kscans

Chapter 58 - Vampire vs. Vampire

"Hahahahaha! Alright, I'm getting serious now!"

A battle against the suddenly appeared vampire, Kongoul, had begun.

"Take this!"

Kongoul moved his massive body, a fusion of several animals, at an incredible speed, charging towards me.

"Kuh! Everyone, evacuate!"

I hastily dodged while ordering everyone to take shelter. His target was me, but there was a high risk that everyone would get caught in the collateral damage of his attacks.

"Worried about others? You've got guts!"

Having had his attack dodged, Kongoul immediately turned and fired a spell at me.

"Wall!"

With no time to think of a proper spell name, I created a wall. But Kongoul's magic was powerful, and my wall was shattered in just a few hits.

"No way!?"

"Haha! How fragile!"

In that opening, Kongoul closed the distance, and his many heads opened their mouths wide, preparing to tear me to shreds.

"!?"

""""My lady!!""""

At the sound of their voices, Kongoul's body swayed to the side, allowing me to barely evade the attack.

"We will fight with you!"

"Everyone!?"

It was the slaves, my new vampire familiars, who had appeared.

"Small fry, stay out of this!"

""""Kyaaaaaa!!""""

"And they got sent flying immediately!"

I thought I had reliable allies, but—! Well, they did block that attack, so they were useful. For newly turned vampires, they did their best!

"Everyone, help with the evacuation!"

""""Y-Yes, ma'am...""""

I can't go all out here with everyone around. I need to change location. I soared into the sky and flew away from the capital with all my might.

"Follow me!"

"A chase? I'm in!"

Kongoul flapped his wings and pursued me.

"This should be far enough."

Arriving at a plain far from the capital, I turned around to face Kongoul.

"Shall we continue?"

"So you can go all out here, huh?"

It seems he had seen right through me.

"Hehe, I'm looking forward to seeing the power of a high-ranking vampire like myself!"

"Eh? I'm your eq—"

"Gaaaaaaaaah!!"

With a concussive boom, an aura erupted from Kongoul's entire body.

"Whaaaaaaaaaat!?"

What is this, some kind of battle manga!?

"Heeeeere I coooooome!"

The moment a bursting sound echoed, Kongoul's body vanished.

"Eh!? Gaaaaah!?"

An instant later, a tremendous impact struck my stomach. A violent shock, as if my internal organs were about to be blown away. Immediately after, another violent impact and pain shot through my back and the back of my head.

"!!"

It hurt too much to even scream. What just happened!?

"Hey, hey, what are you doing taking a direct hit like that? You should have dodged that."

D-Don't be ridiculous! It hurts like hell!

"Stop playing around and heal up already."

"I can't... without blood..."

This is bad. I don't have any food nearby to heal my wounds. And I highly doubt he'll give me the time to look for any.

"...Huh? What are you talking about? Just use your magic and it'll be over in an instant."

"Eh?"

Magic? What does that mean?

"Hey, hey, you really don't know? Like this."

"Wha!?"

As he said that, Kongoul bit off his own foreleg, and then with a squelching sound, the wound swelled up and a new foreleg grew back.

"That's disgusting!"

"How rude!"

"Whoa, what was that? How do you do it?"

"Are you serious? Focus your magic on the wound and create a lid, like you're sealing it. If it's torn off, create a new one with magic."

"Um, like... this?"

Following his instructions, I covered the painful parts of my body with magic and focused it on the large gashes with the image of filling them in. And just like that, the pain vanished.

"It's healed!"

The wounds were completely gone, and the pain had disappeared.

"You're hopeless. How can you not know the basic abilities of a vampire?"

"Hmm, I feel like I might have learned it a long time ago, but I'm not sure."

I wasn't born a vampire; I became one through a sudden evolution. I was taught my abilities through lessons and training later on, so it hasn't really sunk in.

"Hey, hey, I came here to fight an equal, you know. This is a real letdown."

The only silver lining was that this atmosphere had dampened Kongoul's will to fight. This might be my chance!

"Hey, hey, Kongoul, can you do other stuff too? If you can, teach me."

"Huh? Why should I do something so troublesome!?"

"Because you came to fight me, right? But I barely know how to fight like a vampire. So if you, who knows how, teach me, I'll be able to fight."

"Well... I guess so?"

Alright, things are moving in a good direction!

"Come on, teach me how to use my vampire powers, Professor Kongoul!"

"Professor!?"

Being called 'Professor' made Kongoul's many eyes go wide. But soon, a grin spread across his face.

"F-Fine. Just for a little bit."

Yes! Diversion successful!

"Alright, I'll teach you a little bit about how to fight, so listen up."

"Yes, Professor!"

And so, what had been a battle against a mysterious vampire who appeared out of nowhere turned into a study session on vampirism.