"Hmm…"
Diana's tightly closed eyelids fluttered.
"Lady Diana! Are you awake?"
As her scattered consciousness slowly returned, she heard her brother's urgent voice nearby. It seemed he had been waiting for her to wake up, nursing her at her side.
"…Yes, I'm alright."
Diana murmured in a hoarse voice and slowly sat up. She felt a slight dizziness, but that was all; she wasn't in any pain. Well, it was only natural, as she had been easily subdued without any resistance due to her lack of combat ability.
'So it wasn't a dream.'
She cautiously looked around, and the familiar scene of her home came into view. The home where her family had lived since settling in this new land. Of course, the atmosphere wasn't as peaceful as usual, given the recent incident.
"Diana! You're awake!"
"Thank goodness. Rafi woke up a while ago, but you wouldn't open your eyes, so we were so worried…"
Her aunt and uncle rushed over, embracing and comforting her. Her aunt, who had been out shopping, and her uncle, who had been working late, luckily avoided the incident. However, they couldn't be completely happy about their good luck when their children and niece had almost been harmed. They finally breathed a sigh of relief when Diana woke up.
Fortunately, the youngest, Rafi, like Aaron, was protected by a shaman's spell, so she had no lasting effects. Rather, she was just a little surprised, as she had been unconscious since the beginning of the incident and had no memory of it.
"…That's a relief. It's better that way since Rafi is still young…"
Diana, who had been nodding blankly as she listened, stopped mid-sentence. As her cognitive abilities returned, a memory flashed through her mind.
"Oh, right! G, Grandma! Where's Grandma Miropa?!"
Startled, she jumped out of bed. Her brother caught her as she stumbled from the sudden movement, but she didn't have the time to worry about that. The last image she saw of the old woman flashed through her mind.
'No!'
The image of her next-door neighbor, collapsing and coughing up blood while holding Rafi, buying them time until the very last moment. Diana realized for the first time that the grandmother was such a powerful individual. If it wasn't for her desperate efforts, she wouldn't be able to see her family like this.
"Don't worry too much, Lady Diana. Grandma is safe."
"Yes, I was just checking on her. She lives alone, so we brought her to the guest room so we could take care of her."
"That's right, that's right. And Saint Heinrich of the Main God's Church himself looked after her! My goodness, I never thought I'd see a Saint with my own eyes…"
Relieved by her family's words, Diana sat back down on the bed. A sigh of relief escaped her lips, thinking that the worst had been avoided.
"Saint Heinrich, you say…?"
"Yeah! You haven't seen him yet, have you? I saw him ripping through the sky and coming down! Wow… I'll never forget that. He's a Saint for a reason."
Aaron recounted the majestic sight he had witnessed, gesticulating as he spoke. A gentle smile appeared on Diana's lips as she looked at him. However, unlike her brother's words, the image of Saint Heinrich remained clear in her memory.
'I thought it might have been because I wasn't in my right mind back then. But it wasn't a hallucination.'
The person described by her brother and the one in her memory were undoubtedly the same. Heinrich Saint Landguard, the Saint of the Main God's Church, who had suddenly appeared while she was barely holding onto consciousness after being subdued by the attacker.
'But…'
Her expression changed subtly as she listened. Although she remembered some of it, not everything was clear because she was in a daze. All she could recall now were a few striking details. And among them, the clearest was,
Naturally, the impression related to her most trusted sense.
The familiar scent mixed with the undeniable smell of blood, emanating from an embrace that felt more cool than warm. It was a scent she hadn't smelled in a long time, subtly different from what she smelled from Hubert every day, almost nostalgic.
'Mister Heinz…'
This was the first time she had encountered him as a vampire since moving to Tarak. However, having spent every day with Hubert, she easily found traces of the 'mister' she knew within him. It was only natural, since she had always thought they were the same person.
'But…'
There was one thing she couldn't understand.
And that was—.
'He is clearly Saint Heinrich.'
He wasn't the only one from whom she sensed a familiar scent. Unlike Heinz, the primary scent was warm and comforting, but there was definitely a familiar scent mixed in. She hadn't been able to think clearly at the time because she was in such a state, but now that she thought about it, it was certainly strange. A vampire and a Saint weren't exactly a harmonious combination.
