Chapter 176: Filthy Beast

Koya blinked.

It had been a whole day since the Mid-term examinations had been concluded, and instead of resting or celebrating like a normal student, he had come straight to this location.

The ruins themselves had been incredibly difficult to find… hidden deep within layers of abandoned infrastructure in the Outer Zone, accessible only through a series of underground passages that most people didn’t even know existed and this particular chamber had been locked behind some kind of old magical wall that had only responded when he’d placed his hand against it and channeled his mana into it.

But that wasn’t the truly surprising part.

What had been hidden behind that wall… what had been sealed away for god knows how long… that was the shocking discovery.

It was a woman, perfectly preserved within a massive block of crystalline ice.

She had beautiful silver hair that cascaded past her shoulders and striking crimson eyes that looked almost exactly like Victoria’s though this woman was noticeably smaller in stature, so maybe Victoria’s younger sister or some other relative?

Now that woman had somehow broken free from the ice, woken up, and immediately attacked him while screaming something about him being the “Human God.”

Whatever the hell that was supposed to mean… What was that supposed to mean?…

The slash tore through the air with absolutely lethal intent, moving so fast it was creating visible distortions in space itself.

One of Koya’s feet touched the ground as he immediately, instinctively activated Frame Skip without even consciously thinking about it with pure survival instinct taking over.

The world around him slowed to an absolute crawl with time itself seeming to freeze as everything was suddenly drowned in oppressive, all-consuming darkness… the signature environment of the Frame World, that mysterious dimensional space where the fundamental building blocks of movement and animation existed as discrete manipulable units then the frames began appearing all around him.

Translucent rectangular panels materialized in the air at regular intervals, floating in the darkness like windows into frozen moments of time. Each one represented a single “frame” of movement… a snapshot of reality that Koya could physically interact with and use to traverse space in ways that completely defied normal physics and the laws of motion.

The frames glowed with faint blue light around their edges, creating a path through the darkness.

He didn’t activate Frame Skip at its absolute full power… doing so would’ve drained far too much mana far too quickly, leaving him completely vulnerable afterward and he didn’t have that much mana to burn so instead he partially existed in both the Frame World and the regular world simultaneously.

This partial activation gave him just enough speed and mobility to escape while conserving his magical reserves for the inevitable extended battle ahead.

Koya walked forward through the slowed-down space with careful steps.

He reached Disguise Master’s position in what felt like several seconds to him but was actually less than a tenth of a second in real time, lifted the terrified woman up by her waist with one arm in a smooth motion and then used some frames as a literal staircase somehow… climbing upward step by step with both legs, ascending higher and higher until he was well above the trajectory of the incoming spatial slash.𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

He could actually see the slash now in this slowed state… a thin line of distorted space cutting through the air like an invisible blade, it was death incarnate moving in slow motion.

Koya climbed completely over it, his feet finding purchase on frames that existed in positions the slash wouldn’t reach, and then he deactivated the Frame Skip technique with a thought.

SNAP!

Time resumed its normal flow instantly.

The invisible slash tore through the air directly beneath where Koya had just been standing mere moments ago, completely and utterly destroying the thick stone floor, pulverizing the reinforced wall behind him, and continuing onward in a perfectly straight line to obliterate absolutely everything in its path for at least fifty meters, maybe more.

Pillars that had stood for centuries were sliced cleanly in half like butter, stone walls three feet thick were cut through as if they were paper and metal support beams were severed with precision.

The area behind Koya was utterly, completely, catastrophically annihilated in less than a second. Dust and debris filled the air as structures collapsed and Tej’s crimson eyes went wide with shock and disbelief.

“H-How?” she stammered with her voice cracking in genuine confusion. “I was absolutely certain that I slashed at you with spatial manipulation! How were you able to dodge that?!”

‘Even though the Human God is significantly weaker than before and residing in a completely different body…’ Tej thought, trying to calm herself down. ‘He’s still quite strong.’

