How a Reincarnated Warlock Lives – Chapter 74

Chapter 74: Encounter (2)

Crack.

Marchena’s slender foot crushed the black mage’s head, and sticky blood slowly spread, soaking the stone floor.

Frowning with displeasure at the sight, she muttered in dissatisfaction.

“This is why killing catacomb black mages is a losing proposition. You can’t even drink this filthy blood.”

“……”

Looking down at the black mage’s corpse, which had stopped moving after a brief struggle, as if it were an insect, she slowly walked out from the shadows between the buildings.

“It’s been a while, self-proclaimed successor.”

Marchena revealed her sharp fangs and gave a ferocious smile. She lightly lifted her leg back, tapped her toes on the ground, and brushed off the fragments stuck to her shoes. Then, with a slightly exaggerated bow, she greeted me.

“I came to see if you had any intention of keeping your promise.”

Facing her somewhat threatening tone, I replied calmly.

“You’re impatient.”

Smirk. At my condescending tone, the ferocious smile on her lips deepened.

“You said you would come to the Dawn Society to prove you were his successor.”

“I did.”

At my answer, Kazan slightly tilted his head. His expression seemed to ask what I was doing here.

“As you can see, something came up.”

“……”

At my simple answer, the man’s expression hardened slightly. It wasn’t a face that easily revealed emotional changes, but I could read the emotions on his face without difficulty.

Slight anger. And anxiety.

‘What happened to the Dawn Society?’

Although I was curious about that, the matters of the Pain Kingdom and the Modesta Catacomb were more pressing.

“First─”

The moment I opened my mouth, I felt a ferocious energy from behind.

Whoosh!

The figure that instantly passed by my side was Lephra, who had somehow dealt with the remaining snakes and rushed over. Her sword drew a large semicircle, covering Marchena and Kazan.

Boom!

An intense explosion. Dust billowed around us from the resulting shockwave.

“Judging by your skills, you’re not an Esquire. Are you a fellow Inquisitor? Not bad.”

Marchena’s voice could be heard before the dust had completely settled.

I saw Kazan slowly lower his hand with an expressionless face. His gaze, unwavering as he blocked the attack imbued with holy power, was directed at me, not Lephra.

Realizing that her opponent had completely blocked her attack, Lephra gripped her sword and spat out fiercely.

“I’ll drive a stake through your heart, vampire.”

Marchena slowly walked out from the thick dust cloud. Unlike Kazan, who seemed to have no intention of attacking, she bared her fangs and laughed ferociously.

“Oh yeah? Try if you can……”

Marchena’s red eyes, which had been narrowed, drew a soft curve.

“Go ahead.”

As soon as she finished speaking, a red energy burst from the dust cloud and shot towards us like an arrow, and Lephra’s rapier was dyed with a sacred white light.

Flash!

Her body, strengthened by holy power, dashed forward quickly, leaving a faint afterimage. It was truly instantaneous.

Slash. The Inquisitor’s thin sword, imbued with holy power, sliced through the red energy flying towards her.

Seeing this, Marchena’s smile faded slightly.

“You’re not completely green. Well, I suppose…”

Glancing at me with a meaningful smile, Marchena’s hand gathered red energy once more. Her nails glowed faintly, as if stained with blood.

It felt as if a thick, bloody scent wafted towards us.

Most vampires would turn to a handful of ashes and disappear under the sunlight. However, Marchena, now baring her fangs and full of fighting spirit, remained unharmed under the midday heat.

Of course, she was squinting slightly as if the pouring sunlight was unpleasant.

Whoosh!

Lephra’s sword, which had somehow reached close range, swung horizontally towards Marchena’s neck.

And almost simultaneously, a part of the vampire’s body turned into red smoke, deflecting Lephra’s attack.

Despite her abilities being somewhat limited due to the daytime, it was a remarkably smooth and swift transformation into mist.

Thud. As she deflected the attack and moved her mist-transformed body behind Lephra, a chilling smile spread across Marchena’s lips.

Wham!

However, before Marchena could swing her claws, Lephra, with beast-like reflexes, twisted her waist and swung her sword towards her blind spot.

Tss. A faint red blood splattered in the air.

“……!”

Startled as if burned by fire, Marchena hurriedly turned her body and kicked Lephra’s back.

Wham.

Instantly creating distance between them, the two regained their stances and glared at each other.

Sizzle. Faint smoke rose from Marchena’s wound, inflicted by the sword imbued with holy power.

It wasn’t a fatal wound due to the glancing blow, but it was enough to scratch her pride.

“……”

Lephra also winced at the impact on her back and spat out the blood that had pooled in her mouth.

“Damn you……!”

The enraged vampire swung her hand, shooting out red energy. The red energy, shaped like a bat, flew towards the Inquisitor.

Simultaneously, the pattern on Lephra’s bracelet glowed. Flash. Three or four spheres, emanating a transparent light, shot out from the object that appeared to be a holy relic containing holy spells.

