Novel

As for who was grinding their teeth like that, there weren’t many people in this world who enjoyed the sound of grinding teeth. In this respect at least, Amelia was fairly average. This meant that, like most people, she hated that sound.

Amelia had tried her best to correct that person’s bad habit. Because she kept grinding her teeth, Amelia had to gag her. Then, when she even ended up chewing the rubber gag into pieces, Amelia gave her a beating. However, in the end, Amelia still failed to correct that person’s bad habit.

A figure silently glared down at Amelia.

That person was Hemoria, Amelia’s dog.

The title was meant in the literal sense of the word; Amelia truly treated Hemoria like her pet dog. She had kept Hemoria on a leash in her yard and took her for a walk every now and then. Amelia also had to teach Hemoria how to bury her own excrement after she relieved herself outside.

If Hemoria didn’t listen to her commands, Amelia would beat her. But it wasn’t like Amelia only beat Hemoria whenever the latter was disobedient. Whenever Amelia was in a bad mood, she would freely give Hemoria a beating without coming up with any justifications for it.

Amelia didn’t just use violence to train Hemoria. Whenever she was in a good mood, she would forcefully flip Hemoria onto her back, scratch her belly, or pat her on the head. There were also plenty of other ways that Amelia had coddled her like a cute pet.

But now....

Amelia also had a fairly good sense of objectivity when it came to things like relationships. This was one of the reasons why she had always made sure to treat the specter with great care. It was also why she couldn’t accept that the specter seemed to have betrayed her.

However, Hemoria was a different matter. Amelia had always thought that if anyone was going to betray her, it would be Hemoria.

As such, she had placed strong shackles on Hemoria and had made sure to keep an eye on her every move. If there weren’t any such shackles placed on her, Amelia was sure that this mutt would betray her no matter what.

Her predictions weren’t inaccurate. Hermoria had indeed betrayed Amelia. After being given orders to spy on the Wise Sienna, Hemoria dared to swap sides and sell information on Amelia.

This bitch who didn’t know her place had betrayed Amelia. That was a crime that deserved death, but Amelia hadn’t been able to deliver such judgment. This was because the specter had taken ownership of Hemoria.

But why had he taken Hemoria under his protection? Was it a feeling of kinship over having once been treated as a pet? Or perhaps he felt some kind of sympathy for that stupid bitch?

To tell the truth, the specter hadn’t actually intended to protect Hemoria. He just happened to find Hemoria wandering through the back alleys of Hauria and brought her with him back to the palace.

However, this was enough to keep Amelia from killing Hemoria. This was because Amelia took the specter’s act of picking up Hemoria on his way back as a sign that he had taken Hemoria as his possession. Amelia didn’t want to be punished for messing with Hemoria without permission, so she suppressed the anger boiling within her and just tried to ignore Hemoria.

But who could have known....

Amelia could never have imagined that she would actually encounter Hemoria under these circumstances.

Amelia recalled how she had first met Hemoria as the latter writhed helplessly in a pit deep beneath the earth. A pit filled with the corpses of her fellow paladins and Inquisitors. Deep within those depths, Hemoria, who had had all of her limbs sliced off, had wriggled around like a bug as she drank the blood of her former comrades, barely managing to cling to life.

Now their positions were completely reversed. It was Amelia who had lost her limbs and was now left crawling on the ground like a bug.

“Grrk,” the sound of grinding teeth emerged from behind that metal mask once more.

Those masks, Amelia truly despised them. She would strip Hemoria’s masks away from her and tie a gag around her mouth instead, but each time it happened, Hemoria would just find a metal plate and crumple it up with her own hands to create something similar to her mask and cover her mouth with it.

Amelia knew the reason for Hemoria’s obsession with her masks. Her unusual teeth were proof that Hemoria was a chimera made by fusing vampires and humans together. Hemoria must have harbored a complex[1] over her sharp fangs for a long time.

“He...Hemoria,” Amelia let out a trembling voice.

