Reminiscence: The Dreams Milady Sees

Milady Royalblood drifted into a shallow sleep. As a vampire, she usually slept around the time the sun rose.

She slept alone in a cold underground chamber. She had done so for centuries.

She no longer felt any loneliness about it. Just a faint, hollow ache.

The dream she saw most often was of the days when she had lived among her kindred.

Back when there were many of them. Back when she was not yet alone.

The war three hundred years ago had brought that happiness to an end.

She still remembered those days vividly.

 

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The human nations teetered on the brink of extinction.

It was the greatest war of annihilation against non-human races since the gods had departed the continent.

The desperation it bred drove people to break even their most ancient customs.

"The Summoning of Heroes!? That would… that would mean breaking the ancient covenant! Your Majesty, do you intend to go down in history as a heretic who defied the gods!?"

"I am fully aware. Even if my descendants curse me for it, I must make this decision to protect my nation."

"… So it has truly come to this."

The covenant had been passed down since long before any of them were born. A pact made with the gods in ancient times.

One of its tenets was "Non-Interference with Other Worlds."

According to the gods, interference with other worlds would blur the "Boundary" between them, leaving lasting consequences for future generations. If the "Boundary" grew unclear, managing the world would become difficult, and interactions with other worlds might occur at unexpected times.

Soul drift alone was manageable. But there were risks of pathogen drift, or even invasion from other worlds.

Therefore, the gods had declared all magic that interfered with other worlds forbidden. Those who broke the ancient covenant were said to receive terrible punishment in hell.

There was no way to verify the truth of these ancient legends.

The dead tell no tales. No Soullight existed that could observe the afterlife. No magic had been established to perceive the so-called "Boundary" between worlds.

Yet such uncertain legends paled before the crisis at hand.

"If we lose, this world becomes hell. We will be enslaved by those vampires and suffer torments worse than death. —If that is our fate, then we have no time to hesitate over our own damnation. I took this throne not for absent gods, but for the people who live and breathe today."

The king who had slain his own kin to claim that blood-soaked throne spoke with eyes full of resolve.

The Hero Summoning was a grand ritual from the age when gods still walked the earth. Souls summoned from other worlds possessed an unusual radiance, and most manifested powerful Soullights.

The method had been recorded in a grimoire sealed away as a forbidden text.

And so the summoned heroes came to reshape this continent.

 

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"The Vampire-Slaying Hero."

An unpleasant phrase to even hear.

Milady Royalblood flew through the night sky, mulling over the intelligence she had just received.

Her mission this time was to eliminate the hero in question.

Possessing blood close to the True Ancestor's and wielding mastery over the "Seizure" Soullight, Milady ranked among the strongest of vampires. Being assigned to eliminate powerful enemies was nothing new to her.

Her "Seizure" allowed her to one-sidedly crush any opponent whose abilities she knew by employing the Soullight best suited to counter them.

Even so, she could not afford to let her guard down on this mission.

Her opponent was one of those heroes. Warriors said to have been used by the gods as their vanguard, each worth a thousand soldiers.

Souls summoned from another world, they wielded powers that defied this world's common sense. It would not be strange for them to possess abilities unknown to Milady.

Milady flew through the sky, observing the ground below. On the surface, dim-witted monsters clashed with the inferior beings known as humans.

Neither spared a glance for Milady soaring above.

The sky was the vampires' exclusive domain. Spreading their bat wings, vampires flew freely while humans could only gaze up at them.

Yet the one who had overturned that common sense was this "Vampire-Slaying Hero."

"—Got you."

Milady's honed sixth sense detected killing intent. She veered sharply. The next instant, a lead bullet tore through the night sky and grazed her body.

… Indeed, the speed and power live up to the rumors. Even a mere lump of iron becomes a threat at such velocities.

Beating her wings, Milady dove toward the source of the shot.

What Milady's eyes captured was a human who could still be called a boy. He stood there defenseless, cradling an iron tube in both arms.

When he spotted Milady, he smiled for some reason.

"Ahaha! This target's smaller than the last one. Hmm, I wonder if I can actually hit her…?"

"You are the hero called Lent, correct?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah! … Didn't know enemies could talk. That's a surprise."

What a careless human, Milady thought with disgust. This was no attitude for someone about to fight for their life.

Was this truly the new hero?

He was like a toddler playing pretend.

"—Die."

Revolting. Best to kill him quickly.

Milady kicked off the ground and closed the distance to Lent in an instant.

So fast that Lent's eyes went wide.

The "Full Body Enhancement" she was using was a Soullight she had brought specifically to counter this ranged-specialist hero.

There was no need to fight in her enemy's range. Close in and strike—shortest path, maximum speed.

"Ooh, fast! Hard mode!"

Lent laughed flippantly and raised his gun.

The assault rifle in his hands spat fire.

Large-caliber rounds sprayed on full-auto, streaking through the darkness.

No matter how resilient a vampire was, such firepower could gouge flesh and tear off limbs.

