Argoric slowly started to turn into dust. His fangs crumbled and the wind chipped away at his body. However, the Vampire Lord was laughing. Argoric was laughing, as if he were very satisfied with the result.
Kwachik!
Kang Yoon-Soo twisted his sword and pulled out the Vampire Lord’s heart. The bloody red heart at the tip of his sword continued to pulsate.
The vampires screamed in shock at the sight unfolding before their eyes.
“M-My lord!”
“How could this happen!”
The slaves, on the other hand, cheered and rejoiced.
“Kang Yoon-Soo-nim has killed the Vampire Lord!”
“We’ve won the war!”
The werewolves were still berserk, but they could not ruin the moment because of the restrictions placed on them by the Holy Statues. “Grrrrrr…!” They growled while shedding tears. They might have lost their minds, but they still shed tears at the sight of their victory.
“The fog is disappearing!” someone shouted as the fog started to dissipate. The sinister fog disappeared, and the sunlight started to shine down into Sanguineum.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaahk!”
“H-Help me!”
“Light! It’s the sunlight!”
The vampires started to burn as the sunlight shone on them, but they could not even run away to a shaded area because of the Holy Statues. The bright sunlight burned them until there was nothing left of them except their ashes on the ground.
The slaves could not hide their joy.
“It’s the sunlight!”
“We took freedom with our own hands!”
They could see sunlight for the first time in years!
The warm and bright sunlight shone down into the dark and gloomy city, bathing the slaves’ faces. Everyone was drunk on victory—except for one man.
‘I’ll probably die,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought while crashing to the ground. The concrete of the city square was right before his eyes.
It was then that a white-winged angel flew underneath him and embraced him.
Yuriel cried out, “Expressionless creature! Are you alright?”
“No,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied, his face pale white. He had been left anemic by the amount of blood he lost and the pain of having his shoulder crushed. That was not all, however.
‘Abyssal Sword…’ It was a sword skill that dealt more damage the stronger his enemy was, but it consumed 20% of his stamina. It had left him exhausted, as he had used the skill five times in a row against the Vampire Lord.
‘I’m tired…’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought as he felt the power he had received from the angel fading already. He touched his neck with his trembling left hand. The fang marks Argoric had infused his mana into were already gone, and he thought, ‘That was close.’
The moon would enter its full phase at midnight tonight, and Kang Yoon-Soo would have died if he failed to kill the Vampire Lord.
The heart on the tip of his sword pulsated violently.
[Vampire Lord Argoric’s Heart]
The Vampire Lord Argoric’s heart contains his immense mana. If an insignificant creature attempts to eat it—it will immediately die on the spot.
Kang Yoon-Soo grabbed the heart with his trembling hand.
“Hooooo…” Yuriel hugged Kang Yoon-Soo tightly and exhaled her breath onto him. The angel’s sweet, warm breath immediately healed all his wounds.
[A warm and holy healing breath has enveloped you.]
[All of your wounds have been healed without a scratch remaining.]
[Your fracture will heal more quickly.]
However, Kang Yoon-Soo still felt dizzy. He said bluntly, “I’m dizzy.”.
“Really? Was the breath not enough? Hoooo! Hooo!” Yuriel replied, puckering up her pink lips and blowing more breath at him.
Kang Yoon-Soo shook his head and said, “I need blood.” He was severely anemic. The angel’s breath had fully healed his wounds, but his body was lacking blood. He said weakly, “Yuriel…”
“Expressionless creature. You look very sick…” Yuriel said as she sniffled, not knowing what to do.
Kang Yoon-Soo continued, “Bring me to the castle…”
“Why there?” Yuriel asked.
“I’ll die if I don’t go there,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.
“…I can extract the soul of a creature that has just died… Can you not just die and spend eternity with me in the heavenly realm?” Yuriel asked with a smile.
“No,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.
“Hmph! What a dense creature,” Yuriel remarked, sulking as she carried him through the air toward the castle. The slaves on the ground looked up at the sight with worshipful gazes.
“Wow… I never dreamt I would get to see an angel in my life.”
“The angel is carrying Kang Yoon-Soo-nim!”
“S-Savior… He really is a savior!”
A savior being carried by an angel was something that would normally only be seen in myths and fairy tales, but that fairytale had now appeared right before their eyes, and those gathered could not help but feel reverence and respect toward Kang Yoon-Soo.
