Chapter 39 《The Hound of the Storm》- (1)
“Shit….”
It was shortly after occupying Lavaheart that I received the report: there was no sign of Lilianel anywhere in the city.
“Slippery little wench….”
I clenched my teeth tightly and balled my fists. Although I hadn’t expected to find her so easily, hearing that she wasn’t in Lavaheart still left me with an undeniable sense of disappointment.
“Where could you have gone…?”
…I muttered under my breath, my brows furrowing deeply.
If she wasn’t in this mining city, could she have headed to the fortress city of Nevirthol? Considering the distance, Nevirthol, located farther north, might have seemed a safer refuge than Lavaheart.
“…Run all you want, Lilianel.”
Clenching my fists even tighter, I murmured to myself.
Even if it wasn’t Nevirthol, as long as Lilianel remained within this world of “Avalon’s Tower,” it was inevitable that she would end up in my hands sooner or later.
Tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of undead will scour every humble dwelling, every secluded cave. Even if it takes 10 years, 100 years, or another 1000 years.
“…Master, the lord of this place is here.”
“Hm?”
…While lost in thought, my face a blend of conflicting emotions, the ranks of the undead army parted in neat order, and Tina approached me, dragging someone along.
“We were lucky enough to find him alive.”
The loyal zombie maid shot a scornful glance at the man being dragged, who was sprawled across the ground.
“Ugh… cough, cough.”
The man, clad in battered armor that rattled with every movement, barely managed to catch his breath. I looked down at him, intrigued. This was the lord of Lavaheart.
“You’re in better shape than I expected.”
In a city where screams still echoed from a few corners and the soldiers on the walls had been massacred, seeing him intact—his limbs all in place—was rather surprising.
“You’re a lucky one, aren’t you?”
Perhaps fortune favored him as a lord. Considering the circumstances, he could easily have been dragged here as a cripple, yet he bore no life-threatening wounds. It was astonishing, really.
“The Progenitor Vampire….”
The lord of Lavaheart muttered under his breath, casting a sideways glance at me filled with thinly veiled fear. Meeting his gaze, I clicked my tongue in annoyance.
“…I’ve told you, I’m not the Progenitor.”
Everywhere I went, it was always “Progenitor Vampire this” or “Progenitor Vampire that.”
I wasn’t even the Progenitor, nor was I the sole vampire 1000 years ago. I had no idea who first coined the term, but it made me feel like some decrepit elder, and I didn’t particularly like it.
“…Whatever.”
But what could I do? With a sigh, I shrugged my shoulders and crouched down. Facing the lord kneeling before me, I asked in a chilling voice.
“Where is Lilianel?”
“What, what? Lilianel…?”
The sudden question caused the lord to flinch. He swallowed hard, nervously replaying my question in his mind.
“Are you talking about the Prime Minister…?”
“Yeah, that accursed Prime Minister of yours.”
“The Prime Minister, suddenly…? I, I don’t kn— …!!”
As he began to wave his hands, denying my question, something flickered in his eyes.
“Hmm….”
It was a faint tremor, but I caught it clearly.
…That was the look of someone hiding something.
When I had posed the same question to Mizael and Chris Evergrit, their gazes were different—genuine and filled with truth as they professed ignorance. But this man before me was not the same.
His pupils dilated. His lips trembled. His hands and feet twitched as though afflicted with tremors. Normally, he might have been able to maintain a poker face, but in this place—a scene of massacre, surrounded by death and blood—it was nearly impossible to completely conceal his thoughts.
…Without a doubt, his actions betrayed someone holding back, hiding something.
“…I don’t know.”
…Still, the lord soon closed his eyes and replied quietly. Whatever decision he made during that brief moment, his voice was now filled with a surprising resolve. Even the fear that had gripped his body seemed to subside.
He spoke with a newfound defiance, his voice ringing louder.
“Why should I tell you anything? I am one of the great lords of Avilia!”
“…”
“What do you think you’ll accomplish by finding the Prime Minister, you vile monster?”
“…”
I continued to stare at him impassively. Emboldened by his own voice, the lord smirked and raised his tone further.
