#77
Brokoslac Clan (4)
Knock knock—
“Lord, it’s Frigia. May I come in?”
“Come in.”
With the permission heard from inside, the door opened, revealing an interior shrouded in thick darkness.
In that darkness, a pair of red eyes glowed, making their presence felt.
“Lord, really? Could you at least light a candle or some glowing orb? There’s no need to live in such darkness, is there?”
“I’m not human, so I don’t feel the need for it.”
Since they were both Truebloods, the atmosphere was more casual than expected.
While they conversed, the attendant, Heinz, quietly entered the room behind Frigia and carefully surveyed the interior.
‘Impressive. I’ve heard that the lord is a wizard type, but this level of Blood Magic barrier is something else. It’s practically a fortress.’
Blood-red patterns densely covered the walls, floor, and ceiling of the vast space.
Even the decorations inside the room were all items assisting magic.
‘I feel uneasy intruding into a wizard’s domain, but…’
The numerous barriers analyzed as “Blood Mystery” sent a surge of tension through him.
But there was no choice.
The Trueblood vampire, Mulo Brokoslac, hadn’t stepped outside his door for decades.
He had built a fortress in the safest spot and had only moved his subordinates to handle various tasks.
Because of his obsessive pursuit of safety, coaxing him outside had proven difficult.
‘Still, if we get a little closer and launch a surprise attack, before the barriers activate…’
“By the way, Frigia. Who is that behind you?”
At that moment, Mulo quietly asked while looking at Heinz standing behind her.
It was a chance to get a bit closer.
“Oh, Lord. I was just about to introduce you! Heinz, come over here.”
Before Heinz could step forward at her smiling words, Mulo slowly opened his mouth again.
“Oh right, before that… I want to ask you one thing, Frigia.”
“Yes? Please, go ahead.”
He picked up a glass bottle and a wine glass placed on the side table, continuing in a nonchalant tone, as if it were nothing.
“Have you changed your perfume?”
Slurp—
The red liquid filled the wine glass.
The faint scent of iron-filled blood spread throughout the room.
“It’s been over a hundred years together, yet I haven’t smelled such a strange fragrance before.”
Mulo casually swirled the glass, savoring the scent.
However, his gaze never left the two.
“I can’t discern its origin.”
In the thickening atmosphere, Frigia forced a smile and presented the excuse she had prepared in advance.
“Oh, Lord. That’s…”
“Most of all.”
But Mulo didn’t seem interested in hearing her answer, having already asked first.
“I feel a distance from you today.”
He was already certain.
Whatever she had done, it was evident Frigia had stepped out of Brokoslac’s shadow.
‘This is bad.’
As soon as he made that judgment, Heinz, using “Acceleration,” dashed towards him like lightning.
At the same time, Frigia’s parasol, which was closer, shot toward Mulo, but it seemed to be blocked by something before it could reach him.
Whoosh—
The blood patterns drawn all over the room glowed red, twisting the space.
What was once a spacious room increasingly expanded, creating distance between them and Mulo in an instant.
‘Ah, I should have stayed as close as possible.’
Even though he was specialized in magical techniques, he was still a Trueblood vampire.
With reflexes that were on a different dimension compared to regular wizards, he had wanted to carefully approach and initiate the action, but had been exposed before that.
‘I must have underestimated the Lord too easily.’
Still, he had thought that with just himself and Frigia, they could surely overpower Mulo.
“Children of Brokoslac, heed my call.”
Blood puddles began to form all over the expanded space, and soon vampires started to appear.
“Whoa? This is happening! The Lord summoned us!”
“First, prepare for battle!”
As he frowned at the sudden increase in enemy numbers and prepared for combat…
“…What is this? Is this all that’s left in the capital?”
Mulo was equally taken aback.
Those answering his “Blood Call” were only about half of their total number.
“Frigia… what on earth did you do?”
His voice, low and growling, directed at her made Frigia exhale in defeat as she stepped forward.
“Well, I mean…”
Then she began to explain in detail the grand plan she had with Heinz.
This time, Mulo didn’t interrupt, listening attentively to her excuses.
“So your plan is to blindly trust such fanciful words and offer our entire clan to a being of unknown origin?”
Naturally, his reaction was not favorable.
“No, but it’s already been proven…”
“What do you mean by that? Sure, it’s impressive that you managed to subjugate our kin without killing them, but is there any evidence that it will work on other clans?”
There was only Heinz’s testimony, with no separate proof.
“Do you truly believe he has the capability to suppress all clans and bring them under his control? You know, Bisk Yufershi has inherited Pureblood.”
Wasn’t it because of that concern that he had been too frightened to engage in outside activities, staying holed up for decades?
“T-That’s…”
“…It seems you’ve been enchanted by something. It’s inevitable since ‘Blood Subjugation’ has passed onto you.”
If their conversation lingered, Frigia’s momentum would surely wane.
In fact, because he’d subtly added a hint using “Blood Mystery,” Heinz, feeling a bit hit, stepped forward to face Mulo directly.
“Your tongue is long. So, you don’t believe I have that kind of ability, do you?”
“You…”
“I never expected we could resolve it with words from the start. I will engrave it directly onto your body.”
And Heinz, after the clash with the hardliners from the Blood Pact, approached him, now entirely focused.
