“Aaaaaaah!!! What the hell are you doing!!! Let go of me this instant!!!!”
Raul clenched his fist with his other hand and brought it down on my head.
He may not have been a fighter, but Raul’s fists, hardened from torturing countless vampires, shook my skull and sent a deafening shock through my brain.
But I definitely won’t let go. If I miss this chance, it’s game over. With a steely resolve, I tightened my jaw with all my might.
Crack—!!!
“Ahhhhhh!!! My hand!!!”
Raul’s deliberately positioned sharp fangs easily pierced through human flesh. As I bit into a chunk of flesh from his wrist, I was thrown toward the wall while I spat out the meat that had entered my mouth.
Raul, groaning as he clutched his gushing wrist, was clearly mortally wounded, yet I didn’t let my guard down and immediately lunged at him.
I couldn’t afford to give him any time. He was a cardinal of the Luminous Church, known for monopolizing healing magic since ancient times.
If that’s the case, he might have a way to recover even from a severed wrist. I mustn’t let my guard down until I completely cut off his air supply.
“Move! Didn’t I tell you to get out of the way!!!!”
I threw myself at Raul. Despite my wrists and ankles being bound, I struggled as best I could within my limitations to interfere with him.
Waving my unharmed arm, I desperately tried to cover his wounds, but as I relentlessly pressed in, he seemed to conclude that it was nearly impossible to ignore me and perform first aid.
Raul shoved me away with all his strength once again. With no way to maintain my balance on my own, I easily fell to the ground.
Having succeeded in shaking me off, Raul staggered up and grabbed one of the tools hanging from the wall.
“How dare you!! Die!! Just die!!!”
They say a person’s true nature is revealed when faced with a death threat. Despite the situation, I couldn’t help but smirk.
According to what he said, I was supposed to be the necessary sacrifice to usher in the ‘Age of Humans.’
So by that logic, I’m worth even more than Raul. Research can be inherited by someone else, but I’m a key that only appears once every few hundred years.
But now, he was trying to break that key himself. The grandiose words about righteousness and ideals that Raul Carlos once spouted were gone; all that was left was a beast exposing its true face, eager to kill me to survive.
Thud! Thud!!
A heavy weapon slammed into my face. I felt a crack in my skull, and my vision blurred as the world spun around me. I sensed warm blood pouring from my smashed nose.
But so what? Did you think this level of pain would make me give up now?
Lying on my back, I raised my legs with all my strength and kicked Raul’s arm holding the weapon. It was a difficult position to exert force, but the heavy restraint that bound my ankles became an excellent weapon at that moment.
“Ugh!!”
Raul, wobbling, let out an embarrassing scream and lost his balance, crashing to the ground again.
How does it feel to wear those shackles? Heavy, isn’t it?
With my wrists and ankles bound, I knew it would be hard to gain an advantage if Raul managed to stand up again.
Now that he was rolling on the floor, it was the perfect opportunity. I flipped myself over onto my stomach, leaping up, my knees bent, and managed to touch the ground with both feet.
With that, I kicked the ground and launched myself. Becoming a projectile, I finally managed to get on top of Raul and seize the upper hand.
“Stop!! Aah!!! Stop it!!!!”
With my head already bashed in, I charged at Raul’s face with determination to see who would break first.
It felt like my head was on fire, but I grit my teeth and bashed my skull into his face about six times with all my might, causing blood to splatter and his resistance to noticeably weaken.
Of course, my head was made from a memory alloy while his was like a rock; how could he possibly withstand it? I can rebuild even if I break.
Anyway, this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance. I wasn’t going to waste it just because I was feeling cocky.
Quickly, I turned my head and buried it into Raul’s neck, sinking my fangs in. Perhaps instinctively, his struggle intensified.
“Stop! Stoooop……!”
It was my first time biting a human, but I inherently knew just where to bite and how deep to sink my teeth for the perfect fountain of blood to pour out.
The moment I pierced his carotid artery, a sweet taste filled my mouth, and I witnessed a new world.
“Hyah… mmm…”
A sweet tune escaped my lips without my knowledge. It was an electrifying pleasure I had never felt before.
Even as someone who was obsessed with life, for just a moment, I thought it would be okay to die right then and there if it meant I could continue feeling this overwhelming happiness pouring into my brain.
My head was buzzing, and my body was on fire. My heart raced and my lower abdomen felt warm, engulfed in sticky ecstasy.
