<713 – Poor Child (13)>
Bloodline Vladimir.
The newbies had skills that made them boastful.
Growth power.
That’s pretty impressive.
Using the memories and growth contained in the blood they collected, they could unleash combination techniques and enhancements that even the original parties couldn’t demonstrate, all in the form of puppets.
Naturally, the form they take is also free.
“Such tremendous mental power. While humanoid summoners produce anonymous
“No matter what you say, it’s too late. There’s no looking back or letting up now.”
“I even like your audacity to crawl up without knowing your place. You’d fit better as a junior on this side.”
As the blood puppets self-destructed three times in succession, Again let out a maniacal laugh.
“In short, it means I’m gonna kill you!!”
Exploding, freezing, and melting in poison, yet each time they regained their shape.
With Again’s irrational advance, as unyielding as an invincible monster, Vladimir began to feel anxious.
The speed at which the blood forms were consumed was increasingly rapid, and soon enough, a one-hit kill combo was unleashed with each step, yet it still wasn’t enough.
“Why isn’t it working? If I had used this against other students, they would’ve died dozens of times…!”
Inexplicable regenerative abilities.
An unstoppable advance.
The moment Vladimir took a step back, something chilling aimed at her waist.
Gulp.
She thought of being killed by the blade closing in, but it was just Jiang’s finger.
“It’s not your body. Leave it to mana.”
“If it’s reconnaissance, it’s already been active since the start.”
“Raise the concentration.”
Secretly observing the opponent’s mana control, she prepared for an appropriate response.
With Jiang’s advice that this alone wasn’t enough, Vladimir boosted her mana output in an instant.
And then it began to show in her eyes.
The body of the Undead.
The flesh of a student.
Where most of their mana originated from.
“A magic sword…?”
“Right. The essence of it is not a person, but a sword.”
“Correct. So, you understand what that means as well?”
As the magic sword oozed darkness, Again’s body became hazy like mist and suddenly leaped several meters forward to take shape.
The newly formed shape ruthlessly reached out a hand towards Vladimir’s face.
[Vampire Swordsmanship]
[Blood Moon Twelve Blades, Defensive Maneuver]
[Dusk Mist]
Using the Vampire’s unique
From the hand that casually grabbed such a blade, terrifying sparks erupted.
Zyyiing!
Vladimir snapped her fingers with her thumb, unleashing the blood contained in her gloves along with the abilities held within the blood.
[Vladimir’s Special Blood Magic]
[Induction, Bloody Arrow]
[Blood Memory – Mandela’s Celestial Sound]
Celestial Sound. The sound that reaches the heavens touches the heart of man.
Since Mandela didn’t have a talent for such a tone, she exercised a different kind of celestial sound.
By storing a thousand sounds and releasing them all at once, she disrupted the opponent’s senses.
The sounds of arrows brushing past the ears.
The sound of spears slicing through clothing.
The sound of knives digging into flesh.
The sound of crushing bones.
The sound of flames burning the face.
Sounds coming from all directions trigger primal fear and disrupt the body’s reactions.
Amidst the flood of sensory disturbances, the blood arrow struck directly into Again’s torso.
[Combined Technique]
[Form Alteration]
If the secret of Again’s robust body lies in its transformation, then alter that body to her own taste.
Using the blood that penetrated and settled in the body as a medium, Again’s form was altered to grasp the blade and handle of the magic sword with two hands.
Vladimir’s improvisation was impressive.
For a moment, she managed to corner Again.
Slshhh.
“Uh…?”
The sound penetrated the skin.
This time it wasn’t the sound of celestial sound.
It was the sound of Bloody Marionette piercing through Vladimir’s abdomen.
A shadow looming from Vladimir’s feet rose up towards Again.
A black shape covered the surface of the shadow.
It was also a part of Again shaped by the magic sword.
“You were careless, newbie.”
Bloodline Vladimir.
Was this really all there was to it?
Again smirked, now showing no intention of hiding as he stretched out long, sharp shadow claws with his fingertips to prepare a finishing blow.
A variety of forms that don’t get trapped in the framework of humanity.
This was a difference in battle experience, supported by the understanding of all forms that surpassed Vladimir’s understanding of humanoid shapes.
Taking others’ experiences and making them her own.
In that regard, Vladimir resembled Again.
But Vladimir had not yet taken another step forward.
“A being confined and dependent on being human cannot defeat a monster that devours humans. It’s time for the end.”
The shadow claws from Again shot toward Vladimir’s heart.
Fwiisshhh!
This time, it truly targeted the vital point.
