Infiltration

I snuck into the Holy Kingdom under cover of night.

Nighttime operations were optimal when you wanted to move unseen.

The "Death God's Eye," which granted clear vision in any situation, proved useful not just for observing my OTP but for nocturnal activities as well.

That was probably its intended purpose.

I'm sure the Death God would give me a thumbs up and a smile if it could.

The surroundings were nothing but pastoral villages, but I couldn't let my guard down.

This was the Vanguard Church's home turf—enemy territory.

"… They do have patrols after all."

The village was nearly lightless at night.

But if you looked carefully, watchtowers blazed with light, and guards could be seen posted there.

A setup to spot any enemy attack immediately.

The same vigilance would likely apply to Arel, my destination.

"… I should hurry."

I picked up my pace.

In the Holy Kingdom, the greatest threat wasn't the holy knights or the Black Priests.

It was being spotted by the Last Boss.

Though the method was never revealed even in the original story, Milady monitored the entire Holy Kingdom.

And within the country, she could move to any location instantly.

If she found out I was here, the worst-case scenario—suddenly coming face to face with her—was entirely possible.

Milady's strength was arguably the greatest in this world.

The cheat-like Soullight called "Seizure." And three hundred years' worth of accumulated knowledge and tools.

If the Death God's Scythe could reach her, I could probably kill her, but with my current ability, it was likely impossible.

All I could do right now was sneak around and accomplish my objective without being found.

Well, based on the original story's descriptions, as long as I didn't engage in combat, I should be safe.

"… That must be it."

After running through the Holy Kingdom's night for several dozen minutes, I spotted a familiar townscape.

Arel. An ordinary town in a remote corner of the Holy Kingdom, and the place where the story of Souls Light Nobly began.

For now, I should move without being detected.

"'O Fog That Heralds Death'"

I generated a subdued mist—nothing that would seem unnatural—and swiftly leaped up onto the watchtower.

"Good night."

I struck the watchman from behind.

Hit hard in the head, the guard collapsed on the spot.

… Good, he won't wake up until morning at this rate.

He won't even know why he passed out.

I surveyed the town from atop the watchtower and located my destination.

The southern edge of town… so that must be it.

I fixed my sights on a house with a red roof and jumped down from the tower.

All that was left was to knock out Laura's parents and carry them out. Mission complete.

—Looking back, I was careless at that moment.

I'd been overconfident in my advantage of knowing the original story—a trump card only I possessed.

I should have realized it when that unfamiliar robot attacked during the fight with Wall.

My existence had already set this world on a different path.

"—A fine night, is it not?"

A voice came from beyond the mist.

Every hair on my body stood on end.

The voice's owner walked straight toward me despite the mist.

"A cloudless full moon. If lycanthropes still existed, they would have gladly gone people-hunting."

She was a woman of unbelievable beauty.

Her elegance matched the refined dress she wore.

Lustrous golden hair. Sharp fangs peeking from her lips. Her crimson eyes glittered even in the darkness of night, holding a cold light that regarded humans as less than nothing.

A vampire—now a creature of legend.

The last of their kind stood before me.

"Don't you agree, 'White Fog Death'? Contractor of the Death God—Bloom."

Milady, the Last Boss of Souls Light Nobly, stood there.

Since coming to this world, I had never trembled this much.

The overwhelming pressure emanating from the woman before me made my legs go weak.

Archbishop Milady, the supreme authority of the Holy Kingdom.

Her true identity: the last survivor of vampires, a legendary race thought to be extinct.

This was completely unexpected.

The Last Boss of Souls Light Nobly stood right before my eyes.

"Who might you be?"

I asked, playing dumb.

I already knew the answer.

Wavy golden hair and eerie crimson eyes.

A figure of exquisite curves and a face too perfect, as though sculpted by a master artist.

A pitch-black dress like mourning clothes that accentuated her bewitching beauty.

No two people could share those features.

Hearing my words, she laughed with apparent amusement.

"Kaka… How careless of me. In my joy at this unexpected meeting, I forgot even to introduce myself. I am Milady. Of the Vanguard Church."

She spoke in an archaic manner, yet appeared no older than twenty.

Of course. A vampire who had consumed much lifeblood would never age.

