Back in that [Underground Mine], I had already been transfused with vampire blood right up to the limit.
The moment even a little more monster blood mixed into me there,
I would have crossed the line and become a monster instead of a human.
Even so, the reason I had managed to hold on until now was simple.
My class was chef.
And a chef was someone who refined what should not be eaten into something that could be consumed, and presided over a proper meal.
A priest who oversaw the process of turning another’s body into one’s own blood and flesh.
Even if I devoured others,
if that process passed through my cooking,
then a meal taken through that cooking caused no problem.
'It’s helped me a lot up to now...'
But...
'Sorry about this...'
Not this time.
By my own will,
I had consumed something that had not been [cooked].
...The thing Luca had made for me.
The serum that would make me go beyond being human.
[The act of seeking to go beyond humanity is a clear act of betrayal.]
[If you do not stop immediately—————]
From the crackling status window,
the warnings to stop this madness kept pouring in.
But as I looked at those messages, I muttered inwardly:
'You know it too... don’t you?'
Unfortunately,
if I wanted to resolve this situation, this was the only way.
There was no other method.
[Ra—ce: Hu—man...]
As much as I felt sorry toward the system that had helped me all this time,
from this point on,
[Race: Va—mpire Progenit—r...]
I would leave humanity behind and be reborn as a monster.
[BETRAYAL!!!!!!!!!!]
And then, in that instant—
[[Хиёнат! خيانة !!! Traición!!! خيانة!!! Verrat!!! Зрада!!! Tradimento!!! Traição!!! Измена!!! 背叛!!! विश्वासघात!!! Verraad!!! İhanet!!! Προδοσία!!! Forræderi!!! Petturuus!!! Zrada!!! Árulás!!! ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) Предателство!!! 裏切り!!! Trădare!!! Trahison!!! การทรยศ!!! Sự phản bội!!! Pengkhianatan!!! Издаја!!! Zrada!!! Reetmine!!! Išdavystė!!! Tradhti! Svik!!! Traïció!!! Предавство!!! Tradiment!!! Xiyanət!!! ღალატი!!! Traizio!!! Урвах!!! Nodošana!!! Usaliti!!! K’ehjį́!!! 배신!!! Pagtraydor!!! خیانت!!! Fa’avae!!! Petturuus!!! Ittuy!! Izdaja!!!!]
My vision filled with a flood of grotesque letters and languages I could not identify.
Phrases that felt as though hundreds, thousands, billions of voices were screaming at once.
There were so many messages flashing past so quickly that I could not even properly read them.
[Mi—nor Reinforc—ment]
But.
Through the taste contained within them, I could understand what the system meant.
'Betrayal.'
A sickening sense of betrayal.
Rage almost on the level of hatred.
—There were messages that kept appearing in my [Status Window].
A conversation I had once had with Jang Youngwoong came back to me.
—“This is a clear act of betrayal, so stop immediately.”
Betrayal, huh.
—That was the first time I realized the system was a being capable of expressing its own will like that.
Well.
Considering how much this thing had done for me,
I guess it had every right to be angry.
Back then it rarely expressed emotions like this, but now it was going so far as to put them into words.
It really must have been furious.
...Or maybe.
'It had a lot it wanted to say from the beginning... and only now that my [Level] has risen, it’s finally able to speak.'
Well.
I did not really know which it was.
Still, anyway.
'This does sting a little.'
Seeing it get that angry made me understand, but at the same time,
I honestly had my own grievance too.
'Did it really think...'
Filling my hand with that small sense of hurt,
I brushed the status window before my eyes.
'...that I’d just roll over that easily?'
And then.
[—————————]
The message window overflowing with rage stopped, and I looked at that now-empty box with a faint snort.
'Just keep watching a little longer.'
Staring at the crackling status window in front of me,
I slowly raised my hand.
'I’ll be back soon enough.'
And then.
Had it understood what I meant?
Or was it because I still had not become a complete monster?
[......Spe—cial Trait]
Bzzt...
[‘Soul —ooking Mastery’ activates!]
I could feel the absurdly vast mana inside my body beginning to take shape at my fingertips.
***
Puhwaaaaaaaaaak!
“Kh...!”
The blood suddenly bursting out from inside its own body—
the grand duke stared at that blood with shocked eyes.
'To think that little trick from back then would come back to trip me up here!'
A being born from Isabella’s blood.
