
“Grrk! How dare…!”
The Duke gritted his teeth and vented his frustration as he barely blocked a tearing blow with a long spear of blood.
It was as if he could not accept the situation that was unfolding.
However, regardless of the Duke’s reaction, Heinz merely continued his silent assault, methodically analyzing his opponent.
‘Good senses. As expected, attacks using causality don’t work well against higher-ranked opponents.’
The first attack that pierced his side had only utilized the advantage of surprise.
Now that the Duke had begun to properly guard himself, those tactics had proven ineffective, being thwarted time and again.
‘Well, I didn’t think I could end this so easily from the beginning.’
Not long after starting a one-on-one battle with the Duke.
Harris and Harley were doing well, and there were no more interruptions.
Of course, it was possible that reinforcements from outside were assessing the situation inside the barrier, but…
‘That much time will be enough.’
Having gripped two blood swords that materialized in both hands, Heinz lowered his stance and stepped forward.
Sussshh—
In an instant, his presence vanished as he rapidly accelerated across the space.
And as he moved behind his opponent, he swung his swords.
“Not a chance!”
A new colossal figure appeared behind the Duke, blocking the attack with a thicker weapon than before, immediately retaliating.
With the tremendous destructive force that Heinz had sensed in their first skirmish.
Kwaaang—!
‘As expected.’
Heinz felt one of the blood swords he had created shatter upon impact, and he narrowed his eyes slightly.
No matter how liquid his weapon was and how its durability was somewhat lacking, it was made using “Refined Blood Essence”.
That it shattered in one clash, and that the Duke’s weapon remained intact made no sense at all.
‘It’s an ability that directly intervenes in blood itself.’
It seemed to be a unique skill that had been reinforced to a relatively high level.
Whether it was originally the ability to manipulate blood freely or a special power exerted through it, he didn’t know yet; however, it could be said to be a miraculous ability for a vampire, where blood equates to power.
Indeed, that was likely the key factor that had elevated the Duke to his current position.
Shiiik—
At that moment, a red point flew towards Heinz.
The sharp tip of a spear made of blood.
In the blink of an eye, it pierced the air without regard for distance.
Following Heinz, who quickly dodged, it pursued him with serpentine agility, as if it possessed a will of its own, striking out at him.
And then it began to multiply, with two, three… coming at him from all sides.
‘This won’t do.’
Realizing that avoiding the assault wasn’t the solution, he twisted his waist in mid-air and drew the blood sword to his side.
With accelerating thoughts, he perceived the trajectories of the spears through “Insight.”
As soon as all of them fell into a single line,
Swaaaak—
He utilized “Accelerated Movement” to slash widely with his sword.
Pagagagak! Kwaaang—!
Beyond hypersonic speed, the clash of his blade and the spears resulted in both sides’ weapons being shattered.
Such things were mere consumables that could be remade at any time, so Heinz’s expression remained calm, but the Duke’s face began to harden more and more with the passing time.
“You… what on earth…!”
An indescribable sense of discomfort.
The strange sensation that the Duke had felt from the moment the true battle began grew ever stronger.
With a foreboding instinct that he couldn’t possibly defeat his opponent, he was also experiencing a greater depletion of energy and a noticeable reduction in effects.
No matter how freely he could draw from energy due to his unique skill, this was not a favorable situation.
‘What ability is this? A unique skill? Or something else…?’
It wasn’t simply a reduction in power due to some debuff-like ability; it was a phenomenon occurring at a higher dimension.
It was a reality that he, having wielded this power for decades, couldn’t comprehend.
‘This is dangerous.’
And this forced the Duke into extreme decisions with no room for retreat.
His perception was far from ordinary, and he had already sufficiently grasped the situation at hand.
If he had been an idiot who felt nothing even as the presence of allies dwindled one by one due to the sudden intruders, he would never have survived this long.
But what would happen to him if his allies were completely wiped out?
‘This is practically my last chance.’
Whether to escape right away or to regroup the surviving allies.
Everything depended on how quickly he could deal with the enemy in front of him.
In fact, it wasn’t even the right thing to contemplate if he could truly bring down his opponent, but he didn’t intentionally entertain such weak thoughts.
Based on his long experience, such ways of thinking had been of no help in survival.
Even if it eventually amounted to nothing more than a desperate struggle.
‘At this point, I should give up on making a clean break. I have to endure some losses.’
In actions that spared no means or methods, such risks were inherent.
As he pulled out dozens of blood spears and bombarded the area, the Duke finally seized a suitable opportunity and executed his plan without hesitation.
Goooh—
In an instant, the blood coursing through his body surged violently, releasing an overwhelming amount of energy.
Kwaaang—!
“Cough?”
Even though Heinz hastily defended himself against the sudden outpouring of immense blood magic, he was sent flying back and scowled as he regained his stance.
“…What is this?”
“Whew— this is exhilarating—!”
Buddeuk—Ppaddak!
With a sound of something twisting, a phenomenon occurred.
The handsome middle-aged Duke’s face paled, and in an instant, his skin seemed to cling to his bones, while, in stark contrast, his muscles were bulging, tearing his suit apart.
Wuuuuuung—
Uung—Uung—
The most significant change was the number of blood spears standing around him.
Dozens of sharp, red spikes majestically raised their tips to the sky.