She attempted to steady her breathing and rationalize her racing thoughts, but found it completely impossible.

She could not calm down at all…

She had just woken up in a world she didn’t recognize… everything was different…

According to what her Father had told her before she’d been sealed in ice, the plan was for her to wake up much later, find a suitable mate from the surviving bloodline, produce children to continue their lineage, and slowly prepare over centuries to eventually fight against the Human God when he was at his absolute weakest.

But instead, she’d woken up and immediately been thrown into confrontation with the Human God himself?!

What the actual hell?!

Where was her Father? Where was Babyhead… her beloved baby sister Victoria? Where was anyone she knew?!

Tej’s breathing became harder and more labored against her chest with panic setting in.

Koya gently set Disguise Master back on her feet and asked with genuine concern. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Tej glared at him, her eyes glowing with deep crimson light that seemed to make the air itself tremble.

“How DARE you?!” she screamed. “How DARE you ask that question when you’ve taken EVERYTHING away from me?! When you destroyed my entire world?!”

“Taken everything away from you?” Koya asked with a thoroughly confused expression. “What the hell are you talking about? I literally just met you today. We’ve never even seen each other before this moment.”

“Master,” Disguise Master said urgently while tugging on his sleeve. “I’m not entirely sure this is the right time to be smart and logical right no—”

BOOM!

Tej stomped one foot into the ground with tremendous force, creating a crater and sending visible shockwaves radiating outward.

From both of her outstretched hands, spiraling lines of crystallized blood shot forward like crimson arrows, filling the entire chamber completely.

There had to be at least a hundred individual blood constructs all aimed directly at Koya, leaving absolutely no room to dodge.

Koya responded instantly by activating Mana Mode, flooding his body with concentrated magical energy. He pumped Blood Convergence into his own right hand and released several Blood Bursts… in explosive lines of concentrated blood magic.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The Blood Bursts collided with and destroyed dozens of the incoming blood arrows, while Koya used quick, purposeful movements to physically dodge the ones he couldn’t destroy.

All the while, Tej’s crimson eyes grew wider and wider with shock.

‘Is that… Blood magic?’ she thought with growing confusion. ‘But that’s impossible! Blood magic is exclusively a vampire ability! How does a human… how does the Human God… possess vampire techniques?!’

Koya leaned past a particularly large burst of blood projectiles, extended two fingers toward Tej in a gun-like gesture, and shot forward a concentrated Blood Burst directly at her.

Tej brought up her hand and braced herself, catching the Blood Burst with her palm and forcing it to split apart harmlessly.

All of her own blood constructs fell to the ground simultaneously, reverting to liquid. She paused while breathing heavily.

‘System,’ Koya thought urgently, ‘who the hell is this woman? Give me any information you have!’

A translucent blue screen materialized in front of his eyes:

『 ERROR: No information has been gathered on this individual. No database entries exist matching her appearance or abilities However, analysis suggests she is significantly older than Victoria Amagi 』

『 Estimated age: 1,500+ years 』

‘The hell?!’ Koya thought with genuine alarm.

He looked at the woman who was now clutching her head with both hands as if experiencing a severe headache.

‘Did vampires exist before the Apocalypse or something? Nothing about this situation is adding up at all!’

The woman suddenly screamed which was a raw sound of pure anguish that made the entire chamber tremble. Cracks began traveling across the walls and ceiling from the sheer force of her voice and one of the Order members who’d been stationed outside this room probably heard the commotion and came running inside.

“Boss’s Husban—”

His head exploded… Not metaphorically… it literally burst apart into a spray of blood, brain matter, and bone fragments before he could finish his sentence.

Disguise Master had to press both hands against her own head to protect herself from the psychic pressure.

“How DARE you?!” Tej shrieked. “How DARE you touch Babyhead?! How DARE you enter a Blood Contract with my baby sister?! How DARE you… how DARE you… how DARE you take her first time, you FILTHY creature?!”

