MAEPG: Episode 14

Episode 14 Azantu (2)

Heinz told Diana what he had guessed, saying he wasn't sure, but Diana's face turned pale upon hearing his words.

"Th-Those people are a group called 'Barcollack' that manages this street. But why... We paid the protection fee on time."

Even as she spoke, Diana inwardly believed his words to be true.

Because there was something she had learned while growing up in this city.

"This city... is ruled by vampires."

"Vampires?"

Of course, it wasn't something just anyone knew.

Most citizens, and even most of the gang members who controlled the streets, were unaware of it.

Knowing would only put them in danger, so Diana hadn't spoken about it until now.

"Most groups, including Barcollack, are under the control of the vampires. They move according to their orders and manage the citizens."

The reason Diana knew this was simple.

She had an incredibly good sense of smell.

To the point where it reached the realm of supernatural abilities.

'I even deliberately avoided places with a strong smell of blood!'

It wasn't just a physical smell; she could smell the scent emanating from dangerous places or people's souls.

She had been careful, moving around with Aaron using that ability, but it seemed they had fallen into their clutches this time.

"Then it seems like we're in a pretty dangerous situation. Has this happened before?"

"...I've experienced it a few times before. The smell of people who suddenly disappeared because they didn't pay the protection fee, it came from the people who smelled of blood."

When she didn't fully understand her ability at first, she just thought they were scary people.

Even the big shots in the gangs were busy bowing to them.

But as she grew older and thought more, seeing and hearing various things, Diana realized.

"This city is their farm. The reason there's some semblance of order is to manage their food supply so it doesn't spoil."

As long as you paid the protection fee on time, there was no harm, and even though it was a back alley, there was no drug trafficking.

Treatment for diseases was also possible if you could afford the medicine.

"Haven't you thought about leaving for another city somehow?"

"At first, I tried to leave the city, even if it meant pushing myself. But..."

There were quite a few people who had left this city before, but Diana knew.

None of them had actually reached another city.

"I saw the gang members carrying the belongings of those who left the next day. You might think they were just similar items, but I can tell."

She could tell who the original owners of those items were through their scent.

And there was no need to say what had become of them.

From then on, she gave up on leaving the city, moved her residence to a street where vampires rarely walked, and acted cautiously, avoiding dangerous places.

"So they graze them as long as they stay within the city, but if they try to escape, they slaughter them immediately..."

Heinz frowned as he organized his thoughts.

"Let's move for now. I don't know why they targeted Aaron even though you paid the protection fee, but if it's true, we don't have much time. Do you know where their headquarters is?"

"Yes! I know. But... are you really going to help me, mister?"

Diana looked up at Heinz, biting her lip.

Now that she knew the situation here, she must have fully realized how dangerous it was.

He wasn't a resident of this city, so there would be no problem for him to leave right now.

But Heinz grinned and ruffled Diana's hair.

There was nothing in this world for him to fear.

"Didn't I say? I wouldn't pretend I don't know after finding out. And I'm a pro at screwing over bad guys. Trust this 'big brother'!"

Heinz emphasized the word 'big brother'.

It was a sensitive issue for him, now twenty years old.
______________________

A small village reduced to ashes.

Nothing remained intact in the place filled with only ruins.

"Hmm, the smell of dark magic power is strong. What in the world happened here?"

The man with a pale complexion blocked the scattering ashes from approaching him and examined the few remaining traces as he walked around the village.

Places that seemed to have been buildings and faint traces of battle remaining on the ground.

"This is... corpses? Were they gathered and cremated?"

He also found a place that seemed to have been where the corpses were cremated.

Most of them had already turned to ashes and scattered, leaving no trace, but that wasn't a problem for the man.

'There are no traces of any other power being used in the entire village except for dark magic power, and it's clear that there was a clash involving undead, but they cremated the corpses and left?'

His initial thought upon examining the traces was that there had been an internal conflict within 'Oath of Heaven's Defiance'.

The items they possessed were certainly worth coveting, so it wasn't unreasonable.

"I don't know. What happened. Anyway, it's a shame."

He had been preparing to steal the Immortal King's Fragment when it was sufficiently matured, but it had already disappeared without a trace.

"Whoever got to it first, I'll be able to catch them soon. It's not something that can be easily hidden."

The man turned his gaze to where the last trace led.

