Chapter 156: Origin (3)

“Graaaagh!”

A desperate scream echoed in the heart of the darkened city.

Barnabe thrashed and twisted his body, but the divinity imbued in the Heavenly Thunder Sword clung to him, refusing to let go.

Vampires, a branch of the Demon Tribe, possessed a nature completely opposite to divinity.

And could one endure divinity forcibly injected while being stabbed in the heart?

He tried to tear through his own chest to escape, but Carl wasn’t about to stand by and watch.

Crack.

He lifted his leg and stomped on the creature’s shoulder, pressing down with the Heavy Descent technique.

As he pinned him down to prevent escape, Barnabe’s body began to vanish from the edges, turning into black powder.

‘It’s a shame to kill him just like this.’

Unfortunately, Soul-Seizing Technique didn’t work on monsters like these.

It was possible with Demon Humans who were originally human-based.

But with other races, he still lacked the level needed to interfere mentally.

A being of this caliber would be hard to extract information from even through torture, and if he were to escape, the risk was far greater—so eliminating him quickly and seeking other leads was more efficient.

“There’s a vampire in Origin, huh.”

Carl sifted through his memories.

His encounter with Ascalon had been when he was roughly fifteen in this body.

At the time, NOX was rapidly rising as a new organization in Leipzig and was starting to expand its power in earnest.

Amidst that, a clash broke out over the rights to a territory that would become the center of a new power bloc.

That place had been Origin, and the one who had crossed swords with Carl was Ascalon.

‘Had King not stepped in, things could have gone badly.’

He might have even died right then and there.

Since coming to Artenia, he had never encountered another man who radiated such a threatening aura.

Back in the Central Plains, when he had been the Unkillable, he had sensed a similar murderous ghostly energy from Ascalon.

At the time, his level had been too low to perceive it properly, but now, seeing that he commanded Barnabe, Carl was convinced Ascalon wasn’t a normal human either.

“Master.”

As Barnabe’s destruction neared its end, several figures descended around Carl.

They were all executives of NOX, seemingly dispatched hastily for support, including Queen herself.

Nodding toward his subordinates, Carl fully annihilated Barnabe’s body, then stirred the ashes with the Heavenly Thunder Sword.

There, in the area near the chest where the heart had been, a red gem revealed itself.

“…Bloody Stone!”

“Do you know what this is?”

At Carl’s question, Gallon For nodded with a grave expression.

“It’s the heart of a vampire belonging to the High Bloodline. Unless this is destroyed, a vampire will keep resurrecting. That’s what makes them so tricky to kill.”

“So it’s similar to a lich’s Life Vessel.”

“Didn’t think I’d ever see one in person. Was this what you meant by a member of Origin?”

“It was a guy named Barnabe. Nine, collect a sample of the ashes.”

“Yes.”

Nine extended her hand and swept up the ashes that hadn’t yet been scattered.

A specimen from a High Bloodline vampire would become a valuable experimental material for NOX.

Lifting the Bloody Stone with a chip from the sword’s tip, Carl extracted it and tossed it to Gallon.

“Can you seal it with a divine barrier?”

“It’s possible. But you’re not going to destroy it?”

“There might be a use for it. More importantly, what’s the likelihood of resurrection?”

“If soaked in blood, it’ll likely revive.”

“Then we need to manage it carefully. I’ll entrust it to you.”

Gallon nodded at Carl’s instruction.

Once the order was given, there was no need to hesitate—it just had to be followed.

That was what it meant to be NOX.

Carl turned his gaze to Queen.

“What about Second?”

“I’ve tied her down. It took everything to stop her from coming out.”

“Good. Recovery is important. Tell her to stay in and focus on healing for now.”

“Understood.”

Carl stared at her in silence for a moment, lost in thought, then continued after a brief pause.

“I’ll overlook this matter. It was your judgment, made for me and for NOX.”

So he would respect it.

But Queen bit her lip and nodded under Carl’s gaze that made clear—there would not be a second time.

‘I know what you’re worried about.’

At the time, NOX had taken a serious blow—enough to shake the foundations it had painstakingly built.

NOX was an organization built around Carl, so if he were injured or disappeared, its very existence would be endangered.

That was likely why she had hesitated to report without clear information on Origin.

‘Was she worried I might lose?’

Carl smirked bitterly to himself.

What happened back then still seemed to weigh heavily on Queen.

But now that the Primordial Unity Divine Art had reached Three Stars, the situation was different.

On top of that, he had acquired the power of divinity—so even if Ascalon was a member of the Demon Tribe, he was no longer an insurmountable foe.

“Now that Barnabe’s gone, Origin will probably go back to watching us from a distance.”

“Either way, it’s clear those guys have made their move into the capital.”

“Chances are, they entered before us and have already established a position. Focus on narrowing down the candidates among such forces.”

“Understood.”

The current issue was that Origin had noticed NOX before the reverse had happened.

NOX had no information on where Origin was expanding or how large its force was.

