Chapter 21: I Am Not Dead

Breathing was ragged, each gasp a struggle.

The bleeding wouldn’t stop.

Pale skin and trembling limbs pointed to severe blood loss.

No, there was barely any movement now.

The potion the woman had spoken of was genuine. Its restorative power was unlike any Ian had ever seen.

But…

“…Demonic energy has seeped in.”

The demon’s self-destruction had forced the foul energy deep into the wound.

Yuria’s cold eyes gazed down at Ian’s body.

This was beyond her.

The demonic energy had already reached his heart. Blue veins pulsed visibly beneath his skin, a testament to his dire condition.

That foolish woman had told her to fetch more potions, yet she was struggling against a mere ten demons.

Yuria lifted Ian’s weakening arm, guiding his hand to her cheek.

“…Master?”

She spoke, hoping against hope, but there was no response.

What could a hound do, bereft of its master?

As his arm fell limp, her dry eyes sharpened, moisture welling up.

A cooling body.

A chillingly familiar experience.

She had been through this before.

The mansion seemed to sink further into a desolate silence.

There was no hope unless his heart was replaced with a new one.

Of course, even the High Priest couldn’t perform such a miracle. It was a method exclusive to vampires tainted by demonic energy.

“…If only I had made Master a vampire from the beginning.”

A crimson light, radiating a ferocious glow, enveloped Yuria.

Far hotter than the blood of the man she held.

The crimson tide, mirroring her inner turmoil, surged around her.

“I love you. I loved you. I love you still. Eternally, even as a corpse, I will serve you eternally. I love you again, Ian.”

Her trembling hands embraced Ian’s cold body.

His body felt colder than before.

She no longer felt any strength in his arms.

There was no time for regret.

The scent of human blood reached her.

The woman, the Acting Head, was at her limit.

A crucial memory surfaced.

If this continued, she would never avenge Ian.

Never.

She would not let a single one escape. She would slice them all to pieces.

“I will kill them all,” she vowed,

Every last demon in this world.

The ceiling seemed miles away.

Ian’s vision blurred, splitting into two, then three.

He had taken the full brunt of the attack, shielding Rachel as they dashed out of Yuria’s barrier range.

The ominous sensation, coupled with Yuria’s despairing transformation, could only mean one thing…

‘Demonic energy.’

It had finally reached his heart.

It felt as though a corpse in a mortuary had suddenly reached out to grope its own body.

A cold body, moving.

But this wasn’t long after he’d arrived in this world.

One of the unique traits Rachel had bestowed upon him was now saving his life.

[Unique Trait Activation.]

This trait deepened his understanding of his own attributes and dramatically increased their precision.

And luckily, his attribute was lightning.

The small surge of magical energy had accelerated the demonic corruption, but…

His heart had stopped.

Having lost its target, the demonic energy began to recede.

Ian had anticipated this. He had prepped a magical formula to move his body automatically.

His hand, now resting on his cold chest, crackled with golden lightning.

“Haaaaah!!”

Ian’s eyes snapped open.

Relief washed over him as he ran a hand through his hair. He looked around, and then…

“….!”

He saw a crimson sky.

No, black blood drenching the mansion.

Yuria was slaughtering demons.

Demons were fleeing.

A single thought filled Ian’s mind:

“
…I’m f*cked.”

It was a short, simple phrase.

But no other words could better capture his current situation, his feelings.

Before Ian could even fully process his terror, he knew what he had to do.

In the midst of the massacre, Yuria heard nothing.

The rage she felt was unlike anything she had ever experienced.

Her awakened magic, now wild and untamed, began to weave a barrier around the mansion.

Having simultaneously activated five auras and circles, her body was currently like a piece of paper folded into a square, haphazardly cut, and then forcibly pieced back together.

The mental anguish was far greater than the physical pain, which would have made a grown man scream.

But it was the pain in her chest that tormented her the most.

The man who had given her his warm embrace.