Her voice rose to an absolutely fever pitch that made the stone walls themselves vibrate.

“Filthy… FILTHY… FILTHY HUMAN!”

Tej’s eyes were wild and completely unfocused, burning with crimson light so intense it looked like they might actually catch fire and consume her entire face.

“You pestilent meat-sack! You walking corpse! You inferior breed! You evolutionary dead-end! You sun-loving day-walker scum! You mayfly! You temporary existence! You fleeting breath in the eternal wind! You insignificant speck of dust in the infinite cosmos!”

She was practically foaming at the mouth now with her composure completely and utterly shattered into a million pieces.

“How DARE someone of your disgusting, pathetic mortal bloodline touch a member of the Vampire God Clan?! Do you even comprehend… do you have even the slightest understanding of what you’ve done?! Do you grasp the MAGNITUDE of your transgression?! The ENORMITY of your crime against our noble bloodline?!”

Tej’s voice cracked with emotion as centuries of suppressed pain and rage all flooding out at once.

“We vampires ruled this world for countless eons before your kind even learned to walk upright on two pathetic legs! We built empires that spanned entire continents while your ancestors were still cowering in CAVES, afraid of the dark! We mastered magical arts that could reshape the very fabric of reality itself while your people were still banging rocks together and grunting at each other like animals!”

She took a shaking ragged breath with her entire body trembling.

“We created civilizations of unparalleled beauty and sophistication! We wrote poetry that would make the gods themselves weep! We composed music that could move the stars in their courses! We painted masterpieces that captured the essence of eternity itself!”

Tears of pure fury were actually streaming down Tej’s face now, cutting trails through the dust and blood.

“We drank from the throats of your ancestors and they thanked us for the privilege! They begged us… literally got down on their knees and BEGGED for the honor of feeding us! They built magnificent temples to worship us as the divine beings we are! They sacrificed their own children… their own flesh and blood just for the slightest chance to serve us before the Human God assumed his position!”

Her voice became even more venomous, dripping with absolute contempt.

“And YOU… you dare to defile my precious baby sister with your inferior, diluted, worthless genetics?! You dare to touch her sacred, perfect body with your filthy human hands?! You dare to bind yourself to her through Blood Contract as if you were somehow worthy of such an honor?!”

Tej’s hands were clenched into fists so tight that her nails were drawing blood from her own palms.

“You short-lived insect! You temporary stain on the fabric of eternity! You walking pile of decaying meat that will rot and turn to dust in less than a single century! Your entire species’ existence is but a brief flicker… a momentary spark in the infinite darkness of time! How DARE you presume to stand as an equal to beings who have walked this earth for MILLENNIA?! “

Tej’s voice rose to an even higher pitch and almost becoming almost inhuman.

“Your kind are nothing… NOTHING… but CATTLE! FOOD! Livestock to be herded and harvested! Resources to be consumed when we feel the hunger! You exist solely to feed us, to serve us, to worship us from afar and my sister… my beautiful, perfect, irreplaceable baby sister Victoria… she actually lowered herself… degraded herself, humiliated our entire bloodline by forming a sacred Blood Bond with worthless vermin like YOU?! With a creature so far beneath her that you shouldn’t even be allowed to breathe the same air?!”

She screamed that last word so loudly that windows shattered in buildings three blocks away, and several nearby structures actually began to crack and crumble from the sheer force of her voice.

Koya actually winced and took an involuntary step backward from the sheer venom in her words.

‘Baby sister?’ he thought with confusion. ‘Victoria is way older than me though… well, she does act around my age or even younger sometimes, but still…’

The sheer power of Tej’s voice was making his head ache severely, like someone was driving nails directly into his skull.

Blood began flowing out from Tej’s back in massive quantities, defying gravity as it rose upward and shaped itself into distinct forms.

A crown of crystallized blood materialized above her head… It was intricate, beautiful and absolutely terrifying.

