< Vampire, Fairy, and Experiment (3) >
With various dimensions in existence, the names used to call those who had reached the heights of transcendence differed from place to place.
Current Realm, Grand Master, Seer, Overlord, Grand Magia, Immortal, and so on.
Although there were certain differences in the details, they all shared a commonality of having surpassed some limits and redefined their own status.
Whether it was through long rigorous training to carve out a new level, wielding special power with significant prestige, or inheriting the legacy of bloodlines accumulated over long ages.
Those who reached transcendence in their own ways ruled the peak in any world, and Earth, being a crossroads of numerous dimensions, was no exception.
‘Overwhelming power is essentially synonymous with authority.’
However, naturally, even among those who had crossed barriers, there were still levels of difference.
Just like how the class top student in high school may end up being the bottom of the class at a prestigious university, hierarchies exist everywhere, don’t they?
‘And the awakened ones on Earth generally have their shortcomings compared to powerhouses from other worlds.’
Indeed, since the power obtained with the help of the system was relatively easy, it was inevitable that there were slight deficiencies in mastery and other areas.
To put it bluntly, they could be seen as mass-produced beings.
‘Of course, my avatars also gained their powers with the help of the system.’
However, Harley, who had evolved through repeated transformations and embraced ‘madness’ as a living entity, and Harris, who had reached a new level by merging with nature and learning martial arts from the Ganghwan Realm as the origin of the World Tree…
The depth of the power they held within was far too great to be lumped together like that.
With just the two of them, they could easily take care of whatever remained of those present.
Moreover, Heinz II, who was similarly among the upper echelon in the realm of transcendence, was now witnessing another upheaval.
Hoo— Hoo—.
His breath quickened.
A thick mist of blood mixed in with his exhalation slowly spread through the air.
He stood before the remnants of the Duke, which had gradually turned to ashes, taking a deep breath and desperately trying to reign in the boiling power within him.
Naturally, the Duke, who was strong enough to contend with him, could not be recruited into his ranks.
All Heinz could do was siphon all the blood.
Not that he ever expected anything, so he did not hesitate to proceed with the work.
‘This, I had an inkling, but…’
Just then.
He found himself unable to move freely due to a backlash more forceful than anticipated, struggling to stabilize his energy right there.
Had Harley and Harris not been smoothly controlling the situation, it would have likely turned into quite a predicament.
‘If that were the case, I would have to summon release or something… Ugh!’
The blood coursing through him writhed as if it had become a separate life form.
The “Master of Blood,” which was his very foundation, intensely activated, starting to affect all related skills.
“Hybrid Evolution,” “Blood Mystery,” “Refined Blood Essence,” and more…
All the skills intertwined with one another, complementing each other’s weaknesses, and grew even further.
By this point, it was only natural that a transformation in his physical form would follow.
Crack— Snap! Crunch!
Time passed considerably.
Finally, as the battles raging elsewhere gradually came to an end.
《Collecting new vampire factors. Due to the influence of the special skill “Hybrid Evolution,” the existence of the individual becomes more pronounced.》
《The achievements held by the individual have reached a critical point.》
Text lines emerged before his eyes.
No, the notification window did not stop there.
Soon, several more lines scrolled up beneath the initial text.
《The individual’s all abilities explode in enhancement.》
《The individual achieves growth due to meeting conditions. The special skill “Blood Desires” evolves into “Origin Regression.”》
And following that.
As something within Heinz expanded as if it was about to burst—.
《The individual awakens with the race value changing to ‘Vampire (Pureblood).’》
He finally achieved what he wanted.
*
Ugh…
“Wow, you really tried to run away. If it wasn’t for the barrier, I might have almost missed you, huh?”
From between the densely packed trees, the groans of the dying and the rough voice of a man emanated together.
Crack!
Then, soon after a terrifying sound of something shattering echoed, a gigantic barbarian holding something in one hand swaggered through the bushes.