Amelia couldn’t give up on hope now. Not when... not when she had come this far. Not after she had barely managed to escape that monstrous Eugene Lionheart.

Was she really going to end up being bitten to death by a shitty mutt like Hemoria?

“I... I was wrong. Forgive me,” Amelia begged as she reached out with her trembling hand to grab onto Hemoria’s foot.

Grrk.

Once again, the sound of grinding teeth was heard coming from above her. That sound. It was a sound that seemed to directly represent all the emotions Hemoria must be feeling right now.

Panting for breath, Amelia crawled forward to where Hemoria was standing.

“It’s all, all my fault. The way that I bullied you. You... you should also do the same things to me, right? That must be what you want to do, i-isn’t it?” Amelia’s voice stammered as her face drew closer to Hemoria’s feet.

The leather shoe was dirty, but Amelia rubbed her face against Hemoria’s shoe without any hesitation.

“Just like what I did to you... y-you should also torment me for a long time. So please... please...,” Amelia trailed off, her tone pleading.

“Grrk,” Hemoria just ground her teeth once more.

Amelia glanced up to take a look at Hemoria’s face, but her expression was unreadable because half of her face was covered by the metal mask.

That said, it wasn’t like there was any way to tell what Hemoria’s mood was from her voice either. Ever since she had stepped forward to block Amelia’s path, the only sound that Hemoria had made was the ‘grrk’ of her teeth grinding.

But it seemed that Hemoria wasn’t afraid of showing her feelings through direct action.

Bam!

Hemoria’s shoe kicked Amelia in the face.

“Kyaaah...!” Letting out a short yelp of surprise, Amelia quickly rolled across the ground.

Her body had grown lighter after both her legs had been chopped off, and only one arm was left, so that might have been why she was able to roll such a distance. Amelia barely managed to arrest her roll. She then tried to crawl towards Hemoria once more, but the scene taking place in front of her made her unconsciously come to a halt.

Hemoria had bent down and was untying her shoelaces. Her metal mask only covered the lower half of her face, making the way Hemoria’s eyes were curling up at the corners in a smile clearly visible. She undid the tight knot, slipped her thumb behind the heel of her foot, and took off her shoe.

Thud.

After taking off her sock and throwing it to the ground as well, Hemoria rose up.

Hemoria’s bare foot was now resting on top of her discarded shoe. This could only mean one thing.

Amelia’s body began to tremble in anger. However, there was no way for Amelia to show any resistance.

Grrk, grrgrrk.

To Amelia’s ears, the noise of those grinding teeth sounded like Hemoria’s laughter.

Laboriously crawling over, Amelia hooked her remaining arm around Hemoria’s ankle. Then, after slowly lowering her head, her lips touched the top of Hemoria’s foot.

It was only then that Hemoria finally said something, “Amelia.”

Startled, Amelia raised her head.

Click.

Hemoria took off her mask. Her lips were curved into a bright smile. Sharp fangs glinted between her parted lips.

“You have to lick it,” Hemoria whispered with that same bright smile.

Amelia immediately opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue. If it was for the sake of staying alive, she would do these kinds of acts as many times as Hemoria felt was necessary. Even if she were to receive an even crueler order than this, Amelia would still obey without any hesitation.

That’s right. If it was for the sake of staying alive — as long as she could avoid dying.

“Don’t worry — grk,” Hemoria said as she ground her teeth. “ I am not going to kill you. Because I also have plenty of coddling that I want to show you.”

Hemoria burst out in giggles at the sight of Amelia carefully licking her toes.

But this was enough for now. Hemoria pushed Amelia’s face away with her foot as she looked up at the sky.

The forces of the Liberation Army that had gotten past the city walls were slowly drawing closer. Although an overwhelmingly large army of undead was blocking their way forward, the only real purpose the undead could serve was as meat shields. However, the vassals of Destruction lurking in between all the undead should still be able to launch quite effective counterattacks on the Liberation Army.

