Chapter 108 Now You See Me

Night was about to fall, but the tranquility it usually brought was nowhere to be found. The clash of metal against metal still echoed across the fields bathed in the red glow of sunset.

Four swords streaked through the air, only to be deflected or dodged by Ily. Whenever the attacks threatened to overwhelm her, she used short-range teleportation to put a few meters between herself and the blades.

Although the visiare did not appear tired, it was clear to anyone watching from the sidelines that she was on the defensive.

"Weak!" Cerys complained, stomping the ground beside Nerez. "How can she be so weak?!"

"Don't be so hard on her, Cerys. Remember, Ily specializes in espionage, not direct combat. If you want to see a visiare using their full potential, you'd have to look at Osvel," Nerez pointed out.

"I think he'd be just as weak…" the redhead replied.

"Well, compared to you, I suppose there wouldn't be much difference between the two…" Nerez shook his head before turning his attention back to the duel. "In any case, something tells me those two have only been testing the waters so far."

"At this rate, they'll still be testing the waters tomorrow," Cerys complained again, crossing her arms.

But as if Octifer had heard her, all four of his swords began to glow with an ominous red light.

"It would be rather rude to keep your two companions waiting much longer," the vampire progenitor remarked with a lopsided smile. "What do you say we take this up a level?"

The four swords spread out around Ily until she was surrounded on all sides, then shot toward her at once.

"Hmph! Fine by me! I'll show you that numbers don't always win battles!" Ily replied with a smile of her own.

The moment the visiare finished speaking, she vanished completely from sight.

!!

The four swords struck the spot where she had disappeared, causing a massive explosion that sent an enormous cloud of dust billowing into the air.

But once it dispersed, Ily was still nowhere to be seen.

"She didn't disintegrate. She was already gone before the explosion," Octifer observed, intrigued. "Invisibility?"

In the distance, Nerez and Cerys calmly watched the dust cloud dissipate, revealing nothing but the crater left behind by the explosion.

"Despite everything, Ily is still the leader of Mirror," Nerez remarked, one hand on his chin. "It's hardly surprising she can use that skill."

It's just that, with her, it's easy to forget she even has it. Especially after things like that time she ended up running naked through the inn…

"That's a rather cowardly tactic," Cerys pointed out. "But I have to admit it's effective."

"Cowardly…"

…

The vampire progenitor continued scanning the area without wiping the smile from his face, his swords hovering menacingly over the battlefield.

"Simply turning invisible isn't enough to escape my senses," Octifer said at last as his gaze settled on a patch of flattened grass. "There you are!"

All four swords shot off again, racing toward the spot Octifer had turned to face.

"Well, it's only natural to forget the previous trick when you're shown a new one…" Nerez remarked as Cerys looked at him curiously.

His meaning quickly became clear when the swords sailed straight past without hitting anything.

!!

"Agh!"

Instead, two large wounds had opened in the vampire's chest. Ily had teleported while remaining invisible and driven both of her blades through Octifer from behind.

"Truly cowardly and in poor taste, but like I said, effective," Cerys remarked again, nodding to herself.

"I'll tell Ily that's a compliment," Nerez replied with a smile. "Although, of course, a couple of stab wounds aren't much against a vampire progenitor."

Octifer's swords shot toward his back, forcing Ily to leap away as she reappeared. Using the skill that had given Mirror its name at the same time as teleportation was exhausting, after all. Not many visiare could manage both.

As soon as the swords were pulled from his body, Octifer regenerated without difficulty, leaving behind nothing but holes in his clothes.

"My, I've always had great respect for the visiare," Octifer remarked with a laugh. "But I didn't expect to find myself in this kind of trouble."

"Trouble?" Ily asked with a smile of her own. "For someone who's in trouble, you don't look very worried."

At that moment, Octifer pointed toward the sky with his index finger.

"Don't you think the full moon is beautiful tonight?" he asked with a broad smile. "It seems Selene is pleased with recent events in Phatar."

!!

"Tonight…" Ily repeated to herself.

Indeed, night had already fallen.

Vampires in this world are quite different from traditional vampires. For one thing, they can live in sunlight. In fact, the very name "vampire" was something Nerez had let slip, and it simply stuck. Even so, they do have a strong affinity with the night. Through Corenio and Munia, they share a drop of blood with the goddess of the moon. Under her influence, their power increases dramatically.

Their original name was Children of the Night for a reason.

"It's true that I'm the youngest and weakest vampire progenitor," Octifer remarked, his smile widening even further. "But even I can show you the difference between a normal vampire and a vampire progenitor."

The vampire's body seemed to take on a glow reflected from the moon itself.

"Did you know that although it's fainter, a shadow cast by moonlight is far more powerful than one cast during the day?"

As he spoke, his shadow stretched out to join those of the four swords floating around him.

"Shadow skills aren't really my specialty, to be honest… but I can at least strengthen my original skill, Sword Army."

"Sword Army?" Ily asked with a smug look. "I don't know of any army with only four soldiers."

At that, Octifer burst out laughing.

"You're absolutely right! My sincerest apologies! In truth, I always travel with carts loaded with swords, but you see, I wasn't prepared for a battle of this magnitude during my journey to spread faith in my beloved lord."

"Don't call him beloved! But really… I don't even want to imagine what it would've been like to fight all those swords at once. After all, vampire progenitors really can't be underestimated…"

"Don't worry, though," Octifer said, spreading his arms. "These four swords will feel like a real army now."