"…Could it be?"
Lost in thought, she gasped involuntarily. Her eyes widened, and she lifted her head.
"Lady Diana?"
Her brother's voice didn't reach her, lost in her own thoughts. Her expression was serious as she pondered a sudden realization.
'If that's the case…'
Diana clenched her small fists.
***
"Thank you, Sir Saint!"
"Did you see that? Back then, the entire sky was covered…"
"Goodness, don't be ridiculous. Is there anyone in Tarak who didn't see that?"
"Oh! Are those them? Are those the ones I've only heard rumors about…?"
"Is Mercenary King Harley not here? What a shame. I really wanted to meet the Hero of Tarak."
The terrorist attack targeting the Hubert Company executive was resolved without major casualties. The culprit had hatched a daring plan to kidnap the company's second-in-command by targeting the entire vicinity of her residence, but thanks to the Hero's Party, who happened to be visiting Tarak, they were able to quickly grasp the situation and respond in time.
'It's best to leave it at that.'
Not many would understand if he started talking about a god sealed in the abyss, apostles, or fragments. Moreover, perhaps due to the Main God's memory erasure, there wasn't a single piece of information about that existence left on the surface, let alone anyone who knew about it.
'It seems there are restrictions on spreading information about him as well.'
Gods gained stronger influence as more people recognized and worshiped them. Naturally, the fallen god seeking resurrection and his apostles must have tried this method as well. The fact that the situation hadn't changed much meant that information about that being was forbidden by the world's laws.
'The reason he only uses a small number of apostles is probably also part of that restriction. I'm an exception since I'm from another world.'
In that sense, the apostles who followed him were quite unusual beings. They were undoubtedly born and raised in Auterica, but how did they get involved with him? Of course, they must have their own reasons.
Yes, for example.
Like Temiran McCleare, who was here right now.
"Ugh… Gah!"
A suppressed groan escaped from the darkness of the sealed room. The broken groans, unable to even form a proper scream, clearly showed how much pain he was in.
"As expected, a god is still a god, even when fallen. His resistance is considerable."
Temiran, stiff and bound by chains of blood on the operating table. Heinz, standing before him like a surgeon, muttered softly, his hand plunged into the boy's chest, gripping his heart.
'It's not a pleasant sight, but it can't be helped.'
A young child seemingly undergoing a vivisection, and an adult man piercing his chest and clutching his heart. It was a horrific scene, impossible to justify, but it wasn't torture for interrogation. It would be more accurate to call it a treatment procedure.
'It's natural for a major surgery like this to be painful. Still, it's better than dying, isn't it?'
He was in this sealed room, doing this, all for Temiran's sake. Regardless of his own will, he was still an apostle of the god trapped in the abyss. The only options left were death or the removal of his apostle powers. But removing the divine power bestowed upon an apostle… forcibly extracting the traces embedded in his body and soul, wasn't an easy task!
"It's almost over, so bear with it a little longer. Don't feel too wronged. I'm sharing the same pain as you."
"Ugh!"
Temiran glared with bloodshot eyes, as if telling him not to lie. But Heinz wasn't lying. He just appeared calm because he was filtering out unnecessary sensations through 「Mind Hub」 as always.
…Well, it was a lie that it was almost over.
'The base is definitely Obeipo[1]… but it's heavily modified. There's also a considerable influence from the abyss. It would have been easier if he was a pure-blooded Obeipo.'
It was probably one of the changes that occurred when he became an apostle. But it wasn't all bad news.
'Fortunately, he's still incomplete. For him to be at this level after 20 years of being chosen as an apostle…'
As mentioned before, it wasn't easy for a god whose name and existence had been erased by the world's laws to create an apostle. He must have been taking his time until now, but as the situation became urgent, his limitations began to show.
'To think he would send out an incomplete apostle. He must have been quite desperate.'
He probably thought that if he didn't do this, the remaining arrangements would soon crumble. It wasn't a rash decision, all things considered. Judging by his progress, it would take at least another ten years for Temiran to become a complete apostle. Ten years was twice as long as he had been active in Auterica. Considering what had happened in that short period, no one could predict what the situation would be like in another ten years. He could understand the sense of crisis the god must have felt.
"Cough! You said it was almost… over…! How much… longer…?"
"Ah."