Step— Step—
With each step taken, a thick crimson aura burst forth from Heinz’s body in every direction.
“Ugh!”
“This is…”
The pressure of a predator who had hunted countless vampires across dimensions, collecting their blood to evolve.
The Brokoslac vampires instinctively faltered, drawn back by that overwhelming intimidation.
And Mulo was similarly affected by that presence.
With a cold smile directed at his rigid expression, Heinz transformed into a gust of wind and lunged at him.
*
“Stop!”
“Too strong… Gack—!”
Mulo grimaced as he watched the scene unfold before him.
This territory had been reinforced over countless years.
The summoned kin were significantly stronger than before, while enemies were weakened by various debuffs.
Moreover, his Blood Magic added was more than enough to shred the enemies.
But…
‘What the? How?’
His subordinates fell like leaves in autumn, and his magic oddly had little effect on Heinz.
Although his subordinates were continuously regenerating despite their heads being severed and hearts popping out, if this continued, it would only result in meaningless attrition.
The biggest issue was that they couldn’t catch up to Heinz’s speed.
‘I need resources that can match his speed.’
There was a limit to his supportive firepower.
If the front lines were breached, the situation would worsen, so immediate countermeasures were necessary.
“…Come to me. Obor—!”
Sighing deeply, Mulo chanted the spell, and yet another blood puddle formed before him.
From it, a white-haired boy slowly revealed himself.
“…What’s this? Why did you suddenly summon me, Lord? But… why is the situation like this?”
Obor Brokoslac, summoned unexpectedly, looked around in surprise but quickly sprang into action at Mulo’s command to bind Heinz’s foot.
Once the Trueblood capable of matching Heinz’s speed was deployed, the balance of the battlefield began to stabilize.
‘I didn’t expect Frigia to have grown that strong…’
Even as Obor joined in, the other vampires all rushed toward Frigia, yet they could only manage to bind one of her feet.
Despite the barrier’s weakening effect being clearly in place, they were facing a much stronger vampire army with similar strength.
“Indeed, you seem worthy of such boastful words.”
It sounded like he would need to press harder.
Mulo muttered quietly with a stern expression as he took a slow, deep breath.
*
Boom—!
Heinz stomped down on a blood-red thorn springing from the floor, simultaneously blocking the rapid approach of the boy’s hand strike.
“Damn! Why is this punk’s body so sturdy!”
Obor Brokoslac, the boy with white hair, grunted in frustration, sticking closely to Heinz.
Even with the Lord’s enhancement, it was humiliating that he couldn’t even catch his foot, but right now, there was no time to spare for that.
With tremendous strength and a solid body, coupled with an unknown, bizarre Blood Magic, an assassin-type Trueblood, his speed and ability to conceal his presence were astonishing.
Every time he momentarily created space to lunge at the Lord, it sent shivers down his spine.
‘And what’s with that strange energy? Is it a mental attack?’
The predatory pressure applied to the vampires scrunched Obor’s brow.
Though it didn’t significantly affect him as a Trueblood, this peculiar discomfort during intense combat was continuously disrupting his focus.
But Heinz wasn’t having it easy either.
‘This feels like I’m genuinely fighting a properly established sorcerer. As expected, dealing with two Truebloods in their own domain is troublesome.’
While battling Obor, he used “Concealment” and “Transparency” in conjunction to hide his presence and employed “Acceleration” to approach Mulo but…
Swipe—
In that moment, blood mist rising from all around clung to Heinz and halted him for a brief moment.
And that split second was enough time for Obor to react.
Boom!
“It’s useless! Where do you think you’re going!”
Caught off guard again, Heinz was restrained by Obor, and a fight began.
Despite trying several methods, it was clearly impossible to surprise Mulo while he was holed up inside his barrier.
‘In the end, it looks like I have to bulldoze my way in. Dealing with a sorcerer holed up in his own territory is a nuisance.’
Had he not evolved by preying on Earth’s vampires and been able to partially ignore the hostile abilities of other vampires, this could have been a particularly troublesome situation.
Thanks to that ability, which was super-effective against blood magic and other sorcery, he could continue the battle somewhat more smoothly.
At that moment.
His keen senses picked up a looming disturbance through “Insight” and “Blood Mystery.”
The faint weakening effect restraining him vanished as he spotted Frigia, who had been bound by the vampires, suddenly overwhelming them.
Conversely, Obor, who charged at him, momentarily lost his power and exposed a gap.
He reflexively thrust his fist encompassed by “Blood Blossom” into that opening and began assessing the situation.
‘The barrier’s effect has disappeared? Why all of a sudden?’
As his blow hit Obor, who was enveloped in blood petals and flung back, he soon found the answer to his question.
At the exact moment he successfully attacked, in that split second of vulnerability…
No longer sensing any presence—Mulo appeared beside him.
Without a second thought, Heinz used “Acceleration” to retreat but…
Slash!
Blood spattered through the air.
“…Fast as ever.”
Mulo, who had attacked, shed tears of blood, smirking mockingly.
“This is troublesome.”
Heinz grimaced, muttering lowly.
Although he had reacted instantaneously and moved far back, he was far from unscathed.
Despite his swift reaction… below his elbow, his right arm had been torn off.
And that arm was.
Clutched in Mulo’s hand, where sharp claws had extended.