She was essentially immortal.

"I've come today to scout you. I wish to form a contract, given your exceptional abilities."

"…"

I thought she would attack immediately.

She must know I'd killed the Black Priest she'd dispatched.

I hadn't expected her to mention a contract.

I couldn't read what Milady was thinking.

I stayed silent and waited for her next move.

"You take on various jobs from the Adventurers' Guild, do you not? I'd like you to accept work from the Church in the same manner."

She continued when I kept listening without responding.

"The Church has just lost personnel, you see. An old man who called himself Wall—now there was a careless fool. Nearly fifty years of festering complacency, and he keeled over just like that."

"… So you want me to become a Black Priest?"

Growing impatient with her roundabout way of speaking, I finally spoke up.

Milady laughed her signature "Kaka" at my response.

"Precisely. I like those who catch on quickly."

"And if I refuse?"

"The contract changes, that's all."

She said it as if it were nothing.

"Regardless of your will, you'll contribute to me either way. Either you serve me willingly as an agent, or become my property as a mindless tool. Those are your two options. Of course, agents receive fitting compensation for their work. Tools receive nothing."

Ah, this complete disregard for others' autonomy.

Truly the Last Boss of Souls Light Nobly.

As a vampire, she looked down on humans and would never acknowledge them as equals.

Milady had only two ways of connecting with humans.

Rational contracts, and domination through power or violence.

That was how she had ruled the Church, living alone for three hundred years.

"What would this compensation you speak of entail?"

"—Anything within my power to grant. I value your abilities. A nation, a person—name it. If there's someone you wish to kill, kill them freely. So long as my ambitions are fulfilled, I need nothing else."

That probably wasn't entirely a lie.

If I said "Make me a king," she'd genuinely do it.

After all, if Milady's ambition—the resurrection of vampires—was realized, human nations couldn't maintain their current form anyway.

In a world ruled by vampires, human nations would be little more than glorified pet cages.

In the original story, Riogren had observed such parallel-world bad endings.

"Now then, I've offered my finest terms. Let me hear your answer, 'White Fog Death.' Will you become a collaborator, or a tool? Those are your two options."

Milady's crimson eyes stared at me fixedly.

I closed my eyes for a moment and let my thoughts run.

From the moment I'd met Milady, an irrepressible impulse had been surging from within my chest.

It was the fierce desire for revenge. Murderous intent.

This was likely coming from the original Bloom's consciousness.

Her departed feelings, her soul, lingered as residue in this body.

Meeting and speaking with Milady must have reactivated it.

—No matter what happens to the world, I will have my revenge.

That's surely what the real Bloom would have said.

That's why, in the original story, she worked as a Black Priest for the Vanguard Church.

Believing the Church would find her enemy for her.

But I already knew the truth.

I would give my answer—mine, and hers.

"There's someone I absolutely must kill."

"Oh?"

Thinking I was discussing compensation, Milady's red eyes gleamed.

"They slaughtered my family. My life was—has been—dedicated to avenging them."

From the depths of my soul, I heard her—Bloom's—scream.

The avenger's thirst, clinging to my soul, cried out to me.

Revenge! Revenge! Revenge!

"Then I shall help you take your vengeance. I'll mobilize the Church's resources to find your enemy without fail and support your revenge to the fullest. Will that suffice as compensation?"

"Ah, thank you for such generous terms."

My heart pounded.

My hands trembled with excitement.

It seemed my soul and Bloom's had merged more deeply than I'd realized.

Barely containing my excitement, I declared to Milady:

"—Then die quietly, my sworn enemy."

I drew the Death God's Scythe.

I knew.

The woman before me was the very target of vengeance Bloom had sought above all else.

"Soul Reaping—'Death is the great equalizer'"

And so, the Death God's blade—capable of slaying even immortals—swung down.

 

＊　＊　＊

 

After Bloom died in the original story, Milady said this:

"So the 'Death God' has finally died… Kaka! It was quite the absurd farce, but it's come to an end at last. —In the end, she never realized that the enemy she so desperately sought was me, right beside her all along. Truly, humans are foolish to the core."

No further details were ever revealed.

But if Milady said it, it must be true.

For three hundred years, she had caused countless upheavals in pursuit of her goals.