"Honestly, I was expecting a difficult battle," Ily replied with a sigh. "But to think I'm actually going to have to use the ace up my sleeve…"

"Absolutely not! That's enough!"

!!

Without warning, Cerys appeared behind Ily, startling both her and Octifer. Grabbing the visiare by the collar, she hurled her through the air.

Ily flew several meters, but fortunately Nerez was there to catch her in his arms.

"M-My lord!" the visiare exclaimed, blushing as she immediately lost all interest in the battle.

"Cerys says the village tavern will close if we arrive too late," Nerez explained with a smile as he carefully set Ily down on the ground. "I'd rather not spend the night here either."

In the distance, Octifer regained his composure, but a bead of sweat ran down his cheek.

"I have no objections," the vampire replied, although his gaze alternated nervously between Cerys and the enormous scythe that had appeared in her hand. "Changing the order of the factors doesn't change the product. It makes no difference to me who goes first."

"I don't know what you're talking about, but let's get started already," Cerys said, pointing her scythe at him.

***

It may have lasted only a moment. A few farmers saw a massive explosion of fire in the distance, but when nothing else happened, they eventually went back inside their homes. After all, it wouldn't have been the first time some adventurers had defeated a monster after dark or something akin to that.

Tranquility quickly returned to the surrounding area.

At the epicenter of the explosion, however, a figure could be seen buried headfirst in the ground, surrounded by scorched grass. Only his butt and legs stuck out, leaving him in a rather humiliating position.

As soon as Nerez and Ily approached, Cerys grabbed one of his legs and gave it a firm pull, yanking the unfortunate vampire out of the ground. Octifer spat out a mouthful of dirt before gasping for breath.

"Well?" Cerys asked. "Are you going to apologize for making things up, like claiming you're the god of death's confidant?"

"And for acting so familiar with him! A-And for talking so much about love! Apologize for that too!" Ily added.

After Cerys let go of him, Octifer dropped to his knees before the three of them and immediately prostrated himself.

"My sincerest apologies! It was never my intention to make it seem as though I were Lord Nereziel's confidant!" the vampire said, desperately trying to explain himself. "My only intention was to make his greatness known to the people, I swear! My devotion is true and pure, I promise!"

Nerez stepped forward and placed a hand on the redhead's shoulder.

"You heard him, Cerys, Ily. I think you can forgive him now," he said before looking down at the preacher on the ground. "Octifer, if you want to spread faith in the god of death, that's fine, but do it in your own words. Don't mess with people's minds."

"I promise!" the vampire exclaimed, bowing his head. "And you're right! Nereziel's sheer greatness is more than enough; there is no need for my insignificant charm!"

No, that's not what I said…

"Though really… I've never encountered anyone so powerful. It's hard to believe, but perhaps not even Jubile could defeat you. It didn't feel at all like I was fighting a being of flesh and blood," Octifer said, looking at Cerys as he got to his feet.

At that moment, his gaze settled once more on the enormous scythe, then on the twintailed redhead wielding it, and finally on Ily.

"Wait…" Octifer murmured, taking a step backward. "Cerys… a scythe… that level of power… a visiare…"

Then his gaze slowly shifted toward Nerez, who looked back at him with mild curiosity before realizing what the vampire progenitor was trying to say.

With a smile, Nerez shrugged and released the aura he always kept hidden.

!!

At that moment, an immense pressure descended upon everyone present. Ily took several steps back, and even a bead of sweat ran down Cerys's temple. In that moment, it wasn't Nerez standing beside them, but Nereziel.

Octifer's eyes went wide as saucers as he backed away several steps, even farther than Ily had. He tried to say something, but only managed to babble. Finally, the vampire progenitor began foaming at the mouth and collapsed backward, unconscious.

…

…

…

"Doing that from the beginning would've been a lot faster," Cerys remarked, looking down at the unconscious body at her feet.

***

For such a small tavern, and the only one in the village at that, the place was remarkably lively. There was no shortage of music, drink, or laughter.

Perhaps the recent news that the conflict with the undead had ended with the fall of Galen had helped. At least, that was what the newly crowned King Valerius had announced.

"Did you hear? The royal guard was defeated by a single woman."

"Yeah! They say the entire castle fell in a matter of minutes. Not even the kingdom's heroes called in by the king could do anything."

"Ha! I heard she was so beautiful that just looking into her eyes was enough to make you fall at her feet! Maybe there wasn't even a fight!"

"Always such a pervert… Rumor has it she was a vampire progenitor. Can you believe it?"

"That would explain why peace came the moment the king took the throne… The vampire progenitor was with him, after all!"

"Anything that puts an end to the war and lets me focus on my crops is good enough for me. I don't care if the king sold his soul to Nereziel himself."

…

"Was it really okay to leave Octifer lying there? I feel a little responsible…" Nerez asked with one hand pressed to his temple as he tried with all his might not to focus on the conversation at the next table.

"More than fine!" Ily replied, looking happier than usual. "We hid him in the bushes, so nothing will happen to him."

Well, it's true that not just anyone can hurt a vampire progenitor…

"What are you two talking about?! Hic! You're wasting time! Hic!" Cerys exclaimed as she gulped down beer from a full tankard. "Because of that bastard… Hic… We got here late! There's barely any time left to drink…! Hic!"

"I think you've managed just fine…" Nerez replied with a sigh.