“Vampires are nothing more than playthings! Dying at the hands of a creature like you would be the greatest shame of my life! Kill me if you dare!”
“…”
With his soldiers dead and his territory in ruins before his very eyes, the lord seemed to have nothing left to lose. People with nothing to lose are the most dangerous. He appeared to have accepted death, choosing instead to uphold what little honor he believed he had.
By defying me to the bitter end, he sought to reclaim a shred of dignity. That’s why he so brazenly spewed these offensive words.
“…Fine. Understood.”
“A mere monster like you! Go ahead, kill me. I’ll curse you from the depths of hell.”
“…But you know what?”
“…?!”
…This time, I smile.
The cold, emotionless smile must have been chilling enough to unnerve him, as the lord flinched and shrank back momentarily.
I tilted his chin upward with the tip of my finger, leaning close to his coarse ear to whisper in a low voice.
“Who said I was going to kill you…?”
“Wh-what…?”
Before he could even respond, I grabbed him by the collar, hoisted him into the air, and slammed him down onto the ground.
“Arghhh!!”
…The icy ground beneath us cracked from the impact as the lord collided violently with it. I could feel the vivid sensation of something in his bones breaking through my fingertips. Even the remaining intact parts of his armor began to shatter.
“My… my back!!”
The lord howled in pain.
“…”
“Ahhhhh!”
But I didn’t stop.
Kill him quickly? Accept death calmly? Did he really think he could find brief pain followed by eternal rest?
And that, before a necromancer who had just been unsealed, her fury reaching its peak?
…Such arrogance was unforgivable.
“Talk.”
“Ugh…ugh, ack!”
I continued to slam him into the ground by his collar.
“Talk.”
“Arghhh! S-stop, please!”
“Where is Lilianel? Tell me right now.”
“It hurts! It hurts so much! Please stop….”
“So what?”
“Aaahhh!!”
I slammed him down even harder.
And then, glaring at him with eyes burning with rage, I growled.
“You know where Lilianel is. Don’t you dare spew insolent nonsense—just spit it out.”
“N-no, I really don’t kno—aaahhh!!”
“…If you don’t talk, you won’t die peacefully. I’ll make sure you wander this world forever as nothing more than a hunk of flesh.”
“T-that’s….”
Perhaps understanding the meaning behind my words and the situation, the lord’s expression darkened rapidly. I tossed him back toward Tina.
“…Tina.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Make him talk, no matter what it takes.”
“…Leave it to me.”
Hearing my command, Tina drew the grotesque greatsword strapped to her back. Torture had always been her hobby, and she had perfected the art of inflicting excruciating pain without killing her victims.
Tina stared at the lord she had dragged in with smoldering eyes and spoke.
“…Human, are you ready?”
“W-what…? What…?”
…The zombie maid drew her menacing greatsword, grotesquely embedded with scraps of human flesh. The blade, still smeared with crimson blood, gleamed with a sinister black sheen. At the sight of it, warm liquid began to stream down between the lord’s legs.
“I-I was wrong….”
Twisting his head to face me again, he urgently shouted. Then, groveling at my feet, he slammed his head against the ground and bowed deeply.
“I apologize for my insolence. P-please, forgive me.”
“…”
Only when faced with a situation where even ‘death’ seemed like an unattainable release did he lower his head. He groaned and begged with a trembling voice, his actions unbecoming of someone holding the title of lord.
“I will tell you everything I know—about the Prime Minister’s location, and anything else you wish. Please, just spare me.”
“…Pathetic.”
I looked down at him with disdain.
So, even as the lord of such a crucial stronghold in Avilia, he must have been entrusted with some information about Lilianel.
I stepped on his bowed head with my foot. Every time I rubbed his hair with my snow-covered boot, he groaned in pain.
But I didn’t care. Instead, I pressed down even harder and spoke.
“…That depends on your answer.”
“…”
“So answer properly.”
I didn’t want to waste even a second more.
The more time passed, the more my anger surged.
If the day ever came when I had to scour the entire continent, by then, my rage would have multiplied many times over.
“…This is your last chance.”
…Picturing that damned elf’s arrogant smile in my mind, I posed the question to the lord of Lavaheart one final time.
“Where. is. Lilianel?”
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