She had whispered her love to him every day, lest he grow accustomed to the mundane. Now, she regretted not having him. If she had barged into his study, locked the door, and taken him by force, he would have yielded. Just as he had when he first shared his blood.

–I cherish you the most.

But all she could do now was stare at the demons with cold, unwavering eyes.

She raised her hand.

Having awakened both emotionally and as a vampire, she was now powerful enough to obliterate the bosses of several story arcs.

As proof…

A vampire’s eye pulsed in the sky above the mansion.

[Level 7 Twilight Distortion]

[Wide-Area Debuff/Curse]

-Inversion magic. It has the opposite effect of its original form.

-User proficiency exceeds 120. Barrier strength increased.

Gushing blood rained down, engulfing the mansion.

The despairing demons flapped their wings, but it was too late.

Countless familiars poured from the sky like a gateway opening.

It was as though the heavens themselves were bleeding, pouring forth her familiars.

Ignoring her bleeding, split right hand, Yuria casually healed the wound.

Crimson arrows rained down from the sky, thick as a storm.

An uncountable number of familiars swarmed the earth and sky.

The demons were surrounded, trapped in a hellscape far more terrifying than hell itself.

A level 7 grand magic.

Could a five-circle mage even cast such a spell? Even with a demonic contract, reaching level 6 was a feat.

Rachel’s ice magic was only around level 3.5.

Double that? Not just double, but squared, multiplied fiftyfold.

The resulting power was astronomical.

Normally, it would be impossible.

A level 4 spell was considered the limit for a five-circle mage.

Unless, of course, one possessed as many blessed dantians as Yuria.

Mad scientists might risk their lives to unleash a half-baked level 6 spell, but it would always be incomplete.

Yuria, however, effortlessly cast a level 7 spell, a near-perfect level 7.5.

Had the Master of the Magic Tower witnessed this, they would have given her a standing ovation and begged her to join them.

Yuria, a genius who had mastered a blend of Ian’s modern knowledge and the academy’s teachings, had made the impossible possible.

All thanks to his knowledge.

“But…”

As memories of Ian surfaced, Yuria recoiled inwardly.

They were trying to escape? After doing that to her beloved?

Her fists clenched, trembling.

Rachel, witnessing this carnage, could only stare in stunned silence.

Among the demons, she spotted a rather appealing mid-level succubus.

But even she was surrounded by the undying familiars. Despite her relentless magic, the bodies piling up at her feet were quickly outnumbered by the fresh wave of attackers.

A vampire seized a fleeting opportunity, sinking its fangs into the succubus’s neck, hidden beneath her dark hair.

The screaming demon shoved the vampire away, but her hand grasped only air.

Ecstasy began to mix with the pain on her face.

She was experiencing the very pleasure she had inflicted on others.

Finally, with a shudder, she dropped her spear.

As her legs gave way, the familiars swarmed.

High, mid, or low, all met a gruesome end in this hellscape.

And the architect of this carnage was a single person.

“…More, more pain. I must sear Master’s pain into their very being. So they never dare to leave hell again. And if the gates of hell open, I will gladly enter. I will slaughter their parents, their ancestors, every last one of them.”

The orchestra reached its crescendo.

Or perhaps, this was just the opening act?

Yuria, her quiet rage intensifying, drew upon even more magic.

She was now powerful enough to destroy an entire city.

But where was Rachel? That woman had been a thorn in her side.

Following her magical senses, Yuria’s gaze locked onto a scene…

–Ian…? How did you… And stop hugging me! Don’t you understand the situation?!

–Just a moment, please. It’s definitely here…

–Stop! Ian, please don’t do this… Sob…

Yuria stared, her mind reeling.

“….Huh?”

He had said her embrace was the best.

He had said that.

And now he was hugging someone else?

Were the demons mocking her with illusions?

Or…

A chuckle escaped Yuria’s lips, her red eyes gleaming. The sight was so terrifying that even the demons trembled, watching in fear.

“Could it be… infidelity? Impossible. Master would never. So, die.”

Yuria’s hand fell.