Just then, a dying voice came from below. He was covered in blood due to the backlash from his blood being forcibly assimilated through his heart. Heinz, too, was only maintaining a calm exterior by forcibly controlling his body. His insides were no different from Temiran's.
'Delaying any longer won't lead to a good outcome.'
All preparations were complete. All that remained was execution.
"Clench your teeth. This will hurt a bit more."
"What?! More painful than thiiiis…!"
Temiran let out a frog-like shriek before he could finish, but it didn't reach Heinz, who was fully concentrated. He maximized his control over blood as a Divine Blood vampire and the 'Blood Ancestor', and directly injected 「Refined Blood Crystal」, containing the power of 「Hybrid Evolution」, into his heart to enhance his dominance.
'In the end, it's a battle of which has greater control: the apostle's power or the vampire's.'
If Temiran was a complete apostle like the Revolutionist, usurping control would have been nearly impossible. Fortunately, he wasn't at that level yet. The disrespect towards his god that he had displayed during their previous conversation must have been a manifestation of that inner conflict.
Crack Crack
The small body, bound by chains of blood, thrashed and began to forcibly evolve. Bones and flesh twisted and crumbled, reshaping into a new form as if molded from clay. Stronger, tougher, more resilient… more mature.
"Ugh! Gah! Stop! Stoooop—!"
Temiran, now in his mid-teens, thrashed, scattering crimson blood, but Heinz didn't flinch. He calmly gathered the blood, using 「Blood Mystery」 to construct a blood magic circle around them to aid the ritual.
'Found it.'
After some time,
His 「Insight」 detected something foreign. An unknown divinity wriggling within Temiran's soul, sensed through the blood, the source of a vampire. The one sealed in the abyss was originally a human god, but ironically, a pure human couldn't fully accept the power of an apostle. Not only was the durability of the vessel, the body, a problem, but the moment they connected spiritually with the being in the abyss, they would begin to corrupt and become a mindless monster like the white giants.
'Come to think of it, wasn't it him who first introduced the vampire and werewolf factors to Auterica?'
He didn't know if it was intentional, but it didn't matter now. Whatever his intentions, they were meaningless before Heinz, who had begun to awaken the divinity of blood.
As 「Existence Denial」 manifested through the assimilated blood, the connection to the divinity weakened. And at that moment, 「Return to Origin」, obtained upon ascending to Divine Blood, activated. The power of a complete vampire, the pinnacle of their kind, slowly taking shape. As it spread through Temiran's body via his blood, through his heart, it began to clash violently with the foreign substance… the apostle's power, which hindered his existence as a true vampire.
"Gaaaaah—!"
Temiran, now in his late teens, screamed as if he would vomit up his heart. So Heinz decided to help him with that.
Ptoo!
By ripping out the heart where his fingers were embedded.
"Gah!"
"Phew. You're a handful."
He stared at the heart, pulsing vigorously in his hand. There was no need to worry about Temiran, who had finally passed out. For him, who had become a proper Sacred Blood vampire, inheriting his bloodline by becoming subordinate to Heinz II, a heart was merely a replaceable part. It was a small bonus that the forced faith had been reversed, creating an extreme counter to its original target.
'Now then…'
Thump Thump
The crimson heart pulsed, filled with the divinity that bestowed the apostle's power and the mutated vampiric factor. He felt as if he had made eye contact with someone far away through it.
"It's good to see you again."
Heinz chuckled softly. This wasn't a power to be taken lightly. A dangerous object that could turn one into a puppet like Temiran.
'Thank you for the meal.'
Of course, that was only for ordinary cases. It didn't apply to Heinz II, who was already accumulating his own divinity. To him, this isolated divinity was nothing more than a digestible and nutritious tonic.
Squish!
The heart in his hand burst. But the scattered blood didn't splatter everywhere. As if drawn by some force, it was instantly sucked back into his fist.
"New vampiric factor acquired. Due to the effects of the special skill 「Hybrid Evolution」, the individual's divinity grows further. Skill 「Subjugation」 acquired."
A satisfied smile spread across Heinz's lips. He thought he heard a furious roar from somewhere, but it must have been his imagination. There was no one here but the unconscious Temiran and Heinz.
[1] Not sure what it is. Maybe a new species?