Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant

Chapter 498

The cursed prince’s eyes shone brighter than ever.

Far more than when he first saw Su-ho, when he entered the second phase, or when only his head remained after death and he bit Su-ho.

Su-ho, feeling his sincerity, looked at him for a moment, then went in front of him and slowly leaned back.

Then Blood Armory surged up from the floor, formed a chair, and, with perfect timing, seated its master.

“Sounds # Nоvеlight # like this is going to be a long story. I’d like to treat you to a cup of tea, but in your current state, you can’t eat or drink anything, can you?”

- There’s no need. Trapped in Helldown, I’m in a position where I can no longer take in anything.

“I see. Then let’s hear the story first. You call the royal vampires High Blood? Then does that mean Royal Vampyr are royal vampires, and also High Blood?”

- Similar, but different. Royal Vampyr refers to the first vampires, and among them, the ones who succeeded in becoming the ruling class were called royal vampires. And among those royals, the true leader class is called High Blood.

“Then the most noble existence would be a Royal Vampyr, a royal vampire, and High Blood all at once. So what were you?”

- I was a status that applied to all three. The term that encompasses it is High Blood. But one day, those High Blood bastards started putting a strange frame on me. The frame that I would one day exterminate all of them.

“Out of nowhere? There has to be some reason.”

- Because of a prophecy.

“A prophecy?”

- We vampires have a tendency to worship the Royal Vampyr who were born first, the First Blood, as if they were a god. The First Blood has been dead and gone for a long time, but when that being was alive, our vampires definitely enjoyed our greatest golden age.

“Oh?”

It was fascinating.

A god that vampires worship.

The cursed prince continued.

- Those High Blood bastards idolized the First Blood like a god and believed in it like a religion. Of course, they built temples, too. Among them, there is a rank called priest that only High Blood can have, and the one who is the highest priest among those priests—the one called the proxy of god—said this. That a revelation from the First Blood had come down, and that I would one day exterminate our High Blood. From that moment, persecution of me began.

“So you were persecuted?”

- Yes.

“......That’s absurd. Is that prophecy or revelation real?”

- I don’t know that either.

“What do you mean you don’t know? Why wouldn’t you know?”

- It’s a prophecy, something that hasn’t happened yet. How would I know?

Wow.......

Su-ho marveled inwardly.

What a bunch of backward vampires.

They took the words of the first vampire who’d been dead for ages...... no, the first mosquito brat—and on top of that, propaganda they didn’t even know was real or fake—and they buried a vampire like this?

'People or vampires, looks like everyone lives the same way.'

All of a sudden, he thought of school bullying and celebrities getting torn apart by hate comments.

Burying someone for no reason that even exists, and driving a life into the abyss.

'And then later, when the truth comes out, they go, “We didn’t know~,” and that’s that.'

Bastards that deserve to be beaten to death.

At least, based on what he’d heard so far.

Su-ho asked, just in case.

“Come on, even so, there has to be some other hidden reason. Think carefully. It makes no sense that they’d treat you like this, a High Blood, just because of a single prophecy they don’t even know is real or made up.”

- It does. Even within High Blood, ranks exist, and the proxy of god, the highest priest, boasts overwhelming power that’s counted among the very top. I was a royal born with royal blood, yes, but I was only one of the vampire king’s many children.

“Wait—earlier you said Royal Vampyr are the first vampires. If you’re a child, that’s at least second generation, so how can you be ‘first’?”

- I inherited the bloodline of the first generation, so I am still Royal Vampyr.

“That’s a weird way to count...... anyway, even so. Your parents side with religious zealots and abandon you, their child? What, do they have hundreds of kids?”

- Not hundreds, but dozens.

“......Your father was really something, huh?”

- Don’t say filthy things. Vampires are not born through reproduction like you humans. We are born from blood foam made by mixing blood with a beloved partner. That is how you can become Royal Vampyr by bloodline.

Ah, so that was how it worked.

Su-ho nodded and said,

“Ah...... so that’s why there’s no parental affection.”

- In the first place, we have no concept of parental affection. They aren’t children you carried and gave birth to like you, and they are born from blood foam—on top of that, multiple are sometimes born at once—so how could anyone have something like parental affection? To us, children are merely the fruit of love...... no, nothing more than a kind of crystallization that arises from a ritual act of love.

What kind of structure is that?

Just from hearing it, their fertility sounds cockroach-level.

But Su-ho didn’t say that out loud.

The cursed prince continued.

- Anyway, for those reasons, I make you this offer. I have been persecuted as much as I can be, and I have no honor left to lose. Most of the power I had has been taken, and I have no strength left to rise again. But my desire for revenge is alive. So I make you this offer. Human who killed me, I will give you all of my power—the power I had as a Royal Vampyr, as royalty, and as High Blood. So please, kill every last one of my damned compatriots.

[ The Cursed Prince offers you a revenge bargain. ]

[ If you accept, you will obtain the Cursed Prince’s power, the fourth authority of Vampire Blood will be unlocked, and the related fate and obligations will proceed together. ]

[ If you refuse, further authority unlocks will be impossible, and a partial seal of the Vampire Blood trait will begin. ]

A fervent speech soaked with blood.

And at its end, what remained was the System’s question.

At last, the time to choose.

Su-ho deliberated.

'Ah, I feel like I’ve gotten dragged into something annoying.......'

Dragon Lord Omega was the same—why does everyone have so much they want to ask of me?

