Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint-Chapter 474: Caution: Falling

There was no place to hide on the vast plateau. The sunlight poured down from above, illuminating everything from the highest points first. In a land without shadows, all things were laid bare.

Those who found beauty in the world would love the plateau—because they could see more of it. Those who didn’t would feel the opposite.

Runken’s bloodline consisted mostly of beastkin. Their fur provided them with natural protection, making them resistant to the sun. If I had carelessly wandered around in daylight, I would have been chased down in an instant.

But I had Azzy.

“Woof woof! Woof woof woof!”

“Baaaah!”

Collie’s Yeiling, the sheep beastman Meyang, let out a bleating cry and bolted. Despite being wrapped in thick, fluffy wool and gaining the immortality of a vampire, a sheep was still a sheep. When Azzy charged forward, barking furiously, Meyang let out a panicked bleat and shut themselves inside the outpost.

Collie had taken his hunting hounds and Yeiling with him on the chase, leaving only a single Yeiling to guard the mist-shrouded outpost. As a sheep beastman, the Yeiling could endure sunlight, but Azzy couldn’t.

The sheep beastman cried out toward me.

“Baaah! Get that thing away!”

“Huh? But Collie told me to take care of it.”

“Baaaah! I get it! Just get it out of my sight! Baaaah!”

“Alright, alright. I’m leaving, okay? I mean it, I’m really going.”

“Baaaah!”

Well, well. It wasn’t like I had planned on staying anyway. Guess I had no choice.

I pulled a ball from my pocket. Azzy, who had been brimming with primal instinct toward the sheep beastman, immediately crouched low, tail wagging eagerly.

“Alright! No bullying the poor sheep. Fetch!”

“Woof!”

I threw the ball, and Azzy shot off like an arrow. Perfect. With the ball as a distraction, I naturally stepped past the outpost’s perimeter. If I followed along like this, I could cross the border without—

“Wait, no. Azzy, don’t come back! I’ll come to you—wait, you already brought it back?”

“Woof!”

“Next time, take a little longer. Here!”

Throwing the ball once again, I casually crossed the border.

Borders were rarely marked by clear lines—especially if there were mountains. After all, no one lived there.

So when mountains were present, borders were usually drawn along the highest ridges.

As I passed a peak and crossed a ridge, the world hidden behind the mountains revealed itself in a single sweeping view. It was a sight rarely seen in the mist-covered duchy.

I had only crossed one ridge, and yet the landscape before me was entirely different. Almost disappointingly simple.

But this was the result of crossing dozens of ridges before reaching this final one. I could allow myself a bit of pride—though, of course, the only reason this had been possible was that none of the Elders had bothered to chase me.

“Why did Hilde leave? If she’d come with me, we could’ve escaped so easily.”

“Woof!”

“No, Azzy. Can’t you stop fetching and just walk like a normal dog?”

Now that I had crossed the border, vampires were no longer my immediate threat. Even if Collie saw through my deception and started pursuing me, it would take at least a day. Until then, I had to get as far away as possible.

Going down was easier than climbing up. I made a sled out of my cards, leapt over boulders with my strengthened legs, and dashed down the mountain. I ran through sand, jumped across ravines, and wove through dense undergrowth.

How many hours had passed? No matter how far I went, the descent seemed endless. The mountain was like a massive wall. Even going down took forever.

I paused to catch my breath and glanced back. The ridge I had descended from was far behind me.

Even after coming this far, there was still a long way to go. Sigh. Couldn’t someone just hand me a teleportation spell or something?

Grumbling to myself, I picked up the ball and lazily tossed it.

“Azzy, find us a path.”

“Woof!”

Azzy dashed into the thickets. Leaves rustled and parted violently, then settled again. In mere moments, she returned, dropping the ball at my feet.

“Here!”

“So it’s safe? Alright, good.”

You had to check before crossing a bridge. Who knew what was lurking in those bushes? Just earlier, I had nearly stepped onto what I thought was solid ground—only to almost tumble down.

Haaah. It was still a long way to go. The forest was growing denser, and without any visible trails, I relied on Azzy to scout ahead.

At least no one was chasing us. As long as I kept moving forward, things would be fine. Just as I decided to be satisfied with my relatively improved situation—

“Awooooooooo—!!”