Collecting Soullights. Collecting lifeblood. Expanding the Church.

For such purposes, Gil's homeland was destroyed, Fren's family was killed, and Laura was nearly offered as a sacrifice.

Bloom's family had likely been victims of one such disturbance.

—Which meant defeating the Last Boss was not only Rio and his companions' long-cherished wish, but Bloom's as well.

 

＊　＊　＊

 

"Soul Reaping—'Death is the great equalizer'"

I slammed down the Death God's Scythe at maximum output, extending the blade to its limit.

If there was any chance of winning against Milady, the first surprise attack had the highest probability.

The Death God's Scythe was an instant-kill blade—anyone whose neck it touched would die.

Even an immortal vampire was no exception.

But of course, the Last Boss wouldn't make it that easy.

"'Stone Wall'"

A massive stone wall rose before Milady. When I struck it with the scythe, it shattered to pieces.

Yet Milady on the other side was unharmed.

"Kaka! Such destructive power, even against inorganic matter. No wonder that killing machine of mine was destroyed!"

So that robot really was her doing. The realization reignited my anger from that fight.

I raised my murderous intent toward Milady even higher and readied the scythe again.

"'Stone Wall'"

"…'Death God's Hounds'"

Milady's stone wall had a major weakness.

The massive wall blocked her own line of sight when deployed.

And unlike Wall's barrier, it lacked flexibility and couldn't be moved freely.

No matter how strong her frontal defense, if I struck from the side…

The three hounds I summoned instantly surrounded Milady.

Then charged simultaneously.

"'Stone Wall'"

"Tch…!"

New stone walls appeared on all four sides of Milady, piercing upward through the hounds' bodies with perfect accuracy.

My hounds let out death cries and dissolved into mist.

That reaction speed was impossible for a normal human.

"… Clairvoyance?"

"Indeed. Only a fool would face you without countermeasures against that mist of yours."

Despite claiming she'd come to negotiate, Milady had been fully prepared to fight me.

I ground my teeth and racked my brain.

The weakness of her Soullight, "Seizure," was that it required advance preparation.

Stolen abilities could only be used for about a day after killing the victim. If caught in a sudden fight without the right "Seized" ability, she might lose outright.

However, as the supreme authority of the Holy Kingdom, she used her power to thoroughly analyze her enemies before engaging.

On her solid home ground, "Seizure's" weakness was practically nonexistent.

She'd approached me this time with thorough preparation as well.

To think the Last Boss would go to such lengths for me…

I searched for a breakthrough, but found no opening.

She might have even more cards up her sleeve besides clairvoyance and stone walls.

Attacking recklessly could invite unexpected counterattacks.

"Not coming? Then it's my turn."

The ground began shaking violently. I immediately leaped sideways as the earth thrust upward like a spear.

"Tch…"

I rolled across the ground and barely dodged. By the time I'd regained my footing, Milady's crimson eyes were right in front of me.

"Hmph!"

A bludgeon swung with masterful speed struck my abdomen dead-on.

An impact that felt like it would force out all my organs.

I was sent flying violently.

"Gahh…"

"Kaka… How do you like my mace? With this, I can incapacitate you without spilling your precious blood."

Milady smiled smugly, brandishing a bludgeon about the size of a one-handed sword.

Yes, she was truly the strongest.

It was not just the versatility of her abilities—her movements were monstrous too.

Vampires possessed extraordinarily high physical capabilities.

And Milady had honed her combat skills for three hundred years.

Even without the powers gained through Seizure, she was among the strongest.

"… Don't get cocky."

Despite the intense pain, the fighting spirit within me didn't waver.

Having merged with the original Bloom's consciousness, murderous intent toward Milady—my sworn enemy—still swirled violently inside me.

My body moved better than ever.

The surge of emotion accelerated my soul's brilliance, enhancing my abilities.

"Hmm… Your Soullight is strange indeed. A blessing from the Death God, perhaps? —It's as if you have two souls."

"…"

Milady's words barely registered.

I charged again, scythe raised. I dodged a stone wall rising from my feet with a sidestep and swung down at her neck.

But a precisely-aimed mace blocked the blade's edge.

"Kaka! I do want it. That peculiar Soullight—fascinating!"