And that man, who had reverted to his original form, Harley, meticulously gathered the corpses of the victims, including what he was holding, while surveying the surroundings again.
‘Thanks to this, I could secure a ton of materials for Hans. All top quality too.’
Additionally, being able to significantly reduce the Buncheon Society’s strength during this opportunity was a major harvest.
Little did they know that they would end up trapped in a barrier they set up and hunted down.
Isn’t this what you call karma?
“Let’s see, what to do now…”
Harley, still wearing a beast mask pulled deeply over his head, scratched his chin.
In the past, he would have immediately stuffed his face full of meat to replenish energy right after a fight, but now that he could expend madness instead, his immediate hunger wasn’t too overwhelming.
If he set his mind to it, he could continue fighting right at this moment.
“… I should take care of the aftermath.”
However, destruction was Harley’s specialty; he wasn’t much help with other matters.
Given the current situation, someone with utility wasn’t him but rather another individual.
In a location slightly distant from the center where he was.
‘Hmm.’
Harris, who leaned against a tall tree, gently brushed his fingers over the vibrant spirits that had manifested around him, then slowly nodded.
‘It’s over.’
He stroked the colorful spirits around him and turned his gaze back to the barrier still enveloping the entire forest.
‘That’s something extraordinary as well. Despite such a significant battle occurring inside, it’s still maintained…’
Although he was now in a nearly crumbling state from accumulated fatigue, the fact that it continued to function amid such an impact was truly remarkable.
Moreover, wasn’t it a custom-built one with an incredibly short activation time?
‘… Is this perhaps the Doctor’s work? If so, then the person currently observing inside through that is…’
With a languid expression, Harris tilted his head slightly.
In the moment when the barrier shook due to the ongoing fight, he sensed that someone unknown was peering through it to observe the inside.
Since he was planning to step out soon anyway, revealing his identity didn’t matter too much, yet the feeling of being observed unilaterally was rather unsettling.
‘…Wait, looking at the state of the barrier, it might be possible to sneak one spirit out.’
Since it was prepared for transcendents, if the barrier had been operating normally, it would have been difficult to do so.
But now, the situation had changed.
Since spirits were non-corporeal beings, it made the task easier.
‘Perfect timing. Plus, if I utilize that well…’
Whoosh—
A gentle swirling gust of wind.
Harris carefully maneuvered his energy to send forth the wind spirit, Pascal, out beyond the barrier.
There was a moment when the barrier seemed to respond, but he ultimately managed to discreetly extract all the spirits using the harmony incantation of “Soft Eight Trigrams Secret Skill (Revised).”
‘Now— please, Pascal. Search the city thoroughly for suspicious places. I’m sure there’s a location connected to this barrier among them.’
The reason they had gone all the way to Europe was entirely due to Heinz’s growth.
And just now, that goal had been completely achieved.
But coincidentally, the existence called the Doctor had just stepped into the target area.
‘With a top-tier spirit like Pascal, it shouldn’t take too long to scour an entire city.’
Finally, a refreshing breeze blew toward Bucharest, the capital of Romania, which was where Heinz originally wanted to go.
*
On one side of the wall, a holographic image continuously regenerated.
From the start of the fight in the woods to its climax, the Doctor stood in place using “Eye of Truth,” staring without blinking at the footage.
Of course, he wasn’t an ordinary person either, so merely that wouldn’t leave him overly shocked, but his bloodshot, completely red eyes were enough to evoke images reminiscent of a horror movie scene.
“… Can he really adjust that massive frame at will? What’s the density like? The base weight seems quite significant… Is he adjusting it by moving the surrounding energies? Looking at the amount of fluctuating energy and the level of ground craters, it easily exceeds one ton. Then what about the internal structure…?”
Huff— Huff—
Moreover, his ragged breathing while frantically murmuring heightened his eerie aura even further.
His wild, glistening gaze fixated on a single person, analyzing them with a demeanour resembling that of a dangerous criminal.