A wolf’s howl echoed in the distance. Before I could even process the sound, I instinctively flattened myself against the ground.

Even if the wolf had already spotted me, I had no desire to see it.

“Awooo! You tricked me—!”

A beastman’s howl reverberated through the mountains. I didn’t know how, but my deception had been uncovered.

“Woof! Friend!”

“Not anymore!”

“Woof? But they are?”

“Then go play with them! Roll around holding hands or something!”

“Okay!”

“Don’t jump around so excitedly! You’re giving away our position!”

Scolding Azzy was pointless—too late. Over the ridge, five beastkin appeared.

Collie the Hound and the border patrol’s Yeiling. A mobile vampire unit composed entirely of beastkin, their fur shielding them from the sun, their hunting hounds leading the way as they charged down the slope.

If any of them tripped, they’d tumble down the mountain. But it didn’t matter—they were beastkin. And vampires.

“Grrrrr!”

“Khrrr!”

“Baaaah!”

Five figures turned into a cascading landslide, sweeping down the slope. A cloud of dust billowed into a thick fog. And at the very front was Collie, his pitch-black fur whipping in the wind as he dug into the earth.

And this was a weakened vampire under the sun? Tch. No wonder humans could never escape them.

The sunlight was still shining. I could handle the Yeiling, but Collie was beyond my power. I had to rely on Azzy for this one. Not that I trusted her much.

“Azzy, do you know what tag is?”

“Woof! Yes!”

“Good. That makes this easy. We’re the prey, and they’re the hunters! We have to escape before they catch us!”

“Woof woof! Understood!”

“Then let’s run! Before they catch us!”

I sprinted in the opposite direction, quickly rifling through my deck. It had been thinned down to the bare minimum.

Most of my weapons were gone. All I had left was a single skewer, four demon cards, a few disposable Clovers, and Hearts.

I had plenty of potion-infused Hearts left, but those pushed my body to its limits. I’d rather avoid using them if I could.

But then again—my body was practically made of demons now. Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad. I’d have to test it in a desperate moment.

Gripping the demon cards in both hands, I dashed forward, kicking off the beginning of a long chase.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Collie was the first to lunge. Charging down the slope, almost tumbling, he pounced at me from an angle. He remained true to the command to bring me back alive—no claws were bared as he reached out with his hands to grab me.

“Woof!”

At that moment, Azzy threw herself into the air. A beastman and a beast collided midair, limbs entangling. A dull, heavy sound echoed in slow motion before the two tumbled down the slope, locked together as one.

“Damn it...! Get out of my way!”

“Woof! Play! Let’s play!”

“This isn’t a game!”

Collie twisted his body and slammed Azzy into the ground. Though she retained a beast’s instincts, her techniques were human. A sweeping throw, packed with rotational force, sent broken twigs flying and raised a cloud of dust.

Yet overwhelming physicality crushed even the most refined technique.

Azzy was already crouched on all fours, teeth locked onto Collie’s hind leg. His momentum cut short, Collie collapsed onto the ground.

Face smeared with dirt, Collie turned his head. Azzy, still clamped onto his leg, gave him a bright, cheerful bark.

“Woof!”

“Awoo—!”

Against humans, Azzy held back to avoid hurting them. But against a vampire beastman? That was a different story. At the very least, she knew how to hold Collie down properly.

The problem was—

“Baaaah!”

“Grrr!”

Sheep, dog, cat, and goat beastmen. The Yeiling weren’t as fast as Collie, but they were still closing in on me with certainty.

A vampire’s strength increased when they fought near their progenitor. Under the sunlight and away from home ground, they were weaker than someone like Chief Bilitaire, but that didn’t make them any less troublesome for me.

Following Collie’s command, the group spread out in unison and closed in on my back. The scent of vampire blood made Azzy’s fur stand on end. She might have tolerated Collie, but she had no reason to be gentle with the others.

Azzy launched herself forward.

“Awooo—!”

This time, Collie grabbed onto Azzy, trying to restrain her. He attempted to hurl her away by the scruff, but her sheer momentum overwhelmed him. The two tumbled together down the slope, sending a storm of dirt and branches in their wake.