Massive wings made entirely of flowing blood spread out behind her, easily spanning fifteen feet from tip to tip and the atmospheric pressure in the chamber intensified dramatically, becoming so heavy that breathing became difficult.

Disguise Master let out an involuntary groan of pain. Koya looked down at his personal maid with growing concern.

He needed to get her out of here immediately… she’d be killed if she stayed but the moment Koya looked back at Tej, he realized with horror that she’d already moved.

The woman had angled her finger at him in the exact same gun-like gesture that he’d used moments ago and Koya could now clearly see the crest on her body… a silver crest.

Someone with a silver crest was multiple ranks above him.

‘Fu—’

Before Koya could even finish that single syllable, Tej’s fingers moved.

BOOM!

A massive beam of blood exploded forward.

Outside the building, several Order members were standing in a loose group, feeling tremors from inside. There were five of them… all male members of the Order organization.

“Is Boss’s Husband okay in there?” one asked with concern.

“It’s the famous Amagi Koya,” another responded dismissively. “Why wouldn’t he be fine?”

A third member laughed. “Honestly, I think I would be a much better fit as Boss’s Husband than that guy. I can move my waist properly, you know?”

He made a crude thrusting motion with his hips and spanked at the air. One of the other guys immediately placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

“Dude,” he said seriously. “You’re five-foot-five… You’re overweight and no offense, but we’ve all seen your dick in the communal showers and it’s small as fuck. There’s absolutely no way you could satisfy someone as elegant as Lady Haka—”

All five of them died in the next instant.

The entire building was suddenly enveloped by a crimson beam of blood magic that shot outward in all directions, completely eviscerating everything in its path.

Koya was thrown backward, engulfed in the massive blast. Fortunately, he’d managed to conjure a mana construct shield around himself at the last second, but even with that protection, he could feel it rapidly degrading.

It wouldn’t last long.

“MASTER!” Riffi’s voice called out from within his soul. Koya immediately vanished from the trajectory of the blood beam, using Riffi’s teleportation ability.

He reappeared atop one of the nearby buildings, landing in a crouch and laying Disguise Master down gently.

Looking back at the destruction below, Koya watched in horror as the blood beam just kept going… tearing through building after building without slowing, continuing in a straight line until it vanished over the horizon.

‘What kind of power is that?!’ Koya thought with terror and Disguise Master looked up at him with a pale face.

Riffi appeared on Koya’s forehead in a flash of golden light, the cat familiar taking her usual spot.

“What exactly are we up against here, Mas—”

The words died in Riffi’s throat as she noticed something forming in the distance as a building-sized vortex of converging blood.

“What the hell is tha—”

BOOM!

A blur shot past faster than Riffi could process, slamming into Koya’s chest and following through with a shockwave that sent Riffi spinning wildly through the air.

“MASTER!” Riffi screamed.

She was about to unleash void magic at the attacker’s back, but projectiles of crystallized blood came at her from behind.

The cat familiar flipped mid-air with agility, opening her mouth and releasing concentrated blasts of void energy.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

The void blasts not only destroyed the incoming blood but also struck that vortex, clearing it to reveal a creature hovering in its center.

A red cat… made entirely of blood, with glowing crimson eyes.

‘Another cat?’ Riffi thought with surprise.

She shot through the air while gathering black void energy in her mouth. However, just as her attack was about to connect, the blood cat suddenly transformed into liquid that cycloned around her, completely avoiding the blast before reforming.

WHAM!

The blood cat slammed into Riffi’s face, sending her crashing through a building.

“Riffi!” Disguise Master called out but Riffi shook off the impact, emerging from rubble.

“Cute maid!” Riffi called back. “Don’t worry about me at all! Go help Master instead!”

The red blood cat didn’t waste even a single moment or hesitate for even a fraction of a second. It immediately began gathering concentrated, condensed crimson energy deep within its mouth with the magical power building and building and building exponentially until it formed a massive, pulsating sphere of pure destructive blood magic that literally glowed with malevolent murderous intent.

However Riffi smiled…