The Undead King of the Palace of Darkness

Neville grit his teeth as Epée frowned admonishingly.

Ten days since Senri has been gone. The Death Knights were still in the town of Engey.

The atmosphere was terrible. Senri was by no means a social person, but she was adored for her strength and natural disposition.

Now all of that was in the hands of a vampire, and the reason it came to this was because they failed to kill him, which led to Senri choosing to give herself over to the vampire. There is a limit to how much even Death Knights, who have seen their fair share tragedies, can bear.

The one who looked worse for wear was Neville, who had chosen to punish End with solar penalty. The look in his eyes that had naturally been terrible had become as dangerous as that of a wounded beast. Dark circles had formed under his eyes, probably because he had been unable to sleep tortured by nightmares and he did not look composed in the least.

The other third-class knights looked a bit better, but all of them looked at Epée gloomily.

Lufry and the rest were still third-class knights. They had plenty of training and battle experience, but were still inexperienced in the war against dark forces.

It would be their first time experiencing the abduction of one of their peers.

Lufry, the unofficial leader of the third-class knights, declared,

“Master, I agree with Neville. That vampire is still in the pupal stage, but it can’t be trusted. Horus Carmon is the one who created it. I don’t think it’s wise to do nothing at this juncture other than simply just forward a report. Shouldn’t we at least give chase before the footprints left by the negative energy of the vampire disappear?”

“That’s right! Master, give me the order. I will single handedly rescue Senri if I have to!”

Neville banged his fists on the table and glared at Epée.

Neville may only be a third-class knight but by no means could he be considered weak. A full-fledged vampire aside, Neville is skilled enough to take care of a single lesser vampire all by himself.

However, Epée joined his hands together and stared fixedly at Lufry.

“… Lufry, it’s important to be patient. Senri is just a little lost now. Waiting is part of my strategy.”

“B-but Master! Senri isn’t that strong mentally! At this rate, that vampire will…”

“… Win the battle? Devour her? Are those your fears? Lufry, did you really think Senri is that weak?”

“That’s…”

Lufry faltered as if he had recalled their experiences together on the battlefield.

There was no mistake that Senri could be naive but she was a whole lot stronger than that. She tended to reach for ideals but we have fought many crafty demons to the bitter end.

“I hate to agree with him, but as that End said, she simply needs time to gather her thoughts. It would be too premature for us to make a move yet.”

“But Master! Wouldn’t we be playing right into that vampire’s hands if we do that? Not to mention, he can’t really be trusted.”

Unusually enough, Lufry looked fired up. Senri is somewhat of a troublesome sister to Lufry, who has been Epée’s subordinate long since before Senri had joined them.

Epée looked fondly at his disciple who cared for his peers and smiled serenely as usual.

“… Rest at ease. Simply in terms of strength, Senri is very close to a first-class knight. End can never overpower Senri. Even if he were to attack her in her sleep, Senri’s blessing should easily be able to turn him to dust. The main problem is her intention. It wouldn’t be wise for us to make a move until she has come to her senses. Of course, we can’t wait indefinitely, but if we were to try to rescue her now, she might just as well protect End from us. It would be very difficult to get past her and get our hands on the vampire.”

Senri is a kind and sensitive person. However, she does not tend to drag her feet.

She is just simply too kind. If she continues to fight alongside the Death Knights in the future, she is bound to run into such monsters. This encounter with a monster that has memories of its past life could be considered a trial of sorts for her.

End, a vampire born out of unfortunate circumstances.

It is simply too pitiful to be reborn as an undead after his passing. I recall him stressing that he simply wanted to survive, but his soul is no longer pure.

The body is strung along by the soul. End must have felt confident of being able to convince Senri. However, he is simply too ignorant of several details.

It is true that End is quite a powerful vampire. Not his actual strength but his will.

It is rather unheard of for a lesser vampire to possess marked sentience and human senses. He was capable of controlling his blood lust and stopped himself from taking the life of his first victim (that said, he may have gotten himself killed had he tried to harm her), and this bit of news took even Epée by surprise. However—

Epée brought his hands together, smiled self-deprecatingly and whispered.

