“Is that really… Aria?”
Selin’s face turned as pale as someone who had seen a ghost.
I fixed my gaze on her face and, in a show of unnecessary bravado, raised the corners of my mouth as I decapitated the soldiers who were interfering with our heartfelt reunion.
“That’s right, it’s the real deal. This is Aria, the one you dragged to the Luminous Kingdom’s Palace~”
It was amusing to see her pupils trembling, so I answered dramatically and cheerfully, only to have Selin shut her eyes tightly.
Meeting the very person she had reported to the Luminous Kingdom must be quite the emotional experience, huh? I can’t imagine it feels good.
But when a human has a vampire in front of them and they close their eyes, they deserve to get hit.
The moment Selin shut her eyes, I lightly pushed off the ground and approached her, reaching out my arms.
“Wait—!”
An ordinary human would never be able to react at such speed. However, a brilliant light flashed, and Selin’s body moved dramatically as if time had accelerated, escaping my line of sight.
‘Quick.’
I shot the blood beneath Selin’s feet upwards. Like a rainstorm played in reverse, the bright red liquid moved upwards, piercing everything in between.
Unfortunately, one imperial soldier within my realm of influence was caught up in it, collapsing as blood gushed from the holes all over his body. However, Selin remained standing perfectly fine except for a single wound on her right foot.
“Looks like you’re quite strong after all.”
As I moved my body, I used defensive magic to protect myself, sending off blood bullets with a wave of my hand that were almost impossible to track with the eye.
The movements were incomparable to the knight who had just done nothing but die. I was awakened to the fact that there levels among knights.
Well, Selin had been Plona’s protector, so I guess she couldn’t be weak.
It can’t be said that strength and experience are proportional, but the Luminous Kingdom wouldn’t have so foolishly placed a promising recruit like Plona to be trained by some ordinary guy.
“You must be holding a grudge against me.”
What was the intent behind that question?
I don’t know. Maybe she felt guilty now and thought she had gone too far, or perhaps she still believed she was right, yet just found it unpleasant to face me.
‘But, who cares.’
Suddenly, my interest plummeted.
Selin Soleis was a person who had the power to change my life. Honestly, I thought I’d feel some kind of strong emotion, be it rage or hatred, when we met again.
But surprisingly, rather than resentment, I didn’t feel any particular emotion at all.
Maybe I was let down because she didn’t come off like a villain drawn on a board. I still held malice and revenge towards humans, but concerning the individual known as Selin Soleis, I felt disappointingly apathetic.
‘Well, I did feel betrayal back then.’
Days spent being tortured in the depths of the Luminous Kingdom. Times when I struggled with the crushing sense of betrayal, believing even those I trusted had abandoned me.
It felt like the world had collapsed. There were moments when I cursed Raul and Selin whenever I felt the cold grip of fear that death was imminent.
But as time passed, standing before Selin now made me realize that those old feelings might not have mattered at all.
Just as I was about to find no meaning in talking to Selin further, a memory came to life: the day I made Plona my subordinate.
The emotions and memories of watching her die trying to save me were brought back.
‘Ah.’
It was evident that I could no longer have special feelings for humans. I couldn’t harbor any strong emotions towards them anymore.
Even now, it felt somewhat similar to then. Just feeling a bit uncomfortable, nothing more.
No human would genuinely hate an insect that bit them, dedicating their life to revenge.
Of course, one might get annoyed, but reasons and emotional exhaustion when dealing with humans would only lead to fatigue for myself.
“Not really.”
The relief outweighed any sense of resentment.
I had carried guilt and a sense of indebtedness for not genuinely crying over Plona’s dedication.
I feared that losing something important to me would prevent me from keeping the promise to repay my people.
But if it was just because they were human, and there was no other reason, then that’s fine.
That alone proved I hadn’t fallen so far as to see everything in the world merely as tools, irrespective of species.
I found it strange that these thoughts had been running through my mind.
Looking back, if I had only cared for my own safety until now, I wouldn’t have paid attention to the bottom line or anything else.
In the slight chance that the afterlife wasn’t just reincarnation, I would undoubtedly be someone who would fall into hell just for everything I’ve done until now.
I wouldn’t deny that something inside me had broken. It was too late to fix it, and I had no will to mend it.
If I had been alone, I would have continued living that way forever.
But I had debts to repay, and there were people I wanted to protect.