"…"

A counter-swing of the mace grazed my head.

I stepped back and regained my stance.

I needed to buy time to catch my breath, so I threw out a taunt.

"… If you're tired of living, just say so. I'll kill you without fail."

"Oh, speaking as if you understand? … How unpleasant."

Milady's expression shifted slightly.

From playful amusement to the eyes of a hunter.

"Since I'm going to carve you up anyway, I suppose losing a limb or two is acceptable."

Her stance changed from before.

Milady pointed her hand at me like a pistol.

"'Blood Spear'"

A spear of blood shot from her fingertip and hurtled toward me at high speed.

"Tch…"

I rolled sideways to dodge.

But a wall of earth rose where I'd dodged to.

"Guh…"

Pushed up from below, my body was thrown into the air.

Pursuing blood spears followed immediately.

I swung the Death God's Scythe and barely deflected them.

"Oh my, you dance well. But my ammunition won't run out, you know?"

Milady produced a bottle of blood, making sure I could see it, and drained it in one gulp.

As expected, she always kept a supply of blood—essential for vampires—close at hand.

Vampires were naturally skilled at blood manipulation beyond their Soullights.

It covered any gaps in her abilities perfectly.

As my opponent's options multiplied, I had only one thing I could do.

Close in, and cut.

"… Bring it."

I charged straight at Milady.

Blood spears and earth walls assailed me immediately.

I stopped dodging extravagantly like before.

I avoided only fatal blows while trying to close the distance.

Multiple blood spears grazed my body, leaving wounds everywhere.

Sharp pain hindered my movements.

But driven by the impulse surging from my chest, my legs didn't stop.

"Soul Reaping—'Death is the great equalizer'"

I expanded the scythe to its absolute limit and brought it down on Milady. I put everything into this strike, with no thought for what came after.

—But.

"… Kaka"

Milady vanished.

The next instant, I collapsed from a violent impact to my back.

"Did you think a single stick was all I prepared for close combat? Naive."

"…"

My head, slammed into the ground, was spinning.

I could tell Milady was approaching slowly, but I couldn't even stand.

Damn. I didn't want it to end halfway like this.

I hadn't even seen their story through to the end yet.

I focused strength into my legs, trying desperately to rise.

But my body wouldn't obey, as if it belonged to someone else.

My legs just trembled and wouldn't move properly.

Milady formed a blood spear and aimed it at my fallen form.

If only she'd just kill me quickly and be done with it—the thought of surrender crossed my mind.

And then I heard a voice.

'—Look to your own soul's light. Isn't that what you said?'

It seemed to come from within my body—from the depths of my soul.

I turned my gaze inward. To my soul. I truly examined myself for the first time.

And at last, I confronted my own soul.

 

＊　＊　＊

 

"Confronting one's own soul" meant nothing less than reflecting on my past life.

I remembered the old days for the first time in a while.

Before I became Bloom. Memories from when I lived in peaceful Japan.

Every time I think back, I realize what a boring life it was.

From a young age, my body was weak. My parents and doctors constantly told me, "Don't push yourself."

No running races. No tag. No ball games.

The only entertainment I was left with was books.

No matter how careful I was, I frequently had attacks and ended up hospitalized.

The coughing fits were so bad I thought I'd suffocate to death many times.

I couldn't even attend school properly like this.

When I asked the doctors to increase my medication, they'd only say "Let's take it slow." Every doctor said the same thing.

Eventually, despair became embedded in me.

Someday, I would die from this illness.

I thought deeply about "death" in my hospital bed.

I had plenty of free time during hospitalization, so I thought endlessly.

Because death was so terrifying, I tried to understand what it was.

I thought and thought and thought, until finally I reached one conclusion.

Everyone dies eventually. It's just a matter of sooner or later.

Fearing the end—fearing death—was pointless.

Once I accepted that resignation, the world became meaningless to me.

So I threw myself into fictional stories.

The characters were a hundred times more captivating than real people.

They didn't pity me. They didn't look at me with sympathy.

In a world of nothing but despair, a small hope was born.

Souls Light Nobly was the manga that left the strongest impression on me.

I turned pages feverishly in my hospital room.

My palms grew sweaty watching Rio's battles.

