Chapter 156

Beings of the Ancient Era (2)

Dragon.

It was a subject of long worship and one of the ancient legends that came from the primordial.

Its massive body was like a mountain, and its scales were hard as armor.

Humans had written many praises for the dragons over the ages.

Fear and awe.

And countless stories that followed.

Ultimately, they regarded it as a sleeping disaster and were wary and afraid of it.

The records of humans that Pluto had verified all contained such contents.

They were endlessly cautious of the beings they did not know.

“Beings that time flows slowest for… How interesting.”

They were as old as human history.

From the human perspective, they must have been afraid of what the dragons had accumulated over many years.

Just as they had feared the progenitor of vampires who did not receive death.

Then, would the old dragons know much about Pluto?

For Pluto, that was also one of her interests in dragons.

“Even if they lived long, they would be weaker than me who received his power.”

Thump. Thump.

Pluto’s steps cut through the snow-covered mountain path.

Every time she took a step, her feet dug deep into the snow.

Walking was not a difficult task, but the occasional coldness made her shiver.

She looked around carefully and kept moving forward.

“Hoo…”

Pluto’s mouth let out a regular stream of white breath as she moved forward.

Even though her blue muffler covered her mouth, the breath did not seem to diminish.

The harsh environment of Alterius was hard for Pluto to get used to.

It was so bad that she admired the Arcrosis and the black mages who lived in the northern part of the continent.

“…”

Pluto’s mind was filled with a longing for warm blood that she had just drawn.

She thought it would feel very good to warm her body while drinking blood.

She preferred human blood over beasts or fairies, if possible.

She regretted that the blood would cool quickly even if she drew it here.

“I wish I could have a cup of warm blood.”

As Pluto expressed her thirst for blood, she heard a rustling sound nearby.

Pluto’s eyes moved to find the source of the sound.

Could it be that she had already encountered a dragon?

With that thought, she chased after the enemy’s appearance, and saw a small white furball in Pluto’s eyes.

Pluto tilted her head slightly at the sight of the furball in front of her.

“…?”

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

The small furball disappeared across the snowfield.

She thought it was a dragon, but it turned out to be an animal.

Pluto shrugged off the trivial situation and turned her head to continue on her way.

Then, suddenly, her bloodlust for warm blood revived.

If she caught that thing now, she could eat warm blood even if it tasted bad.

That’s how far her thoughts went.

“…It seems warm.”

Gulp.

Without realizing it, I swallowed my saliva and moved my steps forward.

My legs started to chase after the animal that ran away, breaking through the thick snow.

Was it because the nameless furball had evolved to survive in the cold?

It moved on the snow without leaving any footprints.

I moved my legs to follow the furball that ran around.

“…”

If I was serious, I could catch it in an instant, but I didn’t bother to hurry or move fast.

I just followed the fleeing furball with a leisurely pace.

It was the steps of a predator chasing its prey.

Feeling anxious by my movement, the furball showed a faster speed than before.

-“Snow.”

Every time I took a step, the distance between me and the furball decreased significantly.

I was the progenitor of vampires, who had outstanding physical and magical abilities among them.

It was not difficult for me to catch up with the beast that wandered in the blizzard.

After chasing the furball for a few minutes, it soon stopped in its place as if it was exhausted.

The creature that ran hard shivered as it stopped.

-“Snow snow snow…”

“See? I told you. It’s better to roast them, right?”

And beyond the furball, there was a narrow cave that barely fit one person.

There was a boy in fur clothes who was roasting meat on a skewer.

He seemed to have cooked something with a lot of fur, as he had spread fur all over the place.

My steps stopped when I saw the boy.

At the same time, the boy also stopped his action of eating meat while talking to himself.

“What is that…”

“…”

I stared at the boy in front of me without a word.

There was some smell coming from him.

One sweet smell.

And one horrible smell.

The sweet smell was the blood of humans that had accumulated for a long time.

And the horrible smell was—-

“Clawsolas. Could she be the saint I’ve been waiting for?”

The horrible smell from him was the kind I hated most in the world.

The fragrance that rose from the dense divine power.

It was a smell that only came from those who had the strongest divine power among humans.

Like the beings called heroes.

Pluto made her decision and pulled out Death Scythe from the air.

A blue aura flickered and wrapped around Pluto’s body, holding the divine weapon.

“…You’re a hero.”

Pluto spoke as she held Death Scythe, and the boy was startled and raised his weapon.

Woo woo woo woo—-

The sword he held shone and shook.

It didn’t look like an ordinary weapon, judging by the energy it felt.