Though, even they wouldn’t last that long. This was because the commanders leading each of the Liberation Army’s units were just far too strong. It couldn’t be helped. Most of those commanders were knights whose names could be listed as one of the best in the entire continent.

“If you stay here, the enemy will kill you,” Hemoria stated with certainty. “I’m confident I can escape, but what about you?”

“P-please... save me,” Amelia begged.

“Fine, I’ll save you,” Hemoria agreed with a chuckle as she picked Amelia up and draped the necromancer over her shoulder.

Then, without a pause, she sprang into motion. Hemoria didn’t fly into the sky or leap across the rooftops. There was a dragon flying high in the sky, and the sky was also full of flying squadrons made up of wyverns, pegasi, and griffins.

Instead, Hemoria ran in between the buildings. She avoided taking any of the wider roads. Currently, the skies were no longer as dark as they had been before. A dragon engulfed in light had now replaced the sun that had been hidden by dark power. However, the brighter the light, the darker the shadows.

The shadows became a path for Hemoria’s travels. Leaping from shadow to shadow was indeed a characteristic ability of high-ranking vampires. Hemoria was able to use this ability with ease, thanks to the blood that she had imbibed from Alphiero.

‘Alphiero is dead,’ Hemoria suddenly realized.

She was able to know this because she had absorbed his blood.

Just now, that ancient vampire who was connected to Hemoria through their bond of blood and whose orders Hemoria was forced to instinctually obey had died. At this realization, Hemoria’s shoulders began to tremble and shudder.

She didn’t feel any sorrow upon learning of Alphiero’s death. Instead, Hemoria actually felt great joy. Vampires were ruled by their strict hierarchy. Once a young vampire had accepted the blood of an older vampire, it would be nearly impossible for the younger vampire to rebel against the older vampire. So much so that if Alphiero had ever ordered Hemoria to commit suicide, she wouldn’t have been able to put up any meaningful resistance and would have been forced to take her own life. Geett the l𝒂test 𝒏𝒐vels on no/v/elbin(.)c/om

But now Alphiero was dead. With his death, Hemoria had completely taken her freedom into her own hands. There was no longer anything binding her. She was free.

Hemoria was so overjoyed by this fact that she burst into laughter, “Aha... ahahaha!”

Amelia was still draped over her shoulder and couldn’t understand why Hemoria was laughing like this all of a sudden. But something like that wasn’t of importance to Amelia in her current situation.

‘I need to find an opportunity to kill her,’ Amelia told herself.

Her one remaining hand was still holding on tightly to Vladmir. She hadn’t taken action yet because they weren’t completely out of danger.

Amelia tightened her grip on her staff, ‘As soon as we get out of Hauria....’

By then, her dark power should have recovered. As for her severed limbs? As long as her dark power had recovered and she was able to use her black magic once more, they wouldn’t be a problem. When that moment came... Amelia would be sure to repay her earlier humiliation several times over.

‘Stupid bitch,’ Amelia silently cursed Hemoria. ‘A barbaric mutt who doesn’t even know how to use magic.’

Amelia was lucky that Hemoria didn’t know any magic. If she did, Hemoria might have placed a binding on her so that Amelia couldn’t use any magic. Could the former Inquisitor have let her guard down because Amelia had lost an arm and both legs? Had Hemoria really taken her to be a cripple? Amelia chewed her bottom lip in anger.

Leaping from shadow to shadow, Hemoria’s speed was extremely fast. Before too long, the two had managed to leave the central area of Hauria City. As they moved forward, the number of squadrons flying overhead gradually increased. The sound of things shaking, people shouting, and explosions going off also drew nearer.

They managed to pass through the rear of the undead army that was filling the streets. They were gradually getting closer to the collapsed city walls. With each step that they took, Amelia’s heart pounded nervously.

So far, nothing had happened to them. Even that monstrous Eugene Lionheart hadn’t come after them. Could Alphiero really have managed to hold on to Eugene until now? Or perhaps, that monster had just given up on pursuing her and decided to head to the palace instead?

