Bear School Astartes

Chapter 459. Dilaf

Fortunately, Ged is not a very ’old-fashioned’ Demon Hunter.

He wouldn’t just hack at monsters on sight, nor say, ’Monsters or humans, only one can live.’

"I’ve dealt enough with those old ice cubes at Hainkawei, guys."

Ged crossed his arms, speaking discontentedly.

"I would never turn into their kind. To be honest, I once let a Female Night Demon go. She brought joy to people and satisfied her own hunger, which was a win-win. You shouldn’t kill them just because they have horns on their heads and hooves for feet, right?"

"Ah, I completely agree with this theory. Female Night Demons are harmless creatures."

In the distance, the black mist continued to scour through one grotesque vampire after another.

And Regis’ distinctive tone emanated from within that black mist.

You could tell he felt relieved that his friend hadn’t turned adversarial due to his own race.

Since learning there was a high-ranking vampire on their side, the cold sweat on Ged’s forehead vanished.

Now he was relaxed enough to almost whistle.

Ged turned his gaze to Lann.

"Why didn’t you give me a hint earlier? Even a bit of mental preparation would have helped. Unlike now, when I was completely stunned for a good half minute."

Lann and Ged were now leaning against opposite sides of the mine entrance, while inside the cage within the mine, the man whose jaw had been ripped off still quietly watched them.

"Because in the initial plan, Regis would only help in this form if the situation was extremely dangerous, such as when we had to confront a high-ranking vampire head-on. After all, the less trouble, the better."

"What I didn’t expect was that even though this high-ranking vampire was imprisoned and in such a miserable state, he still maintained such a high level of control over these vampires... Their race’s innate talents are indeed extraordinary, that’s all I can say."

Lann extended his thumb and gestured toward the mine behind him.

"When I first saw him, only two options came to mind: kill him, or reinforce the seal and continue imprisoning him."

"But look at his current state, his jaw was forcibly ripped off, his right shoulder has somewhat healed, but clearly it’s been sword-slashed. We should know who defeated him and then locked him up here..."

Before Lann could finish, Ged subconsciously said the name in a low voice.

"Anahad."

The founder of the Bear School, the catalyst for the Demon Hunter Order’s split, and one of the first Demon Hunter Masters.

The young man from the Bear School nodded calmly, "Yes, Anahad. Rumor has it he’s immensely strong and cold-hearted."

"The fact that he could defeat a high-ranking vampire sounds exaggerated, but it’s hardly impossible. Because I also have confidence to accomplish such a feat in the near future. Or, if you discount his ability to control vampire creatures, perhaps I could even match him now."

Comparing oneself to a legendary Demon Hunter Master, educated intensively by two Great Mages, would seem arrogant and detestable in anyone.

Yet strangely, the fact that it was Lann saying this made Ged instinctively acknowledge and naturally accept it.

"The fact is: Anahad defeated him," Lann continued.

"But the problem arises—if Anahad, the kind of person who could kill his enemy, encountered no hesitation, as we see, he’s still alive... Anahad couldn’t kill him, so he imprisoned him here."

"To be precise, no human can kill him."

A cloud of black smoke, smelling of blood, lingered beside Lann, then reformed into a solid humanoid shape from its dissipated form.

While wiping the blood off his hands, Regis provided a supplement.

"High-ranking vampires can only be killed by their own kind, you can think of it as a curse, since it defies reason either way."

"But can you kill him, Regis?"

Both Ged and Lann were hearing this news for the first time, curious, Ged asked from the side.

"If you can kill him, then our job here would be done!"

At Ged’s optimism, Regis awkwardly smiled.

"Ged, even among humans, killing each other is regarded as a... not-so-good act, right?"

"In our race, there aren’t many rules, but forbidding mutual killing is one of them."

"Although I’d like to help you, I can’t do it by killing him, I can’t."

Regis’ words left Ged embarrassed, realizing his request was a bit excessive.

"Then we should reinforce this place and let him stay imprisoned?"

Ged quickly changed the topic, following Lann’s second thought.

But this time, Lann was the one to counter him.

"Not to mention whether the dwarves of Hein Castle would simply accept reinforcement. It seems this facility started weakening decades ago, allowing him to gather so many vampire creatures here; how long could one more reinforcement last?"

"Another reason is, we don’t have that much time and energy."

Lann gestured toward the sinkhole outside the mine.

"There are a total of two hundred and twenty-two pillars over there. If each one of them required materials like flying lizard guts underneath, it would take us years to gather everything. Don’t forget, compared to the era of Anahad, these powerful monsters are gradually disappearing, they aren’t like Boggarts or Water Ghosts, which can reproduce; kill one, and there are one less."

Ged’s mouth twitched as he nodded, agreeing with Lann’s point.

Two hundred and twenty-two flying lizards... even if found, it might not be possible to muster the energy to hunt them all.

"Then we’re stuck?"

Ged spread his hands, yet Lann calmly shook his head.

"No, not necessarily."

Subsequently, the young man’s cat eyes gazed into the mine, meeting eyes with the high-ranking vampire.

However, his mouth spoke to Regis.

"Regis, can you communicate with him? Telepathy or something, we can’t just go without addressing this gentleman."

"Actually..."

The barber, having cleaned the blood off his hands, placed them back on the strap of his shoulder bag and smiled as he spoke.

"Actually, we introduced ourselves when we first met. Zoma gold cannot block our race’s abilities."

"Then how should we address this gentleman?"

"Dilaf," Regis said, "Dilaf Van der Airetin, he asks you to call him Dilaf."

"Understood, it seems you’re a reasonable person, Dilaf."

Lann approached with a direct gaze, eventually squatting close to face Dilaf within the alloy cage of Zoma gold where he sat slouched on the ground.

"Then we have a basis for negotiation."

"That’s good news."