The movement of undead heading east into the forest.

'The direction is just right. Is luck on my side?'

And then the man, who had been looking around the village for a while, transformed into bats and scattered, disappearing into the eastern forest.
___________________

I headed to Barcollack's headquarters with Diana.

We had to get Aaron back before he was handed over to the vampires.

It was impossible for Heinz to fight the vampires, unlike Hans.

'I think I can handle the ordinary gang members somehow.'

With my enhanced physique from awakening and continuous training, and the power of "Super Recovery", I should be able to defeat ordinary gang members.

To synchronize the physical ability enhancement from the Karma Shop to the avatar, I needed to re-summon him.

'There's no time for that now. Especially since I can't even get Hans's help.'

There were still three days until I could use the transfer formation again.

I had to manage somehow with Heinz's power alone.

I looked at Diana, who was leading the way.

She was hurrying her steps, her hands clenched tightly as if worried about her brother, but she was also using her sense of smell to choose paths where there were no people.

We couldn't expose our movements when we didn't know what might happen.

'That little girl is desperately trying to protect her family, I can't back down now.'

Diana must have lived her life so far, using her responsibility to her brother as her driving force.

Even while being crushed by the weight of reality, she had held onto that small hope in life.

But now, that hope was about to be shattered.

'Alright, I don't have much to lose, so let's do what I can. <Mission: Help the unfortunate girl find her brother.> I guess that's what it is. The reward... is random.'

This was a kind of quest for me.

And a Korean gamer never gives up on a quest halfway through.

As I was steeling my resolve, Diana, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped and started sniffing the air.

"Ah! I can smell Aaron! He's definitely at Barcollack's headquarters."

"That confirms it. It's unfortunate that my bad guess was right, but it's good news that he's still there and hasn't been handed over to the vampires yet."

I followed Diana, who started running again, and prepared for battle.

"Mister... can we really save Aaron?"

Diana whispered in an anxious voice.

I couldn't see her expression because I could only see her back, but it probably wasn't good.

"Yeah, I'll save him soon, just trust me."

To be honest, even if I saved him here, it wouldn't solve all the problems.

In fact, that's when the real problem would begin.

This city was under the control of vampires, and the guys who kidnapped him were just their subordinates.

'I'll think about that later, let's put out the fire first!'

As dusk approached, we soon arrived at Barcollack's headquarters.

A small two-story building located deep inside a back alley.

'There's no one standing guard.'

Well, it made sense. If all the gangs in the back alleys were under the control of the vampires, there was no need for them to guard against each other.

"Do you know how many people are inside?"

"Sniff, sniff, about fifteen? It's their headquarters, but it's more like an office. I heard they usually live scattered throughout the streets."

I nodded at Diana's answer, who was sniffing the air with her eyes closed.

Fifteen, that was manageable.

"I'll go in and bring Aaron out, so you wait a little distance away."

"...I know it's shameless, but please. Mister."

Diana seemed to know that she would only get in the way if she went in, so she bit her lip, bowed her head, and stepped back.

'Alright, let's go in.'

I had a rough scenario in mind, and I had prepared some items.

All that was left was to use force and a little bit of luck afterwards.

'And my luck lately has been at its peak!'

I carefully opened the door and went inside.

The first floor was like a bar, and it was quite clean, unlike the headquarters of a back alley gang.

'I thought the inside would be a mess, filled with cigarette smoke and gang members drinking and gambling.'

Well, they must have taken care of it because vampires visited occasionally.

But I wasn't completely wrong, as there were people gathered on one side, drinking and gambling.

"What the? Who's that?"

"Hey, mister, come over here while we're talking nicely."

They noticed me, whispered amongst themselves, and beckoned to me.

I obediently approached them.

"Huh? Isn't this the guy we saw earlier?"

"What? You know him?"

Among them was the large man I had met on the street earlier and who had received my donation.

"Mister, what brings you here? Did you think the donation you gave earlier wasn't enough?"

I smiled gently at the large man who was chuckling and getting up from his seat to approach me.

"What the? He's smiling? This guy must be mistaken... Ugh!"

And then I immediately pulled out my dagger and plunged it into his neck, and as I pulled it out, I rushed at the others who hadn't reacted yet.

"Wh-What the hell is this guy!"

"Does he know where he is! Kill him!"