Yet Milady calmly extended her right hand even as dozens of bullets bore down on her.

A full-body shield formed, centered on her right hand.

The second Soullight she had prepared for this mission: shield creation through "Iron Wall."

To her knowledge, this power produced the most impenetrable defensive shield in existence—a first-rate ability she had prepared specifically to block the hero's ranged attacks.

Even so, fierce impacts transmitted through to Milady's hand.

After confirming she had blocked every bullet, she dismissed the shield.

Lent tossed his rifle's magazine aside and loaded a fresh one that materialized from thin air.

Having blocked the barrage, Milady frowned.

… More powerful than I anticipated. I blocked them, but the recoil was so severe I could not advance.

"Ah well, it'd be boring for game balance if everyone got one-shotted. Hmm, what should I do?"

She glared at Lent and his flippant prattle.

The thought that this brat had killed so many of her kindred—her family—made her blood boil.

Still, she had glimpsed something resembling an opening.

The cooldown while he prepared fresh ammunition after a volley.

The next time he showed that opening, she would close in at once and cut him down.

As Lent leveled his gun at her again, Milady raised her shield.

"Well, no point overthinking it!"

Gunfire painted the night sky. Lead flew, and impacts jolted through the arm holding her shield.

When his loaded ammunition ran dry, Lent attempted to reload once more.

Waiting for that moment, Milady dismissed her shield and closed on him in a single bound.

"Hah…!"

Against such a soft-looking opponent, her bare fists would suffice.

Milady clenched her fist and stepped in deep.

With the "Full Body Enhancement" Soullight, punching a hole through a human body was child's play.

Seeing Milady bearing down on him, Lent—still wore that flippant smile.

"…!"

In his right hand was an antique revolver.

She did not recognize the weapon, but having its barrel trained on her made Milady realize she had been lured. She immediately sprang away.

But Lent's aim was true. The small-caliber round precisely pierced Milady's shoulder even as she moved.

"Gah…!"

Sharp pain lanced through her. Milady pressed a hand to the wound.

Immediately, she noticed the abnormality.

"The wound… isn't regenerating…?"

"Ahaha! You don't know about silver bullets? It's common knowledge that silver bullets kill immortal monsters!"

Lent ejected the spent casing from his revolver and snatched up his reloaded rifle.

Overwhelming exhilaration filled his chest.

Ahhh, this is it! This is what I live for! Outplaying my opponent and crushing them! This is why I played games!

Games and this world were not much different to Lent. There was an opponent to beat, and he had the power to do it. No different from a first-person shooter.

A certain sense of unreality only emboldened his recklessness.

"Alright, let's wrap this up."

Lent said with evident glee, rifle in hand.

Milady said nothing and raised her shield once more.

He pulled the trigger, and large-caliber rounds assailed her.

The sturdy shield deflected them all.

But Lent could see it.

The shield was developing hairline cracks with each shot.

Fine fissures spreading from the surface—so Milady, hidden behind it, had probably not noticed.

That defense would not last much longer.

If she charged straight at him, he would put a silver bullet in her this time.

Checkmate. Lent's heart raced as his beloved "victory" drew near.

Having emptied the assault rifle's magazine, Lent began to reload, and the barrage ceased.

The instant it did, Milady abandoned her shield and closed in at once.

I've won.

Certain of victory, Lent reached for the revolver loaded with silver bullets.

The vampire had leaped high, apparently trying to evade his aim.

But his barrel continued to track the enemy precisely.

"Nice shot!"

Lent shouted in excitement, certain of a direct hit to the head.

—The next instant, he doubted his own eyes.

"—Huh?"

The figure of Milady he should have shot through vanished like an illusion.

What appeared in his vision instead was Milady directly in front of him, fist cocked back.

"Goghah!?"

A violent impact struck his brain, and Lent was sent sprawling.

The third power Milady had prepared was "Refraction."

Unlike the other two, this was a rather weak Soullight.

It temporarily manipulated the refractive index of light around her, causing her enemy to misjudge her position.

A simple power, easily countered once the trick was known.

However, the weaker a Soullight's effect, the fewer tells and preparations it required. This ability, which delivered maximum effect with minimal power, was Milady's ace in the hole.

"Th-that's not fair… it's a first-time-kill gimmick! That's cheating!"

"Oh my, dear hero. Sleepy already? How unseemly, talking in thy sleep."

Milady stomped down on the prone Lent's arm.

He screamed, and the revolver slipped from his grasp.

"If thou hast a hidden trump card, then 'tis only natural thy opponent would have one too. This is not a game."

Cold fury smoldered in Milady's eyes.

This hero had killed seven vampires.

No doubt he had slain them all as if playing a game.

Milady loved her kindred. That was precisely why she could never forgive this hero who had profaned their lives.

"Do not expect a swift death. I shall flay thy skin, whittle away thy limbs, gouge out thy eyes, and place thee in 'storage.'"

At the terror twisting Lent's face, Milady allowed herself a vicious smile.