Chapter 53
I’ve used it once—why wouldn’t I be able to use it again?
Meloni rushed down to the first floor and, a few steps before the staircase ended, leapt down. The swarm of replicas that had been heading for the second floor suddenly changed direction.
So I really am the target.
Confirming it again left a bad taste in her mouth. Being singled out without even knowing why felt downright disgusting.
“This should be enough.”
Before the replicas could close in, she stopped at the center of the first floor. From here, her power could spread throughout the entire temple.
She should have used her holy power earlier.
She shouldn’t have backed off just because it was hard to control.
“Kain, you’d better dodge.”
“Obviously. Even for me, Mel’s power would be a bit much.”
Standing precariously on the second-floor railing, Kain withdrew his body. For some reason, that annoyed her—so much that she almost shot at the railing, but stopped herself.
Gripping the umbrella properly, Meloni raised it with the tip pointed toward the floor. Just as she was about to drive it down—
“Stop.”
A woman’s voice echoed from somewhere. The languid voice spreading through the air strangely stimulated the mind.
It was extremely irritating. The pitch itself seemed to induce a headache.
“Kyaaa!”
“Graaagh!”
The ones who reacted were the replicas. All of them twisted their bodies in agony.
At the grotesque sight, Meloni’s brows furrowed instinctively.
“Step aside.”
That was when a woman appeared from somewhere.
A woman with soft, pink hair and brown eyes descended in a pure white dress.
The vampires scattered around the first floor approached her, dropped to one knee in unison, and bowed their heads.
“Saintess, you have arrived.”
Saintess? Who? That vampire?
Dumbfounded, Meloni scoffed. Even the replicas hesitated and retreated.
The vampire called the Saintess approached Meloni.
“So it’s you—the infamous hunter who shows no mercy before vampires.”
“I don’t really know about that.”
Tilting her head, Meloni pointed the tip of her umbrella at the Saintess.
“What are you?”
“Me? As you can see, Saintess Katarina.”
“Saintess?”
Katarina smiled sweetly. When she did, the surrounding vampires let out sighs of admiration.
It felt like watching a painfully unfunny comedy.
“Since when were you a saintess?”
“Well… two years? Three? Something like that.”
Blinking her large eyes, Katarina smiled with an innocent expression.
“Why do you ask?”
“I wanted to know when this temple became a vampire nest.”
“And what are you going to do with that knowledge?”
“What else?”
With a smirk, Meloni fired a bullet. It grazed Katarina’s left hair and passed by. A wound opened on her left cheek, blood trickling down.
“Saintess!”
“You hunter—ugh!”
She kicked away the vampire who lunged at her, smashing his shin and knocking him over. Then she pressed the umbrella tip to the back of his neck and fired.
In an instant, the surroundings fell silent. Even Katarina’s ever-smiling face stiffened.
“I wasn’t planning to hide who I am anyway.”
Among vampires, the name Meloni Carthus was already well known. She knew that herself, and she had never bothered to hide it.
Hadn’t she felt all those eyes on her the moment she entered the temple?
“My goal is to kill every vampire in here.”
She was about to continue what she’d started when—
“You think I’ll just stand by after hearing that?”
“Oh, Saintess, please kill that arrogant hunter!”
“Kill her!”
“Kill her, kill her!”
The vampires united as one, calling for Meloni’s death. The replicas, unable to speak, howled like beasts.
An ordinary person—or even a mere hunter—would have gone insane in a place like this.
Their grotesque voices were that terrifying. Being targeted by so many at once was something no average mental fortitude could endure.
“So…”
Was she lucky?
Meloni remained unfazed by the attack. She merely frowned deeply at the unpleasant situation.
Then she lifted her head and glared at Kain, who was sitting on the second-floor railing, watching leisurely.
“Kain.”
By now, the sonic assault had grown into a deafening roar, swallowing her voice.
Yet Kain heard her anyway and tilted his head to the side. His black hair scattered in the air.
