10 Years After – 12
God of the Dark Ones
Aside from his head, the rest of the Vampire Lord turned into hardened ash.
Most of the bats that had flown out were also cut down by Shia and met the same fate.
The few bats that escaped her were burned after I grabbed them out of the air.
I burned them with a little flame from the palm of my hand so that Shia would not notice it.
“Now that you have finished me…”
The head of the Vampire Lord was mumbling.
I ignored him and turned to Shia.
“Will you be able to clear your name now?”
“Yes. I couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you, Mister Locke.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Shia raised the Devil King sword reverently and returned it to me.
“And thank you for lending me your sword.”
“Ah. And how did it feel to use it?”
“It was wonderfully sharp.”
“I’m glad.”
And then Shia tilted her head to the side.
“But, I felt as if power was entering into me when I cut into him.”
“You were probably imagining it? It’s so sharp that you might have misunderstood something.”
“Yes, that is probably it.”
Shia said and laughed.
It seemed that it did have a drain effect.
It likely had a special effect on enemies like Vampire Lords, who were able to transform and escape.
I asked Shia.
“So, what are you going to do with him? He’s just a head now. Are you taking him back to your homeland?”
I didn’t know what rules they had in her tribe. But maybe they required evidence that she had killed him.
For the guild, all you had to deliver was the magic stone that was deep inside your prey’s head as evidence.
However, that would only prove that you killed a Vampire Lord.
As this was about revenge, perhaps it would be necessary to prove that it was the right Vampire Lord.
“That will not be necessary for me.”
Shia began to inspect the body of the fallen Vampire Lord.
Its body was already like hardened ash.
Shia used her broadsword to rake through it as if using tongs in a hearth.
“There it is.”
Shia picked up a medal that was slightly smaller than her palm from out of the ashes.
It was pretty large for a medal.
The material looked like gold but was probably not gold. It was mysterious.
But more than that, I felt something strongly ominous from it.
“What is that?”
“Yes. It is a curse medal that is buried inside of special Vampire Lords.”
“I didn’t know about such things…”
I don’t think they had these 10 years ago when I was fighting as an Adventurer.
At least, I had never heard of them.
Maybe it became a trend among Vampire Lords within the last 10 years.
After thinking about this for a while, Shia said in a soft voice:
“You saved my life, Mister Locke. And my tribe owes you for helping me kill the Vampire Lord. And so I will tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
“Every time a Vampire Lord with this medal drinks blood or takes a life, curses will collect inside of the medal.”
“Interesting.”
“It is said that once enough curses are gathered, a door to the place between dimensions will open.”
“…Between dimensions.”
That place I fought for 10 years.
It was not possible for humans to open a door from here to that place.
For humans, it was a one-way street. You could only escape from it.
Koko wa Ore ni Makasete Saki ni Ike to Itte kara 10 Nen ga Tattara Densetsu ni Natteita