Although he was indeed a criminal.
“… Hmm? What? Is it already over? And what about elsewhere… Tsk, how can things be so pitiful!”
For him, the return of the Buncheon Society’s defeat was more of a point of dissatisfaction than anything else.
He didn’t care for the safety of the European branch anymore.
He simply regretted that he could no longer continue observing the experiment subject.
“I misjudged the Duke entirely! I thought he was at least somewhat useful! To go down so easily… Hmm? What’s that? Ohh…”
As he glanced away from Harley, who had captured his attention throughout the footage, he caught sight of Heinz, facing a significant change just after consuming the Duke.
“What is that…?”
The phantom enveloped in the immense crimson and rich blood magic.
A flash of light sparked in Doctor’s eyes, who had been venting his frustrations.
The situation of a vampire consuming its kin!
Moreover, both predator and prey were rated as extreme monsters at the edge of level 9, weren’t they?
What a sight that would be, truly.
“Ohh… Ohh?!”
Indeed, it was extraordinary.
The unprecedentedly pure and immense blood magic writhed around the vampire at its core, moving wildly.
Yet, the regrettable aspect was…
“Ahh—! No! It’s insufficient! It’s not enough—! I should have been there! If I could have witnessed that directly!!”
The energy was so thick that he couldn’t observe the changes occurring within the body.
Naturally, no matter how excellent the effect of the holographic magical equipment was, there were always some limitations.
And would he truly be able to pierce through such mysteries that could barely be grasped even if faced directly?
“Ahh! To let such an opportunity slip away like this!”
He pounded his chest in frustration, roaring at the top of his lungs.
Nonetheless, throughout this chaos, his gaze remained glued to the screen.
“To have two such delectable experiment subjects…! And I can’t get my hands on them? That foolish Duke messed everything up, ruining everything! When I could have completely drained their blood! Aack—!”
Just when his thoughts were rampaging for a while, they suddenly drifted elsewhere.
Both earlier observations were incredibly intriguing existences.
Then what about the last one?
Curious, he immediately checked another location within the barrier.
“Oh? Ooooh!”
He discovered a being entwined with nature, seamlessly merging through “Eye of Truth,” exclaiming in awe.
“That’s… it’s real! I doubted it, but it truly exists! A being from another realm is here on Earth!”
His eyes, piercing through the truth, spoke for themselves.
That was a being entirely originating from a second dimension, without any interference from transformation abilities.
While he couldn’t discern detailed information due to the opponent’s high level, even this amount was sufficient for now.
“Could it be the fairy race I heard about? I was so disappointed there wasn’t one in my world, yet here it is! What a gift from the heavens!”
The Doctor uttered a breath of astonishment, filled with exhilaration.
However, realizing that he couldn’t acquire these beings right now, he sank into a daze, staring at the screen like a child deprived of a treasured gift.
Three valuable treasures appeared simultaneously, and he couldn’t seize them, a tragedy like no other for him.
His emotions swung wildly, ultimately settling into deep resentment and frustration, as he clutched his chest.
Ugh…
A trickle of blood dripped from his lips and fell to the ground.
As he chewed on his lips, his eyes burned with obsession and desire for possession.
Amidst all this, while the Doctor was so engrossed in the visual display, a slight upward curve appeared at the corner of a certain being’s mouth—the smirk of Harris.
‘Found it.’
In truth, finding the destination wasn’t as easy as he thought.
Bucharest, the stronghold of the Buncheon Society in Europe, was filled with places, including those under barriers, that aroused suspicion beyond measure.
However, by concentrating his efforts solely on Pascal, he had finally pinpointed a location faintly connected to this barrier.
If signals hadn’t been transmitted in real-time, he likely wouldn’t have managed to find it this swiftly.
‘Now then…’
From here on, speed was of the essence.
The newly awakened Pureblood vampire.
It was time for the one and only level 10 vampire on Earth to make his move.
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