Chapter 153: Immortality and Fearlessness

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Just before Inafa’s vision went black, she heard a voice:

“DESIGNATED DECAY.”

A moment later, Inafa’s vision cleared, and a giant axe and two big swords appeared before her eyes.

“Tch.”

In an instant, the duo’s attack struck nothing but air, cracking and shattering the ground.

Inafa had already retreated twenty meters.

Thud.

Her back hit the wall.

Inafa’s reaction came a beat late—’Was I really pushed back by humans?’

She recalled the unnatural darkness that had just clouded her vision.

It was incredibly brief, perhaps shorter than the blink of an eye.

Inafa was certain that the sudden darkness was not a harmful effect of the Silver Particles, nor was it dizziness, and it certainly was not food poisoning.

She had experienced this several times before; the memory was vivid, and her judgment was precise.

It was the sensation of death.

“Che… Come out!”

After issuing the command, two new Skeletal Armored Blood Spirits were generated to guard Inafa’s side.

The old man in purple robes in the distance had already finished his incantation.

“Dige, do you have water in your brain? You used your Talent so soon!”

“…If I had been any later, the Vampire’s arrow would have touched Lord Andre. Nasagi, I don’t believe I was in the wrong.”

Inafa finally learned the names of these three.

The human called Dige(?) had used some kind of magic on her just now.

That loathsome magic had caused her to die for an instant.

Cutting off the mana supply caused both the Blood Arrow and the Skeletal Armored Blood Spirits to disappear simultaneously.

Judging from the words of the man in the pointed helmet, Dige probably couldn’t use that magic many times.

Otherwise, they could have just used that move repeatedly to keep her dying from the start; there would have been no need to go through the trouble of fighting her Blood Spirits.

“Eh?”

Inafa discovered that the world had changed.

The hall had disappeared.

The air smelled very dry.

“Ugh…”

Inafa blocked her head with her hand.

It wasn’t that she was trying to defend against an attack; it was to block out the light.

What should have been the castle ceiling was now a vast blue sky, with sunlight drenching the earth.

Inafa lifted a foot; it felt uncomfortable as particles seeped in.

The ground was soft and loose—it was sand.

A desert.

A vast, boundless golden ocean where grains of sand shimmered with dazzling light under the sun.

“Welcome to my Nest, Miss Vampire.”

The purple-robed old man toyed with his long beard.

“Transfer Magic?”

Before Inafa could think it through, a grayish-yellow square object flashed before her eyes.

The shadow cast by the sun covered her entire body.

Inafa’s eyes far surpassed those of ordinary people, yet she could still only barely identify what it was.

A fist—a fist made of sand.

Crack—Pugh!!

Hm?

All she saw was blue—the color of the sky.

Her body felt so light, spinning.

Also, her mouth felt empty and cool.

She finally realized what had happened.

The fist made of sand had smashed Inafa’s jaw.

She had been sent flying.

Tongue, teeth, lower jawbone, and other bright red and white tissues—things falling off her own body.

Inafa had studied a bit of gravity magic, but she had never learned Flight magic.

She created a Blood Barrier at maximum speed, wrapping it around her body to form a red sphere for defense.

“Pugh-cough! You humans sure use a lot of magic! Even black mold on a wall isn’t as persistent as you!”

Residual white steam rose from Inafa’s mouth as it was restored to its original state.

She glared at the purple-robed old man, pointing her small white hand at him from her position in the air 300 yards away.

BLOOD MAGIC SPIKE—!

“? Eh…”

Her vision kept changing as she fell, but her body remained unchanged.

The enemy didn’t move, simply watching her fall.

Below, a Skeletal Armored Blood Spirit leaped up, reached out to catch Inafa, and gently placed her on the ground.

Inafa leaned against the Blood Spirit’s leg armor, cold sweat dripping from her forehead.

The Blood Magic Spike… she couldn’t use it.

“BLOOD MAGIC SPIKE.”

“—!”

That aged yet clear voice belonged to the purple-robed old man.

A crimson arrow surged toward her from the front.

The enemy had released the exact same magic she had used before.

Impossible!

This was a special magic my Mom taught me!

Why…

Could it be that that manifestation made of sand can plunder my magic?!

A crimson Line streaked across.

The Blood Magic Spike pierced through the two Skeletal Armored Blood Spirits attempting to defend her and accurately pierced Inafa’s heart.

“Hahaha! How is it, Vampire chick?

How does it feel to have your skill… oh wait, your magic snatched by Lord Andre!

Do you feel helpless? Frustrated? Do you want to cry ‘wah-wah’?”

The man in the pointed helmet danced and laughed.

“…Nasagi, when Lord Andre expands the Nest, we must focus on guarding him. Be serious.”

Inafa bit her lower lip hard while clutching her left arm tightly with her right hand, using so much force that blood seeped out.

‘I must never show a weak side in front of anyone.’

‘I don’t want to be looked down upon.’

“Hehehe…”

Inafa broke into an arrogant smile.

Besides, she hadn’t reached the point of losing yet.

It wasn’t just these vermin who had the advantage in this space.

“Uh?”

Nasagi’s smile froze at the sight before him, and he picked up his giant axe.

“Ha! This Vampire really is something special.”

The Blood Magic Spike should have penetrated Inafa.

What the three actually saw was it “passing through” Inafa and stabbing into the sandy ground.

Mistification.

The blonde, gold-eyed Vampire’s body became ethereal, drifting back a little before returning to its original form.

Her small white hand grabbed the crimson Blood Magic Spike.

The blood from the decomposed arrow flowed toward the outer layer of Inafa’s skin like a tassel.