“End. The blood lust of a vampire is not something you can easily keep a lid on forever. You will soon turn into a demon that Senri needs to defeat. You are already… a monster!”

☠☠☠

My breathing quickened. I only had to extend my arm and stoop forward to reach Senri’s neck.

I wonder why I could feel the delicious, warm blood gushing under that porcelain white skin. I could hear her heartbeat and the sound of the blood coursing through her veins if I listened carefully.

Senri had taken down the shield of blessing that always surrounded her. There was nothing that stood between me and her anymore.

Push her to the ground, pin her struggling body beneath you, sink your fangs into that neck and suck out her blood.

My vampire impulses whispered temptations. It was tantalizing beyond measure.

My fingers and body were trembling, allured by her sweet blood. It tugged at my heart painfully.

I was doing my utmost to hold back my arms that longed to reach out and my body that was ready to fling itself onto her.

My eyes were fixed on her nape while I tried to divert my attention elsewhere.

Vampires are undead that attack humans and feed on them. They particularly prefer the blood of young, pure humans of the opposite sex and they do not fear to resort to anything to that end. And once they sink their fangs in their victims’ neck, they seldom stop before draining every single drop of their blood.

In the book about vampires in the Lord’s library, I came across the term called ‘blood lust’.

Vampires feed on humans out of impulse. The demon sustains itself and grows stronger through the act. The blood lust is said to be so strong that even clever vampires that conceal themselves in a human village could semi-impulsively attack humans at the risk of exposing themselves.

It has been ten days since I first fed on Senri. I have since then abstained from drinking any blood.

The book from the Lord’s library had been written by a human being, and as such there were no specific details, but after partaking of her top-grade blood once, I feel like I understand the reason for and how strong blood lust can be.

The experience was otherworldly. That is not an analogy. My whole body and my soul were taken over by intense pleasure, that even if I were to have died at that instant, I would have done so with a smile on my face.

It was almost a miracle that I stopped short of killing her.

Perhaps my reason hanging by a thread stopped me or it was because I understood Senri’s noble intentions. Had it been a stranger who I felt no obligation towards, I am not sure I would have been able to stop.

I felt a dull pain emanating from my palm. That is when I realized that I had clenched my fist so tightly that my nails had dug into my palm.

I reckon my eyes are blood-red now.

When I was a fleshman, I was but an empty shell. I felt neither pain nor fatigue or even had an appetite. An urge is simply proof that one is alive. Had I not possessed memories from my past life, I would have been nothing more than a puppet.

After becoming a ghoul, I gained an appetite and sense of pain. And now, as a lesser vampire, I can sleep.

Then, what about the rest of the desires?

The three primitive desires of mankind would be food, sleep and sex. Do vampires have sexual urges?

The answer would probably be… yes.

And this is just my hypothesis, but if I am right, a vampire’s sexual urge and ‘appetite’ are united as one.

According to the book, everyone who had their blood taken by vampires all stated that they had felt intense sexual pleasure instead of pain. The other senses suppressed by intense pleasure, they pass away in a state of bliss.

I imagine the vampires also feel something similar to that. Although I do not have a scale of measure since I had no sexual experiences in my past life, it would not be too strange for it to be true considering full-fledged vampires are capable of turning their victims into fellow vampires through the act of blood sucking.

The bliss, that rewrote my entire view of life, must have been due to the synergy of two desires being fulfilled at the same time.

I am nearly at the end of my tether. The only things barely holding me back are the small voice of reason and my survival instinct that is stronger than the three desires.

I dare say once I give into the blood lust, I would not feel the hesitation I now feel next time. That could mean danger for my life.

Not that I am hesitant about quitting playing human at his juncture, but if that would lead to my death then I would rather not.

I should be able to hold on. I shall not kill Senri even if I drink her blood next time.

But that could also give rise to suspicion.

What I need the most from Senri, is not her blood, but her heart. I need, not transient feelings of pity but true friendship.

Senri’s blood is top-grade. Owing to that, I have been able to sustain myself for ten days without drinking any blood. However, that does not mean I did not feel the urge to feast upon her.