I grinned at Laura's bittersweet romantic moments.

I was moved by Gil's way of life.

I admired Fren's nobility.

It felt like being transported to another world.

While reading manga, I could forget the agony of my coughing fits and my despair for the future.

And while I was lost in fantasy, forgetting reality entirely—I apparently died.

When I next woke, I had become a person in that fictional world.

'Then what is the root of your soul?'

"Admiration. Longing for a fictional world. That's what gave my life meaning."

If my empty self contained anything, that was all.

Beyond that, I had nothing. There was nothing to me.

'Yes. That is your soul's light—yours alone. Something that didn't disappear even when merged with my soul. Isn't that right, ■■■■?'

"… Yeah, that's right."

My own Soullight, something I'd overlooked because I'd been so fixated on Bloom's.

'Now, release that light. —And fulfill my revenge.'

 

＊　＊　＊

 

I could feel a power unlike anything before dwelling in my body.

My body moved.

I slowly rose and faced Milady.

"… What?"

Milady, seeing me, had frozen in astonishment.

"You… that soul is… as if you're a completely different person."

Perhaps it was fair to say I'd become someone else.

Until now, I'd been fighting with borrowed power.

But from now on, I would fight with my own strength, in the truest sense.

I focused on my soul once more.

The thing that existed alongside Bloom's soul, merged with it.

I drew power from it.

"'O Sunlight'"

I thrust out my left hand and spoke the incantation that surfaced in my mind.

Several white spheres floated up.

Milady stared at them with an expression of shock.

"That's… the sun…? Impossible. There's no way a gloomy murderer like you could wield such power."

"Yearning for brilliance is freedom itself. That's a privilege unique to humans."

A vampire who shunned the sun would never understand.

To me, my "favorites" were like the sun.

Their mere existence made the world seem brighter.

Stars that dazzlingly illuminated all who beheld them. Existences that drew otaku like me into their orbit, like planets around a sun.

If there was anything inside my empty self, it was only this yearning—this longing for radiance.

"Be burned by the radiance."

When I thrust my right hand forward, over a dozen light bullets launched at Milady simultaneously.

Milady swung her mace, knocking down the projectiles approaching her body.

"Tch… I can't keep up."

Several bullets she couldn't handle grazed her body.

The light bullets easily pierced her vampire flesh, and smoke rose from the wounds.

Milady stared at her injuries, then eventually burst out laughing.

"It's not regenerating…? … Kakaka! —I see, I see! You identified me as your enemy and optimized your Soullight accordingly! Indeed, sunlight is the sworn nemesis of us vampires! There is no power more suited to destroying me. How fascinating… If you can defeat me with that power, then try!"

Milady readied her mace again.

I thrust my hand forward just as before.

"'O Sunlight'"

Against the light bullets, Milady immediately deployed stone walls.

Inorganic defense—which the Death God's Scythe struggled against.

But the light bullets pierced through with ease.

Milady deflected them with her mace as if she'd expected that.

But that was according to plan.

While Milady was occupied dealing with the light bullets, I had closed in on her.

"Hah!"

The Death God's Scythe flashed. It grazed Milady's arm as she leaped back.

I gritted my teeth, realizing the attack had failed.

The Death God-crafted scythe's killing power wouldn't activate from a mere graze.

I would have to take her head after all.

Milady glanced at her wound without any sign of panic.

Then the wound sealed up in an instant.

Self-regeneration—a racial trait of vampires.

Milady's was especially exceptional among her kind.

Even if I severed her arm with the scythe, it would regenerate immediately.

Still, severing the neck of someone who moved like a master martial artist was an exceedingly difficult task.

As I pondered what to do, I heard the voice again—the original Bloom within me.

'Combine our powers. Mine and yours together. With both, you can reach her.'

"Combine… our powers…"

I repeated her words and considered how.

Right now, two souls existed within me.

The original Bloom's, and "mine."

"I see."

I focused my consciousness on the Death God's Scythe.

I became aware of both Bloom's Soullight and my own.

Yes, this could work.

Convinced, I kicked off the ground and charged at Milady.

"Haaaaah!"

The tip of the scythe—its blade—began to glow.

That light was the same type as the bullets I'd fired moments ago—sunlight.

This will work.