Henrick scratched his cheeks and grumbled, “That punk… Don’t you think he might end up establishing a cult later?”
“I hope not…” Shaneth replied, covering her eyes while looking up toward the blinding sunlight. The once nonexistent sunlight warmed not only her hand, but the entire city; the vampire city felt the warmth of the sun for the first time since it was created.
‘It’s warm…’ Shaneth thought, before turning around and looking at the slaves who were hugging each other in joy. The last chain that had been binding their hearts was finally broken.
They had been under the influence of the Vampire Lord’s mind control ability and their memories of that time were gone, but they all knew one thing for sure—Kang Yoon-Soo had saved all of them.
‘I’m proud of him,’ Shaneth thought, placing her trembling hands over her beating chest. However, her heart ached for some reason as she thought, ‘But... I hope he doesn’t have to keep shouldering everything alone…’
Why was Kang Yoon-Soo always like this? Why did he keep trying to shoulder everything on his own? He could also share the burden with his comrades.
‘…That angel is bugging me too,’ Shaneth thought as she furrowed her brows.
Iris looked in the direction where Kang Yoon-Soo had disappeared and muttered, “I’m getting worried…”
“I’m worried too, unni, but we know he’ll be alright, the same way he’s always been,” Shaneth said.
Iris let out a sigh as she said, “But the heart will go bad if it’s not consumed as soon as possible…”
“…”
A clear blue sky filled the view above the city for the first time in its history.
***
You are reading story Record of a Thousand Lives at novel35.com
At the Sanguineum Castle…
All of the vampires were gone, and the castle was deserted. Yuriel flew into the castle while holding Kang Yoon-Soo, and he said, “The first door in the left corridor on the fourth floor.”
The angel flew toward the place Kang Yoon-Soo had directed her to, and found that the door was left unlocked. What greeted them when she opened the door was an old, worn-down room that housed some contraptions covered in blood.
‘Transfusion device…’
It was quite different from the ones used in the real world, but it served the same purpose nonetheless. Kang Yoon-Soo moved his pale white hands and took a needle from the transfusion device, then slowly stabbed it into a vein. Then, he desperately looked around the room while thinking, ‘I need blood.’
The reason why there was a transfusion device in a vampire’s castle was quite simple. Just as there were some humans who enjoyed injecting or snorting drugs, there were some vampires who enjoyed all sorts of strange ways to absorb blood. That was why Kang Yoon-Soo was certain that there would be a pack of blood somewhere in the room.
‘I’m dizzy…’ Kang Yoon-Soo struggled to stay conscious as he rummaged through the drawers. He found some blood in a container, but it was unusable, as it had already congealed. It would be near-impossible to transfuse that kind of blood.
‘I have no idea what the blood type is, either,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought. He was not a vampire. He would die if he transfused blood that was not the same blood type as his, but his mind began to fill with fog as he wasted time thinking about blood types.
“Creature, are you alright?” Yuriel asked with a worried expression.
Kang Yoon-Soo looked at the angel and muttered to himself, ‘I have no choice…’
He looked down at his wrist device, and saw the rewards for completing the legendary quest written on it.
[Please choose one between the Authority of the Vampire or the Authority of Mind Control.]
The Authority of Mind Control was the mind control skill used by the Vampire Lord. It allowed the user to control multiple targets and make them kill themselves with only one command. However, it required a lot of blood to use.
‘I’d faint from blood loss as soon as I used this skill with the amount of blood I have.’
Vampires could keep more blood in their body than normal human beings; Kang Yoon-Soo would definitely collapse as soon as he used the skill due to not having enough blood in his body. It would be practically useless for him to brainwash anyone if he was going to end up fainting anyway.
‘Also, mind control will only work against those who are weaker than me.’
Kang Yoon-Soo was walking the riskiest and most dangerous path, as this was going to be his final life; the enemies he would have to face in the future were going to be much stronger than him. Therefore, the mind control skill would be practically useless against them.
‘It would be a different story if I could use the skill to make someone divulge all their secrets, or as a form of torture, but that’s all useless to me.’
Kang Yoon-Soo possessed a vast amount of knowledge due to his previous lives. In fact, he had once chosen the Authority of Mind Control in one of his previous lives, but he had not benefited from it at all; that was why Kang Yoon-Soo decided to choose the other Authority as his reward.
“Authority of the Vampire.”
[You may obtain one of the vampiric skills possessed by Argoric.]