“You’ll have to handle it yourself, hm? If you want my help, you’ll need to pay a much higher price.”
Between the folds of the cloak far larger than his body, the restraint collar around his neck was visible.
Ironically, that single object would be enough to make Kain obey her. But she had never truly used it to force his submission.
Why am I thinking about this now?
One question surfaced in the span of a few seconds.
Why hadn’t she properly used the collar, even after putting it on Kain?
Probably because she didn’t want to fight a powerful vampire whose leash had been removed someday.
If she miraculously survived after fighting the king, her next opponent would be Kain. And then, before long, she might die a miserable death.
To avenge herself only to die miserably afterward?
No thanks.
Probably.
She had believed that was the only reason she didn’t force Kain into submission.
It had to be.
“Get lost. I don’t need your help—”
“Now!”
Katarina’s cheek, wounded by the silver bullet, hadn’t healed easily; blood was still flowing.
Yet she spread her arms wide, smiling as if intoxicated with ecstasy.
“My beautiful slaves!”
Her voice was like that of a siren, luring sailors with song by the sea.
“Before my hands are stained with blood, get rid of the intruder for me!”
Every vampire was said to possess a unique ability.
Katarina’s ability was to manipulate the minds of others through her voice.
“What an annoying opponent.”
Muttering, Meloni let out a sigh.
Now even the ordinary vampires staggered like replicas and charged at her all at once. Killing them one by one with a gun was impossible.
So I was going to have to use my holy power anyway.
The holy power she had avoided because it was hard to control—she would likely have to keep using it from now on.
Before this land fell under vampire rule.
Having made her decision, Meloni knew she had no more time to hesitate. Delay any longer, and she might become vampire food.
“No—I’m not the one who’s going to die.”
Boom—
She drove the tip of the umbrella into the floor with all her strength. Even so, the umbrella showed no sign of damage.
At the tremendous noise, the enemies faltered, momentarily stopping their movements. Meloni, who had bent forward, straightened up and scanned her surroundings.
“Fake saintess—are you a bishop?”
“Hmph! Why should a filthy hunter know?”
The four bishops who guarded the vampire king.
One of them, Bella, was already dead. Of the remaining three, one was Kain. If she eliminated the bishops, the king would lose all his loyal servants.
Meloni judged that the enemy before her had to die.
“Actually, I don’t need to confirm whether you’re a bishop or not.”
“What…?”
“Because I’m going to kill every vampire in here anyway.”
With a sneer across her face, Meloni opened the umbrella. The dark crimson canopy spread wide like the wings of a butterfly.
The moment she tightened her grip on the shaft, pure white light instantly filled the temple.
“Aaaagh!”
“Graaagh!”
The light was as hot and intense as sunlight, so blinding that it was impossible to keep one’s eyes open.
Yet at the center of the power, Meloni alone calmly looked around with her eyes open.
The swarm of replicas began turning to dust in an instant.
This is the first time I’ve used this much power.
She had to kill Katarina.
Locking onto her target, Meloni aimed in that direction and exerted her power. A single beam of light burst forth from the umbrella.
It took the form of a massive serpent.
“This is…”
Its head swayed left and right, then turned toward Meloni—as if it were alive.
Suddenly, Meloni thought the serpent of light resembled Kinaz.
Why a snake, of all things?
There was no time to ponder it. Without her command, the serpent of light began to fade away.
“The target is that fake saintess.”
The pointed-out Katarina, overwhelmed by the tremendous power of light, froze like a statue.
“What—what is this… what is this?!”
Seizing the moment, Meloni pointed precisely with her finger.
“Kill that woman.”
The serpent of light opened its jaws wide and lunged forward in an instant.
Startled, Katarina stumbled backward. She stepped on her once-splendid white dress, lost her balance, and fell backward.
“Ah!”
Just as the serpent of light was about to bite into Katarina—
“…!”
At the same moment Meloni felt a wave of dizziness, her vision turned white.
“No—just a little more—”
But darkness fell upon her consciousness.