...Should I be worried? Not about Azzy, but about the slope.

Leaving them to their chaotic struggle, I spared a glance at the Yeiling charging toward me.

“Baaaah! Stop! Or you’ll get hurt!”

The sheep beastman from the outpost. Their thick, cloud-like wool looked as if it could cushion any impact, but their charge was anything but soft.

Each step left deep hoof prints in the ground.

I didn’t stop. The sheep beastman made up their mind and kicked off the ground.

One, two—Now.

Thunk. The ground beneath them caved in.

The charging sheep beastman sank into the earth, eyes widening in confusion. A hastily covered pitfall trap had caught them off guard.

“Baaah...?”

Blinking in bewilderment, they glanced around. They had stepped on the very ground I had just run over.

'When...? He didn’t have time to dig a trap...'

With the power of the demon cards, I could do things like this. I created the hole the moment my foot left the ground, covering it instantly with grass and twigs. It was an illusion ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) so natural that only those with sharp attention could notice it.

And my surroundings were already filled with these traps.

“Urk!”

“Myaaa!”

“Damn it...!”

The vampire beastmen stumbled as their speed slightly slowed. I didn’t care—I kept running.

“We don’t need sleep! We’ll chase you forever! Give up!”

Yeah, well, I needed sleep. Which meant I had to shake them off before that became a problem.

I pressed on, parting the underbrush as I ran. Behind me, the sheep beastman shouted.

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“Baaaah! You’ll regret this!”

“Meyang, we have to bring him back alive.”

“I know! But he can get a little hurt, right?”

“...That’s fair.”

That’s fair? Excuse me, I was supposed to be an esteemed concubine! Getting injured was not acceptable!

Of course, frontier Yeiling wouldn’t know that. They closed in from all directions. I palmed my Spade 9 card and folded it in one hand.

Root-Knot Binding.

Within a five-meter radius, every blade of grass searched for a partner. Delicate strands of greenery entwined, wrapping around each other.

Druids—sages from an era when the world was covered in grass. Their power was now distilled into a mere card.

“Awooo—!”

...But, of course, times had changed.

Snap. Crack. Even the toughest roots couldn’t withstand the charge of the Yeiling. Stems snapped, and roots were torn from the earth. The plants paid the price for obeying me. I honored their sacrifice by forging ahead.

“You’re too slow!” “No, you’re too fast!”

No matter how many snares I set, it was hard to escape Yeiling who charged without fear of death. They crushed my traps, shredded the root-knots, and steadily closed the distance.

If they had been trying to kill me, they would’ve had plenty of chances. But they weren’t. They wanted to capture me alive—so instead, they were trying to cut off my escape route.

Good. Now was my chance.

Through the parting foliage, I spotted open air ahead—a cliff. I had taken note of it earlier. Hidden by dense brush, it was nearly impossible to see until one was right on top of it. Especially when running.

I slid forward, lying low to kill my momentum. Twigs and grass scattered as I skidded. Even with the speed I had built up, I barely managed to stop in time.

“Baaaah! Stop! There’s a cliff ahead!”

The Yeiling behind me reacted just a beat too late.

Dirt flew up as they scrambled to halt. The goat beastman at the front spat out a twig caught in his mouth and growled.

“You think such a cheap trick would make us fall?!”

“One of you just did, though.”

“Baaaaaaah—!”

A long, drawn-out echo rang out.

The goat beastman turned his head and grimaced at the sight of his fallen comrade.

“We won’t die from a little fall! Give up and surrender!”

“Thanks. That makes me feel a lot less guilty.”

If they weren’t vampires, I might have actually felt bad.

I slammed both hands against the ground, gripping my remaining cards.

I wasn’t strong enough to break the earth with martial arts. That required mastery of Gon Qi Gong.

But I could accelerate its collapse.

Severing the roots holding the cliffside together, I crumbled the compacted soil. With a mix of geomancy and druidic magic, I cut away the fragile ledge.

“The ground—!”

Even a slow-witted vampire could feel when they were falling.

A dog beastman, poorly positioned, lost his grip and tumbled backward. The goat and cat beastmen reacted faster, scrambling to climb back up.

Too bad for them—I wasn’t done.

Spade 8—Elixir.