If Ariella’s rank was raised, maybe she could fill the one missing seat.
But if she knew it meant the grand duke intended to devour her, there was no telling where she might run.
So the grand duke had lured her with a plausible lie.
Saying it would give a gift to one inferior species she treasured had been part of that as well.
'I had planned to devour her before that moment ever came anyway.'
If it devoured the Ariella who would turn that inferior species into a noble,
then that inferior species would never get the chance to become a noble in the first place.
That was why it had been an empty promise.
But.
Sssss...
'That inferior-species bastard!'
That inferior species over there.
From that lowly, weak body...
a familiar scent was gradually beginning to waft out.
The thick smell of blood.
The taste of iron.
'...That bastard!'
The scent of kin.
The one who had been nothing more than an inferior species was beginning to be reborn as a noble.
The moment had come when the grand duke would have to honor a promise it had never intended to keep.
“...Hup!”
But.
The grand duke focused all its mind and controlled the blood vessels in its body.
The blood trying to burst out of its body—
it suppressed that outflow as much as possible.
'That promise only stated that I would hand over my blood.'
Right.
When you thought about it, it was nothing special.
It was merely a transfer of blood, after all.
'As for how much blood would be handed over—!'
That was never—
“—specified, as I recall.”
“...!”
“Am I mistaken?”
A leisurely voice sounded beside the grand duke’s ear, interrupting its thoughts.
And then.
Puhwaaaaaaaak...
...Sliiide.
The grand duke’s blood, exploding outward into the air,
began to move somewhere with clear direction.
“How dare...!”
And.
The grand duke ground its teeth as it looked toward where that blood was headed.
“A mere toy...!”
“Hehe. A toy, is it?”
With a gesture from Ariella’s hand,
the blood that had been flying toward Shin Youngjun changed direction and shot upward into the air.
“Unfortunately, that sort of provocation doesn’t mean much to me anymore.”
“...!”
Ordinarily,
no matter how powerful a noble might be,
it would not be able to control the blood shed by a grand duke at will.
It was not because it lacked power.
The other grand dukes—
even if all three grand dukes who had now vanished gathered in one place, they still would not be able to do such a thing.
...Not now.
'Control over the blood...'
The owner of the blood flowing inside the grand duke’s body had been the grand duke itself.
No matter how much mana another vampire poured into it,
that blood would not obey the commands of one who was not its owner.
Even the blood the grand duke had planted inside Ariella—
because it had remained the grand duke’s even after entering Ariella’s body,
the grand duke had been able to strip away her rank with ease.
But now...
'It was gone.'
An oath was something spoken while infused with one’s own mana.
And the standard by which that oath was fulfilled
was the oath-speaker’s own judgment, free of any lies.
And the grand duke had told Shin Youngjun that it would “give” him its blood.
'Not lend it, and not merely share it.'
Because it had literally promised to “give” it,
the blood that had left its body and begun moving toward Shin Youngjun was no longer the grand duke’s blood.
The moment it left that body, the grand duke’s control over it vanished completely.
'...Until it flows into that man’s body, it is blood with no owner at all.'
And.
If that was the case—
“I really am fortunate, Grand Duke!”
—then even someone who originally had not been the owner of that blood,
who had not possessed even the faintest trace of control over it—
for example,
“To think there’s this much ownerless blood floating around here!”
—even Ariella
could now claim to be its owner.
“How dare...!”
The grand duke ground its teeth,
but still concentrated with everything it had to somehow reclaim control over the blood suspended in the air.
But it was impossible.
'The fulfillment of the oath has already begun.'
Unless that man—
unless Shin Youngjun actually received the grand duke’s blood,
the oath would continue to be forcibly carried out until that transfer was completed.
'I can’t even take back the mana I already offered...!'
It could not kill that man either.
If it had been before the oath’s fulfillment began, that would have been one thing.
But to draw out the blood and then kill him before handing it over would count as breaking the oath.
Even if it wanted to kill him, that could only happen after this oath had first been completed.
In that case,
the path the grand duke had to choose was simple.
'Somehow, I have to get my blood into him.'
The amount did not matter.
If it could just manage to make that man consume even a little of its blood, then the oath would be considered fulfilled.
After that, it would be free to do whatever it pleased.
“When I first received this blood from the Progenitor, I could not properly control the overflowing power.”
In other words—
“Back then... I accidentally broke a great many toys.”