My body moved quickly, but I responded to their movements with a calm mind thanks to "Clear Mind".

With one hand, I stabbed the dagger into the temple of the guy trying to get up, and with the other, I drew the sword from my waist.

It was a sword used by the dark mage's subordinates, and I wasn't used to using it, but I had no choice in this situation.

'I don't have the skill to aim for vital points in one go, so I need to inflict wounds that will incapacitate them as much as possible!'

I swung the sword and slashed at the opponent's leg.

In return, my arm was cut, but thanks to "Sturdiness", the wound wasn't deep.

And it was quickly healing thanks to "Super Recovery".

"Ugh, the knife won't go in!"

I stabbed him in the abdomen, but he was wearing a bulletproof vest under his clothes.

Ignoring the pain with "Mind Hub", I slashed the neck of the guy who had stopped moving to stab me with my dagger.

Crash—!

Bottles and furniture shattered, and the interior became a mess.

I calmly moved my body, incapacitating them one by one.

Crack!

In the meantime, a guy with a club aimed for the back of my head, but thanks to the magic barrier of the protective magic tool guarding my vital points, the impact wasn't great.

"Ugh, what the hell is this guy, he even has magic tools... Gah!"

But the magic tool's effect wasn't infinite, so I fought while protecting only my vital points.

I took down one guy and my leg was cut.

I stabbed another guy and my back was stabbed, but I ignored it and kept attacking.

Stab—

I stabbed with the sword, but it wouldn't come out.

I immediately snatched the hand ax from the guy I had knocked down and swung it sideways.

A knife flew at me, aiming for that moment, and I blocked it with my other arm.

My arms and legs were tattered.

The blood from my torn forehead, where the magic tool's effect seemed to have worn off, obscured my vision.

Then the guy standing in front of me looked behind me.

His eyes met someone's gaze.

Another one was aiming for the back of my head.

I immediately ducked and picked up a weapon that had fallen to the floor, swinging it behind me.

"Aagh!"

The guy behind me grabbed his ankle and collapsed, but the fight wasn't over yet.

If it weren't for "Sturdiness" and "Super Recovery", I wouldn't have been able to move long ago.

Without any fear of death or excitement for the fight, I mechanically calculated and exchanged blows, taking down my enemies.

One down, two down, three down...

...And finally, the last one.

"Ugh..."

"Ugh, what the hell are you..."

After fighting and fighting, only fallen enemies surrounded me, including those who had come down from the second floor after hearing the commotion.

"Whew... Are there any... who escaped?"

Seeing me covered in blood and on the verge of collapse, they must have thought they could easily catch me if they pushed a little further.

There were some who tried to run away when their morale was completely broken, but it was already too late.

Most of them had lost their mobility from being attacked in the legs from the beginning, and I focused on taking down those who showed signs of escape, eventually capturing them all.

In the end, I even used the protective magic tool I had been saving until the end because it had a limited number of uses...

If it hadn't been for that, I might have missed some of them.

"Whew, whew."

After the battle was over, I stood there for a moment, catching my breath.

The bleeding had stopped and my wounds were slowly healing, but I was so covered in blood that it wasn't noticeable.

"Hey, where's the boy you brought in today?"

"Ugh, what the... Aaagh—!"

I dug my fingers into the wound of the guy who was trying to talk nonsense.

"The basement! He's in the basement!"

"You should have said so from the start. Don't you need a key?"

"It's hanging by the door! Stop it!"

After asking a few more questions, I got up and looked around.

The chaotic interior, the groaning gang members lying on the floor, and the corpses that were already dead and couldn't move.

And I picked up my weapon again.

For the scenario I had in mind to work, there couldn't be anyone alive here.

"W-Wait! Spare me! Spare... Ugh."

I started confirming their deaths one by one.

I felt disgusted even while using "Mind Hub", but I mechanically moved my body, thinking that they were only harmful even if they were alive.

"If I go in like this, the kid will be scared and faint..."

I looked around and headed towards where the bottles and water containers were placed.

And first, I poured the contents of the bottles over my body, starting from my head, to wash away the blood.

'The smell of alcohol is better than the smell of blood.'

Once most of the blood was gone, I grabbed a bucket of water and poured it over my head again.

'This should be presentable enough.'

My clothes were tattered and there were bloodstains, but it was much better than before.

And I moved towards the door leading to the basement.

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