My strength, which had been waning even in the past, was declining as if it were rolling down a hill.

　The speed of the decline was much faster than I had expected based on the changes in my condition over the past ten days. Perhaps the Senri blood I had taken into my body had been completely depleted.
　The physical capabilities of vampires are beyond human. So he could still walk through the night, but the difference would become apparent in a full-scale battle.

　If you were to fight me right after I sucked Senri's blood, you'd be knocked down in the blink of an eye.

　I'm less talkative. I'm dazed. I'm hungry anyway.
　I'm eating more than enough, but it seems that for vampires, eating is an inadequate substitute for bloodsucking.

　The urge to vampire is like hunger, but different from hunger. Your body becomes hot and you become dazed. It's as if my soul is being burned, and I find myself looking at Senri's gestures at every turn.

　After that, Senri never made any overt advances.
　However, the dull silver glow of her hair, her spotless white skin, and her languid purple eyes are madly adorable to me now.
　If it is s*xual desire and appetite that are satisfied by the blood-sucking urge, then the feelings I have for Senri right now are a combination of those two.

　In both fiction and non-fiction, there are few good vampires.
　The dryness and gradual loss of strength that cannot be satisfied by eating flesh, drinking water, or drinking the blood of beasts is probably the reason why vampires are horrible monsters.
　It is truly a curse. The feeling of approaching annihilation was unbearable even for me, who had experienced something like it once before.

　If I had asked Senri, he could have shared a little of his blood with me.
　But I was half-hearted. I don't know how to gain Senri's complete trust. Stalling was all I could do.

　The first thing I stopped doing was talking. I kept my conversations to a minimum and resisted the dryness that would never heal by just burying myself in my thoughts.

　I was used to being alone. I had plenty of things to think about.

　How to survive in the future. How to gain Senri's trust. How do I quickly gain the strength to resist the outside world? How do I get the ability to hide in the shadows, which I still can't use since I skipped the Dark Stalker mutation? How much time do I have until my next mutation? And how do I get help?

　Vampires can't cross running water. They don't disappear, but they lose their strength and all their special abilities when on the water.
　That's why vampires rarely appear on islands, and developed big cities often have artificial rivers around them. You need to think about your base of operations while you are still a lowly vampire and your influence is still under control.

　It is also difficult to find allies, which is essential to operate in human society.
　I don't have any allies. But I don't trust Senri's people.

　There are only two people I can trust.

　One is Huck the Corpse Bearer, who was a much more formidable ally to the Lord than a puny lowly vampire like me.
　Maybe he can help me. I've met him a couple of times. That's the best chance.
　However, a hack who deals in illegal undead is essentially an enemy of Senri Sylvis, and even if he could be cleared, he's a merchant. The Lord was able to supply him with supplies because he was giving him a fair return, and I can't give him a reward worth the risk.
　And this is the biggest problem of all, I don't know where he is. He may be in the city of Engay, but I can't just go there. He may have already been captured.

　And the second possibility is my house before I died.
　It's small, but my family was a lowly noble family with a title. That's why even when I was stricken with a strange disease, I didn't die immediately and was able to receive regular treatment.

　The problem is that I don't know what my family thought of me when I was bedridden.


　Buried in endless thoughts, I just move my legs like a machine.

　The only thing that came in handy was Lord's Legacy ...... black machete, the Blood Ruler, which was lying on the ground and was not taken by the demise knights.
　The heavy machete can crack the skulls of attacking carnivorous demonic beasts with minimal movement.
　If you don't use your special ability, you can reduce your power by a very small amount.

　Occasionally a beast would come at me that I missed due to lack of attention, but Senri is a more skilled warrior than I am. No problem.

　And so, after nearly two weeks, we made it safely through the thick forest.
　And by that time, my blood-sucking urges were nearing their limit.



§.




　Impatience and hunger, the animal urge, makes me a monster. It was as if my body wasn't my own.

　Through the forest, I saw an empty meadow that stretched to the horizon.
　Shaking his head, he shook off his feverish thoughts and squinted.

