The succubus' wings twitched as she saw Kael's fingers tightening around her stolen axe.
"You did me a favor killing those men," he admitted, his voice like grinding stones. "Their souls stank of slaughtered innocents." The axe blade ignited with golden fire. "But raising your weapon against me? That's a death sentence."
The succubus' wings snapped open, propelling her backward in a frantic retreat. Kael's fingers tightened on the stolen axe, golden fire roaring to life along its edge – a clear promise of annihilation.
He started to move, a blur of lethal intent.
A gauntleted hand landed firmly on his shoulder. Momon's. Not restraining by force – Kael's immense strength could have shrugged it off like cobwebs – but a deliberate signal. Kael chose to halt, turning his blazing gaze on the dark knight.
"Hold," Momon commanded, his voice resonating within the helm. "Save your fury. The true threat lies ahead – the vampire. That creature?" He jerked his head towards the fleeing succubus, now vanishing into the crypt's upper reaches. "Crushing it wastes energy needed for the real threat."
Kael's golden fire flickered, banked but not extinguished. He watched the succubus disappear. Momon's logic was cold steel, but Kael's promise was iron. He wrenched his shoulder free. The axe's fire died. "Save the speeches. Let's see if your act holds against the 'true threat'."
The hunt resumed.
A wet crunch echoed from the treeline. Igvarge's corpse hung suspended in barbed vines, his face frozen in a silent scream. A shadowy figure melted into the darkness.
Smart. Kael noted. Someone here understands not to attack anyone recklessly.
AFTER 10 MINUTES OF WALKING
The clearing might have been beautiful - if not for the doll-like horror at its center.
Honyopenyoko was frozen. Her silver curls cascaded flawlessly, untouched by wind or woodland debris. Her frilled, dark lace dress looked freshly donned, pristine against the forest's earthy tones. Only the unnatural, burning crimson glow of her eyes, fixed sightlessly ahead, betrayed the monstrous truth. In her delicate hands, she gripped a long, wicked lance. It didn't just gleam – it hummed with a low, visceral thrum, a sound felt in the bones more than heard, radiating pure, contained bloodlust. It was the stillness of a coiled viper, beautiful and deadly.
Kael halted just 10 meters away of the vampire, his senses razor-sharp. Momon stopped beside him, a dark pillar of imposing armor. Nabe hovered protectively close to Momon, her gaze locked on the vampire with undisguised disdain. Hamsuke, however, shuffled nervously behind Kael's legs, his massive form trembling. The Wise King of the Forest recognized raw, unnatural power when he felt it.
Kael's eyes, sharp as flint, scanned the vampire's vacant stare and rigid posture. "She's brainwashed," he stated flatly, the certainty cutting through the whine of the weapon.
Momon's armored head snapped towards him. "Impossible," the dark knight countered, his modulated voice tight with Yggdrasil-logic. "Undead are immune to mental—"
"Normally, yes," Kael interrupted, his voice low and dangerous. His fingers flexed near his weapon's hilt, a coiled spring ready to release. "But not against world-class magic..." His gaze flickered, heavy with unspoken knowledge, towards Momon's hidden face. "...or artifacts from its vault."
Hamsuke's fur stood on end. "Master! Her aura... it's like rotting roses!"
Kael's eyes narrowed, golden fire flickering at his fingertips. "I know I said I'd leave this to you, Momon," he stated, voice cold steel. "But let me eradicate her." His gaze locked onto the dark knight. "No disrespect... but I don't think you can take her head-on."
Momon's helmet tilted. "Unnecessary." He raised his right hand dramatically, pulling off his armored gauntlet to reveal a withered skeletal hand. "Behold 'Shooting Star'. With this, I will enslave her, shattering her conditioning and binding her will to mine." An ornate ring gleamed on his bony finger.
Kael's sharp eyes narrowed. A withered skeleton hand was now exposed. Illusion? he thought, an internal command snapping to his unique system interface. Analyze: Momon, right hand. Illusion detected?
[Answer: Target (Momon) utilized high-tier illusion magic (Greater Hardening) to simulate flesh. Detection bypassed by: Witcher's True Sight (Active), Pride Sin Core (Passive Anti-Deception Field). Visual override nullified. Displaying true form: Skeletal Undead Hand.]
LOL, Kael thought, momentarily thrown but filing the bizarre revelation away. That ring... 'Shooting Star'. It's a Wish-granting relic that uses super-tier magic. Powerful, unless blocked by... The full implication hadn't quite clicked yet.
Momon clenched his skeletal fist. The ring pulsed silvery light. Intricate magic circles flared around the clearing, power humming towards the vampire.
SHATTER.
The light and circles fractured like glass, dissolving into nothing.
Momon froze. Utterly nullified? The chilling truth struck him: Only a World-Class Item counters super-tier magic. The brainwashing was backed by one.
Kael's lips thinned. 'Shooting Star'. Useless against a World Item's influence. Just as I thought.
The silence after the spell's shattering lasted only a heartbeat.