The damage was immense.
However, the one pierced wasn’t Vladimir.
‘Me, I’ve been caught from behind…?’
With mana control nearing perfection, detecting all surrounding existences while performing complex combat, she was adept at using Again’s humanoid and shadow forms freely.
Her battle intelligence at its peak led her to reflect on why she allowed a surprise attack despite such extraordinary skills.
And she realized.
Where her blind spot was.
‘The moment I landed a decisive blow on Vladimir.’
When she secretly put forth the shadow and was intoxicated with victory at that very moment.
Again’s vigilance had slackened.
With the speed of her recovering shadow being equal, she failed to notice the presence of the genuine assassin that stealthily followed, mimicking the mana aura of the shadow.
The shadow reached the vicinity of Again and awaited.
Until her hand could strike a decisive blow against Vladimir.
Coming back around to not be defenseless.
Between the magic sword and Again’s humanoid form.
A dagger was thrust into the connection point separating the two.
Thud!
Even the shadow she tried to retrieve would no longer return.
Using the blood leaking from the abdominal wound with [Blood Magic], Vladimir grasped the shadow claws.
She trembled in pain but smiled.
“You were careless, senior.”
“…!”
After the shadow form, the humanoid form was also caught in the mages’ control magic with [Freeze][Stop][Restrict], unable to return.
Even after several attempts, the second years maintained that state as Vladimir had deemed it a fake, utilizing their opportunity while the strength slipped away from them.
To create the perfect burst time for Jiang lurking in the back.
[Decisive Stab]
[Ambush]
[Rapid Strike]
[Critical Hit Enhancement]
[Cut Tendon]
[Sever Nerve]
[Slash Skin]
Various gruesome functions activated simultaneously, breaking through the defensive function of the joint connecting the magic sword and humanoid form.
[Soul Binding Again]
[Stage 4 Contract Domain]
[Reverse Area]
It was a crisis.
Had his body not ignored all restrictions and breached the defenses of the second years, he wouldn’t have been able to return to his basic form connected to the magic sword.
‘To think I’d stab my senior. Then I can’t use it.’
Naughty children need punishment.
Just the priority has shifted.
I’ll sweep up everything starting from Jiang.
The shadow quicker than Again’s hand flew toward Jiang’s neck.
[Titos Solar Beam]
And being pushed back from the light that came at an even faster speed than what was drawn, he was sent tumbling in the opposite direction.
“Graah?!”
The light was powerful.
To a magic sword that sees the world not with sight but mana, it was even more fatally strong.
Again’s advanced mana scan technique, recognizing the immense amount of mana contained in Titosso’s Solar Beam, was like looking directly at the sun.
Just as the eyes looking at the sun go blind, the sensory organs observing mana became paralyzed.
The shadow hand once more was pushed back toward Vladimir and the students, while the humanoid’s flesh was ultimately cut down by Jiang’s dagger.
Clang!
The unprotected descent of the magic sword was ruthlessly struck by a force of overwhelming power.
When the senses returned, Again witnessed the sight of Hestia’s hammer smashing him to pieces.
“Did you think Vladimir was going to die?”
“I didn’t.”
“Was she someone who wouldn’t matter if she died?”
“I mean, it doesn’t matter. But that wasn’t the reason you could defeat her.”
“Then what was the reason?”
Having died once and resurrected, the magic sword shattered even more easily.
Again, struggling to rise, laboriously asked.
Curiosity was a virtue of a student.
In that moment when death was upon him.
Again could confront pure curiosity, placing the desires and malice of the magic sword aside.
Jiang answered that curiosity without reservation.
She too had been drawn by such curiosity to become friends with Oknodie, friends with Titosso, and adapt as a student of Gift Academy.
“Vampires don’t die just because they bleed. Oknodie told me.”
“Is that so? I was the one lacking experience…”
“Now it’s my turn. How did you become the strongest among the class 980 seniors with such mediocre strength?”
The magic sword snickered.
“At that time, we were all second years, and the experiences we accumulated outside determined the magnitude of our power. I could always crush everything into an area convenient for showing off.”
“You fool. If you had developed a bit more, you could have had the power to take down even professors on your own.”
Again was too strong to become any stronger.
Because he sought dominion over growth.
Jiang took the last moments of Again as a lesson.
One should not be complacent with accumulated skills.
The moment you become satisfied and stop, wanting to dominate, is the moment you become the second Again.
“Still, I couldn’t help it. The whispers of Sadie.”
With a crackle sound, the magic sword that was splitting began to shatter completely.