‘Just a little bit more,’ Amelia encouraged herself.

They had been careful to avoid the squadrons flying in the sky so no one swooped down on them. They also didn’t encounter any of the knights or wizards.

Amelia thanked her good fortune. Just a little bit more. As long as they could just make it a little further, they would be able to escape the city.

How much would her dark power have recovered by then? There were still a few embers left within Amelia’s body, cutting off the flow of dark power. However, as long as a little more time passed, the remaining embers would soon be extinguished completely. In fact, if Amelia had to force herself to do so, she could use a spell right now.

‘But I shouldn’t,’ Amelia thought regretfully.

If she did try and force herself to use magic, there might be aftereffects. So Amelia decided not to rush things. Just a little bit more, just a bit further....

Hemoria, who had been moving from alley to alley, suddenly leaped into the air.

“...?” Amelia’s eyes widened in shock as she couldn’t figure out the reason for Hemoria’s actions.

In the next instant, Hemoria had leaped onto the roof of the building, and instead of continuing to move cautiously as she had been until now, Hemoria began to hop from rooftop to rooftop.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Amelia protested.

Slap!

Hemoria’s hand clamped down over Amelia’s mouth.

As Amelia began to twist her body in a panic, she heard Hemoria whisper into her ear, “Stay still. What are you going to do if we get caught because of you?”

“Mmph...!” Amelia tried to mutter through Hemoria’s hand.

“Don’t worry. I’ve already thought of everything. An idiot like you might not be able to tell, but I can’t just keep running on the ground below. Do you really think I’d be able to fool a knight’s senses from such a close distance?” Hemoria reminded her in a grumpy tone.

Amelia stilled, then carefully turned her eyes to look down from the building at the streets below.

She could see the undead army clashing against the knights all along a wide street. The Lionheart’s standard was waving in the wind. Riding a huge black stallion, the Lionheart Patriarch was at the forefront of the battle, spraying out flames and swinging his sword, while the Knights of the White Lion followed along behind him.

It wasn’t just the Lionhearts. There were also Shimuin’s Violent Tide Knights, Ruhr’s White Fangs, and the Blood Cross Knights from Yuras. In addition to these knightly orders, there were several other units waving their banners as they drove through the undead army.

“It’s actually safer up here,” Hemoria whispered, causing Amelia to nod with a gulp.

And in fact, the advancing knights truly didn’t pay any attention to Hemoria as she leaped across the rooftops.

The city walls were slowly getting closer.

As they drew nearer to their escape, Hemoria’s speed slowed slightly. Amelia’s mouth was still covered by Hemoria’s hand, so she could only glance sideways at Hemoria’s face to communicate her impatience.

“Here she is,” Hemoira suddenly murmured as her steps came to a halt.

Hemoria stopped covering Amelia’s mouth. Instead, she gently picked her up as if she were lifting a newborn baby, and then she lowered Amelia onto the ground.

“Wh-what?” Amelia asked with a stutter.

Instead of replying, Hemoria just smiled down at her.

And then....

Light sparkled as a galaxy filled with countless stars suddenly appeared on the same rooftop. All of the stars within that galaxy were orbiting around a single wizard.

Amelia’s thoughts came crashing to a halt.

The overwhelming presence that had now appeared right in front of her eyes seemed to make every factor of Amelia Merwin’s character as a wizard pale in comparison.

“Good job,” said the new arrival.

It was Sienna Merdein. Her eyes sparkled like jewels. But all that sparkle couldn’t hide a glare that was as cold as ice. Sienna tilted her head to the side as she glared down at Amelia.

Facing Sienna, even Hemoria was left unable to keep her head raised. The former Inquisitor immediately got down onto her knees and bowed her head.

Hemoria gulped before speaking cautiously, “Your promise....”

Sienna lifted a finger and pointed behind her, “There’s nothing that I want from you. The only one I care about is this damned bitch of a black wizard.”

Hemoria waited in silence.