As the potential within the blood was unleashed all at once, explosive energy warped the surrounding space, causing the barrier enveloping the forest to tremble.
“…This feels strangely familiar.”
Heinz narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at the Duke in the clearly abnormal situation.
Beyond the phenomena, he sensed something eerily reminiscent from the Duke’s aura.
It felt similar to something he experienced long ago in the heart of Seoul…
“…Ah! I see. So you were involved back then with Alpha?”
He suddenly realized the cause and unconsciously nodded.
The aura emanating from him was oddly reminiscent of that of the hardliner leader, Alpha, who had caused chaos in Seoul long ago.
At that time, they could only ascertain that he had become that way due to some research, but if the Duke was involved, it made perfect sense…
‘Wait a minute.’
At that moment, Heinz, who had stopped his thoughts, inadvertently frowned.
Images from the Seoul terror incident with Alpha to now, and the information he had collected, flashed before his eyes like a panorama.
‘I see.’
After a fleeting moment, he could finally gain some certainty regarding the current situation.
‘…Doctor, the Doctor is here.’
Not far from this location, one of the top officials of the Buncheon Society, the Doctor, would undoubtedly be present.
That intense instinct rang alarm bells in his mind.
‘Was it to capture me? Nevertheless, this is an opportunity.’
Despite having gained the memories of Yul Ryeong-ja, the Doctor’s exact location remained uncertain.
He knew he fundamentally stayed in Europe, but given his ability to establish necessary laboratories anywhere, even that wasn’t firmly established.
‘…If only I could capture him.’
He would certainly know much more than both Yul Ryeong-ja and the Duke.
About the organization known as Buncheon Society, not to mention about the Head of the Buncheon Society.
“I’ll finish this quickly!”
As he was briefly lost in thought, a rough voice and dozens of blood spears flew towards him all at once.
Far faster than before.
In response, a turbulent wave of energy surged, twisting the space along the trajectory of the attacks.
“We’re on the same page. I agree.”
Although it was an overwhelmingly imposing attack to the naked eye, to Heinz at this moment, it was merely an annoying hindrance.
‘I need to eliminate this guy quickly…’
The new goal had appeared just as he was on the verge of achieving his purpose for coming to Europe.
However, to do that, he first needed to decisively handle the immediate threat.
With his spirits lifted, Heinz accelerated his thoughts and once again looked at the world through “Insight.”
‘The scale of energy is definitely unusual. Have they amplified the power within the blood again? No matter what, at this level… perhaps that person could’ve grown stronger by devouring kin in their own world.’
If not, it was an unfathomably vast energy.
Since their unique skill was also estimated to relate to blood, it wasn’t an implausible theory either.
Compared to the risk of devouring completely different types of vampires after coming to Earth, it’s often seen when overcoming kin within the same type.
‘But.’
If it came down to that, he could very well be considered the strongest in all dimensions.
No matter what anyone said, he was connected to all bloodlines in Auterica, and even on Earth, he had relentlessly amassed various vampire factors through continuous consumption of kin.
‘Hoo, drawing forth this much power feels unfamiliar. But adapting to it might not be a bad idea.’
He had completed his understanding of his opponent’s variables to a certain extent.
Now, all that was left was to render a decisive conclusion based on that information.
In the accelerated flow of time, fueled by overflowing energy, Heinz stepped forward slowly.
Jeobuk—
The blood magic that flowed from the Purebloods he had planted within him spread throughout his entire body.
In a world that seemed to stand still, the searing gazes of Heinz and the Duke locked onto each other.
With each step forward.
He drew the blood sword from both hands and parried the crimson spear that had approached within reach.
Then, whenever a weapon broke, he would recreate it, repeating this process several times.
Within the scattering mist of blood, he could clearly sense that he still held an advantage in ‘time.’
With the third step.
He hesitated to abandon the thick mist of blood generated from parrying the spears.
Using “Blood Mystery,” Heinz created numerous blood swords that moved automatically in the air.
They quickly clashed with the spears, repeating destruction and rebirth like fighting aircraft vying for aerial superiority.
Although the relative exchange rate wasn’t great, it was merely to be expected, so buying some time was not a bad outcome.
With the fourth step.
He finally set foot firmly within the Duke’s realm.
By now, even the previously used “Existence Denial” had lost its effectiveness.
An entire space that vibrated with hostile energy transmitted the feeling of being opposed, but at this point, Heinz was already accustomed to this sensation.
He advanced relentlessly, weapon in hand.
With the fifth step.
As he made deeper inroads into the Duke’s territory, even ‘time,’ which had previously been advantageous, began to re-establish balance.
Naturally, moving forward grew increasingly difficult, along with the wounds accumulating on his body.
Although it wasn’t long before they would all regenerate, it didn’t hold much meaning.
Jeobuk—
And finally.
“You—you…! How…!”
“I’ve waited a long time.”
Heinz took his final step, facing the Duke’s pallid, grotesquely twisted visage, and smiled gently.
As if encountering a long-lost half.
‘Well, it isn’t entirely wrong.’
After all, their bodies were about to become one.
Naturally reaching out, he grasped the collar of his opponent.
In that moment, the hands of Heinz II, who yearned for the completion of blood, finally seized that last piece.
