Chapter 626

High Blood did not die easily.

There was one reason.

Because from the moment they were born, they were granted the authority to revive endlessly through the blood and mana they had accumulated until then.

But that did not mean they did not die.

They simply did not die easily.

Not dying was immortality.

It was also a different kind of revival method from something like the Life Force Vessels liches hid away so carefully.

With liches’ Life Force Vessels, destroying the vessel immediately ended the lich’s life, whereas High Blood automatically revived through the power they had absorbed and accumulated.

But through accidental curiosity, Su-ho had broken through the High Blood’s almost-cheating revival method.

It had been by chance.

It had started from simple curiosity about what would happen if he absorbed them with Bloody Hand.

The result was the correct answer.

Amazingly enough, that was the most perfect method of killing High Blood.

It was not merely killing them, either, but an utterly perfect method that confined them inside the Blood Prison and placed an eternal leash around their necks.

Roynan, who had been the administrator of Helldown, had been the start, and eventually even Vanishing, who had secured a seat among the Immortal Crowns despite being the lowest-ranked, had been subdued through this method.

So he had thought that no matter how much Edersen was the master of the White Blood Palace and the king of all High Blood, even he would have no choice but to kneel before this method.

But that was not the case.

Amazingly, the mana and blood that he thought each of them managed for themselves were, in the case of Edersen, the highest-ranking Immortal Crown, being managed not by Edersen himself, but by someone else.

And that someone was High Priest Alucard.

When he first learned that fact, it had felt bleak.

Then how exactly was he supposed to kill this guy?

Even after searching through Levan’s memories, asking Roynan, and rummaging through Vanishing’s head, there had been no answer.

Because no one knew.

Then, suddenly, one hypothesis came to mind.

This world was a world controlled by the System.

And the System never created a perfectly flawless existence.

No matter how high, difficult, and distant the trial was, it always created at least one absolute escape route.

Because that was what made a game fun.

The reason sports were fun was because there were fixed rules, and the reason the world functioned was because there were laws people had agreed upon.

The System would have applied the same rule because it knew that truth too.

He had believed that until now, and that belief would not break in the future either.

Because to the System, Noctarion was surely nothing more than one piece of content among countless others, not something especially important.

So he thought.

At first glance, the combination of Edersen and Alucard looked incredibly perfect, but there had to be a flaw.

And he would be able to find the answer to that flaw within himself.

There was one reason he thought that.

Because Noctarion was not some simple gate, but an exclusive trait quest granted with Levan’s narrative, possessed only by Su-ho.

‘And it was just as I expected!’

Something he had been too rushed to see before.

But now, because he had thought and searched for it, he could see it.

It was none other than the rune ring connected to Edersen’s Life Force Vessel, which Alucard must have been storing somewhere far away.

It was too faint.

Thin and dim, almost like a strand of hair.

It made sense that he had not seen it.

Even knowing it was there, it was hard to see.

Perhaps he had barely been able to see it because Combined Sword Art had added Diamond Cut to Soul Severing, raising that power by one stage, and Extreme Strength had been added on top of that, increasing its efficiency to the extreme.

SLASH!

The moment the faintly hidden rune ring was cut, Edersen, who had been controlled like a puppet, regained his stolen consciousness and let out a scream.

Because he had realized that his lifeline had been severed.

Checkmate.

Just from the sound of the bastard’s pathetic scream, Su-ho could be certain he had cut the right thing.

Su-ho released the sword he had thrust out as it was.

His grip opened, and where his open palm was aimed stood the screaming Edersen.

Now, this was the end.

Su-ho chanted the skill.

[ Bloody Hand activates. ]

SHUUUUAAAAH!!

Bloody Hand activated.

At the same time, beginning from the point closest to his palm, Edersen began being sucked in as though water were draining into a sewer hole.

Edersen, belatedly recognizing Bloody Hand, only then shut his mouth and struggled to escape, but by then, it was already too late.

Each time he flailed his limbs once, twenty percent of his body vanished, and before he could even thrash around more than a few times, the fate of Edersen, the highest seat of the Immortal Crowns, the master of the White Blood Palace of First Town, and the one who could be called the king of all High Blood, came to an end.

[ You have defeated Edersen de Nosferatu, High Blood, master of the White Blood Palace, and the highest throne of the Immortal Crowns. ]

His death had been guaranteed.

Through the most reliable method of guarantee in the world: a system notification.

Su-ho grinned.

“Now there’s no sword to protect you, is there?”

Knight of God.

That had been Edersen’s position.

He had been given that name because he was the sword meant to assist the divine being known as the First Blood.

But now that Knight of God was gone.

Then who would protect the First Blood and the Blood God Temple now?

At that moment, Alucard’s enraged voice rang across all of Middle Town.