Sienna continued speaking, “In return for you bringing this bitch to me, all of the wizards stationed in the rear have been given orders not to attack you.”

“Thank you very much,” Hemoria sighed in relief.

Hemoria had run into Amelia by accident. As she carried Amelia and moved to escape the city, Hemoria had sent her familiar, a bat, to deliver a message.

Thanks to their prior contact in Aroth, her bat had been able to get close to Sienna.

Hemoria’s offer had been simple: I would bring Amelia Merwin directly to you. In exchange, please spare my life.

“Go,” Sienna ordered.

As she had just said, Sienna didn’t have any interest in Hemoria. She wasn’t even interested in learning Hemoria’s name, let alone why she might have betrayed Amelia.

“Thank you very much,” Hemoria said once more as she got to her feet.

Amelia, who had been laid flat on the ground, grabbed hold of Hemoria’s ankle, “Y-you! You dare... betray me? Me!”

“Idiot,” Hemoria just sneered. Before putting her mask back on, Hemoria looked down at Amelia and gave her a bright smile, “After being tortured by a bitch like you, anyone in my position would have chosen to betray you.”

The mask clipped back on, hiding Hemoria’s smile.

Grrk.

After grinding her teeth in pleasure one more time, Hemoria kicked off the ground in a run.

Soon, Hemoria had sped into the distance.

Seeing her only means of escaping the city getting further and further away, Amelia let out a scream and grabbed hold of Vladmir.[2]

No, it couldn’t be. There still had to be a way out of this. Her dark power had recovered to a certain extent, which meant she was able to use some black magic. As long as she could somehow escape from here—

“You,” Sienna’s brow furrowed in a frown. “Are you really trying to use magic in front of me?”

The spell formula that Amelia had desperately been trying to construct was disintegrated. It was absurd how simple Sienna made that act seem.

“Aaaaargh!” Amelia screamed as her body writhed in desperation.

Listening to her scream, Sienna held her staff out, “For all the crimes that you have committed against me....”

Amelia tried to apologize, “I was, I was wrong! I, I’m sorry... for everything that I’ve done! So please—!”

Sienna ignored her pleas and continued, “...it would just be a waste of breath for me to list each of them one by one, and besides, I happen to be extremely busy at the moment.”

“Please!” Amelia entreated pathetically.

“As such, I will allow you to realize your sins and repent for them on your own,” Sienna finally declared.

Eugene’s wishes had also been conveyed to Sienna.

He wanted Amelia to die as ugly a death as was possible. As painfully as possible. Struggling for the faintest hope of survival, despairing in her final moments, still begging to be spared despite experiencing such pain that it would be better to die.

Slowly approaching Amelia, Sienna placed one end of Frost on Amelia’s head.

As she struggled to avoid the staff, Amelia grabbed onto Sienna’s ankle and screamed, “Spare—!”

Booom!

Frost radiated light as Amelia’s head was split open. The light disappeared from Amelia’s eyes.

Sienna hadn’t killed her.

However, Amelia’s consciousness would be trapped for eons at the moment of her death. She would experience every kind of death and torture that the world could come up with.

Yet even so, her body would stay alive, and her mind wouldn’t be able to collapse. Left in this state, for Amelia, every single second would feel as long as an eternity.

“You would probably prefer to be dead,” Sienna commented.

Amelia’s split-open head was sealed back up once more.

1. Just in case this is confusing, this ‘complex’ is used in the psychological sense of the word. ‘A strong or disproportionate concern or anxiety about something.’ ☜

2. In light of new information we got in the later chapters that explain more of Vladmir's origins other than it being an evil staff, we realized that the previous use of the term is incorrect. As such, this will be the last time the staff will be addressed as Vladmir. Starting from Chapter 499 (when the staff is next mentioned), we will be changing its name to Bloody Mary, which is a more precise translation of the staff's name. We will keep all previous occurrences as Vladmir. As a reminder, we have put another note in Chapter 499 regarding the change in the name. ☜