Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint-Chapter 430: The Only Thing Left Is Life

Back in the Abyss, Tyrkanzyaka had given me a single drop of True Blood.

She had offered it as if it were nothing, claiming she had no other treasures worth giving. I had infused it into my skewer.

After that, things had gotten messy with Tyrkanzyaka losing her control, but even though she took the True Blood of a Regressor, the drop that remained in my skewer never disappeared.

And despite the chaos, the skewer had survived unscathed.

No, it had survived because it was that skewer.

From beneath the wreckage of the shattered desk, the skewer rose.

A move prepared in advance, hidden under the desk mid-conversation.

The red-glowing tip shot forward—

Aimed directly at Lutric’s arm.

Fool. Do you really think a blade is meaningful against a vampire?

Lutric didn’t slow down.

If anything, he surged forward even faster, intending to strike me down before the skewer could even touch him.

A vampire doesn’t feel pain.

A blade that merely draws blood is useless.

If it were a shield or a hammer, then maybe—but you wouldn’t have taunted me if you knew that. Your own ignorance is what will kill you, Mistress!

Right back at you.

No one else killed you.

Your Elder died, and Tyrkanzyaka lost her control.

That meant you finally gained the right to die.

Or, to put it another way—

You gained the right to live.

The ones who had once been mere extensions of their Elder’s will had finally become human.

The skewer pierced through his body.

Lutric had ignored it, fully committed to his attack—

But then, his body froze in shock.

There should have been some resistance, at least.

But my skewer, infused with True Blood, tore through his blood-rich body as if slicing through paper.

“What...?!”

There was no time for hesitation.

I yanked back my wrist, dragging the skewer in a wide arc.

His flesh tore apart like shredded parchment, blood and tissue spilling freely.

A lifetime of pickpocketing skills had honed my control over blades,

And with those skills, I reduced his right arm to tatters.

But for a vampire, losing an arm meant nothing.

They threw them away all the time.

“True Blood! So that’s what you were relying on!”

Then how about this?!

Lutric twisted his left arm and right leg, launching a dual attack from two angles.

This time, he had intentionally shortened the striking range.

Even if I intercepted his attack mid-motion,

His whip-like limbs would coil around my body regardless.

A true whip-fighter.

Experienced, skilled, and accustomed to warfare against humans.

In a one-on-one fight, I wouldn’t have stood a chance.

...If this were a one-on-one fight.

SNAP.

A crimson thread wrapped around Lutric’s entire body.

From behind, Count Erthe had extended numerous strands of Blood Silk, restraining him completely.

“Mistress! Run!”

He had made a crucial mistake—

He had exposed his back while fighting against threads.

That single moment of poor timing had given Count Erthe the perfect opening.

Lutric had overextended himself by pulling his arms and legs too far back—

A mistake Count Erthe did not let go unpunished.

A veteran vampire herself, she knew exactly how to seize an opportunity like this.

Holding him down, Count Erthe shouted.

“I will take responsibility and erase this traitor myself, so—Mistress?”

“I’ll handle it.”

With a casual grip, I drove the skewer through both his shoulders.

It took some effort,

But with the power of True Blood, I managed to sever his left arm as well.

Even then, Lutric thrashed wildly, desperate to kill me.

But Count Erthe tightened and loosened the Blood Silk at precise moments,

Forcing him down every time he resisted.

When it came to fighting vampires, Count Erthe was far more skilled than me.

She handled it as if she had trained for this very moment.

After impaling his remaining leg, I finally caught my breath.

“How does it feel?”

I leaned in and mocked him.

“To kneel before a pet?”

A wound cut by True Blood could not fully regenerate.

And Count Erthe had sealed his severed limbs by embedding Blood Silk into them.

Lutric attempted to resist a few more times, but when he failed, he finally muttered in defeat.

“Hah. So this is the famous mistress of the Progenitor? A damn lunatic. This country is doomed.”

“You kicked the country down the stairs yourself. So, how does treason taste?”

“Treason?”

He scoffed.

“You mocked an Ain who had lost his Elder? I simply did what I was supposed to do.”

“But when your Elder was alive, when Tyrkanzyaka’s control still existed, you couldn’t do what you were supposed to do, could you?”

I pressed my foot down on the skewer embedded in his thigh and spoke coldly.

“Pathetic.”

“You finally gained your freedom, and the first thing you chose to do... was throw your life away.”

“Challenging the Progenitor’s Mistress?”

“Fine. I’ll grant you the death you wanted.”

“...I had already accepted that I would be discarded someday,” Lutric murmured bitterly.

“...I just never thought it would be by the Mistress’s hands.”

His will to fight, his desire to resist, had all crumbled.

And finally, he uttered his last request.

“Erase me.”

I had expected to die anyway...

But at least this death will mean something.

If I die at the hands of the Mistress’s tyranny, the other bloodlines will finally join us.

I read his thoughts.

And that confirmed it—

Ruskinia’s bloodline was planning a rebellion.

Against none other than Tyrkanzyaka herself.

“Ten years.”

“For ten years after Ruskinia’s death, we were nothing.”

“Ains who lose their Elders are destined to fade away.”

“Only the Progenitor could have taken us in, but...”

“The Progenitor abandoned her shackles and discarded us, too.”

No wonder they were the ones who most desperately wished for Tyrkanzyaka’s return.