“You lowly thing. Your instincts are fairly sharp.”

At the same time, all of Middle Town began to tremble.

RUMBLEEEEEEEEE!!

“Cheolma!”

“Hihihihing!”

All of Middle Town shook and began breaking apart as though an earthquake had struck.

He immediately called Cheolma and shot into the sky.

Jack also reverse-summoned Typhon.

He had no intention of running far away.

Levan’s condition was to kill and eliminate all High Blood.

And the only High Blood remaining now were Alucard and the roughly fifty priests within Middle Town.

RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!

The collapse continued.

The ground, crumbling as though struck by an earthquake, shattered everything white that made up Middle Town without leaving out a single thing.

Yeah, Alucard.

What are you going to show me now?

That was when it happened.

WHOOOOOOOOSH!

A rushing wind.

A massive vortex gathered and flowed at the center of the shattered Middle Town, soon forming an enormous tornado.

Was he planning to run?

Just as he thought that, fragments of the broken Middle Town gathered around the rising waterspout and began taking the form of a gigantic dragon.

‘A dragon? No, rather than that.......’

A snake.

It was closer to a snake.

No, at a glance it looked like an Eastern dragon, but it was definitely a snake.

A snake made by destroying all of Middle Town and reconstructing it.

It felt strangely out of nowhere.

Why a snake all of a sudden?

Because snakes were a symbol of evil?

Soon, once the enormous snake’s form was complete, at last colors other than white and red were revealed in Middle Town.

A blackish ground.

The land looked as though it had been contaminated and died, and he could not even imagine how long it had been lying hidden and breathless beneath Middle Town.

Was that why it was so black?

Soon, in the snake whose eyes had even been filled with pure white, red pupils suddenly appeared as though life had returned to it.

At the same time, part of Alucard’s body rose from the center of the snake’s huge head.

“I will praise you. Since Noctarion was created, you are the first to make me personally step forward.”

His voice was clearly small, but the voice itself seemed to thrum inside Su-ho’s head.

However, compared to the sound of voice transmission or telepathy he had experienced until now, Alucard’s voice was like loud noise, making the listener frown without realizing it.

Su-ho frowned and answered back through voice transmission.

“That just means you’ve been cornered that badly. Then if I deal with that white worm-like snake bastard, you’re finished too, right?”

“Haha, yes! Finished! But can you truly do it? I am High Priest Alucard! The representative of the great First Blood and the being who has reached the summit of all High Blood! Do you truly believe a wretch like you, born with a cursed fate, can dare lead us High Blood to ruin?”

“I’ll win. And thanks. For telling me you’re the last one.”

At some point, perhaps because the things he had to challenge were no longer in the concept of gates, boss monster-related notifications had stopped appearing.

So he had always wondered.

Whether the bastard before his eyes was the last one.

And in the middle of that, Alucard had very kindly introduced himself as the last.

Then Su-ho would have to face him with all his strength.

That was when it happened.

[ Rage has accumulated sufficiently. ]

[ Consecration triggers an additional effect. ]

[ Rage Mode activates. ]

Additional notifications.

Oh.

I didn’t know it had an extra effect like this?

Was this why they said it had an ego?

Of course, its true identity was probably the Quai System, but even so, it was more than welcome that it had sensibly granted an additional effect on its own.

Su-ho immediately poured skills against Alucard, who had entered the final phase.

The start was a curse.

[ Harm of Evil activates. ]

The fired radiance shot toward Alucard.

His mana drained heavily.

Since the opponent was huge, it made sense that his mana would drain heavily as well.

Harm of Evil struck Alucard, and its effect was clearly displayed.

SHIIIIIIIIII!

Harm of Evil caused the most fatal debuff to the target according to the opponent.

Perhaps because of that, Alucard’s pure white body was instantly stained black and turned murky.

That was when it happened.

FWAAAAASH!

[ Alucard uses the High Priest’s authority. ]

Along with the system notification, Alucard’s body shone pure white.

And then.

[ Harm of Evil has been removed. ]

Harm of Evil was removed.

“......!”

Su-ho’s eyes widened, then narrowed.

What is that?

Authority?

What is that?

It was a power even Edersen had never shown.

Su-ho’s brow furrowed.

This was not good.

Could it be that even a vampire could use things like healing or purification if he held the title of priest?

He thought it was possible.

In any case, what mattered was that there was a high chance curses, which were a Crusader’s specialty, would not work on him.

‘So it’s a power game after all.’

If so, there was only one choice.

He had not expected to use it this soon, but since the opponent was who he was, Su-ho decided to gladly bring it out again after a long time.

As Su-ho leaped down from Cheolma, he activated the skill he had kept stored away.

[ Gigantification activates. ]