I just held back. I diverted my mind from brooding on my thirst by only thinking about escaping the people who could be pursuing us.

Had Epée had sent people after us, it would have made Senri’s heart lean towards me. However, there were no signs of that happening. Despite him seething with anger when we separated ways.

He has seen through the true nature of my battle. He is convinced that he only has to sit and watch me fall. Wait for the ‘weakling’ in me to die.

He is right. Senri is kind. Kind enough for a monster to seek through the gap in her defenses and try to devour her the moment she lets her guard down. In the past ten days, Senri showed me nothing but an amiable expression.

And even now, she is not trying to entrap me by exposing her neck but out of genuine care for me.

However, that is precisely why I should put my life on the line and face her righteousness head on.

Do not underestimate me… Death Knight.

“… End?”

“?!”

I did not realize how it happened but Senri was close and looking up at me with her purple pair of eyes.

I was lost for words. Both my hands gripped her shoulders and her bare neck lay open before me. For a moment, I thought Senri had closed the distance between us but no. I seem to be the one who moved closer.

Despite not having been able to bathe owing to us being on the run for the past ten days, Senri still smelled heavenly.

Her hair, skin, blood and flesh, and everything, exuded a sweet smell that was so enticing.

My head felt hot. I felt intense dizziness and nausea. My hands on her shoulders would not budge an inch just as if I had been ordered by the Lord.

My ignorant heart was beating like crazy. It kept willing me to drink the first-grade blood in front of me. Even when I try to draw my hands back, they simply twitch but do not move.

Senri shot me a quizzical look and inclined her head even more, exposing the veins on her clear, pale neck.

“!!”

My body moved on its own. The hands on her shoulders slid to her back and pulled her small body in for an embrace. My head moved and closed in on her nape.

I could feel her warm blood and soft flesh with my whole body. I shivered, body and soul in bliss. The canines that had grown out and become sharp when I transformed into a lesser vampire pierce into her skin.

— At that moment, I willed my whole body to stop moving.

My head felt really hot. Dark red liquid marred her flawless skin. Blood. Not Senri’s but mine.

Tears of blood from my eyes drew lines on her pale skin. It looked immoral.

I took care not to put any strength into my arms so as to not crush her to death, took deep breaths and whispered in her ear.

“… I can… hold on… a little longer. Senri, I can… still… fight it. I wish… to live as… a human for some more time. Please… don’t… tempt me.”

I will drink her blood without fail. Even if I can bear with it now, there will come a day when I will not be able to anymore.

There are no vampires that can survive without drinking blood, and I will not hesitate to drink any amount of blood I need in order to survive.

However, now… is not that time yet.

Senri patted my back awkwardly. That made my blood lust calm down a little.

I felt something lukewarm on my neck. Tears. Unlike my own, these were tears from someone who genuinely cared about me. Senri spoke with a quivering voice.

“I… am sorry… End. I did… something horrible. I’ll never… do it again.”

“…”

“But when you really can’t bear with it anymore, I want you to tell me without hesitation. I heard when vampires deny themselves blood for too long, they could go mad.”

“Ahh…oh. At that time—”

I swallowed hard and made a firm decision.

I shall drink her blood in the best of circumstances.

Feed her well and make her healthy again. Have her recover from fatigue by making her sleep good hours. Have her take a bath to make that soft skin shine.

And finally, atop a clean, white bed, I shall have her strip, pin down her naked body under me and sink my fangs into her pale skin.

The act of drinking blood is not as simple as partaking a meal to a vampire. I felt strangely convinced of that.

I am certain to attain more power than ever if I were to drink the holy blood of someone who I have an emotional bond with.

The moment I finally accomplish that without getting purged is when I will have completely won her over.

I rested my cheek on Senri’s neck and scowled at the dark.

I need to gain a human ally. Just like how the Lord had Huck, someone to deliver supplies and prepare living quarters, an ally who would help me live a life away from the human world.

Although it is a risky venture, in order to lead a peaceful life, I am in need of such an ally.