She was supposed to punish Lir, take her True Blood, and either create a new Elder...

Or claim them for herself.

But the Progenitor who returned was not the one they had waited for.

So now, they seek vengeance on the Progenitor who abandoned them.

Hah. What an impressive reason for rebellion.

And the problem was—

For a vampire, that was a perfectly rational reason.

I had removed their shackles, but I never expected it to lead to this.

Count Erthe gave me a subtle nod.

A silent question—can I kill him now?

Not yet.

There was still one thing I wanted to ask.

I pulled the skewer from his thigh and asked, almost offhandedly—

“You said something earlier.”

“That you were sensitive about matters involving the Mistress.”

“...Why?”

Lutric didn’t answer.

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Not that it mattered.

Mind readers don’t need spoken answers to hear the truth.

“Did Lord Ruskinia have a mistress too?”

“I heard he was especially cruel to humans... but that kind of person tends to fall the hardest when they do.”

“...You talk too much.”

“How was she?”

“I’m sure he cherished her more than any of you vampires.

You say I’m just a pet, but aren’t you more accustomed to being treated as even less than that?

I still don’t get why you suddenly decided to pick a fight with me.”

Vampires weren’t creatures ruled by emotions.

Even standing at the brink of oblivion, they prioritized cold logic over fear.

But that didn’t mean they felt nothing at the moment of death.

Lutric wasn’t foolish enough to expose the rebellion’s plans just because I provoked him.

However, he was human enough to leave behind one final insult before he died.

“She’s dead.”

“The bitch thought Lord Ruskinia’s favor belonged to her.

She overstepped and was erased.

By his own hand.”

Even as he stood at the end of his long life,

Lutric’s bloodshot eyes gleamed with amusement,

And he sneered at me.

“And you—

You’ll meet the same end.”

He meant it as a curse, but honestly?

I appreciated it.

That was exactly the information I wanted.

I turned to Count Erthe, who was starting to look exhausted.

“Count Erthe, should I step out for a moment?”

“I’d appreciate that.”

“Oh, right. Before I go—”

To make things a little easier,

I twirled the skewer in my fingers.

I braced it in one hand, held it steady with the other,

And pointed it straight at Lutric’s heart.

“Goodbye, Lutric.”

“The desires of those who are enslaved only have meaning once they break free.

And yet, the first thing you wished for after gaining your freedom...

Was revenge on the one who ruled you.

A tragic irony.”

“Tch. All this ceremony before killing me. You just love running your mouth.”

Freedom and rebellion.

To choose rebellion as soon as you were free meant...

You either hated your chains to the core,

Or longed for them so desperately that you couldn’t live without them.

Maybe it was both.

“Well,” I murmured,

“You were human too, in the end.

And I’ll respect that will of yours.”

“...Will?”

Ssschhk.

The skewer plunged deep into his heart.

Lutric’s consciousness wavered.

A vampire wouldn’t die from just this.

But the skewer, infused with True Blood,

Would wear down his immortality—

Making it easier for Count Erthe to finish the job.

As he felt his awareness drifting away,

Lutric thought to himself.

My long life has finally reached its end...

And yet, I feel no regret.

Is it because I am a vampire?

Or because... I truly acted of my own will?

Lutric had been a limb.

A servant who executed orders without hesitation.

He had never been given the chance to doubt,

Never been allowed to question his purpose.

So many Ains had died as mere extensions of their Elders—

But Lutric...

He would die as a person.

Not that he was dead yet.

But he would be soon.

His fading consciousness weakened his blood magic.

Count Erthe released the Blood Silk she had been gripping tightly.

She moved to the front and plunged a strand of Blood Silk into his torn chest.

She began stitching his wound shut—

Not to heal him,

But to prevent it from healing.

“I will take his blood and heart as my own.”

She stated this plainly.

“This may be an unpleasant sight for a human.”

“I’ll step outside for a bit.

Take your time.”

“Don’t go too far.”

“There might be others involved in the rebellion.”

“I’ll be in the next room.”

I shook out my hands and stepped outside.

As I turned back one last time,

I saw Count Erthe drive her hand into Lutric’s chest.

She reached deep inside,

Manipulating his Bloodcraft to shut it down completely.

Because she was not an Elder,

She could not absorb his blood.

But she could—

Unravel his essence into nothing.

That was enough.

Erasure.

Not even a trace of him would remain.

Lutric’s existence dissolved into the world itself.

I watched for a moment,

Then walked away.

The hospital where the Physician had once stayed was unexpectedly peaceful.

There were no screams of agony.

No cries of despair.

The humans who had survived thanks to the Physician’s aid were now tending to the wounded themselves.

They had taken up the role of nurses—

Caring for others the way they had been cared for.

As I strolled through the halls,

A young woman dressed as a nurse cautiously approached me.

“Excuse me,” she asked hesitantly.

“I heard a loud crash earlier...

Did something happen?”

I didn’t mind answering honestly.

I told her the plain truth.

“I just finished eliminating an Ain who was disrespectful toward the Progenitor’s Mistress.”

I grinned.

“I did well, didn’t I?”

“...Father.”

The nurse’s expression twisted in sheer disbelief.

“Have you finally lost your mind?”

Huh?

Wait.

What?

Why the hell am I getting scolded by a fake nurse?