A single misstep could lead to a devastating blow—putting the brakes on NOX’s next move.

“I’ll do some investigating on my own as well.”

Carl said, gazing out over the city steeped in darkness.

When it came to vampires, he had a few places he could probe himself.

Due to the large-scale exam for the Understanding of Combat lecture, all of Bayern was granted a two-day break.

Originally, the holiday only applied to cadets taking that specific lecture, but due to fairness concerns, cadets from other years were also given time off.

Though it was called a holiday, most were forgoing sleep to cram for the remaining exams.

One of those two days had already passed.

It was well past midnight, so there were barely any cadets wandering the campus.

Step.

Unlike ordinary cadets, Rachel was more energetic at night and had left her dormitory, heading toward the Bayern Library.

For her, morning was just beginning, and she intended to study hard for the rest of the time.

Just as she was walking without much thought, a sudden dark shadow shot up in front of her.

“……”

She couldn’t sense even the slightest presence.

Rachel, who had been walking, stopped in place and opened her mouth with an expression void of any emotional change.

“Who?”

The figure that rose from the shadows was a masked assailant.

He looked at Rachel and asked in a distorted voice.

“Was it Rachel, you said? Vampire.”

“……”

Even though her concealed race had been revealed, Rachel didn’t so much as twitch an eyelid.

With the same emotionless face, she stared at the assailant with eyes that glowed even redder than Barnabe’s.

“Trying to threaten me with my identity won’t work. Bayern already knows.”

“I’m not really here to threaten you. I just have a question.”

“…A question?”

“I’m curious if you know anything about an organization called Origin.”

Rachel’s face twisted in a scowl.

At the same moment, she kicked off the ground and lashed out her hand toward the assailant.

Clang—!

Though it was clearly a barehanded strike, a heavy impact rang out.

Carl casually extended his hand and deflected Rachel’s attack, stepping back slightly.

‘In terms of brute strength alone, she ranks above Barnabe.’

A vampire of the High Bloodline—no, perhaps even of the Progenitor’s Bloodline?

Either way, she was clearly hiding extraordinary internal energy.

“Nothing good comes from drawing attention.”

Carl raised his head and looked at Rachel.

A petite frame, an expression devoid of emotion, and crimson eyes.

There was nothing different from the time they had crossed paths during her hospitalization after the incident in Erendal Forest.

Though it had merely been a passing encounter, Carl’s only known vampire was her.

He intended to start with her to trace the clues around Barnabe, who was also a vampire.

‘Judging by her reaction, she seems to know Origin.’

As expected, the response confirmed his suspicion.

“Where did you hear that name?”

“Here.”

“…Here?”

“You didn’t know Origin made a move into the capital?”

“Origin?”

Carl narrowed his eyes.

It didn’t seem like she was pretending.

She clearly knew about Origin, but it appeared she hadn’t known they had expanded into the capital.

What exactly was the point of connection?

‘Maybe because it’s night, but her vibe feels entirely different from before.’

Back then, all she had done was drool over the sight of his bloodied bandages.

Now, she was staring at him with piercingly clear eyes.

“We just had a clash with Origin not long ago. In the process, I killed a vampire named Barnabe. Or rather, I neutralized him. I secured his Bloody Stone.”

“…Barnabe.”

“Someone you know?”

“Before that.”

Rachel didn’t answer so easily.

“Who are you?”

“NOX.”

Carl pointed to the golden crescent moon at the edge of his mask.

Rachel’s eyes widened slightly, and she murmured under her breath.

“One of the groups involved in the entrance exam terror?”

“More precisely, the group that stopped it. Thanks to me, the cadets survived.”

Carl shrugged.

“There’s something we need to make clear first. Rachel, what’s your relationship with Origin?”

“Why should I tell you?”

“Depending on your answer…”

Shhhk.

Carl slowly drew his sword.

From between the shadows, the energy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art began to seep out, encircling the surrounding space.

Even for Rachel, a vampire, the pressure was chilling.

Looking at her with calm, sunken eyes, Carl spoke.

“It could determine whether you live or die.”

“……”

Rachel raised her head and looked around.

With this much commotion, someone should have come, but the surroundings were suspiciously silent.

As if someone had intentionally suppressed the disturbance.

‘What kind of trick is this?’

Rachel clenched her fist tightly.

Whether she caused a commotion or got caught up in one, either way, it would cost her too much.

She had entered Bayern on the condition that she wouldn’t cause any trouble to begin with.

In the end, letting out a short breath, Rachel nodded and spoke.

“I belonged to Origin. More accurately, I was held captive by them. I was one of Origin’s retainers.”

“…Retainer?”

Carl tilted his head in confusion.

Rachel tilted her head slightly as well and said,

“You didn’t know? Origin is both the name of the organization and of its leader.”

“Which means…”

Rachel nodded in response to Carl’s question.

“Origin is the highest-ranking vampire descended from the Progenitor’s Bloodline. He’s even monitored by the Holy Nation, the Vatican.”

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