Honyopenyoko's crimson eyes flared crimson as her form shifted—frills and lace melting into a sleek crimson warplate, shaped like sculpted muscle and hardened blood. The armor flared outward at the skirt, sharp and segmented like a rose in bloom, while clawed greaves and gauntlets gleamed with menace. A smooth, a helm framed her face, crowned by pale, ribbon-like plumes trailing behind like ghostly hair. In her grasp, a glowing, mechanical lance pulsed with ethereal energy—cold, jagged, and deadly. She stood regal and terrifying, a vampiric knight forged from blood and wrath.
Momon didn't hesitate. "Nabe!" His modulated voice held a rare edge of urgency. He grabbed the surprised female doppelgänger, yanking her hard against his armored side. A complex gesture with his skeletal hand – still bare – traced a symbol in the air. Space itself warped and tore around them with a sound like ripping silk.
In the blink of an eye, Momon and Nabe were simply gone.
The armored vampire's burning crimson gaze locked onto Kaeltharion. Her voice, distorted and dripping with icy mockery, sliced through the clearing: "A lowly human? Flee while your pathetic limbs still function."
Kael didn't flinch. A feral, utterly humorless grin touched his lips, baring teeth that seemed sharper than before. "Flee? I'd rather tear my way out through someone's spine." He tilted his head slightly, a predator assessing prey.
He gave a subtle, almost imperceptible nod towards Hamsuke. The giant hamster, trembling violently but driven by fierce loyalty, scrambled backwards several meters, claws tearing at the mossy earth, positioning Kael as an immovable shield between him and the nightmare.
The armored vampire's contemptuous voice echoed, "So brave... to face me alo—"
"ATTACK. Or are you just another ugly statue with a noisy stick?". He shifted his weight, the golden fire around his free hand flaring brighter, casting long, menacing shadows.
The vampire's crimson eyes blazed with fury. "PRESUMPTUOUS VERMIN! YOU DARE—!"
The vampire lunged. Her lance, a blur of cold, jagged energy, aimed to pierce Kael's heart with impossible speed.
Clang!
Kael moved faster. The stolen succubus axe, humming with latent power he hadn't fully appreciated, swept up in a blinding arc. It met the lance not with brute force, but with uncanny precision, deflecting the lethal point just wide. The impact sent sparks cascading, the axe absorbing the shock with surprising resilience. Stronger than it looks, Kael noted instantly. Before the vampire could recover, his boot slammed into her ornate breastplate.
Thoom!
She staggered back, earth cracking under her armored greaves. Kael felt the faint pulse as the hidden sigil he'd planted – a tiny brand of soul-scorching holy fire – ignited inside her very essence. As she hissed, raising a clawed gauntlet to cast, Kael's hand snapped forward. "Pride Flare"
The armored vampire's roar of outrage became a raw, soul-and-flesh rending shriek as Pride Flare detonated within her. Golden-white fire didn't just scour her soul – it superheated her undead body from the inside. Her magnificent warplate glowed like a furnace, cracks spiderwebbing across the blood-red metal as steam and the sickening smell of cooking undead flesh hissed from the joints. She convulsed violently, not just from soul-deep agony, but from her very substance being immolated.
"GAAAAAAH! YOU— YOU DARE MAKE ME UTTER SUCH A— AAAAAAGH!— DISGRACEFUL SOUND!?" Her scream was a horrific blend of spiritual torment and physical incineration.
Kael watched, yellow eyes reflecting the internal inferno. "Moan harder" he commanded, cold and pitiless. The light within her intensified. Her shriek became an ear-splitting, wet gurgle as her body cooked within its armored shell. The stench of charred undead meat filled the clearing.
System, Kael thought, cutting through the horrific sound. Can NPCs be resurrected here like in Yggdrasil?
[Answer: Affirmative. NPC resurrection mechanics analogous to Yggdrasil confirmed. Requires intact core data/phylactery equivalent and sufficient resources/ritual.]
Good. The thought was ice-cold relief. Means I can purify this abomination completely.
As the peak of her scream dissolved into choked, bubbling sobs, Kael stepped forward. The vampire slumped, a shuddering, half-cooked wreck. Her voice, broken and distorted, seeped out: "Wh-What... what did you... do to me...?"
Kael looked down at the steaming, scorched armor. "Scoured the leash from your soul," he stated flatly. "And burned the filth from your flesh. Now... let's see what survives the flame." His hand rose, golden fire coalescing – ready to probe the ruin or deliver final, cleansing judgment.
"MERCY! PLEASE! SPARE ME! I BEG—!" Her distorted shriek tore through the ruined clearing.
"Silence," Kael commanded, his voice colder than the grave. "You are unworthy of it." The fire surged—
—and consumed the space where she knelt.
There was no explosion, no final scream. One moment, the broken vampire knight was there, steaming and shuddering. The next, only scorched earth remained. Utterly empty. Not just her form, but her formidable lance, her ornate blood-plate armor – everything – had vanished as if erased from existence. Not even ash lingered.
Kael lowered his hand, the golden fire winking out. He stared at the vacant spot, a flicker of grim satisfaction in his eyes. Purified.
Kael turned to leave, succubus axe resting on his shoulder, its dark metal cool and solid in his grip. "Hamsuke. Let's go.". Hamsuke followed close, relief warring with awe.