However, before the two energies could collide.

A white barrier, extending from my hand, blocked their path.

Kaboom!

A tremor shook the surroundings.

Jerit, who had arrived late after noticing the commotion, flinched and bent down.

The thin protective barrier, unable to withstand the attacks from both sides, dissipated. However, it was enough to stop their attacks.

“……”

Lephra looked at me, the one who had blocked her attack. Her eyes demanded an explanation.

This was significant progress. Instead of cursing or acting impulsively, she first stopped moving and waited for my words, something unimaginable in the past.

Having stopped the fight with my sudden intervention, I walked between the two, who were still glaring at each other with murderous intent.

An Inquisitor and a vampire.

They were destined to be enemies, typically.

“……”

But from my perspective, it was a little different.

If they shared a common goal, their origins wouldn’t be a significant issue. It was a simple logic, but not many practiced it.

An unholy background was more than enough reason to unconditionally antagonize someone.

Five hundred years ago, and even now.

I slowly opened my mouth.

“They are the ones who came looking for me. To help me with my work.”

Marchena snorted softly. I pointed at the corpse of the black mage lying at her feet.

“……”

Lephra remained silent.

It seemed she had also witnessed them dealing with the black mage.

“While it’s true that they are not ordinary humans, they are different from the heinous black mages of the catacombs. They haven’t committed any wrongdoings that require immediate punishment.”

Well, at least not in front of me.

It sounded plausible at first glance, but it was actually close to sophistry.

How could a vampire, strong enough to walk under the sunlight, have accumulated such power?

However, I continued speaking without avoiding Lephra’s gaze.

“I hope you won’t make the mistake of judging someone solely based on their appearance.”

It was an excuse that wouldn’t have worked if the person facing them now was another stubborn Inquisitor. If it had been Anton here, at least two of the people present wouldn’t be standing unharmed.

But Lephra was someone who could be reasoned with. Wasn’t she the one who had beheaded the priest who insisted on burning the villagers not too long ago?

“……”

After staring at me silently, she slowly lowered her sword. It seemed she had decided to step back for now.

I wasn’t sure if she had postponed the immediate execution because she hadn’t witnessed any wrongdoing directly, or if it was simply an act of trust in me.

“……!”

Jerit, who had arrived late, also looked back and forth between me and Lephra and slowly sheathed his sword. Unlike Lephra, who didn’t stop her hostile gaze even as she lowered her sword, he seemed to completely trust my words.

It was rewarding to have spent a considerable amount of time with him.

Having succeeded in calming one side, I looked at the other and said.

“You two, stop as well. If you want something from me.”

Persuading this side was much easier. Unlike Lephra, they weren’t currently on equal footing with me.

“……Tsk.”

“……”

Unlike Marchena, who lowered her hand with a disgruntled expression, Kazan, who hadn’t moved much in the first place, maintained his initial stance and silently watched me.

Knowing that I might be a suitable successor to the Black Dawn Society, these two couldn’t do anything to me. Even if I spoke a little arrogantly like this.

If my claim of being the successor was a lie, double the fury would return.

But fortunately for everyone, that wouldn’t happen.

What lie could there be in me claiming to be my own successor?

Of course, to prove it, I would have to visit the Black Dawn Society myself, as they said.

“If you’re saying this to escape the current situation, you’ll pay a hefty price.”

Kazan said dryly, looking at me. As if to represent his current state of mind, the shadow beneath his feet wriggled slightly.

Looking at him, I smiled faintly and replied briefly.

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

🔹🔹🔹

Although the battle had come to a temporary halt, the situation wasn’t completely resolved.

They had stopped fighting to kill each other, but they weren’t becoming allies.

There was a solution. To split into two groups and act separately for the time being.

Actually, I had been thinking about this even before Marchena and Kazan appeared.

Someone had to inform the Inquisition about the situation here and request support for the Pain Kingdom. There was too much to explain to convey in a brief message through magic.

Fortunately, there wasn’t much resistance. Although they initially voiced some concerns, Lephra and Jerit eventually agreed that my suggestion was the most rational and efficient in the current situation.

“……Alright.”

“Don’t worry, Inquisitor-nim!”

Lephra, who looked at Marchena and Kazan in the distance with a suspicious gaze, asked me a small question.

“Where do you plan to be while we bring reinforcements from the kingdom?”

“I will stay here with them and track down the catacomb’s traces based on what remains.”

“……Hmm.”

Lephra nodded slightly and stared at me intently.

It was a situation where a cliché farewell, like be careful or don’t trust them too much, would be expected.

“I won’t ask about your past.”

However, the words that came out of Lephra’s mouth were, as expected, not very typical. She spoke casually, as if it were nothing special.

“But if you feel like it, I hope you’ll be honest with me someday. Like I was.”

Looking at her, I smiled faintly and answered honestly.

“Yes, I will.”

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