With that certainty, I lunged and swung the blade.

"Ga, AAAAHHH"

At that moment, she let out her first scream of pain in this entire battle.

The scythe's blade had severed Milady's right arm from the middle.

I immediately tried to press the attack.

But a tremendous number of blood spears came flying, forcing me to retreat hastily.

Milady had also pulled back and was clutching her right arm, blood dripping steadily.

"Hah… hah… It won't heal… Damn that accursed sunlight…!"

No doubt about it. She was weakening.

I stepped forward to finish Milady off.

But in that instant, my vision lurched.

'… You've exhausted too much Soullight. Any more is dangerous.'

The Bloom within me warned.

It was a sensation I'd never experienced. My fingertips were terrifyingly cold, and my head wouldn't work.

It made sense, when I thought about it.

Using two powers simultaneously meant double the consumption.

"But if I let her escape now…"

If I let Milady go, she'd come back next time having Seized abilities to counter sunlight.

There was no guarantee my power would work again.

But while I was deliberating, Milady had already made her move.

"—'Blood Burst'"

A massive sphere of blood was forming above her raised left hand.

It kept absorbing blood from Milady's body, expanding at an accelerating rate.

I immediately turned my back to her and ran.

"This is bad."

"—Activate."

The blood sphere detonated.

Like a bomb exploding, a blood-colored shockwave swept through the area.

A colossal explosion that could blow away even stone buildings.

That was Milady's trump card.

A technique unique to vampires, not relying on Soullights.

She expelled the blood from her body, compressed it, and released it to cause a massive explosion.

Since the vampire would be vulnerable from blood loss immediately after activation, it was truly a last resort.

However, its power was among the strongest.

"Tch…!"

I enhanced my physical abilities with my Soullight and fled the blast radius at full speed.

I felt the shockwave at my back, and soon my light body was sent flying.

The blood-wind raged, and everything in Arel was blown away without exception.

 

＊　＊　＊

 

"Cough, cough…"

When I coughed, I tasted blood.

I must have hurt myself when I was thrown earlier.

I barely escaped the blast, but I had no strength left to fight.

Milady had probably already fled.

Looking around, not a single survivor remained in the ruins of Arel.

That damn Last Boss slaughtered her own country's citizens just to escape…

You could call it a draw between me and her.

My objective was to prevent Laura's parents from being taken hostage, so in that sense, you could say I succeeded.

They were surely already dead, caught in Milady's explosion.

I achieved my goal, but it left an awful taste in my mouth…

"… I need to escape too."

I turned my back on Arel and started running.

The effects of Soullight exhaustion were still severe.

Just a little running left me gasping for breath.

But staying in the Holy Kingdom risked the worst-case scenario—Milady recovering and attacking again.

Her exhaustion must have been severe too, but this was the heart of enemy territory.

I was at an overwhelming disadvantage.

For now, retreat was the only option.

Sorry I couldn't avenge you, I apologized silently in my heart.

Then the original Bloom's voice spoke again.

'It can't be helped. You did everything you could. Finish her next time.'

Her composed tone surprised me.

I'd expected someone who dedicated her life to revenge to fly into a rage.

Perhaps, just as my soul had been influenced by hers, her soul had been influenced by mine.

"Huh, am I already at the Empire…?"

Lost in thought as I ran, I'd returned to familiar streets before I knew it.

My legs were trembling uncontrollably from accumulated fatigue.

No surprise, since I'd been running nonstop from deep in the night until morning to escape after fighting Milady.

My consciousness growing hazy, I headed instinctively toward our usual inn.

Right now, all I could think about was collapsing into bed and sleeping.

"… Bloom-san?"

A familiar voice made me turn around.

There stood Fren, staring at me in shock.

"Why are you covered in so much blood… L-let me see your wounds, quickly!"

She rushed over in a panic.

Now that I thought about it, Milady's final attack had drenched me in blood.

I was probably crimson from head to toe right now.

I'd been too preoccupied to notice. What an inconsiderate Last Boss.

"It's fine, this isn't my blood."

Ah, damn.

The relief of seeing Fren had snapped my thread of tension.

The strength drained from my body, which had long since passed its limits.

I collapsed on the spot and sank into a deep sleep.