Two figures emerged from the shadows near the treeline: Momon and Nabe. The dark knight stood tall, his imposing frame radiating heroic presence, though a faint tension clung to his posture. At his side, Nabe lingered close—her pale, beautiful face unreadable, her expression frozen in a mask of controlled unease.
"Oh," Kael drawled, stopping. "Guess who's back. The great adventurer Momon, vanquisher of vampires." His yellow eyes locked onto the black helmet. "Why the vanishing act? Scared?"
Momon's modulated voice held practiced regret. "My deepest apologies, Kael. Truly. That armor... the power radiating from her... it dwarfed anything I'd sensed before. It felt... annihilating. Survival demanded retreat. I did not anticipate..." He gestured towards the empty, scorched ground. "...that you would dispatch her so... efficiently. My commendations. A feat worthy of legend."
Kael snorted. "Yeah. She was weak anyway. Just loud." He made to walk past them. "Let's report back. Job's done."
"Ah!" Momon stepped slightly into his path, raising a placating hand. "Regarding the report... Might I propose a... partnership? You did the heavy lifting—no one can deny that. But how about you give me half the credit and the axe..." Momon said as he stepped forward, arms slightly open, posture relaxed.
"...and I give you something more personal. A token of true value."
Kael stared. What could he possibly offer?
"The untouched purity... the virginity... of a rare and valuable maiden!" He gestured grandly beside him. "Nabe, Step forward."
Nabe flinched as if struck. Her pale face drained of what little color it had. She took a single, rigid step forward. Her lips pressed into a thin, bloodless line, her striking eyes blazing with absolute, unconcealed disgust – directed at Kael. It was a look of pure, icy contempt and profound humiliation. Her jaw clenched tight enough to crack a tooth.
Kael's gaze locked onto her face. He saw the raw revulsion, the fury barely contained beneath the surface, the utter indignity. Insane. Using his own subordinate like currency. A slow, dark smile spread across Kael's face. It wasn't lust. It was the cold satisfaction of seeing Momon's desperation laid bare, and the perfect, visible target for his contempt that Nabe's expression provided.
This... this naked disgust... he thought. This is the best leverage he has right now without blowing his cover. And this look... it's priceless.
He held Nabe's furious, shamed gaze, his own yellow eyes burning with cold amusement. "Deal," Kael stated, his voice cutting through the thick tension. He tossed the succubus axe towards Momon with deliberate, casual disdain. It clattered on the ground near the dark knight's feet. "Consider the credit and the trinket yours, Momon. The maidenhood..." His eyes never left Nabe's furious face, the dark smile unwavering, "...is mine."
He turned fully towards Nabe, ignoring Momon's relieved satisfaction. "Let's go collect my reward, little maiden," Kael said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Try not to look too thrilled."
Nabe's hands clenched into white-knuckled fists, her entire body radiating suppressed fury and shame. She stood rigidly as Momon retrieved the fallen axe, her beautiful face a mask of icy contempt. Only when Momon straightened did she move, falling into step rigidly behind him as he began walking toward E-Rantel. Kael followed a moment later, his stride a study in predatory calm, eyes fixed on Nabe's back. Hamsuke trailed nervously behind Kael, casting anxious glances between his master and the seething maiden.
IN E-RANTEL
The guild master's office smelled of ink and aged parchment. Ainzach's frown deepened as Momon delivered their report:
"Igvarge's party was caught in a succubus ambush—we managed to drive her off. As for the vampire... she's been dealt with."
Ainzach's knuckles whitened around his quill. "Igvarge is dead, and the succubus is still loose. That creature has slaughtered dozens!"
Kael leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "For what it's worth, Momon's skills far surpass Adamantite. The succubus only escaped through trickery, not lack of ability."
The guild master studied them both before sighing. He unlocked a lacquered box, withdrawing an Orichalcum badge. "Very well. But find and finish this, Momon. Please."
As they exited, Kael noted Nabe's too-perfect composure and Hamsuke's oblivious cheer.
The moment the heavy oak doors shut behind them, Momon turned to face Kael, his black armor gleaming dully in the afternoon light. "My thanks," he said, the words smooth as polished steel. "You upheld your part... admirably."
Kael didn't blink. "And now it's time for the other half of our... arrangement," he replied, his voice a blade wrapped in silk. "To be done with it."
Another pause. Nabe, standing rigidly at Momon's side, didn't react—but the air around her grew colder, her delicate hands tightening imperceptibly at her sides.
Finally, Momon inclined his helmeted head. "Very well. Nabe will remain with you. For the full day, as agreed." He turned slightly toward her, though his expression remained hidden. "You will comply."
It wasn't a request.
Nabe's lips parted—just once—as if she might protest. But not a sound escaped. Her eyes burned with something between fury and resignation.
Kael smirked. "Very well," he said, deliberately casual. "See you tomorrow. Same time, same place, Momon." The name dripped with quiet mockery.
For a heartbeat, the black knight stood utterly still. Then, with a slow, almost regretful nod, he turned and strode away, his cape billowing behind him—leaving Nabe alone with Kael and the nervously shuffling Hamsuke.