Chapter 324: 170. The Sealed Ones (Part Two)

Translated by A Passing Wanderer

Edited by RED

“Ah! W-what’s the matter, Roy? What’s wrong?” Alina hurriedly tried to calm the baby down.

As for me, I could only make a wry expression. This sort of a reaction seemed rather predictable, actually.

I mean, the baby had come face to face with the culprit who had tried to crush him with the huge sword of the Skeleton King, then imprisoned him in the torture chamber later on, too.

Even if he had become an invalid, that instinctive fear of me should still be there in his heart even now.

“It’ll be fine, everything will be fine, Roy...”

“Can you shield the baby’s eyes for a second?” I asked her, but Alina shot me a very wary gaze in my direction, instead.

Laurence, gauging the mood from the side, cautiously reached out and covered the baby’s eyes.

“Hans, Alice,” I called out, and the two of them walked up to us.

They checked Ruppel’s condition before their expressions hardened noticeably. Seeing their reactions was enough for me. It should be fine to listen to their analysis and explanations later on.

I sucked my breath in deeply, before biting my thumb to draw some blood.

When I presented my blood to Ruppel, the baby sniffed the air for a second or two before shaking his head side to side. His small, frail-looking hands tried to push my hand away as if he was rejecting the blood itself.

“...He doesn’t want to drink the blood.”

Alina gasped out in surprise when I muttered that to myself. “B-blood, sire? But, what do you mean by...?”

She pulled the baby closer and stepped away from me.

I asked her, “What does that child eat?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Does he drink blood? Or the usual mother’s milk?”

“...”

Alina tried to read my mood before answering. But Laurence standing next to us did it for her, instead. “He... sometimes consumes meat, sire.”

“Even though he has no teeth?”

“Y-yes. Although it’s only a small amount, he does consume meat. Well, he’s very unique and different from other children, after all...”

“Anything else?”

“He loves holy water as well. For some reason, if he doesn’t consume holy water, he comes down with a strong fever, so... Thanks to that, we have to spend a lot more money than we initially expected, Your Majesty.”

Hans’ expression hardened even further, while Alice’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

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With his testimony, the results were in. Ruppel was no longer a vampire, but something else entirely now.

“What’s the name?”

“I, I’m Laurence, Your Majesty.”

“Not you. The baby,” I asked for the sake of appearance.

“It’s Roy, Your Majesty.” This time, Alina replied first.

I nodded slightly. “How pitiful. This baby will end up experiencing unhappiness throughout his life.”

Laurence and Alina both flinched at that and stared at me.

“With how he looks, others will definitely try to avoid him in the future.”

“No, that won’t happen.” Alina glared at me in anger. “I can’t speak for the others, but Laurence and I will be there for our child. Roy will definitely have a happy life.” She sounded determined, unyielding. “Because, we are family.”

“I see.”

These two were good people. I could see that.

Kirum was responsible for Warping Ruppel away somewhere, which in turn led to him encountering Laurence and his wife. I came to the Kingdom of Frants in order to help Seran, and rather coincidentally, ran into the couple.

But to call this purely coincidental... pieces had fallen into their places just too conveniently. Maybe we really were acting according to the will of the gods or something.

If that was the case, then the gods were probably trying to ‘experiment’ on something here again. There must’ve been a reason for them to facilitate a meeting between me and Ruppel like this, at the very least.

I reached out. Alina stumbled back and tried to get even further away, but I stopped her by grabbing her arm. And then, I placed my hand on the tummy of the baby whose eyes were still covered up.

I needed one final confirmation. If he was really no longer a vampire, then...

“...Then, you won’t die from this, brother.”

I roused up my divinity and drove it into Ruppel/Roy. The divine energy gently wrapped around the baby’s body. The eyes of both Laurence and Alina bulged out of their faces as they stared at this phenomenon.

“Y-Your Majesty...?”

The sound of palpitations could be heard coming from the baby. Although faint, my hand picked up on the aura of life bubbling within.

I looked at the baby and spoke, “You’ve run into really wonderful people, haven’t you?”

The baby’s blackened skin slowly turned to ashes and crumbled away, to disappear from this world.

“Even if this life ends up being short...”

His withered skin slowly filled back up with living flesh, and pure-white skin grew to cover them.

“...I pray that you live a happy life.”

I took my hand away.

Laurence reached out towards the baby with trembling hands, while Alina covered her mouth. The baby in her embrace now looked like a perfectly ordinary infant.

“D-dear, look! Roy, his appearance...!”

“This, this is... A-another miracle...!”

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Tears flooded down their cheeks almost immediately.

“Thank you! Your Majesty, I, I don’t even know how to repay this kindness...!”

“Thank you, sire! Thank you so much!”

The two of them kowtowed on the ground. The citizens watching us from the surroundings became so stunned that they all became speechless.

As for me... I simply stood there, smiling bitterly away.

Their elation would surely be a brief one.