—the existence interfering with the transfer of blood,
Isabella’s toy,
Ariella,
had to be removed.
“This time, it won’t be an accident.”
Kwwwwaaaaaang!!!
“Kgh...!”
The grand duke’s attack struck home, and Ariella’s body lurched violently.
Even though the shadows moving so skillfully had blocked that attack, the impact was enough to make her mind go blank for an instant.
Yes.
She had known for a long time now that they were not opponents it could face through raw force.
Even so, the reason they had attempted something like this...
was not because they were foolish.
'My lord.'
Ariella looked at her fingertips.
At the enormous pool gathering there.
At the grand duke’s blood.
—Kiiiiiieeeek...
Within that pool floating in the sky,
just like those she had devoured before, the souls of the bound let out agonized screams.
The existences that had mixed into Ariella’s body
and diluted her soul.
In the past, Ariella too would have drawn them in without hesitation.
'Urk...'
But now,
the souls that had once diluted her were gone from within her.
The Ariella of now could not even think of drinking that blood.
Just looking at that hideous sight made her stomach churn, and tears threaten to spill from her eyes.
Which was why—
'What I agreed to receive from you was not the grand duke’s blood, was it?'
She had no interest in the grand duke’s blood itself.
Certainly, there was meaning in weakening the grand duke’s power.
But the difference in strength between them was not something that would be narrowed by that alone.
...Here.
To narrow that gap more decisively,
it was not enough merely for the grand duke’s power to weaken.
What was needed was... yes.
'The grand duke’s... cooking!'
Cooking.
Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!!!
And then.
The very instant Ariella thought that—
“...!”
“!?”
A massive wave of light brushed past the place where Ariella and the grand duke had been fighting.
***
When it had first begun, it had been a vast blue light.
But the farther it traveled, the more it turned into a brilliant gray-white radiance.
That radiance had not been aimed at the grand duke or Ariella.
Plop...
That light splashed down into the enormous pool of blood in the sky and mixed with it.
Crack.
And then...
Sarararararararararak!!!
From inside it, white light spread at tremendous speed,
flowing through the countless red droplets floating in the sky.
—Ahh...
The souls bound there
—Our thanks... nothing but thanks...
vanished while offering gratitude.
And then,
the very atmosphere of that red liquid changed completely.
From a hideous crystallization of sin that made you want to vomit just from looking at it,
it became pure power itself, beautiful beyond words, like a jewel.
'I’m sorry.'
And then.
Those beautiful jewels began to move toward Ariella.
Watching that sight, Ariella bowed her head inwardly.
'I have no right to take your lives.'
Though it looked beautiful,
the process by which that power had been created was anything but beautiful.
'Even so, forgive me.'
Even so,
she decided to claim that power.
'Your lives... will be used for the sake of other lives.'
With a soft rustle,
the crimson jewels touched Ariella’s body and sank into her skin as though melting into it.
[Course Meal Prepared with the Full Sincerity of a Hero-Class War Chef]
[Course Name - Life]
No matter how filthy the raw material may once have been, that ingredient had now been prepared and cooked by the hands of a chef...
one who had reached the absolute summit among all chefs on this land.
[A beautiful dish born from the fingertips of a great chef who has surpassed the realm of heroes and now gazes beyond it!]
[Beginning with ordinary meat and vegetables, then moving on to stone and iron, lightning and water, the chef next took hold of the ingredient known as the soul.]
[Though clumsy at first, through extensive experience that cooking skill improved by leaps and bounds.]
[This is the first course meal using ‘soul’ ever created by a chef walking the path of greatness.]
[Because of its uniqueness and rarity, beings throughout the universe would wish to taste this dish even once!]
Even the Ariella of now could eat that dish without issue.
“...Now I finally understand.”
And.
Watching that sight, the grand duke murmured blankly:
“So I was not the only one who chose to walk that hideous path.”
The grand duke’s blood burst out.
The blood that burst forth was refined and sent toward Ariella.
“There was someone besides me... who chose to devour their own kin.”
When it came to skill in handling power,
Ariella had already pulled ahead.
What stood between them now was the difference in pure martial force.
“You intended to take the sister and brother inside me...”
“Ahh...”
And then—
“You came here to devour me!!!”
That gap—
“So what you said was true after all.”
—little by little—
“A taste so exquisite that even any revulsion is forgotten...”
—very, very little by little—
“It truly is a heavenly taste!”
—had begun to narrow.