Now, whether broken or not, I had resolved to move forward.
Not just concerning my own body, but there was a burden I had sworn to carry.
Even if I couldn’t accept it emotionally, I was determined to see it through out of a sense of duty.
However, I could clearly state that as long as it’s not just humans, I would be able to accept them with sincerity, not hypocrisy; that fact itself was a small yet certain solace.
By being able to confirm this, my reunion with Selin could be considered meaningfully sufficient.
There weren’t many humans with whom I shared deep exchanges to the level I could compare my changing feelings.
Moreover, looking back, Selin didn’t betray me nor did she say anything wrong, did she?
They don’t call decapitating enemies on the battlefield betrayal.
I now acknowledged that I wasn’t a being capable of coexisting peacefully with humans, and Selin was just unaware of my identity. Technically speaking, she wasn’t in the vampire’s camp from the start, meaning it wasn’t betrayal by strict definition.
It was merely a story of how I was overly innocent and foolish back then.
With that bitter conclusion, I quickly bit the end of the glove on my left hand and pulled it off to bare my hand against Selin’s blade.
Schick, the clean blade sliced through my palm.
Selin, seemingly startled by my unexpected action, quickly pulled back. Just taking a step back showed she had some sense.
“Still, this needs to be settled.”
It was time to close the chapter of the past to move forward.
Whether I resent Selin or not, it doesn’t matter much. After all, to me, all humans are the same.
However, there were a few humans who carried a slightly special significance.
For example, Cardinal Benelian Lior, who mocked and trampled on my wish for coexistence and tried to kill Plona and me using inquisitors; Raul, who awakened my identity as a vampire; and Pope Argo Servinus, the head of the Luminous Church.
Though all humans might seem the same to me, those individuals were special. Raul was dead, but the others were very much alive.
Due to their symbolic meaning rather than emotional factors, they were individuals I had to prioritize and address, without exception.
And Selin Soleis was included in that list. She had been the one to twist the first thread of my distorted fate.
The knight Selin Soleis would die here today.
A wave of crimson blood surged like a tidal wave, already having claimed thousands of lives, hunting Selin as if it were a sentient being.
As the dazzling white light flickered, droplets of blood spiraled out of my control and scattered on the ground.
But I had no reason to stop while using blood magic. I leapt into the wave and pressed Selin directly.
“Ugh!”
The torrent of blood turned into a spear targeting only Selin.
Crack! As Selin twisted her body to dodge my hand aimed at her heart, her left shoulder burst open as if it had been pierced from behind.
I caught droplets of blood swirling in the air with my tongue.
A delightful taste coursed up my spine.
Indeed, she was worthy of being a knight of the higher order. Just wetting my tongue with a single drop sent warmth spreading throughout my body.
“This is—”
I pressed on without losing momentum.
Breath and pulse.
The contraction and relaxation of blood vessels due to muscle tension.
Read and anticipate. While Selin was certainly strong for a human, she paled in comparison to Grand Duke Jeil Helraig who had recently joined.
Selin’s right knee buckled. I raised my fist diagonally from below, aiming directly for her solar plexus.
Bam! Selin’s body folded in half, splattering blood and flesh with shattered armor debris.
Before I knew it, the priests had begun to provide support behind us.
But while Selin was benefiting from healing and enhancement spells, I felt a subtle weight accumulating in my limbs which didn’t hinder me.
‘That’s annoying.’
It didn’t bother me much, but it was definitely crossing the line for a mere human to heal injuries during battle. Real-time regeneration felt very much like a privilege of vampires, don’t you think?
Am I being hypocritical? What would you do if I was?
I pulled shadows from within a 10-meter radius and shot them up to the sky. The divine magic that was flying to us collided and canceled out, causing the slowly healing wounds on Selin to reopen.
“Want to beg for your life?”
“Knights don’t drop their swords even in the face of death.”
“Oh, really.”
Consistently boring humans.
Clang! The thin red thread made from my blood swiftly moved upward, severing Selin’s wrist, making her sword fall to the ground.
I stomped on her knee to prevent any escape, crushed the bones, and brought my blade close to her neck.
She wriggled her torso in resistance, but as I lightly pressed an arm lightly below her heart from behind, a cracking sound near her ribs signified her struggle waning.
The warm, soft flesh brushed comfortably against my fangs.
Just as I was about to sink my teeth into Selin’s neck, I noticed Plona was coming this way.
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