“What a~~~ shame! In the end, even if you steal my magic, what you release is nothing more than an inferior fake.”

Inafa converted the Blood Magic Spike into blood and absorbed it.

Her mana was replenished once more.

Across from her, Andre remained expressionless even though his blood and mana had been drained by using the Blood Magic Spike.

This caused a sense of irritation… and unease in Inafa’s heart.

But it didn’t matter.

These humans probably only had these few tricks.

Plundering magic was indeed powerful, but as long as they didn’t plunder a critical, useful magic, it would be fine.

If she wasn’t mistaken, the key to the plunder was “contact.”

Standing on the sand as she was now, the magic within her body still felt present.

If that old man could plunder her magic just by being in this space, then the moment he successfully summoned it, he could have just sat on the ground and drank coffee; there would have been no need to manifest a giant fist to punch her.

At the same time, Inafa noticed something.

Her body had become a bit lighter.

“Hehehe, humans, you really are just moving trash with quite a few tricks.”

“Hahahaha! You brat, you’re still talking tough even at death’s door!

You’ve probably already wet your panties down there from fear!”

The man in the pointed helmet nimbly spun his giant axe with three fingers, then pointed it at Inafa.

“Hehehe…”

‘My underwear is a little wet.’

‘But this must be the sweat of tension from battle!’

‘It’s definitely, definitely, definitely not from being scared!’

Inafa feigned composure and smiled confidently.

Because of the Nest, she had no way of knowing if Tiana had received her mana communication.

Rather, there had been no response this entire time.

‘Could it be… is Tiana dead?’

‘No, that’s impossible.’

‘She’s a Dragon. She grew up with me; she can be my mattress, and she can live in the forest for one week without eating or drinking.’

Inafa clenched her pink fists, a metallic taste filling her mouth.

‘Focus on dealing with these three humans for now.

If I kill them, can I get the Blood Magic Spike back?’

‘Tiana might just be sleeping too soundly; she must be on her way now.’

With her mana restored, Inafa prepared for another attack.

With a wave of her hand, hundreds of blood-red bats emerged and swarmed toward the three humans.

Whoosh—!!

Skeletal Armored Blood Spirits stomped through the sand, kicking up clouds of dust as they launched a new round of charges.

Nasagi and Dige provided cover, their movements like whirlwinds as they swept away the bats and entangled with the Skeletal Armored Blood Spirits.

However, this was a feint.

A small, brownish-red bat circled behind Andre from a blind spot in everyone’s vision.

‘Die! Trash!’

The small bat transformed into Inafa’s figure.

She raised a three-meter-long Blood Scythe in her hand, aiming straight for Andre’s head.

Andre didn’t even intend to dodge.

‘Did he not notice? Or are there other defensive measures?’

‘Whatever, just cut him down!’

A crimson flash.

Squelch—!

The sensation of entering flesh and encountering resistance traveled up from the hilt she gripped tightly.

What splashed out was the enemy’s blood.

“…Tch!”

Not a hint of joy could be seen on Inafa’s face.

“…Bleeeh—”

Nasagi stuck out his large tongue, which was covered in mouth ulcers.

He was pressing down hard on the scythe.

The tip of the blade was embedded in his throat, blood flowing freely, as he used his body to block the attack.

“Quite fast.”

Behind Nasagi, Andre spoke without even turning his head.

The scythe had been a mere millimeter away from touching his shaggy hair and letting him see his own skull.

Not far away, while Dige fought the Skeletal Armored Blood Spirits, he used extremely fast hand movements to swap his big sword for a crossbow, firing a silver arrow.

Then he took out a grappling hook gun and fired a hook to snag the legs of two Skeletal Armored Blood Spirits, temporarily slowing their movements.

Inafa used Mistification again, turning into a black-red mist to dodge the silver arrow and pulling back to put distance between her and the three.

Andre pressed his hand against Nasagi’s neck, and a soft green sphere of light appeared in his palm.

The red wound disappeared without a trace.

“Cough, cough, cough! Pfft! That was mean of you.

Now I’ll have to consider painting your brain a different color.”

A smiling Nasagi coughed up clumps of blood and shouldered his giant axe once more.

He happily ran toward Inafa.

A Skeletal Armored Blood Spirit blocked him and engaged in combat, though the rope was still around its feet.

Their weapons collided, repeatedly erupting in dazzling sparks.

“Hah!”

With a battle cry, Nasagi’s giant axe slammed into the Blood Spirit’s white breastplate from the front, jarring the Blood Spirit back.

‘Is this strength possible for a human?!’

‘He can almost compete with a Lower-tier Knight from the Sanctuary of Merciful Light.’

‘No, it’s not that he’s getting stronger.’

‘It’s that I’m getting weaker.’

Inafa was well aware of where the problem lay.

As long as she kept supplying mana, the Skeletal Armored Blood Spirits had inexhaustible stamina.

But only stamina.

Now she had to deal with that Andre while also staying on guard against those two humans rushing her.

And their combat experience and fighting spirit were clearly stronger than the Skeletal Armored Blood Spirits, which only possessed brute force and which she couldn’t control with fine precision.

The battle situation was still unfavorable for her.

“So annoying, so annoying, so annoying! Why can’t you just die…”

Inafa spoke out of frustration, suppressing her timid heart.

Recalling the way that human had grabbed her weapon with his bare hands just now, with blood seeping from his neck, was disgusting and terrifying.

The annoying, messy-haired old man Andre, and the bothersome man in the pointed helmet.

Rather than saying they were calm or at ease…

It was more like she couldn’t feel a single trace of fear from them.

‘Are they really human?’

‘Are they… not afraid of death?’***