Four skills popped up.
[Ranged Blood Drain]
[Blood Storm]
[Blood Fog]
[Greater Blood Drain]
Blood Storm and Blood Fog consumed blood to cast, and that made them practically useless to Kang Yoon-Soo. The only skills he could use at this point in time were the two blood-sucking skills, Ranged Blood Drain and Greater Blood Drain.
‘Ranged Blood Drain can only suck small quantities at a time.’
The Ranged Blood Drain skill would allow him to suck the blood of his target even though he did not possess any fangs like a vampire, using his hand. However, the price to pay for that was the fact that he could only absorb a small quantity of blood. For Kang Yoon-Soo, who was about to die from a lack of blood, the skill would not be helpful at all, as he required an immediate transfusion of blood.
[Greater Blood Drain]
Skill Level: 15 (100.00%)
Blood Drain per Second: 150
You may absorb the blood and life force of the target by biting their neck. This skill drains blood much more quickly than the average blood-draining skill.
*The skill’s power will be reduced because you are not a vampire.
“Yuriel,” Kang Yoon-Soo called out.
“What?” Yuriel replied, innocently bringing her face closer to him.
Kang Yoon-Soo gently grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her face closer to his. Their faces were so close that they could feel each other’s breath, and Yuriel’s face flushed red as she whispered in his ear, “We need to get the goddess’ permission…!”
“It’s not what it looks like,” Kang Yoon-Soo said as he bit Yuriel’s smooth white neck. His teeth were not as sharp as a vampire’s fangs, but he was still able to suck her blood and life force out.
Yuriel screamed as her body shivered from the foreign feeling of someone biting and sucking her neck. “Nnggh… Kyaaaaaah!”
Kang Yoon-Soo did not seem to pay any attention to her as he continued to suck her blood. However, Yuriel just shivered and screamed, but she did not push him back or resist. After all, she was aware that Kang Yoon-Soo was going to die if he did not receive any blood. She bit her lip and decided to let him have his way with her body.
‘I feel my blood filling up,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought as his foggy mind started to clear up. His body started to regain its color as he felt warmth return to him again. The blood of an angel was beyond effective. ‘I should’ve done this sooner instead of trying to use the transfusion device.’
The biggest advantage of the blood-sucking skill was that it did not matter what the blood type of the target was, as it turned any blood into life force as soon as it entered the body. Kang Yoon-Soo sucked out only as much as he needed before releasing Yuriel’s neck from his mouth.
[You have drunk the blood of an angel.]
[Your life force will increase for four days.]
[You have shared blood with your guardian angel.]
[The goddess is still not aware of this fact.]
[The goddess will be enraged if she finds out about this.]
“Heuk… Sniff… M-My blood… A creature sucked my blood…” Yuriel cried as she covered her face with both of her hands. It was the first time she, an angel, had ever had her blood sucked.
Kang Yoon-Soo said in a low voice, “I’m sorry.”
“No! I hate you! Get out of my sight! You are a bad creature!” Yuriel cried out as she threw a punch—it was a punch that could literally kill him if it hit him.
Kang Yoon-Soo shoved his hand into his backpack as if his life depended on it before saying, “Here, drink this.”
“Sniffle… W-What’s this…?” Yuriel asked as she stared at the bottle, which contained a red liquid.
“Wine,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.
“Wooow!” Yuriel’s eyes shone brightly at the sight of the wine bottle, and she stared intently at it with sparkling eyes. She touched the Vulpehin label on the bottle and even rolled it around a few times. She then tapped the cork a few times before calling out, “Hey, bad creature. How do you open this?”
Kang Yoon-Soo took out a knife from inside his sleeve and opened the bottle for Yuriel. She tilted her head and asked, “Where is the glass?”
“Just drink from the bottle,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.
“Drinking it directly from the bottle? But I have never tried that before,” Yuriel said.
“Try it now,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.
Yuriel hesitated for a moment before drinking from the wine bottle. Her eyes suddenly shot open as she exclaimed, “Hey! Bad creature! This is really good! I have never had something so fragrant in my life!”
Her anger seemed to have already dissipated as she smiled and laughed. Kang Yoon-Soo stared at the angel while thinking, ‘There’s still time for Yuriel to stay.’
Yuriel’s summon duration would last for twelve hours, and there were still eight hours remaining on the clock.
‘I have to use her to the fullest.’