If what Seran said was correct, then Ruppel... No, hang on, that baby named Roy would become the key in halting the advent of the end of the world.

Meaning, their happiness would not last for long.

I addressed Laurence and his wife. “I heard that you were trying to purchase some land and start a farm. However, how about you try another line of profession, instead?”

They looked back at me in some confusion.

“As it turns out, my older sister Lady Seran is looking for a servant at the moment. So, how about it?”

“S-such a thing, sire?! T-thank you, thank you! Oh my goodness... H-how can anyone be this generous...!”

Laurence clamped his hands together and urgently prayed.

I patted him on the shoulder and spoke, “Take good care of that baby. He’s a blessed child. I pray that you all enjoy happy lives.”

“Thank you, sire. I thank you from the bottom of my heart!”

I turned around to leave, but still didn’t forget to quietly whisper into Hans’s ear, “Hey, Hans?”

“Y-y-yes...” he stuttered nervously.

“Do not hold back on supporting this family. Periodically supply them with holy water and your wonder drug. And even if it’s a minor matter, make sure that every single thing happening to them will be reported back to me.”

“...As you command, sire.”

“Oh, and also. This matter regarding my older brother...” I glared deep into Hans’ face. “I’ll have you explain everything in detail.”

**

Somewhere in the northwestern region, in a frozen mountain range filled with glaciers...

Vlandmir, the king of all vampires, slowly rubbed his abdomen. Traces of divinity slowly wafted out from under the bandages tightly wound around his torso.

Whenever that happened, a horrifying pain would besiege him.

The deadly wound inflicted on him by the Holy Emperor, Kelt Olfolse, still remained, although it seemed to have weakened now.

‘How dare measly livestock...!’ Vlandmir burned inwardly in pure rage.

Kelt’s divinity was still eating him away from the inside even now, and it would be a long, long time before the wound was completely healed.

‘However, Kelt you bastard. It’s also over for you.’

Vlandmir had tested Kelt’s strength through direct combat and confirmed that the latter didn’t have too long to live. Soon, the Holy Emperor would depart from this world.

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That would mean the elimination of their biggest hurdle.

No, wait. One other hurdle still stood in their way.

“The Holy King, Allen Olfolse...”

That bastard was still there, the abominable monster who had gleefully slaughtered Vlandmir’s brethren.

The Holy King would no doubt continue to get stronger. The more he hunted vampires, the more powerful he’d get. In the end, he’d be able to acquire a level of strength equalling that of Holy Emperor Kelt. No, maybe even greater than that old man’s!

In that case, there was only one way remaining to fight against the Imperial Family.

Vlandmir shifted his gaze over to what lay before him. Masses of ice covered just about everywhere, while a set of frozen chains could be seen tightly wrapped around a huge steel gateway nestled within all that ice.

There it was, the sealed doorway. There was a noticeable crack running through the door itself now.

It looked as if the sealing wouldn’t endure for long, and it’d come undone on its own.

‘That seal would’ve broken down sooner or later.’

But nothing much would change simply by bringing the eventual outcome a little sooner than scheduled, now would it?

Bang, bang-!

Many vampires were labouring away tirelessly. They had shed their human facades some time ago, and focused solely on breaking all the ice encasing the doorway.

“We’ve been on the losing side for far too long. However, it’ll be a different story from now on.”

The existences allegedly sealed away by the fearful gods a long, long time ago...

“If we can’t have it, then we shall simply destroy it.”

The only entrance created as the doorway to another world, different from the Warp Gate...

“The Jötnar.” Vlandmir slammed the haft of his spear down on the ground. “We shall henceforth ‘borrow’ your strength-!”

Jets of blood rose up from seemingly everywhere, and began destroying the ice encasing the doorway. Large pieces of ice tumbled and fell to the ground. The nearby vampires hurriedly escaped the area.

Demonic energy belonging to the Vampire King snaked itself around the steel door. The seal placed there by the gods gradually weakened, and the once firmly-shut door began to crack open a little.

The frozen chains stretched tautly, and a storm of dust exploded from the open gap.

“Everyone, step back-!”

The sudden storm of sand pounced on the vampires, crushing them flat. Other vampires, trying to escape from that storm, leapt up high, only to be frozen solid in the air by the rush of bone-chilling air.

“H-help me...!”

Next up, a wave of flames exploded out from the open gap in the doorway, utterly incinerating more vampires that had failed to distance themselves away from there in time, reducing them into nothing but piles of ashes.

The Vampire King’s brows shot up and he stumbled back, unbeknownst even to himself. A powerful aura that he couldn’t even dare to get closer to wafted out from the doorway.

The surviving vampires swallowed back nervously and stared at the door.

As this choking silence continued on, the bone-chilling air, blinding dust storm, and the intense heat from billowing flames all rushed out from the open gap of the doorway.

And from the darkness beyond it, a gigantic eye could be seen.

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