　Compared to the forest, there was nothing to block the sunlight. I prayed that something would change once we were out of the forest, but it didn't look like things were getting any better.

　In the sky I could see the moon, which had been cut down to about a quarter of its original size. The size of the moon was shrinking day by day. It's one of the reasons I'm still able to resist the urge.

　Vampires are at their most powerful during a full moon.
　Vampires often hunt on full moon nights. More power means more emotions, and maybe the urge to suck blood is stronger.

　I don't know. I don't know what to do.
　I look out at the grasslands, where there are few obstacles, and I feel like a tiny, helpless thing.


"End, you're going to die.




　Suddenly, the residue of the residue of the residue speaks to me of nothing productive.
　The sudden appearance of the shadow did not surprise me. I already had no time to be surprised.

　I wondered how long it had been there, and a dumbfounded vision of Lord looked down at me.

　Senri, who was standing behind me, didn't seem to notice either, so it was probably a complete hallucination.


"Your power is diminished to the point of no return. I don't know how you can resist the urge so well.

"Shut up. ......

Resistance is futile. You are a demon. You must shed blood to live. You don't seem to realize why I've been keeping a female slave by my side.

"What?　End ...... are you okay?


　It's not that I don't want to sip. It's just that I don't sip blood because I'm weak.
　I still don't fully trust Senri after all this time. Technically speaking, I don't trust myself to trust Senri.
　He had to be very careful, very careful. Maybe it's a bad habit of mine to not take action until the situation becomes critical.


"The more blood a vampire sucks, the stronger he becomes. End, that woman there is the finest blood. If you successfully suck all the blood out of her, you'll climb to infinite heights as a lowly vampire. You can run, you can fight, you can do anything.

"......

You can run away, fight, do whatever you want. All you have to do is hide somewhere and sip the blood of the unlucky ones who happen to be passing by. Your enemies, the ones who can kill you, are ...... few and far between.


　That's certainly a useful option.
　I have my doubts about whether Senri will allow me to go on a blood-sucking rampage, but it could work, depending on how it's done.

　But then I'd be no different from a mere vampire. And mere vampires are destined to be destroyed sooner or later.

　I need a plan if I'm going to survive with all these enemies.
　Perhaps if I were the Lord, I could make it work that way. You have knowledge, experience, and necromancy. Perhaps you have the connections. But I don't.

A marvelous will, a vessel. To think that my will could withstand solar punishment, bloodsucking impulses, and even half-death and half-life and still be inviolate. ......

　The Lord's haughty eyes are watching me. It's whispering to me. His voice and form are surprisingly clear for a phantom.



"End, accept me. My soul is in you-- show me. Then this crisis will be easy to overcome.


　The devil whispers. Is this really an illusion, or is the Lord right, and the consciousness of Holos Kamen is still inside me?

　Either way, I have one answer. Get lost.

　I can survive on my own.



You look ...... terrible and you should go back to the forest. It's almost dawn. You should ...... start walking outside tomorrow.

"Oh ............ okay. Yeah, ...... I know. You don't have to tell me, I know!

　I responded to Senri's words almost reflexively, without thinking. Before I knew it, the vision of Lord was gone.
　He takes me by the hand and I follow him, scolding my wobbly body.

I'm sorry, but I can't let you go out there right now. ......

　I suddenly hear a small apology from Senri. But I didn't care about that. I didn't even have time to understand what she was saying.
　The silver hair in front of my eyes was swaying. My white, bloodshot fingertips touch my hand. There was a hint of water just before I left the woods. Maybe he's going back there.

　Perhaps now I'll have bloodshot eyes.


End, take it. You've sipped blood once. You have no choice. You're a monster, and there is no future where you don't make enemies.

　The Lord's words echoed in my head, though I couldn't see him.

　I press my head with my left hand. But the urge doesn't subside at all.

　No. ...... I can't do this anymore. I'm going to kill her.

　I took a small breath and voluntarily plunged my fangs into the flesh before me.