It was undoubtedly a divine weapon that heroes possessed.

“What…? You’re not a saintess, but an apostle? Then you’re not my saintess?”

The one in front of him was a hero.

A weak hero who had not fully awakened his power.

He looked like a novice, full of flaws, from Pluto’s perspective.

It was certain that she could easily overpower him in a battle.

Pluto lifted Death Scythe with a relaxed hand.

The boy was still looking at his sword and talking to himself.

“If you’re an apostle, you’re an enemy that should fall to a hero. Then I should kill you here, right? No need to be careful…”

No, it wasn’t a monologue, maybe he was talking to someone else.

But the main characters of this place were only the two who held weapons.

She didn’t want to watch him make stupid faces and talk to himself forever.

Pluto scattered the mists around her and spoke to the boy in front of her.

“Third Apostle. Pluto Astria.”

“Third Apostle? I’m Philrun, the Hero of Order. You should be honored to fall by my hand.”

Hero of Order.

He introduced himself as such, and he smelled of human blood.

It was a bloodline that could not fly without killing countless people.

He was doing something that suited a vampire like me, but he was a human hero.

He was arrogant and stupid.

“You think I’ll fall? That’s a funny story.”

The progenitor is not a weak being.

Even though I had lost many memories of myself, I still had pride in being a vampire in my heart.

Even without the title of an apostle, I was strong.

Blood magic was transmitted through blood, and only those I chose had received his permission.

My body was also a perfect being as a progenitor.

That’s why the countless ‘defects’ below me had submitted and sworn loyalty to me.

Philrun, who faced me, spoke with confidence.

“No. You can’t beat me. Heroes always find the right thing for them.”

“What an arrogant talk.”

“It’s called confidence. I’ve invested a lot of time for it.”

Swish.

He finished his words and took out a candlestick from his pocket.

The candlestick looked like it was made of gold, and it emitted an extraordinary energy that anyone could see.

He brought the candlestick close to his sword.

I couldn’t help but utter a voice when I saw the candlestick.

“That is…”

“Even if you call yourselves apostles, you’re nothing without the help of the evil god, right?”

“…?”

“This means that you’re no match for me anyway!”

Clang!

The tip of the candlestick collided with Philrun’s divine weapon.

A fierce flame burst out and quickly spread to the candlestick.

The candlestick burned without a single wick, holding a golden flame.

A faint golden wave spread out.

It was a miraculous sight that anyone would marvel at.

“Open your eyes and see!”

Crackle. Crackle.

Colorful waves of light overlapped from the candlestick he held.

The colors that spread from the vivid gold created many harmonies.

The light made stars, and the gold poured out more light.

The glittering lights around them looked holy as if they had received God’s blessing.

“What are you trying to do?”

“Sanctuary Declaration – Auras Saint!”

Under the scattered light, Philrun lifted up the golden flame and shouted.

The lights dispersed and formed a sanctuary.

The smell of the dense divine power made Pluto frown without knowing it.

In the piercing scent of divine power, Philrun declared the goddess’s sanctuary.

As the sanctuary descended on the snowfield, Pluto felt a huge power drain from her body.

“Sanctuary…”

The divine power that filled the surroundings pressed down on Pluto’s body.

It was a kind of power that did not affect the apostle’s power that she manifested.

But it had a strong influence on her aspect as a vampire.

Divine power was the opposite of vampire’s power.

It was so dense that even the progenitor would feel uncomfortable.

“How do you like it? The power of the sanctuary declaration that you taste for the first time?”

“It makes me feel quite unpleasant. The ones with thin blood would have a hard time moving.”

“With this, the help of the evil god is over. Now it’s time to fight fair and square, apostle of the evil god.”

Philrun held out his sword with his free hand.

A golden light glowed in one of his eyes.

Behind him, three pairs of light wings were spread out.

He smiled darkly as he held the shining divine weapon.

He looked like he was imitating the appearance of an angel from mythology.

Of course, if he looked at himself, he had a rather distant appearance from an angel.

“Fair and square…”

The energy he felt from Philrun grew bigger and bigger.

It was a different kind of thing from the divine weapons that apostles used.

Of course, she had no intention of avoiding a frontal fight.

She was Pluto Astria, the great progenitor of vampires.

“You don’t suit that look.”

Pluto’s Death Scythe slowly rose up.

She gripped the divine weapon with both hands and twisted her waist to swing the scythe.

A faint shadow appeared behind Pluto who held the scythe.

Squeak.

The reaper who showed up behind Pluto chuckled and laughed.

“Still, I think it’s better to teach a lesson to a kid who doesn’t know his place.”