Still, it was definitely a shame.

Because up to now, he’d benefited a lot from the authorities derived from Vampire Blood along with dragon blood.

'But it’s not a full seal, it’s a partial seal, and a condition that no further growth is possible...... if you look at it like this, it’s not that bad, either.'

Blood Armory, Bloody Hand, Blood Grand Jade, and the like were affected by Su-ho’s stats, so even if there was no further growth, he could still be satisfied and use them.

No matter what weapon you brought, there was no way it could be better than Blood Armory, which could regenerate infinitely and freely transform its shape.

'But when I look at the cardinal-class recovery skills I got by becoming a Blood Cardinal, it’s also a shame.......'

By the nature of the System, all abilities and skills always draw an upward graph.

So no matter what, something better would come out.

After thinking for a moment, Su-ho asked the cursed prince.

“Before that, can I ask you one thing?”

- What is it?

“If you’re complying with the System right now, coming out through the gate and giving me a quest here...... doesn’t that mean your vampires were already invaded by the System and all got wiped out?”

- That.......

The cursed prince fell silent for a moment.

Then he closed his eyes, and after a while, opened them again and said,

- I can’t tell you the details. But they are all alive.

“Ah, okay. It’s my security clearance again. But if they’re alive, that’s why you want revenge.”

To think System security would come up again here.

Well, he’d been answering so smoothly up to now that this actually felt more normal—and less awkward.

Still, thanks to that, he made up his mind.

“I’ll do it. No matter what, I’m in a position where I need power.”

At those words, the cursed prince’s lips curled upward.

- An excellent choice. Then I will transfer all of my power to you.

Su-ho accepted the cursed prince’s offer.

Then the cursed prince’s body shone pure white, then compressed into a small, round circle.

Clink!

In the process, the chains bound around his body fell away, because the one being restrained had disappeared.

Soon, the sphere that had been glowing white began to regain its true color, and what appeared before Su-ho was a large, thick red bead, like something crafted from ruby.

It was the moment it finished transforming and was about to float over to Su-ho.

- Oh, my, my. That won’t do.

Kwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwa!!

An unknown voice coming from somewhere.

At the same time, a dark crimson light fell like a waterfall onto the cursed prince’s essence.

Su-ho instinctively retreated far back.

In the meantime, the falling dark crimson lights froze with a kkeudeudeudeuk- sound, forming a massive ice wall that trapped and sealed the cursed prince’s essence inside.

Then, in front of the ice wall, a blood-red vortex whipped up, and the silhouette of a person emerged.

[ A boss monster has appeared. ]

At the same time, another system alert popped up.

It was the boss monster appearance alert.

“Wow, there was a boss monster here too?”

He thought maybe an NPC would show up and just hand him a quest.

Well, with dark bats showing up, and attendants showing up, there was no reason a boss monster couldn’t show up too.

Soon, the revealed silhouette gained detail and took on a human shape.

A large build.

Along with that, with a neat-looking face, white hair slicked back, and an extremely oily look, he was obviously a vampire no matter who looked.

Because besides the white hair, he also had red eyes and skin as white as snow.

Then a namecard rose above his head.

- Roynan, the Sole Administrator of Helldown and High Blood Lv.???

Roynan.

That was the guy’s name.

And the descriptor in front was ridiculously long.

So Su-ho sensed it.

This guy was going to be pretty strong.

Because once you got into the latter part of a gate, guys with long descriptors like that tended to show up often, and that type of guy was usually extremely strong.

'They say nobles in the medieval era used to introduce themselves like that.'

Anyway, the Sole Administrator of Helldown, huh.

Then Roynan over there really was the master of the attendants that appeared earlier.

That seemed likely.

And High Blood, too.

Perfect timing.

He could hear why they persecuted the cursed prince.

'You’re supposed to hear both sides, no matter what.'

Roynan said,

- You filthy, lowly mongrel, you made it this far.

Man.

That mongrel talk. It’s really getting old.

Roynan continued.

- But you can do whatever you want with everything else. Taking even the cursed one’s essence, though—I can’t just watch that.

“So it really was you. You really were their master. But putting aside taking the essence, why did you blow your subordinates’ heads off so fast? Without even fighting to the end. Is quitting quickly your hobby?”

- As expected of a lowly one, you’re curious about all sorts of nonsense. But since you’re going to die anyway, I’ll tell you as a special favor. I didn’t quit. I simply protected my subordinates’ honor. They had no hope, plain as day. Rather than letting them be violated by something like you, I simply let them die early by my own hand.

“Ah, is that so? If that’s the case, sure.”

Nodding, Su-ho drew his blood sword.

[ Blood Armory activates. ]

Resting the blood sword he’d summoned on his shoulder, Su-ho asked,

“We have to fight anyway, right? Then before I kill you, let me ask one more thing.”

- Truly arrogant and laughable. Fine. If that is your last request, I will grant it personally.

“Thanks. Then like that guy said, did you really start persecuting him because of some revelation from the proxy of god or whatever?”

- Yes. So what?

“No other reason?”

- More and more, your questions are not worth answering. What could be more important than the proxy’s revelation?

“Okay. That’s enough.”

Thanks.

Now I don’t think I need to hear any more.

If a guy with “High Blood” written on him says that, what more explanation could there be?

With his mind now at ease, Su-ho drew a smile and took a combat stance.

“Let’s end it quick.”

- As I wished.

Tukwaang!

Su-ho charged at him first.