The pleasure that surpassed all conceivable sensations was overwhelming.
I thought I knew what human blood tasted like the moment I awakened as a Progenitor. But no, it was an act that couldn’t be expressed in mere taste and smell.
Unlike the time it was injected straight into my throat, tasting life directly from the nape of my neck was an exhilarating and incomparable experience that transcended any description of gourmet.
Every cell in my body seemed to echo with delight, wrapping me in sheer fulfillment.
This wasn’t just feeding; this was so much more. Diminishing it to mere sustenance was a grave insult to someone’s very existence.
Ah, I was born for this. I can’t go back now. Once I realized this, no mere animal’s blood could ever satisfy me again.
As if proclaiming that I was born to relish this moment, an intense ecstasy dominated my being, surrounding me with a sense of omnipotence. I sharpened all my senses to savor the afterglow just a bit longer.
“……”
Just a little more. Just a little longer—let me enjoy this happiness.
The fact that Raul’s resistance had completely halted was already a distant thought. I was solely focused on greedily sucking his blood, terrified that this madness of bliss would cease the moment I stopped.
“Ah…”
But as life isn’t eternal, neither is the red blood symbolizing life a never-ending spring.
With Raul Carlos, once a cardinal of the Luminous Church, now reduced to a bloodless corpse, a sigh of disappointment escaped my lips.
What a pity. It’s such a pity that all the blood I could extract from this body was only this much.
I really wondered if this was the end, so I licked the hole in his throat but ended up cleaning it out like a vacuum cleaner until there was nothing left.
I pressed down on his soulless body, as if trying to revive his stopped heart, but to no avail.
“Really… I should have just given in.”
If only I had done it sooner. I’ve already wasted half of my second life.
Because of that pathetic pride of his, that ridiculous desire to live like a human, what was I stubborn about? That worthless resistance only brought me torment and an admission ticket to the execution grounds.
Humans were right. Vampires and humans could never coexist.
The moment I was reborn as a vampire, I no longer had the option to live like an ordinary human.
The moment I confessed to what I was to someone I considered a friend, she arrested me, and those I wanted to be with most were shouting for my execution.
As a result, I, once an innocent citizen without a single crime, had to endure gruesome torture for the absurd reason that I would inevitably become a threat to humanity, even if I had no past offenses.
Though I considered them my kin, they saw me differently. They could not tolerate my existence and deemed me an enemy that must be eliminated—and will continue to do so.
There are no exceptions. My death would be their righteous cause and happiness.
At this moment, humans are probably trembling in fear and confusion, realizing their sacrificial offering has vanished and will spare no efforts to hunt me down.
In a fleeting moment, Plona’s face crossed my mind, and I wondered if she felt the same way, but the thought quickly faded.
The one who sold me out was none other than Selin, a holy knight, just like Plona.
Holy knights are some of a vampire’s greatest nemeses, and I certainly had no intention of becoming a fool to repeat the same mistake caused by baseless faith.
Having nearly died once, I knew too well what believing in human goodwill meant.
Realizing this, I found the truth of life to be quite simple.
The world revolves around those with power. Concepts like conscience and morality are mere illusions for the powerless, desperately hoping for the mercy of those who hold sway.
Just as the Ains sought to crush each other during the wars of old, humans now persecute the Ains and monopolize the continent’s resources.
The cries of the weak go unheard, while a victor’s words become law.
The vanquished are denied the right to protest. The dead say nothing, and once sacrificed to violence, it’s impossible to voice their unfairness; even if their spirit remains, there’s no one to hear their complaints.
The only thing one can rely on is their own strength. The weak, dependent on the mercy of others, are swept away like weeds by a strong man’s whims.
Finally, I understood precisely how to survive.
I don’t want to die. I want to live, even if it means giving up my humanity.
If they want to kill me, then I will survive by killing them.
If humans want to kill me, then I will survive by killing all humans.
If the world wants to kill me, then I will wipe out everything in the world and create a place for me to exist.
Before I become the one who’s robbed, I will become the one who robs.
I will kill before being killed, drink blood and grow strong enough that no one will dare touch me.
Yeah, that’s right. I’ll gladly become the monster I always wished to be.
I am the Progenitor of Vampires. I am the nemesis of humanity, and humans are my foes.
Watch from hell, Raul. I’ll send everyone your way soon enough, so they can enjoy the era of humans you sought.
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