A smooth swipe of my card turned the crumbling ground into a slippery slide. The cat beastman, claws hooked into the dirt, lost his grip and plummeted.

“Not so fast!”

The goat beastman, the sturdiest of the bunch, held his ground. His powerful hooves clung to the slope as he leaped up toward me.

One Yeiling alone? That’s easy.

I batted away his reaching hand and stomped on his head.

He fought to hold on, but a well-placed double kick knocked him off balance.

“Gah—!”

Arms flailing, he desperately tried to recover. I, ever so gracious, extended a tree branch toward him.

“Here. Grab on.”

Suspicious, yet desperate, he reached for it.

That moment of hesitation was all I needed. I gave the branch a slight push.

Off-balance, he toppled over.

“You—!”

“Bye-bye. Let’s not meet again.”

His curses faded as a landslide buried him below.

Clinging to a tree root, I peered down. The fallen Yeiling were now covered in a thick blanket of dirt.

Sigh. I hated dealing with vampires. Their immortality was just plain unfair.

Climbing back up, I retrieved a ball from my pocket and tossed it.

It arced through the air—then vanished into the underbrush.

Moments later, Azzy emerged, tail wagging, ball in her mouth.

“Woof!”

“Had fun?”

“Woof woof!”

Azzy was still brimming with excitement, but Collie, who emerged from the underbrush, looked far from amused. Covered in dirt and tangled twigs, she resembled a walking pile of earth.

“...Awoo. I don’t know why the Progenitor is after you, but that’s enough games.”

A vampire’s blood ran cold. Collie wasn’t exhausted, but she wasn’t reckless enough to keep attacking without her Yeiling. She could barely restrain Azzy as it was—if she engaged while I was still here, and somehow got subdued, she and her subordinates would be out of commission for quite some time.

Deciding to fall back and restore her Yeiling first, she narrowed her eyes at me and growled.

“Vampires don’t die. No matter how long it takes, we’ll chase you down and find you. If you don’t want to be running forever, surrender now.”

“No matter how long it takes?” I scoffed. “What’s the point of that? If too much time passes, Tyrkanzyaka’s feelings might change, and so might my life or death.”

Typical vampire logic. They really didn’t understand humans. Our emotions weren’t eternal. We were fickle creatures.

“If you run into another vampire, pass this along for me,” I said with a smirk. “The harder something is to obtain, the more valuable it becomes. Which means I’m only becoming more precious.”

“We’ll see how long you can keep up that confidence.”

Collie let out a low howl before vanishing into the undergrowth. She was likely heading down the cliffside to use her bloodcraft to restore her Yeiling, preparing to come back at night.

Yeiling were weak under the sun, which meant they were significantly stronger when they didn’t have to worry about daylight. Meanwhile, I’d have to struggle through the dark mountains with barely any visibility. Things wouldn’t go as smoothly for me next time.

Running wasn’t enough—I needed to set traps and neutralize them before leaving.

Luckily, my current pursuers were just one Ain and four Yeiling. As long as no stronger trackers showed up, I should be able to shake them off.

Well... There’s no way a new pursuer is going to pop up now, right?

Fine. Time to use every bit of my geomancy and druidic skills to show these beastkin what human ingenuity could do.

***

Yeiling were immortal, but not invincible. Since their bloodcraft was relatively weak, they died often and were frequently replaced—ironic for creatures that were supposed to be undying.

Daylight injuries and subjugation were especially crippling. The longer they were left in a weakened state, the more blood energy they lost, and the slower they regenerated.

In a chase, numbers mattered more than anything. If Collie delayed too long, the Yeiling she had brought would be useless.

She wasted no time leaping down the cliff to dig out her buried subordinates. Incompetent though they were, scolding them could come later—restoring them was the priority.

As Collie was clawing through the dirt, pulling out one Yeiling at a time, a rustling sound came from the underbrush.

A slim, androgynous boy with jet-black hair stepped out, holding a string in his hand.

At the end of that thread, a single bee danced in figure-eight patterns.

The boy watched the bee move and murmured to himself.

“...That’s strange. The scent trail I left on Azzy is leading me here.”

Shei tilted their head, glancing between Collie and the bee a few times.

“Azzy doesn’t seem to have turned black... So, who are you?”